Unlike most people, I don't know enough about what happened to Freddie Gray to know who, if anyone, is to blame for his death. Unlike most people, I don't have special insight into the relationship between the citizens of Baltimore and the Baltimore Police Department.
However, I do have enough information to know that this interview with Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is proof positive that she should not be mayor. Her wild careening between allowing "space to destroy" one day, labelling the occupants of that space "thugs" the next, and taking it all back the day after that is unsettling enough, but it's not the fundamental problem.
Actually, there are two fundamental problems. The first problem is that the Mayor seems unaware that the Baltimore Police are largely her own creation. She speaks of wanting answers, of looking for justice for the Freddie Gray family, of working to heal the pain of the community, as if she's somehow outside the system. She speaks of reforming and retraining the Police Department, as if she just arrived on the scene.
There is no one--no one--who has had more impact on and control of the system that is now of concern to her, than the current Mayor. The police department reports to the police commissioner, who is appointed by the Mayor with the consent of the City Council. She has been Mayor for more than 5 years. Five years. She appointed the current Commissioner in 2012. Before she was mayor, she had been a member of the City Council since 1995. Twenty years. Who, exactly, has been in a better position to ensure a well-trained police force, to improve its relationship with the "community" and to address the pain of the community, if not the Mayor?
The second problem is the reason she gave for not appearing in public to attempt to calm the situation. Her words: "I know that my presence can be a calming presence and can be a flashpoint. I’m not going to risk inserting myself — you know, it might look good to some people — but I’m not going to insert myself in a situation that we know is potentially hostile and very fragile."
I had to watch that bit of the video twice to wrap my head around that. She's afraid her presence would make things worse? Really? But she continues to think that she's the right person to lead the city? She doesn't want to "risk" a personal appearance because of the potential consequences, but she's also the best person for the task of healing the pain of the community? How does that work, exactly?
Maybe Baltimore should just give Governor Hogan the Mayor's office as well. His presence apparently causes nothing but friendly chit chat and basketball games.
