Calls for Baltimore City Housing Commissioner Paul Graziano to resign piled up following revelations of the sex-for-repairs scandal in city public housing, but he stayed in office after Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake decided to keep him. Following an out-of-court settlement in the case, a national women’s rights group is looking to keep the pressure on.
Women’s rights group UltraViolet gathered 36,000 signatures calling for Graziano to resign. “Baltimore’s housing commissioner, Paul Graziano, knew about the abuse but did nothing to stop it. Residents are calling for the mayor to fire him. If we all speak out and keep this disgusting scandal in the headlines, we can make sure she does,” the petition states.
According to the Huffington Post, the group is also behind mobile billboards sporting the hashtag #GrazianoMustGo that were placed outside the mayor’s and housing commissioner’s offices on Wednesday.
The lawsuit against the housing authority stated women were faced with the choice of having sex with maintenance workers or not getting repairs on housing units that were badly in need of repairs. Twenty women settled with the city for $8 million. Workers connected to the scandal were fired.
