It is entirely fitting that the city-owned playground at Lake Montebello is officially known as the Council President Mary Pat Clarke Playground, not simply because of her lengthy career in public service — a staggering 32 years on the Baltimore City Council, including eight as council president, before stepping down in 2020 — but because of the high-energy, family-oriented fun one associates with playgrounds. Clarke, who passed away Sunday at the age of 83, will long be remembered as a pioneer for women in politics but she should also be celebrated for her empathy, her ability to understand and share the feelings of the people around her. She cared about people and it showed.
We live in a deeply cynical age and we do not offer the longtime teacher as some kind of perfect politician if there is such a thing. But where she did set the standard was in having a genuine concern for the welfare of Baltimoreans. She sought progress — not necessarily as measured by profit but perhaps by simply doing right by more people. She was short in stature but tall in moral bearing. And boy, did she have a deep reservoir of energy. Reporters never struggled to elicit a strong opinion from Mary Pat Clarke, especially if she saw a wrong to be righted.
It made perfect sense that Clarke was a contemporary of fellow Democrat Barbara Mikulski who served with her on the council at one time before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and eventually the U.S. Senate. Both were plain-spoken, short in stature but dynamic in presence. Mikulski on Sunday credited Clarke for helping mentor the next generation of leaders. We wonder how many of us learned from Clarke in some way. You didn’t need to be an aspiring politician to appreciate her humor and warmth.
Finally, we feel a little sorry for those who never got a chance to meet this one-of-a-kind Baltimorean. We would simply tell newcomers this: You know the button-down type of pol who hides behind platitudes and focus groups, relies on aides to do the heavy lifting and keeps her speeches carefully scripted? Who regards public service as a bit of a con? Good, now think of the opposite. That was Mary Pat Clarke.
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