Campaign For Mayor

Allies of Annapolis Alderman Carl O. Snowden sailed uncharted political waters last week, staging a $1,000-a-person fund-raiser to finance his potential run for mayor."

Republican Dean L. Johnson pulled off an easy victory last night that left his Democratic opponent Dennis M. Callahan stunned at a 4,127 to 3,416 gap in what many had predicted would be a close race for mayor of Annapolis.Less than 25 minutes after the polls closed at 8 p.m., Callahan, a one-term former mayor who's now lost three bids to repeat in the job, called Johnson's West Street campaign headquarters. That room erupted in cheers as he conceded. Less than 10 minutes later, champagne was flowing.

After eight years of receiving crucial support for his mayoral administration, Gov. Martin O'Malley came to Baltimore yesterday to return the favor to Mayor Sheila Dixon. O'Malley joined former Rep. Kweisi Mfume in officially endorsing Dixon, lending her mayoral campaign the biggest names to date with less than a month before the Democratic primary. Standing outside of City Hall in War Memorial Plaza, the trio emerged to the 1980s classic song "Eye of the Tiger," where they were joined by a legion of city and state elected officials.

Baltimore Democrats outnumber Republican voters 9 to 1, odds that traditionally make the winner of the GOP September primary political road kill in November.The last Republican to be elected Baltimore mayor was Theodore R. McKeldin, 36 years ago.Amid the city's 17-candidate Democratic primary brawl, the city's six Republican hopefuls are struggling to have their campaigns heard.Republican mayoral candidate David F. Tufaro has the support of party leaders in his bid to capture the majority of the 30,000 Republican voters.

Baltimore businessman and political activist Raymond V. Haysbert was in critical condition last night at Good Samaritan Hospital after he collapsed about 6: 30 p.m. at a fund-raiser in Northeast Baltimore.The former chairman of Parks Sausage Co., Haysbert, who is in his late 70s, collapsed after speaking to about 200 people at the event sponsored by the North Central Democratic Coalition to raise money for Sylvia Williams' campaign for a 3rd District City Council seat."He was speaking, and he just fell backward," said Ruth Sparks, who held the event at her home in the 2500 block of Montebello Terrace.

It is most unfortunate that Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has chosen to characterize those who might disagree with her positions on city funding priorities and her justification for maintaining an excessively high property tax rate as being less than truthful or somehow misleading the citizens of Baltimore ( "Rawlings-Blake calls for 'tough choices,' new projects," Feb. 7). The truth is the mayor sets the spending priorities, and if lowering property taxes is not one of the mayor's priorities, it will not happen.

Newly elected mayor lauds voting participants I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who participated in the Westminster City elections on May 14, 2001. Westminster ran this election for you. Although we doubled the number of voters in this election from the previous election, we all will look forward to an even greater number of folks participating in future elections. We need citizens not spectators. I would like to take this opportunity to personally applaud the efforts of everyone involved in Suzanne Albert's, Damian Halstad's and Roy Chiavacci's election campaigns, for a job well done.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Richard Hongisto's six-week career as this city's police chief ended ignominiously early yesterday when police commissioners emerged from a closed-door hearing and announced that he was fired.After eight hours of testimony and deliberation, the five-member panel concluded that Mr. Hongisto, who championed gay rights during his failed campaign for mayor last year, was responsible for the confiscation of more than 2,000 copies of a gay newspaper that ridiculed him on its cover.

For a man said to have been married to the city of Baltimore, William Donald Schaefer had a lot of women fighting over him. His longtime companion, Hilda Mae Snoops, didn't get along with Lainy LeBow-Sachs, an aide since his days in City Hall. The rivalry simmered even after LeBow-Sachs married Baltimore developer Leonard Sachs in 1993. Snoops did not allow LeBow-Sachs into the governor’s mansion, so the latter resorted to sneaking in for her first tour as Schaefer was wrapping up his second term as governor, former Sun reporter C. Fraser Smith wrote in his biography of Schaefer.

Sexual misconduct trial of alderman postponed The sexual misconduct trial of an Annapolis alderman and former mayoral candidate has been delayed from December until next year because of scheduling conflicts. The date was chosen Wednesday during a brief hearing with the lawyers and the Anne Arundel County judge who will preside over the trial. A two-day jury trial starting Feb. 23 is planned. Samuel E. Shropshire, 61, did not attend the hearing because of a death in his family, his lawyers said.