If Sheila Dixon is forced out of office then Stephanie Rawlings-Blake will become mayor. When the council presidency is vacated, it is the responsibility of the city council to elect a new president. Yesterday I mentioned that there has been little public speculation in the media about who the next city council president will be. I have a scenario that I want to share.
Two factors need to be taken into consideration when thinking about who the city council will select:
1. Who is liked by the O'Malley Political Machine?
2. The fact that a black woman was just kicked out of office.
With Sheila Dixon out of the way, the O'Malley machine will be fully in control again with Rawlings-Blake ruling over Baltimore. The council will want to select a person that will gain them favor with the new regime. Bernard "Jack" Young of the 12th district is the first name that pops into my head. It is no secret that the man desires a higher office and that he has a well-funded campaign war chest. Like many before him, he takes a lot of money from so-called developers. He gets his name into the paper more often than most on the council. I am not a big fan of his since he feels that he 'Deserves a raise", but I do believe that he will be the next City Council President of Baltimore. The O'Malley campaign has donated to the Young campaign in the past, so he is definitely part of the O'Malley sphere of influence.
Jim Kraft of the 1st district and Bill Cole of the 11th district are also part of the O'Malley machine. Since a black woman will have just been kicked out of office, it will not be politically prudent on anyone's part to vote for a white man to take over the council presidency. It is going to have to be a black person and Cole and Kraft are not black. Bill Cole and Jack Young also endorsed each other very early on in the 2007 campaign so I would assume they have an alliance of sorts and Cole would probably have to vote for Young. Jack Young has also been a member of the City Council much longer than Kraft or Cole so he would have the clear edge in the seniority factor. My scenario does not rule out Bill Cole running against Jack Young in 2011. I think that is highly unlikely though.
Once a council person is elected President of the council by his or her colleagues, a spot on the council immediately opens up and the council must elect a person to fill that vacancy. So if Jack Young becomes city council president then the city council must elect a new person to represent the 12th district. The former rising councilman would have a great influence over his colleagues on this decision. The council holds a public hearing on the matter and lets candidates talk for a few minutes about why the council should select them. This is basically just a show. The council knows who they are going to pick. They will take into account who the rising councilman recommends along with who can help them out the most politically. I was at one of these hearings in 2007 when the council selected Sharon Green Middleton to take the place of Stephanie Rawlings-Blake in the 6th district. Middleton is the wife of a very powerful union boss so she was unanimously selected.
At this point in time I do not know who in the 12th district would be the favored candidate or who else would take the time to appear and speak at a public hearing. One can expect candidates who have lost in the past to take interest in such an opening. Now if something totally unexpected and insane happened and Bill Cole was selected as council president then it would bring up a very interesting scenario for this blog. One does not have to file as a candidate for office to speak at a public hearing where the council will select a replacement council member. No campaign finance or regulatory rules would be broken if an active blogger tried to become 11th district representative this way. In theory I could continue to write this blog and talk about how I was going to apply for the 11th district vacancy. I can promise you that this scenario would provide an interesting and unprecedented series of events for the Baltimore political establishment. Since there is a very very slim chance that this could actually happen, I am not going to say what I would do leading up to that hearing and what I would say at that hearing, but if you have read what I have written on this blog over the years you can probably predict some of what would be said. Most applicants at such a hearing kiss the backsides of the council people in attendance, I think most of you know that I would take a different approach since there is no way in heck that they would ever select me :).
It's fun to talk about fantasy political scenarios (and I wish more people had the knowledge and desire to come up with them), but the cold hard facts point to Jack Young becoming the next Baltimore City Council President.
Comments
Anybody that has been watching the news lately is seeing the same ole scenario placed out with O'Malley. He is playing the Spendending scenario to the Tee. Glendening spent PG county into debt then the State. O'Malley spent B-more into debt now the State. Can we stand more years of mediocre city and state government. Time to clean house from top to bottom. Find new young thinking people with sound fiscal and fiduciary qualities. People who are not afraid to do a line by line examination of department budgets and cut the fat. No more Nepotism jobs for friends,relatives or cronies. Qualified people for the office who are not afraid to get do the right thing and not just for a photo-op. Someone who does not need a new vehicle every year to fit their ego. A MAYOR AND GOVERNOR THAT LEAD BY EXAMPLE AND NOT BY SHAM AND LIES. A CITY COUNCIL AND STATE LEGISLATORS THAT SEE THE BIG FINANCIAL PICTURE AND NOT THEIR POCKET BOOKS. THE RAINY DAY FUND IS LEAKING IN THE CITY AND STATE.
Mr.Meister:
Why would you say you are not a fan of mine for speaking the truth? Also an FYI I'm not a part of the O'Malley Machine.You should get to know me before judging me on one issue.
Jack
You've done nothing to fix the problems in this city!! Drop your HOPKINS job then we'll have a REAL conversation!!!
Perhaps Jack's voters like him, but I would not call him the most stable or grounded person. I just recall him yelling at someone in a public meeting that he was the person's councilman and the person should have called him instead of speaking in public. Not only not his constituent, not even close. And yet Jack would not let it go. Maybe it was just missed medication.
I think that he is an EXCELLENT choice for City Council President. I have seen so much take place in this city since he has been in office. I totally disagree with what you are saying totally. Where do you work and what do you do? Why must he get rid of his Hopkins job> What does that have to do with the issue UGH LET ME THINK NOTHING!!!!!
Yes, Councilman Young should become the next council president.
Go pay some dues, wait your turn, or do something in the city
that will cause us to say hey, lets elect this person even though
they are not council people,now. Get a life folks!
Learn how to say Council President Young! U 2 Ms Rossie Glennie
please put on your lipstick when you speak out.
str8t outta east-b-more my homie y not he is the man around town especially in east he will definetly clean up the city he knows where he came from and he is our go to man he is smart and down to earth and much respected we luv him so let him do him and dont be haten on him trust me the man is no dummy he work hard to improve this lost city give him a chance. we got ur back jack luv always hazel mack
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