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This allows the mayor to retain her $83,000 per year pension. She will be on four year’s probation, is required to perform 500 hours of community service, and pay a $45,000 fine. By delaying her retreat from office her successor, City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake will get the lay of land. This includes a budget deficit, preparation for the upcoming legislative session (starts next week), and “steering a rudderless” city which has been without a cheer leader.

“Ms. Dixon will receive probation before judgment…she will not have any criminal conviction or any criminal record,” according to her attorney Arnold Wiener. The message from the state's prosecutor was simple, “There is nobody above the law in this state. It includes mayors or anybody else. If you’re a public servant, you serve the public not to line your pockets,” proclaimed Robert Rohrbaugh.

The high drama that was predicted in the Shelia Dixon theft trial never materialized. We were promised many things by both sides in this case.

They told us we would see a dastardly lover who took advantage of an unwitting public official; a conniving public official who stole from the poor and engrossed herself at the expense of those who didn’t have means; and a paper trail that would connect the dots. Well, not exactly.
 

I was invited this morning to WBAL TV-11 (NBC) this morning to discuss the case of Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon. To say the least, it was a terribly uncomfortable conversation. To talk about a person’s future is not my favorite thing to do. However, as a political analyst, it comes with the job.

Hence, as WBAL’s Lisa Robinson proceeded with her line of questioning, the focus was on what will likely happen if the mayor emerges victoriously from the current trial and the perjury trial scheduled for the early part of next year.

“Can she be re-elected?”, asked Robinson.

Inquisitive minds want to know: Is she guilty or not guilty?

Vote today on www.bmorenews.com at the lower left.

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.