Saturday, April 13
12:30-3:30 pm
Baltimore Unity Hall
1505 Eutaw Pl
Baltimore, MD 21217
Confirmed attendees include Brandon Scott, Thiru Vignarajah, Sheila Dixon, Bob Wallace, Nick Mosby, Shannon Sneed, and Zeke Cohen.
Candidate responses
Forum organizers provided candidates with an issue brief on topics related to housing and community development and asked for their responses on several questions. Candidates’ responses are below.
Mayoral candidates
Sheila Dixon
Kevin Harris
Donald Scoggins
Brandon Scott
Thiru Vignarajah
Bob Wallace
City Council President candidates
Zeke Cohen
Emmanuel Digman
Nick Mosby
Shannon Sneed
Mayoral candidates
Sheila Dixon
No responses received.
Kevin Harris
Addressing Vacants, Tax Sales, and Blight
A. What strategies would you take immediately to address widespread vacancy that especially impacts low-income Black and brown communities in Baltimore City?
I would explore using eminent domain where possible to tear down condemned houses and build new affordable housing spaces by working with local developers. I would pursue aggressive legal proceedings against owners of vacant properties to make sitting on them for future profit a bad financial choice and owners from outside Baltimore have less incentive to let properties deteriorate over decades. I would work with Annapolis to make stronger laws allowing the city to foreclose on vacant properties earlier.
B. As Mayor or City Council President would you support legislation to create a land bank in Baltimore with neighborhood level decision-making authority?
Yes, I believe a land bank in Baltimore would allow the city more flexibility and speed to purchase and turn these blighted areas into spaces the community truly benefits from.
C. What will you do if elected to end the taking of homes and home equity that disproportionately impacts black homeowners and neighborhoods that result from tax lien sales?
I would work with them, the City Council, Annapolis, and nonprofits to create a fund designated to help low income households to pay off tax liens by working to forgive taxes and provide financial assistance to pay off liens before foreclosure is final. I will also provide financial counseling and help with job placement where needed to those in the program so they can achieve financial stability.
D. As Mayor or City Council President what will you do to hold speculators and slumlords accountable for damaging the condition of communities?
The only way to defeat the problem of vacant and blighted properties in Baltimore is to make owning and abandoning these properties more punishing than it is profitable. I will work with the Baltimore City Law Department, State’s attorney and attorney general to bring lawsuits and/or criminal charges against slumlords and owners of vacant properties in Baltimore City.
Community Wealth Building
Cities across the country are recognizing the value and importance of community wealth building models, which include worker-owned businesses and community land trusts, that anchor power and resources in disinvested communities to create more equitable, inclusive, vibrant neighborhoods. What will you do to help nurture and grow these models in Baltimore?
Absolutely. Of the challenges the citizens of Baltimore face, wealth inequality is one of the most impactful and I support a wide variety of programs that would help lift our citizens out of poverty. I absolutely support any business that’s committed to offering their staff higher wages and generous benefits and would work to draw more of these organizations to the city. A population with a higher income boosts the economy of the entire city.
With Us For Us (WUFU) Ballot Initiative – www.wufubaltimore.com
A. Anchor institutions, specifically hospitals and universities, have important roles in uplifting community conditions through multilevel strategies and economic investment. In Baltimore, 15 anchor institutions have signed a 10-year Payment In-Lieu of Taxes agreement that expires in 2026. What will you do to create a more transparent process for the next PILOT agreement and ensure institutions are paying their fair share to uplift Baltimore communities?
Every business that exists in Baltimore should be required to share the tax burden of our residents. I am in favor of agreements that ensure that every business built in Baltimore City is responsible for taxes that support city agencies and programs that serve our residents.
B. Will you support the With Us For Us Ballot Initiative that would amend the City’s Charter to facilitate anchor institutions paying their fair share and distributing those funds to community wealth building organizations?
Yes, I will support the With Us For Us Ballot Initiative.
Rent Stabilization
Rising rent prices are making it unaffordable for Baltimore families to have stable housing. Counties like Prince George’s and Montgomery have passed rent stabilization, and there is widespread, community-led support for a 2.5% yearly rent cap in Baltimore. Will you champion a rent stabilization ordinance that allows yearly rent increases of no more than 2.5% in Baltimore City?
Yes, the eviction rate in Baltimore City is two times higher than the national average and the underfunding, understaffing, and poor management of the Eviction Prevention Program has completely crippled its ability to actually help the most vulnerable of our citizens. I strongly support any and all measures taken to ensure our citizens are able to retain stable and reliable housing.
Community Land Trusts
The first spending plan for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund called for allocating over 38% of the Fund to community land trusts. This was the most significant dedicated funding allocation for CLTs in the country from a similar type of trust fund at the time. In practice, that has since been diminished to 30%. Would you work to restore Baltimore’s original, historic allocation of funds to 38% of the Trust Fund? Will you uphold the written agreement between the organizers and the City to dedicate at least $7 million/year in General Obligation Bonds to the Trust Fund?
Home ownership is one of the easiest and best ways to create generation wealth but is unatainable to a large majority of Baltimore City residents. Any programs that help lower the barrier of entry to homeownership and the restoration of Baltimore’s vacant homes epidemic are absolutely vital and as Mayor, I would work to ensure the city allocates 38% of the Fund to CLT and dedicate $7 million a year in General Oblication Bonds ot the Trust Fund.
City Budget & Housing Brief
Will you ensure that eviction prevention funds, right to counsel for tenants and DHCD agency funding are prioritized and sufficiently funded in FY25 and subsequent years? How would you do so and at what levels?
A key factor of my decision to run for office was my experience of the failures of the Eviction Prevention Program when I worked in the Mayor’s Office of Children & Family Success. There are many reasons this program is failing but chief among them is inadequate funding and inadequate use of those funds. Within my first 30 days in office, I would do everything possible to ensure increased funding to the Eviction Prevention Program with a large focus on the Right to Counsel funding as well as working with the Law Department to ensure that landlords are held accountable when they evict their tenants for reasons outside the contract they signed with the city when they received funds from the Eviction Prevention Program.
Landlord Licensing Reform
Will you champion legislative reform of Baltimore City’s landlord licensing law to address structural deficiencies and invest in accountable structures at DHCD to address the administrative barriers to implementation? How?
I am in favor of any legislation that improves the rights and safety of Baltimore City renters and plan to pull funding from other city agencies that have been historically overfunded (BCPD particularly) and will ensure that DHCD receives the funds necessary to build infrastructure capable of holding landlords accountable and guaranteeing the safety of all renters in Baltimore city.
Fair Housing
A. What will you do to end ongoing fair housing violations in the City?
In my first 90 days in office, I intend to conduct reviews of all city agencies, starting first with the Mayor’s Offices and DHCD to ensure that they are receiving proper funding, focusing on the most programs most impactful to city residents, and complying with all state and local directives. I intend to support and create several new programs to help increase the ability for residents to become homeowners and repair existing properties.
B. What long term strategies will you implement to ensure the City meets its obligations to remove impediments to fair housing choice and to affirmatively further fair housing for federal, state and local protected classes across all its housing-related programming and services?
The best way to ensure the rights of marginalized individuals are protected in perpetuity is to codify these rights in the city charter. I intend to push for legislation that would enshrine these programs in the city’s code so that they cannot be dissolved by other administrations down the line.
C. What types of programming/services will you put in place to address the long-term disinvestment with black and other marginalized communities within Baltimore City?
Baltimore must invest heavily into programs that help support first time home buyers, provide funding to allow low income families access to affordable repairs and lead abatement, the creation of new affordable housing spaces, and a solid, long-term plan to reduce the amount of vacant properties in Baltimore.
Housing for Individuals with Disabilities
A. What plans do you have to increase housing opportunities for people with disabilities including both persons under 62 years old as well as senior citizens? (i.e., aging in place, build senior apartments, decrease senior violence, rental subsidies, tax credits/relief, rental assistance)
Aging in place helps to maintain the social lives of older adults, increase life satisfaction, and also reduces the cost of care. I have done extensive research and spoken with advocates to ensure a thorough understanding of Baltimore’s failures to address ADA compliance and as mayor, I will ensure DPW and DHCD prioritize projects and programs that help ensure all public property and city-funded housing is fully safe and accessible.
