Baltimore County’s top administrator announces retirement

Lia Russell

Baltimore Sun

January 5, 2024

Stacy Rodgers will retire in April after almost five years as Baltimore County’s top administrative official, according to a county news release.

Rodgers, 63, is the first Black person and second woman after Robin Churchill, who was appointed in 1997, to serve as chief administrative officer, an office that oversees Baltimore County’s agency leaders and day-to-day operations.

In a statement, Rodgers called it a “sincere honor” to work alongside County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. and serve Baltimore County.

“I am very proud of all we have accomplished together, striving for excellence in governance.”

In the county’s statement released Thursday, Olszewski commended Rodgers’ “remarkable contributions” to the county, and her years of service: “Her trailblazing leadership has left an indelible mark on Baltimore County government and we wish her a joyful retirement filled with many blessings, including the warmth of additional time with her husband, son, and grandchildren.”

Olszewski, a Dundalk Democrat, appointed Rodgers to her position in February 2019 after he asked then-Chief Administrative Officer Fred Homan to step down in fall 2018. Homan had served in that position for 12 years and was a 40-year county veteran when Olszewski asked him to retire, which Homan did on Dec. 3, 2018. The Baltimore County Council confirmed Rodgers’ appointment in March 2019.

Olszewski said at the time that he and Rodgers “shared a vision” for the county’s future.

Before moving to the county, Rodgers was director of the Baltimore City Department of Social Services from 2018 to 2019. Before that, she was deputy director of Washington, D.C.’s Office of Child and Family Services. She also served in a variety of roles at the U.S. Social Security Administration from 2011 to 2017, ending as its chief of staff, and in positions at the Maryland State Department of Human Resources and the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, according to the National Academy of Public Administration.

Rodgers holds a master’s in public administration from the University of Baltimore, and a bachelor’s in psychology from the University of Maryland-Baltimore County. She is also president-elect of the National Forum for Black Public Administrators.

Per the Baltimore County Charter, the director of budget and finance serves as the county administrative officer when that office is vacant.

Rodgers is the third official in as many months to leave Baltimore County employment.

Former Human Resources Director Rhoda Benjamin, who joined the county at the same time as Rodgers, left in November. Like Rodgers, she had worked in Baltimore City previously, as the Department of Housing and Community Development’s chief human resources officer.

Marcus Wang, the former director of the troubled Department of Economic and Workforce Development, also resigned that month after only four months on the job.

Rodgers’ salary was $263,000.