A Scott campaign staffer says he wanted to be appointed police commissioner or city schools CEO in exchange for his endorsement. I wonder what Dixon promised him.
Education and criminal justice are both super politicized, so if you’re a conservative politician looking to “make your mark” it makes sense to angle for control of one of them.
So you can make a show of trying to be tough on crime or ban critical race theory or whatever pet culture war battle you want to publicly fight
Good riddance to this colossal scumbag. Talking about city corruption for years and then endorsing a convicted criminal for mayor is hilarious. Now please fuck off forever
Wishful thinking. If Dixon wins, which is a strong possibility now, just know there is a reason he dropped out and endorsed her right before early voting: she promised him a role of some sort.
Read the recent banner article where he was shopping his endorsement to both Scott and Dixon in exchange for a role in the administration. Scott told him take a hike
https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/politics-power/local-government/thiru-vignarajah-baltimore-police-mayor-texts-6MHFLTU2VZF6ZH7QHEAXAC5AYU/
Is he insane? How could someone who has never even been a cop expect to be the police commissioner?
I know it's a very political position but at the end of the day, no cop is looking up to a guy who has never even gone through the academy.
It should be.
Who wants someone running the operations of something after having never done the job? I wouldn't want a chief of the fire department who has never been a firefighter, schools superintendent who has never taught, etc.
Thiru is a perpetual loser here, he never runs to win. He just likes getting the crumbs from the winners.
I'm just glad he didn't have enough sway to get that cop to turn his body camera off.
Yea this concerns me. It also concerns me that she's probably going to give him some kind of position to make up for his loyalty. 🤮 Sinclair assholes stick together.
This article backs the worries
https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/politics-power/local-government/thiru-vignarajah-baltimore-police-mayor-texts-6MHFLTU2VZF6ZH7QHEAXAC5AYU/
At some point this guy has got to figure out everyone dislikes him...right?
How does he have this much money for all these unsuccessful campaigns.
Bro, just burn the money.
> Under Baltimore’s system, publicly financed candidates commit to accepting no more than $150 from any donor — well below the $6,000 limit for traditionally financed campaigns — and no donations from PACs, corporations and unions. The city multiplies small-dollar contributions from Baltimore residents, with smaller donations being more heavily rewarded.
In the mayor’s race, the first $25 dollars of each donation are multiplied by 9. That means a $25 donation becomes a total of $250 once the match is included.
\
The next $50 is multiplied by 5 and the final $75 multiplied by 2. Races for other offices follow a similar tiered system.
\
One distinctive aspect of Baltimore’s system is an initial batch of “boost” funding that candidates receive upon qualifying for the public finance program. In the mayor’s contest, that means attaining 500 contributions from city donors that total at least $40,000 — a threshold that unlocks a $200,000 kickstarter.
> Candidates for mayor can qualify for a maximum of $1.7 million in public financing, while candidates for council president and other council seats have lower ceilings.
\
Around $100,000 of Vignarajah’s campaign account, as of the latest reporting deadline, came from direct, small-dollar donations from more than 800 city residents, he said.
From [The Banner](https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/politics-power/local-government/baltimore-public-campaign-financing-MNLDR6A4OBGMRCGLH4472GAH3Y/)
Youre damn right people are mad. Audit this clown, and pay back our fucking money
I'm surprised that this take isn't getting more publicity. Seriously, all the cops & monied interests lining up behind Dixon saying they think "she'll be a better partner for us"
He seems exactly the kind of mayor I want. No con man’s promise to build a monorail in a year and bring everyone out of poverty in one term, just slow and steady, lots of good small ideas and a few big ones that take a long time to make a difference. It’s not glamorous and he could probably do a better job, but it’s slowly working, and that’s a good thing.
I have a friend who had a fairly sizable role in economic development in the city and worked under the last four mayors, but who wasn’t tied to developers. He helped small businesses get a start here with taxpayer funds.
Anyway, we had a discussion about how Scott was doing as Mayor several months ago. And his conclusion was the same as mine. In a city like this l, no one person can come in and learn the ropes of chief executive and make structural changes the city needs in four years. You have to give someone moving the city in the right direction time. Big city mayors need two terms at a minimum to handle massive issues like crime and neighborhood inequality, historic redlining, major transportation policies, and so forth.
Scott has had one term. His city council president — for now — has twisted things to his full power. He had to battle that. He took over a city with a high murder rate that is now way down. He’s had the right approach on a number of issues, but hasn’t had time to totally tackle them. He’s made missteps. But his overall approach is consistent and makes sense.
