Race, politics, sex and scandal

By Doni Glover,

www.bmorenews.com

(BALTIMORE – December 2, 2009) – Politics is the process of determining who gets what, when and where. Economics is the allocation of scarce resources. Hence, political economy is the study of the inter-relationship between politics and money, i.e. business.

On that note and in light of the devastating sequence of recent legal events surrounding the trial of Baltimore’s first woman mayor – who happens to be black – the interrelationship of politics and money once again arises.

Political scandal, sadly, is nothing new to Maryland politics. It is unfortunately a reality.

On Monday, April 26, 1954, TIME Magazine reported on the scandal involving Thomas Ludwig John “Tommy” D’Alesandro, Jr. and his involvement with Dominic Piracci, a contractor. At issue was the city’s garage building business, in which Piracci wielded much power.

Former Governor Marvin Mandel is another example of a politician getting caught up in ‘inappropriate behavior by a public official’. According to the Baltimore Sun’s website: “The negative highlight of Mandel’s governorship was his 1977 fraud conviction. He was found guilty on 17 counts of mail fraud and two counts of racketeering for allegedly accepting gifts and bribes from racetrack investors in return for his influence.” The track was Marlboro.

Such political scandals don’t stop here in Maryland. They happen all over, including the latest in Detroit with the city’s first “hip hop” mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, who will be forever known as the guy who was texting way too much information, and in Illinois with former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Blagojevich’s charges, according to the Chicago Tribune, include “Pocketing money funneled through his wife through a phony real estate job. Shaking down a powerful congressman. Running the state as a racket.” Further, this happened just after the nation elected its first black President … also from Illinois.

So, while there has been progress in American politics, it appears as though political meltdowns are still a part of political reality. And they transcend race, party and sex. As Lord Acton penned in a letter in 1877 to Bishop Mandell Creighton, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Such was the case yesterday as the media went buck wild crazy in Baltimore. Reporters and anchors alike were scrambling to catch juror number 3 and juror number 11 – both of whom are women.

Consequently, the public finally got a taste of what it must have been like to serve on such a jury as the one faced by Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon as she was ultimately found guilty on one count of fraudulent misappropriation by a fiduciary. The charge is spending $500 in gift cards. She could still serve as mayor for months to come.

The next trial, this time for perjury, is set for March.

ANALYSIS

According to a bmorenews.com poll, the majority voted correctly: 57% said she was guilty. 43% voted not guilty.

From an opinion standpoint, the trial was outrageous all the way around the board. Having been found guilty, it is clear that the Mayor failed to do the right thing. From the testimonies, former boyfriend and contractor Ron Lipscomb of Doracon used gifts to woo her. Given that Doracon does business with the city, he should have been smarter and had more respect for himself .. and women.

And the drama even goes on up the food chain to indict people like businessman and big time political donor John Paterakis with whom Lipscomb conducts business.

Another businessman and contractor involved was Pat Turner. Although he was not charged with any crime, his testimony ended up being the basis for the conviction against the Mayor. He said he sent her some gift cards in an unmarked envelope to her office at City Hall. The defense argued the Mayor didn’t know the wiser, and figured they were from Lipscomb since he had a pattern of sending unmarked gifts.

Interestingly, gift cards were found in the Mayor’s house in a raid one morning in the June of last year – along with items she purchased with gift cards, like a camcorder. By the way, the gift cards were supposed to be for needy children.

From another angle, the state prosecutor, Robert Rohrbaugh, has spent $2 million of tax payer dollars in the midst of the worst economic times when people are being furloughed and unemployed all to prove the Mayor clipped some gift cards. The total was under 2 grand.

On one hand, the argument from local leftist blacks is that Rohrbaugh is only after black Democratic elected officials – including Baltimore County Councilman Ken Oliver, Baltimore City Councilwoman Helen Holton, and Delegate Clarence “Tiger” Davis.

Others go deeper. Theirs is the prism of partisanship. They argue that Rohrbaugh is an appointee by former Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich, who became Maryland’s first Republican governor in 36 years in 2002 when he beat out Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (D). The thought is that Rohrbaugh is actually geared to take down – or at least maim or injure Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley (D) – so Ehrlich can win back the State House. (Boy, you gotta’ give it to those Republicans. They are relentless even in Maryland, a 2-to-1 Democratic state!)

