Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake’s seventh, and final, State of the City address was mostly a reflective speech that looked back on her tenure as mayor.
The mayor, who is not running for re-election, focused the first part of her speech on the months since riots erupted after the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody last April. She paid tribute to first responders from the city and surrounding jurisdictions that assisted the city at that time.
“I can’t say enough about the professionalism and courage demonstrated by our firefighters and police officers,” Rawlings-Blake said.
She also honored citizens who helped clean up damaged neighborhoods, delivered food and medicine to residents and the Enoch Pratt Free Library for staying open to provide children a safe space.
Rawlings-Blake talked about her accomplishments, including 10-year financial plan to fix a long-term structural deficit, getting state money to replace and repair aging schools, creating a tax credit to attract grocery stores to food deserts, building the city’s first new recreation centers in a decade and trying to reform the police department.
“I made a promise to myself when I became Mayor that I would leave this city in better condition than it was left for me,” she said.
Councilman Nick Mosby, who is running to succeed Rawlings-Blake, said it’s hard for him to say if the mayor kept her promise because the city still faces challenges.
“When we talk about our school system, when we talk about lead paint poisoning, when we talk about public safety and police-community relations; tons and tons of different issues,” he said. “The one thing you have to give the mayor credit for is being fiscally responsible.”
Mosby’s colleague and mayoral opponent, Carl Stokes, said he “know[s]” that small businesses are not better off than they were six years ago.
“They’re not feeling that they’re able to expand their business and grow their business and they feel strongly that we’re still paying too high of water bills, too high of property tax and having too many regulations that encumber them,” said Stokes who also complained that vulnerable communities have been ignored.
Councilman Brandon Scott praised the speech as a good reflection of Rawlings-Blake’s time as mayor. He said citizens will be more grateful for what the mayor did in office as time passes.
“She made a lot of tough decisions that were unpopular that made people not like her that ultimately as time will reveal and emotions go away and years go by, that they will thank her,” he said.
Councilwoman Mary Pat Clark said Rawlings-Blake will be able to accomplish more before she leaves office in December and characterized her years in public service as “a good run.”