I wrote an open letter to Baltimore City Council Bernard C. “Jack” Young and sent it today to all members of the Baltimore City Council.  My letter was in response to the letter sent by Council President Young to the editor of the Baltimore Sun criticizing Lt. Gene Ryan, president of Lodge No. 3 of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP).  [“Union deserves some blame for crime spike,” The Baltimore Sun, June 28, 2017.]

Council President Young’s letter criticized Lt. Ryan for, among other things, not being sufficiently accommodating to the city’s desire to abandon the four day a week (4×10) shift schedule instituted by the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) in January of 2015.  The change to the 4×10 was the brainchild of former Police Commissioner Anthony Batts and at the city’s request it was mandated in the collective bargaining agreements negotiated with the FOP in 2014.

Suffice it to say that 4×10 scheduling has not worked out as intended and the city now wants it out of the collective bargaining agreements.  Although the public is not privy to the ongoing negotiations between the city and FOP it appears that the union is holding out to get something from the city in return for agreeing to the change back to the five day a week (5×8) schedules  – no big surprise there.  It is what unions do.

My problem is this:  It is easy for Council President Young to bash Lt. Ryan but the fact remains that the city council (and its president) bear a good share of the blame for the fact that city is in the position of bargaining over issues having to do with the management of the BPD that should not be the subject of collective bargaining.  It is an issue that I have been pressing for over two years, and by now I have concluded that the members of the city council, whatever their rhetoric may be, are loath to take on the FOP over control of the BPD.

My letter to Council President Young points out two instances in which the council has failed to assert itself when it could have done so regarding the FOP and the BPD.  Here is the link to the letter:  Ltr Jack Young 6 29 17

June 29, 2017

The Baltimore Sun continues to do its part in calling city officials to action.  It is hardly alone in that regard.  My question today is directed to the mayor:  Are you listening, Your Honor?

As I noted in a post to my blog a couple of days ago the Sun has demonstrated its concern about the lack of both direction and a sense of urgency in dealing with the epidemic of murder and other violent crime that has gripped Baltimore for the past two years by publishing a series of opinion pieces and commentary on the subject, including my own.  Today the Sun published two thoughtful letters, one from Mr. Jack Boyson pointing out the role that community associations could play as part of an overall strategy for reducing crime.

The other was from Dr. Stuart Varon, stating that Baltimore needs an anti-violence summit.  It is an idea that I put forth in an op ed in January and which needed repeating.  As Dr. Varon points out, summits can have synergistic effects; heaven knows, the energy must come from somewhere to induce the city to get its act together and put together a viable plan for reducing the violence.

I received a short note from someone who has done his best to get the word out about the need for the city to revisit whatever blueprint it is working from to tamp down the violence, and to do so soon.  His message was “keep the pressure on.”  People like Mr. Boyson and Dr. Varon are doing what they can to keep the pressure on, and are doing so in a positive and constructive manner.  I am going to change that tone a bit with the following comment:

Mayor Pugh, you are drifting toward a crisis in confidence; the storm clouds are gathering.  Influential members of the city council – and many others – clearly are impatient with your approach to managing the crisis of violent crime in the city.  Your inability to find a suitable head for the city’s Office of Criminal Justice six months into your administration and over two years into an unprecedented wave of violent crime has become representative of your struggles.

I criticized Police Commissioner Kevin Davis for not articulating his strategy for combating the violence as stress fractures within the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) continue to expand.  It is your office, however, that is responsible for the overall approach of which the law enforcement component is only a part, and it is an overall strategy for which there is the most pressing need.

You pride yourself on your collegiality and ability to get people to collaborate on solutions on to problems.  Sometimes, particularly in crises, leaders also must get out in front and initiate measures around which their followers can coalesce.  You’re not doing so hot on that part of your job.

I suggest that you embrace the city council’s proposal that the city develop a “comprehensive gun violence reduction strategy” and kick off the process for developing the strategy with a well-organized summit.  Invite experts, and invite the governor.  Baltimore needs to see you step up and take charge of coming up with solutions, and soon.

