Sheila Dixon is on her way to becoming a great mayor, and no one is more surprised than I am.
She is the sixth mayor since the race riots transformed Baltimore 40 years ago. Thomas J. D’Alesandro III, the incumbent at the time (and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s brother), quit politics after the bloody convulsions. His successor was William Donald Schaefer, who tried to stem the city’s loss of white middle-class and economic muscle to the surrounding counties. After serving four terms, he ran for governor and was followed by Clarence “Du” Burns, a caretaker who became the first African-American mayor by default.
Kurt L. Schmoke then followed. The first elected black mayor had a winning smile. During his three terms, Baltimore stumbled on while other cities thrived. When Schmoke retired to academia, Martin O’Malley scored an upset victory. Under him, the city began making up for lost time. When O’Malley was elected governor, Dixon stepped in, being next in line. She won her own term a year ago.
Dixon, first elected to the City Council in 1987, came in with a lot of baggage. Part was due to her inexact use of the English language, which often muddled her message. In 1991, her message appeared clear, however. Waving her shoe at white City Council colleagues, she yelled, “You’ve been running things for the last 20 years. Now the shoe is on the other foot.”
After Dixon took over from O’Malley, she quickly won over many skeptics. She appointed solid leaders to key positions, she pursued good programs. She has kept delivering, endorsing Barack Obama for president, while O’Malley went with Hillary Clinton. More important, she has kept the city on a steady course toward improvement, seemingly unruffled by a federal prosecutor’s fishing expedition into some not-so-smart things she has involved herself in.
Dixon is exactly the kind of mayor Baltimore needs at a tough time like this. A champion of mass transit, she is a strong advocate for the Red Line, which would run from Woodlawn to Canton. She promotes bikeways, parks and walking trails, which are likely to become increasingly important amenities as high gasoline prices persist and inflation soars.
“This mayor deserves much credit,” says Mark Sissman, a former deputy housing commissioner who heads Healthy Neighborhoods Inc.
Because of its high visibility, Dixon’s aggressive street repaving program is particularly significant. Last year, the city repaved 150 lane miles, including sewer improvements. This year’s goal is 200 miles. I have never seen this much repaving in my four decades in Baltimore.
Repaving is important because in a glutted housing market, the city must be able to tout its advantages. Under a program started by O’Malley, key gateways have been made appealing. A median has been returned to Fulton Avenue and Harford Road. York Road has been repaved. Smooth roadways send a signal to homebuyers that they get a return for their high taxes.
My favorite example involves Garrison Boulevard. In recent years, Forest Park has had more than its share of group homes and halfway houses in old ramshackle, wooden buildings that are difficult to keep in shape. Yet considerable reinvestment is going into the storied neighborhood whose past residents run the gamut from Mama Cass to Benjamin Cardin to Spiro T. Agnew.
During the past year, largely under the radar screen of public awareness, new upscale homes have been built on Garrison Boulevard. More investment is to come. Across from the Forest Park library, Wayland Baptist Church will construct a 90-unit senior village. Meanwhile, homeowners have been sprucing up side streets.
Does Forest Park have problems? Hell, yes. But with the city’s infrastructure support, this vital neighborhood has a real chance on long-overdue revitalization.
Antero Pietila is writing a book about how bigotry shaped Baltimore between 1910 and 1975. His e-mail address is [email protected].
