Dixon to become Baltimore’s first female mayor

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Say hello to Mayor Dixon.

City Council President Sheila Dixon said Wednesday that she is preparing to become the first female mayor in Baltimore history in January when Mayor Martin O’Malley will step down to become governor of Maryland.

“I’m looking forward to making a smooth transition as president,” said Dixon, 52. “We’ve been making progress and I want to keep this momentum going.”

After a meeting of the Baltimore City Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, Dixon told The Examiner that she wants to see more stability in the city schools and the police department.

She also gave a vote of confidence to Baltimore Police Commissioner Leonard Hamm.

“I believe Commissioner Hamm can carry the police department where it needs to go,” said Dixon, who will seek to keep the job in the 2007 election.

Dixon, who has been under investigation by the state prosecutor’s office over her alleged involvement with city money that went to companies employing her friends and family, declined to talk about the probe, referring questions to her attorneys.

Matthew Crenson, a political science professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, said Dixon is a strong candidate.

“Provided that she gets a clean bill from the state investigation, it puts her in a good position to run for mayor in [September] 2007,” he said.

O’Malley said Wednesday that he has not endorsed a candidate in the race, but plans to aid Dixon as she becomes mayor.

“I want to do everything I can for Sheila Dixon as she steps into this job,” O’Malley said. “... She is going to have to push the rock up the hill every single day.”

A City Council member since 1987 and president since 1999, Dixon is one of several candidates who might run for mayor.

City Comptroller Joan Pratt and State Del. Jill Carter have both said they are interested in the job.

Other potential candidates include former U.S. Congressman Kweisi Mfume; State’s Attorney Patricia Jessamy; State Sen. Catherine Pugh; and City Councilmen Keiffer Jackson Mitchell, D-11th District; and Kenneth Harris, D-4th District.

Crenson said Mfume would likely be the strongest candidate in the group.

“If he decides to run, that crowd of people considering running is going to get very small, very quickly,” Crenson said. “He’s a figure of national importance. He will be very difficult for anyone to beat.”

Whoever runs against her, Dixon will have one advantage — already being the mayor.

“She’ll already have the job and the advantage of incumbency,” Crenson said.

Part of the Baltimore Examiner's 2006 Election Coverage

lbroadwater@baltimoreexaminer.com

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