Baltimore mayoral candidates were squirming last night at a forum held at the Arena Players, as moderators hurled individually-tailored zingers at each of the five.

City Councilman Nick Mosby was grilled about why he voted for a mayoral budget that gave $20 million to “all-white-controlled institutions,” such as the Bromo Arts Tower and Baltimore Museum of Art, and yet “no money in this budget for Penn-North, no money for [the] Eubie Blake [Cultural Center], and not one dime to Arena Players!”

That “gotcha” prompted hoots and hisses from the primarily African-American crowd. So did the question they had for businessman David Warnock.

Noting the low test scores at Green Street Academy, the West Baltimore charter school that Warnock co-founded, the moderator wanted to know, “What’s going wrong at your school?”

Eventually it was former Mayor Sheila Dixon’s turn.

How would the moderators phrase the obvious zinger for Dixon, who resigned in disgrace in 2010 after pleading guilty to stealing gift cards intended for poor children?

The reference to her crime was oblique.

“Ms. Dixon, if elected, how would you assure the citizens of Baltimore to trust you to be accountable for the control and distribution and transparency of $3.2 billion per year?” forum organizer Lou Fields asked her.

A sudden quiet fell across the crowd of more than 300 as Dixon came to the microphone and faced them.

“‘Cause I’m going to have people engaged and involved in the process,” she said firmly. “I’m going to show through our public process, through boards, through commissions to have people involved and engaged.”

She went on about youth commissions and citizens being polled about their budget priorities, and the moment of truth was defused.

Dixon, Mosby and Warnock, along with State Sen. Catherine Pugh and Councilman Carl Stokes, were the candidates seated for the forum, one of many being held in anticipation of the April 26 primary election.

Fields, president of Black Heritage Tours and CEO of Black Dollar Exchange, organized last night’s event along with WOLB 1010-AM radio host and former state senator Larry Young.

Mayoral candidates Elizabeth Embry, Joshua Harris, DeRay Mckesson, Calvin Young and others were not invited to the event based on polling results, event organizers have said.

They missed out on some tough questioning and awkward moments.

Playing Defense

“That’s definitely a good question,” Mosby said in response to the jab about his budgetary support for white-controlled cultural institutions.

Noting that he had performed on the Arena Players stage as a child, Mosby said he understands “the importance of African-American arts.”

“I have an amazing track record of ensuring that I’ve given back to my community, to young folks in my community, to schools in my community,” he said. “I’m not going to have to defend on that.” As mayor he promised to “ensure that we have an African-American arts district.”

Warnock began his defense of the Green Street Academy by critiquing the test on which his students had low scores, the PARRCs (Partnership for Assessment for Readiness for College and Careers), saying the way “they were administered was awful, it was pathetic.”

“Answer the question!” somebody called out.

“We are not going to test our kids to prosperity,” Warnock continued, “any more than we’re going to prosecute our kids to prosperity.”

He noted that 96% of Green Street students have family incomes low enough to qualify for free or reduced price meals.

“And 15% of my kids at Green Street Academy don’t have a permanent address,” he added, setting off sympathetic murmurs in the crowd.

Citing Sources

Another awkward moment came when the candidates were asked, “Of all the thousands of dollars being spent” by their campaigns, “how much is each of you spending with the African-American community?”

Each candidate answered in turn with his or her bona fides.

“So all of our literature is being purchased from an African-American printer here in Baltimore City,” Stokes said, apologizing that the only source he could find for large signs was a non-Baltimore company.

“All of my material and my website were designed by African-Americans except for the big signs,” Pugh said. “All of my videos were done by a young African-American male and his partner. . . and all of my television commercials have been designed by an African-American.”

There was applause after each candidate ran through various products and services and cited their sourcing.

“I can’t answer that,” Warnock began when his turn came, his answer drowned out by laughter.

“But my campaign is managed by a first-class African-American firm and my head of communications is a wonderful African-American woman who’s doing a great job,” he continued.

“I’ll answer your question and I’ll get the exact number for you,” he added, “because you deserve it.”

Blame Game

As in other forums, the candidates delivered their stump speeches and offered their vision for the city. But here there were more barbs, with candidates calling out each other and incumbent Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

Mosby had harsh words for Dixon, saying “police-involved shootings, police brutality complaints. . . that was all due to the practices of the police commissioner at the time under her administration.”

Dixon had criticism for her successor when asked about the city’s record-setting homicide rate last year.

“I already have a track record [on keeping illegal guns off the street] and if the current administration had kept it in place, we’d be further along,” she said.

Stokes blamed the loss of the Red Line light-rail project on “a failure of leadership in our town who said, ‘You’re Republicans, we don’t like you. We’re Democrats, we’re not going to play with you,’” he said in reference to the political tension between Democratic Mayor Rawlings-Blake and Republican Gov. Larry Hogan.

“Because we said, ‘It’s all or nothing.’ There certainly were alternatives,” he continued.

And all of the speakers in their own way hammered on a theme that brought repeated applause from the crowd – the systematic racial inequity in Baltimore and how the new mayor can address it.

Stokes put it this way: “The direct, intentional segregation of black people – and don’t look at me like it ain’t so – is absolutely what is driving this city apart.”