Marvin M. James, Mayor Brandon Scott’s chief of staff, left his $231,750 job last Tuesday, only to step into a new and unannounced position, paying $198,000 a year, the next day.

The quiet job flip on April 8-9 helps explain why James could depart on a four-day, taxpayer-funded trip to San Francisco last week, while his staff (and the general public) were presented with a seemingly final goodbye:

“If yall need anything from me you got till 4:30 pm,” he wrote to staff on April 8, while his Instagram account included this:

“Today is my last day being Chief of Staff to the greatest mayor and city in the whole entire world.”

The maneuver also helps explain why the mayor and Board of Estimates approved yesterday – without comment – $3,485 in travel expenses for his San Francisco trip to attend the National Forum of Black Public Administrators, when he had ostensibly left city employment days earlier.

In sum, after announcing he was stepping down  as COS to care for his aging parents and partaking in a March 28 farewell party at City Hall, it turns out that James is simply swapping jobs, not moving off the public payroll.

The mayor’s spokesman, Kamau Marshall, and Deputy COS Bryan Doherty did not respond to written questions about James’ new title and duties, who he reports to or how he plans to juggle a full-time position with care for his parents.

James himself hasn’t been around this week. He is attending the African American Mayors Association Conference at Washington’s Omni Shoreham Hotel, his third out-of-state trip since he announced his departure as COS.

Notably, he flew to Seattle for three days in early April to attend a Chief of Staff Association conference with Microsoft executives. His objective, he wrote to the BOE, was to “gain actionable insights and discuss industry specific challenges to drive excellence in [the] Chief of Staff role” he was about to relinquish.

• Agency budget freeze doesn’t apply to cross-country trips by Mayor Scott’s top aides (4/10/25)

The three trips have cost taxpayers $9,700, according to BOE records. Not much in isolation, but they come at a time when police, fire, homeless services and other city agencies were told to freeze spending due to a looming budget deficit.

As part of this belt-tightening, contracts and overtime spending headed to the Board of Estimates for approval will face additional review by City Administrator Faith Leach and her staff. Also, spending on city credit cards has been suspended for agency employees other than directors and their direct reports.

Rising Star

A former Lyft driver, occasional preacher and avid political junkie, James, now 37, moved swiftly up the City Hall ladder after successfully managing Scott’s campaign for mayor in 2020.

He started out modestly in January 2021 as an operations officer in the mayor’s office. The following year he was named deputy director of the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhoods, tasked with working with the faith community. From there, he jumped to the role of senior advisor to the mayor and, in May 2023, was named interim COS following the implosion of Chezia Cager’s brief tenure.

During this period, James said he was a loyal servant to the mayor and the city he loves. He said he helped Scott hone the Group Violence Reduction Strategy that lowered the crime rate, stabilized turnover in city agencies and, most importantly, got Scott re-elected last year, the first time an incumbent won a second term in two decades.

James’ pay mirrored his bureaucratic ascent. Starting at $81,600 a year as operations officer, his salary was hiked to $91,000 as deputy neighborhoods director, increased to $112,000 as senior advisor, then was boosted to $170,000 as interim COS.

After the mayoral primary last year, his pay hit $231,750 – a near tripling of income in four years.

What’s more, Mayor Scott kept Cager on the City Hall payroll after May 2023, changing her job title from COS to senior advisor.

At first, Cager earned $225,000; later her salary was reduced to $173,000. She left city employ in September 2024.

As with Cager, James’ new salary of $198,000 is a drop from his previous high. But his job reportedly involves few duties other than advising the mayor and his new COS, Calvin A. Young III, who replaced Cager as Scott’s senior advisor last fall.

According to informed sources, James’ long-term goal is to develop a powerful political consulting business. He is close to Colleen Martin-Lauer, fundraiser for Scott and many other Democratic officeholders, and he recently offered his services to a prominent local incumbent who asked not be identified.

Which suggests that the smiling emoji face next to his “What’s next? 2026” Instagram message is a broad hint of his future campaign plans.

Undisclosed Income

Earlier campaign work got James into hot water.

In 2023, The Brew disclosed that six candidates running for local offices paid him a total of $37,000 for political services (here and here). He failed to report these fees as outside income on his sworn city ethics form.

One of the payees was Calvin Young, the new COS, whose campaign committee handed James $10,000 in May 2022 before he dropped out of Baltimore County’s District 44B delegate race. Young said James helped him set up a campaign website, raise money and distribute flyers – but only on weekends and not on city time.

Also undisclosed that year was the $5,936 that People for Brandon M. Scott paid James.

The money was categorized as “consultant fees – campaign workers” and “field expenses” in Board of Elections records, even though Scott was not running for office.

A person who falsely makes an oath or affirmation required by local or state law can be subject to imprisonment of up to 10 years under Section 9-101 of the Maryland Criminal Code.

The law is rarely enforced, especially in Baltimore where the city Ethics Board has no direct prosecutorial powers. James, for instance, was simply allowed to amend his ethics form to include the names of the entities he received income from.

Recently, the 37-year-old has shifted his focus from campaign strategist to Scott enforcer.

He’s gained a reputation of targeting people who supported Sheila Dixon in the 2024 Democratic primary and, in his avid defense of the mayor, stoking the on and off feud between Scott and State’s Attorney Ivan Bates.

As it happens, James was Bates’ campaign manager in 2018 when he lost to incumbent Marilyn Mosby.

Bates was elected state’s attorney in 2022. Since then, relations between the city’s top prosecutor and the defender of the “greatest mayor in the whole entire world” haven’t been so cordial.