Jan 14, 2009 2:30 pm US/Eastern
Baltimore Mayor Addresses Photo Controversy
BALTIMORE (CBS) ―
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A photo of Mayor Sheila Dixon is generating controversy. In it, the mayor appears to be giving journalists the middle finger. But she says that wasn't the case.
Maryland Daily Record
The past few days have been rough for Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon. She's faced the stress of an indictment, a photo that some say appears to show her making a rude gesture at the press and a comic making her a punchline on late night television. She took it all head on at City Hall Wednesday.
She calls the photo a "low blow." Also, with President-elect Barack Obama's visit drawing closer, the mayor says she doesn't know what her role will be. She has long been one of his biggest supporters, but now faces the tarnish of charges that include theft, perjury and misconduct in office.
From boxing to opening swimming pools to being shuttled around on her busy public schedule, Mayor Dixon says life in office after being indicted is business as usual.
"Our agenda hasn't altered at all. The city has to continue to run and I'm going to continue to run it," she said.
But the glare of a brighter spotlight has illuminated the unusual, including a flap over a photo taken by the Daily Record, showing what appears to some to be the mayor's middle finger aimed at the press just after she kicked photographers out of a meeting. She insists it was not an obscene gesture.
"I have a habit of using my fingers to put my glasses up. I really think that was a low blow," Dixon said. "I really did not appreciate it but such is life in this business. Now I'm going to be very careful about how I put my glasses on and how I adjust them."
Her indictment was also fodder for laughs on late night television.
"The mayor of Baltimore, a woman named Sheila Dixon, is now charged with 12 counts of felony theft, perjury, fraud and misconduct in office. The good news is she's now eligible to become mayor of Detroit or governor of Illinois," Jay Leno said.
"I don't watch Jay Leno, so I don't have any comment. I don't watch much of the news except for the weather," Dixon said.
"As often as people say she's innocent until proven guilty, as long as they say this is not going to stop city government from functioning, it's got to be a distraction," said Johns Hopkins political science professor Matthew Crenson.
He says the indictment has got to weigh on Obama as he visits the city this weekend. Will he want to be seen with a mayor under indictment?
"He may try not to ignore her. I think he has to acknowledge her, but probably put a little distance between them," Crenson said.
That's a short term problem for the mayor. Ultimately, these charges place her entire political career in jeopardy.
"She seems determined to stick it out all the way through to the end, whatever that is, and I think she will," Crenson said.
He says the mayor has proven herself to be tough, a fighter, and we've certainly seen that over the past week.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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