Opinion: Making Baltimore City government work: Take the little steps

For much of the past century, there has been a dominant philosophy in Baltimore City government that in order to get big things done, the mayor needed to have extraordinary powers. And boy, the city’s mayor has them. From the power to set water and sewer rates to approval of multimillion-dollar contracts through the Board of Estimates, where the mayor controls three of five votes, the city’s chief executive wields far greater power within his or her domain than any other local elected official in the state — a level of authority above and beyond most fellow mayors across the country.