Baltimore senate delegation wants Young to lead city council.
Baltimore’s six state senators sent a letter to mayor-to-be Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake asking that she support City Councilman Bernard “Jack” Young as the council’s next president. The position becomes open on Feb. 4 when Mayor Sheila Dixon said she will resign and Rawlings-Blake, the current council president, becomes mayor.
The city Senate delegation cited Young’s “work ethic, passion and commitment to Baltimore ”and his “principled leadership” as reasons for their support. The full letter is below.
Young and freshman Councilman William H. Cole IV are the two top contenders for the seat. Young’s considered an independent voice and has a fiery temper. He’s supported Rawlings-Blake on key issues including rejecting Dixon’s most recent budget.
Cole brings Annapolis and federal experience and has developed close ties with Rawlings-Blake, who frequently turns to him to do the legwork on key issues. (For more reading about the Baltimore City Council race see this story.)
Signatories to the letter are: McFadden, Gladden, Conway, Della, Conway, Jones and Pugh.
(TIP: The letter refers to Young by his given first name “Bernard” in some sentences and his nickname “Jack” in others.) Senate delegation's endorsement
The city Senate delegation cited Young’s “work ethic, passion and commitment to Baltimore ”and his “principled leadership” as reasons for their support. The full letter is below.
Young and freshman Councilman William H. Cole IV are the two top contenders for the seat. Young’s considered an independent voice and has a fiery temper. He’s supported Rawlings-Blake on key issues including rejecting Dixon’s most recent budget.
Cole brings Annapolis and federal experience and has developed close ties with Rawlings-Blake, who frequently turns to him to do the legwork on key issues. (For more reading about the Baltimore City Council race see this story.)
Signatories to the letter are: McFadden, Gladden, Conway, Della, Conway, Jones and Pugh.
(TIP: The letter refers to Young by his given first name “Bernard” in some sentences and his nickname “Jack” in others.) Senate delegation's endorsement
Comments
Who is Jack Young? What is his vision and what are his policy positions for the city. This letter has no substance. His city council website does not reveal much. It says where he went to high school, that he attended community college, and mentions a few taskforces he has served on. In light of Shiela, I thought we would have a transparent process for selecting City-council president. Obviously, Jack Young is not supported by all council members because the letter lacks signatories of other members. It looks like backroom dealing, while the public is in the dark. Since very few know much about Mr. Young, what should we think?
Posted by: MDcomments | January 21, 2010 5:42 PM
I'm sorry, he deserves to be City Council President because he is involved in the lives of his kids, and he's from East Baltimore? Give me a break. I firmly believe that we, as voters, should call for the city charter to be changed, so that we have special elections in the event of a political office becoming vacant--that is the only true way to get a real view of who these people are.
Posted by: bmoreguy9 | January 21, 2010 9:32 PM
Mary Pat Clark should be Council President, or the City will take a turn down spiraling. We do not need two needing help in their position at the top. There has to be stability somewhere, and Mary brings it, because it is not in the other position.
Posted by: FANN | January 21, 2010 9:50 PM
omalley is going to be very upset...GOOD!
Posted by: johnn | January 21, 2010 10:40 PM
Either choice is bad for Baltimore. cole is merely a political opportunist, completely owned by Gov. O'Malley. He is not a leader but merely a follower, and I've found him to be dishonest with what he says being contrary to what he does. On the other hand, Young is almost a village idiot. He just doesn't seem to have much intellect which is a hadicap. It is not that he isn't formally educated. it seems to be more of a low IQ thing. Oh, how I wish the last elections had gone diffrently! The city would actually be moving forward now with Jill Carter as mayor and Michael Sarbanes as council president. This would be a good, progressive, team with intelligence and integrity. We would not be in this pathetic position of having no real mayor or council president with the incoming prospects being just as bad, if not worse, than the outgoing.
Posted by: coldspringer | January 23, 2010 9:38 AM