By Tashi McQueen
AFRO Staff Writer
tmcqueen@afro.com
Baltimore City officials announced on Aug. 16 that they would hire Conn Maciel Carey, a D.C.-based law firm, to conduct an independent investigation on the Baltimore City Department of Public Works (DPW) safety policies and practices following the death of DPW worker Ronald Silver II, 36.
Silver died on Aug. 2 due to heat exhaustion. He leaves behind his fiancée, Renee Garrison, and five children.
“The insights from this additional outside review of DPW’s workplace safety practices will play a critical role in strengthening safety standards and best practices across all city agencies,” said Mayor Brandon M. Scott (D) in the release. “Together, we will ensure that all city workers and their families can have peace of mind knowing that nothing is more important than the safety of the frontline public servants who make our city run.”
There are also ongoing investigations on DPW through the Baltimore Police Department and the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health.
The family was not particularly pleased about the news nor the timing of it according to the family’s attorney Thiruvendran “Thiru” Vignarajah.
“The family finds it a touch offensive that they would have scheduled that announcement today,” he said, pointing out that the family planned to share memories of Silver in a press conference by the end of the week.
Garrison, Silver’s partner of 12 years, shared her appreciation of Silver and her fond memories.
“I would like to thank my Ronald. As we planned our future together, I never imagined that your tenacious, hardworking (and) bold personality would lead us to a life without you,” said Garrison standing with the numerous aunts, uncles and children that came out in support of Silver. “The structure and love he embedded in our children can never be dissolved.”
Garrison shared that Silver enjoyed shopping and watching Marvel movies.
“All I can think about is how funny he was,” said Faith Johnson, Silver’s mother.
Johnson recalled a fond moment when Silver came up to his mom saying, “King Kong doesn’t have anything on me. I’m the king of this house.”
The family is expected to speak more on the additional investigation by early next week after looking into the D.C.-based law firm.
The Silver family first spoke out on Aug. 12, where they demanded several things from the city and called for DPW workers to share their experiences.
One of the demands was for a liaison to better inform them of investigations surrounding the matter. Vignarajah said the mother and fiancée were not informed about the additional investigation before the news release on the morning of Aug. 16. He said they received a copy of it around 8:30 a.m., the time it was released to the public.
Baltimore City Council also recently took action on the matter. They will hold a legislative oversight hearing on the facilities and work conditions of DPW on Aug. 22 in the Rules and Legislative Oversight Committee.
The hearing is scheduled for 5 p.m.
“We feel an obligation to act with urgency to immediately address the health and safety issues plaguing sanitation workers at DPW,” said Councilman Zeke Cohen (D-District 1). “During the upcoming series of hearings, we’ll fight to improve the safety conditions in the agency in order to ensure our workers get home safely to their families at the end of each shift.”
Cohen said it is a top priority that city residents and employees are safe and prosperous.
A few days before the hearing was set, the family of Silver called for the council to hold a hearing as early as this week.
“We are glad our plea this week for an immediate and open investigation is being heard because the public has more questions than answers,” Vignarajah told the AFRO. “We hope next week’s hearing will be a real effort to get to the bottom of what happened.”
An inspector general report from last month revealed numerous poor conditions in DPW facilities such as no working air conditioning units, inconsistent access to water and Gatorade and humid workspaces.
A July inspection was conducted due to several complaints the Baltimore City Office of the Inspector General recently received, reporting poor work conditions at DPW and heat-related illnesses.
These issues will presumably be brought up at the DPW hearing.
The public can join the hearing by visiting the fourth floor of the Baltimore City Hall or attending virtually on Webex.
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