Two Democrats separated by 43 votes in the last primary election are again competing in District 13 in East Baltimore.

Councilman Warren M. Branch edged Shannon Sneed in 2011 to win his second term in the district, which runs east of Broadway and north of Patterson Park through McElderry Park, Madison, Berea and Belair-Edison.

Now three more Democrats and one Republican also want the seat in a district that's littered with trash and lacking a recreation center, said Rita Crews, president of the Belair-Edison Community Association.

“I want our main street, up on Belair Road, not to have people hanging on the corners and drug dealers. I want our streets clean,” Crews said. “

Branch, 55, who has represented the district since 2007, pledged to continue his work to maintain affordable rents. Upscale development is driving out working families, he said.

A full-time councilman, Branch previously worked 23 years in the Department of Public Works. He wants another term to encourage responsible development, schools improvement and helping ex-offenders find jobs.

“I'm not worried about whether it will be a close election,” he said. “I just hope the people will remember the good works that I did.”

Sneed, of Ellwood Park-Monument, works for the nonprofit Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Chesapeake. The 35-year-old previously worked as a broadcast journalist and said she's concerned by the absence of jobs in East Baltimore.

“I want to sit down with all the folks, and the No. 1 employers, to see how we can better work together, what jobs they're hiring for and what skills they need,” she said.

Then she wants to expand apprenticeship programs and train teenagers in specific skills. Sneed also wants to organize more community cleanups, she said, “so we don't have to see the trash and rats.”

Another candidate, Antonio “Tony” Glover of Broadway East, finished a distant third in 2011. Three years later, he was elected to the Baltimore City Democratic Central Committee.

The next council member, he said, must rebuild trust between families and authorities.

“The kids, they feel hopeless,” Glover said. “They don't see that local government is on their side, and, again, there's a distrust between the Police Department and their community.”

He wants renewed effort to shore up vacant houses. “Parts of our district look like a Third World country,” he said.

Glover, 39, grew up in the district. He now works as a community liaison for the Baltimore City state's attorney's office. He would seek to reduce crime by supporting families with jobs and education, he said.

“Crime is the byproduct,” he said. “Our kids feel like the streets is where they need to go.”

Kenya Lee of Belair-Edison said she was once a struggling teenage mother. Now she's 39, sells life insurance and wants similar employment opportunities for neighborhood teenagers. Also, she wants the city to provide parenting classes.

“We have to provide opportunities and training for parents to be better,” she said.

She has five children and has been active in parent-teacher associations. Families, she said, don't know about programs that can help them.

Democrat Ronald Owens-Bey of Belair-Edison said schools are failing youths in Baltimore.

The 60-year-old retiree wants smaller class sizes and more vocational training. “Because of the poor education system, we have been ill-prepared to deal with the postindustrialization of America,” he said.

George Johnson, a high school teacher who lives in Belair-Edison, is the only Republican in the race.

tprudente@baltsun.com

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