Politics & Government

Mayor Says Administration Has Moved Baltimore Forward

Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is seeking to be elected mayor on her record.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is Baltimore's accidental mayor.

She ascended from City Council president to the top spot in the city after former Mayor Sheila Dixon resigned in early 2010.

Now, she's running to be elected as mayor for a new term on the merits of her record as city government's top executive.

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Rawlings-Blake, a Coldspring resident, points to her administration's accomplishments in dealing with issues “that people really care about,” such as improving schools and combating crime.

“I took office at a time when a lot of faith had been lost in city government. And that’s one of the things I’ve worked very hard on is bringing integrity back to the office,” Rawlings-Blake said.

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In her time in office, the city has seen improvement in crime statistics, especially in murders and gun-related crimes.

City statistics indicate that homicides fell 6 percent in 2010 compared with the previous year. Juvenile shootings and homicides were down 35 percent. Overall, gun crime was down 16 percent. Homicides totaled 223 last year, the fewest since 1985.

But the mayor also said there is more work to be done in improving public safety in Baltimore.

 “I think we’ve made a lot of progress when it comes to public safety but I’m certainly not satisfied where we are,” Rawlings-Blake said.

Some of those needs have been highlighted by incidents such as a murder in the Inner Harbor during Fourth of July celebrations and a recent murder in the city’s Station Arts North district.

The mayor also emphasized that her campaign would be built from the grassroots up. She said city residents will emphasize what issues will drive the election.

“There’s going to be a lot of candidates trying to dictate to the voters what the issues are or what’s most important in this campaign. But that’s not how I operate,” she said.

She also responded to criticism from other mayoral candidates that she’s too close to development interests and more concerned with improving downtown than the city’s other neighborhoods.

“In the two years in a row we had record budget deficits I made sure that we continued to move the city forward in crucial ways,” Rawlings-Blake said.

The mayor said examples of her administration working for the entire city have been maintaining city school funding when some counties have cut back; supporting public safety by hiring more police, and the Vacants to Values program which encourages investment in vacant properties.

But she added that downtown plays a crucial role in the city’s economy and argued that it cannot be neglected.

“The thing that I think we should be careful about, is that we have an economy in Baltimore that the main employers… are medical facilities and the tourism industry,” Rawlings-Blake said. “In order to make jobs in the tourism industry that requires investment in downtown because that’s where our tourism industry lives.”  

Name: Stephanie Rawlings-Blake

Age: 41

Hometown: Baltimore

High school: Western High School

College: Undergraduate: Oberlin College

University of Maryland Law School


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