Baltimore’s Environmental Community Candidate Questionnaire
2016 Baltimore City Races
 
This 2016 Candidate questionnaire is a joint project of the Maryland League of Conservation Voters, Clean Water Action, and Sierra Club-Maryland Chapter. These are environmental issues you will likely consider as an elected leader of Baltimore City. Thank you for taking time to answer these important questions. Your answers will be shared with all three organizations and will be key factor for each organization’s endorsement decisions.
 

 
Please email your completed questionnaire to Kristen Harbeson at kharbeson@mdlcv.org with your electronic signature. If necessary, you may mail a hard copy with the candidate’s signature to:
Maryland LCV, Attn: Kristen Harbeson
86 Maryland Avenue
Annapolis, MD 21014
 

 
Good Government

1. Do you commit to communicating with advocates before introducing and supporting bills on issues that concerns them? What mechanisms will you use to provide transparency in your office?

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My entire platform centers on rebuilding Baltimore City public agencies with oversight and accountability—with public agencies being built back into Baltimore communities and away from the strong connections with corporate institutions----and with a major emphasis in rebuilding all of the public venues for discussing public policy including in our public schools and universities and by funding startups of local media outlets providing alternatives to a very consolidated Baltimore media industry.  As a social Democrat my passion is communicating with all citizen groups and I will stand strong on platform issues including my strong stance on environmental issues.
 
Water Quality
 
2          In 2012 the state legislature passed the Watershed Protection and Restoration Act. This requires jurisdictions like Baltimore City create and implement a stormwater fee and program. In 2013 Baltimore with lots of citizen and business input designed a program that requires property owners who cause the most polluted runoff to pay the highest fees. Do you support Baltimore City’s current program? If not, what is your alternative proposal?
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Let me say this-----I feel that the legislation as written from the Maryland Assembly on storm water fees and the program was not progressive, but regressive and meant only as a fee to increase general revenue rather than to address the important issue of breaking up the concrete and roadways that kill the natural drainage of water through our ecosystem.  Let me explain why.
 
The major problems with pollution and runoff are large retail/hotel sites and parking lots and the encroachment on wetlands like our Inner Harbor along the Port of Baltimore.  Baltimore also has many non-profit institutions that are being allowed to grow into large corporate campuses creating large parcels of real estate now designated for industrial use in our city center.  Meanwhile, the largest public parks are being repurposed to this as the public is now being told these large corporate campuses and their landscaping are our green spaces.
 
If you know property tax law you understand the use of REIT----REIT is what large corporations use to avoid paying taxes for the real estate they control……so a WalMart and parking lot with huge concrete coverage would have WalMart paying nothing in property taxes and with this storm water fee because shareholders buying these REIT are the ones responsible for this debt.  The realities are Maryland does not provide strong oversight of these kinds of taxes and so we would likely not hit the people behind the largest violators of storm water runoff.  University campuses and government facilities were exempt as well.  This means that the only group really paying these storm water taxes would be small businesses and individual homeowners----the two that cause the least problems for this environmental concern.
 
Freeing the wetlands around Port of Baltimore and Jones Falls from all the development is a must.  There is a movement to replace the current Inner Harbor with small businesses and by extension I would want to see all concrete and brick removed and trees and natural paths trail along the Inner Harbor for example.  Serious development of communities surrounding city center would have huge demolition projects not only for houses that could not be rehabbed----but all the concrete, road, and alley that downsizing these communities need.  Building great public green spaces in each community center for fresh local food and small animal husbandry takes care of much that storm water fees would have hit.  Addressing only downtown and a strip of city center for decades has put Baltimore decades behind in real sustainable growth.
 
Lastly, my administration will address the funding of infrastructure rebuilding around water and sewage focusing as well on building a more effective system of drainage from streets, interstates, and public facilities.  The level of pollution coming from failure to address these infrastructure upgrades comes not from lack of revenue as citizens in Baltimore have paid water and sewage bills monthly for decades----it is making sure the revenue gets to projects for which it is paid.
 
 
 

1. Under an Executive Order of the Environmental Protection Agency, Baltimore is required to treat 20% of its impervious surface area.  This is difficult as most city-owned property will not allow for installation of green infrastructure like trees, rain gardens, and bioswales. Several municipalities around the country have implemented market-based solutions that allow private property owners and businesses with room on their properties to install green infrastructure projects on their property allowing them to reduce their stormwater fees and generate credits they then sell to the municipality, industrial permit holders, or developers. What policies would you support or prioritize to improve public participation and investment in stormwater systems?

