Baltimore.
But the crowd was not entirely disappointed, as the three top contenders in the Democratic primary for the City Council presidency squared off over the mayor’s policing tactics, funding for schools and the city’s high student dropout rate.
Council President Sheila Dixon urged voters to re-elect her to continue the progress the city has been making under her alliance with O’Malley. But she suggested that she would change the administration’s direction slightly by reducing funding for law enforcement in favor of more money for public schools.
“We can’t continue to build jails, and put money into crime; it’s got to go to education. We’ve got to have prevention programs,” Dixon said.
Former City Councilman Carl Stokes, who wants Dixon’s job, delivered a ferocious attack on the record of O’Malley and Dixon. He blasted the City Council as a “rubber stamp” for O’Malley, and for approving cuts in social services and instituting a policing system that he says harasses young people while failing to stop homicides.
“What has been happening the last four years in City Hall is that they have been closing recreation centers, closing libraries. We have not looked after our children in City Hall,” Stokes said. “We should not be paying more attention to downtown and the Inner Harbor than the classrooms.”
City Councilwoman Catherine E. Pugh, also running for president, boasted of her record of organizing the Fish Out of Water public art exhibit, the Baltimore Marathon
and raising more than $1 million for education and charity.
She said she also wants to focus more of the city’s attention on education. One measure that she said would help would be raising the age of mandatory school attendance from 16 to 18.
“When we have 16-year-olds dropping out of our schools, when 76 percent of our African-American male students do not finish school, we know that this city has issues that need to be addressed,” Pugh said.
In the mayoral debate, challenger Andrey Bundley, Walbrook High School principal, received a torrent of applause and laughter when he gestured to an empty podium next to him, nodding and saying, “Good evening to you, Mr. Mayor.”
He paused, then added, “Oh, he’s not here. He must be somewhere playing the banjo or guitar or something.”
A. Robert Kaufman, the other contender present, said of O’Malley, “He figures he doesn’t need you. He’s got all of the money to buy the election.”
Bundley said the city’s top priority should be to raise funding for education, which he said O’Malley has neglected in favor of law enforcement.
“We have to increase the dollars for education,” Bundley said. “Twenty-two cents of every dollar we spend goes into public safety. One cent goes into recreation. And 14 cents goes into education. Are we looking to educate our children, or are we looking to incarcerate our children?”
The program in the university’s Langsdale Auditorium was sponsored by the Youth Empowerment Movement, a coalition of about a dozen politically progressive youth oganizations in the city.
Farajii R. Muhammad, coordinator of the event, said the purpose was to educate 16- and 17-year-olds — as well as other young people — who will be voting for the first time in September.
Because of the refusal of the state legislature this spring to approve a primary date close to the city’s November 2004 general election, voters as young as 16 can vote in the primary if they will turn 18 by the general election.
Muhammad said he had invited the mayor, and was disappointed that O’Malley did not show up.
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“He had originally confirmed with us, but then we were told he had a scheduling conflict,” said Muhammad, 24. “There is a lack of communication between City Hall and young people in general in this city. It would have been to his benefit for him to have been here tonight.”
O’Malley said before the event that he was planning to be out last night walking the streets of the city’s west side, campaigning door to door.
“I didn’t know about it,” O’Malley said of the forum. “I’ll be out knocking on doors, as I was last night. I’ll probably do a debate at some point — I’m inclined to do a debate or two. It depends on who else shows up.”
Kimberlin Love, spokeswoman for O’Malley’s campaign, said the mayor is committed to attending the League of Women Voters candidates forum scheduled from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Aug. 27 at Western High School.
“Forums don’t vote, people do,” Love said. “And the mayor wants to be out connecting with the people of the city.”
<!– ART CREDITGENE SWEENEY JR. : SUN STAFF
ART CREDIT–> <!– CUTLINE TEXTMayoral candidates Andrey Bundley (left) and A. Robert Kaufman debate at the University of Baltimore.
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