BALTIMORE — We're less than two months away from the mayoral primary in Baltimore City, and two candidates literally hit the pavement Wednesday, talking with city residents about two key issues.
Mayor Brandon Scott held a walk in East Baltimore's McElderry Park, discussing an uptick in violent crime in the area, and Sheila Dixon held one in West Baltimore's Upton, talking about tackling vacant homes.
"When they said 'Brandon Scott's coming,' I said, 'I'm not going to leave until I speak to him.' Because if they don't know how we feel, they aren't going to know what's going on," Tony, a father in East Baltimore, told WMAR.
Tony was in the middle of a group that spoke directly with the mayor on Wednesday evening. Tony told WMAR he wants better for the next generation: jobs, housing, and education.
WMAR asked if Tony was satisfied with Scott's answers.
"Until we make a change, I'm not. But if he puts forward what he said he was going to do for me, I will be happy. But until then I'm not, because we don't know if it'll really become true that he's going to change for the youth," Tony explained.
Scott was flanked by dozens of city officials as they walked through the McElderry Park neighborhood. Scott vowed to work with the community to build public safety.
"We're going to always be wherever we need to be in the community, but when you're seeing violence, that means not just the police, but everybody, all my agencies here have to be here to help," Scott told reporters.
Twenty-five minutes west, vacant homes sit just off Pennsylvania Avenue in West Baltimore's Upton neighborhood. Former Mayor Sheila Dixon, vying for the office again, observed them and spoke with community members and advocates about the vacants, as well as attracting business and people to the city.
"How do we create not only a community that redevelops housing, and home ownership, but also creates amenities that are going to go along with that? Supermarkets, pharmacies, create entire communities," Dixon said.
Dixon is aiming to meld public and private resources to tackle the issue.
May 14 is the mayoral Democratic primary; other declared candidates include Thiru Vignarajah, Bob Wallace, and Wendy Bozel.
