Tune in to the Anthony McCarthy Show on WEAA 88.9 FM at 5:30PM. I will be a guest on the show. We are going to talk about the ongoing “campaign” for the city council presidency.
Bill Cole may become a better City Council President than Jack Young, but city council members have made it clear that for whatever reasons ten of them support Young and four of them support Cole. Once the current Council President becomes mayor it will be up to the City Council to select their next president. If everyone is being honest then there really isn’t anything ethical that should be able to change any of their minds in the next two weeks. They know these two men very well.
Rumors are floating around about Martin O’Malley and Stephanie Rawlings-Blake trying to "influence" council members to support Cole. Cole and Rawlings-Blake are both part of the powerful Martin O’Malley political machine. Investigative Voice reported that "Colleen Martin-Lauer, chief fundraiser for Gov. O’Malley… is said to be foremost among gubernatorial aides “working overtime” to shift votes from Councilman Young to Cole."
We are getting into nebulous territory here. How does a fundraiser gain the votes of council members? Does she promise future campaign contributions? The Sun reports that "…behind the scenes, developers, business leaders and political leaders – including Rawlings-Blake herself – have launched a broad effort to persuade council members to back Councilman William H. Cole IV instead, council members say."
This is becoming shady and it is only going to tarnish the reputations of those involved including soon to be Mayor Rawlings-Blake. Baltimore is tired of the backroom deals, developers influencing important decisions, and potential bribery. It will be an embarrassing situation if Cole suddenly has a majority of votes. People are going to wonder if the council-people who changed their minds were influenced by potential developer political contributions.
If Bill Cole wants to be City Council President then he should let the people decide in 2011 and run against Young then. I advise him to step out of the current race so that the citizens can be sure that no back room deals are being made, that transparency will at least be respected in the next administration, and that the O’Malley machine does not control Baltimore.
Adam is the most recognizable face of the recent resurgence in Reservoir Hill. He has appeared on many national and local radio shows, in several news publications, and at numerous events discussing his innovative urban redevelopment ideas and his unique lifestyle. Adam is a successful entrepreneur, community activist, and a local political guru who ran for city council in 2007. He is the founder and director of the TechBalt.com Buy a Block Project and BaltimoreHourly.com. His fearless local political commentary has rocked the local blog scene for most of this decade and he plans to take it to the next level in the next decade here on Charm City Current.