WBAL  CANDIDATE SURVEY


HEALTHCARE
Expanded and Improved Medicare for All-----everyone in and nobody out.
 
By now most Americans see the Affordable Care Act was simply the same model used by Clinton in financial industry deregulation and consolidation all with a goal of creating huge health systems that are profit-driven and allowed to operate with a profit  motive meaning they needed to shed protections and long-standing medical standards and hand too much control of health care procedures and doctor’s control of treatment to health corporations and boards creating ‘protocols’ that have already placed patients at risk and have made many doctors and health professionals uncomfortable.  We see that as these politicians sold this policy as ‘cost-saving’ it is indeed all about denying opportunity and access to ordinary hospital care to most Americans and this denial comes with the health plan costs, deductibles, and co-pays.  You may not now realize now, but ACA policies have a goal of ending our Federal Medicare program with outsourcing and privatization with health systems breaking down the standards of Medicare having all patients treated equally receiving all the care they need and having choices as to where they go to receive treatment.  Many Democrats especially do not know that ACA was written mostly by Republican health policy institutions and it is not what a Democratic politician would have supported.  Social Democrats are running on a platform of fixing this ACA structure that is very corporate and profit-making to protecting our Federal Medicare structure as is---and actually expanding Medicare to all.  Don’t forget, Congress gutted the funding of Medicare substantially so we need to return our Medicare to its original standard and expand this much-loved program to everyone.
 
Republicans and Reagan Democrats always make it sound impossible to fund this and call it Socialist.  Remember, citizens have paid payroll taxes for decades----Reagan tripled payroll taxes in the 1980s just so there would be plenty of revenue for both Social Security and Medicare and there is plenty of revenue.  We have watched as health industry profiteering and fraud ate into our Medicare Trust for decades to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars and simply ending that will bring the funds needed for Medicare for All.  Payroll taxes are still being paid into Medicare and a simple added tax on hospitals choosing to take a corporate profit stance will fund the building of this public health system.  Cities like Baltimore with an already high Medicare/Medicaid ratio of patients is the perfect platform in Maryland for building this structure.  Making Baltimore’s health system public will be easy; it will rebuild oversight and accountability in how health care funding is dispersed; it will rebuild civil protections for patients, and I know doctors would love to regain control of how they treat and interact with patients.  Baltimore has a wealth of health care higher education and medical school availability that if tapped could offer free or reduced funding to medical school especially for a General Practitioner/Primary Care MD.
 
 
 

 
 
TAXES
 
Taxes in Maryland and especially Baltimore are so high not because of social programs and services but because corporate taxes, corporate tax evasion, and corporate subsidy is too high.  No one believes the mantra from Republicans anymore that we need corporate tax-free zones to attract businesses.  What cities like Baltimore need is first to rebuild local economies with small businesses and small manufacturing factories to create an economy free from the boom and bust national economy and Wall Street manipulations.  We do not want Baltimore attracting global corporations that will kill any ability of building real local economies all while paying no taxes, eating our revenue with corporate subsidy, and controlling all aspects of our public policy.  We can attract corporations by simply building a city having healthy, stable, community economies which in turn builds the percentage of citizens having disposable income to spend on consumption----this is to what larger corporations look in locating to a region.  Baltimore City Hall has allowed every type of tax break for corporations under the guise of development.  It allows corporations clearly profit-driven to be deemed non-profits paying no taxes.  It allows what we call REIT----a corporate property tax scheme that sends responsibility for property taxes on large real estate go without payment by that corporation and instead moves it to shareholders.  Know what statistics say about payment of REIT by shareholders?  Very low compliance and it is cities like Baltimore losing tax revenue when this happens.
 
