Maryland Politics: Rawlings-Blake zings Dixon on group home issue - Your source of news and gossip from the Mason-Dixon Line to the Potomac

The Baltimore Sun > Maryland News > Politics > Maryland Politics

« WashPost: Obama signed executive order extending Jenna Bush's Secret Service protection | Main | Harford councilwoman dies »

March 24, 2009

Rawlings-Blake zings Dixon on group home issue

Baltimore City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake today blamed Mayor Sheila Dixon for lack of neighborhood support for legislation that would make it easier for group homes that treat drug addicts and other disabled people to locate in Baltimore.

Speaking on Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast on WYPR, Rawlings-Blake said she withdrew her support of a Dixon-backed plan to ease group home rules because that’s what her constituents wanted. If Dixon had spent as much time promoting the initiative as she has touting the city’s new garbage and recycling pick-up schedule, Rawlings-Blake said, the idea would have more support.

Federal authorities are poised to launch a discrimination lawsuit against Baltimore, arguing that the current law which requires City Council approval before small group homes are allowed to open violates civil rights. The Justice Department has indicated that because Rawlings-Blake does not back the mayor’s plan, legal action is imminent.

Posted by David Nitkin at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Comments

Sounds like Baltimore's City Council president smells blood in the water-
aka
Dixon's legal matters-
and she is preparing to run against her if and when Dixon is acquitted!
Personally I don't like monarchies in politics-
Rawlings Blake
Kennedys
Clintons
Mitchells
etc................
Dixon lack of ethics is troubling but she has been an effective mayor!

Posted by: jay | March 24, 2009 1:31 PM

Post a comment

All comments must be approved by the blog author. Please do not resubmit comments if they do not immediately appear. You are not required to use your full name when posting, but you should use a real e-mail address. Comments may be republished in print, but we will not publish your e-mail address. Our full Terms of Service are available here.

Name:

Email Address:

URL:

Remember personal info?

Comments: (you may use HTML tags for style)

Please enter the letter "r" in the field below:

About the bloggers

Laura Smitherman has been ensconced in the State House basement, writing about the governor, General Assembly and vagaries of Maryland politics for several years. An erstwhile business reporter, her interest in politics dates to her days in Washington when she covered Congress and national campaigns for another media outlet. She now follows a range of policy debates from slot-machine gambling to universal health care and energy regulation, while keeping an eye on the next election.

Paul West covers Washington for The Baltimore Sun, continuing a tradition that began the month the paper was born, in 1837. He hasn't been in the DC bureau that long--only since Ronald Reagan was president. He's covered Congress, the White House and presidential campaigns as the paper's national political correspondent and Washington bureau chief. He's on the lookout for news of significance to Sun readers at the other end of the B/W Parkway. That includes the activities of the state's congressional delegation and anything else that might shed some light on the inner workings of the nation's capital.

Julie Bykowicz's first days as a political reporter, in January 2009, coincided with Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon's indictment and the start of the Maryland General Assembly's 426th legislative session. She focuses on coverage of state agencies, such as social services, juvenile justice and prisons. During the session, she wrote about the death penalty, slots parlors and speed cameras, among other hot topics. Julie began political reporting after more than seven years on The Baltimore Sun's crime desk. She lives in Baltimore and works primarily in Annapolis.

-- ADVERTISEMENT --