http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-md.ci.dixon06feb06,0,845375.story
From the Baltimore Sun
Dixon's address is mix of old, new
Many O'Malley officials, initiatives stay, but mayor pledges policies
of her own
By John Fritze
Sun reporter
February 6, 2007
Delivering her first State of the City address yesterday, Baltimore
Mayor Sheila Dixon proposed broad changes to the Police Department,
speedier redevelopment of vacant land and the creation of several new
positions to put disparate city agencies on the same page.
Speaking in the recently refurbished City Council chamber, where her
newly minted Cabinet sat alongside top elected officials, Dixon also
vowed a "significant" increase in arts funding, more staff at
recreation centers and a study of property taxes - a response to
escalating assessments.
Dixon became Baltimore's 48th mayor last month when her predecessor,
Martin O'Malley, became governor. She has promised to maintain
consistency with the prior administration as she serves its remaining
10 months, but she unveiled a surprising number of new initiatives last
night - including some long shunned by O'Malley.
Though there were few specifics in the 40-minute speech about how to
pay for the ideas, Dixon comes to the mayor's office at a time when
city finances are in good shape - a potential benefit to her political
fortunes. Rising property values have improved revenues, and city
leaders have managed to fund new initiatives while also making modest
cuts to the property tax rate.
Dixon devoted the lengthiest segment of her speech to crime, vowing to
create a new division in the Police Department to target at-risk
juveniles before they get into serious trouble. That effort follows a
push away from the zero-tolerance policies of O'Malley's administration
toward a more preventive, community-based approach.
"We have to get back to the days when officers knew the people who
lived in the communities they patrolled, and the people in the
community knew and trusted the officers that worked in their
neighborhood," Dixon said. "Making our communities safer will take
citizens and the police working together - not against each other."
With 30 homicides in Baltimore so far in 2007, crime, and how to
confront it after O'Malley's tenure, will play a pivotal role in this
year's mayoral election. Dixon, who is seeking election to a full term
and will face at least a half-dozen candidates in the Sept. 11
Democratic primary, argues the city must offer more health and job
training services in high-crime areas.
Police Commissioner Leonard D. Hamm said residents should expect to see
more programs such as the "Get Out of the Game" initiative, in which
officers approach young people caught up in drug-dealing in an attempt
to link them with job placement or treatment.
"One of the things we had to do as a police agency was become
multidimensional again," Hamm said at an unusual, impromptu news
conference held in the mayor's office after the speech. "I believe, and
the mayor believes, that you cannot just enforce, enforce, enforce
without providing some hope for the community."
As City Council president, Dixon criticized O'Malley's Project 5000
program, which acquires blighted property and turns it over to
developers. Dixon said the city can do a better job selling those lots,
and she renewed calls yesterday for a land bank. A land bank, which
would initially be part of the housing department, would oversee,
maintain and sell city-owned land.
Land banks have been used in cities and states across the country to
cut through the bureaucracy faced by agencies that are not equipped to
market property once they own it.
The Michigan Land Bank Fast Track Authority, for instance, sells
property at market rate or gives it away, if the developer promises to
use it for affordable housing. "It allows the process to move more
freely," said the authority's executive director, Semone M. James.
On education, Dixon renewed her promise to create an assistant deputy
mayor to advise her administration and to act as a liaison among the
several agencies that oversee city schools.
"I will not accept that our children cannot learn. I will not accept
that our children do not deserve every opportunity to succeed," she
said. "And I believe all of us have a role to play in making our school
system a leader in the state and in the nation again."
City Councilman Keiffer J. Mitchell Jr., who is running against Dixon
for mayor, argued that the position will not fix the underlying problem
of the city-state partnership used to manage schools. Under the
arrangement, the governor and mayor jointly appoint members of the
school board.
Mitchell favors the city reassuming complete authority over its schools.
"Creating a deputy mayor, to me, is just creating another layer of
bureaucracy," Mitchell said. "The real hard decisions need to be made
in terms of reclaiming our schools, taking back control."
Dixon promised to increase arts funding, but did not say by how much,
and vowed to improve staffing at recreation centers. Dixon also said
she would set aside about 75 Section 8 housing vouchers to relocate
families whose children have been exposed to high levels of lead in
contaminated homes.
Many in Dixon's Cabinet, including Hamm, served in O'Malley's
administration. Hours before her speech, Dixon announced that she will
retain another O'Malley appointee, Connie A. Brown, to lead the city's
parks department. But Dixon has also struck out on her own in recent
weeks, and again during the speech last night. In particular, she said
she expects to take another look at property taxes, despite O'Malley's
staunch support for 2 cent annual tax rate reductions.
Baltimore's property tax rate is the highest in Maryland. Property
assessments, meanwhile, have increased tax bills and drastically
boosted the amount of revenue the city collects. Dixon promised to
create a panel to review and, ultimately, reduce those taxes - an idea
that prompted the loudest applause in the chamber yesterday.
"Too many people have said to me personally that they are making a
conscious decision to live and raise their families in Baltimore, and
they feel like they are being punished for doing so," Dixon said. "I am
proud to make this commitment to the citizens of Baltimore. It is long
overdue, and I will not rest until we have made lower property taxes a
reality."
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Excerpts from Mayor Dixon's address
Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon gave her first State of the City address
yesterday at City Hall. Here are some excerpts from the prepared speech.
