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The Spectacle Blog
William Donald Schaefer, the longtime mayor of Baltimore who also served as governor and comptroller of Maryland, has died at the age of 89. The big-spending Schaefer was mostly liberal but he was also a character:
He addressed a newspaper editor with “Dear Edit-turd.” He answered one angry taxpayer’s letter with, “I’m glad you have recovered from your lobotomy.” He likened the conservative, rural Eastern Shore - which had not voted for him as governor - to an outhouse. He taunted his gubernatorial successor, Parris N. Glendening (D), by clucking and flapping his arms and calling him a chicken.
In Baltimore and Annapolis, he never tolerated dissent and rarely consulted legislators. He likened compromise to indecision. He was perpetually unsatisfied, once saying he thought himself a legislative failure “unless we get 105 percent of what we have proposed.”
He lost his last race for comptroller in 2006 when he called a female Democratic primary opponent “Mother Hubbard” and said she was ugly. Though a Democrat, he endorsed President George Bush for reelection in 1992 over Bill Clinton and was an ally of Robert Ehrlich, the state’s first Republican governor since Spiro Agnew.
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More Blog Posts by W. James Antle, III
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/04/19/william-donald-schaefer-rip
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Jim Woodward| 4.19.11 @ 9:36AM
Baltimore was a fine city to live in when he was Mayor.
JohnD| 4.19.11 @ 9:51AM
Schaefer was the only Democrat I ever voted for (a mistake I'll never repeat) and was a terrible governor, but -
He inherited a pile of ashes as Mayor of Baltimore, and he worked tirelessly to turn that pile of ashes (burned down in the riots of 1968) and turned Baltimore into a shining jewel.
RIP Mr. Mayor.
JohnD| 4.19.11 @ 9:52AM
Oh, and to me, Mayor Schaefer will always be the face of the Baltimore I grew up in and loved.
Whitney| 4.19.11 @ 9:57AM
What an odd eulogy, Jim!
Rick| 4.19.11 @ 11:09AM
True words from the Annapolis Capital:
Schaefer once said he wanted his epitaph to read “He cared.” And no one doubted he did what he thought was right.
“He followed his gut,” said Golden, his former spokesman “He didn’t use polls to figure out where he should go and what he should do.”
Derek Leaberry| 4.19.11 @ 1:13PM
As an Eastern Shoreman, I ought to resent Billy Don Schaefer but it is really difficult to dislike the buffoon. That someone of Schaefer's ilk could be elected Governor of Maryland is proof that what is a pretty fine state is hitched to a leeching triangle of an anchor- Baltimore City, Montgomery County and Prince George's County. So shall it always be I suppose.
As for Schaefer's Baltimore, without Johns Hopkins Hospital, Inner Harbor and a half-dozen livable neighborhoods Charm City would be Detroit with a large bay nearby. For those who have never visited Charm City, Baltimore is block upon block of rundown row houses where it seems every corner has a gathering of unemployable men drinking out of paper bags at 10 in the morning. Baltimore may never fall to the abyss of Detroit but that's not for lack of trying. If Johns Hopkins ever decided to vacate the city for more livable quarters, Baltimore would sink like a rock.
JohnD| 4.19.11 @ 2:17PM
Schaefer saved Baltimore from becoming another Detroit or Cleveland. As for Baltimore now, sure, there are some bad neighboorhoods (Mondawmin in the west, Pennsylvania Ave in the Northeast) but Downtown, Charles Village, Mt. Washington, Hampden, Homewood, Fells Point, etc. are nice places.
Derek Leaberry| 4.19.11 @ 2:42PM
With talent like Sheila Dixon and Stephanie Rawlings-Blake purcolating to the top in Baltimore one should not be too confident about Baltimore's future.