Another very bad economic policy in Baltimore is Wall Street financial instruments that leverage and bond deals that push city revenue capture well into the future AND at the same time exposes the Baltimore taxpayer to losses through bad contracts with Wall Street investment firms losing the city hundreds of millions of dollars every few years.  This is not only the Wall Street frauds about which we are hearing; this is about all of the fees and interest rates we needlessly pay.  Remember, Baltimore receives much Federal funding designated for the many needed of communities and development that if actually going to where they are supposed to go will alleviate the need for these Wall Street financial instruments.  The bond deals voted into place in these last few elections are all tied to future Baltimore City tax revenue and the school building bond of $1 billion was assigned a AAA bond rating because it was directly tied to all Baltimore tax revenue for decades.  This in itself has made lowering Baltimore taxes----even property taxes impossible.  In fact, with the coming bond market collapse and FED interest rate increases those bond deals will bind city residents to more and higher taxation.
 
No other candidate for Mayor of Baltimore will revisit those bond deals and make sure they are written in favor of public interest because most of them were involved in creating all these bad corporate tax structures and Wall Street bond deals and they are NOT going to change them.  So, when you hear another candidate say he/she is going to lower Baltimore taxes and/or property taxes they are pulling your leg.  Ask them about their involvement in all these corporate tax deals that make Baltimore taxation so high!
 
 

 
 
JOB CREATION
 
Baltimore lost industry and businesses over these few decades to globalization with a once heavy manufacturing industry all but gone.  When this occurred a few decades ago it could have been addressed by rebuilding Baltimore’s economy with a small business and small manufacturing economy subsidized by government funding just as global corporations are being subsidized with taxpayer revenue today.  Social Democrats protect small businesses from monopoly and value a true free-market competition with broad local and regional industrial base.  Global corporations and especially global manufacturing factories not only dominate all city activities but are devastating to our environment.  JOBS JOBS JOBS does not mean any job.  Citizens are tired of temporary fixes to economic development, they know the dangers of global corporations and their domination in hiring and ever-lower wages.  Everyone in Baltimore wants our surrounding communities developed each with an economy of its own with demolition and rehabbing of housing NOT OUTSOURCED but funding used to rebuild small businesses in these communities.  This creates long-lasting jobs with stability and builds the platform for economic security for the poorest.  We must have Baltimore citizens as a homeowner in this rehabbing process------as a small business owner in this community economic development---and we must have each community with a fresh food economy based around a central grand green space with public greenhouse and animal husbandry.  From that small food economy businesses and non-profits will grow.  This community food economy starts with these citizens planting food and caring for animals; it builds to butchery and dairy product businesses; it included distribution of these local foods; and ends with lots of small community fresh food stores that sell it.  This will give citizens in Baltimore access to a food source in times of unemployment----it gives choice as to whether to grow fresh or drive to a supermarket.  This is front and center in any rebuilding of Baltimore economy and it cannot be done if all focus is on attracting corporations/global corporations to Baltimore.  Citizens want to control what their economy will look like and they like having a downtown filled with small businesses and not only national chain stores and restaurants.
 
Temporary construction jobs do not replace a construction industry filled with community development that can go on for decades and large real estate grabs by global investment firms for global corporate campuses is not the way to creating long-lasting small business growth and with it job creation and growth.
 
 

 
 
TRANSIT
Baltimore City Hall has been operating with politicians geared to privatizing all that is public and with that public transportation.  Maryland Transportation Trust has been raided for decades for special projects and Maryland citizens have shouted for decades for lockboxes and all kinds of ways to make sure transportation funds go to transportation.  We know this problem is far worse in Baltimore.  We have plenty of funding for our Baltimore MTA and other public transit, we simply need to make sure it gets here and makes it to those services.  We must keep our Baltimore public transit PUBLIC.  This is what gives citizens control of where the routes are, what the fare rates will be, what access and opportunity look like, and as an environmentalist I want a strong public system to encourage more and more Baltimore citizens to use the MTA.
 
