Fatherhood & Public Service with Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and Council President Zeke Cohen

Father’s Day is this weekend and we’re focusing on leadership and fatherhood, and how they shape outcomes for early childhood and serve the children and families in our cities, towns, and villages across America. Mayor Brandon Scott and Council President Zeke Cohen from Baltimore City join Clarence Anthony to discuss both.

For more information, visit us at nlc.org.

Transcript

Clarence Anthony, CEO & Executive Director, National League of Cities 0:07

Welcome back to CitySpeak. I'm Clarence Anthony, CEO and Executive Director of the National League of Cities. CitySpeaks gives listeners an insider's view of what local leadership in America means today and features conversations with government leaders and policy experts regarding the biggest issues and challenges facing America's cities, towns, and villages. Today, as we gear up for Father's Day, we're focusing on leadership and fatherhood and how they shape outcomes for early childhood and serve the children and families in our cities, towns, and villages across America. So let me tell you, I am so excited. I actually almost didn't rest last night because I got two major leaders who are transforming an American city, a city of first, Baltimore. Today I have these leaders, and they're both my friend, Mayor Brandon Scott, and my friend Council President Zeke Cohen from Baltimore City. How are you doing, both of you? I'm good, good, good to be back. Doing great.

Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohen 1:38

Really good to be with you, Clarence. Appreciate you.

Clarence Anthony, CEO & Executive Director, National League of Cities 1:41

Good to be with you guys as well. As my listeners know, uh Mayor Scott is in his second term and is a father of three, and Council President Zeke Cohen is also a father of two. With Father's Day approaching, they're joining uh the pod today to discuss NLC's early childhood success program. And they're also highlighting their leadership and their role in shaping uh the future of early childhood in the Baltimore City. Before I get into that, you know, I want to ask you guys something. So when a president leaves his post, he often opens up the desk draw and leaves a note to the next president. Now, Mayor Scott, you were council president and then council president Cohen is now there. What note would you or have you left for him in his draw telling him about the role of council president?

Mayor Brandon Scott, Baltimore, Maryland 2:53

Yeah, it there was a uh a gap. So we had council president Nick Mosby in between, but when the council president and I talked about about the new role, uh, I guess uh after for us, you know, after the primary election, I I just I just remember telling him, and he can tell you this, about like it now him now being at the next level of leadership, which is gonna be a lot tougher. It's gonna require, you know, uh decisions that will that will need to be made, that's gonna have everybody angry and mad and yelling and screaming at them. But when you're in when you're in a uh significant position of leadership, you don't have the ability to to play to emotion, right? Or to play to people you like or don't like. It's about doing doing what's right. And then also just saying that you'll also be in a position where uh everyone always says, Clarence, uh, I I knew I knew, wish I got to see everything you saw see or know all the things that you know, and then I'm like, no, you don't. Uh and I said to the council president, you'll be getting briefings about and direct details about things that you're gonna wish you never had to know. Uh and that we had to make sure that, you know, you take care of yourself on the mental side to deal with that because it's it's a it's a heavy weight. It's uh as high as you rise, it's as heavy as the weight's gonna get.

Clarence Anthony, CEO & Executive Director, National League of Cities 4:13

Council president, has that been accurate? How's it been uh to be the council president the last uh year or so?

Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohen 4:19

Look, I'll start by saying I love my job. It is the best job in America. Uh no disrespect to my mayor. He likes his job too, so we're good. But uh there is something uniquely fun about being the council president where you are the leader of the legislative branch and you're in the mix on many, many, many things, like the mayor said, uh, but you're not the head of the executive. And so when something bad happens in a wastewater treatment facility, or when a pipe bursts somewhere, or when a water bill is errant, people don't immediately blame me. They blame him first, um, which is appreciated. But, you know, I I think one of the nice things about uh Mayor Scott's, Mayor Scott and my partnership and friendship is that he has done it first. And we talk a lot. I I will often call him, um, whether it's on the personal side or the professional or political side, and say, like, hey, what do you think about this? And, you know, even though we are the leaders of different branches of government, and there's, you know, there can be healthy tension between the executive and legislative branch, there is a strong enough foundation of friendship and respect that um we talk a lot and are able to problem solve often in real time, uh, things that if the relationship wasn't there and if the respect wasn't there, could you know spiral and blow up. I mean, I one conversation we've had a couple of times is like a lot of times there can be competition, staff-to-staff competition, and folks can, you know, something gets said and it can land a certain way. And it's why us being able to pick up the phone and call each other and like, hey, I said this thing, what do you mean by it? Um, is really important in how we leave the city together.

