Clarke reflects on a year of battles and successes

By: Ming Wen

Posted: 12/6/07

If election victories are any indication of success in politics, then Mary Pat Clarke must be doing something right. The Councilwoman for the 14th district, which includes Homewood and Charles Village, was re-elected in September with 94 percent of the vote.

However, Clarke is not popular among many Hopkins students, particularly because she supports proposals that strictly enforce city noise ordinances.

As this year's city council session draws to a close, the News-Letter spoke with Clarke about her relationship with the University, what it was like to run for office as a woman in the 1970s and her plans for the coming year.

News-Letter: How did you get involved in politics?

Mary Pat Clarke: I ran for city council in 1975. I had been president for a while, director of greater Homewood Community Corporation. I was involved with a number of neighborhoods in Baltimore and it sort of naturally led for running for office.

NL: What was it like, running for office?

MPC: In those days there were very few women in elective office. The hardest part was to persuade people to vote for a woman. People weren't used to women candidates.

When I was elected to the city council, there were only three women out of 19 members. The other two were Mrs. Q. Adams and current U.S. Sen. McCaskill. People didn't know what to call us. We just said to call us councilwomen. Now, of course, many years later, women hold the top four city offices.

NL: Can you briefly describe your term as Councilwoman since 1975?

MPC: I served for eight years (two terms) as a member of the City Council representing the old second district, which is, roughly speaking, from Hopkins Homewood east to Broadway; a very big district.

Around 1980, I was involved with a number of issues. We passed a bill of tenant's rights of first refusal. People renting houses were given the first right to buy the house if the owner decided to sell it. What was happening was that there was an inflationary period in the late '70s when landlords were selling their properties because they could make so much money. We had a lot of people living in the Harvwood neighborhood who were renting for years and year and got a note from their landlord saying, "Sorry I sold the house." With this bill ... if you didn't want to buy it, or couldn't afford it, he couldn't sell it to someone else for less money.

I also helped get residential permit parking passed. A neighborhood would petition for permit parking if the majority wants it. They buy a sticker every year. Everyone else without the sticker can park in the neighborhood but only for two hours at a time. That started from a problem at the Union Memorial Hospital where people were taking advantage of parking, so neighbors couldn't park.

NL: What did the City Council accomplish this year?

MPC: We passed a no-smoking ban, and then the state of Maryland followed our lead and passed a statewide ban. Restaurants and bars can't have any smoking after Feb. 1, 2008. That's the most significant legislation because that led to a statewide ban. I supported it.

NL: What were your goals this past year?

MPC: It was the first term in which we had single member districts. They're smaller than the old council districts, fewer people, about 46,000 people. They have one rep each. Districts used to have three.

One of the things I wanted to do was to help my district get adjusted to this change and get to know [other councilpersons] and get to know each other's issues so people could work together across neighborhood lines. I think the neighborhoods accomplished that. I worked with neighborhoods, the neighborhoods did it, but I've been supportive of those efforts.

Another goal I have and had is to provide more, better, schools and more safety nets and more activities for youth. Extracurricular, athletics, arts, mentoring, the kind of thing they need especially if they're in a single parent family or if their family has problems in providing extra incentives to achieve and be successful.

NL: What do you want to see change?

MPC: I'd like the city to be safer and I'd like to reduce crime. I worked very hard with the city government and my neighborhood to try to do that. It's the major issue along with education. Safety and education: These are major objectives of mine and every member of the city council.

NL: How do you feel about current neighborhood-University relations?

MPC: I was interviewed last week about this issue, but it got a little confusing. I have a few complaints this year about the noise and the parties, but I had a lot of complaints about one block of east University Parkway, the 300 block. In general I had fewer complaints with the exception of the 300 block of East University Parkway. There are several problem properties. There are loud parties late at night, mainly. People get drunk and they're outdoors being drunk.

NL: Do you think relations have improved?

MPC: I guess. I think it's better than it was. But I still have a number of real problem properties that I can't seem to get a handle on.

NL: What do you think should be done about this issue?

MPC: I guess more University housing. If the University dealt with disorderly conduct by suspending students from school, in other words, if there were academic consequences, it would improve the situation. The University is supposed to be doing that. I hope they are. That's the only thing that's going to work as far as discipline goes. We can send the police, and people are going to get arrested.

What really counts with undergraduates is, does Hopkins care? If Hopkins does something about it, if Hopkins lets its undergraduates know in meaningful ways that we should be good neighbors that would make an impression on students. Loyola College has had a very strict policy and it's been very successful.

NL: How will the next session of the City Council be different from the one that just ended?

MPC: I think that I have a better focus now on how to go about combating violent crimes. I think we will focus our attention on seeing that strategy through to success. I think we will spend more time working with school systems to improve schools. We have a good superintendent who has worked with us and cooperated with us. The two main issues seem to be on improving. We must develop a full-fledged youth policy for safety and success. Stay tuned.

We need everyone's help. One of the issues is summer employment for our youth program, so that young people have a chance to work instead of hang out and find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time.

NL: Is there anything else that needs to be done?

MPC: We have to make sure we're always doing a good job clearing snow.