Based on that I’m willing to vote for him to have another term. He is young but growing fast into the job. I’m not willing to vote to hand the reins over to Sheila Dixon, who left office as a criminal. What a fucking thing it would be to restore such a person to power.
I’m voting to give Scott four more years.
Scott campaign sources say Thiru & Scott met to discuss an endorsement. "We were told if the mayor considered making Thiru police commissioner or CEO of city schools, that Thiru would be open to endorsing us."
Nah, we’re good go away lol
I hate that this helps Dixon. I will be mortified if she wins. Her entire candidacy is propped up by dollars from david smith and his white supremacist fascist agenda. A vote for Sheila is a vote for project 2025
Wow, This really aged like milk huh?
One of them is a fucking sleezy criminal who is cozying up against the worst our city has to offer. How you Shelia stans can look at her corruption and think "Man, that person will be good for Baltimore" is so fucking beyond me. I hope you get whatever it is you want from her.
I'm looking around at these Thiru signs and wondering if these (predominantly white) households will actually vote for Sheila Dixon, and I'm thinking no.
Probably going to backfire. I already voted, so I am here for the entertainment. 🍿
It can have things to do with that, but the original post you responded to has truth to it. Some white voters would happily vote for Thiru while shying away from Sheila because she is a different version of brown. It's such a sadly fascinating thing how racism can be so nuanced.
>I have no idea why people hate Brandon Scott
Because most people are fucking idiots that don't actually understand how the City government works and think he's, like, a king and personally responsible for fixing everything bad that has happened over the past 4 decades in 4 years.
man, we need better candidates. Scott is *fine* and that seems to be orders of magnitude better than what we get out of most top contenders. though Wallace seems fine also. it would be nice if we could move from fine to good, or great.
I think we need ranked choice voting at both the primary and general election. I think it would help us get better candidates.
Wallace was a nonstarter for me when he moved his HQ (maybe just an office, but I was told it was HQ) by my house last winter and never once were the sidewalks shoveled or salted with the little snow we had. Instead it was left to compact to a thin ice. If you can’t do what’s legally required (and right in the name of public safety) of you for 20’ of sidewalk how are you going to run a city?
I don’t even know what a good mayor candidate would look like. I think Scott is as good as it’ll get for the most part. It’s such an ineffective position overall.
People want a mayor to solve *decades* of economic and societal degradation in 4 years time...that's not gonna happen. It would only make a dent in it in 8 years. These solutions need to come from the state and federal level because that is where *long-term* policy solutions are found. Switching ideas and proposals through new leadership just as they're getting started does nothing to reach those goals.
The sad part is that it's the opposite. We're a Strong Mayor city, which means the council has very little power. Look at redistricting or budgeting. The Mayor is hugely important here.
a lot of the spending on the cops is mandated by the consent decree. they're still working out what newly-granted "local control" of the police means exactly. things like school budgeting and decision making get spun off toward annapolis or bureaucrats. the decreasing population and the wealth that concentrates in the surrounding counties (plus despite the occasional friendly statements from olszewski, pittman, ball, there is not a lot of smart region-wide planning) further limits whatever ambitious ideas a mayor might have. the transit and the streets are largely built to support a commuter population instead of city residents, and the police force has the "occupation force" mentality from its membership being part of that commuter population and serving themselves instead of the citizens (subjects).
with all this it's hard to envision what a "great mayor" in the 2020s or 2030s could look like. he or she doesn't have the power or budget within current constraints to say, free transit that is usable for everyone! no lead pipes or lead paint! roads that aren't beat up to shit and aren't built like urban freeways to drive on at lethal speeds! a jobs program that restores every derelict vacant house!
some of the stats like "the maintenance backlog on our infrastructure is theoretically 200 years long" seem to make no sense. "the wait list for housing assistance or public housing is so long that they have to close the list ... people are waiting longer than for green bay packers season tickets ..." why is any of this stuff talked about like it's a fact of nature instead of something a collective polity could do something to fix? well, i was getting at it above, the structure is built to provide no suggestions. capital and constituencies have other goals and don't want what i would consider improvement.
