By Sean Yoes
AFRO Baltimore Editor
syoes@afro.com
During a mayoral debate broadcast live on Facebook, May 11, six mayoral candidates, former Mayor Sheila Dixon, former Baltimore Police spokesman T.J. Smith, former Obama administration official Mary Miller, Mayor Bernard “Jack” Young, former State Prosecutor Thiru Vignarajah and Baltimore City Council President Brandon Scott, grappled over some issues that have bedeviled the city for decades.
The debate, sponsored by the Baltimore branch of the NAACP and the AFRO American Newspapers featured questions from the moderators Ashiah Parker and Farajii Muhammad, as well as from Facebook users. With less than a month to go before the Democratic Primary on June 2, many of the questions were viewed through the lens of the nation’s ubiquitous COVID-19 crisis. The city’s response to the burgeoning pandemic sparked a rapid fire exchange between Dixon, Miller and Young, that set the often fractious tone for the evening.
Six Baltimore mayoral candidates squared off during a debate sponsored by the AFRO and the NAACP. They are: (left to right) Sheila Dixon, Bernard “Jack” Young, Brandon Scott, Thiru Vignarajah, Mary Miller and T.J. Smith. (Courtesy Photos)
“COVID 19 only showed others we had a crisis in our health. But, we knew we had a crisis with our health,” said Dixon. We have many great institutions in Baltimore… but, when it comes to the African-American community we still have to find a way to provide testing for them.”
“Let’s not miss the opportunity during COVID-19 to do some good things in Baltimore,” said Miller.
“I’m glad to know that they are talking about what I’m already doing,” Young quipped after Miller.
“We are not providing testing for citizens of Baltimore unless you have a physician’s referral. So that has to open up tremendously,” added Dixon.
Last month marked five years since the death of Freddie Gray, the Uprising. The subsequent consent decree administered by the U.S. Department of Justice was also a subject of the debate.
“A lot of what has happened over the years has come from poor training. But, we have to change the culture of corruption in city government period,” said Smith, a claim Dixon seemed to take personally.
“I need to rebut based on some misinformation. It was under my administration that we not only reduced crime but we also reduced police overtime,” Dixon fired back.
“TJ was working for one of the police commissioners at the time, Kevin Davis.”
“Thank you for admitting the Gun Trace Task Force started under your administration,” Smith shot back.
Yes, when you were double dipping in Anne Arundel County and Baltimore City,” said Dixon regarding Smith’s work in law enforcement in the two jurisdictions. The debate then shifted to the alleged $42 million budget deficit triggered by the onslaught of COVID-19.
“We have to continue to market our city…this is still a great place to start small businesses. We have to give them every opportunity to succeed,” said Smith.
“We have to do the tough work of assessing every single agency top to bottom,” Scott said.
“We know there is so much inefficiency and ineffectiveness that is preventing Baltimore from growing,” he added. That’s when Dixon seized upon Scott’s position on changing the configuration of the Board of Estimates.
“You didn’t support it then, but now you support it,” Dixon said. “We tend to want to be opportunists instead of dealing with the facts.”
“It’s not about Brandon Scott, it’s about making sure we have the best system for Baltimore. This is about building a better government structure,” Scott said.
The debate then moved to what some characterize as the outsized influence of the business community on city governance.
Miller said she would establish the position of Deputy Mayor of Equity and Inclusion. “It’s time to look at the whole process of our taxing system. We have a very inequitable way of driving growth and I’m tired of it,” she said. “We should not make it hard to be a small business in Baltimore and we do. We have got to completely change the way we do business in Baltimore because it has been completely inequitable…it can not be business as usual. But if we elect the same old leadership, we’ll get the same old results,” Miller added before reflecting on her time in the federal government as an official in the Treasury Department under President Obama.
“When I was in the federal government…we walked the streets of East Baltimore to talk about remedies. I begged the city to apply for a grant they chose not to apply for,” Miller said before Dixon jumped back into the fray.
“I definitely have to rebut that,” she said. “We worked on East Baltimore with Hopkins and Casey…way before Obama became president. So, I don’t know when you walked that area. It’s interesting you say you walked the streets but I’d like to know when.”
