On Tuesday, January 15, 2013 Linda Thompson, the current Mayor of the City of Harrisburg, kicked off her campaign to run for a second term.

A crowd of about 130 people gathered at the Goodwin Memorial Baptist Church and included not only supporters but media, City employees, and representatives of the campaign consulting group, WS Group, who has been hired by Thompson's political action committee, Leadership for Harrisburg 2013.

Although Thompson's term as the first female and first black Mayor of the City of Harrisburg has been predominantly marked by State takeover and debate about her Administrative proficiency in addressing the City's daily quality of life issues such as trash, blight, street lighting, crime, and response to emergencies, she said, "There is no need to change the ship in the middle of the ocean."

Linda Thompson's kickoff speech was peppered with defense against opposition who she claims has diminished her abilities to lead. "The last several years, our city has been distracted by trivial and petty politics propagated by the weakest politicians amongst us," she professed.

Despite Thompson's call to move onward with no need to look back, prominent supporter Gloria Martin Roberts, former President of City Council, spoke and stressed that as a citizenry, "We have to understand the history of our city." She went on to outline a series of past challenges Thompson confronted. Roberts pointed to various parties as the reason the current Mayor has been unable to establish solvency in Pennsylvania's capital city. She said that if the majority of City Council, the City Controller, and the majority of the business community had supported Thompson, "we'd be solvent today."

Both Thompson and Roberts stressed the significance of "the community" coming together to help grant Thompson's desire for another term. However, there were mixed messages about who is considered part of that community. At the very beginning Thompson looked out onto the audience of mostly black members and declared, "So, this is the community." She followed that up by saying she hopes to establish "a city where we are all cooperating as one community." Later Roberts said voters must ask any candidate running for Mayor, "How long have you been in my community? We are a community of color."

While there is innuendo that more Democratic contenders plan on entering the race, at this point in time only Linda Thompson and City Controller Dan Miller have officially announced their intentions to be on the ballot for the May 21st primary.

Videos:

A span of the room: Supporters, City employees, media, the curious, and the WS Group

Linda Thompson: "So, this is the community."

Linda Thompson: "Some of us took the coward's way out by blaming others and making excuses."

Linda Thompson: "This campaign has to reach across any boundaries both real and imagined."

Linda Thompson: "I am a smart woman. I am knowledgeable and I'm skilled."

Linda Thompson: "And I want to win this campaign."

Gloria Martin Roberts: "Look at her and put Obama's face on her."

by Tara Leo Auchey

photos by Natalie Cake