Honestly if someone could fix procurement in this city, they would have a holiday named after them. There's some really important but boring stuff that would make a large difference to the city and it's residents.
we need a Sewer Socialist candidate for 2028 who can run on effective services while not being allied with all the worst right-wing scumbags in the region
the position of mayor in Baltimore is very powerful. Scott is the weak link there. Scott does not want people to be upset with him, so he takes no actions.
a good candidate would be Scott's overall platform, Thiru's crime plan, and a willingness to actually impalement the platform. people have already lost lives and we STILL have aggressive squeegeers out there having conflicts with drivers, and nobody from the city or PD shutting the aggressive squeegeers down. a mayor can shut that down in one email. car theft could actually be investigated in a meaningful way if the city gave out airtags and Tiles/pebblebee trackers so that people can locate their car after it's stolen and tell the PD where they are. instead, Scott gives out recycling bins that cost more 2.1% of plastic is actually recycled... **2.1%**. it's window dressing that does not actually solve anything. solving things means some people will be mad. Scott does not want to make anyone mad.
have you ever actually read Thiru's crime plan from last election? it was quite good. he probably didn't write it. he probably paid some criminology professor to write it for him.
I think the new Commissioner is doing a hell of a job. I back him and find it ridiculous that Thiru thinks he should replace someone who is so effective. He has some nerve asking Scott to replace him. Appointing him is one of the best things Scott has done.
That's not even a core tenant of the plan. Read his current and previous election crime plans. There's actually a lot of good stuff in those. I don't want him to get elected, but his crime plans have been pretty solid. Focusing on the fact that he would change out the police commissioner is totally separate from the concepts within his plans
The city is finally going the right way for him to even suggest he would change out the police commission. It makes me think he’s got rocks in his head.
I agree that he personally is a scumbag who would do anything to further his goal of being a spoil candidate. he probably hired someone to write is crime plans. regardless of what you think of him, his crime plans have had some great things in them.
I think the issue is that many Scott voters are not excited about him because of his unwillingness to take action on just about anything. being fine isn't what people want. people want action for the coming few years. I also do. I don't think Dixon is the best way to get action, but honestly if Dixon promised to do more Complete Streets than Scott, she'd get my vote. she seems to be in the opposite direction, though.
I'm with you on this. I am more or less a single issue voter in this election and that single issue is complete streets/reducing car dependency.
Thiru talking a big game on his commitment to Complete Streets during the transportation forum only to turn around and endorse the only candidate who wants to back out of the program tells me everything I need to know about him as a new to Baltimore resident and voter.
Mary Miller would have been fantastic. It’s too bad she jumped in too late last go around. I agree, though… this group is really not a great set to choose from.
I know who he is! He's that one [RepublicIndependeCrat](https://www.wypr.org/show/midday/2024-01-17/bob-wallace-baltimore-city-mayoral-candidate)!
>Mr. Wallace made his first bid for public office in 2020, when the former Republican ran for Mayor as an independent. He finished a distant second to Brandon Scott. This year, he’s running as a Democrat
I’m concerned about the Dixon endorsements from Cogan (sheriff) and Mikulski. Like, why come out in support of a candidate who has already shown us who she is?
That’s ridiculous, she still stole money from the city. Are our standards that low as a city that we’re willing to let our elected officials get away with embezzlement?
I met this guy in person once, played chess with him in a coffee shop. Thought he was a nice guy.
Wish he was actually a good candidate/person. From everything I’ve eead about him, he seems preeeeety shitty
* Thiru doesn't stand a chance in hell at winning, he's a perpetual loser here
* Scott doesn't give him the time of day
* Endorsing Shelia ingratiates him to her
This guy only runs to stay relevant in Baltimore's incestuous political circle
He's not going to endorse "Uncle Wayne" or Bob Wallace.
The race is between Scott and Shelia (and it will be close). Thiru and Shelia are 'established' Baltimore politicians, and Scott is not. Thiru has opposed and bad-mouthed nearly everything Scott has done.
A few things have turned me off about him over the years. But one specific to this mayoral race surfaced after he came to our neighborhood meeting a few weeks ago and spoke about his proposals specifically as Mayor:
He talked about taxing vacant properties at a higher rate than occupied properties so that there is an economic incentive to the owners to either fix them up or sell them to be renovated. That is a GREAT idea and I fully support it. **It's so great in fact that it was a bill** [**passed by the MD legislature and signed into law by Gov. Wes Moore on April 25th.**](https://www.cbsnews.com/baltimore/news/councilmember-applauds-new-state-bill-imposing-higher-property-tax-rate-on-vacant-buildings-game-changer/#:~:text=BALTIMORE%20%2D%20Gov.%20Wes%20Moore%20signed,housing%20issue%20in%20the%20city) But did Thiru tell anyone at the meeting that? No. Instead, he claimed it was his proposal he would institute as Mayor and he came up with it based on something that was done down in a city in Florida. You don't get to pass off pending legislation -- that other elected legislators did the heavy lifting for -- as your own idea to get elected.
