The Mayor Can Only Do So Much

As a registered voter in Baltimore City, I’ve been doing as much as I can to stay abreast of the local circus known as the upcoming Mayoral Race. As the primary election looms on April 26th, I’m still an undecided voter. No matter how many times I’ve run into Catherine Pugh at evening neighborhood events, appreciated the kind words from David Warnock during our #ridewithwarnock adventure, listened to former Mayor Sheila Dixon recite repeatedly her successes during her previous term or witness DeRay McKesson’s blue best in all of it’s glory at citywide forums……I still don’t know who will do the job.

Since the unrest last April, we have more people than ever before that are paying attention to local politics and many are ready to actually take our politicians to task on what they have — and in many cases — haven’t done to make our neighborhoods thrive.

Because so many people place blame on our current mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, voters are really focused on choosing a person that can offer what’s been missing in local politics: transparency regarding city spending, accountability & genuine engagement with all of our citizens. The incoming candidate will have quite a bit of distrust to muddle through and the confidence to tackle tough issues head-on with no fear to ask for help from us.

As a concerned Baltimorean, I wouldn’t expect one person to turn this city around alone. What I hope is that the rest of our citizens band together, roll-up our sleeves together and move forward to help our new Mayor in whatever ways we can, within our own neighborhoods. Teamwork can make the dream work.