NEWS CONFERENCE 845

(Baltimore City Spending)

Q. Governor, while we are on the subject of fiscal matters: The
Mayor of Baltimore takes issue with your statement concerning the
matter of spending in the City. Noting that he doesn't want to get
in a public dispute with you, he does disagree quite firmly with this
statement.

A. You know, I read what he said and I am not even sure that he
has even disagreed. At least if he has disagreed he hasn't indicated
where the points of his disagreement are. I have every hope that the
Mayor and I will be able to operate in harmony as we always have
in the past, but I will not sit idly by and see the City undertake an
ambitious program of personal services and expansion of its functions
when the money is not there to take care of the situation and when
I know that we at the State level who are laboring under a terrible
financial handicap are going to have to supply the money or be asked
to supply the money. There isn't any question that our budget went
up 6. 1 percent, and there isn't any question that the budget that
the Mayor has handed the City Council probably takes an increase
in spending of more than twice that amount. Now I am not sure
that I agree with the Mayor totally that money is the only answer to
the City's problems. It's easy to pour endless amounts of dollars into
programs — some of which show doubtful validity — and some of
which show very poor control. I point to Operation Champ, that was
the subject of a recent newspaper editorial, where salary increases
were given by the person connected with the operation without even
clearing it with the City administration. So all I am saying is with
the City budget of over $650 million a year, and a City only having
a little less than a million people, it seems to me that an undue spend-
ing per individual is taking place in the City compared to the rest
of the State.

Q. What should the City do?

A. Seek some review and intelligent appraisal of the programs al-
ready in effect. Someone criticized just the other day the fact that
when budget time comes along all we do is look for new programs.
We don't look back into the old ones to see whether they are doing
the job. Also, pull in the belt on spending. One of the things I
haven't seen mentioned anywhere in the media yesterday is the fact
that the City reduced its property tax in an election year 31 cents.
The tax program was not intended to make political heroes out of
people who were running for office by cutting the property tax back