Baltimore City Power Rankings

1 The Raven

For once, BCPR isn’t talking about the NFL Champion Baltimore Ravens, but, you know, the raven—the one with feathers and a beak: Lawmakers in both houses of the state legislature have pushed aside boring bills related to the death penalty, gun control, and the budget this week to focus on making the raven an official state bird—alongside the, ahem, other state bird, the oriole. If they really wanted to honor the mascot’s legacy, they’d rescue the rotting Poe House. Go raven!

2 Kendel Ehrlich

It seems Maryland’s former first lady, after losing out on a return trip to the Governor’s mansion and losing her WBAL talk show last year, is aching to get back in the spotlight: She’s considering dropping her hat in the ring as a replacement for Anne Arundel County executive John Leopold, who was convicted of, among other things, having his police detail collect dossiers on political rivals. Given the use of illegal robo-calls, among other dirty tricks, in previous Ehrlich family campaigns, BCPR isn’t totally convinced of Ms. Ehrlich’s plans to “bring dignity back to the county.”

3 Rawlings-Blake

In a perfectly executed imperial two-step, Il Mayore released a Draconian 10-year report fully of squishy numbers, suggesting the city is facing $3 billion in debts. With the aura of fiscal sobriety appropriately set, she then offered her State of the City address, demanding city workers abandon “outdated, unsustainable” pensions and firefighters work an extra 10 hours a week. Of course, if she was serious about steadying the city’s financial ship and not just playing to her own priorities, she’d be demanding robust audits of city government instead of fighting them.

4 Speed Cameras

New state legislation would restrict beleaguered cams to within 500 feet of a school, as was originally intended, making most in the city illegal. Also, newly released internal Rawlings-Blake administration emails show the administration internally crowing about all the revenue the city was earning through the program, even as City Paper and The Sun were releasing reports of how badly broken the program was. SHUT. IT. DOWN.

5 Sailing