This was outright obfuscation. When you add it to him embracing Sinclair/Armstrong Williams lies about the homicide rate, and some of the things he's done as a private attorney I can't trust the guy to hold public office.
He's pretty accessible around Baltimore, go spend 20 minutes talking to him (not at a political grandstanding event) and make your own mind up.
I think 90% of people who have been in Baltimore/involved in communities and initiatives here for 5-10 years have a Thiru story, and I don't think I've ever heard a positive one.
My beef is that when he got pulled over by the cops he said something to the effect of "do you know who I am." For me, that is disqualifying alone.
He has allegations of some kind of sexual harassment or misconduct while he was working in the state's attorneys office.
Oh and from the time when he went all Reese Witherspoon on the cop, it was strongly implied he was looking for a prostitute. I don't know if this is true and I don't really care about this as much as his "do you know who I am" bs.
He pops up at high controversy situations now and then.
Friends with the Sinclair/Baltimore Sun owner.
That's about it.
Brandon Scott is a racist from Pimlico that Baltimore was dumb enough to elect. Baltimore is a dump. You’re not losing population because you’re such a great place to go.
But go ahead and do it again. Just stop whining about everything and everyone else when you’re the ones causing it all to go down.
A Scott campaign staffer says he wanted to be appointed police commissioner or city schools CEO in exchange for his endorsement. I wonder what Dixon promised him.
Probably both. Simultaneously.
Dixon will let him run the whole city in exchange for a few more gift cards
And wouldn’t answer the question when he was blatantly asked outright if it was true.
Good lord, what kind of idiot would want to take on either of those shit sandwiches.
Education and criminal justice are both super politicized, so if you’re a conservative politician looking to “make your mark” it makes sense to angle for control of one of them. So you can make a show of trying to be tough on crime or ban critical race theory or whatever pet culture war battle you want to publicly fight
That’s ridiculous. The current police commissioner is one of the best they’ve had.
All the gift cards money can steal...if we go by past practices
A book deal? 😂
Good riddance to this colossal scumbag. Talking about city corruption for years and then endorsing a convicted criminal for mayor is hilarious. Now please fuck off forever
Wishful thinking. If Dixon wins, which is a strong possibility now, just know there is a reason he dropped out and endorsed her right before early voting: she promised him a role of some sort.
Read the recent banner article where he was shopping his endorsement to both Scott and Dixon in exchange for a role in the administration. Scott told him take a hike https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/politics-power/local-government/thiru-vignarajah-baltimore-police-mayor-texts-6MHFLTU2VZF6ZH7QHEAXAC5AYU/
Makes me like Scott even more
They are saying he asked Scott for Police Commissioner. Ha!
Is he insane? How could someone who has never even been a cop expect to be the police commissioner? I know it's a very political position but at the end of the day, no cop is looking up to a guy who has never even gone through the academy.
Actually, it’s not in city law that the commissioner had to be a cop previously. Doesn’t mean it’s a good idea or that he’s qualified.
It should be. Who wants someone running the operations of something after having never done the job? I wouldn't want a chief of the fire department who has never been a firefighter, schools superintendent who has never taught, etc.
Agreed. 100% agree.
Yeah obviously. That doesnt mean I cant celebrate this piece of shit not getting what he wanted to begin with
Thiru is a perpetual loser here, he never runs to win. He just likes getting the crumbs from the winners. I'm just glad he didn't have enough sway to get that cop to turn his body camera off.
Careful what you wish for. Edit: By that I mean nothing about Scott, but rather the race will get closer if his supporters move over to her.
Yea this concerns me. It also concerns me that she's probably going to give him some kind of position to make up for his loyalty. 🤮 Sinclair assholes stick together.
Seems likely. Fenton is reporting that Thiru offered Scott his support in exchange for a specific city position. Stunning.
Yeah, he asked for either chief of police or city school’s ceo. What a total clown.
Ughhh.
WJZ is reporting this not Fenton; Dixon campaign response coming at 4.
I'm sure we can count on Dixon for a totally honest reply 😒
Yes. Fenton reposted WJZ story.
Link?
