Good morning class. For today’s lesson, we shall talk about a large city on the East Coast that used to be my hometown. I guess for practical purposes, it still is my hometown since I was born and raised there. I’m, of course, referring to Baltimore Maryland. When I left Baltimore many years ago to join the Marine Corp, the father of the current speaker of the house, Nancy Pelosi, was the mayor of Baltimore (You can Google him if you want to).
A lot of time has passed since then. The mayor of Baltimore is currently Sheila Dixon. This past week Mayor Dixon was found guilty of one count of fraudulent misappropriation by a fiduciary — a misdemeanor embezzlement charge — for using gift cards for herself that were meant to go to needy city children. Yes, you read that right, Mayor Dixon was the Grinch that stole Christmas for Baltimore City needy children when she was the President of the City Council.
Maryland State law requires that Ms. Dixon resign from her office once she had been convicted of this crime (or the Governor is forced to remove her). The Mayor has failed to step down saying that the guilty verdict reflected testimony about the actions that were part of her duties as a city council president, a post she held at the time she committed the crime, and that the law doesn’t apply to her because she is now in a different job (the Mayor).
It would seem to this former resident of Baltimore City that the mayor to splitting hairs. She has been convicted, while holding her current office, of a crime she committed within the statue of limitation for that crime. She faces potential jail time. In March of 2010, Mayor Dixon is slated to go to trial for perjury in another matter. She is obviously under a lot of political and personal pressures, but if I lived in Baltimore right now I would be outraged that this politician wants to remain on the city payroll until she physically goes to jail.
Mayor Dixon should resign, get her legal matters behind her and run for political office again if she wishes (assuming she is constitutionally qualified after all of this). She should give the citizens of Baltimore a Christmas gift equal to the one she stole from the needy children of the city she led: a chance for the city to move on with a new administration. And on that note, class is dismissed.