TGR: Dixon vs. Rawlings-Blake ’09: The Gloves Are Off!
By Doni Morton Glover, www.bmorenews.com
(BALTIMORE – June 13, 2009) – Well, it has been brewing for a while – sadly. It appears as if two former teammates are now rivals for the power to run the City of Baltimore.
Bleeps and blurbs have surfaced before in the press and through the grapevine, however, this time it is for keeps.
You see, once it hits the media in full force, it’s out there; public knowledge; everybody knows. There is no more need for speculation. The lines of demarcation have been drawn.
On one hand, the Baltimore City Council has challenged Mayor Sheila Dixon’s budget. They have suggested that the city’s first (black) woman mayor’s cuts could have been done differently – pointing to the closing of some recreation centers as an example of much needed services that are now in jeopardy.
On the other hand, the Mayor responded Friday with a memo that made small of the City Council’s issues and, further, seemed to castigate the Council in a minimal light as being ill-informed.
The next election isn’t until 2011. With the Mayor dealing with clouds of suspicion overhead and a pending case coming to trial in the fall, it appears as if the Council – under President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake – is intent on holding this Mayor’s feet to the fire. Some also say Rawlings-Blake might very-well want the city’s top post.
As for the Mayor and her current legal problems, the law says that one is innocent until proven guilty. Yet, for some reason the sharks seem to be circling. It's as if they smell blood in the water.
Amazingly, two women who have worked together to win in the last citywide election in 2007 are now at each other’s throats … in public … in the media.
The only thing I can think of is that 45 minutes to the south of here is Washington, DC. No, DC isn’t perfect; but black people there do seem to play the game rather well. Having a black mayor for three decades to them in a majority black city is the norm.
Not so in Baltimore, also majority black. And in 2011, there are already rumblings of a Michael Sarbanes and/or a Mary Pat Clarke mayoral run. Both are white. And both can do damage to either Dixon or Rawlings-Blake’s political goal: running the city.
Now, having a white mayor of a majority black city is not necessarily a bad thing. However, it does beg the question of the black population: What’s the matter with us? Why aren’t we better organized? Why don’t we have more young dynamic black leaders in Baltimore like a C. D. Witherspoon and a Tara Andrews waiting on deck to take the baton?
Who will lead Baltimore if, in fact, Mayor Dixon no longer is mayor? Is it Madame President? And if so, can President Rawlings-Blake maintain her resolve to lead in light of a Sarbanes attack for her seat?
Again, Dixon and Rawlings-Blake campaigned together the last time ‘round, and now they are at odds. How sad … for them, but more importantly, for the City of Baltimore which deserves nothing short of world-class service. Nothing less will do!
Read more from BMORENEWS.COM
TGR: The Blizzard of 2010: 1 Down, 1 to Go!:
Welcome to Baltimore's Katrina: "Nobody hears our cry!"
A state of emergency: National Guard in hummers
By Doni Glover, www.bmorenews.com
"The same ol' story in New Orleans" - Jay Z
(BALTIMORE - February 9, 2010) - According to one Baltimore City Police officer stationed in Sandtown, downtown is plowed, Baltimore County is plowed, Carroll County is plowed (he lives there), but he didn't understand why communities - like in West Baltimore - were still left undone.
Fender-benders are not uncommon. The perpetual struggle between pedestrian rights and drivers' fear of getting stuck is ubiquitous. The question remains: Does anybody care about less affluent communities in one of the richest state's in the nation?
Yeah, yeah! We heard the governor announce there would be no additional funds for snow plowing.
Maybe we have to appeal to Pres. Barack Obama to send "state of emergency" dollars directly to municipalities ... like Baltimore. Or, maybe directly outsource dollars to snow removal companies. Whatever the case, this is some bull feces.
In a city where citizens get taxed to death for everything from parking tickets to cell phones, where is the love? Like the songwriter sings, "Ain't no love in the heart of the city!"
Read in Full >>
In Honor of Baltimore's Black Business Week: The Ray Haysbert Awards:
(BALTIMORE - January 19, 2010) - Come out and join BMORENEWS on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 at the Frederick-Douglass Isaac Myers Maritime Museum as we pay homage to the Dean of Business, Raymond V. Haysbert, Sr.
We will be awarding area business owners for their accomplishments.
FMI, please call Phenomenal Events at 443.223.8759.
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Media Internships Now Available in the DMV: Do you have what it takes?:
Writers, video reporters, radio talent, and production assistants now wanted to help cover the news for one of the most accomplished independent multi-media news sites in America – primarily covering Washington DC, Baltimore City, Prince George’s, Montgomery, and Baltimore counties.
Interns will be exposed to a litany of mass communication skills including the business of media, public speaking, interviewing techniques, videography, photography and writing.
Interns will meet some of the most exciting business, political, entertainment and community professionals in the area. Equally, interns will be encouraged to teach and groom future media professionals.
FMI, call BMORENEWS’ managing partner, Another Approach Enterprises, today at 202.756.4865 to schedule an interview.
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Baltimore's Black Business Week: Minority Business Summit 2010 Speakers & Awardees Announced:
Do come out and support the Minority Business Summit. Read in Full >>
Maryland's First Class Action Suit Against St. Joseph Medical Center for Unnecessary Stent Procedures:
Murphy P.A. and the Law Offices of Peter Angelos, P.C. of Baltimore have filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of patients who underwent unnecessary invasive cardiac procedures at St. Joseph Medical Center. The suit contends that Dr. Mark Midei performed hundreds, if not thousands, of unnecessary cardiac stent procedures on patients as revealed by a federal investigation. Read in Full >>
What do you think?
3 comment(s) on this page. Add your own comment below.
Doni:
People are starting to talk about the things they want a candidate to do for them.
What are those things, and who will step up to do them, are important questions. . . .
-- Joan Floyd
Yeah but! The real elephant in the room is the person not identified in your picture. Catherine Pugh could emerge as the person to be reckoned with.
She has been on the council, she is already in Annapolis and knows her way around the capital, she is filling a senate seat by appointment, she has good press, is close to Bruce Bereano, and has steered clear of the current infighting and issues like the Brian Morris fiasco unlike delegate Carter, and Joan Carter Conway. And lets not forget James Craft, and long shot Bernard Young, and the real long shot the possibility that Mayor Dixon will be exonerated, and Ron Lipscomb found not guilty of bribery. Mary Pat Clark is still present and accounted for although age might be a problem for her since so many of the city's problems involve young folk, I am not sure she could get their votes. As for Sarbanes, like Terry McCauliff and Virginia, he does not have enough connections to the city to beat the known players.
Last but not least, Keiffer Mitchell is not dead yet politically or literally and all it would take is one good press event/idea to reposition him, or a good book about Baltimore politics showing he has a grasp of the situation to enhance his "brand" and chances.
Just some food for thought.
All the best.
I Don't think they are at each other I think they have differences and that's not a bad thing. Madame President was very civil in her comments about the Mayor in my recent interview with her on The Marc Clarke show.
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Please be civil.