Catherine Pugh formally resigned as Baltimore City mayor on Thursday afternoon.

Pugh, a Morgan State University class of ’77 grad, stepped down amid concerns of her activities while she served as a state senator and mayor of Baltimore, including the failure to report more than $600,000 in income from “Healthy Holly”— a children’s book series she wrote.

“In the best interest of the people and government of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, I am writing to attest that, effective immediately, I hereby resign from the Office of Mayor, to which I was duly elected on November 8, 2016,” Pugh said in a statement.

Baltimore City Council President, Jack Young, will take her place.

“Although I understand that this ordeal has caused real pain for many Baltimoreans, I promise that we will emerge from it more committed than ever to building a stronger Baltimore,” said Young in a statement regarding the sudden shift of leadership.

On April 12, Morgan President David Wilson, along with the Greater Baltimore Committee (GBC)—a group of 64 local business oriented leading men and women— unanimously called for the resignation of the Morgan State University alum and Baltimore mayor.

“With deep regret, the Greater Baltimore Committee has concluded that under the present and extraordinary circumstances it is in the best interest of the city of Baltimore and its citizens that Mayor Catherine Pugh tender her resignation as Mayor,” said the Greater Baltimore Committee.

The GBC’s members also include; Peter Angelos, CEO of the Baltimore Orioles, Richard Cass, president of the Baltimore Ravens, Ronald Daniels, president of John Hopkins University and Dan Joerres, president and general manager of local news network WBAL-TV.

The GBC’s decision came only 11 days after Wilson sat down with The MSU Spokesman for an interview surrounding her health complications and wished her a ‘speedy recovery.’

“I continue to wish Mayor Pugh well in her medical recovery. Having pneumonia is a serious thing. As a community, we’re concerned about her health. I value her as a friend and hope she has a speedy recovery,” Wilson said.

WBAL-TV reported on April 25, that FBI and IRS agents performed a search warrant of the locations linked to Pugh and were seen taking potential evidence related to the investigation.

We covered a lot of ground today with our reporters and photographers at WBAL TV..
FBI and IRS agents served search warrants at multiple locations related to Mayor Catherine Pugh, including City Hall and the Mayor's homes https://t.co/YZqH1xJM0g

— Jayne Miller (@jemillerbalt) April 26, 2019

In a statement addressed to Young, Pugh publicly supports the city’s decision of her replacement and is, “confident that [she] has left the city in capable hands for the duration of the term to which I was elected.”

When asked how Wilson plans to ensure the university’s success with the new mayor, he explained “that these partnerships are moving forward down a positive path.”

“She’s a Morgan alum and we’re of course concerned about her as a person,” said Wilson, in an interview with the MSU Spokesman.

“We wish her well in her recovery and we’re always concerned about all of our alumni and we wish them nothing but prosperity and success and that’s the same thing we wish the mayor,” Wilson added.