Sheila Dixon

Infobox Officeholder
name = Sheila A. Dixon


imagesize = 180px
caption =
order = 48^th Mayor of Baltimore
term_start = January 17, 2007
deputy =
predecessor = Martin O'Malley
successor = "Incumbent"
birth_date = birth date and age|1953|12|27
birth_place = Baltimore, Maryland, USA
death_date =
death_place =
constituency =
party = Democratic
spouse =
children = Joshua and Jasmine
profession =
religion = African Methodist Episcopal


footnotes =
order2 = President, Baltimore City Council
term_start2 = January 2000
term_end2 = January 2007
president =
predecessor2 =
successor2 =
order3 = Baltimore City Council 4th District
term_start3 = 1988
term_end3 = 2000
predecessor3 =
successor3 =

Sheila A. Dixon (born December 27, 1953) is an American politician who is the forty-eighth Mayor of Baltimore, Maryland. When former Mayor Martin O'Malley was sworn in as Governor on January 17, 2007, Dixon became mayor and served out the remaining year of O'Malley's term. In November 2007, she was elected mayor in her own right and is currently serving her first term. She is a former member of the Baltimore City Council, the first African-American female to serve as its president, and Baltimore's first female mayor. She is also Baltimore's third African-American mayor. She governs a more populous city than any other female mayor in the United StatesFact|date=June 2008. Dixon supports Democrat Barack Obama for president in 2008.

Biography

Dixon was born and was raised in the Ashburton neighborhood of West Baltimore. Her father, Phillip Dixon, Sr., was a car salesman, and her mother, Winona Dixon, was a community activist, active in her church, political causes, and member of local community groups.
Dixon attended the Baltimore City public schools and is a graduate of Northwestern High School. She holds a bachelor's degree from Towson University and a master's degree from Johns Hopkins University.

An active member of [Bethel A.M.E. Church] [http://www.bethel1.org] and former trustee, Dixon continues to serve as a member of the Stewardess Board. She serves on other boards, including the Institute of Human Virology, the Transplant Resource Center, the Urban Health Initiative, the Baltimore Public Markets Corporation, the Living Classrooms Foundation, and the Walters Art Gallery.

Twice divorced, Dixon is raising her two children, Jasmine and Joshua. [ [http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-te.ci.mayor19jan19,0,2867823.story?page=2&coll=bal-home-headlines Topic Galleries - baltimoresun.com ] ] She is the aunt of professional basketball player Juan Dixon, who led the University of Maryland to the 2002 NCAA championship. She is a lifelong resident of the City of Baltimore.

Career

Immediately after university, Dixon worked as an elementary school teacher and adult education instructor with the Head Start program. She then worked for 17 years as an international trade specialist with the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development.

In 1986, Dixon was elected to the Baltimore City State Central Committee representing the 40th Legislative District. In 1987, she won a seat on the Baltimore City Council representing the 4th Council District, where she served twelve years. She became the city council president in 1999, the first African-American woman elected to this position.

She is the only African-American woman mayor in the United States in a city with a population greater than 600,000. She is the first African-American woman to serve as Baltimore's mayor.