To do this we must have a functioning time schedule with time studies done regularly.  Time schedules not only address buses running on schedule but how buses connect with transfers and how they connect with other public transit like light rails and subway.  We have none of that in Baltimore and riders have been allowed to be subjected to the worse public bus system in the nation in that regard.  It all goes to funding these time studies, having oversight and accountability of drivers and station employees maintaining rider traffic, and having emergency plans in place for when traffic is stopped, an accident occurs, a public transit vehicle is taken down.  All of this works fine in many cities across the US and it can here in Baltimore as well.
 
Secondly, the number of buses on each route has been so trimmed as to make riders wait long periods, to make rush-hour riding so congested people do not want to use our MTA buses.  Same occurs for our light rail.  We do not have to skim on the number of buses if we are receiving all of our MTA funding.  Most cities do 20 minute waits between buses and allow a free-zone downtown so all citizens can jump any bus to go several blocks for free EASY PEASY.
 
Citizens have used public transit for pleasure as well as going to work so we do not want MTA routes developed with just work access in mind which is what current privatization plans are doing.  This is why we are seeing good private bus service for our colleges and no business service for our public school children.   We see private Circulator buses circulating people to and from businesses but not much carrying people around communities and their small businesses.  Hampden has an example of a community MTA bus that has been threatened with disappearance for years.  We need more Hampden Shuttles as part of our MTA.
 
We must keep rider rates low.  Bringing downtown businesses into MTA fares with employee wage and benefit packages tied to an annual MTA pass boosts revenue and ridership.  Tying our public parking garage revenue to funding our Baltimore MTA and not allowing it to disappear into other projects is a must.  Once we stabilize existing MTA transit we are open to more and more kinds of public transit from biking to light rail, taxis to green walking paths.  Growing our public water taxi is a must to reduce congestion around Inner Harbor and tying our K-12 schools with public school buses taking students to after-school activities and getting them off our MTA buses is the right thing to do.
 
 
 

 
 
EDUCATION
 
As much of my professional career has been education at all levels and having a degree in education my passion lies with a strong public school system at K-12 and university level.  Baltimore City Hall has been going the opposite direction for a few decades closing a large number of public schools especially these several years.  I would reopen and rebuild all public K-12 in each community as schools are central to all development and rebuilding of our surrounding communities.  Baltimore has a long history of never receiving Federal funding for public schools and that funding that does come is not given oversight and accountability and has not reached the classrooms ergo the crumbling school buildings, the stresses teachers in classrooms not having the resources needed especially for the challenge of underserved student populations.  The key is this----Baltimore has always had enough funding for all K-12 schools ----we simply need to get it there.  Baltimore City as well does not designate enough city revenue to its schools and with property taxes highest in the area we all know some of this tax should be going to our schools.  Baltimore loses a billion dollars a year in revenue both incoming and outgoing because of lack of oversight and accountability, corporate fraud and tax evasion, government corruption, and has a very bad corporate tax subsidy taking too much of our city revenue.  Just fixing these revenue problems will allow the city budget to double all of which would come to communities and public schools.  You see, we can indeed fund all public schools in every community. 
 
The next issue for Baltimore is the current policy of corporatization of our K-12 with corporate charters and these Race to the Top testing and evaluation policies and Common Core.  Teachers in Baltimore and students and schools have not failed-----education policy and funding have failed and if we do all of the above teachers and principals will be able to rebuild RIGOR, motivate students to their fullest ability, develop learning skills, and lift test scores and grades.  Grades are simply a teacher’s tool to assess strengths and weaknesses and students should not be fearful of grades or define themselves by grades.  Every parent wants their child to have teachers held accountable for strong lessons, rigor, and broad curricula including humanities, liberal arts, and yes, physical education and recess.  We are building citizens and life-long learners and not only future employees.  I will take the corporate partnerships out of elementary and middle-schools and rebuild strong vocational high school shops for trades and technology.  High school students choosing a vocational track can then get exposure to several career tracks before partnering with business or corporations for part-time jobs, apprenticeships, or internships.  I am a strong proponent of union apprenticeships and community college apprenticeships for high school grads.  I will make sure our community colleges are allowing students the best quality AA degree programs allowing students to enter any strong 4 year university.
 
