Ross' group, which operates from the 300-family Lanvale Tower Canal Court housing project in Oliver, said she asked the mayor's office for help purchasing holiday presents for 103 children but got no response. She had more luck with Toys for Tots.
Ross is a single mother of a 16-year-old son. She receives $851 a month on disability, but she said she still donates her time and what money she can to help people needier than she. "The mayor is supposed to set a standard for all of us," Ross said. "If you we can't trust her, who can we trust?"
In a news conference Friday afternoon, Dixon declared her innocence.
Unseemly allegations about the mayor's receiving and handing off thousands of dollars in cash were included in the indictment, including a revelation that developer Lipscomb, then Dixon's boyfriend, paid for a Chicago shopping trip that included purchases at Saks Fifth Avenue, Giorgio and Coach. Lipscomb, whose projects received tax breaks from the city, was indicted Wednesday on separate charges of bribery that came out of the same City Hall probe. City Councilwoman Helen L. Holton was also indicted.
It remains to be seen how the stigma of an indictment will affect Dixon's ability to govern beyond ceremonial appearances such as those yesterday.
In what is shaping up to be a challenging year, the city is struggling to keep down homicide numbers that have dipped during her tenure. At least a dozen people have already been killed this year.
Budget and economic woes are pervasive. The mayor already cut about $35 million from city agencies this year and will have to reduce nearly twice that in the coming budget year. The cuts are bound to create tensions, and fire and police union leaders have expressed anger over proposed pension benefit reductions.
But since the indictment was released, Dixon has taken steps to show that she will not be distracted. Baltimore State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy said she had a telephone conversation with Dixon on Friday afternoon - at just about the time the mayor was indicted - and that it was "business as usual."
"We talked about the plans for bringing gun legislation to Annapolis this year," Jessamy said, noting that they did not discuss the indictments. "She and I are both on the same page in terms of making this city better. The mayor is going to keep conducting business. We have to keep moving forward."