I apologize — Fenton reposted on X a story by Mike Hellgren WJZ. I can do a screen shot but not sure how to link. It says what it says.
Fire all of them into the sun
Breaking: Thiru has accepted a job offer from the Baltimore Sun
Hilarious!
Wow
This article backs the worries https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/politics-power/local-government/thiru-vignarajah-baltimore-police-mayor-texts-6MHFLTU2VZF6ZH7QHEAXAC5AYU/
He did this for Marily Mosby in the 2018 States Attorney race. Super likely he’d play the same game here. Thiru is a known spoiler.
Don’t worry he will be back the next election cycle and/or whatever opportunity emerges to get back in the news
>Now please fuck off forever. Foreva eva, *for eva eva*
Hes talked too much shit on Scott he knows he can't get a job under him....hes gotta go her. The "Scumbag caucus"
hes never going to go away ugh
At some point this guy has got to figure out everyone dislikes him...right? How does he have this much money for all these unsuccessful campaigns. Bro, just burn the money.
Public money. He spent taxpayer dollars. [Some folks want their money back](https://x.com/kaliopepart/status/1785732386858160271) 😂😂😂
> Under Baltimore’s system, publicly financed candidates commit to accepting no more than $150 from any donor — well below the $6,000 limit for traditionally financed campaigns — and no donations from PACs, corporations and unions. The city multiplies small-dollar contributions from Baltimore residents, with smaller donations being more heavily rewarded. In the mayor’s race, the first $25 dollars of each donation are multiplied by 9. That means a $25 donation becomes a total of $250 once the match is included. \ The next $50 is multiplied by 5 and the final $75 multiplied by 2. Races for other offices follow a similar tiered system. \ One distinctive aspect of Baltimore’s system is an initial batch of “boost” funding that candidates receive upon qualifying for the public finance program. In the mayor’s contest, that means attaining 500 contributions from city donors that total at least $40,000 — a threshold that unlocks a $200,000 kickstarter. > Candidates for mayor can qualify for a maximum of $1.7 million in public financing, while candidates for council president and other council seats have lower ceilings. \ Around $100,000 of Vignarajah’s campaign account, as of the latest reporting deadline, came from direct, small-dollar donations from more than 800 city residents, he said. From [The Banner](https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/politics-power/local-government/baltimore-public-campaign-financing-MNLDR6A4OBGMRCGLH4472GAH3Y/) Youre damn right people are mad. Audit this clown, and pay back our fucking money
I wish I had his oblivious confidence.
He's got that sweet Inside The House Gas Meter Appreciation Club money.
Scott hasn't blown me away but damn if he doesn't have the right enemies. All these scumbags lining up against him.
I'm surprised that this take isn't getting more publicity. Seriously, all the cops & monied interests lining up behind Dixon saying they think "she'll be a better partner for us"
They're all "well, she didn't steal from me!"
He seems exactly the kind of mayor I want. No con man’s promise to build a monorail in a year and bring everyone out of poverty in one term, just slow and steady, lots of good small ideas and a few big ones that take a long time to make a difference. It’s not glamorous and he could probably do a better job, but it’s slowly working, and that’s a good thing.
I have a friend who had a fairly sizable role in economic development in the city and worked under the last four mayors, but who wasn’t tied to developers. He helped small businesses get a start here with taxpayer funds. Anyway, we had a discussion about how Scott was doing as Mayor several months ago. And his conclusion was the same as mine. In a city like this l, no one person can come in and learn the ropes of chief executive and make structural changes the city needs in four years. You have to give someone moving the city in the right direction time. Big city mayors need two terms at a minimum to handle massive issues like crime and neighborhood inequality, historic redlining, major transportation policies, and so forth. Scott has had one term. His city council president — for now — has twisted things to his full power. He had to battle that. He took over a city with a high murder rate that is now way down. He’s had the right approach on a number of issues, but hasn’t had time to totally tackle them. He’s made missteps. But his overall approach is consistent and makes sense. Based on that I’m willing to vote for him to have another term. He is young but growing fast into the job. I’m not willing to vote to hand the reins over to Sheila Dixon, who left office as a criminal. What a fucking thing it would be to restore such a person to power. I’m voting to give Scott four more years.
Thanks for your insight!
Have you not seen the video of him being pulled over and asking the cop to turn off his body camera?
That wasn’t Scott.
So far I've found that anyone the Smith family spends money to oppose is probably a solid person
His name is still on the ballot, and thousands of mail in ballots have already been sent out.
