NAACP President Kweisi Mfume moved into a posh Baltimore condominium over the weekend, placing him in position for a possible run for mayor.
The former Democratic congressman and City Council member is expected to close on the two-bedroom Harbor Court condo on the 25th floor next week, several sources knowledgeable about the transaction told The Sun yesterday.
In order to run for mayor, Mfume will need the General Assembly to pass a bill reducing the city residency requirement for mayoral candidates from one year to six months, a measure expected to easily pass both houses and be signed by Gov. Parris N. Glendening.
A change to six months before the November general election would require a candidate to reside in the city by May.
Mfume has repeatedly denied interest in the mayor's race and could not be reached yesterday to comment on the condo transaction. Several calls and inquiries to his NAACP office were not returned.
News of the move is delighting state and city political leaders who have been urging him to make a mayoral bid -- one they think he can win with little effort -- to help heal the city of its woeful schools, chronic murder rate, high taxes and joblessness.
"He moved in over the weekend and bought it from a friend of mine," state Comptroller and former Baltimore Mayor William Donald Schaefer confirmed yesterday.
Mfume, who is single, is neighbors with Baltimore Orioles slugger Albert Belle. The two-bedroom condo on Lee Street has an excellent city view and listed for $360,000, although sources say Mfume paid as much as 15 percent less. Two weeks ago, Peter G. Angelos, owner of the Orioles, sold two floors of condo space above Mfume's for $1 million.
NAACP board Chairman Julian Bond downplayed news of Mfume's move, appearing unpersuaded that his president intends to leave the organization.
"I hope he'll invite me to the housewarming," Bond said. "We are not interested in where he lives just so it's convenient to the [NAACP] office."
Political analysts wasted no time in viewing the move as a clear sign that Mfume -- a West Baltimore native now living in Catonsville -- wants to be the next mayor of the city.
"I think it's a very strong indication that he's made up his mind," said Matthew Crenson, a Johns Hopkins University political science professor. "It looks like despite all his denials he's running, and I think it will be great for the city."
The move could mean trouble for Mfume's cousin, City Council President Lawrence A. Bell III, who has been considered the lead mayoral candidate. Bell, who has yet to announce his candidacy, held a fund-raiser last week. He could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Although Mfume attended the Bell fund-raiser, he did not endorse his cousin. Mfume also has been meeting with city political and business leaders, including Angelos and Schaefer, who was mayor for 16 years. Schaefer has joined other state leaders, including Del. Howard P. Rawlings, in encouraging Mfume to enter the race.
"Mr. Bell is a good man," said Schaefer, who was elected comptroller in November and attended the Bell fund-raiser last week. "Mfume is a little older, he's been in Congress, he's been in council and he's had national and international offices. Mr. Mfume would be good right now."
Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke announced in December that he would not seek a fourth four-year term, so Baltimore will have its first mayor's race without an incumbent in 28 years. The Democratic primary will be Sept. 14.
Mfume has said from the outset that unfinished business at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is his top priority. But the 50-year-old former Congressional Black Caucus leader has acknowledged that he has his heart set on someday becoming a U.S. senator.
Gaining support outside the Baltimore region for a statewide position could be a difficult leap for Mfume from the less visible NAACP slot. In New York and Philadelphia, Mayors Rudolph W. Giuliani and Ed Rendell are being touted as future Senate candidates because of the dynamic turnarounds of their ailing cities.
"He needs a fully public office to position himself for the Senate," Crenson said of Mfume.
Mfume is considered a strong candidate because he has the two qualities that experts attribute to successful big-city mayors: a big personality and a common touch.
Mfume has his own weekly television talk show on Baltimore and wrote a 1996 book, "No Free Ride: From the Mean Streets to the Mainstream." The book chronicled Mfume's fatherless rise from the rough streets of West Baltimore under his former name of Frizzell "Pee Wee" Gray.
In addition to scrapes with the law, he fathered five children with four women before becoming one of the nation's most respected African-American civic leaders under the tutelage of former U.S. Rep. Parren J. Mitchell.
If he decides to step down as NAACP president to run for mayor, he will be leaving behind a post paying more than $200,000 per year to seek a $95,000 job.
Staff writers Erin Texeira and Robert Nusgart contributed to this story.
Pub Date: 3/10/99