B. How can you decrease the number of complaints of housing discrimination based on disability in Baltimore City?
DHCD and the Eviction Prevention Program must be given the resources to work with the Law Department to ensure all tenants and home buyers are equally protected from discrimination and to harshly punish discriminatory landlords and sellers.
C. How can you learn more about the needs of people with disabilities in housing?
I’ve dedicated significant time to reading about the difficulties faced by minorities in Baltimore City and always welcome the opportunity to speak with experts in the field including arranging meetings with various non-profits ( The IMAGE Center most recently) to discuss the failures of the current and past administrations and what their greatest concerns are.
D. How can the City further provide additional housing support services and options for individuals with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities?
My late brother was intellectually disabled and lived the majority of his adult life in a subsidized housing unit and doing so allowed him and his wife the freedom to live in their own home. I am a firm believer in investing in programs that allow people with all levels of disability the freedom and accommodations to live wherever they wish.
Ending Homelessness
A. What steps will you take to ensure that unhoused persons in Baltimore City are not criminalized?
The reality of the fact is that there are more homeless persons in Baltimore City than there are beds in our homeless shelters. Therefore, by criminalizing homeless persons sleeping and living unsheltered, we are implying it is a crime to not get to the shelter before the person that took the last bed or a crime for a family to choose to sleep together in an open air space rather than forced to split up and sleep in crowded buildings several blocks away from each other.
B. Would you commit to stop encampment closures unless decent, safe, affordable permanent housing is available to encampment residents?
Clearing of homeless camps traumatizes those displaced, and does nothing to help provide housing to the people taking shelter there and can actually make it harder for those individuals to obtain permanent housing by destroying forms of identification, prescriptions and medical devices, and other belongings. I will commit to stop encampment closures until Baltimore City has verified proof that there is a bed for every single homeless person in the city plus an additional 15% overflow for those that were
missed in the last Point In Time Count report.
C. What steps would you take to ensure that housing programs operated by MOHS and its grantees are meeting rent obligations and providing high quality supportive services to the tenants?
I plan to restructure all of the Mayor’s Offices in an effort to ensure that residents can easily gain access to any program they are in need of with ease and convenience. I plan to do an in depth review of the Mayor’s Office of Children & Family Success and the Community Action Partnership Centers to ensure they are providing helpful, non-discriminatory, and prompt assistance to all those who apply to their programs.
D. What steps would you take to ensure that the unhoused community is given decision-making power over policies and programs related to ending homelessness?
It is my goal that every community meeting hosted by city agencies in which the public is invited is either split into three events, one held during the day, one in the evening, and one on the weekend or streamed online where residents can attend virtually, in an effort to ensure that all residents are capable of attending. For meetings specifically dealing with the issue of homelessness, I intend to hold these meetings in venues close to shelters or homeless encampments to ensure that those most heavily affected are more easily able to attend.
E. Would you support a local law prohibiting landlords from denying housing to people with past criminal legal system involvement?
Absolutely. Individuals formerly involved with the criminal justice system deserve and are entitled to the same housing rights as all other residents and I firmly support legislation that would enshrine these rights in the city charter.
F. What action would you take to prevent homelessness for youth exiting foster care and juvenile services, and to expand shelter and housing resources for homeless youth, including unaccompanied minors?
I believe all young adults, especially vulnerable youth without a familial support system need a program to help ensure they are not left to fend for themselves the moment they age out of the system. Additionally, I am committed to working on providing temporary housing solutions for families that do not require them to split up by gender leaving underage children separated from their parents as a condition to staying in a shelter.
Donald Scoggins
Addressing Vacants, Tax Sales, and Blight
A. What strategies would you take immediately to address widespread vacancy that especially impacts low-income Black and brown communities in Baltimore City?
Immediately catalog blighted and vacant properties, especially those residential to determine suitability for rehabilitation or demolition.
B. As Mayor or City Council President would you support legislation to create a land bank in Baltimore with neighborhood level decision-making authority?
Yes
C. What will you do if elected to end the taking of homes and home equity that disproportionately impacts black homeowners and neighborhoods that result from tax lien sales?
Our administration will establish within Office of Taxation a separate unit to monitor delinquent real estate tax properties. Owner-occupied houses, particularly those of retired or low-income residents will be flagged and given assistance to towards creating payment arrangements.
D. As Mayor or City Council President what will you do to hold speculators and slumlords accountable for damaging the condition of communities?
The city council will be encouraged to create strict and enforceable policies that are lobbying immune that mitigates the continued destruction of communities.
Community Wealth Building
Cities across the country are recognizing the value and importance of community wealth building models, which include worker-owned businesses and community land trusts, that anchor power and resources in disinvested communities to create more equitable, inclusive, vibrant neighborhoods. What will you do to help nurture and grow these models in Baltimore?
In addition to possible opportunities mentioned, through the appropriate housing division, the Scoggins Administration will offer various homeownership options to assist low and moderate first-time home buyers purchase their dwelling.
With Us For Us (WUFU) Ballot Initiative – www.wufubaltimore.com
A. Anchor institutions, specifically hospitals and universities, have important roles in uplifting community conditions through multilevel strategies and economic investment. In Baltimore, 15 anchor institutions have signed a 10-year Payment In-Lieu of Taxes agreement that expires in 2026. What will you do to create a more transparent process for the next PILOT agreement and ensure institutions are paying their fair share to uplift Baltimore communities?
The appropriate local government entity will create measures ensuring maximum transparency of the process described.
B. Will you support the With Us For Us Ballot Initiative that would amend the City’s Charter to facilitate anchor institutions paying their fair share and distributing those funds to community wealth building organizations?
Yes, with an appropriate local government entity monitoring the process.
Rent Stabilization
Rising rent prices are making it unaffordable for Baltimore families to have stable housing. Counties like Prince George’s and Montgomery have passed rent stabilization, and there is widespread, community-led support for a 2.5% yearly rent cap in Baltimore. Will you champion a rent stabilization ordinance that allows yearly rent increases of no more than 2.5% in Baltimore City?
Yes
Community Land Trusts
The first spending plan for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund called for allocating over 38% of the Fund to community land trusts. This was the most significant dedicated funding allocation for CLTs in the country from a similar type of trust fund at the time. In practice, that has since been diminished to 30%. Would you work to restore Baltimore’s original, historic allocation of funds to 38% of the Trust Fund? Will you uphold the written agreement between the organizers and the City to dedicate at least $7 million/year in General Obligation Bonds to the Trust Fund?
Yes, however, after thorough review of Baltimore’s financial capabilities.
City Budget & Housing Brief
Will you ensure that eviction prevention funds, right to counsel for tenants and DHCD agency funding are prioritized and sufficiently funded in FY25 and subsequent years? How would you do so and at what levels?
Yes, though specific funding would depend on the city’s finances.
Landlord Licensing Reform
Will you champion legislative reform of Baltimore City’s landlord licensing law to address structural deficiencies and invest in accountable structures at DHCD to address the administrative barriers to implementation? How?
Yes, and after determining the required administrative needs to exercise adequate oversight and resources available, the appropriate actions will be implemented.
Fair Housing
A. What will you do to end ongoing fair housing violations in the City?
Our administration will propose and submit legislation to the Baltimore City Council for approval to end fair housing violations occurring in the city.
B. What long term strategies will you implement to ensure the City meets its obligations to remove impediments to fair housing choice and to affirmatively further fair housing for federal, state and local protected classes across all its housing-related programming and services?
With authorization received from the Maryland General Assembly, provisions designed to create long-term strategies will be devised.
C. What types of programming/services will you put in place to address the long-term disinvestment with black and other marginalized communities within Baltimore City?
About programs and services, our administration will strive to promote financial literacy educational curriculum very aggressively within the city’s local government for its employees and public school system students.
Housing for Individuals with Disabilities
A. What plans do you have to increase housing opportunities for people with disabilities including both persons under 62 years old as well as senior citizens? (i.e., aging in place, build senior apartments, decrease senior violence, rental subsidies, tax credits/relief, rental assistance)
As part of our overall housing strategy, opportunities for seniors and persons with disabilities will be given appropriate consideration.
