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GOVERNOR–ELECT MARTIN O’MALLEY
ANNOUNCES KEY STAFF MEMBERS
Watson and Gallagher to Play Key Roles in State Government
BALTIMORE, MD (November 29, 2006) – Governor-Elect Martin O’Malley announced today the appointments of Peggy J. Watson and Matthew D. Gallagher as Deputy Chiefs of Staff for the State of Maryland. Watson and Gallagher will report directly to Chief of Staff-Appointee Michael R. Enright and oversee various state agencies and government operations.
“I am extremely proud and humbled that Ms. Watson and Mr. Gallagher have agreed to continue to serve the citizens of our State,” said Governor-Elect Martin O’Malley. “Peggy and Matt will bring a wealth of knowledge to the State House, and I look forward to their continued leadership guiding our State over the next four years.”
Peggy Watson served under Mayor Martin O’Malley as Finance Director for the City of Baltimore from 2000 through 2005 and was responsible for ensuring the fiscal integrity of the City. Watson was instrumental in building the city’s rainy day fund from $17.3 million in 1999 to more than $56 million in 2004, and maintaining the City’s positive bond rating. Ms. Watson served as Deputy Director of Finance under Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke.
Matthew Gallagher has served as Executive Director for Baltimore’s CitiStat program, Martin O’Malley’s signature management initiative, since 1999. In 2004, CitiStat received the prestigious Innovations in American Government award from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Gallagher also served as a member of Mayor O’Malley’s Cabinet, Security Council and management negotiating and budget planning committees.
Prior to joining CitiStat, Gallagher served as Project Director for the Greater Baltimore Committee’s and Presidents’ Roundtable private sector assessment Managing for Success, an effort that led to the development of over 250 actionable recommendations for the improvement of Baltimore’s municipal government.
“Matt Gallagher and Peggy Watson are two of the most competent and able administrators that I have ever had the pleasure to work with,” said Michael Enright, Chief of Staff for Governor-Elect O’Malley. “They have played an instrumental role in Baltimore’s success over the last seven years under Mayor O’Malley, and I look forward to working with them to make our state government more accountable over the next four years.”
MATTHEW D. GALLAGHER
Matthew D. Gallagher serves as Director of Operations for Baltimore Mayor Martin J. O’Malley’s CitiStat Program. In its first five years of existence, CitiStat has helped produce hundreds of millions in financial benefits and received national attention from the New York Times, Governing, and City Journal. In 2004, CitiStat received the prestigious Innovations in American Government award from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and the Council for Excellence in Government. Aside from CitiStat responsibilities, Mr. Gallagher serves as a member of Mayor O’Malley’s Cabinet, senior staff, Security Council, and management negotiating and budget planning committees. In 2004, Mr. Gallagher was also named as one of three Mayoral appointees to the Baltimore City Public School System’s Financial Operating Committee, a group charged with developing, recommending, and monitoring the implementation of a two-year financial recovery plan to eliminate the $58 million cumulative deficit of Baltimore’s public school system.
Prior to joining CitiStat, Mr. Gallagher served as Project Director for the Greater Baltimore Committee’s and Presidents’ Roundtable private sector assessment Managing for Success, an effort that led to the development of over 250 actionable recommendations for the improvement of Baltimore’s municipal government. From 1995 – 1999, Mr. Gallagher served in Philadelphia Mayor Edward G. Rendell’s administration, first as a special assistant to the First Deputy Commerce Director and later as an assistant deputy mayor in the Mayor’s Office of Management and Productivity. Prior to his government service in Philadelphia, Mr. Gallagher worked in educational programs for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
Mr. Gallagher holds a BA in Economics from La Salle University and a MGA from the University of Pennsylvania and currently serves as teacher of public administration at the University of Baltimore.
PEGGY J. WATSON
Peggy Watson served as Director of Finance for the City of Baltimore from 2000-2005 having come out of retirement to serve in the administration of Mayor Martin O'Malley. In that capacity, she was responsible for accounting and payroll services, budget and management research, information technology, purchasing, treasury management, resource and operations planning and risk management.
Prior to becoming Finance Director, she served as Deputy Finance Director (1987-1997), Chief and Supervisor of the Bureau of Treasury Management (1980-1987), Associate City Treasurer (1978-1980) and Assistant City Treasurer (1976-1978). Prior to joining City government Ms Watson graduated from Western High School and was employed by First National Bank of Maryland where she advanced in her career to become an Investment Officer and Bond Trader. She has also served on numerous boards and committees including Baltimore City Foundation Inc., Baltimore Development Corp., Baltimore Public Markets Inc., Baltimore Public School System's Financial Operating Committee, National Aquarium in Baltimore Foundation and the Parking Authority of Baltimore City.
In 2004 Ms. Watson became the first recipient of the Richard A. Lidinsky Sr. Award for Excellence in Public Service.
A Quality Public Servant
The Baltimore Sun (Editorial)
December 23, 2004 Thursday
BALTIMORE finance director Peggy J. Watson wasn't pleased when
she learned she had been chosen for a special honor. And she probably won't
be pleased about this very public notice of her receipt of that award.
That's because Ms. Watson believes the public has a right to expect
exemplary performance from its public servants. And if she wasn't performing
to that standard, she wouldn't be doing her job. Self-promotion isn't her
thing.
That selfless attitude and drive to excel are the reasons Ms. Watson
deserves to be the first recipient of the Richard A. Lidinsky Sr. Award in
Excellence in Public Service. Add to the mix that she possesses a keen mind,
affable manner and an institutional knowledge of city government, and you've
got a public servant who reflects the spirit and ethic of the deputy
comptroller for whom the award is named.
Like Dick Lidinsky, Peggy Watson is serious about
her work, but not so serious that she can't find time to enthusiastically
admire a new photo of a secretary's baby or genuinely compliment a junior
staffer about her command of the facts. As Baltimore's finance director, she
has marshaled the economics of ever-dwindling city resources and secured
Baltimore's Triple-A bond rating while highlighting the human impact of
budget choices and policy decisions. She's an advocate who knows how to
close a deal with a smile.
Mr. Lidinsky was from one generation of civil servants. Ms. Watson belongs
to a second. A Baltimore native, she came to work for the city from the
banking industry to help manage its investment portfolio. That was in 1976.
With smarts, savvy and simpatico, she was promoted four times within the
Finance Department until Mayor Clarence H. Du Burns tapped her to be its
deputy director. She decided to retire in 1997, but her retirement was
short-lived.
When Martin O'Malley was elected mayor in 1999, he recruited Ms. Watson to
return to city service, and she has provided the young administration with
its institutional memory. She's a take-charge administrator with a gift for
pointing out an employee's shortcomings with praise. Among the most powerful
women in city government, she's not among the self-absorbed (there are
plenty of those) and she doesn't suffer colleagues who don't take care of
their end of the city's business.
Ms. Watson, who will retire after the New Year, has served with distinction,
and her service should be emulated. Yesterday, city officials unveiled a
plaque in the City Hall rotunda memorializing quality public service, and
Peggy J. Watson's name will forever be first on the list.