Stephanie Rawlings-Blake

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Rawlings-Blake received criticism for her handling of the 2015 Baltimore protests that were prompted by the death of Freddie Gray on April 19, 2015. Several days of peaceful protests escalated into violence in the late afternoon of April 25, 2015. [20] After about three hours of violence, looting, and destruction of property throughout the city, Rawlings-Blake requested the assistance of the Maryland National Guard. [21] Two days later, on April 27, as unrest continued, she requested that the governor of Maryland, Larry Hogan, declare a state of emergency, and on April 28, she asked for further assistance from the National Guard. [20] Rawlings-Blake was criticized for waiting too long before asking the state for help. [20] Hogan claimed that she did not return his repeated phone calls for two hours after the riots started on April 25 and that he could not enact a state of emergency or deploy the National Guard without a formal request from the mayor. [22] On April 28, Hogan said he didn't want to "second-guess the mayor's decision" and that he knew "she was doing the best that she could". [20]

In a press conference addressing the riots, Rawlings-Blake stated, "It’s a very delicate balancing act. Because while we try to make sure that they were protected from the cars and other things that were going on, we also gave those who wished to destroy space to do that as well. And we worked very hard to keep that balance and to put ourselves in the best position to de-escalate". [23] The phrase "we also gave those who wished to destroy space to do that as well" was interpreted by some to mean that the mayor was giving permission to protestors to destroy property. [24] [25] Some conservative outlets disagreed with that interpretation, however, such as Breitbart News contributor John Sexton, who wrote, "when you look at the full context, it’s clear the Mayor meant something different (though it’s also true she didn’t say it very clearly)".

Rawlings-Blake clarified her remarks in a Facebook post, writing, "I did not instruct police to give space to protesters who were seeking to create violence or destruction of property. Taken in context, I explained that, in giving peaceful demonstrators room to share their message, unfortunately, those who were seeking to incite violence also had space to operate". [26]

During a subsequent press conference, Rawlings-Blake said, "Too many people have spent generations building up this city for it to be destroyed by thugs who, in a very senseless way, are trying to tear down what so many have fought for", [20] which led to even more criticism from people who felt her use of the term "thugs" was racially charged, such as Baltimore City Council member Carl Stokes, who compared her use of the word "thug" to the "n-word". Rawlings-Blake apologized two days later on Twitter. [26]

Secretary of the Democratic National Committee

Rawlings-Blake at the 2016 Democratic National Convention Stephanie Rawlings-Blake 2016 DNC.jpg
Rawlings-Blake at the 2016 Democratic National Convention

Rawlings-Blake was appointed secretary of the Democratic National Committee in January 2013, serving under Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. [27] Rawlings-Blake gaveled in the 2016 Democratic National Convention, where she served as one of 23 superdelegates from Maryland; Rawlings-Blake did not endorse any candidate at the convention. [28] [29]

Political positions and policies

City budget

Rawlings-Blake at the White House speaking with Vice President Biden P012314PS-0387 (13898125408).jpg
Rawlings-Blake at the White House speaking with Vice President Biden

On February 6, 2013, Baltimore City released a 10-year fiscal forecast, which the city had commissioned from independent financial consulting firm Public Financial Management, Inc. (PFM) at Rawlings-Blake's direction. [30] The report outlined a number of fiscal obstacles facing the City in subsequent years. [31] [32]

To address the challenges outlined in the fiscal forecast, Rawlings-Blake presented Change to Grow: A Ten-Year Financial Plan for Baltimore, [33] the city's first long-range financial plan. Among other major reforms, the plan outlined proposed changes to Baltimore City's employee pensions and benefits system, City tax structure, and overall municipal operations. [34] By implementing elements of this plan, Baltimore City has been able to extinguish $300 million from a cumulative budgetary shortfall forecasted at approximately $750 million. [35]

Urban blight

When Rawlings-Blake took office Baltimore City had approximately 16,000 vacant buildings, resulting from a half-century of population decline. In November 2010, in an effort to reduce urban blight caused by vacant structures, Rawlings-Blake introduced the Vacants to Value (V2V) initiative. [36] The initiative's strategies include streamlining code enforcement and disposition of City-owned vacant properties, offering incentives targeted at home buyers who purchase previously vacant homes, supporting large-scale redevelopment in deeply distressed areas, and targeting demolition to improve long-term property values. [37]

