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Mayoral Candidate Otis Rolley Says Current Mayor Failed To Address Crime

BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- The gloves come off in the Baltimore mayor's race. Candidate Otis Rolley accuses Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake of failing to do her job.

Political reporter Pat Warren has more on that accusation and the mayor's response.

The 4700-block of Moravia Road was the scene of a crime beyond the ability to comprehend. Irene Logan, 91, was found stabbed to death in her kitchen. Logan was killed on Wednesday, but on Friday, across the street from her home, mayoral candidate Otis Rolley took Mayor Rawlings-Blake to task.

"Where is her outrage?" Rolley asked. "Where is her leadership? Where is her plan?"

Three people found shot to death in a house set on fire and two 15-year-old friends shot and killed were all recent examples Rolley is using in his attack on the mayor.

"She will tell you that she has a plan of action and that it's working," he said. "I say, tell that to the father-- who after six hours looking for his son-- finds him dead. He had bled out. Tell that to the family of the 91-year-old woman who was murdered in her own home."

Rolley calls these crimes indicators of the mayor's failure. Rawlings-Blake, attending a youth commission block party, calls it something else.

"It's an indication of desperation and someone who's willing to exploit the loss of young people and a wonderful elderly woman for his own political gain," Rawlings-Blake said. "It's disgusting."

Rolley, who held an advisory position in the Dixon administration, thinks the current administration has dropped the ball.

"The reality is, we started to see a spike in violence, we started to see a spike in crime when the police department stopped feeling like they had a mayor that had their back," he said.

But Rawlings-Blake considers Rolley's plan-- including a tax on bullets-- an object of ridicule.

"The numbers are numbers," she said. "He doesn't have a crime plan. His plan is a joke. He's desperate. I'm sure he would love to be up on television. I would encourage him to work on that instead of sending out these silly press conferences. Baltimore deserves better."

There will be at least four more opportunities for voters to get in on this. The candidates square off against each other four times in public forums or debates between now and Election Day. The next one is Aug. 25 in Rosemont.

Candidates Catherine Pugh, Jody Landers and Frank Conaway have outlines of their crime strategies on their websites.

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