Decision time is Tuesday, September 14th in our local Baltimore City elections. Everyone should exercise their right to vote. The campaign that has captured the imagination of people city-wide is the race for The Baltimore City State's Attorney.
I'm prepared to make my personal choice public.
I support the reelection of Baltimore City State's Attorney Patrica C. Jessamy.
Here are my reasons why:
1) As a Pastor of an inner city congregation, it is important that I have access to the Baltimore City State's Attorney. Ms. Jessamy is accessible and has always been open to dialogue. I have never met the other candidate, nor have I seen him in the community where I serve.
2) I had the opportunity to work for Baltimore City State's Attorney Milton B. Allen. I have personally known every State's Attorney since: William B. Swisher, Kurt L. Schmoke, Stuart Simms. The political shift from the Allen administration to the Swisher administration took the focus of the office off of innovative programs to litigation of all accused on all offensives. The office became alienated from the community and we lost ground in the progressive movement to create an atmosphere of rehabilitation and reintegration. The Schmoke, Simms, and Jessamy administrations returned the attention of the office to a more balanced approach towards adjudicating the accused. I believe the candidate would negate the gains we have made in the more balanced approach the office currently has.
3) Race is a factor. I am not comfortable with a candidate who arrives on the scene with a frontal attack on the African American community of its political leadership. The underlining signals that are being transmitted is appalling to me and causes me to think that the goal of a racial integrated city is a pipe dream. As a native of Baltimore I understand that to the winner goes the spoils. I grew up under administrations where leaders within the African American community had to go hat in hand to persons from other cultures seeking the benefits that their offices could distribute. We have the academic, political, and social networks to elect persons who come from our community and understand the complex negotiations that goes on daily among the leadership of our city over the distribution of resources. I'm not prepared to return to a hat in hand era again. I will fight to protect political office holders who come from my community, just as any ethic group protects its interests. But, I will also hold them to a high level of accountability and integrity.
4) The Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office is a source of high paying jobs. It is the training ground for lawyers, the preparation place for future judges, and the highly skilled talent pool that provides an anchor in our communities. It is important that the person who controls the hiring practices of this office understands my desire for diversity, but also my desire to be a source of jobs for the talented generation of lawyers and administrators who we have nurtured and trained within our community.
5) Finally, logic teaches me that inductive reasoning is flawed. To take small samplings of data and use that for a basic of making a decision has inherent errors. A 15 year record has to be looked at longitudinally. Therefore, deductive reasoning informs me that State's Attorney Patrica C. Jessamy has served us well and deserve to be re-elected to continue to serve.
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