All the online and text messaging polls in Baltimore seem to say the same thing: that the vast majority of people think Mayor Sheila Dixon should resign from office after being found guilty in her first trial. I suspect public opinion polls would reveal similar results. Most of the discussions we’ve seen on Google Wave, on blogs, on TV, or on comments sections of news articles seem to feel the Mayor should do the honorable thing and resign. The chance that she might weasel out of being suspended from office by getting PBJ seems to be something people really have a visceral reaction against from what I’ve seen.

Sheila Dixon is a very nice lady from what I’ve seen of her. It is apparent she cares deeply for her hometown. I will, for the purposes of this discussion only, give her the benefit of the doubt and say she may at best be guilty of a few bad decisions. However, many of her detractors will point to what they see as a pattern of corruption in past events involving her state job when she was city council president and the U-Tech/Doracon contracts while her sister worked there. Her tempestuous interactions with the media in the past couple of years have, at times, been at odds with her normally cool demeanor.

I really don’t see the charges of racism and sexism by some of her supporters wanting her to hang on. Even an African-American female juror who supported Dixon’s election voted to convict on the one count and said she would have on other counts as well. Baltimore and Maryland both already have a reputation for government corruption that needs to be cleaned up. Despite what may have happened in the past, there’s no time like the present to clean things up.

I’m expressing my opinion that Mayor Sheila Dixon should resign as Mayor of Baltimore. I also think the citizens of Baltimore should let her know their opinion. If you want the Mayor to resign, let her know. Send a gift card with little or no value on it to the mailing address at the bottom of this post. Send her a polite note or just put a sticky note with the word “Resign” on the Gift Card. Even a gift card alone will get the message across. If this saga is drawn out through the holidays, hang on to your gift cards you receive after you spend them and send them in too. Such an effort will definitely make an impression, whether the Mayor listens to it or not.

If you’d rather do something with more immediacy, go to the picture at the top of this post and right click on it. Then click on Save Image and save it to your hard drive. Then send a very polite email urging the Mayor to resign to mayor@baltimorecity.gov. Be sure to attach the image from above to that email message so the message is received even by email. Contact information for phone calls and faxes are below as well. Be sure to remain polite in all conversation.

If you think the Mayor should stay in office, be sure to send your opinion via email or the address below as well. Everyone’s opinion should be heard.

You can mail the gift cards to:
Mayor Sheila Dixon
City Hall, Room 250
100 N. Holliday Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21202
Phone (410) 396-3835
Fax (410) 576-9425