Creating Jobs In the Heart of the Food Deserts of Baltimore

Vacant Baltimore Housing

Future home of Baltimore’s next urban farm?

The other day, someone asked us how we would bring employers to Baltimore. It’s a good question that we’ve decided to answer in print.

Here, in no particular order, are some simple strategies that we think the state and/or city should be supporting. If you’re interested, you can buy us lunch at a cheap diner and we can talk about it in detail over some home-made cherry pie for dessert. (Can you tell that our principal writer is dieting and can’t stop thinking about food?)

Continue reading

One term wonder?

Every once in a while, we come across a first-term elected official who means well, a good guy who has potential, but who somehow gets off track, who goes down a road, takes a wrong turn and can’t find his way home. Four years later, he’s out, a promising career in government ended early.

Continue reading

Councilwoman Almond gets it. Unfortunately, Councilman Jones doesn’t.

For those of you interested in the redevelopment of what used to be the Owings Mills Mall property, there’s a great article we recommend that you read. It’s called “An Uncertain Future.” It’s a highly informative piece that includes some choice quotes from Baltimore County Council Members Julian Jones who represents District 4 where the mall property is located and Vikki Almond who represents adjacent District 2.

Continue reading

Unbelievable. Councilman Julian Jones has withdrawn Bill 85-16.

At the November 21 legislative session of the Baltimore County Council, District 4 Councilman Julian Jones introduced Bill 85-16 to limit store size on Kimco’s Mall property. See “Jones For President?” for details. It was the right and politically smart thing to do.

Today, roughly between 1 and 2 PM, just 8 days after he introduced it, Councilman Jones withdrew the Bill. By process of elimination, it had to have been because Kimco talked him out of it.

Continue reading

Resisting Temptation

Our belated congratulations to Catherine Pugh for having been elected Mayor of Baltimore. Well done.

Mayor-elect Pugh is, hands down, the most capable person to be elected by the city in decades. The only problem is, she may be too capable and may, soon enough, find herself mired in the quicksand that is the city government she’s taking over. It’s an ineffective, albeit usually well-meaning, but often dysfunctional mess.

Continue reading

A powerful partnership.

Julian Jones' Town Meeting

Councilman Julian Jones’ Town Meeting

Hi. If you’re reading this, chances are it’s because you were one of many hundreds of Baltimore County’s District 4 residents who visited our website to read articles in opposition to a Walmart Supercenter anchoring Kimco’s redevelopment of its Owings Mills Mall property – and then you stayed to sign our petition. Thank you for that.

Continue reading

Jones For President?

Councilman Julian Jones

Despite the fact that he holds no federal office, County Councilman Jones choose to be photographed with American flag bunting. …Maybe he really is running for President?

For those of you in Baltimore County’s District 4 who may have been wondering whether or not Councilman Julian Jones was paying attention, the answer is a resounding “Yes!

“Attention to what?” you ask, because you’ve been living under a rock.

Continue reading