A hundred thousand dollars here, a hundred thousand dollars there. Pretty soon, you’re talking serious money.
Speaking of serious things, this is one of our more technical pieces. It has to be given the subject matter. If numbers give you a headache or put you to sleep, feel free to skip ahead to the last 2 paragraphs.
Ask yourself… Are you willing to bet the future of your family and your city on a candidate who is a convicted criminal, who pled guilty to perjury, who betrayed the trust of her constituents and was then forced out of the Mayor’s office? Is that really your image of a Mayor who can reach out around the country to attract employers to Baltimore?
Jobs.
Our city’s disadvantaged neighborhoods need thousands of jobs for the unemployed. And thousands more higher-paying jobs for people who are working, but not earning enough.
As if you needed hard evidence of the failure of Baltimore’s public schools, here it is.
Take a look at the map that we’ve built for you. There’s one blue dot on the map for each of the 186 public schools listed by the city for SY 2015-2016. (“SY” stands for “School Year.”) The map fully interactive. You can blow it up, move it around within its frame. And you can mouse-over or click on any of the dots to see the name of the school, its street address, the grades taught and percentages for selected grades.
As part of our ongoing review of candidates for Mayor – and City Council too – we noticed some issues with the campaign finance reports filed by Friends of Sheila Dixon. At it turns out, in February and March of 2015, Ms. Dixon’s committee revised 17 of these reports covering the period January 14, 2015 going all the way back to November 22, 2006. That’s just before Sheila Dixon became Mayor when her predecessor, Martin O’Malley, left to start his first term as Governor.
It’s a simple question: You make $58,000 a year. Would you be willing to move your family from the suburbs to the city for $69 per month?
According to a January 29, 2016 article in the Sun, legislators in Annapolis will be approving Mayor Rawlings-Blake’s request to use property tax credits to convince the majority of the city’s police officers and firefighters who don’t live in the city to move here. Currently, 72% of the city’s police and 64% of firefighters live in the suburbs.
Digital Harbor High
It comes as no surprise that there is crime happening inside and on the grounds of our city’s schools. That’s obviously a bad thing that affects not only the people perpetrating these crimes and their victims, but everyone – students, faculty and administrators – at the schools where these crimes occur. It’s a particularly difficult problem when the criminals are juveniles. Just kids committing crimes and being arrested.
There was an article by Erica Green published in the Saturday, January 30 edition of the Sun, entitled “Baltimore schools lose hundreds of students, millions in funding.” The gist of this article is that it has been discovered that the city’s schools have been over counting the collective student body by roughly 1900 students. By setting the record straight, our public schools will now lose approximately $25 million in state subsidies and $4 million from the city.
Maybe “Sheila Dixon 2016” is different than “Sheila Dixon 2006-2009.” Or maybe she isn’t. Are you willing to bet your family’s, your city’s future on it?
Every organization, whatever its type, has a culture that defines its character and behavior. Sheila Dixon’s administrations, when she was President of the City Council and then Mayor, were no exception.
Comparing the Mayoral Candidates
You know how, sometimes, there’s something that’s so clear to you, crystal clear, but no one else seems to see? Take Donald Trump, for example. You and everybody you know agrees Trump’s a flaming jerk. So why is he doing so well in the polls? Who are all these people who believe his special brand of crap and think he’s God’s gift to the Presidency? What is it about this blowhard these people don’t get?
Preface.
This piece is, of necessity, longer than most of what we publish. Admittedly, it’s not for everybody, but should be of interest if you’re into technical issues that are germane to candidate competence and maybe integrity too, particularly as they relate to campaign financing. Just because something is technical and takes some time to figure out, doesn’t mean it isn’t important.
Friday, February 5, 2016 edition…
As you can see if you click on the link below, we’ve prepared a table, a 2 page PDF that you can blow up and read online and print if you’d like a hard copy. It’s stocked full of information, but one thing’s immediately clear. Everybody in Baltimore is running for City Council. Okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but it sure seems that way. The February 3 filing deadline having just passed, there are now 79 people running for the Democratic nomination for 14 seats on the Baltimore City Council.