Spring Break
Clarke reflects on a year of battles and successes
Issue date: 12/6/07
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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.
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.
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Burn
posted 12/14/07 @ 2:08 PM EST
wow. that's the softest interview I've ever seen. why didn't the interviewer ask if she liked puppies and rainbows too? I'm not expecting hardcore investigative journalism but at least give it a shot. (Continued…)
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