DETROIT � Some 527 miles away from the city he will lead for the next year and a half, Bernard C. "Jack" Young spent his first full day as Baltimore's 51st mayor Friday without fanfare or so much as a swearing in.
Young, who automatically ascended to mayor with Catherine Pugh's resignation Thursday, said he has left Baltimore in good hands with civil servants fanned out across the city to handle crime, trash pick up and every other municipal task.
He is at the National Organization of Black County Officials meeting to learn more about economic development strategies. He plans to return home Sunday and says he expects his phone will keep ringing nonstop until then.
To the citizens, Young, 64, a lifelong East Baltimorean, said: "I want you to know that Baltimore is in good hands. The department heads in Baltimore are still rolling. They're still doing everything they need to do. Our police department is there trying to fight crime. The council people are in their respective districts making sure that things are getting done there.
"I have good people running the city of Baltimore and I trust them. And I want you to trust them, too."
Young said he has not spoken to Pugh. Both are Democrats.
He stepped out Thursday afternoon from a conference workshop on the 2020 census to take a call from City Solicitor Andre Davis, who told him Pugh had resigned via a letter read to the public by her attorney.
Her decision, Young said, is in the best interest of the city.
As City Council president, Young moved up to mayor under the city's charter. He will earn $185,000 in his new job, $63,000 more than he did in leading the council.
Young has been carrying out the responsibilities of mayor since April 1, when Pugh announced she was taking leave of absence to recover from pneumonia.
Although it's not necessary for the transfer of power, Young says he will hold a swearing-in ceremony next week.
Pugh's resignation comes as she faces multiple state and federal investigations into her financial dealings. Pugh made deals to sell her "Healthy Holly" children's book series for some $800,000. Some of the sales were made to groups that had business before the city.
Young said he sees his chief responsibility as being a good steward until the next mayor is inaugurated in December 2020, after the general election that November. He has said he does not plan to run for mayor.
His focus until then, he said, will be for Baltimore to get better at providing essential services. He wants to be known as the "back-to-basics" mayor.
Young also said he wants to chart a course for the Baltimore Police Department that leads to fewer killings, carjackings, robberies and less violent crime all around. Last year, 309 people were killed in the city.
And the new mayor wants to get rid of the trash people dump in vacant lots and the graffiti that's tagged on railroad underpasses and private property. He also says he will make funding for recreation and parks a priority.
A first task will be getting the city's proposed $2.9 billion operating budget shaped up to his liking in time for the start of the July 1 fiscal year.
While serving as the city's acting chief executive for the last four weeks, Young said he has visited classrooms, unveiled a $10 million redevelopment project for the Upton neighborhood and convened several meetings of the mayor's cabinet. He also fired several of Pugh's closest aides, put several others on leave and bid adieu to a couple more who left on their own.
Over the next month, Young said he will be reviewing the operations of every city agencies.
Young became council president in 2010 when then-Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, a Democrat, ascended to mayor after Democrat Sheila Dixon's resignation from the city's top job.
He first joined the council in 1996.
Young got his start in government as a constituent services aide to Democratic Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke in the late 1980s. It was a side job that did on nights and weekends on while also working as a radiology department administrator at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
The fifth of 10 children, an uncle called him "Jackrabbit" because of his boundless energy. Now known as "Jack," Young and his wife of 39 years, Darlene, have two children and three grandchildren.
Young said he has planned for the last year to attend the economic development in Detroit. Leaving early would be a waste of money, he said. Plus, he wants to walk away with more information on how to entice development without all the public subsidies that have been used in the past.
"I hate to miss these things because it is so much," Young said. "There is so much you can learn from others who have done things you want to do."
It was at such a conference that Young said he figured out how to create his signature youth fund, which has about $12 million set aside from property taxes to pay for programs for children and teens.