Clarence Anthony, CEO & Executive Director, National League of Cities 6:24

No, that that's uh really good advice from both of you in regards to um having the city itself as your main goal of making the community better and serving the residents better. And that's why you you have the relationship that you have. I also think that when uh residents or the press or the community see you, a lot of times they don't think about the whole leadership person you are, and as a part of your leadership is your family and being uh connected to them as well. How has being a father uh shaped your decision making, um uh mayor, as well as council president, uh in terms of your community, because both of you have done work in your community uh supporting young children uh as a part of your agenda. Mayor, how has it shaped your way of leading and your decision making?

Mayor Brandon Scott, Baltimore, Maryland 7:25

Yeah, I think that and Clarence, even before I get to that, I get to your other point, I think for me it's a little different, right? Because, well, you know this better than anybody. I started out in in office and working in City Hall so young that that uh as a as a one of our most seasoned uh uh residents told me at our uh older adults luncheon a few years ago, I mean a few days, weeks ago, uh, that she literally has watched me grow up on TV. So for me, like they see the whole family, right? Which is a different, like now that we, you know, have a my wife's very active, my kids are very out on the front, it's a very different thing than we've had in Baltimore in a quite a long time. Uh, but also with me personally, so they've seen me uh before I had kids every day. I treated every child in the city as they were my my kid. I still do that, but it's a little different. But now, being an actual father, it makes you think about every single decision you make, right? Whether it's about education, you, public safety, whatever, health, you're always thinking about your kids. There is nothing that you think about, no action that you take that you don't think, how is this gonna impact my children? And I think personally, I think that helps us uh be better leaders and more well-rounded leaders because we're we've got to think everyone, everything through, and we're also thinking that through the lens of the best, most close watching eyes, and that's the lens the lens of a parent.

Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohen 8:50

Yeah, and and I would just add on to that, I think where it's deeply personal for us both is when you think about issues around childcare, very rarely does a day go by where we aren't navigating some childcare situation. My wife's a psychiatrist down in Cherry Hill, and we are working parents just like everybody else in the city of Baltimore. And so with our two kids, I got a five and an eight-year-old, it is often the question of like, all right, who's going to get Maya, who's bringing Eli to T Ball? And I think it humanizes this policy question around providing great childcare for working parents, which is something both the mayor and I have championed. And there are funny ways in which uh we both get pulled in different directions and sometimes have to say no to stuff because of our kids. I remember Brandon. I don't know if we talked about this or not. Yeah, it is. Um, there was a point at which the head of the Baltimore Museum, uh, this wonderful woman named Asma, reached out and was like, hey, Zeke, um, can you come do a citation for Amy Sherald, um, the amazing painter who painted the Obamas, who had a fracas with the president, and ended up taking her stuff to Baltimore because anytime uh you want to be anywhere outside of Washington, D.C., the place you go is Baltimore. So she ended up taking all her stuff to the Baltimore Museum of Art. And Asma calls me, and it's a Friday, and she's like, hey, Zeke, um, can you come do this citation for Amy? Um, the mayor was gonna come, but he had a child care issue and it fell through. Um, can you go do it? And I was like, Yeah, like I love some Amy. I knew her. She had actually lived in Baltimore, worked at uh, she was an artist in residence at Creative Alliance before she blew up and got famous. And like I knew her back then. And so I was like, heck yeah, but I've also got a childcare issue. And so are you cool with me bringing Maya? And she was like, Yeah, yeah, yeah, bring your daughter. And so I ended up going up and had my daughter Maya read the citation to Amy Sherald. And there's this really beautiful picture of Amy like hugging on Maya while she's reading her the citation. And all that to be said, uh, you know, it's funny because I think we both um are often uh pulled in sort of the public and private directions simultaneously. And again, it's why uh having two young dads um that are sort of going through pretty similar things in leadership positions, I think is a little different for Baltimore in some ways, and I think is is is healthy for folks to see us as full human beings.