June 25, 2017

 

I don’t use the description “Trump-like” lightly, but there is a certain alternative universe/Alice in Wonderland quality to the “we have a strategy – no we don’t” debate going on in Baltimore.  Lt. Gene Ryan, president of the union representing rank-and-file officers of the Baltimore Police Department (BPD), has been increasingly critical of BPD management, claiming that it lacks a strategy to reduce the rate of murder and other violent crime in the city.

Police Commissioner Kevin Davis states that the accusation by Lt. Ryan is not true, and that the department does have a strategy.  Mr. Commissioner, if that is so then you need to take the time to explain to everyone exactly what that strategy is.  If you can explain it, we can understand it – enough with the suspense, for heaven’s sake.  Outline in writing the steps you are taking to reduce violence, release it to the media, and then hold a press conference to answer questions.

Lt. Ryan escalated the war of words on Wednesday by announcing that his union, the FOP, would be meeting directly with community members, business leaders and elected officials to discuss solutions to city’s current “crime crisis” because the city government itself has no long-range plan.  It was an obvious attempt to embarrass the commissioner into taking action- or maybe just to embarrass the commissioner, period.  Commissioner Davis reacted testily, accusing Lt. Ryan of “willful ignorance” of the city’s plan.

Lt. Ryan may have been emboldened to step up his criticism of the commissioner by a growing chorus of voices raising similar concerns.  The editors of The Baltimore Sun underscored their interest by publishing three separate opinion pieces on the subject within the span of several days.

On Sunday, the Baltimore Sun published my op ed criticizing the failure by city agencies to adopt a strategic violence-reduction plan and endorsing the proposal by Councilman Brandon Scott to develop one.  I stated that the failure of the city to have programs with proven track records of success such as Operation Ceasefire and Safe Streets Baltimore in tamping down murder rates up and running two years into an epidemic of violent crime was a direct result of the absence of a credible strategic plan.

On Wednesday, the Sun editorial board rendered its own opinion on the subject, stating that Baltimore needed a “sustainable plan” beyond just canceling leave, requiring officers to work 12-hour shifts and putting as many officers on the streets as possible:

“People like the idea of police getting out of their cars, walking the beat and interacting with the community. We need that. But we need specialized units, too. We need homicide detectives investigating cases and building the evidence necessary to arrest the relative few who are responsible for most of Baltimore’s violence, and we need the state’s attorney’s office to win convictions that carry hefty sentences. We need internal affairs officers rooting out corruption in the ranks. We need narcotics squads disrupting major drug rings. And we need officers to work in sustained, hand-in-glove partnerships with federal and state agencies to engage in close supervision of those known to be at risk of perpetrating violence or becoming victims of it.”

In the same edition, the Sun published an op ed by former State’s Attorney Gregg Bernstein in which he decried the failure by city officials “to display any sense of urgency during the first six months of 2017 as the murder rate has skyrocketed, most recently highlighted by the killing of five people in a single night.”  Mr. Bernstein described a long list of measures that he believed needed to be adopted, noting that an effective strategy “is not about sweeping corners and locking everyone up; instead, it requires a focused approach against the relatively few violent repeat offenders who are causing the violence.”  He concluded:

“In the short-run, a focused, strategic, and aggressive approach against those who are driving violence needs to be adopted, not at the exclusion of the long-term initiatives, but in conjunction with them.”

Mr. Bernstein’s op ed echoed comments made by Rod Rosenstein, the former U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland who is now the Deputy U.S. Attorney General.  Mr. Rosenstein arguably was the most successful crime fighter in Baltimore during his twelve years as U.S. Attorney.  During an interview with WBAL-TV in April Mr. Rosenstein observed:

“When we had a unified effort by local, state and federal law enforcement to focus on violent crime in Baltimore, we drove down violent crime in Baltimore.  We did it from 2007 to 2014, and we believe we can do it again. The current strategy needs to be revised, because we’re not achieving the mission. The mission is keep the streets safe, and the streets aren’t safe, we need to change to deal with it . . . We need to be more aggressive, more pro-active with law enforcement, because our responsibility is to protect the law-abiding citizens.”