B. How can you decrease the number of complaints of housing discrimination based on disability in Baltimore City?
Appropriate actions will be taken to address housing discrimination complaints.
C. How can you learn more about the needs of people with disabilities in housing?
Advocates for this important constituency group will be regularly consulted.
D. How can the City further provide additional housing support services and options for individuals with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities?
Within the city’s available capabilities every effort must be made to assist those with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
Ending Homelessness
A. What steps will you take to ensure that unhoused persons in Baltimore City are not criminalized?
Every effort will be made to not unduly criminalize unhoused people.
B. Would you commit to stop encampment closures unless decent, safe, affordable permanent housing is available to encampment residents?
Closures of encampments will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
C. What steps would you take to ensure that housing programs operated by MOHS and its grantees are meeting rent obligations and providing high quality supportive services to the tenants?
Inspection of housing programs operated by MOHS and its grantees will happen on an annual basis. Any reason for sooner monitoring will occur as necessary.
D. What steps would you take to ensure that the unhoused community is given decision-making power over policies and programs related to ending homelessness?
With consultation from representatives of the unhoused community, complete responsibility over policies and programs will remain with the local government.
E. Would you support a local law prohibiting landlords from denying housing to people with past criminal legal system involvement?
Yes
F. What action would you take to prevent homelessness for youth exiting foster care and juvenile services, and to expand shelter and housing resources for homeless youth, including unaccompanied minors?
In giving consideration to expanding local homeless services, priority for housing assistance will be given to juveniles and those youth exiting foster care
Brandon Scott
Addressing Vacants, Tax Sales, and Blight
A. What strategies would you take immediately to address widespread vacancy that especially impacts low-income Black and brown communities in Baltimore City?
Vacants have always been an important focus of my administration. The vacancy rate is down 14.9% and there are now 13,483 vacants – the lowest in two decades. I have partnered with BUILD and the GBC on my historic $3B vacants strategy to get the capital needed to enact the most aggressive push Baltimore has ever seen to eliminate vacants over the next 15 years. My predecessors built up neighborhoods like Harbor East using TIFs– I will use that same strategy to rebuild our forgotten neighborhoods, as all of Baltimore deserves the same opportunity for investment. This strategy is so popular, some candidates have tried to pass the ideas off themselves!
B. As Mayor or City Council President would you support legislation to create a land bank in Baltimore with neighborhood level decision-making authority?
No. Our DHCD has all the authority of a land bank, and more. Setting up a Land Bank would be duplicative, timely, and costly and would require considerable resources redirected from current efforts to focus on setting up a new, duplicative entity.
We have a separate entity – the Industrial Development Authority to raise bonds. We are already working with the community – from Johnston Square to Upton, York Road, Park Heights, and many many more neighborhoods.
I hold the Mayor’s Neighborhood Subcabinet that brings community and City agencies together to do redevelopment in partnership.
C. What will you do if elected to end the taking of homes and home equity that disproportionately impacts black homeowners and neighborhoods that result from tax lien sales?
I have removed homeowners from tax sale every year I have been mayor, and I will continue to do so. The tax sale is required by state law, and I will continue to protect homeowners and multigenerational Baltimoreans who have built wealth in these neighborhoods.
D. As Mayor or City Council President what will you do to hold speculators and slumlords accountable for damaging the condition of communities?
We heard residents who wanted to know why Baltimore couldn’t tax vacants at a higher rate like they do in other cities. Now we can: we fought for this right in Annapolis this year and won!
I directed the Department of Housing to use Failure to Abate (FTA) citations; they are issuing them at greater numbers – 6,000 FTAs in 2023 which was a 25% increase. We already have a further 23% increase in FTAs this year, showing proactive enforcement to keep protecting our renters. My administration also increased the FTA fine from $900 to $1,000
Community Wealth Building
Cities across the country are recognizing the value and importance of community wealth building models, which include worker-owned businesses and community land trusts, that anchor power and resources in disinvested communities to create more equitable, inclusive, vibrant neighborhoods. What will you do to help nurture and grow these models in Baltimore?
My administration has funded $8.8M to Community Land Trusts.
In addition to expanding that work, I will fight for our longest standing legacy homeowners to sustainably reduce their property tax and help build generational wealth through my sales tax proposal: allowing Baltimore to do what every other big city does and keep 2% of our sales tax to Baltimore, not lose it all to the state of Maryland.
With 1% of our share of sales tax – I would give a $1,000 tax cut to all homeowners & create a $10M annual fund to help renters. The other 1% would be additional funding to support my historic vacants strategy.
With Us For Us (WUFU) Ballot Initiative – www.wufubaltimore.com
A. Anchor institutions, specifically hospitals and universities, have important roles in uplifting community conditions through multilevel strategies and economic investment. In Baltimore, 15 anchor institutions have signed a 10-year Payment In-Lieu of Taxes agreement that expires in 2026. What will you do to create a more transparent process for the next PILOT agreement and ensure institutions are paying their fair share to uplift Baltimore communities?
I have stated a commitment to the reassessment of PILOTs.
We have started the next phase of Baltimore’s 10-year financial plan, bringing together all
partners in the state and anchor institutions, telling them the amount they pay for PILOT is a top
consideration.
I am looking at the impact of all the city’s tax credits for reassessment, not just PILOTs.
B. Will you support the With Us For Us Ballot Initiative that would amend the City’s Charter to facilitate anchor institutions paying their fair share and distributing those funds to community wealth building organizations?
Voters will be able to decide.
I will continue funding what Baltimoreans and working families need without balancing budgets on the backs of working families, as seen in my fiscal year 2025 budget, where I was able to maintain all city services without cuts, despite financial shortages statewide. This is unlike past administrations that closed down rec centers, fire houses, and services that working families depend on.
Rent Stabilization
Rising rent prices are making it unaffordable for Baltimore families to have stable housing. Counties like Prince George’s and Montgomery have passed rent stabilization, and there is widespread, community-led support for a 2.5% yearly rent cap in Baltimore. Will you champion a rent stabilization ordinance that allows yearly rent increases of no more than 2.5% in Baltimore City?
I’m proud to have the endorsement of Progressive Maryland who have been champions in fighting for tenants’ rights statewide.
My administration provided $11.9M in eviction prevention, $1M in ARPA for Right to Counsel, as well as a strong commitment for continued funding of Right to Counsel.
I invested $179M in ARPA for housing – all to provide more affordable housing opportunities, address homelessness, keep seniors in their homes, build up our middle neighborhoods and prevent housing insecurity.
Community Land Trusts
The first spending plan for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund called for allocating over 38% of the Fund to community land trusts. This was the most significant dedicated funding allocation for CLTs in the country from a similar type of trust fund at the time. In practice, that has since been diminished to 30%. Would you work to restore Baltimore’s original, historic allocation of funds to 38% of the Trust Fund? Will you uphold the written agreement between the organizers and the City to dedicate at least $7 million/year in General Obligation Bonds to the Trust Fund?
Since 2021 the Trust Fund has provided $8.8 million to Community Land Trusts. For FY25, the Planning Commission recommended $6.5M in GO Bonds for the Trust Fund. We are committed to meeting the agreement, and have to balance that with budgetary constraints. In the 6-year CIP we reach the $7M in GO Bonds.
In addition: The revenue generated from the excise tax has surpassed estimates.
The Affordable Housing Trust Fund Commission creates the annual AHTF Spending Priorities. We build the AHTF budget with the Commission, which consists of residents, renters, individuals who formerly experienced homelessness and other representatives of the housing community.
City Budget & Housing Brief
Will you ensure that eviction prevention funds, right to counsel for tenants and DHCD agency funding are prioritized and sufficiently funded in FY25 and subsequent years? How would you do so and at what levels?
Yes, I will continue to fund eviction prevention and Right to Counsel. After other jurisdictions ended it, we’ve continued to support Baltimoreans facing eviction, and we have gone even further. Just last week, I also announced that we will be setting aside $500,000 for port workers in eviction prevention after the collapse of the Key Bridge.
