By Special to the AFRO
For a decade, Baltimore has suffered from too much turnover among its elected and administrative officials. In the last ten years, we have had four mayors, five police commissioners, three public works directors, and too many other short-term administrators. The Comptroller and half of the City Council have been in office for less than two years.
This instability has produced weakened and inconsistent city management. In recent years, Baltimore government has had too much stopping and restarting, too many U-turns, and not enough steady and experienced leadership.
Now, a proposed amendment to the Baltimore City Charter, on the November ballot as Question K, threatens to make things worse.
Under Question K, all of Baltimore’s elected officials, including the Mayor, the Comptroller, the President of the City Council, and all 14 members of the City Council, could simultaneously become ineligible for re-election and required to leave office.
Term limits for chief executives, although of debatable value, are not new. But, the combination of executive and legislative term limits, as in Question K, would be extremely disruptive and counterproductive. It would deprive city government of valuable experience and institutional knowledge. It would promote short sighted planning and lead to ineffective oversight by perpetually changing lame ducks.
In an apparent indifference to sound financial management, Question K would even effect the position of Comptroller. There is no legitimate reason to place term limits on a city’s fiscal watchdog. Baltimore voters have repeatedly demonstrated through their votes that they want as Comptroller a person with proven experience and informed judgment.
Question K was placed on the November ballot using a signature campaign personally funded by $385,000 from the Chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group, a media company that owns more than 100 mostly conservative television stations.
Sinclair’s local station, Fox 45 WBFF, has waged a relentless attack against Baltimore by a steady stream of negative reporting. The Fox 45 news coverage has been anything but “fair and balanced,” as the station has not missed a beat to cast bad light on the city.
Related storylines are often packaged into segments labeled “City in Crisis.” If a particular day does not produce enough bad news, Fox 45 shamelessly recycles previously aired material, sometimes with an added comment by an “expert” or a so-called “poll.”
The Fox 45 negative news reporting has on occasion been coupled with aggressive support for political candidates who parrot Fox’s negative messages. These candidates typically have nothing positive to say about Baltimore. The more negative they are, the stronger becomes their Fox 45 support. Fortunately, Baltimore’s voters almost always reject these candidates.
Imposing term limits is paternalistic and insulting to the citizens. Baltimore voters are sophisticated and have repeatedly shown that they know how to vote out incumbents they no longer want. Baltimoreans should be free to retain officials they like and believe are doing important work.
Sinclair’s sponsorship of Question K leads one to question whether the Fox 45 “City in Crisis” television campaign has been intended to present news or was it an excuse to justify this current attempt to destabilize Baltimore City government.
Baltimore does not need more instability in city government. Baltimore voters should defeat this attack on our city by Sinclair Broadcast Group and Fox 45 and vote “Against” Question K.
Larry S. Gibson, Professor of Law
The opinions on this page are those of the writers and not necessarily those of the AFRO. Send letters to The Afro-American • 145 W. Ostend Street Ste 600, Office #536, Baltimore, MD 21230 or fax to 1-877-570-9297 or e-mail to editor@afro.com
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