Partisan Divides In Washington Are Hurting City Governments, Baltimore Mayor Says
Downtown Baltimore Jon Bilous / Shutterstock.com
On Wednesday, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake also acknowledged that her city could have been more prepared for the unrest and rioting that unfolded there earlier this year.
WASHINGTON — Taking a few jabs at Congressional lawmakers, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake on Wednesday suggested that political conflicts in the nation’s capital had undermined progress on critical issues like infrastructure investment, and that local governments like hers were paying the price.
“Gridlock strangles Washington and the consequences of that gridlock are passed on to cities,” the mayor said. “That gridlock is strangling the future of our country.” Rawlings-Blake also believes lawmakers in Washington could learn from the way mayors govern. “Our jobs demand results,” she said. “We can’t have ideological conversations about how we’re gonna fix potholes, or collect trash. People just want it done. They don’t want to know how we feel about it.”
The mayor made her remarks during a luncheon at the National Press Club, where she touched on a wide range of topics.
At one point, she voiced a critical view of police unions. She also said Baltimore could have been better prepared for unrest and riots that swept through parts of the city in April following the death of Freddie Gray, who died of injuries after being taken into police custody.
Rawlings-Blake is currently the president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The group’s leadership gathered in Baltimore last weekend to work on hammering out a set of priorities they’d like to see the 2016 presidential contenders address.
While not finalized, Rawlings-Blake offered a rough outline of those priorities on Wednesday, saying they would likely involve education, immigration, clean energy, affordable housing, access to mental health care and community development, along with other issues.
She also mentioned infrastructure investment, a topic that mayors who were in Baltimore for last weekend’s meeting highlighted at a Saturday press conference.
Responding to a question about the congressional politics of infrastructure funding on Wednesday, Rawlings-Blake said: “Republican roads are crumbling just like Democratic roads.”
“We need the Republican Congress to understand that they’re not being patriotic when they’re holding up these projects,” she added. “When they refuse to fund infrastructure investment, they’re refusing to support America and the people that they’ve pledged to serve.”
Turning to the events that unfolded after Gray’s death, Rawlings-Blake acknowledged that, “Baltimore was not as prepared as we should have been, and certainly could have been, for the unrest.” Referring to other mayors she’s talked to she added: “Virtually all of them have the sobering sense that what happened in Baltimore could happen in their city as well.”
Baltimore, she said, has taken strides since the unrest and riots to improve the communication, training and equipment involved in the city’s response to such events. Rawlings-Blake also emphasized the importance of strong relationships between police and communities.
“It’s never enough,” the mayor said. “The work to build relationships is never over.”
The mayor’s own relationship with Baltimore’s Fraternal Order of Police has been somewhat bumpy in recent months. In early September, she traded barbs with the police union’s president, Lt. Gene Ryan, after the city approved a $6.4 million settlement with Gray’s family. Six police officers are currently facing charges connected to Gray’s death. Ryan panned the settlement, saying that it was premature and that it might adversely affect the officers’ court cases.
On Wednesday, Rawlings-Blake lauded the city’s rank-and-file officers but didn’t hesitate criticizing police unions saying they were “unwilling to evolve” and that there is a “wave in our country that is unrelenting, that will hold officers more accountable for wrongdoing.”
As for the political sway of the unions she said: “I don’t know of, based on the rhetoric they’ve been spewing in Baltimore, who would want the endorsement of the FOP.”
Rawlings-Blake is also secretary of the Democratic National Committee.
Last month, she said she will not seek re-election in 2016, meaning that she has about 15 months left in office. There’s an upside to that she explained: “I have the benefit of every single thing I do not being viewed through the lense of campaigning, or politics.”
Bill Lucia is a Reporter for Government Executive’s Route Fifty.
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