We must be fiscally prudent because we don’t know the full fiscal impact of the port and Key Bridge. In saying this, I was able to balance the fiscal year 2025 budget with no cuts to any DHCD services or staff.
For this year, I used $1M in ARPA for Right to Counsel. It will be funded for FY25 using CDBG. We have invested over $11.9M in Eviction Prevention from CV1 (CARES Act) , going further to support at-risk homeowners.
I created the Emergency Mortgage Housing Assistance Program to cover mortgages, back taxes and water bills for at-risk homeowners. This will now be a permanent program at DHCD.
Landlord Licensing Reform
Will you champion legislative reform of Baltimore City’s landlord licensing law to address structural deficiencies and invest in accountable structures at DHCD to address the administrative barriers to implementation? How?
I was proud to co-sponsor this bill with Comptroller Henry, the result of much collaboration and compromise. I am open to further discussions with all stakeholders about ways to ensure renters have all the protections they should have.
DHCD has and is investing in new systems to improve tracking of compliance with law.
Fair Housing
A. What will you do to end ongoing fair housing violations in the City?
B. What long term strategies will you implement to ensure the City meets its obligations to remove impediments to fair housing choice and to affirmatively further fair housing for federal, state and local protected classes across all its housing-related programming and services?
I have worked with Councilmember Ramos and advocates to pass the new Inclusionary Housing Act.
In addition, I also worked with Councilmember Ramos on the “Councilmember Mary Pat Clarke Renters Right of First Refusal” bill. This has helped ensure that renters truly have the first chance to buy where they live.
C. What types of programming/services will you put in place to address the long-term disinvestment with black and other marginalized communities within Baltimore City?
I made it a priority to provide historic investments in redlined neighborhoods to bring development equitably across the city. Over $15M in ARPA funds have been proposed for blight elimination and prevention in the Impact Investment Areas – all formerly redlined neighborhoods.
We’ve reduced vacants to the lowest level in 20 years; no other person running can champion this. I invested in and kickstarted projects that have sat around for years without movement, including $13.6M in Park Heights, $12M for Uplands, and $7.4M for Tivoly in Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello.
The use of non-contiguous TIFs in my vacants strategy will bring resources to renovate vacant properties in historically forgotten Black communities.
Housing for Individuals with Disabilities
A. What plans do you have to increase housing opportunities for people with disabilities including both persons under 62 years old as well as senior citizens? (i.e., aging in place, build senior apartments, decrease senior violence, rental subsidies, tax credits/relief, rental assistance)
I have invested $13.6M in ARPA into Park Heights for 100-unit affordable housing building, working to support seniors with a further $7M in ARPA for Housing Upgrades to Benefit Seniors (HUBS) to support our seniors and ensure they can age in place in their homes, while improving quality of life.
I have invested nearly $30M in the accelerator fund to build more permanent supportive housing units.
I invested $13.6M in ARPA funds towards Park Heights for a 100-unit affordable housing building, working to double down my support for seniors with a further $7M in ARPA for Housing Upgrades to Benefit Seniors (HUBS) to support our seniors and ensure they can age in place in their homes, while improving quality of life.
B. How can you decrease the number of complaints of housing discrimination based on disability in Baltimore City?
I will continue to work with my Office of Equity and Civil Rights and my Commission on Disabilities to address the needs of individuals with disabilities and address complaints of housing discrimination.
My administration has made significant investments in ADA compliance across Baltimore over my term and will continue to do so. Alll Baltimoreans deserve safe, affordable housing that meets their unique needs and my administration will continue to invest in housing for all.
C. How can you learn more about the needs of people with disabilities in housing?
My Mayor’s Commission on Disabilities has several members composed directly from the community to serve in better advising myself, the council, and agencies alike on the needs of persons with disabilities. 9 members are persons with disabilities not employed in the field of disabilities, 3 members are family members of persons with disabilities.
I will continue to listen to the commission, the broader community and invest in nonprofits like B’More Clubhouse that support individuals with disabilities
D. How can the City further provide additional housing support services and options for individuals with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities?
My administration made significant investments to build more permanent, supportive housing units in our city which will allow us to provide more housing security and wraparound support for individuals with disabilities.
We are building more than 100 units of permanent supportive housing thanks to my investments.
We will continue to build on this strategy and explore solutions with my Office of Equity and Civil Rights, DHCD, and various community partners to make sure we continue to support our vulnerable populations
Ending Homelessness
A. What steps will you take to ensure that unhoused persons in Baltimore City are not criminalized?
Let’s be clear about one thing: housing ends homelessness.
I have been very clear from day 1 that we will not criminalize homelessness, but instead will use a holistic approach to support our vulnerable residents. We launched an award winning 911 diversion program so that we have the RIGHT professionals responding during a behavioral health crisis and not police.
No other mayor in Baltimore history has invested more in supporting our unhoused neighbors than my administration
B. Would you commit to stop encampment closures unless decent, safe, affordable permanent housing is available to encampment residents?
I have always worked to provide individuals experiencing homelessness with means for relocation and supportive services, including shelter options, including the nationally-lauded purchase of hotels to continue housing our most vulnerable residents.
Our outreach workers go out daily to offer shelter, and connect individuals experiencing homelessness to services and we will continue to expand our housing resources to support individuals residing in encampments.
We want our residents experiencing homelessness to live with dignity and have access to safe, permanent housing options and not be forced to live in places not meant for human habitation.
C. What steps would you take to ensure that housing programs operated by MOHS and its grantees are meeting rent obligations and providing high quality supportive services to the tenants?
I recently hired a top tier human services professional to lead the Department of Homeless Services. Already, the Director is making significant progress in improving fiscal oversight, subgrantee compliance and prioritizing the needs of unhoused individuals and families.
To support landlords and tenants, we are moving to a bridge funding model so that we can get payment to landlords faster, while we await reimbursement from HUD.
We have a lot more work to do – but prioritizing individuals experiencing homelessness and strengthening MOHS’ oversight ability is a top priority.
D. What steps would you take to ensure that the unhoused community is given decision-making power over policies and programs related to ending homelessness?
It is already happening.
The Continuum of Care and the Leadership Committee on Homelessness and Housing under MOHS includes various partners, of which there is a Lived Experience Advisory Committee (LEAC), not just partners from the private and public sector. It also includes a Youth Action Board and Person with Lived Experience
E. Would you support a local law prohibiting landlords from denying housing to people with past criminal legal system involvement?
I am always working to support renters and working people, including returning citizens.
I am in the process of creating an Office of Returning Citizens alongside Councilman James Torrence to support individuals returning from incarceration. I will continue to work to humanize and support our returning citizens, and will further work on observing how we can support rental applications similarly to work applications where Baltimore has banned the box.
F. What action would you take to prevent homelessness for youth exiting foster care and juvenile services, and to expand shelter and housing resources for homeless youth, including unaccompanied minors?
Baltimore is working in partnership with a nonprofit focused on providing guaranteed income to prevent youth exiting the foster care system from entering into homelessness.
My administration has massively expanded investment into Baltimore’s youth to better prevent recidivism and cycling back into the system, the largest investment into youth in Baltimore history, covering a broad spectrum of education, diversion, recreation, job training, and more.
My administration continues to prioritize our youth and we will continue to invest in them in every part of our system, each and every day.
Thiru Vignarajah
No responses received.
Bob Wallace
No responses received.
City Council President candidates
Zeke Cohen
Addressing Vacants, Tax Sales, and Blight
A. What strategies would you take immediately to address widespread vacancy that especially impacts low-income Black and brown communities in Baltimore City?
I would support a joint approach of both the Mayor-BUiLD-GBC plan and a land bank, and I would build a coalition with additional community partners to secure implementation of this bold plan to rehabilitate our vacant buildings. DHCD needs to accept help in addressing the vacancy crisis, and a land bank is a proven and equitable method for reducing vacancy and keeping ownership local.
As I discuss below, I support increasing property taxes on vacant properties to end
speculation as a business model.
B. As Mayor or City Council President would you support legislation to create a land bank in Baltimore with neighborhood level decision-making authority?