The theme of a lack of urgency among city officials is a recurring one.  In January, the Sun editorial board admonished city officials to start acting like the city is in the middle of a homicide crisis – because it is.  A few weeks later the paper ran my op ed suggesting that city and state leaders hold a summit on the epidemic of violent crime as a way of imparting a sense of urgency and beginning the process of putting together an effective plan.

The debate within the BPD is of course not about whether there is a plan; it is about whether the current plan is adequate.  To date Lt. Ryan has not criticized Commissioner Davis by name, and “we need a plan” is perhaps less harsh than saying “the commissioner’s current plan stinks.”  Lt. Ryan knows that a line would be crossed if it sounds like he is accusing the commissioner of not being up to the job, although he is getting close.  Let’s hope that we have an acceptable plan on the table before that line is crossed.  This is not the time for open warfare between the FOP and the commissioner.

Councilman Brandon Scott summed up the feelings of a growing number of observers from both within and without the BPD and city government: “We have to make changes to the strategy that’s happening today because it’s not working.”  The commissioner needs to recognize that he is losing the confidence of people whose support that he needs, and then do something about it.  One gets the sense that Commissioner Davis believes that if he retains the support of the mayor and governor, he’ll be fine.  If that is what he believes, it is a mistake.

So, Commissioner Davis, start by laying out your strategy and tell us why you think it is the path to reducing the rate of murder and other violent crime.  Let people ask questions and try to help them understand your strategy; like it or not, you are going to have to persuade people that your plan will work.  Right now, they are not so sure that you even have a plan.  If you do have one, don’t keep it a secret.

June 23, 2017

A lot of what goes on in the City of Baltimore government has an ad hoc, ill-considered feel to it, and adoption of the city budget for FY 2018 was no exception.  Rather than work within the restraints of the “executive budget system” mandated by the city charter, the city council worked around the legal limitations on its power by what politely could be referred to as hostage-taking and extortion.  Heaven forbid that council members should try to gain voter approval of a charter amendment allowing them to do what they want to do – that would involve the risk that the voters might tell them “No.”

Baltimore city leaders announced last week that they had agreed on a budget after weeks of acrimonious disagreement between members of the City Council and Mayor Catherine Pugh.  The compromise appears reasonable, at least on its face, with $7.58 million in spending shifted in the budget for the coming year, with most of it going to Baltimore’s public schools.  That does nothing to change my reservations about the nonsense that went on this year and last and I do not believe that it necessarily bodes well for the future.

The budget process always involves some contentiousness but in the last two years in Baltimore that contentiousness has risen to the level of open revolt by members of the City Council against the mayor.  Last year Council President Jack Young threatened to shut down the government if former Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake did not add funding for services to children and youth that he deemed important.

This year the council held programs and projects near and dear to the mayor hostage, threatening to defund the programs and projects unless the mayor amended the budget to fund the Safe Streets program and other programs and projects intended to benefit children and youth that council members wanted funded.  Andrew Kleine, the city’s budget director, became a lightning rod for the council’s unhappiness and the council communicated its displeasure at him by voting to defund the entire Bureau of the Budget and Management Research that he supervises.

Although it was never likely that the council would leave funding for the budget office out of the budget as finally approved, Mr. Young believed that voting to defund the mayor’s budget office was necessary to prove to the mayor that the council was not “playing.”

The Baltimore Sun editorial board heaped praise on the council for its asserting itself.  That is fine except for the fact that in the process of doing so the council revolted not only against the mayor’s proposed budget but also against the so-called “executive budget system” established by the city charter. The city charter is the “constitution” of the city approved by its voters.  Members of the council obviously didn’t like the legal budgetary framework approved by the voters so they have found a way to work around it.  Basically, they said to hell with the law.

Under the city’s executive budget system, the council may reduce but not increase the amount of the expenditure proposed by the mayor for a program or project.  Consequently, even if the council reduces the expenditure proposed for one program or project it may not use the savings to increase the expenditure for another program or project unless the mayor agrees to amend the budget to do so.

