The Politics Meister

Joan Pratt is a name to keep an eye on. Although she has done little as Comptroller since 1995, her name is known and she is definitely part of the Bethel AME political machine/establishment that Dixon is part of. Her name has been mentioned as a candidate for Mayor in the past and with fellow Bethel AME’er Dixon out of the way she could run and get the full support of the church.

A lot of people talk about how the four highest elected positions in Baltimore are held by women.   Since 1995 Joan Pratt has served in one of those positions as comptroller of Baltimore.  The comptroller oversees city audits and real estate transactions.   Since she has been elected four times to this position one would assume that the Baltimore bureaucracy has become more financially efficient and accountable since 1995.  Of course this is Baltimore and once you become an incumbent you are basically guaranteed victory because people “know your name” so it does not matter if you really do your job or not.  Since Pratt has served in a citywide position for many years her name came up as a possible candidate for mayor in 2007.  But why? What has she done?  She is a member of Bethel AME church and in Baltimore that is just as good as actually doing your job.  She used to have a profile on the Bethel AME site.

Pratt does not even have to run against other candidates anymore. In 2007 she ran unopposed. For some reason others are unwilling to even try and run against her.  Here is an interesting City Paper article about her from 2007.

The Bethel AME Joan Pratt profile has a tidbit that caught my eye in it:

“Comptroller Pratt’s further responsibilities include serving as chairman of the Employees’ Retirement System, City of Baltimore, Maryland, the Elected Officials’ Retirement System, and Trustee of the Fire and Police Employees’ Retirement System, whose pensions are collectively valued at more than $1.3 billion.”

That quote made me think back to this disturbing article from 2007: City faces $2.9 billion gap in retiree health benefits.

In these times of economic uncertainty we really need Comptroller Joan Pratt to step up and challenge the way things work economically in Baltimore. Her high position gives her the power and the legitimacy to question government spending, taxes, and just about every budgetary aspect of Baltimore. I do not see any type of proactive directives coming from the office of the comptroller, it is rare to hear anything from her.

It is interesting to note that the accounting firm of Joan Pratt & Associates is still very much a legitimately functioning business. One wonders how the comptroller of a major city has time to be associated with a private business while the city is in the state it is in. Although it is not legally wrong to have other business interests while you hold an elected position, I feel it is a slap in the faces of the citizens of Baltimore to not fully commit oneself to such an important job as comptroller.