Baltimore City residents aren?t the only ones with interests in today?s mayoral primary.
“Regions that do well have a strong, central hub, like Baltimore City. The success of the city isimportant to the region as well,” Greater Baltimore Committee President and Chief Executive Officer Donald Fry said.
Officials in the five counties surrounding the city are eyeing the elections to see if they bring change to crime, education and transportation problems in Baltimore City that are affecting the entire region.
Baltimore County Councilman Kevin Kamenetz said mayoral front-runners incumbent Sheila Dixon and challenger Keiffer Mitchell are experienced, but the new city government will need to translate that experience into its operations.
“I think they need to ensure they have effective management of their resources ? [Baltimore County] does well on that front,” he said. “Being fiscally well-managed is an important goal for the city.”
Anne Arundel County Council Chairman Ronald Dillon Jr. said Baltimore City?s crime directly affects his county and district, which borders the city.
“I doesn?t appear to be getting better,” he said. “The city and the county deal with each, and at least we have a pretty good relationship on that end.”
Crime appears to be the prevailing issue among regional leaders, as Baltimore City?s homicide rate steadily continues to rise.
“Baltimore City?s problem is going out to the counties,” said Harford County Councilman Dion Guthrie, who represents the Edgewood area recently plagued by violent crime.
“They really need to get ahold of it to help out the counties.”
Transportation is another regional issue, as many suburbanites trek to downtown Baltimore City for work.
“Two-thirds of [Howard County?s] work force commutes outside the county of work, so we want to see how these leaders will deal with transportation corridors,” Howard County Council Chairman Calvin Ball said. “We get the biggest bang for our buck by working regionally, so we need someone with a regional perspective.”
Only one of the five Baltimore metropolitan county executives ? Anne Arundel?s John R. Leopold ? returned calls for comment. Leopold said through a spokeswoman he had no comment on the elections or its impact.