As I stated above, becoming serious with rebuilding Baltimore communities brings opportunity to move away from a city of row houses built for a city far more populated than today.  The problem lies with the Master Plan of Baltimore Development Corporation that seeks to place population density in Baltimore as central to its development plans.   We are a city of around 650,000 built for well over a million people.  My vision would be to bring communities down to address a more modest increase in population allowing for greater green space inside each community and by extension houses surrounding that public green space with property easements that flow into that central space carrying with it the same ethos of public food and natural energy.  These large public green spaces could then be annexed as the community grew in population with limits to density vs green space.  My vision for Baltimore is one of a city having a local domestic economy and small manufacturing as the driving economic force with corporations acting independently to augment development and employment.  Large corporate campuses are the opposite of building for wetland and mitigating storm water pollution.  Let’s remember, plans to bring global manufacturing to Baltimore is a plan to devastate our environment ----so anyone serious about protecting Baltimore’s environment and by extension reduce paving and building that contribute to storm water pollution would not promote heavy industrialization of surrounding Baltimore.
We do see good faith steps towards addressing impervious surface in the enlargement of tree wells along newly constructed streets for example.  I would emphasize that market-based solutions such as selling credits to industry is not the environmental approach to urban greening.
 
Neighborhood Quality of Life

1. How did you plan to promote and attract environmentally-oriented economic development, concentrating on jobs in green industries and technologies?

 
The first action of my administration will be to begin in all communities, development that will focus on construction via demolition, hauling, rehabbing houses, and creating the huge public green space of which I mentioned above.  In doing this we create two basic local economies in each community---one  of construction small businesses and one for local food growing, distribution, and sales.  I will not outsource government contracts outside these communities if at all possible with a goal of building an economy that feels a responsibility to citizens and neighborhoods.  Small businesses receiving the bulk of green tax credits and government revenue will send green tax credits from building downtown high rise offices to providing individual homeowners with what they need to make their homes energy efficient and green.  Looking at zoning for things like windmills and increasing the ability for small animal husbandry in public green spaces and in some cases backyards brings a whole new local economy to every community and making homeowners of those involved in this work will motivate more citizens to embrace the environmental ethos.  I am a mixed-income neighborhood candidate so want to make sure the poorest have a route to homeownership and small business that will grow the middle-class.  The second local economy is much needed---the local food economy.  A grand public green space with a huge public greenhouse open to all in a community can allow people to pay for their own space----to co-op space to grow food in a shared capacity, and it can have always available for the poorest the ability to have and harvest their own food as needed.
 
Animal husbandry from caring for, bringing meat to market, and selling meat, cheese, eggs, milk from goats, chickens, maybe dairy cows if we can get zoning laws with a huge barn connected to greenhouse all within several acres of a communities center then creates an entire local food economy.  People need to grow the vegetables and/or animals---they need to harvest vegetables, butcher the meat, or produce the cheese and milk-----someone needs to distribute this to all the local small fresh food markets around the community, and someone has to own those food markets and it will all be the citizens in these communities---no outsourcing to corporations.
 
Small manufacturing of green technology products for regional sales must replace the idea of global corporate campuses with global factories producing products for global markets----this is the opposite of environmental and create more problems than the product will ultimately protect.  So, keep manufacturing of all kinds small and regional with oversight and accountability in the manufacturing process.

1. The Open Space District in the Baltimore Zoning Code is to enhance the quality of life for city residents and improve its business climate. What would you do to permanently preserve and expand public and private lands as an important public asset and critical environmental infrastructure?

 
First, my definition of Open Space would really be Open Space.  As I said above, the direction of green spaces in Baltimore development especially downtown is away from open public parks and more towards making a corporate campus landscaping that open space.  This is good, but does not replace open public green spaces like parks.  My vision of developing each community in Baltimore is to have at least one main business attraction centered on recreation and entertainment.  Having open skating parks, moto-cross paths for youth loving to ride, multi-purpose sporting fields, fruit trees as orchards, community craft centers, climbing walls all with the idea that each community would have such a venue to attract visitors to their neighborhood that will then consume from local businesses.  I have central to my development plans a grand public green space in each community that can be annexed as needed with local citizens deciding what that development will look like.

1. How will you advocate that economically disadvantaged neighborhoods and communities of color receive enhanced protection when additional sources of pollution are proposed?

