Mayor Pugh ‘ain’t the one’ to move Baltimore forward

Things were supposed to be different after the unrest of 2015 and the elections of 2016. But they are not different. It’s been two long years since the mayoral primary, and Baltimore still finds itself trapped between the politicians we elect and the leadership we need. We’re still looking for our path forward as a city. But at least one thing is certain: Catherine Pugh ain’t the one to help us find it.

Ms. Pugh’s tenure as mayor has brought us more police — and more police overtime, and more police technology and more reactive anti-crime meetings. But crime remains above five-year averages, and the streets that bled after Freddie Gray died are still bleeding.

Meanwhile, Ms. Pugh promised to take real responsibility for our school system, but school enrollment continues to drop, perilously. Her homelessness plan is a $350 million pipe dream, and still there’s no homeless services director or viable strategy for affordable housing. Michael Bloomberg’s help was brought in to help transform the transportation department, but the mayor’s DOT is worse than ever. The “innovation team” Mr. Bloomberg funded hasn’t produced.

It isn’t just that Mayor Pugh cannot manage the government. It’s that she lacks the moral vision to lead it.

And not for letting slip comments that make her sound like a Trump-voting county Republican — yelling at a squeegee boy, calling a corner store in a tough neighborhood a hellhole, implying that a murdered 16-year-old boy got what was coming to him because of his criminal record.

It isn’t just that Mayor Pugh cannot manage the government. It’s that she lacks the moral vision to lead it.