Archive for the 'Baltimore City' Category
Well, it’s over. Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon (D) will be leaving office next month; ending the embarrassment of a city that has been scrutinized enough. This certainly closes a chapter on another dark chapter in the city, but yet a few more pages are needed to complete. The sad part in this is that Dixon seemed to be one who was starting to make a difference in how to run a city, at least from what I have seen as an outsider and as one who is now next door to the city. But there are some unanswered questions that should be discussed. Continue reading ‘And Now What?’
The trial of Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon (D) has ended. She has agreed to an Alford Plea this afternoon in her perjury case, when everyone was expecting her legal team to argue for a new trial in light of a number of jurors who were in communication with each other on facebook; and the one juror who won free groceries in a city sponsored contest that she did not disclose. Continue reading ‘Dixon Trial: And she’s out…come February’
Like you, I was shocked to hear that Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon (D) was found guilty of embezzling gift cards. As you have read over the past year, I did not have a lot of confidence in the case that state prosecutor Robert Rohrbaugh, but he did get a misdemeanor on the mayor’s record…scoreboard. You have to give him credit for not doing the grandstanding that prosecutors normally do after a case that they won. He was honest in saying that it’s always a sad day when a Mayor gets convicted.
Continue reading ‘Dixon Outcome: Shocked and Scared’
Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon (D) has been on the downlow for the most part since she was found guilty of embezzling gift cards from the poor. She has refused to discuss the conviction, but continues to go “rah rah sis boom bah” for Baltimore.
More from The Baltimore Sun.
Seven days and a holiday passed before the jury in the corruption trial of Baltimore Mayor Shiela Dixon (D) returned a not guilty verdict on three of the five counts that she was charged with. While acquitted of two counts of felony theft and one count of official misconduct, she was still found guilty of one count of fraudulent misappropriation. A misdemeanor is now on her record and could see her removed from office.
No word from state prosecutors on whether or not they will seek jail time, or if they will seek a retrial of one count of fraudulent misappropriations by a fiduciary charge, which was declared as a mistrial due to the jury not unanimously coming to a decision. The state prosecutor, Robert Rohrbaugh was satisfied about the verdict, but not happy that Dixon was convicted, calling it a sad day.
Now that Dixon was found guilty of a misdemeanor, there is this whole removal from office thing. Article XV, Section 2 of the Maryland Constitution says that if any official is convicted of or enters a no contest please for a misdemeanor or a felony relating to duties while they are in office, they will be suspended without pay or benefits from office. During this time while appeals are going on, there can be a temporary mayor appointed. Once all legal avenues have been exhausted and the conviction finalized, Dixon is removed from office and the line of succession as dictated by the Baltimore City charter is activated, meaning that City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake would become mayor. In the meantime, Baltimore Del. Curt Anderson (D-Dist. 43) called into The Ron Smith Show on WBAL (AM 1090) and stated that Dixon would be suspended when she is formally sentenced.
In addition to the other circumstances surrounding the case (sentencing, appeals and a possible retrial), she will be facing a perjury trial in March.
More from The Baltimore Sun, WBAL (AM1090) and WBAL-TV (Channel 11).
From the looks of things, the jury in the corruption trial of Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon (D) is deadlocked. WJZ-TV (Channel 13) reports that the jury sent the judge a note station stating that there is not a unanimous vote on any of the counts Dixon is facing and they requested another day of deliberations. Baltimore has been on needles awaiting for a decision from the jury over the past week, especially since the stakes are so high. If Dixon is convicted of any of the counts, she will be thrown out of office.
The defense has rested and the final arguments are scheduled to begin tomorrow morning at 9:00a.m.
Only Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon (D) is now facing five charges and not the seven that she initially faced at the start of the trial. The charges that were dropped were related to gift cards involving the mayor’s former boyfriend, developer Ronald Lipscomb.
More from WBAL (1090AM), WMAR-TV (Channel 2), WBAL-TV (Channel 11), WJZ-TV (Channel 13) and The Baltimore Sun.
The reaction from everyone in politics: priceless
Baltimore County Del. Jon Cardin (D-Dist. 11) paid $300 to Baltimore City police Thursday following what is widely being called a misappropriation of city resources (to say the least) to impress his now fiancee.
The Baltimore Sun says that the breakdown of the expenses were not detailed, but Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said that the 15 minutes that a marine police boat and Foxtrot helicopter used during the proposal were “absolutely fair-market rate.”
One Baltimore City Councilman William Cole IV (D-Dist. 11) says that the tab is an insult to his intelligence and wants to see what the breakdown to the tab is. Cole has the backing of City Council President “Don’t Call Me” Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (D) who supports an inquiry into the cost.
If by some stretch that the tab is absolutely a true market rate, mom if you are reading this (or the future Mrs. Media Genius for that matter,) guess how I am going to do my proposal.
Cardin is the nephew of junior U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D).
The Baltimore Sun is giving a preview of the strategy that will be implemented by the legal team of Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon (D).
In papers filed with the court, they are asserting that the state will not only have to prove that she knew who the gift cards were for, but they would also have to prove that she knew that the gift cards came from developers in the first place. They also assert that Dixon even giving out the gift cards might have been the result of a mix up.
Governor Martin O’Malley (D) has announced which plans would be submitted to the federal government for money for two mass transit projects in Baltimore and the Capital Region.
The Red Line in Baltimore will have limited tunneling from Western Baltimore County, and end at the Bayview Medical Center. Most of the tunneling will take place in downtown Baltimore between Poppleton and Canton. This plan was endorsed by Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon (D), Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith (D) and the Greater Baltimore Committee.
The Baltimore Sun says that neighborhood activists were not happy about the Governor’s choice, but O’Malley, while making the announcement from the West Baltimore MARC station, assured them that this was not going to be their grandfather’s light rail system. If approved, it will be at least 2013 before work can begin. I should also note that the Baltimore Sun’s editorial board has not missed a beat since I moved as far as walking in lock step with the governor’s decision.
Meantime in Prince George’s County, where the Governor announced a light rail plan for the Purple Line, a 16-mile project to run between New Carrollton and Bethesda. The governor also gave the same selling points about light rail in New Carrollton, according to The Washington Post.
There is one draw back regarding the Purple Line plan endorsed by the Governor…it runs through the main drag at the University of Maryland College Park. Officials with UMCP tell The Gazette that they are still debating if that will even happen, with college officials preferring that the purple line run through the south part of campus. They are concerned that a purple line that runs along Campus Drive would be dangerous for pedestrians and disturb sensitive research equipment.
In case you missed it, Baltimore City Councilwoman Helen Holton (D-Dist. 8) was indicted on a new charge after being completely cleard in May.
WBAL-TV (Channel 11) posted their report on YouTube earlier.
The indictments just keep on coming. Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon (D) received another indictment. WBAL (1090AM) is reporting that a grand jury is indicting Dixon on the same charges that were on an earlier indictment, some of which were tossed out in May by a judge.
The Mayor has made it clear that she is going to focus her attention on running the city, while her attorney Arnold Weiner did the talking for her, expecting the charges on this indictment will also meet the same fate as those dropped in May, adding that they are flawed.
WBAL-TV (Channel 11) also has this video report.