 
We all know that if an industry that pollutes moves into the area the zoning always tends towards underserved communities as with the incinerator we are fighting in West Baltimore.  We saw cell phone towers being proposed on public school grounds as if there wasn’t funding enough for public schools.  I am a lifelong civil rights and social justice environmental activist and I will make sure that growth in all communities is healthy for all and if there is a move by large corporations and Federal concerns to move heavy industry into the Baltimore region that these industries are required to meet Federal EPA standards and I will provide oversight and accountability to make sure it happens.  Demolishing lead and asbestos-filled houses will be a great start in providing environmental justice as will making sure waste collection and rat containment revenue is expended on all communities.  These are leading problems for public health.   Moving away from concentrated poverty with public housing that is diffuse across all communities makes sure the poor are not without voices of a middle-class that is more readily heard in these environmental matters.  The Federal laws on environmental regulations may not currently be enforced at the national level but those laws are on the books for a Mayor of Baltimore that wants to enforce them!

1. Toxic diesel pollution has a devastating impact on public health including numerous adverse effects such as lung cancer, asthma, heart attacks, stroke, and premature death. If elected, would you support a policy that requires clean diesel technology on construction equipment used on public construction projects and other large construction projects supported with city funds? What are your ideas for protecting residents of overburdened Baltimore neighborhoods from additional suffering due to increased sources of pollution?

 
 
One of the first things we need to correct in all the promotion of fuel as clean energy are the facts of what actual clean energy really is.  We all know fracking is the worst of environmental practices so we know natural gas is not really a green energy source.  Battery technology produces the worst of toxic pollution in manufacturing and the mining of the rare-earth minerals uses in computer and battery technology is very caustic.  Your referral to diesel technology I think reflects knowledge of this----moving away from generators, small landscaping equipment like weed-eaters and leaf blowers for example when not to cost prohibitive brings great quality of life in sound and air quality.  So, yes I would be requiring as Baltimore City rebuilds its public works and services that new vehicles are the cleanest and friendly to our air.
 
The most important development issue for this Mayor’s race is whether the city will continue with the Master Plan bringing global corporate campuses and global factories and high density population vs keeping things local and small manufacturing.  The amount of pollution creating products to sell to the world is tremendously more damaging then producing for our region and as an extension, the low-income housing that will surround these areas will feel more of a quality of life.
 
I DID NOT SEE A QUESTION 8

1. Crude oil trains are running from southeast Baltimore winding their way through the City. They move dangerously through our communities and businesses, with no diversion route to protect communities from disaster. How would you work to ensure Baltimore residents are protected from a derailment and explosion?

 
This is a vital issue and extends beyond crude oil to include export and pipelines for natural gas from fracking in Western Maryland and surrounding states.  Many people don’t know that the formula changes for natural gas as it is placed into trucks and more so as it moves through pipelines.  We know these global corporations are taking shortcuts in how they process and transport both crude oil and natural gas and as Mayor I would not only build the oversight and accountability in how all these corporations operate in Baltimore but I will make sure the State of Maryland is enforcing the maintenance of railways and crossings.  The city has huge issues with rebuilding its underground rail tunnels and making sure it is done to protect public interest is vital.  I do not support exporting natural gas so I would fight pipeline and export terminals already planned along the Port of Baltimore.
 

1. Trees in urban areas help with stormwater management, air quality, and energy conservation while demonstrably improving property values and community pride, yet tree cover in Baltimore has declined significantly in the last several decades. If elected, what would you do to increase the number and health of trees in our communities?

I spent my early years owning a landscaping company that dealt with tree planting, care, and location of species so I can assure citizens that tree planting will not be simply placing a tree in a ground when the time is found.  We need to move away from city contract awards to large landscape nurseries and make small businesses of our tree installation with the city having its own arbor parks along with fruit tree orchards. The huge real estate areas that used to be industrial complexes are great places for growing our own nurseries from which our local small businesses can plant in the Fall and/or early Spring.  Is there a reason for not having lots filled with a particular species of tree ready to dig up and transfer to a public project?  Of course not, people love seeing these lots.  Having our local citizens installing trees connects them to maintenance like water and pruning that is often neglected when corporations come from outside the city.  Rebuilding water lines to parks are needed for easier maintenance of public trees and community gardens.

1. Community gardens provide fresh healthy produce for city residents that can address existing food deserts, green public space, and serve to reduce stormwater runoff. How would you encourage and protect these community assets?

