The Baltimore City Council has a job opening ? no experience necessary.
For an aspiring politician who wants take a crack at filling the Sixth District seat previously occupied by City Council President Stephanie Rawlings Blake, the list of the qualifications are short, said Jennifer Coates, head of Counsel Services.
“You must be a resident of the Sixth District for at least a year,” she said.
Applicants also must be a U.S. citizen, 21 years of age and a registered voter.
Once they?ve applied, applicants face a public interview by the newly formed Vacancy Committee, made up of the all the current chairs of council committees and headed by Rawlings Blake. The committee interviews are conducted in council chambers and televised on the city?s public access cable channel.
After the interview process, it?s up to the committee to select and vote on a candidate, who will then be presented the full City Council for a vote. The nominee will need at least eight votes, a majority, to win the seat.
While the council just released the guidelines for applying, that hasn?t stopped several people from adding their names to the list already.
“We have four candidates thus far,” Coates said Monday.
Israel Cason is among the early applicants. The founder of “I Can?t, We Can” drug treatment center in Lower Park Heights, Carson said he will run for the position in the fall even if he isn?t selected now. Another early applicant, Charese Williams, a Patterson high school teacher, said she was prompted to apply after a second-place finish to Rawlings Blake in the 2003 election.
“I?m trying to finish what I began,” she said. “Because I put in so much time already trying to get elected, I feel I?m qualified.”
Regardless of the number of applicants, Coates said, the committee is on a tight deadline.
“They have to report back to the city council by Feb. 21 no matter how many people apply,” she said.