Yes, I have co-sponsored the legislation and intend to lead the council in passing it as
council president.
C. What will you do if elected to end the taking of homes and home equity that disproportionately impacts black homeowners and neighborhoods that result from tax lien sales?
I will work with the General Assembly to end tax sale as we know it once and for all. The establishment of a land bank is essential in ensuring that tax-delinquent properties are handled in a way that is in-line with community priorities and that does not extract wealth from black neighborhoods.
D. As Mayor or City Council President what will you do to hold speculators and slumlords accountable for damaging the condition of communities?
I support significantly raising the property taxes of vacant buildings to end the speculative business model that tears communities apart. I am working to pass the Strengthening Rentes’ Safety Act to hold slumlords accountable. We also need to hold DHCD accountable to aggressively work toward licensing every rental unit in our City – our 47% licensure rate is unacceptable and causes injury, disease, and death. I will lead the council in funding building inspector positions, with the funding conditional on DHCD prioritizing enforcement of habitability issues in rental buildings. I will also fund positions within DHCD to perform proactive rental license enforcement.
Community Wealth Building
Cities across the country are recognizing the value and importance of community wealth building models, which include worker-owned businesses and community land trusts, that anchor power and resources in disinvested communities to create more equitable, inclusive, vibrant neighborhoods. What will you do to help nurture and grow these models in Baltimore?
As Council President I would advocate for a greater proportion of funding from the Affordable Housing Trust fund to support Community Land Trusts. And I will have a member of my staff responsible for helping neighborhood groups secure grant funding, with a focus on funding models of sustainable community wealth building.
Organized Labor is central to my campaign, and I am proud to have the support of the Greater Baltimore Metropolitan AFL-CIO, the Baltimore-DC Metro Building Trades Council, Unite Here Local 7, LiUNA, and others. As council president I will ensure that our youth have pathways to union jobs and that unions have a higher market-share in Baltimore. Unions are essential to ensuring that the wealth that is generated by Baltimoreans stays in Baltimore.
However, unions are not the only way to lift up our workforce, and we know that worker-owned cooperatives build community wealth and are anchors in their communities. I want our youth to learn from a young age that they can not only be an entrepreneur, but they can also get together with their peers and start a worker-owned business. I would champion a pilot property tax incentive for worker-owned cooperatives that own their buildings, as well as for landlords who rent space to worker-owned cooperatives. And I would partner with BRED to provide City supports for a standardized process through
which businesses at risk of closing can receive City funding to convert to worker-owned cooperatives.
With Us For Us (WUFU) Ballot Initiative – www.wufubaltimore.com
A. Anchor institutions, specifically hospitals and universities, have important roles in uplifting community conditions through multilevel strategies and economic investment. In Baltimore, 15 anchor institutions have signed a 10-year Payment In-Lieu of Taxes agreement that expires in 2026. What will you do to create a more transparent process for the next PILOT agreement and ensure institutions are paying their fair share to uplift Baltimore communities?
I look forward to negotiating a better deal for Baltimore in 2026 – our anchor institutions will contribute more in the next PILOT agreement. I will work with the Mayor proactively to ensure that the PILOT agreement comes before the entire council, not just the Board of Estimates.
B. Will you support the With Us For Us Ballot Initiative that would amend the City’s Charter to facilitate anchor institutions paying their fair share and distributing those funds to community wealth building organizations?
I support increased PILOT contributions and allocations to a community wealth building fund, but I think that most additional revenue from increased PILOT contributions should go into the general fund so that we can improve our pay and benefits for City employees, provide better City services (including housing
inspections, emergency rental assistance, and more), and repair our infrastructure.
Rent Stabilization
Rising rent prices are making it unaffordable for Baltimore families to have stable housing. Counties like Prince George’s and Montgomery have passed rent stabilization, and there is widespread, community-led support for a 2.5% yearly rent cap in Baltimore. Will you champion a rent stabilization ordinance that allows yearly rent increases of no more than 2.5% in Baltimore City?
I want to study the impacts of recently-enacted rent stabilization policies in other Maryland jurisdictions before determining my position on rent stabilization in Baltimore City and especially before committing to policy specifics. We need to secure the affordability of our current housing, but we also need to make sure that in doing so we are not unintentionally reducing the supply of new affordable housing that we also need.
Community Land Trusts
The first spending plan for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund called for allocating over 38% of the Fund to community land trusts. This was the most significant dedicated funding allocation for CLTs in the country from a similar type of trust fund at the time. In practice, that has since been diminished to 30%. Would you work to restore Baltimore’s original, historic allocation of funds to 38% of the Trust Fund? Will you uphold the written agreement between the organizers and the City to dedicate at least $7 million/year in General Obligation Bonds to the Trust Fund?
Yes to both – I am committed to fully funding the trust fund and giving CLTs 38%.
City Budget & Housing Brief
Will you ensure that eviction prevention funds, right to counsel for tenants and DHCD agency funding are prioritized and sufficiently funded in FY25 and subsequent years? How would you do so and at what levels?
As the author of the first trauma-informed care legislation in the United States, I see eviction through the lens of trauma. I will never forget seeing my former student’s belongings thrown onto the sidewalk in garbage bags. I will never forget the feeling of watching her father weep while the sheriff padlocked the front door. Not only is it cheaper to invest in eviction prevention than to address homelessness, it is the morally right thing to do. As a city that is working hard to become fully trauma-responsive, we must fully fund emergency rental assistance, and I will absolutely do that as City Council President. Housing is a human right.
Right to counsel means right to counsel for all tenants for eviction trials and all other proceedings covered under the bill that I co-sponsored, and I will fund the program at a level that allows for such.
I opposed the $500k housing inspector budget cut for FY24 and it is one of the reasons for which I voted against the budget. The cut was made because the positions were vacant for more than 18 months, which shouldn’t have happened in the first place. I have begun discussions with DHCD about the level of funding needed to be able to fully recruit and retain talent and I look forward to allocating this level of funding while also pushing DHCD to better allocate resources. Habitability issues for renters need to be the highest priority for inspectors, and the follow-up enforcement needs to be there, which we are not
currently seeing. As I discuss above, I will also fund positions for proactive rental license enforcement, which are not currently funded.
Landlord Licensing Reform
Will you champion legislative reform of Baltimore City’s landlord licensing law to address structural deficiencies and invest in accountable structures at DHCD to address the administrative barriers to implementation? How?
I believe that over time we need to have all rental inspections done by DHCD inspectors, and I will begin that transformation as council president, starting with larger buildings.
The task force proposed as part of the Strengthening Renters’ Safety Act is intended to provide oversight of not just the implementation of that law, but of rental licensing and inspections in general.
I will provide DHCD the resources it needs to issue licenses on time and according to regulations.
Fair Housing
A. What will you do to end ongoing fair housing violations in the City?
I support all of the recommendations provided above and support establishing and supporting a fair housing agency in Baltimore. As noted above, Baltimore has an ugly history of legislating housing segregation, and we now need to legislate our way out of this crisis.
B. What long term strategies will you implement to ensure the City meets its obligations to remove impediments to fair housing choice and to affirmatively further fair housing for federal, state and local protected classes across all its housing-related programming and services?
Inclusionary housing was an important first step, and I was proud to co-sponsor this legislation. I will lead the council in fully implementing inclusionary housing and making sure that enforcement happens. I would also support legislation that requires landlords to proactively provide fair housing information in rental listings and with leases, just as I am proposing legislation to proactively provide rental licenses.
C. What types of programming/services will you put in place to address the long-term disinvestment with black and other marginalized communities within Baltimore City?
I will partner with State legislators to reform our property tax assessment system, which systematically has black communities paying property taxes that are too high while benefiting white communities.
As discussed above, I support higher property taxes on vacant properties, which will discourage speculation as a business model and encourage investment in communities, and I will support community land trusts and worker owned cooperatives as models of community wealth building.
Housing for Individuals with Disabilities
A. What plans do you have to increase housing opportunities for people with disabilities including both persons under 62 years old as well as senior citizens? (i.e., aging in place, build senior apartments, decrease senior violence, rental subsidies, tax credits/relief, rental assistance)
I passed legislation to establish an independent Office of Aging to ensure our seniors are treated with care. Aging in place is a huge priority, and I want to ensure better funding for home repairs and supportive services that allow seniors to age in place.
