Rawlings-Blake to face challengers at disabilities forum
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake will join those fighting for her job for her first political debate of the campaign this afternoon at a forum addressing disability issues.
While the other candidates -- former City Councilman Joseph T. "Jody" Landers, State Sen. Catherine Pugh, former city planning director Otis Rolley and Clerk of Courts Frank M. Conaway, among others -- have squared off at at least half a dozen times, Rawlings-Blake has chosen not to attend a forum until today.
The challengers, and in some cases, the moderators, have criticized Rawlings-Blake for not appearing at other debates, where the topics have centered on schools, crime and economic development.
Earlier this week, Jamal-Harrison Bryant, pastor of the Empowerment Temple, one of the city's largest churches, left an open podium on the stage to mark Rawlings-Blake's absence.
Organizers of today's debate say that the questions will be centered on issues concerning disabilities. Perhaps it will be similar to this forum last fall, where Gov. Martin O'Malley and former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich answered questions about policies concerning disabled people.
Rawlings-Blake's campaign says that she will attend a total of four debates before the Sept. 13 Democratic primary. Those include: an August 16 debate hosted by former state senator and WOLB radio host Larry Young, an August 25 debate hosted by interfaith coalition BUILD, an August 29 debate hosted by Maryland Public Television and an August 30 debate hosted by WYPR, The Baltimore Sun and the League of Women Voters.
The August 29 debate could present some complications, because Fox 45 and other news organizations had planned a debate on that day.
Rawlings-Blake, who became mayor in February 2010 following the resignation of Sheila Dixon, is following a familiar political strategy by limiting her participation in debates.
Dixon followed a similar route in 2007, facing opponent Keiffer Mitchell in only a handful of forums as the September primary neared.
Comments
The OMalley boys are keeping their puppet on a very short leash!
Posted by: john | August 4, 2011 12:48 PM
It's nice to know that a mayor who was not elected feels that she is so entitled to her position that she doesn't have to perform a basic democratic process in order keep her job.
Posted by: Calvin | August 4, 2011 1:02 PM
I'm willing to give Rawlings-Blake a pass on the debate on the National Night Out Against Crime. That was a poorly chosen date, since elected officials everywhere are pretty much obligated to attend those events or face backlash from police and neighborhood watch groups.
However, she hasn't done anything to demonstrate competence as mayor or a genuine desire to improve the city for the average CITY resident. She's far too focused on big business and out-of-town interests (as overwhelmingly demonstrated by the hardships downtown residents and workers are enduring to make way for the Grand Prix), and seems to have difficulty holding a coherent conversation on any real issue.
Honestly, I miss Sheila Dixon. She made mistakes which she needed to be held accountable for to preserve (or create?) the integrity of government, but she was able to answer questions intelligently and demonstrate a genuine interest in issues affecting the overwhelmingly low-income residents of the city. Of the current candidates, Otis Rolley seems to have the strongest vision for how to move towards a stronger city, but it's really unfortunate that we don't have a stronger, more seasoned, more qualified group of people running. Many of these people are either charicatures of loonies who want to hold public office or tired bureaucrats with no visionary thinking or leadership skills.
Posted by: Darlene | August 4, 2011 2:49 PM