For a mayor and a governor, a test of leadership

State and city leaders are vowing to pour resources into Baltimore in an effort to restore peace and rebuild communities in the wake of what so far has been one night of civil unrest.

Gov. Larry Hogan, within hours of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake’s request for help from the National Guard, has relocated his office to the city, and both leaders spent time touring some of the hardest hit areas. But what remains unclear is whether the rioting and looting that followed the funeral of Freddie Gray is over.

Officials are unified in their belief that they have done what it takes to end the violence, though who is in charge is not always clear.

“We’re deploying every resource possible to regain control of this situation and restore peace,” the mayor said during a Monday night press conference.

Many of those resources include Maryland State Police as well as officers from out-of-state agencies including 150 troopers from New Jersey as well as up to 5,000 soldiers from the Maryland National Guard. Up to 2,000 soldiers could be on the street by the end of Tuesday, and Hogan suggested state officials are taking charge.

“We were just ready to get moving forward and as soon as she made the decision, we got to work,” Hogan said Tuesday, a reference to Rawlings-Blake’s request for state assistance.

The governor relocated his officer to Baltimore, where he said he and his Cabinet are working to ensure public safety as well as begin the process of aiding businesses with insurance issues or with assistance from the Small Business Administration if owners had no insurance.

“We’re going to make sure we get Baltimore back on track,” Hogan said.

For much of the day, the governor and the mayor operated independently since appearing together a number of times in the hours following the declaration of a state of emergency in the city.

By Tuesday morning, both Hogan and Rawlings-Blake were touring the areas around Mondawmin Mall and the intersection of Pennsylvania and North Avenues where stores were looted and cars were set on fire. During a walking tour of the intersection, Hogan avoided the mayor, who was speaking to reporters outside the CVS store that was looted and burned.

A spokesman for Rawlings-Blake pointed out that the mayor has also been engaged, visiting three hard-hit areas of the city in the morning, participating in a march with the 300 Men group in east Baltimore and meeting with area clergy on efforts to help city youth.

But Tuesday morning, Rawlings-Blake responded with frustration when asked about criticisms that she should have visited Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood before Tuesday, following the violence.

“You can’t see everything that I see. You don’t know all the different moving pieces,” she said.

She has also had to clarify or explain some of her statements.

On Tuesday, Rawlings-Blake walked back comments in which she referred to youth involved in the violence as “thugs” intent on destroying the city.

“I wanted to say something that was on my heart … We don’t have thugs in Baltimore. Sometimes my little anger interpreter gets the best of me,” she said, pointing to her head. “We have a lot of kids that are acting out, a lot of people in our community that are acting out.”

And Monday, Rawlings-Blake faced repeated questions about a statement Saturday that some interpreted as her saying she gave room to protesters to destroy property that evening.

The mayor called the interpretation a “blatant mischaracterization of my words” and said her statement had been “twisted.”

In the wake of the violence, Hogan and Rawlings-Blake will be faced with the challenge of attempting to restore the city’s image in an effort to lure tourists and conventions back to the city, encourage damaged and destroyed businesses to rebuild and bring new businesses to a jurisdiction where unemployment outpaces the state average.

“We worked so hard to get a company like CVS to invest in this neighborhood,” said Rawlings-Blake, standing outside the burned-out pharmacy while describing the neighborhood as still recovering from the riots of the 1960s. “This is the only place that so many people have to pick up their prescriptions.”

Hogan, who has made economic development and attracting business a cornerstone of his campaign and fledgling administration, acknowledged the challenge.

“It’s going to be hard,” Hogan said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.