Former 11th District Councilman Eric T. Costello today confirmed what insiders picked up on a few weeks ago:

He has gone to work for the behemoth of the Baltimore restaurant scene – the Atlas Restaurant Group.

“I’m happy to share that I started a new position as director of government relations with Atlas Restaurant Group,” Costello said in a LinkedIn post today, describing himself as “a recovering elected official.”

Sources say Costello had been seen representing Atlas at city offices and had privately acknowledged his employment with the firm, which boasts over 50 restaurants in the Baltimore area and beyond.

The new gig follows on the heels of Costello’s failed attempt to win re-election after 10 years representing a district that covers the city’s largely affluent midsection from the South Baltimore peninsula through central downtown, Mount Vernon and Bolton Hill up to North Avenue.

In the Democratic primary last May, Costello lost in an upset vote to political newcomer Zac Blanchard.

Backing Business

Costello has served on the Council since 2014, when he was appointed through a process that many at the time complained was rigged by then Council President Jack Young.

A prodigious fundraiser with significant backing from business interests, Costello went on the win election to the seat in 2016 and again, in 2020. Though he faced no opponents in the 2020 race, he amassed the third-largest Council war chest that year.

• With no competition in the 11th, Eric Costello builds a political machine (5/18/20)

During his decade in office, the former government auditor was known for his active support of some of the city’s most hotly debated issues, including avidly supporting for $660 million in public TIF financing for Kevin Plank’s Port Covington (now Baltimore Peninsula) project.

And as chair of the Council’s Budget Committee, he wielded considerable sway over city departments and the annual budget.

In 2017, he opposed the $15 minimum wage bill approved by the Council, but vetoed by then-Mayor Catherine Pugh.

More recently, he muscled the legislation through to enable developer P. David Bramble to proceed with his plan to tear down Harborplace and build an apartment and commercial complex on public parkland at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

He actively promoted the Harborplace redevelopment plan and excoriated those who questioned the deal, accusing a Circuit Court judge who invalidated the Harborplace Charter amendment of “voter suppression.”

The Atlas Restaurant Group that Costello is joining has likewise been at the center of some heated controversies.

Those included a dress code at one of its restaurants that drew accusations of discrimination targeting Black people and a 2020 incident in which a white manager at another Atlas restaurant denied entry to a Black mother and her son because of the son’s athletic wear.

The company apologized in a statement at the time, calling the incident “incredibly disturbing.” Last year a judge ruled against the suit filed by the boy’s mother over the matter, finding there was no discrimination.

• Atlas Restaurant Group’s plan for a new bar on Thames Street stirs anger and fear (5/13/24)

Another source of controversy has been the letters Atlas’ lawyers have sent, threatening litigation against residents who have complained about noise at some of its Fells Point restaurants.

The legal threats carried extra clout because of the intertwined political and financial interests of the people behind the Atlas empire – Baltimore Sun co-owner David Smith, executive chairman of the Sinclair Broadcast Group, and his nephew, Atlas president Alex Smith.

The Smiths and the related Paterakis family, developers of Harbor East, contributed more than $25,000 to Costello since 2015, according to campaign reports on file with the Maryland State Board of Elections.

In his brief announcement today, Costello did not say whether he has plans to represent his new employer before the Council.