After all, Ehrlich, who lost to Gov. O’Malley in 2006, is expected to re-run against him next year in 2010.

Finally, there are those who view this as a simple case of getting one’s hand caught in the cookie jar.

As for me, I don’t know. From U-Tech’s Mildred “Missy” Boyer’s indictment in 2006 to Dale Clarke’s indictment in 2007, this has been a 3-year sojourn through a field of crap. The word is that the Mayor’s sister (when the Mayor was City Council President) worked for Boyer and yet, Dixon was voting on contracts that would go to U-Tech. Clarke is a former boyfriend of Dixon’s and was said to have received a half-million dollars in contracts from the City on which he failed to file taxes. Coming in small increments of money, some suggest that Dixon could not have acted alone.

As a black man raised on the streets of Baltimore, I can see how some view this whole thing purely as a racial attack on black elected officials. However, I can also see where this is even more about what political party runs the State House. Yet, I can even fathom the notion of doing what you got to do so that your business can prosper – even at the expense of a political career … or two. It’s called “collateral damage.”

On the other hand, common sense suggests what my elders have always taught me: Because you are black, you have to be twice as good as the white guy, cross all your T’s and dot all your I’s. Therefore, you should know that you will be in the spotlight as an elected official no sooner than when the votes are tallied. You should know better.

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(BALTIMORE – November 22, 2009) – I was invited this morning to WBAL TV-11 (NBC) this morning to discuss the case of Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon. To say the least, it was a terribly uncomfortable conversation. To talk about a person’s future is not my favorite thing to do. However, as a political analyst, it comes with the job.

Hence, as WBAL’s Lisa Robinson proceeded with her line of questioning, the focus was on what will likely happen if the mayor emerges victoriously from the current trial and the perjury trial scheduled for the early part of next year.

“Can she be re-elected?”, asked Robinson.

My response: The mayor is a Christian and therefore knows that we “can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.” So, the answer is a definite yes. However, there will have to be some critical changes.

For one, the mayor will have to redefine herself. The operative term is “damage control.” And in order to do that, in my best estimation, is going back to the things which got her elected in the first place, i.e. re-hiring Anthony McCarthy.

An incredibly brilliant spokesperson, I personally believe that McCarthy has enough of an understanding of what the people need to hear and also a great knowledge of how to translate Mayor Dixon’s message of hope.

Currently, an unflattering picture of the mayor has been painted.

With that, there appears to be two camps – as noted in prior columns: one is die-hard supporters; the other is full of critics – unbound by racial innuendos and the victim mentality.

Hence, Mayor Dixon would have to make an effort to reconnect with the citizenry, beginning with the black community.

Robinson also alluded to Mayor-for-Life Marion Barry in the District of Columbia.

With first-hand knowledge of Barry, I can attest that he is accessible, he is aware of the needs of the people – beginning in Ward 8 in Southeast DC, and he is still known as a champion for their causes. He got people jobs, he made new black millionaires, and is the lone political power that helped build a Prince George’s County – the richest black jurisdiction in the nation.

Mayor Dixon, in my opinion, has not scratched the surface in that realm. Yes, black contractors have gotten richer, but very little can be said of new, emerging black business owners. From black funeral directors to beauty salons to barber shops, the mayor must let black business owners know that she has their back and that she is, in fact, in touch with their plight. FYI, these three industries are the last bastion of black economic prowess in the black community and are all under attack in some way, shape or form.

From conglomerates to powerful Korean-owned monopolies, black business owners have more than their share of challenges.

Even more, one glance at the Inner Harbor and I cannot readily identify one black-owned business in this a majority black city. Further, there is the case of Tyrone Taborn and the loss of his $10 million Black Engineer of the Year Awards convention that has been shifted to DC over $20,000 for display space. For some, that was an incredibly low blow that is without ample reason. How pathetic and disgraceful can we get?

Marion Barry would not have such. He makes it his business to keep the doors of these businesses open.

Speculation uptown is that more emphasis is placed by Mayor Dixon on the majority community. Again, to her credit, many supporters find the city being run with the precision of a Swiss clock.

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