In working with MOHS on continuum of care programs, I have realized that many of the individuals in its programs have disabilities and acute medical needs, and MOHS does not adequately account for or accommodate these needs. This is another reason why we need more council oversight of MOHS.
B. How can you decrease the number of complaints of housing discrimination based on disability in Baltimore City?
I have seen firsthand in my district landlords unwilling to provide reasonable accommodations for those with disabilities, even in senior apartment buildings. We need to do a better job informing tenants of their rights under the law, and we need to fully staff the Office of Equity and Civil rights to support enforcement.
C. How can you learn more about the needs of people with disabilities in housing?
We have excellent disability advocacy networks in Baltimore, like Disability Rights Maryland and the National Federation for the Blind. I look forward to collaborating with these groups and speaking directly with individuals with disabilities to understand their day to day needs and challenges.
D. How can the City further provide additional housing support services and options for individuals with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities?
We need stronger partnerships with state and federal partners. I am committed to not criminalizing mental health and developmental disabilities, and to do so we need to make sure folks have supportive services to live independently.
Ending Homelessness
A. What steps will you take to ensure that unhoused persons in Baltimore City are not criminalized?
When government resorts to criminalization, it is often because other resources are not available. I was proud to lead the Trauma Informed Care Task Force in securing $1.5M in annual funding for Baltimore Crisis Response Inc who offers real behavioral health crisis intervention through their 988 hotline. As council president, I will continue to treat the root causes of homelessness and provide supportive services.
The MOHS outreach model is broken, largely because we do not have sufficient shelter space and because folks very understandably do not want to go to congregate shelters. I applaud the administration’s purchase of two hotels for temporary housing, but we need to make sure it is accompanied by permanent affordable housing.
B. Would you commit to stop encampment closures unless decent, safe, affordable permanent housing is available to encampment residents?
Under most circumstances, yes, but there are cases where a homeless encampment has come to present a threat to public health and safety and needs to be closed without guarantees for permanent housing for all encampment residents. In these cases, we need to make sure folks are offered temporary housing that meets their needs and support in making the transition to permanent housing.
I have been inspired by the persistent outreach and services provided by Roca to youth who are at-risk of being victims or perpetrators of violence, and it transforms lives. We need something similar for individuals experiencing homelessness.
C. What steps would you take to ensure that housing programs operated by MOHS and its grantees are meeting rent obligations and providing high quality supportive services to the tenants?
I support my colleague, Councilman Dorsey’s, legislation to transform MOHS into an agency with council oversight. Without that, all the council can do is continue to hold hearings on the topic and work with advocacy partners. As a councilmember, I have been proud to partner with Sheriff Cogen and the Homeless Persons’ Representation Project (HPRP) in securing comfortable temporary housing for tenants in my district that were facing the prospect of eviction and homelessness as a result of MOHS’s negligence and this gave them time to secure new permanent housing. But it should have never gotten to that point. I have worked with tenants and landlords alike to hold MOHS accountable for meeting rent obligations and will continue to make sure that these essential programs are operating effectively as council president.
D. What steps would you take to ensure that the unhoused community is given decision-making power over policies and programs related to ending homelessness?
I consistently consult those most impacted by an issue when making decisions. When the City Council held a hearing about issues with MOHS continuum of care programs, I invited a program participant to speak about the issues that she was experiencing. Ms. Brown was the only program participant to testify, and it was extremely impactful.
I will create a Taskforce on Ending Homelessness responsible for creating policy recommendations for Baltimore City. I want the majority of members to be those who are experiencing or who have experienced homelessness, and I will ensure that they are compensated for their time and that participation is otherwise accessible.
E. Would you support a local law prohibiting landlords from denying housing to people with past criminal legal system involvement?
Yes, people with criminal history need stable housing as part of their re-entry process, and we also need better supports for re-entry in general. I am proud to support my colleague Councilmember Torrence’s legislation to create a Baltimore City Office of Returning Citizens that would advocate for housing supports for returning citizens.
F. What action would you take to prevent homelessness for youth exiting foster care and juvenile services, and to expand shelter and housing resources for homeless youth, including unaccompanied minors?
When youth fall through the cracks, it is usually attributable to a combination of a lack of resources and a lack of agency coordination. I am planning to have an active role in convening the criminal justice coordination council, and a major priority will be coordinating housing and supportive services for vulnerable youth. We need to have a safe and comfortable youth shelter and supportive services in the model of Roca to help these youth turn their lives around. We also need to think about what will support these youth in the long run. I am currently facilitating a partnership between Roca and the building trades to ensure that when youth exit their program, they have pathways into union careers and pathways into the middle class.
Emmanuel Digman
Nick Mosby
Addressing Vacants, Tax Sales, and Blight
A. What strategies would you take immediately to address widespread vacancy that especially impacts low-income Black and brown communities in Baltimore City?
As City Council President, I have an extensive legislative record of advocating for housing that is inclusive and beneficial to all of our city residents no matter their zip code or financial standing. This record includes changing the registration and renewal process for vacant properties, establishing the fee structure for repeated fire responses at vacant properties, a push for my Dollar House program, and helping lead the fight for new Inclusionary Housing legislation after decades of failed policy. I always want to prioritize legacy residents and senior home ownership, and to build opportunities for generational wealth.
B. As Mayor or City Council President would you support legislation to create a land bank in Baltimore with neighborhood level decision-making authority?
Yes.
C. What will you do if elected to end the taking of homes and home equity that disproportionately impacts black homeowners and neighborhoods that result from tax lien sales?
When I was a State Delegate I helped pass legislation that banned tax lien sales based on unpaid water bills and I will continue to push for tax sale reform.
D. As Mayor or City Council President what will you do to hold speculators and slumlords accountable for damaging the condition of communities?
I’ve advocated for holding landlords accountable throughout my time in the state house and city hall.
Community Wealth Building
Cities across the country are recognizing the value and importance of community wealth building models, which include worker-owned businesses and community land trusts, that anchor power and resources in disinvested communities to create more equitable, inclusive, vibrant neighborhoods. What will you do to help nurture and grow these models in Baltimore?
As Council President I strongly support any models that start with or include businesses owned by the experts themselves – the workers who live in the community.
With Us For Us (WUFU) Ballot Initiative – www.wufubaltimore.com
A. Anchor institutions, specifically hospitals and universities, have important roles in uplifting community conditions through multilevel strategies and economic investment. In Baltimore, 15 anchor institutions have signed a 10-year Payment In-Lieu of Taxes agreement that expires in 2026. What will you do to create a more transparent process for the next PILOT agreement and ensure institutions are paying their fair share to uplift Baltimore communities?
I’ve consistently advocated against the way the city has pursued pilot agreements and I’m the only one on the Board of Estimates that has voted no on pilot agreements during this term. I strive to provide transparency in procurement reform efforts that im leading.
B. Will you support the With Us For Us Ballot Initiative that would amend the City’s Charter to facilitate anchor institutions paying their fair share and distributing those funds to community wealth building organizations?
I support any legislative effort to require all institutions to pay their fair share for Baltimore’s property taxes.
Rent Stabilization
Rising rent prices are making it unaffordable for Baltimore families to have stable housing. Counties like Prince George’s and Montgomery have passed rent stabilization, and there is widespread, community-led support for a 2.5% yearly rent cap in Baltimore. Will you champion a rent stabilization ordinance that allows yearly rent increases of no more than 2.5% in Baltimore City?
We have to protect our tenants from being priced out of our city. Making living here easier rather than harder has to be our goal. I’ve supported similar legislation in the past and will continue to do so.
Community Land Trusts
The first spending plan for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund called for allocating over 38% of the Fund to community land trusts. This was the most significant dedicated funding allocation for CLTs in the country from a similar type of trust fund at the time. In practice, that has since been diminished to 30%. Would you work to restore Baltimore’s original, historic allocation of funds to 38% of the Trust Fund? Will you uphold the written agreement between the organizers and the City to dedicate at least $7 million/year in General Obligation Bonds to the Trust Fund?
