In making the announcement Mayor Franklin said, “I am pleased to announce the nomination of Lynnette W. Young for the post of Chief Operating Officer. She has extensive experience in city management and expertise in evaluating, reorganizing and restructuring local and state governments. She is a change manager which will be of tremendous benefit to the City as we implement our turnaround plan.”
Lynnette Young began her career with the City of Baltimore in 1987 as first executive assistant to the Mayor, with oversight responsibilities for the Departments of Finance, Law, Public Works, Transportation, Planning and Personnel. From 1990 - 1999, she served as the Chief Administrative Officer (or Deputy Mayor), where she was responsible for executive oversight and policy direction of all Mayoral Cabinet appointees, all City departments and all City agencies, as well as oversight and administration of the City's nearly $2 billion budget and external relations. She was the City's lead negotiator for the expansion of the City Convention Center and privatized management of the Baltimore City Arena and the Baltimore City Family Fun Center. Ms. Young provided the City with leadership on the Inner Harbor East development project and was the Mayor's liaison in obtaining an National Football League team, the Baltimore Ravens. She created and chaired the Millennium Group to examine more effective ways for competitive re-engineering of city services; the Mayor's Organizational Review Team which resulted in the streamlining and downsizing of city government; the Performance Measurement Program which moved agencies to an outcomes-based management model of operations; and the Information Technology Board for city government.
From 1999 - 2000, Ms. Young became Senior Vice-President of Carnegie Morgan, a strategic planning firm for governments and corporations. Combining all of her skills and experiences, Ms. Young became owner and Principal Consultant of Damespoint Partners in 2000.
Ms. Young has a degree in political science from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and participated in the Certificate program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
Young has served on numerous boards including the City Kids Art Factory, The Living Classroom Foundation, Catholic Charities of Maryland, Associated Black Charities and the Municipal Employees Credit Union.
“I am looking forward to working with Mayor Franklin on the challenges facing Atlanta. I am impressed by Mayor Franklin's level of energy and her commitment to turn Atlanta around. I see change not as something to be afraid of, but as something to embrace to take us forward,” said Lynnette Young.
Mayor Franklin extends her gratitude to the search committee of the transition team led by Lawrence Ashe, partner in the law firm of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky and Walker. She also acknowledged the leadership of Veronica Biggins and of her firm Heidrick & Struggles, which conducted a pro bono search for the Chief Operating Officer, for their dedication and success.
The recommendation of Young was presented to the City Council on Monday July 15, 2002 and is expected to be referred to the Committee on Council for consideration.