As Mayor

Although she has only been in office for a short period of time, she "has impressed political pundits with her energetic first three months and her ability to handle crises." [cite news|last=Janis|first=Stephen| title=Mayor Sheila Dixon looks back on her first 100 days | url=http://www.examiner.com/a-697975~Mayor_Sheila_Dixon_looks_back_on_her_first_100_days.html?cid=rss-Baltimore|publisher=The Baltimore Examiner|accessdate=2007-07-07]
She has accomplished what Baltimore mayors for the past 30 years have been unable to do, and that is to reduce the murder rate in Baltimore. [cite web| title=Mayor Reduces Murder Rate| url=http://www.wbaltv.com/station/15574702/html|publisher=WBAL-TV|accessdate=2008-04-02] In February 2008, the Baltimore City Police reported a sharp decline in homicides in Baltimore. According to police there were 14 murders in the city for the month of January, the lowest monthly total in 30 years. [cite web | title=Murders Drop In City In January|publisher=Wbal radio|url=http://wbal.com/stories/templates/news.aspx?articleid=1541&zoneid=3|accessdate=2008-02-04] As of April, 2008, there had been a 40% reduction in murders in the city after experiencing a record high in 2007 during Dixon's first year in office. [cite web| title=Baltimore's Murder Rate| url=http://www.wbaltv.com/station/15574702/detail.html|publisher=WBAL-TV|accessdate=2008-04-02] By April 15, 2008 the number of murders in the city had grown to 54, [cite news|url=http://www.citypaper.com/news/story.asp?id=15593|title=Murder Ink|last=Ditkoff|first=Anna|date=2008-04-16|publisher=City Paper(Baltimore)|accessdate=2008-04-17] the lowest total to this time of the year in recent memory, putting the city on pace for 189 murders in 2008.
She also led the effort to pass Baltimore's smoking ban. She has allocated record funding for campaigns to clean up Baltimore streets and she has expanded funding for affordable housing. While her critics complain that crime has risen in Baltimore during her tenure and that she is not paying enough attention to the issue, her record shows that she has increased police patrols, [http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-crime0531,0,5314460.story?coll=bal-local-headlines Topic Galleries - baltimoresun.com ] ] is cracking down on the possession of illegal guns, [cite news | author=Melody Simmons | title=Baltimore Mayor Unveils Strategy to Attack Increase in Gun Crime | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/03/us/03baltimore.html?ex=1181361600&en=1d2775536ab9d1a9&ei=5070 | work=The New York Times | date=3 May 2007 | accessdate=2008-01-01] and is actively securing federal funds for crime-fighting programs.

Dixon is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, [cite web| url=http://www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/html/about/members.shtml| title=Mayors Against Illegal Guns: Coalition Members | accessdate=2007-05-18] an organization formed in 2006 and co-chaired by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston mayor Thomas Menino.

The Shoe incident

In 1991 Dixon waved her shoe at white colleagues on the Baltimore City Council and yelled, "You've been running things for the last 20 years. Now the shoe is on the other foot." [ [http://www.washingtoninformer.com/NATBaltimoreMayer2007May3.html The Washington Informer: National ] ] This incident led many people including some of her opponents to view her as a divisive person. [ [http://www.citypaper.com/news/story.asp?id=2587 Campaign Beat: GOP's Campbell Takes on Sheila Dixon and the Status Quo | 10/13/1999 | Citypaper.com ] ]

Dixon explained her earlier inappropriate comment by stating that she has"matured" since making the shoe comment and that she now attempts "to communicate better with individuals." [ [http://www.newsline.umd.edu/politics/specialreports/elections06/mayordixon111006.htm Maryland Newsline - Maryland Votes 2006 ] ]

In her first inaugural address as Mayor, Dixon alluded to what she considers people's wrong impression of her and stated, "I want you to know that I am much more than a newspaper headline or a sound bite on the evening news." [http://www.baltimorecity.gov/mayor/speeches/Sheila_Dixon_INAUGURAL_ADDRESS_2007.pdf]

Investigation

On June 17, 2008, investigators from the Office of the State Prosecutor executed a search and seizure warrant at Dixon's residence in southwest Baltimore. The result of, or purpose for the search was not immediately revealed by investigators. However, several subpoenas were issued to aides, and local reports indicate that the investigation includes a look at gifts, including several fur coats, as well as Dixon's spending habits. Two of Dixon's associates, campaign chair Dale Clark, and Mildred Boyer, a businesswoman who had hired Dixon's sister, pleaded guilty in Spring 2008 to tax charges and are cooperating with prosecutors in the Dixon investigation. The affidavit filed to support a search warrant on the company Doracon was published on the Baltimore Sun's website on June 23, 2008. The affidavit states that Dixon is being investigated regarding bribery. [http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-dixon0617,0,4130234.story]
[http://www.baltimoresun.com/media/acrobat/2008-06/40317745.pdf]

Awards and honors

Dixon has been named one of Baltimore's Most Influential Leaders by the Baltimore Business Journal and was recently admitted to "The Daily Record"'s Circle of Excellence for the third time as one of "Maryland's Top 100 Women." She has also received the Enolia P. McMillan Women in NAACP Award,Fact|date=January 2008 1993 and was named as one of the Most Influential Baltimoreans by the "Baltimore Business Journal" in 2000. She won the Shero Award from the Maryland Women for Responsive Government in 2000 and the Unsung Hero Award from the Maryland Minority Contractors Association in 2001.

