For Baltimore, 2007 will inarguably be the year of Sheila Dixon.
How the city will fare largely depends on how effectively the City Council president serves out the term of her predecessor, Gov.-elect Martin O?Malley.
The first woman to assume the mayoralty, Dixon comes with baggage as well as promise. She takes charge of a city with a budget surplus and a seemingly friendly partner in Annapolis, O?Malley. If Stephanie Rawlings Blake assumes the presidency of the City Council as insiders predict, Dixon will have another friend in a key post with whom she has worked well in the past.
But there are problems, both past and present, that may pose serious challenges for Dixon?s administration.
The Utech scandal is not over. State prosecutors have handed down 10 indictments against Mildred Boyer, the president of the company that employed Dixon?s sister, Janice. Boyer has been charged with selling fraudulent city invoices for cash advances.
Dixon also faces the prospect of overseeing a police department that has been embroiled in controversy over some of its policies, including its inability to stem a still-rising homicide rate and controversial arrests that a joint American Civil Liberties Union and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People lawsuit charges are both illegal and unconstitutional.
Even if Dixon does not stumble, a crowded and perhaps contested mayoral race is still likely. Clerk of the Court Frank Conaway, City Comptroller Joan Pratt, former principal Andre Bundley and state Delegate Jill Carter, D-District 41, already have declared themselves candidates. Waiting in the wings are City Council members Kenneth Harris, Keiffer Jackson Mitchell and Mary Pat Clarke.
Former Delegate Kweisi Mfume?s ambivalence and star power may be keeping even more contenders on the sidelines, including City State?s Attorney Patricia Jessamy.
But all the political maneuvering will be irrelevantif the Dixon administration proves both resilient and effective.
