Baltimore City Clerk of the Court Frank Conaway Sr. has formally declared his candidacy for mayor, statingthat Baltimore City needs a change in leadership.
“For too many years we?ve buried our heads in the sand as the city has fallen apart around us,” Conaway said in a statement released Tuesday.
Conaway, a Democrat who has run for mayor twice before, said he does not need the minimum $500,000 that experts say is necessary to run a citywide mayoral campaign. “I can run a very credible campaign with $200,000, ” he said.
Conaway said one of his primary issues, if elected, will be public safety.
“Community policing is the major thing; that is what we don?t have here,” he said. “And we can?t have politicians running the department; we need to let police officers do that.”
“The citizens are entitled to true crime figures, and they haven?t been getting them,” he added.
Conaway has been clerk of the Baltimore Court since 1998. He was just re-elected without any opposition. He served as a state delegate for the 41st District from 1979 to 1983, a seat his son Frank Conaway Jr. now holds. Conaway?s daughter, Belinda Conaway, represents the 7th District in the City Council. His wife, Mary Conaway, the city?s longtime register of wills, also was re-elected this month.
Frank Conaway said his fundraising will begin soon. “I?m going to start next month,” he said.