2007 election

Dixon ran for a full term as mayor in the 2007 election and won the Democratic Party primary in September. [ [http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-md.ci.money31aug31,0,578648.story Topic Galleries - baltimoresun.com ] ] Dixon maintained a strong fundraising advantage throughout the campaign. Scores of public officials, unions and newspapers endorsed the Mayor's campaign. This includes the "Baltimore Sun", "The Afro-American Newspaper", the AFL-CIO, former Rep. Kweisi Mfume, Minority Contractors Association, SEIU, SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, Gov. O'Malley, Comptroller Peter Franchot, Unite Here, United Auto Workers, and others.

"The Baltimore Examiner" noted "some observers are suggesting that it may be open and shut." Morgan State University political science professor C. Vernon Gray confirmed the "Examiner"'s analysis when he noted, "it's [Dixon's] race to lose... she really has done an excellent job of governing despite all the crises she's had." Del. Jill Carter , City Councilman Keiffer J. Mitchell, Jr. and city schools administrator Andrey Bundley were noted as Mayor Dixon's highest profile challengers. [http://www.examiner.com/a-811968~City_s_mayoral_candidates_prepare_for_final_10_weeks.html] ]

A major issue during the primary mayoral campaign was crime. By mid-2007, homicides in Baltimore are on pace to surpass 300 for the year, the most since the early years of the O'Malley administration. On June 19th, Mayor Dixon presented her crime plan to 500 Baltimore police officers, [http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-md.ci.police20jun20,0,3271376.story?coll=bal-home-headlines Agents' injuries prompt union call for review - baltimoresun.com ] ] but Dixon was attacked by Mitchell and Carter for not doing enough. [ [http://wbal.com/news/story.asp?articleid=59517] ] Dixon's crime plan departed from previous Mayor Martin O'Malley's as it stressed community policing and focusing on apprehending the most violent offenders as opposed to zero tolerance. As of June 19th, there were 146 homicides and 340 non-lethal shootings in the city.

According to Johns Hopkins University political scientist Matthew Crenson, "Everybody complains about the homicides, but I think the assumption that many voters make, especially in Baltimore, is that the mayor can't do a lot to reduce the homicide rate. And maybe Keiffer Mitchell made a mistake to make that the focus of his campaign."

Endorsements

By the end of July 2007, Dixon's campaign had been endorsed by the Baltimore Metropolitan Council of the Maryland AFL-CIO collectively as well as several individual union endorsements. Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot was the only state wide elected official to endorse Dixon until an August 13 rally where Governor Martin O'Malley gave his endorsement. Former Congressman Kweisi Mfume also endorsed Dixon at the same event in front of Baltimore's City Hall. [ [http://www.wbaltv.com/news/13879503/detail.html O'Malley, Mfume Endorse Dixon In Mayor's Race - Baltimore News Story - WBAL Baltimore ] ] State Delegates Tom Hucker (Montgomery County), Maggie McIntosh, Curt Anderson, Cheryl Glenn, Melvin L. Stukes, Talmadge Branch, Senators Nathaniel J. McFadden and Cathy Pugh and Baltimore City Council members Robert Curran, Bernard "Jack" Young, Ed Reisinger, Stephanie Rawlings Blake and Agnes Welch have endorsed Dixon and were at the rally as well.

Victory

Dixon won the 2007 Baltimore Democratic Mayoral Primary over her closet opponent Michell with 63 percent of the total votes; she won against Republican Elbert Henderson in the general election in November.

2007 Primary election results

The final, official results for the Democratic primary, as reported on the city of Baltimore's election board Web site. [http://www.baltimorecity.gov/government/elections/results/ City of Baltimore - Board of Elections] ]

Republican candidate Elbert Henderson ran unopposed in the Republican primary.

2007 General election results

These are the final, official results for the General election, as reported on the city of Baltimore's election board Web site.

References

External links

* [http://www.sheiladixon.com/ Sheila Dixon]
* [http://baltoco.org/dixon Sheila Dixon page on the Baltimore Collective]
* [http://www.citymayors.com/usa/baltimore.html CityMayors profile]
* [http://www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org Mayors Against Illegal Guns homepage]