The city’s executive budget system is modeled on the state’s executive budget system, which was adopted in the early part of the 20^th century in response to a fiscal crisis.  Of the eleven charter home-rule counties in the state, seven (Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Cecil, Frederick, Harford, Howard and Wicomico) have charters that establish executive budget systems similar to the city’s.

Three of the remaining charter counties (Dorchester, Prince George’s and Dorchester) have charters that allow their county council to increase the amount of an expenditure proposed by the county executive for a program or project but not add new programs or projects.  The Montgomery County charter allows the county council to add programs or projects to the budget but gives the county executive line item veto authority over the budget as approved by the council.

According to the mayor’s statement part of the deal with the council is that more money will be allotted to the Baltimore City Public School System.  State enabling law in the Education Article provides that the city council would have the power to restore cuts made by the mayor to the budget submitted by the school system upon adoption of a charter amendment by the city implementing the power.  The city has never adopted such an amendment.

In other words, there is a right way for the city council to do what it seems to want to do, and that is to ask the voters of the city to approve an amendment to the city charter giving them the power to add expenditures to the budget that county councils in some counties have, and the power to restore any cuts made by the mayor to the school budget.  I hasten to add that I am not suggesting that a change to the city’s current executive system is prudent – I think a lot more thought should go into giving the city council any more control of the budget.

The city council did gain the approval of the voters in 2016 to an amendment to the executive budget system that requires setting aside a fixed percentage of the city’s revenue each year for the so-called Children and Youth Fund.  Ironically, in a post criticizing the idea I suggested that, as an alternative, the charter be amended to allow the council to move money between items of expenditure if the concern was that mayors were not giving sufficient priority to funding programs and services for children and youth.

Dedicating (or “earmarking”) by law a fixed percentage of revenues for expenditure for only certain purposes violates every principle of modern municipal budgeting, not the least of which is the need to retain the flexibility to adjust to crises and changes in circumstances.  Also, rating agencies and lenders get nervous if there are legal impediments that prevent revenues from being used to pay the principal and interest on city bonds and that nervousness can translate to higher interest rates charged to the city.

I saw and still see modifying the executive budget system to allow the council to move money around as less destructive to the city’s financial well-being than hard-wiring expenditure levels into the city charter.  Time will tell if the Children and Youth Fund turns out to be anything other than a massive boondoggle; rather than allocate the money in the fund through the city budget Council President Jack Young is determined to use the fund for a separate grant-making operation over which I am sure he will exercise considerable control. We’ll see how well that turns out.

A strict executive budget system does tend to tamp down expenditures.  The old saw about a camel being a horse designed by a committee applies to a budget put together by 15 members of the city council.  Gaining consensus from such a large group usually involves spending a little more money here and there; each member has his or her own idea on how to best spend the available money and that is particularly true because each member, except the president, represents a separate district.

Although I have no idea whether the criticism of Mr. Kleine by certain members of the council was fair, I do pity him a bit.  The chief budget officer in any municipal government tends to be a little stingy and that is because he or she is charged with keeping one eye on the creditworthiness of the city or county.  If bond ratings slip because of concern over how the city manages its finances borrowing can get a lot more expensive.

I am sure that Mr. Kleine was trying not to use any more of the anticipated surplus from FY 2017 than necessary as a hedge against a shortfall in the FY 2018 budget.  For one thing, the police department is nowhere near getting its overtime situation under control.  There also is a pension lawsuit that could cost the city considerable money, and the DOJ consent decree is a fiscal wild card.  The city could very well face a pinch in the fourth quarter of FY 2018 that would only get worse if revenue estimates prove over-optimistic.

In any event, Mr. Kleine got no thanks for his efforts at fiscal prudence and the comment by Mayor Pugh that “the budget process next year will be very different” came across as a rebuke directed at him.  Given that it is the mayor who makes the policy decisions on the budget her remark was not exactly a reassuring sign of leadership.

It has been a dreary two years for the city. I wish I could muster a little more optimism, but this year’s budget circus could be a sign of even more fractious times to come.

