AFL-CIO endorsement hearing was a political madhouse, yet their endorsements were “no surprise” to many, except for one council candidate.
He can sound off tax rate plans, along with their positives and negatives without so much a single breath; while leaping from community event to campaign fundraiser in a single bound. He seems to repel negative connotations and remarks like the man of steel, while remaining the most loyal and sincere of the many Mayoral candidates, even in a field when most residents think political double-talk is the order of the day.
His name is not Clarke Kent, yet he reminds some of a political Superman; his name happens to be Joseph ‘Jody’ Landers III. The former 3rd District City Councilman, who has not served in office since the early 90’s, has made it his quest to change the paradigm of Baltimore politics and intends to change the way business is handled here in ‘Charm City’. Though the lone white candidate in the race - which at first brought some back to the 1999 Mayoral race won by now Governor Martin O’Malley - now has some coming to the conclusion after hearing his pitch, that he may be the only savior Baltimore has for a real change in political leadership.
“I can’t imagine how Catherine, Otis, Frank or Stephanie actually have some sort of mystical plan that all of a sudden is the answer for Baltimore, when each one of these individuals have served in either elected, or governmental leadership roles, over the past decade and we have yet to see these solutions brought forth by any of them,” says West Baltimore leader Brian Easely, a Landers supporter. “It should never be about race when it comes to who can best serve our city, when we have children being killed, parents trying to find out how to pay their bills and keep food on the table; while our seniors are suffering through increased expenses while on fixed incomes,” states Easley, when asked about the racial aspect of his support of a white candidate in a majority black city.
Focused on his fix for a real change in the property tax rate in Baltimore - the highest rate in the state - the former Executive Director of the Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors was one of the first to release a viable solution to this problem – even when the Mayor was calling it a pie-in-the-sky idea. “First the Mayor did not think this was possible, and now she comes out with her plan which is almost identical to former Mayor Sheila Dixon’s slots/property tax plan,” questioned Bmorenews creator Doni Glover. “That is too funny!”
Landers has pretty much stayed out of the political fray regarding the back and forth finger-pointing between the Mayoral candidates, yet was irate as to last week’s AFSCME bull roast event when he was approached about buying tickets to the event by union member Joe Armstead, only to be rebuffed by being told that President Glennard Middleton was not allowing any candidates for Mayor, expect Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, to attend. “I can’t believe how things were handled by a union that my wife has been a member of for years,” says Landers. “I was buying two tickets in order to support this local union, and really looked forward to going and speaking with the hard working men and women of this vitally important union; yet was unsure as to what was going on after that?” Jody says that it made no sense that this event was made exclusive to some, and not others, as he has known Glennard for years and has been an attendee at past AFSCME Scholarship bull roasts. However, after contacting Mr. Middleton, he assured me that those rumors were baseless and untrue, as he even introduced the other Mayoral candidates that showed to the crowded venue of union workers.
The confusion had some absent from last weeks event, while some still came to shake hands and defy the rumors being floated by Armstead. “He took me into the office and told me man to man, that I was not to sell any tickets or ads for the program booklet to any of these perennial Mayoral challengers as Stephanie was the chosen candidate for AFSCME,” said Armstead. This process however even spread throughout last night’s AFL-CIO endorsement meeting, in which AFSCME is one of the many unions apart of the umbrella group. In attendance was many of the Mayoral and council candidates, except that of Otis Rolley and Jody Landers, who were both seemingly told that the powerful union was suppose to give a ‘no endorsement’ vote regarding the Mayor’s race – yet ended up backing Mayor Rawlings-Blake. “This process is more confusing and convoluted than an average politico can handle,” said one candidate supporter. All the incumbents were endorsed by the general body membership of AFL-CIO, except that of 13th district councilman Warren Branch, who upon not filling out the proper paperwork, earned his district to get a ‘no endorsement’ vote. The other shocker was when they endorsed Nick Mosby for 7th district council over that of incumbent Belinda Conaway – who has been battling questions of residency for months. “We were not informed of this process or meeting, yet had fundraising and community obligations planned prior to realizing earlier in the day that the process was now open to each candidate,” said a quizzically confused Frank DiVenti, Media and Operations Director for the Landers campaign.
Yet Landers says he does not let others endorsements or political backings discourage his desire to help the average voter of the city in helping change the way things are done in Baltimore. “It’s evident we need a change in leadership, or else I wouldn’t be running for Mayor,” says Landers, who stated that he was happy working at the GBBR and helping people through his involvement on the blue-ribbon commission regarding property taxes which led to the creation of a Baltimore Land Bank Authority. This commission’s work - which took plenty of time, energy and money – led to landmark legislation by then Mayor Sheila Dixon, which was halted in its tracks by then Council President Rawlings-Blake upon the start of Dixon’s trial. Her first act as Mayor, Stephanie chose to withdrawal the ‘Land Bank’ legislation and began her own program known as ‘Vacant to Values’ – which seemed to model the unsuccessful GBBR assisted program known as SCOPE. “I love helping others through means of meaningful assistance, seeing people save their homes that have been in their families for generations, or actually assisting people in the homeowner process to see them purchase their first house. You can never duplicate the excitement one has when they finally own something,” said a jubilant Joseph Landers.
Upon being at his campaign headquarters event, which one city worker remembered Jody from the 80’s when as a councilman he first got the man his city job, is was clear that those in attendance respected Jody for his sincere and loyal work with them in years past. “It’s a big difference when you are surrounded by so-called experts who draw up these fancy plans of what they think they can do as your next Mayor; rather than having someone like Jody who knows himself, exactly what it’s going to take to make the changes needed to get Baltimore back on track and financially stable,” said Ms. Greene, a community association President from Canton. “Running a City is a lot like running a business and most of those in the field for Mayor don’t know how to do either one efficiently, except Jody; that is why my community is supporting him!”
Team Landers has seemingly been everywhere throughout the City, yet many still question his field presence as most have not seen lit drops, canvassing operations or many signs from the upfront candidate. “Hassan, signs just came in last week and we are getting them up as we speak,” Jody told me per our conversation earlier this week. However, some analysts believe it may be too little, too late! “Essentially, we are in the third quarter of the game, and what you see from the campaigns now is probably what you’re going to see from them for the remainder of the game,” said Glover. “The Lander’s crew isn’t real impressive in terms of field operations, like that of Rolley or Pugh; so if he doesn’t step up his presence in the field, I don’t see him winning this thing on September 13th?”
Yet the strategy has been evident to me for some time now, the wait until towards the end of the game, push out plenty of direct mailers and flood the block with advertisements throughout media venues such as print, radio and television; cover as many of the 290 polls as possible on election day – and pray for the best? We’ll see if he can take advantage of the numerous amount of African American candidates in the race, and come out on top similar to that of an O’Malley victory in 1999? “Martin O’Malley he certainly is not; yet that is probably more a positive than a negative in this town,” said Glover, who will be appearing on WBAL TV11 this Sunday morning at 11:00A providing for Baltimore viewers his political analysis on the race – less than 60-days left til D-Day!
For more information on this article and more email me here, follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook, view ValueMyVote2011 candidate videos, polls, news and more, or browse services provided by GCOMM Media Co.
Comments