Clarence Anthony, CEO & Executive Director, National League of Cities 11:51

I agree with that. I uh uh actually saw the mayor at an event where his son was he was running behind his son uh at an African-American mayor's uh conference uh where he became president of AMA, and I was trying to talk to him, and his son basically said, Nope, this is my dad, and this is our our time tonight. So I do think that that's important uh that you align and understand uh the priority there. You know, as you think about priorities and you think about the things that you care about, um you fund in your budget what is important. And so let me ask you guys about the leverage that you are pulling in terms of investing um in uh children and family uh programs. Uh, I know there are uh a couple. One is uh Be More for Babies uh is one that you guys have invested. But what else have you done in your community uh to show that commitment uh to children and families?

Mayor Brandon Scott, Baltimore, Maryland 12:58

Yeah, that's been the focus for both of us in our public lives, right? And when you think about Be More for Healthy Babies, uh that program was created to help deal with the uh infant mortality gap, and we've now decreased that gap between white and black babies by 48% in the city and brought the infant mortality rate down 39% overall. But we go even beyond that. Uh we worked the council president and I worked it this earlier this year to uh get $500,000 more to expand capacity for child care providers uh in the city. Uh during the government shutdown, we made this a priority providing money for the affected families. But even when you think about our overall operational budget, right? When you think about in just a simple, the short time that I've been the mayor of Baltimore, the Department of Recreation and Parks budget has grown by 40%. Uh the police department's budget has grown by 13% in that time. We've opened, uh, since I've become the mayor of Baltimore, seven new rec centers. We will open, we've already opened two this year. We have four more of 13 new schools. We opened the first new library in more than 15 years, and then we'll open the second uh this summer. When you think about where we're uh spending our effort and money, we have 8,500 kids that will get summer uh jobs, career pathways, and the fleet academy, all of these things that we've seen. And we've also uh done things for our teenagers, for team pool parties, midnight basketball, late night rec centers, summer camps, safe patches, all of these things are really around uplifting our young people and our families. And I know that the council president shares uh that same commitment because for me, uh uh I I will take it. When I hear people say, sometimes in a snot remark, uh, that I care more about the kids than everybody else. Well, the answer is you're right. Because if we do not invest in our most precious resources, our young people and the support systems that they need around them, like their families, now, they will not grow into the best version of themselves. And neither will we. For me, this is really personal, flipping on its head how the city operated when I was a young person, where I was seen as a as a problem to solve, not something to invest in. And now we flip that on its head and we're gonna keep going that way because it builds a better, stronger community, more vibrant community when you invest in young people now. You can pay now or pay later.

Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohen 15:24

Yeah, and and I'll just second everything the mayor said. And for me, uh, look, both of us have kids in Baltimore City schools, so that much, you know, and and I think they will be there until they graduate up out of high school. Uh also say I started my career as a teacher in West Baltimore and taught in a school without heat or air conditioning or drinkable potable water. It had bars on the windows and it looked more like a jail than a school. And for me as a 22-year-old teacher, my thinking was man, if we're sending our children to places that look like prisons, what's the expectation that we are sending to them? And I'm really proud to say that uh about 14, 12 years later, 14 years later, we have rebuilt 38 brand new Baltimore City public schools with a lot of help from our partners in state government. Uh, we and these are places that have green roofs, that have big bay windows, that are the kind of places that you would want to send your kids to, that I feel good sending anyone else's kids to. It is so important the physical infrastructure of a building, what it communicates, what it says to a young person. I'll also know, Clarence, where you started was talking about early childhood education. I'm proud to say that Baltimore is outpacing the rest of the state of Maryland when it comes to kindergarten readiness. Now, for me, um, I know the mayor shares this goal as well. I want to get even further. I would love to see us with universal pre-kindergarten getting all the way down to our three-year-olds. Um, that is gonna take substantial work and investment. Uh, but everything we know about human cognitive development is those first five years, zero through five, are critical. It is always good investment to invest early in early childhood education. That's why I'm thrilled you all are coming, Clarence, uh, Tanja, and the good folks from NLC, uh, on the 18th, I believe, to have an early childhood summit right here in Baltimore with me and the mayor. Um, I think that stuff is critically important. And the last piece that I'll throw in is one of the dynamics that I saw as a teacher and as a councilman is that we see a disproportionate amount of trauma located in our communities in Baltimore. And so after a school shooting, I was proud to pass the first law in the United States of America to enact trauma-informed care. And that is something that I've been incredibly proud to partner with the mayor as part of his comprehensive violence intervention strategy. Um, and to see that work be adopted in Cincinnati and in some other cities as well. Uh, Baltimore is uh on this incredible comeback streak when it comes to reducing violence. And one thing that the mayor and I both believe with our full hearts is it's not just about policing our way out of our problems. It's about investing in the well-being. It's about addressing the root causes like childhood trauma in order to prevent violence from occurring in the first place.

Clarence Anthony, CEO & Executive Director, National League of Cities 18:45

Now that uh our team is so excited about coming uh to Baltimore City to meet with you both and your staff. Um because as you guys know, it takes uh the commitment uh from the leadership of the city uh to be able to drive an issue uh and to make sure that real impact uh occurs. I wanted to uh build on that uh a little bit because um I'm a Head Start baby, and the concept of Head Start is you work with the whole family. So how do you integrate parents uh into what you're doing and their perspective and their development? Because you can help the kid move forward, but if the parents aren't growing with them, um they would come home and say, What did you learn today? Oh, don't worry about that stuff. But if they are a part of it, they're like, didn't we learn something great today? So talk to me a little bit about how you're partnering child with the parents.

Mayor Brandon Scott, Baltimore, Maryland 19:50

And I think, Clarence, Baltimore is a place where, again, we we're very innovative on that, a city of first, right? When you think about even through Be More for Healthy Babies, right? And you know that oftentimes in hard to reach folks, and and sometimes for you and I, uh sometimes black men, we can be a little standoff is with somebody coming and trying to tell us what we need to be doing, how we should be doing it. You got to meet people where they are, right? So uh we have this thing of like a monthly gathering and up there in Drew Heights with Be More for Healthy Babies. It's in partnership with local barbershops and barber owners because we know everybody's gonna be in the barbershop. Everybody's gonna be talking, and what better place to talk that? That's a space where dads feel comfortable, right? You know, in the barbershop, anything you can have to say or need to say, you can say it, and you don't have to worry about someone looking at you a kind of way. And that that's the space we're using to have them talk about parenting and about life. And and similar thing for with Head Start. Uh, they have a partnership with a great organization that I was a board member of for many years called the Center for Urban Families. That this is what SCFUF does every day: help build stronger families. They have a fatherhood program, which I am an actual graduate of myself at the center, and it's really about helping folks grow. And even through our mayor's office of African-American Male Engagement, uh, with when we're working with young people, and we don't just work with the youngest of the young, we work with teenagers and even some late, late teens and 20s. We're also working with the parents to help make sure that when we get that young man who we who was off on the wrong track, we often find out that the parents themselves need tools to help them deal with that young person, but they also might need deeper support. We do the same thing through the mayor's office of neighborhood safety and engagement, trying to help everyone connect and grow together. Because it's not just good enough for us to have the child be ready as the council president say we want them to be ready for kindergarten, but we need the parents to be ready for them to be ready for kindergarten. We have to continue to grow uh those deep partnerships, but those innovative ways of doing it. Because this isn't, you ain't, you're not just gonna get folks to just come to a meeting. You have to go to them, meet them where they are.

Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohen 22:00

One other thing I would throw in too is one of the dynamics when I was a teacher that I saw a lot is that we have many families in Baltimore where it's actually a grandparent that is doing some of the labor of raising not just their own kid, but their grandkid. And so family looks different. And what it means to be a parent looks different can look really different. Maybe it's an aunt, maybe it's a grandparent. Um, we know that our elders in Baltimore are wisdom keepers. I was really glad to partner with my now vice president, Sharon Green Milton, to create an uh cabinet-level office of aging that the mayor has invested in. He just had a summit a couple of weeks ago that I was at. Um, but really lifting up the role of the grandparent in the family here in Baltimore, I think is an important piece of what we do. There's also a program called Experience Core uh that we fought to keep in the city that it's an Americor program. And what it does is have elders, grandparents come and teach to elementary kids in our schools. And so creating that intergenerational bond. Um, but I think we're we're in this moment where uh strengthening parenting, strengthening what it means to be a family just may look a little different. And that's okay. Um, because as long as our young people have someone that is supporting, that is guiding, that is pouring love into them, that's what we want to support.

Clarence Anthony, CEO & Executive Director, National League of Cities 23:39

Well, thank you for that. And and and and that is so helpful. I'm sure that the uh listeners will, uh, especially elected ones, will grasp a lot of good content and ideas from uh what you shared. I want to get back to uh you guys as as fathers. Um I mean, being in the public eye all the time um is probably um very challenging, especially in cities all over America. And I wanted to ask you to share with us and any advice that you will give other elected officials uh to lean into their roles as as fathers and any advice you'd give them on terms of how do they manage the both roles. Uh, because um, in a lot of ways, uh when you're walking through communities, uh no matter where it is, you are a father figure for uh those young kids who they say the council president is coming to my classroom or the mayor is coming to my classroom uh today, and they're so excited. What advice to elected officials would you have in terms of how do they own that role as a father figure in their community? I would say lean all the way in.

Mayor Brandon Scott, Baltimore, Maryland 25:04

Lean all the way in. Uh it does it does help people understand that you're human, but also you have to have have as much balance as you can. And I'll tell you this story, uh, kind of I may have told you this before, but uh uh before uh when my my wife was was pregnant with charm, I wanted to see uh uh someone who I knew was a father who I knew was very involved, and I thought did did both child well, I want to see how I was done. So I got on a plane and I went to St. Paul, Minnesota, and I shadowed my good brother Melvin Carter for a couple of days. And what I learned from Melvin and what he told me very simply was, and he I know he won't mind me saying this, he was like, Brandon, there's always gonna be a meeting or event. You have to take time for your children. Because there's only one first step, there's only one first word. You have to take balance, and people will understand and respect that because they don't want to miss things with their children. Do your job, do it well, but do it in a way that allows people to see you as human. Involve your family as much as you want to, and as much as they want to be involved, which is a blessing for me. Uh no one, no one loves City Hall more than Cerone, our oldest, and the the the two ones, little ones don't mind it at all. But uh also just make sure that you are respecting uh uh your ability to do this work and show the importance of fatherhood through your work. Uh, because you'll be sending out an example of what it is to be a working father, an elected father, and showing if I can, if the mayor can push a stroller and change diapers and do pick up and drop off, then everybody can do that, right? And we know that it goes even beyond your own children. I I can't tell you, especially now, uh this is like the second year in a row where there are young people whose parents uh at their graduations uh afterwards have shown me pictures of them and said, You spoke at his kindergarten, his fifth grade, his eighth grade, and now his twelfth grade. Young people that I've known their whole entire life, that now I'm helping to get in the school or or uh going into school, and they said, I got everything paid for, but I don't have the $300 to do the housing down payment, and just give them the money because you have to be there for your community and they'll respect that and you'll get that back tenfold. When I see some of the young people that uh I uh work with and help to help them and their families over the years now, running programs, running businesses, hiring people, working at schools that they went to, coordinating uh community events. That's what it's all about for me. How do you pay it for uh not for you, but for the rest of the people in your community and leaning all the way in? And I I had the ability to see some people do it very well. Uh, there is no elected father more dedicated to uh being an elected official and a father than my good brother Corey McCrae. I've watched him do it for many years. Uh and I remember conversations that he and I had when he first got elected, saying the same thing, like, spent like your kids, you got to be there. And just watching him and watching Melvin. Now I just try to uh take it to the next level, take that baton uh of that fatherhood and being the mayor and showing people with the with the platform that I have in a much wider way.

Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohen 28:29

Yeah, I I would say, you know, the importance of honoring the relationship with our children and with our spouses, uh, these are very stressful, intense, high-pressure jobs that we are in. Uh, there is always going to be a push from the media, from the public, from colleagues, from whomever. Um, and like Brandon said, like the mayor said, uh, doing the work of being a dad, of being a husband, not taking it for granted, not being the photo op dad that just like pops in for the selfie and the gram and then like pops on out and leaves it to your wife to do all the hard work. Um, I think is something we both uh take extremely seriously uh as we talk about what it means to be a good father in public. I also think two other things. One is uh vulnerability, right? Sharing moments from our own lives. Like recently, my mother passed away. And Mayor and I, Brandon and I talked about um mental health and the toll it takes and getting back into therapy and um being okay with uh having vulnerable conversations, both uh behind the scenes and in public, um, and just modeling that it's okay to not be okay. Uh, and that what is not okay is to bottle all of your emotions inside and then crash out and act in a way that is either violent or self-destructive. Um, but to be able to uh talk honestly about it, to be able to model what it means to get support when you need it, um, to be vulnerable about your feelings. Um, I think those are hard things to do in a hyper-masculine world that we live in, where we're in this era of the manosphere, and what it means to be a man is to be disrespectful to women and to be homophobic and all these other things. And I think the model of leadership that we're seeking to share with the world is not that. It is about being honest, it's about being vulnerable, it's about being transparent, it's about treating people with respect. Um, and then the final thing that is like always a push and pull that I think about is how much to expose my family to the limelight, right? I mean, Clarence, you thought about this, Brandon thinks about this. It's tricky because the internet is forever. People say mean things about us in public all the time, right? Like trolls and whatnot. And so I do think a lot about how much exposure my kids should have. Um, and like I got a daughter, for example, who is, you know, pretty shy and more of an introvert. Um, she's sweet as can be, she's smart, she's lovely, she's wonderful. But, you know, is she trying to be all over my social media? Probably not. And so, you know, every now and then, sure, we'll do a picture together if we're at the lantern parade or the next to Fifi, which is a big dog float in in a festival. But generally speaking, like I'll keep her away from my social media because I know even though she's eight, she can articulate she don't like it. Whereas my son is a little bit more like rough and tumble and in the mix, and you know, has like more of a politician's head on his shoulder. And so, you know, I think it's also about like what are the boundaries and how do you protect your family? And then the last thing I'll say on this one thing I appreciate about the mayor, um, and one thing that, again, I think we both try to do is to not demonize kids when some kid does something we don't like, right? So we have a media culture where it's really easy to talk about the kids, the juveniles, um, you know, read black male children causing problems in our cities. I think one thing that the mayor and I try to be really clear about is that is not what is going on here, right? Like the vast majority of children in our city are doing the right things consistently. The vast majority of children are creative and brilliant and uh heading in a good path. But when we have a media culture that loves to pick out the one or two or three that commit wrong and that do bad things, uh, it can be very easy to demonize and typecast all of the kids in the city of Baltimore. And I think we are, we both try to be very cognizant not to do that, not to do collective punishment, not to enact harmful things that have been done to previous generations, to Brandon's generation coming up. Um, but to just be thoughtful about our policies and our words and how we describe children, particularly in moments where there may be a young person that did something that was bad.

Clarence Anthony, CEO & Executive Director, National League of Cities 34:03

Let me um ask you guys my final question. And this is gonna be able to help your family uh create this experience for you. Um, this weekend is Father's Day. Tell me what your perfect Father's Day would look like. I'm a council president, I'm gonna start with you first.

Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohen 34:24

Yeah, perfect Father's Day for me is so my son is currently playing T ball and my daughter's playing softball. Uh, I love going to their games. I'm like the stupidest sports fan when it comes to uh my own kids' sporting events. Both the mayor and I played sports in high school. And so I get like loud and rowdy uh at these games. They both have a game this weekend. Uh so honestly, best Father's Day gift for me is seeing my kids and particularly the T-ball, because it's five-year-olds, so they don't know what they're doing. It's like a big scrum. They all just jump on the ball together. It's complete chaos and madness, and it's really funny to watch. Um, but like I'm competitive, and so I'm like, you know, go get it, you know, and and and it's just it's joyful. Um, I think that's that that's what I'm gonna get this weekend, and that makes me extremely happy.

Mayor Brandon Scott, Baltimore, Maryland 35:24

Mayor? Well, for me, because of me, Father's Day is also always Afram. So uh just to be out there on Father's Day uh uh with my father and with my kids, uh, and just being in this big, big celebration of black history, black culture, Baltimore's big black family reunion, and it's also Father's Day, and we always celebrating and uplifting Father's. I I can't ask for anything better than that because uh that's the way that that we will always have it here in Baltimore. So I that's all that's all I need. I don't need anything other than that.

Clarence Anthony, CEO & Executive Director, National League of Cities 35:58

Oh man, that's uh both of these stuff sound like it's gonna be fun. I'm gonna put y'all on the uh uh mark here and ask you. Um, so is there gonna be a game uh six uh Spurs, Knicks? Who's gonna win the series?

Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohen 36:14

Yeah, we're both Celtics fans, so I don't care.

Mayor Brandon Scott, Baltimore, Maryland 36:17

We're not gonna pick the Knicks. In all honesty, I actually think uh whoever wins uh game four will win the series. But I actually I disagree with most pundits, Clarence. I think the pressure is actually on the Knicks. Uh the pressure is on the Knicks because they're at home. They did something that normally uh means the series is over by winning the first two games on the road, and then they wet they wet the bid in game three. If they do not win game four, uh that I think the pressure might get them. I think that because you're talking about not just the pressure of the moment of winning the finals, you're talking about New York pressure and not having won since Willis Reed and Phil Jackson were on the team. Uh that's a lot of pressure, and it will mount. And as always, I'm just hoping uh that the Knicks do what the Knicks do and find a way to wet the bed.

Clarence Anthony, CEO & Executive Director, National League of Cities 37:12

Well, we uh Zeke, we don't have to worry about the Celtics. They they kind of blew it up really early. But anyway, they did. And you know what? This this has been um such a great, great conversation and opportunity. And you both know I consider y'all family. And it's like sitting around just talking about fatherhood. It's talking about our commitments to our communities, it's talking about our leadership style. But most of all, it talks about a partnership uh between uh two leaders that care about the same thing, and that is making sure uh Baltimore City is a great place for everybody that lives there. So I want to thank you all for your leadership and for sharing your stories with our Cityspeak listeners. And it was so good. Um I mean it from the bottom of my heart uh to have both of you on uh with me today. And the final thing is happy Father's Day to you guys. I know it's gonna be a great day.

Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohen 38:17

Thank you, man. It was an absolute pleasure to get the time and uh thanks for what you're doing. For all of us dads and all of us moms at the NLC, uh your work I know means a ton a ton to me and the mayor. Um, so thank you, thank you, thank you. And we're looking forward, we're looking forward to hosting you all in about a week.

Clarence Anthony, CEO & Executive Director, National League of Cities 38:39

Yeah, our team will be there because they are very excited. I mean, they've been talking about it. So y'all take care of them. If I can come, I'll drop in, but I don't think so. And thank you for having us. Thank you guys.

NLC 38:59

Thanks for listening to City Speak with Clarence Anthony. If you like the show, let us know. Share this episode with your friends, and make sure to subscribe. We're curious to hear what you think, what you want more of, and how we can improve. If you have feedback or an idea for a guest you'd like Clarence to sit down with, send us your thoughts at Cityspeak Podcast at nlc.org. Join us next month for a new episode. Like and subscribe here or wherever you get your podcast. See you next time.