terça-feira, 1 de junho de 2010

Schmoke builds new life in DC

Former Baltimore mayor is mediator and adviser, at arm's length from Obama White House


By Paul West, The Baltimore Sun

At 60, and a decade removed from Baltimore City Hall, Kurt L. Schmoke is busy reinventing himself.

The former mayor is piling new projects on top of a full-time job as dean of Howard University Law School and sinking roots in the Annapolis area, his new home.

"As my wife says, I haven't abandoned Baltimore, I've embraced Maryland," Schmoke said, with a rolling laugh, during a recent interview at his campus office.

He's also emerging as something of a power broker in Barack Obama's Washington — though not in the way some might have expected.

When Schmoke casually drops the name "Michelle" in conversation, he's referring to D.C .schools chief Michelle Rhee, not the first lady.