City Hall

Dear Miss Manners: I am - I mean, a friend of mine is - a newly elected public official. As part of the celebration marking the start of his term, he is whistle-stopping through a couple of cities this Saturday en route to Washington. Unfortunately, in one of those cities, the mayor recently was indicted on criminal charges. Pity my poor pal, who already has worn out all his pick and roll moves avoiding a similarly sullied governor from his home state. Should I - I mean, he - just stay on the train to keep his distance from someone who now seems to be known, at least in the headlines, as "Mayor Indicted?"

If past elections are any indication, thousands of voters will turn out for the general election Tuesday to cast a ballot for whichever Democrat appears on the screen, burying candidates from the other parties under the reality of how politics work in Baltimore. But Elbert R. Henderson, the Republican candidate for mayor, would like voters to know that, technically, they have another option, even if practically few of them exercise it. Henderson, 57, an official in the Washington, D.C., corrections department, is making a second run for mayor, hoping to unseat Democrat Sheila Dixon.

Brace yourselves: Lawrence Bell is about to be marketed as the second coming of that secular urban saint, William Donald Schaefer.Not that Schaefer's endorsed Bell's campaign for mayor -- or anybody else's. But, in the name of political shorthand, Schaefer's name is being evoked to explain Bell's singular devotion to politics, and to the city, and to a lifestyle of such blissful fulfillment attained by the cleaning of the tattered alley, the signing of the zoning ordinance, and the heroic installation of the sewer system that it needs no room for mere private pleasures.

In a nod to Taneytown's working population, Mayor Henry Heine has introduced a by-appointment, after-hours service for people who can't come to City Hall between 8 a.m. and 4: 30 p.m."It's not just for commuters," Heine said.He said some people who work in town may be unable to get away for the length of time they need to conduct city business, such as applying for a building permit or poring over the city's zoning map.The service is a cross between the old days, when Taneytown's City Hall was routinely open until 7: 30 p.m. and the future, when residents will have the convenience of e-mailing a building permit request and calling up the city code on the Internet.

Baltimore's next mayor doesn't take office for five days, but the impending departure of the city's leader for the past 12 years hit home yesterday when he saw a press release that read "Kurt Schmoke, former Mayor of Baltimore."It wasn't the kind of statement Schmoke was looking for, not on this of all days -- the day he turned 50 and one of the last days before he retires from decades of public service to go into private law practice.It was, Schmoke said, an example of "the syndrome of the king is dead."

Suggestion for the next mayor of Baltimore: Clean up War Memorial Plaza. I walked across the plaza election night and was stunned by the amount of broken glass there. It glistened. For a moment I thought the place had been paved in glassphalt. The big plaza in front of City Hall should sparkle, but only when the sun is out. I suggest the new mayor get with the guys who play chess in the plaza and ask them to commit to keeping it clean.I could go on, so I will.More suggestions for the next mayor of Baltimore:Find a job for Carl Stokes.

Social activist and mayoral candidate A. Robert Kaufman said yesterday that he would push for restructuring the city election system, including requiring voter identification, eliminating primaries and allowing the City Council to elect its president.The founder of the City Wide Coalition, best known for his call for the city to begin an auto insurance program, also would like the city to hire a city manager and for council members to be elected at large."I would be real happy to be the city's last mayor," Kaufman said at a news conference.

THE COURSE was about body language. The teacher was a guy named Michael Ryan, out of the Baltimore state's attorney's office sex offense unit, and he was telling all these bright young prosecutors, many of them fresh out of law school, how to watch people's posture and gestures and not just listen to the words they say.The course only took a couple of hours, but when it was done, Ryan remembered, one of these young attorneys walked up to him and said earnestly,...

Whet your appetite for major shows opening here and elsewhere later this year with a trio of tasty hors d'oeuvres served locally.David Shevlino's oil-on-panel landscapes are at Steven Scott Gallery. OXOXO Gallery presents "The Relic Makers," jewelers who create relics of power and passage.And City Hall Courtyard Galleries is showing "Dreams Are for Everyone," artwork by participants in the Creative Arts Class at Keswick Multi-Care Center.Steven Scott Gallery is at 515 Charles St. For information, call 410-752-6218.

THE PLIGHT of Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke -- that he had no place to go but out -- is the unfortunate fate nowadays of minority mayors of big cities.No matter the talent, measurable success at running a city -- that is, no bankruptcy, no state takeover of programs, no riots or scandals -- there usually is no chance for upward mobility to the governorship or United States Senate.I consider the House of Representatives, ambassadorships or cabinet jobs -- but not the statehouse -- as lateral moves rather than promotion from city hall.