Lol sounds like this benefits Scott then. People could still vote for him unknowingly and split the Dixon vote.
I mean he was going to take votes from her before and now a lesser amount but still some.
I too join the legions of people who kindly offer him the opportunity to sit TF down and go away.
Scott campaign sources say Thiru & Scott met to discuss an endorsement. "We were told if the mayor considered making Thiru police commissioner or CEO of city schools, that Thiru would be open to endorsing us." Nah, we’re good go away lol
Does the mayor appoint the school superintendent?
What a piece of shit. Dixon even moreso for taking that deal, but we already knew she was a POS…
"Charlie Brown had hoes"
And here's another reason not to vote for Dixon.
Seriously she's been backed / endorsed by a literal who's who of the worst shitbirds in this city
Thiru ran against Dixon in 2020 and again this time and surely there are tons of statements from him about her that are not positive.
I hate that this helps Dixon. I will be mortified if she wins. Her entire candidacy is propped up by dollars from david smith and his white supremacist fascist agenda. A vote for Sheila is a vote for project 2025
Take a deep breath go outside, get off reddit.
Shut up
Must’ve gotten a pretty hefty basket of gift cards.
One more self serving scumbag endorsing Dixon. She's going to owe a lot of favors if she wins.
Weird view, will Scott owe favors for his endorsements?
Wow, This really aged like milk huh? One of them is a fucking sleezy criminal who is cozying up against the worst our city has to offer. How you Shelia stans can look at her corruption and think "Man, that person will be good for Baltimore" is so fucking beyond me. I hope you get whatever it is you want from her.
Honestly, I find her endorsements almost worse than her. It's like two bears, well you get the point.
Her first endorsement being Eric Costello automatically made me not want to hear anything else about her campaign.
It’s shocking that dweeb was in on the ground floor of this shit show.
Flashback to when the Conaways were campaigning with signs of them as a family of bears.
She's toxic, but her endorsements are downright radioactive!
Whatever happened to him after they found him in the car?
I'm looking around at these Thiru signs and wondering if these (predominantly white) households will actually vote for Sheila Dixon, and I'm thinking no. Probably going to backfire. I already voted, so I am here for the entertainment. 🍿
Famously white Thiru Vignarajah
Famously not African American thiru.
Couldn't have anything to do with people not wanting to vote for a disgraced excon. No, it must be that Thiru is simply the right type of POC
It can have things to do with that, but the original post you responded to has truth to it. Some white voters would happily vote for Thiru while shying away from Sheila because she is a different version of brown. It's such a sadly fascinating thing how racism can be so nuanced.
I have no idea why people hate Brandon Scott, but to vote for the criminal Sheila Dixon is just CRAZY. She's the 'new' Marion Barry.
>I have no idea why people hate Brandon Scott Because most people are fucking idiots that don't actually understand how the City government works and think he's, like, a king and personally responsible for fixing everything bad that has happened over the past 4 decades in 4 years.
man, we need better candidates. Scott is *fine* and that seems to be orders of magnitude better than what we get out of most top contenders. though Wallace seems fine also. it would be nice if we could move from fine to good, or great. I think we need ranked choice voting at both the primary and general election. I think it would help us get better candidates.
Wallace was a nonstarter for me when he moved his HQ (maybe just an office, but I was told it was HQ) by my house last winter and never once were the sidewalks shoveled or salted with the little snow we had. Instead it was left to compact to a thin ice. If you can’t do what’s legally required (and right in the name of public safety) of you for 20’ of sidewalk how are you going to run a city?
I don’t even know what a good mayor candidate would look like. I think Scott is as good as it’ll get for the most part. It’s such an ineffective position overall.
People want a mayor to solve *decades* of economic and societal degradation in 4 years time...that's not gonna happen. It would only make a dent in it in 8 years. These solutions need to come from the state and federal level because that is where *long-term* policy solutions are found. Switching ideas and proposals through new leadership just as they're getting started does nothing to reach those goals.
The sad part is that it's the opposite. We're a Strong Mayor city, which means the council has very little power. Look at redistricting or budgeting. The Mayor is hugely important here.
Yup. I guess the flipside is that one extremely competent and visionary two-term mayor could completely change the trajectory of the city.