Yes.
City Budget & Housing Brief
Will you ensure that eviction prevention funds, right to counsel for tenants and DHCD agency funding are prioritized and sufficiently funded in FY25 and subsequent years? How would you do so and at what levels?
Yes, we collaborate with heads of agencies to determine the needs of their departments and our city. Then we advocate for its passing in our budget process. As Council President, I’ve led the effort to give our Council the power to not only approve the Mayor’s budget, but to reallocate funds as we find necessary through our collaborative process with the agencies.
Landlord Licensing Reform
Will you champion legislative reform of Baltimore City’s landlord licensing law to address structural deficiencies and invest in accountable structures at DHCD to address the administrative barriers to implementation? How?
I support any legislative effort to hold landlords accountable to providing safe and inhabitable housing to all baltimore city residents, specifically low and moderate income residents who have a lack of options. I’ve advocated for the inclusionary housing bill which touched on this topic.
Fair Housing
A. What will you do to end ongoing fair housing violations in the City?
Our system has been broken for a long time, and we need reform and dedication around the issue. We will always support Fair Housing and work to address the systemic issues that have plagued our housing for decades.
B. What long term strategies will you implement to ensure the City meets its obligations to remove impediments to fair housing choice and to affirmatively further fair housing for federal, state and local protected classes across all its housing-related programming and services?
We will fight discrimination at every encounter, and we will always stand up for those who cannot always fight for themselves. We have to protect our tenants and hold our landlords accountable to the fullest extent that we are empowered to do so.
C. What types of programming/services will you put in place to address the long-term disinvestment with black and other marginalized communities within Baltimore City?
We have to continue to increase the investment in the future of our city – our youth – and that includes sustainable jobs of the future, education, ending the prison-to-school pipeline, offering mentorship programs like the one I started with the Barksdale Fund, and helping our children and their families fight the systemic hurdles that have been impeding progress for far too long.
Housing for Individuals with Disabilities
A. What plans do you have to increase housing opportunities for people with disabilities including both persons under 62 years old as well as senior citizens? (i.e., aging in place, build senior apartments, decrease senior violence, rental subsidies, tax credits/relief, rental assistance)
Too many of our citizens with disabilities face extraordinary challenges when it comes to pay and affording homes. The medical costs and day to day living expenses can make home ownership or affordable renting seem out of reach. We have to hold those who deny accommodations more accountable and ensure the residents have equal access to home ownership.
B. How can you decrease the number of complaints of housing discrimination based on disability in Baltimore City?
By holding those who deny accommodations more accountable.
C. How can you learn more about the needs of people with disabilities in housing?
By speaking directly to them and working collaboratively with them and ensuring they have a valued voice at the table.
D. How can the City further provide additional housing support services and options for individuals with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities?
By ensuring that the professionals in the field are as informed and inclusive as possible, and that all ADA guidelines are adhered to throughout the city in homes, offices, and public spaces.
Ending Homelessness
A. What steps will you take to ensure that unhoused persons in Baltimore City are not criminalized?
Our priority has to be protecting the most vulnerable people in our city. They are human, they are brothers, sisters, moms and dads. They deserve every opportunity to improve their day-to-day lives without the constant threat of prosecution. It takes long-term trust building and wraparound services and a lot of work to fully aide the unhoused. Our outreach efforts need to meet the moment. Criminalizing them is simply unacceptable.
B. Would you commit to stop encampment closures unless decent, safe, affordable permanent housing is available to encampment residents?
Yes. the exception would be If there is a public safety issue, then a collaborative solution must be found.
C. What steps would you take to ensure that housing programs operated by MOHS and its grantees are meeting rent obligations and providing high quality supportive services to the tenants?
More oversight is needed to ensure stricter adherence and a transparent process. This is something I plan to address in the near future.
D. What steps would you take to ensure that the unhoused community is given decision-making power over policies and programs related to ending homelessness?
By continuing to collaborate with MOHS and ensure they are open and transparent with the Council, and to work with community partners such as Healthcare for the Homeless, and other local advocates.
E. Would you support a local law prohibiting landlords from denying housing to people with past criminal legal system involvement?
Yes. That’s why we supported Ban the Box legislation.
F. What action would you take to prevent homelessness for youth exiting foster care and juvenile services, and to expand shelter and housing resources for homeless youth, including unaccompanied minors?
work with community partners such as Healthcare for the Homeless, and other local advocates, and prioritizing funding that will address the need for resources.
Shannon Sneed
No responses received
Amy Gellatly is an attorney on the PJC’s Workplace Justice Project, where she represents low-wage workers in wage-theft litigation, does know-your-rights outreach in partnership with community organizations, and advocates for legislation to better protect workers’ rights.
Prior to joining the PJC, Amy was a supervising attorney on the movement lawyering practice at Bread for the City in Washington, DC. In that capacity, she collaborated with tenant-led community groups organizing to build power and transform the housing landscape in DC. Over her seven years at Bread for the City, she successfully represented hundreds of tenants fighting displacement and substandard housing conditions. However, Amy’s legal roots are in the workers’ rights field. While she was in law school and upon graduation, she held positions at the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice; Zipin, Amster & Greenberg LLC; and the DC Employment Justice Center.
Amy earned a J.D. from American University’s Washington College of Law and a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Before attending law school, Amy worked as a union organizer with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union.
Phone: (410) 625-9409 x223
Email
she/her
Community Health Worker Appreciation Rally: Connecting Our Neighbors to Care
March 15th, 6-8 PM at Lawyers Mall in Annapolis and on Zoom
We invite you to join us to celebrate Maryland’s Community Health Workers and all of the incredible work they do across the State to advance health equity in our low-income communities. Hear directly from CHWs about the unique role they play in connecting their communities to needed care and addressing social determinants of health.
Please RSVP to join us in-person or virtually here.
This rally is organized by the Community Health Workers Empowerment Coalition of Maryland.
Coalición de Empoderamiento de los Trabajadores de Salud Comunitarios de Maryland
Concentración de agradecimiento a los trabajadores de salud comunitarios: conectado a nuestros vecinos con la atención médica
15 de marzo, de 6 a 8 p.m en
Lawyers Mall en Annapolis y en Zoom
Los invitamos a unirse a nosotros para celebrar a los Trabajadores Comunitarios de Salud de Maryland y todo el increíble trabajo que hacen en todo el estado para promover la equidad en salud en nuestras comunidades de bajos ingresos. Escuche directamente a los CHW’S sobre el papel único que desempeñan en conectar a sus comunidades con la atención necesaria y abordar los determinantes sociales de la salud.
Regístrate para participar aquí.
Este evento está organizado por la Coalición de Empoderamiento de los Trabajadores de Salud Comunitarios de Maryland.
Shuron Danielle Jones (she/her) is the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel’s Eviction Right to Counsel Enactment Specialist. After living under and being evicted by a slumlord, Shuron began organizing around housing with Homes for All – St. Louis in 2019. Her work focuses on the research, passage, implementation, and evaluation of legislation and policies that forward renter-worker protections. Shuron assisted in crafting the campaign around Right to Counsel in St. Louis City to the eventual passage of an ordinance around the policy in 2023.
Shuron is also a public researcher, historian, and analyst, focusing on the work, lives, and organizing/advocacy/writings of radical and Queer Black Women in the Midwest from the 1970s.
Shuron enjoys messing after her house plants, eating at her favorite vegan restaurants, shopping at thrift stores, and live music.
Phone: (410) 625-9409 x251
Email
she/her
Andrew Ashbrook (he/him) is the Eviction Right to Counsel Implementation Specialist at the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel (NCCRC). Before joining the NCCRC in January 2024, Andrew was a Supervising Attorney on the Bronx Defenders’ Right to Counsel team. In that role, he supervised a team of attorneys representing tenants facing eviction in the Bronx through New York City’s Right to Counsel program. Before that position, Andrew represented tenants facing eviction in Manhattan at the Lenox Hill Neighborhood House from 2018 through 2021 and in Ohio at the Legal Aid Society of Columbus from 2015 through 2018. Andrew graduated from the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law in 2014, the John Glenn College of Public Affairs with an MA in Public Policy in 2014, and the Ohio State University in 2011.
