Perhaps you have heard about the unexpected drama in the US
presidential primary races. Are you surprised, shocked, or startled? I’ve been
getting a sick feeling each morning when I pick up the Washington Post and read news about violence at rallies, hateful
statements, and the rest. But I’m just as worried about a local election that
could reframe life for my 620,000 neighbors. This is the 2016 race for
Baltimore’s next mayor.
When I moved to Baltimore, Maryland in 1982, the mayor was the
late William Donald Schaefer, a slightly comical, profane, Democrat who could
be called a curmudgeon one day and a cheerleader the next. Baltimore was much
larger then: 776,000 people, although that number came after a slow, measured
exodus of city residents from the late 1960s onward. City residents were
dealing with the disappearance of shipping, steel and other old-industry
jobs, but they hadn’t yet faced the plagues of cocaine and heroin addiction. Mayor
“Willie Don” lured big companies and builders to create Baltimore’s Harborplace
development. Urban homesteaders paid $1 for row-houses they pledged to renovate
that would serve as their homes. A federal and a city program helped homebuyers
built great residential neighborhoods like Federal Hill and Canton.
If you live in the central zone bordered by the harbor to the south and the suburbs the north, life is still
pretty pleasant. Our historic treasure of a house is larger here than our last one in the midwest, and was half the buying price. Our work lives are going well, and we love the weather and friendly
people around us. But the factors I've already mentioned have built a second
shadow city that is larger than mine.
In April 2015, a young man named Freddie Gray got spooked
when he saw a group of police and started running. The cops caught him, put him in
shackles in the back of their van, and took him on a rough ride to the jail that
resulted in fatal injuries. Peaceful protests and discussions about Gray’s
death escalated into a horrible day of mob destruction that was televised
worldwide.
Following the events now called the Baltimore Uprising, our
current mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, announced she wouldn’t run for
re-election but would focus on rebuilding the city. The old police chief was
fired, and a new police chief, Kevin Davis, is making a tremendous impact in
solving crimes. However, the city can’t make the overall changes desperately
needed without a strong mayor.
Currently there are many choices vying to be the
Democratic candidate; and Democrats typically win the city. The candidates have been appearing at casual gatherings
in people’s homes, community centers, churches and pubs. I’ve been to a few of
these informal events and enjoyed the chance to ask serious questions directly.
Televised and webcast debates and roundtable discussions with these candidates
have been remarkably civil and friendly. They seem to be in harmony on the
importance of giving people coming out of prison a real chance at work; drug
treatment; fixing the schools; providing real education in the schools; and
improving police-community relations.
The six most viable candidates include two city councilmen,
Carl Stokes and Nick Mosby, who speak of their experience representing hard-hit
neighbors. Sheila Dixon, a former Baltimore mayor who resigned in 2010 to avoid
standing trial on charges of corruption, wants back in because she says
she is the only one who knows how to do the job. Catherine Pugh, a Maryland state senator, is proud of
pushing the state to send Baltimore needed funds. Elizabeth Embry, the deputy
state’s attorney and former chief city prosecutor, says she wants to use data
to make the city work and highlights her crime-fighting expertise. David Warnock, a
businessman/philanthropist who moved here from Michigan, has big ideas about
jobs, transportation infrastructure, and schools. You can watch a roundtable discussion with the gang on ABC's Square Off!
Right now, Sheila Dixon and Catherine Pugh are running neck
and neck, but I’m attracted to a few of the underdog candidates. And here’s
where the lessons of the national presidential race come in. A whole lot
of small, respectable presidential candidates each gathered small pockets
of votes and mini-spikes in polls. These scattered votes put Donald Trump front and center. Therefore, I fear a vote for one of the little guys in Baltimore is a vote for Ralph Nader. And there's yet another reading of the situation. There are others who will look to another side of the current political game and say that the sparkling starlets I'm considering are only building steam on what might be called The Trump Effect.
Should follow my heart or my head? Still deciding. Could the two be linked?
Ahh, the dilemma so much of the world faces: Never a choice between good and bad, just worse and worst. In times like these I'd say vote for the one most likely to keep the ship closest to the course you'd like to see followed...on some very turbulent seas.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jeffrey. Tough choice!
DeleteGiven the situation the Black community faces, I'd say vote for the person who will really help provide jobs, better housing, health care, educational opportunities and curtail police brutality.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened to Freddie Gray should not happen to anyone! And people who sit on the stoops of their building should not be harassed about it.
I agree with you, Kathy. One consolation is several of the candidates are really hard workers and understand social justice.
DeleteI too agree with Kathy, Sujata. But as in the presidential race, I think carefully about who can actually govern, hascthe leadership style that will pull disparate factions together and get the job done. Philosophy that agrees with mine is great to hear, but practically is what works in the real world.
ReplyDeleteWe're all doomed. Head for the bunkers now. (Yours is fully-stocked with fresh chocolate and wine, right?)
ReplyDeleteThere's philosophy that's pro-social justice and humanitarianism and then philosophy that is pro-business and laissez-faire about police brutality, which is today an epidemic.
ReplyDeletePeople need jobs at livable wages and social services, along with respect and humane treatment.