 
I will begin by saying this-----promoting individual small non-profit gardens as the only fresh food program is not the answer----these should augment what I describe as grand public greenhouses in each community.  We must have a public fresh food program that is a permanent fixture with employees that work it whether or not the citizens come and go.  Right now we are spending far too much revenue on non-profit gardens that often do not last.  I am against moving national food grocery chains into underserved communities as an answer to the term ‘food desert’.  People want that choice but not that as the only choice.  I would encourage small businesses and non-profit community gardens in replacing lawns and vacant lots-----

1. Under a consent order, the City is spending more than $1 billion to repair and replace the crumbling sewer system, but unfortunately Baltimore’s harbor is still impaired from bacteria and trash. What specific remedies would you take to help accelerate the reduction of this bacteria and trash pollution?

 
The City of Baltimore has always had the funds to rebuild our water and sewage infrastructure ----it just allowed that revenue to be appropriated to other projects.  Citizens may not be aware of just how much city revenue is lost from lack of oversight and accountability from mismanagement to misappropriation, to fraud and corruption.  I feel we could bring back to city coffers almost $1 billion each year ---that is an increase in budget of 25%----and of course with that take care of all water and sewage needs protecting our Jones Falls and runoff into our harbor.  As well, the amount of fresh water lost in these pipeline breaks is unacceptable.
These breaks are behind flushing of street trash and oil through our system to our wetlands.
 
The current solution of capturing trash at point of exit into harbor is unsightly and unnecessary. The problems lie in having public works employees routinely inspect street drains and the tunnels with filtering at various stages as water makes its way to the harbor.  Floating islands are not a bad idea but if your vision of the Inner Harbor is small businesses minus all the brick and concrete and trees with natural paths----you have created the major filtering step for harbor water quality.

1. Plastics and polystyrene contribute markedly to the poor health of the Chesapeake Bay, our neighborhoods and waterways. There are also safe and inexpensive comparable types of containers as replacements. What programs would you support or propose to reduce this waste from our streets and waterways? This might include a ban on polystyrene or on plastic bags, source reduction policies decreasing the volume of frequently littered items, increased funding for litter removal initiatives like the Water Wheel, and/or city-wide recycling in restaurants, bars and businesses. How would you finance these programs and address the needs of low-income and elderly Baltimore City residents?

 
Banning plastic bags places a hardship on small businesses that may not be able to afford paper and having cloth bags at only the super market creates the likelihood that people will want to shop just when they forget or do not have that cloth bag especially as we get people out of their cars and onto public transportation.  One small manufacturing business for a community may be simply creating lots of cloth grocery bags that can be placed around town just as you would a newspaper vending machine so as someone walks into a food store or convenience store they simply take one allowing them to recycle as they do paper bags.  It is very inexpensive to do this and may help reduce paper bag use as well.  I am very much for local recycling systems---from recycling house debris after demolition, to public recycling centers for plastics, glass, paper rather than having all recycling go to a corporation that profits from it.  If people can take their recycles somewhere close for money they will be more attentive to doing so.
 
I speak with downtown restaurants that do not recycle because the city does not provide this service----I’m not sure why that would be----but there are lots of people willing to have small businesses that provide this service to our downtown businesses.  Imagine if a community with a small recycling center partnered with a few of these restaurants to earn money for the community activities for example.  Having trucks available for these community endeavors would not be a problem.  All of this would be of particular interest to underserved communities.  Lowering the costs for city trash dumps would help to stop all of the construction and real estate management dumping that has filled our alleyways all to avoid costly dumping fees.
 
Recycling will pay for itself once the capital investments in equipment are met.  Moving more responsibility for tax revenue to corporations would provide all that is needed.  I would look closely at these corporate tax breaks and do not support the idea of a corporate tax-free zone in Baltimore.  I see corporations as good citizens paying their fair share of taxes.
 
 
Transportation

1. A great city needs a great transportation system, including rail, bus, bike lanes and improved pedestrian safety.  What is your vision of a great transit system and (and or “in”? )Baltimore and what will you do to help make this vision a reality. How can you make Baltimore safer for pedestrians and bicyclists?