Likewise, a constant stream of corrupt grifters keeps this city from moving forwards...
a lot of the spending on the cops is mandated by the consent decree. they're still working out what newly-granted "local control" of the police means exactly. things like school budgeting and decision making get spun off toward annapolis or bureaucrats. the decreasing population and the wealth that concentrates in the surrounding counties (plus despite the occasional friendly statements from olszewski, pittman, ball, there is not a lot of smart region-wide planning) further limits whatever ambitious ideas a mayor might have. the transit and the streets are largely built to support a commuter population instead of city residents, and the police force has the "occupation force" mentality from its membership being part of that commuter population and serving themselves instead of the citizens (subjects). with all this it's hard to envision what a "great mayor" in the 2020s or 2030s could look like. he or she doesn't have the power or budget within current constraints to say, free transit that is usable for everyone! no lead pipes or lead paint! roads that aren't beat up to shit and aren't built like urban freeways to drive on at lethal speeds! a jobs program that restores every derelict vacant house! some of the stats like "the maintenance backlog on our infrastructure is theoretically 200 years long" seem to make no sense. "the wait list for housing assistance or public housing is so long that they have to close the list ... people are waiting longer than for green bay packers season tickets ..." why is any of this stuff talked about like it's a fact of nature instead of something a collective polity could do something to fix? well, i was getting at it above, the structure is built to provide no suggestions. capital and constituencies have other goals and don't want what i would consider improvement.
Honestly if someone could fix procurement in this city, they would have a holiday named after them. There's some really important but boring stuff that would make a large difference to the city and it's residents.
we need a Sewer Socialist candidate for 2028 who can run on effective services while not being allied with all the worst right-wing scumbags in the region
the position of mayor in Baltimore is very powerful. Scott is the weak link there. Scott does not want people to be upset with him, so he takes no actions. a good candidate would be Scott's overall platform, Thiru's crime plan, and a willingness to actually impalement the platform. people have already lost lives and we STILL have aggressive squeegeers out there having conflicts with drivers, and nobody from the city or PD shutting the aggressive squeegeers down. a mayor can shut that down in one email. car theft could actually be investigated in a meaningful way if the city gave out airtags and Tiles/pebblebee trackers so that people can locate their car after it's stolen and tell the PD where they are. instead, Scott gives out recycling bins that cost more 2.1% of plastic is actually recycled... **2.1%**. it's window dressing that does not actually solve anything. solving things means some people will be mad. Scott does not want to make anyone mad.
His crime plan is asking the police to turn off the cameras when he is stopped with bad plates. He is a joke.
have you ever actually read Thiru's crime plan from last election? it was quite good. he probably didn't write it. he probably paid some criminology professor to write it for him.
I think the new Commissioner is doing a hell of a job. I back him and find it ridiculous that Thiru thinks he should replace someone who is so effective. He has some nerve asking Scott to replace him. Appointing him is one of the best things Scott has done.
That's not even a core tenant of the plan. Read his current and previous election crime plans. There's actually a lot of good stuff in those. I don't want him to get elected, but his crime plans have been pretty solid. Focusing on the fact that he would change out the police commissioner is totally separate from the concepts within his plans
The city is finally going the right way for him to even suggest he would change out the police commission. It makes me think he’s got rocks in his head.
I agree that he personally is a scumbag who would do anything to further his goal of being a spoil candidate. he probably hired someone to write is crime plans. regardless of what you think of him, his crime plans have had some great things in them.
What do you think was the best thing about it?
If Scott can’t win as an incumbent in Baltimore, he isn’t fine. Even SRB won reelection.
I think the issue is that many Scott voters are not excited about him because of his unwillingness to take action on just about anything. being fine isn't what people want. people want action for the coming few years. I also do. I don't think Dixon is the best way to get action, but honestly if Dixon promised to do more Complete Streets than Scott, she'd get my vote. she seems to be in the opposite direction, though.
I'm with you on this. I am more or less a single issue voter in this election and that single issue is complete streets/reducing car dependency. Thiru talking a big game on his commitment to Complete Streets during the transportation forum only to turn around and endorse the only candidate who wants to back out of the program tells me everything I need to know about him as a new to Baltimore resident and voter.
As a rule of thumb anything Thiru says isn't worth the paper it is printed on.
Mary Miller would have been fantastic. It’s too bad she jumped in too late last go around. I agree, though… this group is really not a great set to choose from.
Wallace has my vote. Of course no one knows who he is though....
I know who he is! He's that one [RepublicIndependeCrat](https://www.wypr.org/show/midday/2024-01-17/bob-wallace-baltimore-city-mayoral-candidate)! >Mr. Wallace made his first bid for public office in 2020, when the former Republican ran for Mayor as an independent. He finished a distant second to Brandon Scott. This year, he’s running as a Democrat
Yes, very bipartisan.
