As the daughter of a renowned state legislator and a member of the Baltimore City Council for nearly her entire adult life, Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake has seen the city transform in the hands of numerous leaders. On Feb. 4, when she is sworn in as the city's 49th mayor, she gets her own chance to shepherd the city into a new era.

A falling homicide rate, rising public school enrollments and a flourishing arts scene bring hope for brighter times, but Rawlings-Blake inherits a city beset by a colossal budget crisis, vacancies at the top of key agencies and a murder rate still among the highest in the nation. Businesses are closing in droves. Homeowners struggle under staggering property tax rates. Frequent water main breaks are dramatic reminders of the city's crumbling infrastructure.

And the extended corruption probe and court case involving her predecessor, Mayor Sheila Dixon, who announced her resignation last week as part of a plea deal, has cast a cloud over City Hall.

Thinking she could use a helping hand or 20, The Baltimore Sun talked with experts in transportation, economics and education; local leaders in business and the arts and even a few of her predecessors, seeking advice for the new mayor.

Rawlings-Blake, who calls herself a "government nerd" obsessed with policy issues, said she welcomed the ideas and offered a few of her early thoughts on the direction in which she hoped to move the city.

She calls balancing the city's budget - a $190 million gap must be closed in the coming fiscal year - her top priority.

"We're going to have to start making some really tough decisions," she said. "My focus is on balancing this budget and getting our priorities in line."

She has promised to strengthen the city's schools, a signature issue of her father, the late Del. Howard "Pete" Rawlings. "I get to live in the world he dreamed of," she said, "when he dreamed what was possible for our children and our schools."

And, as she has said daily since becoming mayor-in-waiting, she will focus on public safety. "We can have the best schools," she said, "but if people are afraid to live here, it's not going to matter."

The unofficial brain trust we recruited came up with suggestions ranging from the lofty (keep government open and transparent) to the hyper-local (beware of pink flamingos).