Annapolis voters have grown increasingly dissatisfied with a city leadership that has experienced notable failures of civic management and seen a ballooning of spending while developing a reputation for divisiveness. On Tuesday, they have an opportunity to turn the page by electing a new mayor. They have three good choices - Democrat Joshua J. Cohen, Republican David H. Cordle Sr. and independent Chris Fox. Josh Cohen Pros: Young and ambitious, Mr. Cohen has served five years as an Annapolis alderman and three as a county councilman.

With a tip of the hat to The Sun of New York, whose Sept. 21, 1897, response to a questioning 8-year-old reader named Virginia became a holiday classic. Dear Editor, I am 55 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Especially during these bad economic times, they say, he doesn't exist. They say I shouldn't waste time writing to ask him to pay for my Christmas cards to constituents, or parties for my friends and me, or even a measly little ice sculpture of a reindeer.

Baltimore developer Ronald H. Lipscomb apologized in court Thursday for violating campaign finance rules and accepted a sentence of three years of unsupervised probation, 100 hours of community service and a $25,000 fine imposed by Circuit Judge Dennis M. Sweeney. "I have no one else to blame but myself," Lipscomb said at a sentencing hearing for his role in the City Hall corruption scandal. "If I had not made some stupid and selfish decisions, I would not be here today." Sweeney also barred Lipscomb from donating to any city political candidates or attending campaign events during the probation period.

Say this much for Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III: He's willing to deliver on a bet. Bealefeld appeared on radio station 98 Rock on Tuesday morning to sing a karaoke version of Whitney Houston's "I'm Every Woman," honoring an agreement he made with the mayor's office after his all-male police team lost a marathon relay Saturday to an all-women's team headed by an official from City Hall. "Suddenly, every drug dealer in town is petrified," cracked host Mickey Cucchiella after Bealefeld cruised through his droll rendition of the song.

There's a new parlor game in Maryland political circles, one that's way more fun than guessing who's behind omalleywatch.com: Who's FakeSheilaDixon? "I am having [Chief of Staff] Demaune [Millard] look into whether I can tax people for dressing poorly," FakeSheilaDixon wrote on Twitter yesterday. "It should be UnderArmour jumpsuits or DolceGabbana." Another bit from the Twitter feed: "I keep telling my citizens, if they are stuck in traffic just get your driver to turn on the sirens. People move right out of your way."

Mayor Sheila Dixon plans to dip into the city's $13.5 million "undesignated surplus" funds, lay off about 100 city workers and implement across-the-board furloughs to close a $60.2 million budget shortfall caused by state cuts and declining city revenue estimates, according to union leaders who met with city officials this week and a budget document obtained by The Baltimore Sun. The plan also includes using $11 million to $12 million of excess funds...

Officials are investigating a complaint from a former City Hall worker who says she was forced to resign last year after she refused to fire a staff member to make way for a "patronage appointment," according to documents obtained by The Baltimore Sun. The former employee, Jennifer L. Coates, who was director of council services, said that City Council President Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake and her chief of staff, Kim Washington, repeatedly asked her...

The new indictments issued last week in the City Hall corruption probe have some Baltimore political leaders impatient for resolution to a case that has spanned three years and left the city's reputation in limbo. "Most people I talk to are saying 'Let's just get this over with,' " said Baltimore Del. Curtis S. Anderson, a Democrat. "Let's get to trial and see what really happened." A grand jury indicted Democratic Mayor Sheila Dixon on theft and perjury charges, and City Councilwoman Helen L. Holton and baking magnate and developer John Paterakis for allegedly violating campaign finance rules.

A 25-year-old woman was robbed of her purse and cell phone early Monday at a downtown bus stop steps away from City Hall, according to a spokesman for the Baltimore Police Department. The woman flagged down a patrol officer about 2:30 a.m. and said she was attacked minutes before on East Fayette Street near Guilford Avenue, toward the back of City Hall and the Circuit Court buildings and also near several city and state office buildings. Anthony Guglielmi, the department's chief spokesman, said the woman told officers that she was waiting at a bus stop when a man came up behind her and asked for her number.

The police patrol area is called the Central District, implying center of the city, or downtown. But its borders stretch far beyond, north of North Avenue into Reservoir Hill, west of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard past the trendy enclave of Bolton Hill and up the Pennsylvania Avenue drug corridor. City cops list 19 neighborhoods within this urban footprint, but that doesn't begin to explain the diversity of the area's night life, club scene, red-light strip, restaurants, shopping areas, waterfront attractions, upscale hotels, hospitals, universities, corporate headquarters, the convention center and City Hall.