City Council President Race

The Baltimore Sun has shown a rare inkling of independent thought. Deviating from its knee jerk support of all things O’Malley, the Sun has endorsed Michael Sarbanes for City Council President. O’Malley endorsed Sarbanes’ opponent Stephanie Rawlings-Blake back in July. Rawlings-Blake is also running on a ticket with Shelia “The Shoe” Dixon. The race is a tight one, a near tie.

I’m not in the habit of supporting Democrats, especially the scion of a Democratic pol who is partly responsible for the system of patronage that is Baltimore politics. However, Sarbanes is much better alternative than Rawlings-Blake. Rawlings-Blake is part of the inept dysfunctional O’Malley/Dixon machine and she hasn’t shown that she will do anything to make things better.

Rawlings-Blake can also be downright patronizing. A few months ago on the WBAL’s The Rob Douglas Show (no longer on air), Rawlings-Blake said school choice was “a backup plan… a philosophical discussion not necessarily something you have to think about because you do not have quality schools.” In the same interview, she trumpeted new BCPSS CEO Andres Alonso who had nothing but praise for Cuba’s educational system.

How can a philosophical discussion be something you do not have to think about?
(Yes, I just ended a sentence with a preposition so deal with it.)

Furthermore, as a parent I am offended that Rawlings-Blake thinks that she and the educrats on North Ave. know what is better for a child’s education then parents do! It is awfully patronizing of her to suggest so. However, it is edifying to know that a candidate for elected office considers citizens exercising free will to make their own choices as a “backup plan”. I guess that the interim Council President does not know that we do not have quality schools in Baltimore. Okay maybe a handful at most, but they are the exception that proves the rule. Her answer is to replace one bureaucrat with another and tell us not to think about it because she knows what is best for us.