The screenshot above is the opening paragraph from a December 26, 2015 article in the Sun. It’s a good, highly informative piece by Doug Donovan.
Author Archives: MissingthePoint.us
Financing For Employers
If you’ve read our post entitled “Vacants-To-Jobs,” you know that Baltimore Rising is introducing legislation that gives employers who are willing to locate in the city’s disadvantaged neighborhoods free property and no property taxes for 5 years. The simple, but nonetheless profound idea is that we’re going to make employers offers they can’t refuse to get them to do what too many businesses have avoided. We’re going to give them a compelling reason to set up shop in a neighborhood some of them don’t even want to drive through, much less park there, get out and spend the day. Heaven forbid, maybe go out to some local place for lunch.’
Vacants-To-Jobs
As you may already know, there’s a Baltimore city government program called “Vacants-To-Value.” It’s primary purpose is to encourage people to refurbish and move into vacant property around the city – properties, mostly residential, that the government has taken over. The objective is to turn the huge number of abandoned properties around the city into homes that are attractive and well-maintained by resident-owners, many of whom will be new to the neighborhood.
Eminent Domain
As you may have noticed, we have already posted a map of the 16,885 documented vacant structures in Baltimore. These structures – in addition to the thousands of vacant lots – are a potent tool for attracting desperately needed employers and new residents to the city.
Zoning: What’s the point?
You’ll notice that the featured image for this article about zoning isn’t a map of this or that district plan. It’s people waiting in line for jobs. Whatever jobs they can get.
Technical Problem
A few days ago, we posted an article that talked about the urgent need to study, right now, the economics of the 150,000+ complaints that are filed with “Rent Court” every year – and that result in 7000 evictions annually. It’s a really important study that addresses a very, very significant problem in our city, the resolution of which is essential to the accomplishment of the economic recovery which is our mission. (Not so subtle note to contributors… It’s a study Baltimore Rising would gladly do for the city if you’d like to fund it.)
150,000 Complaints, 7000 Evictions
Those numbers in the title? Particularly the 150,000 in a city of only 620,000 people? They’re huge, aren’t they? They’re the number of rental unit complaints and resulting evictions that The Sun, the Washington Post, The 7000 Families Campaign and others have been talking about.
The Problem With Startups
Hey. Just a quick note about supporting startups as a strategy for creating jobs. This may sound cold, but it’s huge waste of time and money. Here’s why…
The Absence of Mandate
Hi. Even this far in advance of next April’s primary, there was considerable interest among people who follow city politics when The Sun published its recent poll. The image below from The Sun’s website shows the results.
Priming The Pump
Almost everybody is in agreement that Baltimore needs to lower its property tax rate which, at 2.248%, is almost twice that of the next highest county rate in the state. The rate is so high that it’s discouraging people and employers from moving here – and encouraging people and businesses to leave. We have a consensus. The question isn’t whether or not we lower the rate, but by what means and how quickly.
Which comes first?
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably know by now that Baltimore Rising is hell bent on initiating an all-inclusive economic recovery in the city. We’re talking about a turnaround of such nature and magnitude that it dramatically reduces unemployment and poverty.
Missing the Point
A few minutes ago, we got around to reading the following tweet from the Mayor, shown below.
Very impressive? Not really.