ISSUES - TOP THREE
EDUCATION
Many of the City school buildings are unsafe. For example:
1. Most of the schools do not have adequate heating.
2. Most of the schools do not have adequate cooling.
3. Lead pipes in many schools has most of the water in the buildings undrinkable.
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What good are we doing our children if they get passed from one grade level to another without actually achieving the standard requirements? Furthermore, the curriculum is lacking. There is no civics or community service in the curriculum. Our schools are sorely lacking trade skills education and even our college prep is lacking and not putting our students on a level playing field with the rest of the state, not to speak of the country.
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Currently 38% of the high school students in the city have zero proficiency in math. This is unacceptable. As Mayor I will establish accountability and transparency systems for the school system. Our children deserve better.
EDUCATION
PUBLIC SAFETY
Crime is off the charts, let's be real about where the City is currently. The national homicide rate is 5.3, but the Baltimore homicide rate is 56.6. This is unacceptable and must change as quickly as possible. Looking at past programs that have worked in similar cities will be a Day 1 initiative. Bringing in leaders from each community within the City will be done immediately.
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Our law enforcement community needs support, but we must also look at and purge any and all corruption from within the ranks. This includes the Gun Trace Task Force prosecution and any other corruption in the department. We cannot have a Commissioner who will refuse to perform an internal investigation.
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Public safety can only truly start to be improved when a sense of trust develops within the community for the officers serving in the Baltimore City Police Dept. Moreover, reviewing corruption within the department and ridding the department of corrupt officers will also improve the safety, trust, and work environment for the officers themselves.
PUBLIC SAFETY
JOBS & ECONOMY
Jobs, jobs, and more jobs are needed to bring Baltimore City back to its vibrancy and leadership it once enjoyed in America. There has been a mass exodus of corporations from the city over the last few decades. What's causing this? There's simply too much red tape to start a business and while a select few corporations have been wooed to move to Baltimore, we've lost small and medium businesses by the dozens on top of other corporations that weren't given the same breaks and incentives to move here.
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In a time where America as a whole is seeing record low unemployment rates for African-Americans, hispanics, and women - our City is falling behind and our current system is holding us back. As Mayor I will cut the red tape, welcome corporations, medium, and small businesses back and continue to take advantage of Opportunity Zones. I will work with everyone to find solutions to other problems - like education or skills training for residents - so that we can continue to grow the Baltimore economy.
JOBS & ECONOMY
CRIME PLAN
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As Mayor, I will get rid of the "Ultimate Tax" on the City of Baltimore residents, the crime tax.
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I will ensure that government at all levels launch an aggressive strategy to eliminate the crime tax because it is the only way a Baltimore anti-poverty effort is to succeed. This strategy will especially explore ways of involving the law-abiding citizens of Baltimore in anti-crime activities. In this empowerment strategy, the poor themselves work with police and other local officials to identify sources of potential crime and restrict access of potential criminals to their neighborhoods and housing projects. In particular:
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Baltimore City Government must help neighborhood groups form anti-crime patrols, stimulate interest among residents in joining existing patrols. Public housing as well as all neighborhoods should be the focus of such efforts.
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The Maryland State legislature should require stricter sentencing for repeat offenders and for all offenders convicted of using firearms in committing a burglary or robbery.
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The federal government should beef up the efforts of cabinet-level agencies, particularly the Department of Justice and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, to stem violent crime and drug dealing in the city.
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Congress should stop funding any effort to defend the "civil rights" of drug dealers facing eviction from public housing.
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The Police Commissioner has a plan in place that the metrics show is not working. Time for a no excuses plan.
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Closing the racial wealth gap in Baltimore.
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Enhance the enterprising abilities of the "squeegee" youth to build cooperative enterprises and businesses.
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Work strategically and with mutual respect with the local, state, and federal levels to utilize all available resources.
OTHER ISSUES...​
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Crumbling Infrastructure
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Corruption with the City
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Lack of Accountability & Transparency
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Opioid Epidemic
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Quality of Life
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Homelessness