While I will place public schools at the forefront, I have no problems with neighborhoods wanting charters.  I do not mind a charter being termed public if it is indeed following all Federal guidelines defining a public school.  Charter agreements that are decidedly different from public standards need to be categorized as private charters.  I do not mind either category.
 
 

 
 
ECONOMY
 
Baltimore has struggled for decades after the industrial base left Baltimore and Baltimore City Hall has never tried to rebuild those community economies with small business and small manufacturing to make up for the job loss and consequently Baltimore has decades of extreme poverty and stagnation in business and job creation.  Much of this is tied to a Master Plan created in the 1980s-90s with a vision of Baltimore being an International Economic Zone with global corporate campuses and global factories thus why all communities were left to crumble and with high unemployment.  The goal was to clear the city of current working class and poor to make way for gentrification.  These decades have installed a most unjust system of doing this.  Gentrification has occurred for a thousand years….every city reinvents itself every century or so. If done with justice all citizens benefit and it can be done without interrupting the city’s economy or the wealth of its citizens or government coffers.  That has yet to happen and as mayor I will initiate this just approach to gentrification.
Everyone understands that concentrated poverty is the primary problem in Baltimore. We recognize that high-rise public housing was not the best idea and re-purposing those is not a problem as we give housing opportunities to those tied to public housing in other locations.  Public housing should be one of many in any mixed-income structure we would want to build in all communities.  This way people pushed to a position of poverty will not be totally disconnected with the societal structures we all need in maintaining professional employment, in keeping our children in schools and after-school activities, and in keeping tabs on issues of crime, mental health, and family support systems.  Most people have these difficulties at some time in life and a community should have all resources available when needed.  To keep city center affordable we must have rent control or pockets of land trust housing that maintains its original rent.  If all affordable housing is tied to market-based rents we all know as a community becomes more affluent so too these affordable rents rise.  We don’t need a high-percentage of rent control but we do need them.  We do not want Baltimore to become the next San Francisco where the middle-class commutes two hours to come to work for example.  Nor do we want to become the next NYC surrounded by third world slums for immigrants or the poorest.  This does no one any good.  Baltimore has a long history of ethnic communities and keeping that with redevelopment is a good thing.  It does not have to be exclusive but everyone loves traveling to Greek Town for example for dining, to Hollins Market for African markets, or Broadway for Latino nightlife.  This is what makes a city vibrant.  If we do not stop this Master Plan for Baltimore as an International Economic Zone full of concrete corporate campuses and the environmental devastation those global factories can bring, we will not be ONE BALTIMORE.  It is critical for Baltimore to hold global corporations at bay while we rebuild a local, domestic Baltimore economy.  That does not exclude global markets or global businesses……it simply makes sure we have a stable, healthy, functioning local economy separate from all the Wall Street and global market fluctuations.
 
 
 
 

 
 
VACANT PROPERTIES
Baltimore had a public health imperative to demolish and/or rehab housing in all communities for decades that it ignored at great cost to citizens.  It did so not because of lack of revenue sources but because of a use of Enterprise Zone policies to the benefit of corporations to the detriment of the rest of the city’s communities.  That was never the intent of Enterprise Zone policy and we need to return to using our Federal HUD and Enterprise Zone funding to rebuild all communities.  In doing that we address vacant properties.  Baltimore has allowed for absentee landlords because the poverty was so great having anyone owning a house in a community was seen as beneficial. When you sell property for $1 and then don’t follow up with whether these houses are developed or occupied by the owner you have not solved the problem. We have too many slum landlords and too many renters under attack by these kinds of property owners and that does not bring value to a community or city.
 
