Former Md. guv William D. Schaefer dies

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - William Donald Schaefer, the outspoken and combative Maryland governor and four-term Baltimore mayor who oversaw the transformation of downtown from a gritty center of urban decay into a tourist attraction, died yesterday. He was 89.

Schaefer died at his home at the Charlestown retirement community outside Baltimore. He had been hospitalized for five days with pneumonia earlier this month.

Schaefer was mayor from 1971 to 1986 and battled to fill potholes as mayor, and never missed an opportunity to tout his hometown, even jumping in a seal pool while wearing a turn-of-the century bathing suit and holding a rubber ducky to promote a new aquarium.

The Democrat was a Maryland political icon who held statewide office into his 80s. But his brashness and unpredictability made for a tumultuous two terms as governor, starting in 1987. Fellow politicians and citizens who did not agree with him felt his wrath. He tracked down a woman who made a rude gesture to him and wrote her, "Your action only exceeds the ugliness of your face."

Schaefer built his reputation as a man who got things done with projects such Baltimore's Inner Harbor and a new stadium for the Baltimore Orioles.

Schaefer's success as mayor helped him to a landslide victory in the 1986 gubernatorial race, when he got 82 percent of the vote. But the unconventional leadership style and prickly personality that made him a popular mayor did not work well at the state level.

During an uneasy four-year hiatus from public life, the retired governor missed the spotlight and a forgiving electorate welcomed him back in 1998 as state comptroller.

It did not take long for the old Schaefer to emerge. He quickly renewed a feud with then-Gov. Parris Glendening, criticizing him as they sat side by side at Board of Public Works meetings.

While Schaefer's loose tongue enlivened meetings, it also got him in trouble. He made headlines in 2006 after telling a 24-year-old female aide to walk past him again in a public meeting so he could ogle her backside. He also made news that year for criticizing the expense of educating illegal immigrants.

Schaefer ended up losing the Democratic primary in his re-election bid months later, coming in third in a three-way race.

Schaefer never married, and seemed to be wedded to his work. But he maintained a relationship for many years with Hilda Mae Snoops, who was his frequent companion and hostess at the governor's mansion. She died in 1999. Four years earlier, Schaefer had dedicated a Victorian-style fountain at the governor's residence to her.