Reservoir Hill community activist Adam Meister is banking his political future on a gamble.
He?s betting that current City Council member Keiffer Jackson Mitchell, D-District 11, is destined for bigger and better things.
“I anticipate he will run for either mayor or City Council president,” said Meister,30, who is the president of his Linden Avenue block in Baltimore. “Keiffer Mitchell is currently the best name that?s out there. He?s my rep and he?s a good rep.”
If Mitchell ? who has not publicly stated that he intends to run for higher office ? should advance to either job, Meister said he is eager to fill his seat.
Mitchell did not return a call for comment by press time.
Meister, a Web business founder, said he is running for the seat as a Democrat.
“I?m a big fan of Baltimore City and trying to make it a better place,” he said.
Meister gained attention for his work trying to get young Baltimoreans to buy a block in need of renovation.
Called “Rybbys,” which stands for Risk-Taking Young Baltimorean, Meister and other citizens bought 13 houses on a block in an attempt to help contribute to the improvement of Reservoir Hill.
“I?ve been getting young people around my age to move to houses in not the most perfect of areas,” he said. “There are a lot of people who are risk takers.”
Meister grew up in Reisterstown and his family has lived in the Baltimore area for four generations. He graduated from Friends School in 1994 and Washington University in St. Louis in 1998, and worked in the Internet industry in both New York and Silicon Valley before moving back to Baltimore in 2001.
His brother, Craig Meister, is a former Baltimore Examiner reporter.
Adam Meister said his top issues are making sure his district is clean, safe and housing is affordable.
Meister and other Reservoir Hill residents clean up their alleys on the weekend, throwing as much trash as possible into a city trash truck.
“I?ve tried to help from the outside,” he said, “but you?ve got to be on the inside to really make an impact.”
