Posts Tagged ‘Carl Stokes’

Everything has changed in the 12th district race

Posted by ameister on Wednesday, July 6th, 2011

On Sunday I received a robocall from Frank Richardson. Mr. Richardson is running for city council the 12th district. Carl Stokes currently represents the 12th district, and at the time we thought he was running for higher office. Since the seat appeared to be open there were six Democrats who had filed to run for the seat as of Sunday.  Carl Stokes is no longer running for mayor, he is running for his current seat in the 12th district! This is bad news for all the 12th district candidates who thought there would be no incumbent in their race. I do not think Stokes should have run for mayor, but I also thought it was time for new blood in the 12th. Stokes should have run for city council president.

Most of you know that I do not live in the 12th district so it is a little strange for me to receive a robocall that targeted “12th district citizens”.  I assume that a few candidates have realized that if they include me on their call list that they might end up with their name on my blog.

Richardson’s call talked about jobs and schools. He wished everyone a happy holiday weekend and said that he would be campaigning throughout the weekend.  I actually ran into Richardson last night and he had no clue who I was and was unaware of the stray robocall I received.

It is clear that Richardson is pretty serious about this campaign (he is spending money on robocalls very early).  It would have been a highly competitive race. Odette Ramos has had a few fundraisers and is sending out plenty of messages over the Internet, I keep seeing Jason Curtis signs in Mount Vernon, and Robert Stokes has the same last name as the current office holder. That last point is pretty pathetic, but in Baltimore it works.  Good luck to every candidate.  Concilman Stokes entry into the race is a depressing thought for those who want change in Baltimore. The hard campaigning newbies are going to have to campaign a lot harder now.  If Stokes can be toppled then it will be a major upset and speak volumes about the mindset of the people of the 12th District.

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Baltimore is close to having its first Latino city councilperson

Posted by ameister on Friday, April 1st, 2011

In 2010 and 2009 I wrote about a yearly party I attended that was filled with local political people. The host of this legendary party was Odette Ramos. On Saturday she hosted the 2011 version of this party. I arrived late and found out that Odette Ramos may run for the soon to be open City Council seat in the 12th district. Carl Stokes is the current representative in the 12th and he will be running for mayor.

Odette is currently the President and CEO of Strategic Management Consulting.  Since her parties were always filled with people who were familiar with the Baltimore political scene I always thought that she would run for office one day. In 2007 she was a very visible member of Terry Hickey’s 10th district city council campaign (I have been informed that this year Hickey will be Bill Cole’s campaign treasurer! Now that is a story for another time…).

If Odette makes it official then you can expect a lot of stories about her being the first Latina to make a “serious” run for city council. One can expect her to receive many prominent endorsements and support from all corners of Baltimore. if she wins she will be Baltimore’s first Hispanic City Councilperson.  There is some irony in all this. Right now the local media is talking about how Latinos will be hurt by City Council redistricting yet if Odette Ramos runs for City Council then this will be the closest a Latino person has ever been to attaining a seat in Baltimore’s City Council.

The 12th district race will not be an easy one. There is a man named Robert Stokes (not related to Carl Stokes) who may run for the 12th district seat. Stokes seems to be cut from the “traditional” Baltimore political mold. He will use his last name to gain votes and according to this old City Paper article there have serious questions about where Stokes really lives :

“Robert Stokes says that where the candidates live shouldn’t be an issue, and lists a 13th District address on Elmora Avenue with the Maryland State Board of Elections. Last year, when he was running for the House of Delegates, his campaign made payments to Stokes at a downtown apartment.”

I guess that will qualify him for a Conaway endorsement…

So while the other media outlets talk about how Hispanic people have been dealt an unfair blow by redistricting, I am here to inform you about the very real possibility of Baltimore electing its first Hispanic City Councilperson. There goes the redistricting lawsuit.

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Mayoral candidates talk about major property tax cuts while the current administration sends out late and flawed calendars

Posted by ameister on Friday, March 11th, 2011

Last Thursday I received the 2011 Baltimore City Public Works Calendar in the mail. One sixth of the year has already passed, but the city felt that we all needed a tax payer funded paper calendar.  I have always liked the  calendar, but I understand that in tight economic times we need to cut some projects. I have no idea why they decided to keep the calendar and why they sent it out two months late. If there were delays they should have rolled with the punches and told everyone to go online if they needed a DPW calender.

DPW is not exactly known for being efficient.

Not only is the calender late and a waste of money, it also has two major errors in it. There are blank spaces where April 26th and 29th should be. It is hard to believe that they could not have proofread this thing. It is not like they were in a rush to get it out.

