Council President Swearing-In Address: Baltimore City Council

Swearing-In of President and Members of the 70th Baltimore City Council
December 6, 2007

Thank you, Kweisi, for that wonderful introduction. I don’t quite know how to fully express my gratitude for your support through the years. Your mentorship has gotten me to this point, and is with me each day I enter City Hall. Thank you.

Good morning to all of you. It took a lot to get to this day. To the volunteers, the staff, and supporters that made today possible, I thank you. My sincere thanks to Stan Stovall for serving as today’s Master of Ceremonies, as well.

To my family - my husband, Kent, my daughter, Sophia, and my siblings, Wendell and Lisa, my newest sister Teminka, and to my dear mother – thank you for sharing me with the people of Baltimore, who have entrusted all of us to work on their behalf.

Governor O’Malley, honored guests, friends, colleagues, and fellow citizens, today we stand witness to history. And I am proud to be the first City Council President in our history to officially welcome and thank . . . Madame Mayor.

No day is perfect when our loved ones, who nurtured our efforts, are no longer with us. But I am comforted with the knowledge that my father is with us today, equally as proud of his daughter as he is of his City … so too, Madame Mayor, your mother smiles with us as her daughter, in her likeness, makes history in the City that she loved.

As we remember those who are no longer with us, let me take this opportunity to recognize one of Baltimore’s most dedicated public servants, George Winfield, Director of the City’s Department of Public Works and City servant for over thirty years. Mr. Winfield passed away this weekend, and the thoughts and prayers of all Baltimoreans, to whom he dedicated his life, are with his family today.

Today, I’m deeply humbled to follow in the footsteps of a woman I respect and admire… A woman who took the bold initiative to restore trust between the Mayor’s Office and the City Council, advancing a shared vision for the future of our City. Madame Mayor, the oath you took this week affirms that vision. Congratulations.

Today we celebrate the start of the Seventieth term of the City Council, and the beginning of a new chapter in Baltimore’s history. As the representatives of our City’s fourteen districts, these distinguished members bring to Baltimore’s legislative body a diverse background of experience and a fresh approach to the City’s most pressing challenges.

…They offer the wisdom of lessons learned, and the audacity of new ideas.

…They bring both a loyalty to their districts, and an allegiance to all of Baltimore.

…With the stature of elected leaders and the modesty of public servants, these members represent us . . . with humility; with enthusiasm; and with an ability to make a difference.

Collectively, as members of the City Council, they represent the distinct voices of over 600,000 residents. And it’s this monumental task that unites them as one body, forging together for the benefit of all who call Baltimore home.

The members before you embody the truest sense of public service. While the positions may technically read as part-time, there is nothing part-time about the service. Their lives – day and night – are dedicated to the people of our City.

To this Seventieth City Council, it is my honor to serve as President. Twelve years on the City Council and a lifetime connected with public service has taught me that power is never about me. My sole ambition is to make government work for the people it serves. Government should be a place where people find solutions, not a barrier to those solutions. And to make that happen, to bring about a more efficient, result-oriented City Council, we must focus on Baltimore’s neighborhoods.

We take great pride in the charm of our neighborhoods. We are a city of neighborhoods – but we are a CITY. And in that spirit of unity, it is our job as government leaders to provide the necessary framework to make revitalization possible for all of our neighborhoods.

Representing the 6^th District on the Council, I watched what happens when a community becomes invested in its own revitalization. The Garwyn Oaks Community along with the Healthy Neighborhoods organization partnered and leveraged existing resources to transform an undervalued community to one that is a thriving example of rebirth. But Garwyn Oaks is not the only neighborhood to benefit from these partnerships. We worked with then-Mayor O'Malley, to secure the resources necessary to expand these options into other communities. And now, as we work with Mayor Dixon to go even further, neighborhoods are graduating from the Healthy Neighborhoods program – so vibrant that they can now stand on their own strength, a strength created by the residents who built a community there.

Just recently, I was in one of these communities where residents stuck through the difficult years, and now their biggest concern is how to go about bringing such change to other communities in Baltimore. It’s amazing how far we’ve come.

My friends, we owe it to Baltimore to make government work better; to create more strategies like Healthy Neighborhoods that bring together existing resources to create strong, self-sustaining communities.

This Seventieth City Council will serve as a place where people can find those solutions. And it will start with the reestablishment of Council Committees dedicated specifically to Public Safety and Public Education.

Because we won’t simply rest on the assumption that a rising tide will lift all boats. To sustain the success we’ve experienced in these neighborhoods, and to provide the foundation for success in the future, we must address the basic elements of that foundation.

Our shared vision for Baltimore includes a safe city for all residents. I often say that we must be safe to have a present, and educated to have a future.

While we celebrate our City today and the diversity it represents, we stand witness to a generation of young adults who are at risk to being lost to the violence on our streets.

In response to this crisis, nothing will be as effective as the united resolve of a City – of all citizens from all walks of life – demanding change, accountability, and security for each other.

Yes, the progress we‘ve made is real. It should not be discounted. But real progress comes when the hearts and minds of the people of Baltimore are united.

…When neighbors share a belief in the potential of their City;

…When they trust the police who patrol their neighborhoods;

…And when they participate in the growth and development of their communities.

Our journey to a safe Baltimore for all citizens must include pride and investment in our City as much as it does strength and enforcement of our laws. Partnerships that are formed to save our neighborhoods in crisis from falling deeper into despair must address not only the violence, but the root of that behavior.

Not just the violent people, but the environments that create them. Not just the teens in crisis, but the circumstances fueling that crisis.

This is not a problem unique to Baltimore. And although the vast majority of the victims here are young, African American men, this is not solely a racial problem. It is a people problem.

For ten years, I worked as a Public Defender, and saw, first-hand, the young women ravaged by drugs; or the teenage boys who’ve turned to violence as a way of life. And though it was my job to ensure that they had the same access to the legal system as any citizen, it may otherwise have been easy to write them off as lost souls. But if we ignore our duty to serve even those members of our society who seem intent on destroying it, then ours are the lost souls, not theirs.

Public education

As we make our streets safer, keep in mind that our future will be lost unless we improve our schools and provide safe havens for our children; where school buildings are as new and bright as the minds that inhabit them, and where teachers are rewarded for the lifetime of inspiration they dedicate to City students.

Our students have made tremendous strides. It’s our responsibility to recognize that strength and encouragement are the greatest gifts we can give our children and disparagement of our school system is the harshest blow

We will continue to demand that they are held to high standards, so the students of our City can compete in the marketplace with their peers. And we will call upon our friends in Annapolis to contribute the necessary resources to our students. While we encourage our children to build successful lives here in Baltimore, we also provide the confidence it takes to think beyond our borders. And therefore it is the responsibility of all Marylanders to ensure the success of the students here in Baltimore.

We do not have disposable children in our City, and each day that we accept inefficiencies or underachievement in our schools is a day we are stealing from the future of our children.

As residents of Baltimore, you are not without power. For Baltimore to realize its truest potential, we need the energy, the ideas, and the dedication of all Baltimoreans not just those in City Hall.

Join us in this new chapter in Baltimore's history, as we realize a bold vision for Baltimore, together. Identify your dreams for a better Baltimore, and tell us what you want for your communities. It’s far easier to give voice to your concerns and fears for the future, but I ask you today to envision your hopes for that future, and what it will take to bring your neighborhood a brighter tomorrow.

I do not shrink from the hard decisions of public life. But our power originates from the will of the people. These are the challenges we face. And facing them together will be our greatest triumph.

President's Address