Benjamin Little

NS Nation Name: Fronket
Character Name: Benjamin "Ben" Little
Character Gender: M
Character Age: 68
Character Height: 6 ft
Character Weight: 180 lbs
Character Position/Role/Job: Senior Senator from Maryland (2006-), Representative for Maryland's 7th Congressional District (1996-2006), Mayor of Baltimore (1990-1996) Member of Maryland House of Delegates from the 38th District (1983-1990)
Appearance:

Character State of Origin: Maryland
Character State of Residence: Washington DC/Maryland
Character Party Affiliation: Democratic
Main Strengths: Highly respected, many party allies, amiable, reliable, moderate
Main Weaknesses: Isn't particularly loved by voters; didn't improve Baltimore enough as mayor or as a representative. Voters are complacent as to whether he stays or goes. Some see him as opportunistic.

Biography: Ben Little was born in 1951 in Baltimore. He was the third child of six. He graduated with honors from the Baltimore City College high school in 1969. He later attended Howard University in Washington, D.C., where he served in the student government as sophomore class president, student government treasurer and later student government president. He became a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and graduated in 1973 with a Bachelor's degree in Political Science. Little graduated from law school at the University of Maryland School of Law, receiving his J.D. in 1976, and was admitted to the Maryland Bar later that year. He practiced law for 19 years before first being elected to the House in the 1996 elections.

From 1983, Little served in the Maryland House of Delegates while practicing law. His predecessor raised funds and campaigned for him; years later, Little credited her with launching his political career. In the Maryland General Assembly, he served as Chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland and was the first African American in Maryland history to be named Speaker Pro Tempore, the second highest position in the House of Delegates. Little made race in Maryland and Baltimore the pinpoint of his time in the Maryland House, pushing for greater African American representation through cultural days in the state.

Little served in the state legislature for seven years, until it was suggested by some party officials that he run for mayor. Baltimore's African American population was a constituency that Democrats wanted to solidify further. Little ran on the promise of reducing the homicide rate in a way that wouldn't lock up innocent people and let violent criminals run free. The message resonated with white voters and especially black Baltimore residents, who turned out in record numbers to vote him in as the first African-American mayor of Baltimore in 1990. His election was widely commended by Democratic leaders, who developed serious respect for him.

Little's mayoral tenure had ups and downs; the downs seemed to eclipse the ups in the GOP's eyes. He managed to keep his main promise: Baltimore's homicide rate dropped for the first time in the 23 years. This was due to a crime plan he introduced in 1991 that focused on more community policing and using police resources to target the most violent offenders. To combat crime, Little instituted new guidelines for policemen that allowed them to be more aggressive in crimefighting. Little also invested in data collection to make the expenditure of police funds more efficient. In 1992, the Baltimore City Police reported a sharp decline in homicides in Baltimore. According to police there were 14 murders in the city for the month of January. As of April 1992, there had been a 40% reduction in murders in the city after experiencing a record high in 1990 during Little's first year in office. By April 15, 1992, the number of murders in the city had grown to 54, the lowest total to this time of the year in recent memory, putting the city on pace for 189 murders in 1992. By the end of that year, the murder count was 234—a 17% reduction over the previous year.

However, it wasn't a smooth ride. While the violent crime rate decreased, petty crime spiked in 1993 as a direct result of a heavy War on Drugs and distrust between the community and officer. As Little's critics complained that crime had risen in Baltimore during his tenure and that he did not pay enough attention to the issue, Little decided to had increase police patrols, crack down on the possession of illegal guns, and actively secure federal and state funds for crime-fighting programs. This wasn't popular with his main constituency, the black Baltimore population. He decided to turn the focus away from crime and towards infrastructure development. Several city developments were completed during Little's tenure such as Baltimore's Inner Harbor East community, the Legg Mason Tower, and the Baltimore Hilton Hotel. This led to a moderate increase in popularity with his city residents, and he decided to run for reelection in 1994 with a focus on city development and poverty reduction. He managed to secure a win with the state and local party's backing. While his critics (correctly) say that his development projects were not successful, he remained moderately popular with his constituency.

In 1995 he was requested by party officials to run for an open House seat. He decided to accept while he was still popular, and easily won the Baltimore district seat in the House of Representative in 1996. After becoming a ranking member on several important committees, party leader's started looking to him for advice on important issues. He was also a reliable bipartisan legislator: Little introduced the Presidential and Federal Records Act Amendments of 2014, a bipartisan bill signed into law by the President December 2014. The bill, which Little cosponsored with a Republican Representative of Florida, was a set of amendments to the Federal Records Act and Presidential Records Act. Among other provisions, the bill modernized the definition of a federal record to expressly include electronic documents. He also introduced the All Circuit Review Extension Act, a bill that would extend for three years the authority for federal employees who appeal a judgment of the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) to file their appeal at any federal court, instead of only the U.S. Court of Appeals. Little said that this program is important to extend because it "allows whistleblowers to file appeals where they live rather than being limited to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals". He also said that the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals had "an abysmal track record in whistleblower cases".

His inclusive vision for criminal justice reform has been popular with the Party officials, but not exceedingly popular with his community. In remarks at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, Little declared: "Our party does not just believe, but understands, that Black Lives Matter. But we also recognize that our community and our law enforcement work best when they work together."

He has been reelected several more times since 1996, finally deciding to run for Senate in 2006. He has never dropped below 69 percent of the vote, and even ran unopposed in 2010. As a Senator, he has been quite statesmanly.

Other Info: Ben is a widower; his wife died of colon cancer in 2015. He has a son who works in the real estate industry.

I have read and accept the rules of the role play: Fronket