Then, in a move that caught some by surprise, Cole asked that the council vote to keep the budget in committee. That ensures that the battle over the budget will continue.
The procedural move angered Councilman Robert W. Curran: "I am not going to hold a gun to the mayor's head," he shouted. "That is what we are doing. I am not going to be one to hold a gun to the mayor's head."
He stormed out of the meeting.
Some council members were haunted by the past, making references to the last time the body stood up to the mayor. That was in June 1998, when the council sliced Kurt L. Schmoke's spending plan. Council members then, like now, were urging the mayor to restore funds to recreation centers.
But rather than returning that money to programs, Schmoke used it for a 3-cent reduction in the property tax rate.
"History tends to repeat itself," warned Councilwoman Rochelle "Rikki" Spector, who opposed the cuts. "You know, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results."
On Thursday, Dixon's legal and budget officials told the council repeatedly that the money cut cannot be put back into the general fund. So, if Dixon does not put the cuts toward a minor property tax reduction, they will go into an undesignated surplus fund.
But administration officials conceded that such money could be spent if the city needs it to plug a hole during the budget year.
The council insurrection was led by Rawlings-Blake, Young and Cole.
Other members expressed concern that cuts in their districts had not been restored. Councilwoman Belinda Conaway at one point held up her vote on an amendment while waiting to hear from the Finance Department whether a recreation center in her district would reopen. Not satisfied with the answer, she voted against the mayor.
The first amendment took $39,000 from the Mayor's Office of International and Immigrant Affairs, a unit that reaches out to foreign countries to bolster cultural ties and trade with Baltimore. That office was set to receive a 45 percent spending increase to use for translation services.
The next amendment cut $702,984 from the city government's cable channel. Council members had expressed frustration with the department during a budget hearing, saying that its director is not responsive and rarely airs programs that are not focused on the mayor.
Dixon opposes that cut. "That is practically eliminating the whole function," she said.
The council also took $200,000 from Inspector General Hilton Green's office, a department that has had a lackluster record. In the past two years, Green has investigated only a handful of cases that led to prosecutions, Rawlings-Blake said. She'd prefer to see his shop folded into the city's law department.
Dixon said she shares the council's concerns about ther inspector general's office and is poised to making some changes. "Stay tuned," she said.
Absent from the meeting were council members Helen L. Holton and Nicholas D'Adamo.