Andrew enjoys reading, playing board games, and going on walks with his dog.
Phone: (410) 625-9409 x252
Email
he/him
Stay Up-to-Date on Our Plans
The PJC turns 40 in 2025, and we’ll kick off the planning for a fitting celebration soon. Be among the first to know about our plans and ways you can get involved. Sign up for periodic email updates exclusively about our 40th anniversary celebration.
Join Us in Planning the Celebration
Bring your love of the PJC and your creativity to the kickoff of our 40th anniversary celebration planning. Join us in person or via Zoom for one of two post-Valentine’s Day brainstorming sessions:
February 15, 2024
9:30 a.m. OR 5:30 p.m.
The PJC’s Conference Room, 201 N. Charles Street, Suite 1200, Baltimore, MD 21201
Light treats, sweets, and sips will be provided.
RSVP by February 13. Email Kathleen Gregory with any questions.
Devin Carpenter and her son were living in a home with unsafe conditions. The home had multiple violations cited by the City of Baltimore, but the landlord refused to make any repairs and somehow still had a valid rental license. Ms. Carpenter believed that this license was issued fradulently and asked that the City revoke the license until repairs were made. She displayed tremendous courage by testifying in front of the City Council and sharing her experience of unsafe living conditions. She advocated for safer housing and increased rental inspection accountability measures, not only for herself and her son, but for all the other Baltimore City tenants in similar situations.
Awura-Aduza Cummings-Martin suffered financially due to COVID, fell behind on rent, and relied on COVID-19 eviction prevention funds to become current on her rent. Then, she became an advocate for other renters: taking time out of her week to speak out in Annapolis to ask legislators to fund ongoing eviction prevention efforts beyond the pandemic-related rental assistance. As COVID-related eviction protections expired, Ms. Cummings-Martin was a voice for renters dealing with setbacks that put them at risk of eviction.
Antoine Hudnell, the father of two children, stood up to a landlord who refused to address serious health and safety conditions in the property. The landlord retailiated by filing for eviction. At trial, Mr. Hudnell was unrepresented, and the judge did not give him an opportunity to tell his story or properly present his defense. The PJC took his case on appeal and won in a preliminary motion to dismiss the case due to procedural defects (i.e., the legal procedures were not followed). We are still working with him to fight for repairs so that he and his kids can stay in their home and are not harmed by the unsafe conditions.
Sharnae Hunt was illegally evicted by her landlord two days before Thanksgiving 2022. Because of an “error” by her landlord, Ms. Hunt came home from work to find that all her belongings had been removed from her unit and thrown carelessly into the street. Her landlord acknowledged the error and returned her keys, but the damage had already been done; the landlord’s agents had damaged, broken, dirtied, and even stolen her belongings – including precious keepsakes her son had made, her Social Security card, and bank information. Her son’s pet turtle has been missing since the eviction. Ms. Hunt did not want such a traumatic event to happen to anyone else in Maryland. She joined Renters United Maryland in advocating for a proposed bill in the 2023 legislative session that would have given tenants the right to reclaim their property up to seven days after an eviction. Ms. Hunt testified passionately and effectively, telling every grisly detail and letting state legislators know that she is but one of many tenants who deal with this cruel process every year. Instead of simply allowing her landlord to make her whole and putting it behind her, she worked diligently to make housing more equitable for Maryland tenants. While the bill did not pass in 2023, Ms. Hunt has joined Renters United Maryland to bring this bill back in 2024.
The plaintiffs in Aguilar et al. v. David E. Harvey Builders, Inc. et al. deserve special recognition for their courage and persistence in fighting for their unpaid wages over the last five years. They bravely brought a lawsuit in 2018 after they worked for various weeks on a construction project without any compensation at all. Their pursuit of justice culminated in a week-long federal trial in May 2023, at which each of the plaintiffs – Angella Aguilar, Luis Baires, Carlos Chavarria, Blanca Ferrer, Jacinto Garcia, Fabricio Marroquin, Antonio Martinez, Wilson Panozo, Freddy Veizaga Prado, Jose Feliciano Revelo, and Jose Antonio Torres – provided compelling direct testimony and withstood cross-examination from two sets of defendants. The plaintiffs were able to share their stories on the stand and proved that workers can and will bring unscrupulous employers to court. In late October 2023, a federal judge ruled that both the general contractor and subcontractor were liable for paying the workers their unpaid wages, plus double damages, almost $95,000 in total. Read more here.
Darryl Evans and Andre Simmons were shocked when their food and cash assistance benefits were stolen from their Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card accounts by an unknown individual or group through skimming theft. Their trauma was compounded when they learned that the Department of Human Services (DHS) was not replacing stolen benefits for thousands of Marylanders like themselves who were the victims of theft. This nationwide crisis has left the victims, including families with young children, seniors, and individuals with disabilities, unable to afford food, rent, and utilities, driving them deeper into poverty. Mr. Evans and Mr. Simmons showed immense courage in advocating for state legislation to require DHS to replace stolen food and cash assistance benefits for victims of EBT card theft and enhance security protections for the cards. Further, they overcame numerous obstacles to testify virtually at the bill hearing before the legislative committee. As a result of Mr. Evans’ and Mr. Simmons’ tireless advocacy for justice and of sharing their personal experiences with benefits theft, the legislation is now law. More than 26,000 households have been reimbursed for more than $15 million in stolen benefits, and EBT cards now have new security features.
The North East Housing Initiative (NEHI) – under the leadership of Executive Director Garrick Good – has worked tirelessly to make the promise of community-controlled, permanently affordable housing a reality in Baltimore City. Since 2016, the PJC has partnered with NEHI and other members of Share Baltimore to ensure that community land trusts in Baltimore City receive the operational support and funding that they need to advance a mission rooted in housing justice, racial equity, and community control of land. Dozens of families have become community land trust homeowners through NEHI, and hundreds of additional opportunities are planned. We are proud to recognize NEHI’s vision and tenancity in achieving systemic change.
Partners for Dignity & Rights has been an invaluable resource to Baltimore City communities working to advance human rights and economic justice. Human Rights Development Program Director Peter Sabonis provides legal advice, policy expertise, and technical support to the movement advancing permanently affordable housing through community land trusts in Baltimore. The PJC is proud to partner with Partners in Dignity & Rights to advance housing justice in Baltimore.
“If you look across the nation, you will find few legal service programs that combine direct service, systemic litigation, and legal support to the organizing and mobilizing that builds power. The Public Justice Center is in that rarefied class. We are privileged to partner with them.” – Peter Sabonis.
Thank you for being a catalyst for life-changing action through your unwavering support of the Public Justice Center!
Together, we are changing laws, policies, and practices that perpetuate injustices; defeating laws that would have disproportionately harmed people and communities of color; and building a just society.
Read examples of our progress in the FY 2023 Annual Report or call 410.625.9409 for a printed copy.
Melanie Babb is honored to serve as the 2023-2024 Francis D. Murnaghan, Jr. Appellate Advocacy Fellow at the Public Justice Center. In this role, she represents parties and files amicus briefs in civil rights cases related to poverty law and racial equity issues in state and federal courts.
Prior to joining PJC, Melanie clerked for the Honorable Christopher B. Kehoe on the Appellate Court of Maryland and former Special Family Magistrate Andrea F. Kelly for Baltimore City Circuit Court. She earned her law degree from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, where she worked as a student attorney for the Consumer Protection Clinic and was the Articles Editor for the Journal of Health Care Law and Policy. During law school, Melanie drafted the Baltimore City Wage Commission’s first procedural bylaws. Prior to law school, Melanie graduated from the University of Rhode Island summa cum laude in 2017.
In her spare time, Melanie enjoys watching women’s soccer and attending games.
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Brendan is originally from Rochester, NY, and graduated from Fordham University in 2023 with a B.A. in History and Economics. He is a voracious reader, and enjoys running, hiking, and visiting art galleries and museums in his spare time.
Brendan joined the PJC in August 2023 as a paralegal in the Human Right to Housing Project through the Jesuit Volunteer Corps.
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