In 2013, Baltimore Housing won the Urban Land Institute's Robert C. Larson Workforce Housing Public Policy Awards [38] for the V2V initiative. V2V has also been recognized by the Obama administration, the Clinton Global Initiative, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, ABCD Network, and the Financial Times. [39]

2025 lawsuit

On January 8, 2025, the Old National Bank sued Rawlings-Blake for failing to repay a US$2.1 million 10-year business loan for Gulf Coast Technology Corporation and Buy MBE, which she was the president and manager of, respectively. The loan was issued on November 8, 2023, with an interest rate of prime plus three percent and monthly payments of US$28,000. While Rawlings-Blake made early payments, the payments ended in May 2023 and she did not respond to two demand letters from the Old National Bank. [40]

Other activities

In 2015, Rawlings-Blake became the first mayor to appear in the musical Chicago , appearing in a one-night performance on March 4, 2015, as an ensemble performer throughout the night. [41]

Awards and honors

In 2007 [42] and 2011, [43] Rawlings-Blake was honored by the Daily Record as one of Maryland's Top 100 Women.

Rawlings-Blake was named as a Shirley Chisholm Memorial Award Trailblazer by the National Congress of Black Women, Washington, DC Chapter (2009) [44] and as an Innovator of the Year by the Maryland Daily Record (2010). [45] In 2013, she was included in The Baltimore Sun's list of 50 Women to Watch. [46]

She is a recipient of the Fullwood Foundation Award of Excellence (2010), [47] the National Forum for Black Public Administrators' Distinguished Leadership Award (2012), [48] the Maryland State Senate's First Citizen Award (2013), [49] and the Baltimore Black Pride ICONS We Love Award (2013). [50]

In 2014, Vanity Fair included Rawlings-Blake in its list of the Top 10 Best-Dressed Mayors. [51]

Electoral history

Stephanie Rawlings-Blake
Stephanie Rawlings-Blake1 (2).jpg
Rawlings-Blake in 2013
Secretary of the Democratic National Committee
In office
January 22, 2013 –February 25, 2017

2003

2003 Baltimore City Council, District 6, Democratic Party primary election [52]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Stephanie Rawlings-Blake 3,679 49%
Democratic Charese Williams2,76537%
Democratic Seth A. Rosenberg4876%
Democratic Vincent "Rick" Fullard2513%
Democratic Kelley C. Brohawn2433%
Democratic Kevin L. Williams1322%
2003 Baltimore City Council, District 6, general election [53]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Stephanie Rawlings-Blake 11,325 91%
Republican Melvin A. Bilal1,1519%

2007

2007 Baltimore City Council, President, Democratic Party primary election [54]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Stephanie Rawlings-Blake 42,078 49%
Democratic Michael Sarbanes32,98839%
Democratic Kenneth Harris Sr. 9,92712%
Democratic Charles U. Smith3690%
2007 Baltimore City Council, President, general election [55]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Stephanie Rawlings-Blake 34,626 82%
Green Maria Allwine7,17417%
  Write-in 3651%

2011

2011 Mayor, Baltimore, Democratic Party primary election [56]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Stephanie Rawlings-Blake 38,829 52%
Democratic Catherine Pugh 18,79725%
Democratic Otis Rolley III 9,41513%
Democratic Joseph T. Landers5,0897%
Democratic Frank M. Conaway Sr.2,0953%
Democratic Wilton Lloyd Wilson2350%
2011 Mayor, Baltimore, general election [57]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Stephanie Rawlings-Blake 40,125 84%
Republican Alfred V. Griffin6,10813%
 write-in1,2703%

