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24 THE BALTIMORE SUN NEWS SUNDAY, MAY 1, 2016 RESPOND EDITORIAL Pugtis team of rivals Our view: The mayor-presumptive should run with the idea of putting some former competitors in her administration tate Sen. Catherine Pugh, the Democratic nominee for mayor, has started giving some hints about whom she'll want in her Cabinet (assuming she clears the minuscule hurdle presented by the general election), and so far she's making good choices. Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen's name came up in each and every one of our endorsement interviews with mayoral candidates. She's a slam-dunk to keep in city government Likewise, it makes sense to keep police Commissioner Kevin Davis at least for now.

Though violent crime remains at unacceptable levels, he has generally won support for his reform efforts. Given that the city is still waiting to see what the Department of Justice will require after its review of the city police's civil rights record, there's no reason to change chiefs now. Perhaps more intriguing was Ms. Pugh's hint that she might want to tap some of the outstanding talent from this year's pool of mayoral candidates. She mentioned two: engineer Calvin A.

Young III and former bank operations manager Patrick Gutierrez. We second that idea Mr. Young, who has a Harvard MBA in addition to his engineering degree from NYU (and a Poly education to boot), has a sharp analytical mind and a lot of tech sawy. Put that man in charge of CitiStat, which has withered under the Rawlings-Blake adWnistration. Mr.

Gutierrez is a good systems thinker and problem solver, not to mention a people person who connected strongly with audiences during mayoral forums and debates. We'd like to see him tasked with improving city government customer service. But we would advise her not to stop there. Many of the candidates for mayor this year have agreat deal to contribute. Call it a team of rivals approach or a keep your friends close and your enemies closer strategy.

Either way, it would channel much of the positive energy from Tuesday's election into the new adWnistration Here are ideas for how Ms. Pugh could best make use of her former competitors: Elizabeth Embry. If we elected people based on position papers alone, attorney Elizabeth Embry would have won in a landslide. She is overflowing with good policy ideas on economic development, government accountability, public safely and more. She would be a great chief policy adviser, or perhaps city solicitor.

Granted, Ms. Embry accused Ms. Pugh of unethical fund-raising practices during the campaign, so bringing her into the administration might be a stretch, even if it would make Ms. Pugh look especially forgiving. Ms.

Pugh should at least steal liberally from Ms. Embry's ideas, which align nicely with the future mayor's agenda DeRay Mckesson Most of Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson's professional experience is in education he is a former teacher and administrator, having served in high ranking positions in the Baltimore and Minneapolis school systems. He understands the inner workings of North Avenue and would be a stellar pick for the school board. Nick Mosby. City Councilman Nick Mosby's decision to drop out of the mayor's race and endorse Ms.

Pugh led to rampant speculation that he had cut a deal for a job in a Pugh administration, which both sides deny. It would be a good idea, though. His professional management background plus his experience on the City Council and on the campaign trail could make him valuable in a number of roles. Of course, he wouldn't be a bad pick to replace Ms. Pugh in the state Senate, should the members of the 40th District Democratic Central Committee be so inclined as to nominate him Sheila Dixon Actually hiring former mayor Sheila Dixon is a practical, political and symbolic non-starter for Ms.

Pugh. But Ms. Dixon did employ a number of outstanding staff members when she was in office, and Ms. Pugh would do well to reach out to some of them about their willingness to re-join city government Former deputy mayor Andy Frank, for example, has remained deeply involved in community development issues as a top aide to Johns Hopkins University President Ron Daniels. He would be a great chief of staff and a unifying pick after a hard-fought election KAL'S VIEW KEVIN KALLAUGHER How Md.

helps kids with parents in prison I read with interest your editorial calling on Maryland to do more for the children and families of incarcerated parents a parent goes to prison," April 27). We agree, and Gov. Larry Hogan has already committed to doing just that. In April 2015, Governor Hogan charged the Children's Cabinet with improving outcomes for the children and families of incarcerated parents. The action plan included flexible funding for local jurisdictions and coordinating state activities.

One example is the departments of public safety and human resources working together on visitation between foster youth and their incarcerated parent. The public safety department also provides several programs to strengthen family relationships, including Reading Unites Families, Girl Scouts Beyond Bars, Family Mediation and Family Days. On a local level, we are increasing the capacity of Maryland's 24 Local Management Boards to provide services to the families and children of incarcerated parents. The Governor's Office for Children provided training on promising strategies, including those mentioned in the Casey Foundation report, and the Children's Cabinet also made funding available for critical programming. This is just the beginning because these programs and activities will continue to unfold.

For example, on June 29 to July the Family League of Baltimore, a local management board funded by the Children's Cabinet, will host a conference to bring city stakeholders together around the issue of incarcerated parents. This reflects Mr. Hogan's commitment to ensuring that Maryland's children and families have the opportunity to thrive and succeed. As Mr. Hogan said in his State of the State Address, "We cannot afford to leave anyone behind.

Instead, we must commit to recognizing the fundamental human potential of all of our citizens." The Justice Reinvestment Initiative mentioned in your editorial is the largest criminal justice reform initiative in a generation. It will enable state agencies and the Governor's Office for Children to help families, restore communities, keep our streets safer and move Maryland's economy forward. Arlene F. Lee, Annapolis The writer is executive director of the Governor's Office for Children. City's future depends on school funding fix As a community, as members of faith centers and as citizens, we have a responsibility to each other and to our city.

But our greatest responsibility is to our children and the generations yet to be born. There is a brighter tomorrow ahead for the city, and Baltimore's children will be the ones who will inherit it and build upon it. This can only be achieved with the necessary tools first and foremost a quality education. Until now, Baltimore's leaders and local officials across the state have been asked to make an impossible choice between providing dollars for our public schools or for economic growth and job creation. Thankfully, our leaders in Annapolis are working to make sure local leaders won't have to make that choice anymore.

A bill in the Maryland General Assembly, sponsored by Del. Maggie Mcintosh and Sen. Nathaniel McFadden, passed both houses of the legislature this year, providing an immediate fix to a state school aid formula that threatened to cost Baltimore's school system funding it could ill afford to lose. Maryland calculates state aid for public schools in part on the value of property in a given jurisdiction. When the city uses economic development tools like Tax Increment Financing (TIF) to help grow the local economy, build new roads and infrastructure and create jobs, the state's formula actually reduced the amount of aid to our schools.

Thankfully, Delegate Mcintosh and Senator McFadden's bill will relieve local leaders of the burden of making a choice between schools and investment in local growth and opportunity. Both quality education and economic opportunity are vital to Baltimore's future. Their bill provides an immediate fix and requires the state to conduct comprehensive research to recommend a permanent solution that is fair and balanced. The legislation will ensure that TIFs can continue to be drivers of economic growth in Baltimore and across the Maryland while preserving the vital aid our schools need from the state. We owe it to the residents, businesses and our children to ensure we fix this problem: we are proud of our state officials for championing this immediate solution and look forward to the governor signing it into law soon.

Alvin C. Hathaway Baltimore The writer is senior pastor at Union Baptist Church in Baltimore Talk to us The Baltimore Sun welcomes comments from THE BALTIMORE SUN A Tribune Publishing Company TRIFFON G. ALATZAS Publisher St Editor-in-Chief readers on subjects of local and national relevance by email, by Twitter or on our Web site, baltimoresun.com. The Sun reserves the right to edit and publish them in the newspaper or on the Web site. Online E-mail us Twitter Our address baltimoresun.comtalk talkbackbaltimoresun.com twitter.combaltimoresun The Baltimore Sun, P.O.

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