My plan for redevelopment has saving the integrity of all communities. Citizens have lived their lives and invested in this city and need to feel the benefit of redevelopment.  We lost population these decades so we need to downsize the number of houses by demolishing those not needed or suitable to rehab.  Turning all of that newly free real estate into a great public green space central in the community keeps the real estate in the hands of the community to expand as wanted but it also breaks that concrete jungle feel Baltimore is filled with.  I speak about building a fresh food economy in each community tied to this public green space with a grand public greenhouse and barn for small animal husbandry.  This creates a local economy with levels of small business opportunity and allows a community to eliminate all vacant properties to see an environmentally healthy space for children to learn and run.  This is for those communities feeling the worst of decay.
 
For those gentrifying and having spot troubles with vacant or absentee landlords I will enforce housing codes, push landlords to being present and accounted for,  and make City Charter changes needed to give communities power to expect real estate anyone would want to live next to.  That said, Baltimore has many landlords who are financially unable to upgrade housing and you know what?  Baltimore has subsidized so much corporate development that it needs to help those owning rental property to upgrade if these owners prove to have good intensions in the community.  I feel this problem affects many of those vacant or unsafe houses in gentrifying communities.  Trash and dumping can be fixed with strong public works and waste management as can upkeep of vacant lots.  This has been defunded with all public agencies.  That is why there is so much trash in surrounding communities.  If you are eliminating misappropriation of funds you have the revenue to send to communities for these common public services.
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
POPULATION LOSS
 
Baltimore has lost over 300,000 citizens I think and that gives the vision of how we need to downsize housing.  Gentrification means relocating concentrated poverty to all communities but it also opens opportunity for new citizens and everyone wants to grow the middle and affluent families coming to Baltimore.  Redevelopment is not only for affordable housing as we grow our professional population they will want market-based housing.  Baltimore has done plenty with luxury rentals and it has wealthy communities with housing that can grow as the need arises.  We have the opportunity to include immigrants from many nations and that is a good thing.  I will be very keen on creating job and housing opportunities for those citizens before having a large flow of immigrants in the future.  Immigrants already here know the value of stability in all communities and everyone with jobs.  We will protect and serve the immigrants here as any citizen while we put our long-term Baltimore citizens back to work.
 
The current plan to build Baltimore into an international city with high density and great wealth is not what my vision would be for the short range.  Taking a poor and working class city to a mid-level city should be a first step that we do not want to skip.
 
 

 
 
PUBLIC SAFETY
 
Baltimore has a history of crime and violence that matches its history of job loss and unemployment.  I will completely reform criminal justice and public justice in Baltimore.  Public safety goes both ways.  We want citizens to feel policing protects them and police officers see themselves as serving the public.  This relieves tensions between citizens and police and then police feel they are safer in their job duties.  As mayor I will eliminate stats and quotas and replace it with police oversight and accountability.  If we are monitoring police interactions with citizens then we know they are doing their jobs and do not need quotas.  Police themselves do not like being told to pursue crime categories---this does not work and you cannot have community policing with this structure.  Police need to come from Baltimore for the most part and have the support of citizens in a community.  Baltimore has so many different neighborhoods that a diverse police force can easily find any citizen as a police officer doing a good job and creating strong community ties. 
 
Redevelopment in communities and rebuilding Baltimore’s local, domestic economy will address unemployment and poverty driving black market involvement.  This will move many now involved in criminal activities to simply enjoying having a steady, stable, healthy life.  Drug dealers are a different story as they tend to be involved for greed rather than necessity.  I am fully prepared to be engaged in gang/drug/community dialogs and will make sure citizens have the support for getting drug dealing out of their communities.  This is from where most violence stems and it is critical to address these issues of public safety.  We must have well-funded drug prevention and treatment programs that follow citizens for the long-term keeping them connected to their communities for support.
 
The other side of public safety never addressed is roads, bridges, water and sewage pipelines, railroad maintenance.  These are public works projects that have been totally neglected and left unfunded and these are a huge public safety issue.  My platform is about rebuild all Baltimore City agencies out into the communities and building a public core to our public works department.  I am not against outsourcing city work but we no longer even have a public works and public services department.  All of this has left citizens without public safety in vital infrastructure repair and routine public services.  I will make this my top priority.