William Donald Schaefer: My Take

As you all know, William Donald Schaefer passed away last night. I think by law I'm obliged to eulogize him. So, in my own words, I am going to write about Mr. Schaefer as I remember him and also to respond to other things that I've heard and read about him.

Schaefer, Mayor Schaefer as most of us remember him, was first elected to the Baltimore City Council in 1955. I'm not positive, but I suspect that the Baltimore City Council was as corrupt then as it is now. In 1967 he was elected to Baltimore City Council President, a position proudly held by Martin O'Malley, Sheila Dixon, and Thomas Carcetti.

In 1971 Schaefer was elected to Mayor of Baltimore, all I may add before I was born. The 1960's and 1970's were not nice to Baltimore. Race riots, fires, white flight (or more politically correct - urban flight), the destruction of the middle class (read as the tax base), and the disappearing of businesses that employed the city residents. The business district was in decay, shopping was becoming non-existent, and the Inner Harbor became a rotting cesspool.

Schaefer entered office with the deck stacked against him. But with his charismatic personality and his tough-as-nails attitude, he attacked Baltimore's problems. I remember him saying that if you fill the pot-holes and pick up the trash, people will be happier. Legend has it that he would drive around the city looking for problems and report to the different city agency heads demanding that these problems be fixed. Carcetti did the same thing in The Wire. He used his powers (not sure if eminent domain was used) to redevelop the land around the Inner Harbor and dot it with tourist attractions. First came Harbor Place, then the National Aquarium in Baltimore, then the Science Center. He used the philosophy that 'if you build it, they will come.'

In 1986, Schaefer ran for Governor with Mickey Steinberg and crushed Republican challenger Thomas Mooney. Anyone remember him? Me neither. As Governor, he helped get the ball rolling on building Orioles Park at Camden Yards, the finest baseball park in all of the land. If you think your baseball stadium is cooler, you only think that because Camden Yards paved the way.

In 1999, after a 4 year absense from politics ( Gubernatorial term limits in Maryland - thank God!), Schaefer reemerged in Maryland politics as the State Comptroller. He served for several terms until finally being defeated by current State Comptroller Peter Franchot.

Many people loved the man and remember all of the good things he did for the city and state. However, I did hear one woman on the radio say today that he was the best Mayor, Governor, and Comptroller in the history of the state. He was definitely effective, but best ever?

There have been other great Governors of this state. Do you know of Governors Thomas Johnson, Albert Ritchie, Theodore McKeldin, and Robert Ehrlich? And Mayors? What about Ferdinand Latrobe, Howard Jackson, and Theodore McKeldin (the last Republican Mayor of Baltimore)? And Comptroller. I will flat-out say WRONG! Louis Goldstein was the greatest Comptroller in the history of the state of Maryland. And I met him when I was in elementary school.

Our current village idiot, Martin O'Malley, has been on the campaign circuit for his next position for the last 24 hours posing as a eulogist for our former Governor. When asked what Schaefer's claim to fame would be, he responded, not about his accomplishments in revitalizing Baltimore's Inner Harbor, but that he'd be proud of his willingness to talk to people and let them be heard. Really, Marty? Is that what you want in your epitaph? Shall I start carving that on your gravestone? I didn't think so. O'Malley seems to have a chronic case of diarrhea of the mouth.

And O'Malley, don't try to categorize yourself as a Democrat like Schaefer. Schaefer was a Reagan-Democrat. A moderate. Someone who represented the middle class and the broad spectrum of people that don't fully agree with either Republicans or Democrats. Schaefer endorsed George H.W. Bush (not G.W.).

Schaefer must also be remembered for his blunders. Remember when he called Anne Arundel County Executive 'old Mother Hubbard' when she was running against him as State Comptroller? Or when he said that the Eastern Shore was a shithouse? Remember Eastern Shore farmers clogging up Annapolis and circling the Governor's mansion with out-houses being towed with tractors until he apologized? Or when he said that people with AIDS are dangerous and we need a public registry so we know who has AIDS? And the leering at the butt of an assistant to Robert Ehrlich, asking her to come back and walk away again. Or his referring to women as little girls?

And let's not forget about the 2 blows to Baltimore that happened on his watch. In 1973 the Baltimore Bullets NBA team left for Washington (Landover). Then in 1984, the Baltimore Colts were ripped away from the city, tearing with it a bit of youth of many people my age. This was basically the result of a pissing match between him and Colt's demon Robert Irsay. Bob Irsay 1, Schaefer 0.

Then there was the pissing match between him and former (thank God) Governor Parris Glendening arguably the worst Governor of Maryland up until our current head of state. A fountain was dedicated to Schaefer's longtime partner Hilda Mae Snoops who died when he was in office. Dick, I mean Parris, turned off the fountain declaring that he needed to save water. I can't remember if this was before or after Glendening started having an affair with a woman that was his son's age. But it was definitely after he made gambling as a fund-raiser illegal, after he used it heavily in his effort to raise money as Prince George's County Executive running for Governor. Fortunately, former Governor Robert Ehrlich had more class and turned the fountain on with a nice ceremony.

Finally, one of my friends posted on Facebook "Baltimore is the way it is because of William Donald Schaefer. I wasn't quite sure how to take this. Outside of the revitalized downtown around the Inner Harbor, Baltimore is still plagued with corruption and crime. Baltimore's schools are the laughing stock of the nation and a thorn in the side of tax-payers across the state. Or the lack of an integrated public transportation rail system. I'm not saying that those are his fault, but those are problems that are common themes through the resumes of all of the Mayors of Baltimore.

My fondest memories of Willie Don, as he was affectionately known, was of him wading in one of the fish tanks at the National Aquarium when it opened and getting nasty with people that didn't agree with him. You have to appreciate his politically-incorrect courage to stand up and say what he thought was right and not say what was popular.

As my friend Duckman would say, "Willie Don, rest in peace". But we all know you're up there giving them hell!

What are your memories of William Donald Schaefer?