See also

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References

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  2. ↑ Morton, Will (April 27, 2008). "Rising Star". Baltimore Magazine. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
  3. ↑ "Howard P. Rawlings, Maryland State Delegate". Maryland Manual On-Line. Maryland State Archives. September 29, 2015. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
  4. ↑ ""Howard 'Pete' Rawlings dies at 66." The Baltimore Sun, 14 November 2003". msa.maryland.gov. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
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  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Stephanie Rawlings Blake, Mayor, Baltimore, Maryland". Maryland State Archives, msa.md.gov. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
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  9. ↑ Bruce, Tammy (May 5, 2015). "Generations of Democratic 'leaders' have doomed Baltimore and other cities". Fox News. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
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  17. ↑ Scharper, Julie (February 5, 2010). "Rawlings-blake Sworn In As Mayor". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on December 31, 2014.
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  19. ↑ "Baltimore Mayor Rawlings-Blake Says She Won't Seek Re-Election". Fox News. Associated Press. September 11, 2015. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
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  22. ↑ Broadwater, Luke; Cox, Erin; Fenton, Justin (April 28, 2015). "Critics Question Delay in Calling Out the Guard". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on March 17, 2017.
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  24. ↑ Greenberg, Jon (April 28, 2015). "In Context: What Baltimore's mayor said about space for rioters". Politifact. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
  25. ↑ Manning, Richard (April 27, 2015). "Baltimore mayor's 'balancing act' gave protestors permission to turn violent". Fox News. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  26. 1 2 Fang, Marina (April 29, 2015). "Baltimore Mayor Apologizes For Calling Protesters 'Thugs'". The Huffington Post. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  27. ↑ "Rawlings-Blake becomes DNC secretary, takes office Tuesday". Baltimore Business Journal. January 22, 2013. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  28. ↑ "Unpledged Delegates By State" (PDF). vox.com. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  29. ↑ "In face of uproar, Fattah resigns effective immediately". philly.com. June 24, 2016.
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  31. ↑ City of Baltimore, Maryland Ten-Year Fiscal Forecast FY2013 – FY2022 (PDF), Public Financial Management, Inc., February 6, 2013, retrieved August 12, 2014
  32. ↑ "City of Baltimore is on a path to financial ruin, report says". Associated Press. February 6, 2013. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  33. ↑ "Change to Grow: A Ten-Year Financial Plan for Baltimore" (PDF). City of Baltimore, Maryland. February 20, 2013. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  34. ↑ "Mayor Rawlings-Blake Issues First-of-Its-Kind Ten-Year Financial Plan" (Press release). City of Baltimore. February 20, 2013. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  35. ↑ Broadwater, Luke. "Rawlings-Blake says she's leaving Baltimore in better shape than she found it". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  36. ↑ "Rawlings-Blake unveils plan for vacant housing". The Baltimore Sun. November 3, 2010. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
  37. ↑ "Vacants to Value - About". Baltimore Housing. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
  38. ↑ "ULI Announces Winners of the 2013 Jack Kemp Workforce Housing Models of Excellence Awards and 2013 Robert C. Larson Workforce Housing Public Policy Awards" (Press release). Urban Land Institute. November 6, 2013. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
  39. ↑ "Vacants to Value - About". Baltimore Housing. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
  40. ↑ Ericson Jr., Edward (January 8, 2025). "Bank sues former Baltimore mayor for $2 million". Courthouse News Service . Retrieved January 9, 2025.
  41. ↑ "Baltimore Mayor Is Chicago Star Tonight". Playbill. March 4, 2015. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
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  43. ↑ "2011 Winners Marylands Top 100 Women". The Daily Record. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
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  45. ↑ "2010 Winners Innovator of the Year". The Daily Record. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
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  47. ↑ "Archives of Maryland (Biographical Series)". msa.maryland.gov. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  48. ↑ "2013 Leadership Awards Dinner". National Forum for Black Public Administrators. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
  49. ↑ "The First Citizen Award". Maryland State Archives. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
  50. ↑ "Rawlings-Blake 'extremely honored' to receive Black Pride ICON award". The Baltimore Sun. October 14, 2013. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
  51. ↑ "Photos: Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Baltimore – The Top 10 Best-Dressed Mayors". Vanity Fair. June 13, 2014. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
  52. ↑ City Primary Results". The Baltimore Sun. September 10, 2003.
  53. ↑ Baltimore City General Election Results". The Baltimore Sun. December 8, 2004.
  54. ↑ City of Baltimore - Board of Elections - Official Election Results". City of Baltimore, Maryland. September 24, 2007. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007.
  55. ↑ City of Baltimore - Board of Elections - Official Election Results". City of Baltimore, Maryland. 2007.
  56. ↑ Baltimore City Primary Held September 13, 2011". Baltimore City Board of Elections. September 28, 2011.
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