Education:
I want to equip the next generation of Baltimore students with the
skills to thrive. Today, I am pleased to announce that I have created,
at the suggestion of a hardworking and very thorough transition team, a
new division within the mayor's office that will lead our efforts to
transform Baltimore's education system. ... The office will work with
our leaders, parents, teachers, students, foundations, businesses, and
state and national funders to get beyond finger pointing to a place
where we put our students and their needs before anything else. ...
You know this, but it is worth repeating. When parents and caregivers
are involved in the life of a child and a school, that child and that
school is more likely to have higher test scores, higher graduation
rates and less violence. This office will also work with organizations
such as the Baltimore Collegetown Network to implement the
recommendations within the Master Plan that call for stronger, mutually
beneficial partnerships with our 14 institutions of higher education. I
am particularly interested in partnerships with the public, community
and charter schools of our city, as well as partnerships with our city
agencies. ...
I will not accept that our children cannot learn. I will not accept
that our children don't deserve every opportunity to succeed. And I
believe all of us have a role to play in making our school system a
leader in the state, and in the nation again. We can do this.
Crime:
Having served more than 20 years in public office, I know that feeling
safe and secure in your home and in your community is a major concern
for the citizens of Baltimore. We have made progress in mediating
violence and crime in our city, but speaking frankly, we have a long,
long way to go. I want to be very clear about this point. I have full
faith and confidence in the men and women of law enforcement in the
City of Baltimore. There are few nobler callings than the oath taken by
our police officers to protect and defend the citizens of our city.
Working with Police Commissioner Leonard Hamm, I am calling for a new
relationship between our officers and the neighborhoods where they
serve. ...
Sometimes it's not about trying a new theory or strategy; sometimes
it's about common sense. We have to get back to the days when officers
knew the people who lived in the communities they patrolled and the
people in the community knew and trusted the officers that worked in
their neighborhood. Making our communities safer will take citizens and
the police working together - not against each other. ...
I have also instructed the police department to establish a division
that deals solely with outreach to juveniles. Not just those who have
already become part of the criminal justice system, but we must touch
the lives of young people before they make the bad choices that will
impact their entire lives. To further support these efforts, and to
increase public safety within our city, I have instructed my finance
department to find the resources to increase the number of staff in our
recreation centers. If we give young people alternatives, I am
convinced they will do the right thing. If we do not get to them now,
gangs, drug dealers and career criminals will. Time is of the essence
and we do not have a moment to lose.
Taxes:
As a homeowner in Baltimore, I know what a difficult burden many of our
citizens face. Too many people have said to me personally that they are
making a conscious decision to live and raise their families in
Baltimore and they feel like they are being punished for doing so.
Today, I am announcing the creation of a blue-ribbon panel on real
estate taxes. Working with this council, in the coming days I will
share with you a list of some of the city's brightest and most
committed citizens who will be tasked with helping me to establish
concrete ways to cut the property taxes in our city. I am proud to make
this commitment to the citizens of Baltimore. It's long overdue and I
will not rest until we've made lower property taxes a reality.
Litter:
If we allow trash and debris to clutter our streets, it says a lot
about how we feel about our city and about ourselves. Cities across the
country are trying to figure how to address this issue. I want to do
more than just study the problem - I want to solve it. I want the
employees of the Department of Public Works to know I believe they are
doing a great job. But we can do better. My cleaner Baltimore
initiative calls on citizens and city employees to work together to
keep our city clean. The city must lead by example. Our properties and
buildings must be kept as clean as possible, including our sanitation
yards. I have grown weary of seeing plastic bags hanging from trees and
barbed wire fences around the city. It is a small start, but I have
instructed DPW to begin to look at alternatives to the wire fencing
enclosing our properties. That fencing collects a horrible amount of
bags and trash. In this new century, we certainly can do better. And in
Baltimore, we will.
BRAC:
For a very long time, Baltimore has enjoyed strong relationships with
the jurisdictions around us. We recognize that we are part of a strong
and growing region and it's important for us to work together to reach
our regional goals on transportation and traffic congestion and land
use planning. Maryland is changing and growing and Baltimore is ready
to be a regional leader. ... It is projected that Maryland will welcome
more than 25,000 new households due to federal base realignment and
closure, known as BRAC. I think many of these new families can find
affordable housing, a compatible school for their children and a safe
and beautiful neighborhood to call home right here in Baltimore. We're
blessed to have an organization in our city whose mission is to promote
and celebrate city living. Today, I am pleased to announce that we have
joined with LIVE Baltimore to reach out to BRAC families. In this
partnership we will make a multiyear commitment to LIVE Baltimore to
assist their efforts to market our city to these potential new
residents. At the center of a thriving region, Baltimore has the
capacity and the need to grow. I want to use every tool available to us
to tell Baltimore's story to the world.
The arts:
In Baltimore we have some of the most incredible arts institutions and
organizations in the world. From dance ministries in church basements
to after-school photography clubs, from beautiful museums to jazz
clubs, the arts is an important part of the life of our city.
Unfortunately, in these times of tight budgets and dwindling resources,
too often our arts and cultural programs are the first on the chopping
block. This will not be so in my administration. As mayor I am
proposing that the city set aside a significant amount of our financial
resources to establish a grant program that is open to all of
Baltimore's arts and cultural institutions. It will be a program that
is inclusive and has measurable outcomes and it will be a fair and open
process. We must match our words with our deeds and ensure that this
important component of city life is both celebrated and funded.
john.fritze@baltsun.com
Sun reporter Gus Sentementes contributed to this article.
Copyright © 2007, The Baltimore Sun