Sample History Paper on Baltimore City
Baltimore City is being killed slowly because of the high property taxes and the reoccurrence of what was known as the “Curley effect” (Hanke & Walters 1). Curley effect refers to a period during the tenure of Mayor Curley. During this period, the city experienced a high turnover when the Mayor built a political machine. This activity was made possible by strategically shaping the electorate through posing high taxations on the Brahmins and redistributing proceeds to the poor Irish immigrants, thus tilting the political playing field in his favor. This led to the emigration of the residents and loss of jobs, leading furthermore to the increase in the poverty rate. However, it took the initiative of the statewide referendum to revive Boston before its total decay.
The reality is being depicted in Baltimore city where political machine is exploiting class divisions rather than ethnic ones, and property taxes are being raised to favor voting blocs (Hanke & Walters 2). This results in many homeowners (republicans) fleeing, as the democrats enjoy eight to one voter registration advantage with no republican having been elected in 48 years. This effect is more visible when looking at the emigration of over 32,000 residents with over 42,000 abandoned houses that are already crumbling. There is copious loss of jobs with residents experiencing homicide and poverty rate of the city being 50% above the national average. With only a few days to the next voting of a new mayor, the current mayor, Ms. Rawling, is organizing in Labor Day weekend a car racing competition to raise local economy. The strategy is to draw nearer free spending tourists into the city. Through this strategy, the mayor hopes to demonstrate her competence and vision, and she is promising to cut off the property tax rate if elected back. More so, the other candidates are also promising to cut off the property tax rate, but in different perspectives. However, the situation will just take the hands of capitalists into the city to revive it back to where it should be.
Works Cited
Hanke, H. Steve & Walters, J. K. Stephen. “How Property Taxes and the ‘Curley Effect’ Are Killing Baltimore.” The Wall Street Journal.