In order for this city to be prosperous our leaders are going have to get rid of wasteful projects and positions and return the money saved from the elimination of these things to the tax payers in the form of property tax cuts. City Councilman Carl Stokes brought property taxes back into the spotlight with his most recent proposal in front of the City Council. Stokes wants to bring down the city tax rate to $1.10 per $100 by fiscal 2017. That is the same rate as Baltimore County. His proposal is very similar to the Walters/Miserendino plan. Stokes should have brought this up a year ago when he rejoined the city council. It is pretty obvious that he is talking about this now in order to bring attention to his mayoral bid. Since it is a very worthy issue I am not going to complain.

The following embarrassing quote is from soon to be retired second district councilman Nick D’Adamo:

“If you believe in the Tooth Fairy, you’ll believe in Carl Stokes’s plan”

D’Adamo should retire now. It will be a great day for Baltimore when do-nothing anti-innovative attitudes like his are gone from city council. Please go far away soon Nick.

It is important to note that Otis Rolley also wants to drastically cut property taxes. The Mayor seems to be the only mayoral candidate who does not want to think outside of the box and give major property tax reform a try.

I found the following property tax/election related quote on the Baltimore Sun message board:

“Baltimore needs a political enema, an outsider and Rolley is the closest viable candidate so far on the horizon – he’s educated, not from here, has a modern view of economics and development/planning, he’s black… Stokes has run before and we know what he has (and hasn’t). He’s a member of the machine here.”

Baltimore needs a political enema… so true!

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I received my second Bernstein mailing of the week

Posted by ameister on Friday, August 27th, 2010

Who else received a Gregg Bernstein “Making our streets safer starts with CONVICTING VIOLENT CRIMINALS and then SENDING THEM TO JAIL” full color 8.5×22 inch folded over flyer in the mail today? This is the second Bernstein mailing I have received this week.

On Tuesday I was mailed a Gregg Bernstein “Criminals in Baltimore are getting away with MURDER” full color 8.5×22 inch folded over flyer.

“We can’t fight crime if we let violent criminals get away with murder”

He is using his financial advantage for a marketing version of “Shock and Awe” in Baltimore. I assume he sent the mailings to every Democrat “super voter” in Baltimore. A Democrat super voter is a registered democrat who has voted in the last 3 Democratic primaries (2004, 2006, and 2008).

While the Bernstein campaign was marketing itself and spreading the truth about the Jessamy regime to Baltimore, the Jessamy campaign was listing its tired list of machine politicians who support her. Here is the list. You should never vote for any of those people:

““Patricia Jessamy is a public servant we can be proud of. Pat doesn’t make decisions based on popular opinion or whichever way the wind is blowing. She follows the law and her goal is to keep the public safe and informed. In the race for Baltimore State’s Attorney the choice couldn’t be any clearer to me. Patricia Jessamy is experienced, tested and tough – all the qualities we need in a prosecutor.”
—Carl Stokes, Baltimore City Council, 14th District”

Anyone else catch the problem with the above statement? Stokes represents the 12th district, not the 14th!

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Vacated 12th District City Council seat hearing

Posted by ameister on Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

Today at 5PM “The Vacancy Nominating Committee for the Baltimore City Council” will hold a public hearing at City Hall in the Du Burns Council Chamber. This “public interview” is required by law and it will help determine who the council will select to fill the empty 12th district seat that Council President Jack Young formerly occupied. More information about this hearing can be found on the front page of the Baltimore City Council site. I checked the site early last week and saw no mention of this hearing, but when I checked this weekend it was up. I was caught a little off guard (I thought I would have more time to prepare) and I probably will only be able to attend part of the hearing because of a previous commitment. All eyewitness accounts of the event are welcome. Email them here.

The City Paper gives a good rundown of who is interested in the seat. It would be nice if the city posted applicants’ names online as they receive their applications. I have heard the following people have interest: Carl Stokes, Aaron Keith Wilkes, Ertha Harris, Frank Richardson, Robert Stokes, and Pam Carter.

I sent out the following email to all of the above names except Robert Stokes and Pam Carter (I do not have their email addresses, please spread the word to them if you know them):

“I want to give every one of you the opportunity to write about why you think you should represent the 12th district. It can be as long as you want. I will dedicate a post to every one of you who wants to participate. I am trying to post them before the hearing on Tuesday at 5PM. The sooner you send them to me, the sooner they will be posted.”

I have yet to receive a reply.

Carl Stokes is the “favorite” because he has served on city council in the past and he ran for mayor in 1999.  He is definitely part of the political machine and the council loves to stick with known commodities and the status quo.  There are members of the current council who are friends with him. They are all about selecting one of their own over a fresh outsider. If one member of the City Council stands up and votes for an outsider then it will be newsworthy. These things are usually very predictable.

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