Shannon Sneed announced Friday that she is running for Baltimore City Council President at the corner of North Avenue and Calvert Street, just steps away from city school headquarters. She said she plans to improve education by increasing parental engagement by 20%, in her first year, in that role.

“I’m running out of sheer frustration,” announced the former councilwoman. “I know more could and should be done. Many of our children are being left behind. I'm standing right here in front of Baltimore City School headquarters, because our children succeeding should be all of our focus.”

Sneed also announced she will use public financing. In 2019, the Baltimore City Council passed the Fair Election Fund which distributes matching funds to candidates who agree not to accept individual donations larger than $150 or donations from corporations, unions and PACS.

That fund currently has $2.2 million available. But to access those funds, Sneed must first raise $15,000 which Kevin Gillogly, her campaign manager, said they are still raising.

“We’ve reached 60% of that goal. We’ll keep working because the fair election fund allows us to be unbought and unbossed,” said Gillogly, in a nod to Shirley Chisholm.

Sneed is running against incumbent Nick Mosby and Councilman Zeke Cohen for the Democratic nomination in next year’s primary election.