The fact that Baltimore has not only survived, but thrived, is purely due the strong foundation laid long ago by Mayor William Donald Schaefer. His legacy has endured the ineptness of all his successors, including Martin O'Malley.
At least up to now. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, whose legacy will be, "nobody died," is proving to be Mr. Schaefer's complete opposite. As a direct result of her perpetual poor judgment and city State's Attorney Mosby's rush to judgment, Baltimore has entered a death spiral, literally and figuratively, that if not irreversible is certainly irreparable in the foreseeable future.
Best principles or not, any reasonable person could have seen that gangs would seize on space to destroy and terrorize and that demoralizing and disarming the police would embolden the gangs to ultimately take control, which is now nearly complete — if not in fact, in appearance, which is equally destructive.
There is already evidence that the adverse economic consequences of the riots are growing as crime soars and fewer people, conventions and investment come to the city.
The last straw will be the usual Democratic Party response of raising taxes even more to offset the lost revenue, along with, of course, asking for state and federal assistance to spread the pain to law-abiding people even further removed, with no expectation of accountability, as evidenced by the hundreds of millions already spent with no discernible benefit.
Worse yet, given the list of prospective challengers to Mayor Rawlings-Blake The Sun recently listed and particularly those most likely to succeed, things could actually get worse in a hurry.
Law-abiding city residents and most Marylanders would agree that the situation calls for considering other alternatives as well avoiding what was once unthinkable — revoking Baltimore City's charter and returning it to the surrounding counties.
After all, the counties are already picking up a big part of the tax burden, so why shouldn't they have representation as well? At the very least, there should be proportionate statewide representation on the City Council or the creation of a state-appointed oversight board with veto power.
Those options should be put to a referendum so that the people of Maryland can have a voice in saving our city.
Doude Glenn, Baltimore