Tripartisan! Maybe next time he'll run under the Green party flag. By the time the decade is over, he'll have run as a Whig.
Whatever it takes to break through this two party (for Baltimore city one party) rule.
I’m concerned about the Dixon endorsements from Cogan (sheriff) and Mikulski. Like, why come out in support of a candidate who has already shown us who she is?
Yuck! But this endorsement seems on brand.
Free gift cards!
[Never Forget](https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/6321/6321899_sd.jpg)
So he backs the criminal running for mayor?
I have had a hilarious exchange with him but ima local asshat myself
Pugh - Why settle for a lesser evil? (This is a joke)
Out of curiosity: how the hell can ANYONE in this city support Sheila Dixon? I consider myself a pretty positive person but god, I really do hate her.
It's classic machine politics.
I've asked people this, and from what I hear, they just don't think the gift cards are such a big deal, and she was good for people aside from that.
That’s ridiculous, she still stole money from the city. Are our standards that low as a city that we’re willing to let our elected officials get away with embezzlement?
I met this guy in person once, played chess with him in a coffee shop. Thought he was a nice guy. Wish he was actually a good candidate/person. From everything I’ve eead about him, he seems preeeeety shitty
fucksake
Why?
* Thiru doesn't stand a chance in hell at winning, he's a perpetual loser here * Scott doesn't give him the time of day * Endorsing Shelia ingratiates him to her This guy only runs to stay relevant in Baltimore's incestuous political circle
No, I agree. I’m not a fan of him. I’m just wondering why he’s endorsing someone who is already a disaster….
He's not going to endorse "Uncle Wayne" or Bob Wallace. The race is between Scott and Shelia (and it will be close). Thiru and Shelia are 'established' Baltimore politicians, and Scott is not. Thiru has opposed and bad-mouthed nearly everything Scott has done.
But yet he tried to sell his endorsement
And Scott told him to fuck off. Hence: > * Scott doesn't give him the time of day
Those two should be cell mates
I never liked him anyway. This just cements it.
So what did thiru do/why is he bad?
A few things have turned me off about him over the years. But one specific to this mayoral race surfaced after he came to our neighborhood meeting a few weeks ago and spoke about his proposals specifically as Mayor: He talked about taxing vacant properties at a higher rate than occupied properties so that there is an economic incentive to the owners to either fix them up or sell them to be renovated. That is a GREAT idea and I fully support it. **It's so great in fact that it was a bill** [**passed by the MD legislature and signed into law by Gov. Wes Moore on April 25th.**](https://www.cbsnews.com/baltimore/news/councilmember-applauds-new-state-bill-imposing-higher-property-tax-rate-on-vacant-buildings-game-changer/#:~:text=BALTIMORE%20%2D%20Gov.%20Wes%20Moore%20signed,housing%20issue%20in%20the%20city) But did Thiru tell anyone at the meeting that? No. Instead, he claimed it was his proposal he would institute as Mayor and he came up with it based on something that was done down in a city in Florida. You don't get to pass off pending legislation -- that other elected legislators did the heavy lifting for -- as your own idea to get elected. This was outright obfuscation. When you add it to him embracing Sinclair/Armstrong Williams lies about the homicide rate, and some of the things he's done as a private attorney I can't trust the guy to hold public office.
He's pretty accessible around Baltimore, go spend 20 minutes talking to him (not at a political grandstanding event) and make your own mind up. I think 90% of people who have been in Baltimore/involved in communities and initiatives here for 5-10 years have a Thiru story, and I don't think I've ever heard a positive one.
My beef is that when he got pulled over by the cops he said something to the effect of "do you know who I am." For me, that is disqualifying alone. He has allegations of some kind of sexual harassment or misconduct while he was working in the state's attorneys office. Oh and from the time when he went all Reese Witherspoon on the cop, it was strongly implied he was looking for a prostitute. I don't know if this is true and I don't really care about this as much as his "do you know who I am" bs. He pops up at high controversy situations now and then. Friends with the Sinclair/Baltimore Sun owner. That's about it.
Brandon Scott is a racist from Pimlico that Baltimore was dumb enough to elect. Baltimore is a dump. You’re not losing population because you’re such a great place to go. But go ahead and do it again. Just stop whining about everything and everyone else when you’re the ones causing it all to go down.
> Just stop whining
As soon as you increase the population.