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Can I Say I Told You So Now?
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(photo: official photo of Mayor Sheila Dixon - City of Baltimore)
One of the really cool things about writing this column is the freedom that I have to get on my soapbox from time to time. Welcome to my soapbox for Thursday, June 19th 2008.
Ten years ago I began a campaign for the office of the President of the Baltimore City Council. In that campaign I presented ideas on education reform that garnered the endorsement of the Baltimore City Paper. I eventually won the Republican nomination and faced Sheila Dixon in the general election in 1999 where I was trounced by a margin of 85 to 15…not bad for a Republican in Baltimore City but not close enough to really matter.
In 1999, I described Mayor Dixon in the following manner:
"Sheila Dixon is like Newt Gingrich. People were fine with him when he was throwing Molotov’s from the back row. But as he proved, you can't do that and lead a legislative body...Dixon has been part of the problem here. She's been playing politics for 12 years while the city has slid downhill. I don't think there's anybody in her district [the 4th] who can say they're better off now than they were 12 years ago."
In politics it is assumed that the candidate thinks they are correct most of the time; however, a mark of a good leader is that they recognize that they do not have all of the answers by virtue of their elected office. An effective leader should be able to bring diverse opinions to the table, synthesize them and develop a solution to accomplish the policy objective. I noted an air of arrogance and entitlement in my opponent during that campaign and, unfortunately, Mayor Dixon has not been able to fulfill her promise because knows she is right…all of the time.
The arrogance of power and ethical lapses are not new to Baltimore City Hall. One would have hoped that with over twenty years of elected service to the citizens of Baltimore that Dixon would have avoided the mistakes of her predecessors and made better choices in her public life. It is sad testament to the legal troubles of Mayor Dixon that the last paragraph of the City Paper endorsement for City Council President, written nine years ago, would be true today:
“We may have endorsed O'Malley for mayor, but that doesn't mean we want the City Council to roll over meekly for him, as it has for Schmoke. The city needs a council president who will encourage rather than stifle vigorous debate about administration policy and serve as a check on the mayor-controlled Board of Estimates. History indicates that Sheila Dixon will not be that person.”
Enough said…
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