Stephanie Rawlings-Blake

I don't hear a lot about elected officials that are men talking about whether they smile a lot. My dad was in elected office my entire life. I don't remember many smiles, and nobody commented about it. He was serious about his job, and so am I.

I took on pension reform, health care reform, and leave reform - all of those tough issues that so many elected officials prefer to kick down the road to the next generation. But that's not who I am. I am not persuaded by what is politically popular but what is best for the citizens of Baltimore.

If we live a self-directed, self-motivated, self-centered life, always needing to get our own way, then we're going to be miserable. In fact, many times we believe it's our problems that are making us unhappy when, in reality, it's because we're focused on ourselves!