 
I am a life-long public transportation and walking enthusiast so public transportation is my passion.  Right now the power is moving to privatize all that is public transportation and I would fight this.  Baltimore has the worst public MTA bus system because the transit funding does not make it to our public transportation.  It has been defunded and dismantled over decades and I am the person to make the buses and connections work.  I was a UPS Industrial Engineer for a time so I love making transportation effective and efficient. The power in Baltimore is using VEOLA to privatize and now Uber to push public taxis out of action.  I think we need a strong and easy to use public taxi service. The city is doing bike lanes with all new road construction that looks good---we don’t have a strong public awareness campaign for our automobile owners not used to sharing the road.  Lower speeds and circular speed bumps at intersections help in making bicycling more safe.  Pedestrian walkovers are sorely needed over major highway arteries in our surrounding communities and downtown and enforcing yellow light caution with drivers with warnings makes them aware of slowing to a stop early rather than speeding to beat that red light.  I would be an advocate for keeping MARC trains as commuter trains and subsidized 7 days a week.  We have to be aware that the push for high-speed rail may likely end commuter rail and subsidy even as they tell us the fare rates will be kept affordable.  I want to see our MARC commuter rail upgraded, with more rail cars, railway maintenance prioritized over high-speed rail.  Light rail is great----I would fight for the RED LINE. 

1. The Charm City Circulator is a convenient and free service facilitating transportation for both residents and visitors. What is your vision for the Circulator, including routes and financial viability?

 
What people may not know is Circulator is VEOLA---it is privately operated and VEOLA then has great power over routes and schedules and if not profitable, it will not run.  We already see that with VEOLA and our Disability transit.  First, I would go with the Seattle downtown transit by simply making all MTA buses travelling downtown free….so an area from Central Ave to the East to MLK to the West; Key Hwy to the South and Mount Royal to the North ----all MTA buses are free.  This eliminates the need for a separate system that is publically funded and allows citizens to jump on buses running constantly rather than wait for the Circulator.  If we want to keep a Circulator route that extends further into communities like Charles Village and Federal Hill----Fells Point to Hollins Market the same public private partnership would be fine---I simply would not allow it to replace our MTA.
 
Bringing the city’s public parking back to city control brings with it the added revenue that is now being shared by outsourcing and with that comes some fraud and corruption as with other city agencies.  This would be a good source of funding into our buses.  Encouraging corporations downtown to include MTA transit passes as wage benefits allows them to be good corporate citizens and could boost funding for other transit partnerships like trolleys.
 
Lead Paint, Toxics, and Pesticides

1. Given the unhealthy state of Baltimore’s older housing stock in low income communities, the City continues to be beset by high rates of lead poisoning and asthma. Both of these factors have dramatic impacts on a child’s education. Lead Poisoning leads to serious reading disabilities and violent behavior and asthma is the number one reason kids miss school. What is your distinct plan to scale investments in healthy, lead-safe interventions to protect our children and create a healthier, more affordable housing stock?

 
This is covered earlier in making the rebuilding of all surrounding communities my immediate priority and that will include identifying which houses can be rehabbed and which need demolishing.  I will make sure landlords are not absentee or negligent in keeping houses healthy and the city can subsidize some costs for landlords in wanting to promote homeownership.  Providing a strong Baltimore Department of Housing is not only about making sure all citizens have housing opportunities but it is where oversight of absentee properties occur so providing oversight and accountability in our housing agencies and rebuilding strong public community health centers will address this urgent need.  Having public housing available in all communities to act as an emergency sheltering system for those families found exposed is critical for people not having the financial sources to relocate while giving landlords time to address these problems.  Hazardous waste is hard and costly to discard if not for the monthly city collection.  We need to look at how to make it easier and less costly for the city to dispose of these wastes.
 
Redirecting HUD funding and revenue sources like the settlement revenue from subprime mortgage fraud would be one of many funding sources as this has many agencies interested in eradicating toxic exposures.
 
General
 

1. What other ideas do you have for making Baltimore a greener and more sustainable city? What other environmental issues should we be working on to serve your neighborhood and the city?

 
The major theme for Baltimore is rebuilding all communities in every way.  We need public schools in each community and with that comes the opportunity for great greening programs.  Our communities each need public parks and community food gardens and we need our green energy funding coming to individual homeowners and not as much to downtown development. Living simply is an ethos and moving people away from consumption without feeling they are missing out on the latest thing can be cultivated.  When I say that people who are poor can live with dignity and can be happy in talking about a grandparent living on the Chesapeake Bay as a waterman and farmer owning his own house but not having two nickels needs to be felt in our cities where citizens do not own homes---they are facing predatory landlords for example---that do not have a small business that ties them to the success of a community, and they do not have a fresh food source like a farm which I see as the grand public greenhouse.  Once people have these three things in their lives they feel healthy, stable, and satisfied with the simple life!


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