June 11, 2017

 

This post is a follow-up to my earlier post titled “Racial harmony vs. racial politics.”  The proposed resolution of the Anne Arundel Council that was the subject of that post was introduced and passed on Monday night.  All members of the County Council joined as co-sponsors of the resolution.

Annapolis civil rights activist Carl Snowden nevertheless stated that Resolution No. 22-17 passed by the Anne Arundel County Council denouncing racism and white supremacy was “disappointing.” In my opinion, his disappointment was less about the resolution than it was about the fact that his attempt to turn the resolution into a political sideshow, with him in the spotlight, had failed.  Mr. Snowden, not the resolution, is disappointing.

As I noted in last week’s post Mr. Snowden probably thought that he had Mr. Peroutka backed into a corner.  If Mr. Peroutka refused to introduce the resolution Mr. Snowden could tout the refusal as proof of his racism.  If Mr. Peroutka yielded to the demand Mr. Snowden could claim credit for his capitulation. Fortunately, Councilman Peter Smith stepped up and announced that he would introduce the resolution and invited other members of the Council to join him as co-sponsors.

The leadership demonstrated by Mr. Smith defused the situation and allowed the focus to shift from a petty political feud to trying to do something to stem the rising tide of racial animosity in the county.  It also, however, snatched an opportunity away from Mr. Snowden to even the score a bit with a political enemy and Mr. Snowden seemed very unhappy with that development.

I initially planned to submit an op ed to the The Capital expressing my disgust with Mr. Snowden’s behavior in this matter.  As I thought about it, however, I saw little good to be served.  Most of the residents of Anne Arundel County have long since formed their opinions about Mr. Snowden.  Those who view him as a race-baiting opportunist do not need any further persuasion.  Any criticism that I directed at Mr. Snowden would be written off by those who view him as a civil rights hero as the typical response of the white establishment.  Sometimes it is best to let folks judge for themselves.

June 8, 2017

 

I was heartsick when I read about the stabbing death of Lt. Richard Collins III, the Bowie University student about to graduate and embark on a career in the United States Army.  I didn’t feel any better when I read that veteran Annapolis civil rights activist Carl Snowden and others appear to be using this profound tragedy as an opportunity to refight the battle against Anne Arundel County Councilman Michael Peroutka that Mr. Snowden lost in 2014.

Sean Urbanski is charged with murdering Lt. Collins.  Urbanski was a member of a Facebook group known as “Alt Reich: Nation” that shared anti-Semitic and racist material.  Police are investigating the killing as a possible hate crime.

Mr. Snowden and his allies applied pressure on Mr. Peroutka to introduce a County Council resolution “condemning racism and white nationalism” as a response to the death of Lt. Collins.  The effort was more about racial politics than about racial harmony and had revenge written all over it.  Fortunately, Councilman Peter Smith stepped in and announced that he will introduce the resolution, a move that is likely to defuse the situation and shift the debate to a more constructive subject:  An uptick in racially-tinged incidents in Anne Arundel County and what to do about it.

Mr. Snowden, convener of the Caucus of African American Leaders, stated that Mr. Peroutka “has a moral obligation” to introduce the resolution.  Yasemin Jamison, founder of Anne Arundel County Indivisible, said that the activists reached out to other council members but that they focused on Mr. Peroutka not only because Urbanski is from his district but also because of Mr. Peroutka’s past membership in the League of the South, an organization that the Southern Poverty Law Center has labelled a hate group.  The apparent goal was to force Mr. Peroutka to prove that he is not a racist by introducing the resolution.

In 2014 Mr. Snowden made a concerted attempt to prevent Mr. Peroutka from being elected to the County Council.  Things got ugly on both sides.  Mr. Snowden labeled Mr. Peroutka an “extremist.”  Mr. Peroutka at one point alluded to “the personal demons that have plagued” Mr. Snowden, an apparent reference to past problems with alcohol and marijuana that landed Mr. Snowden in jail for ten days in 2013.

At first blush this ploy looked like a no-lose proposition for Mr. Snowden.  If Mr. Peroutka refused the demand Mr. Snowden could tout the refusal as proof of his racism.  If he yielded to the demand Mr. Snowden could claim credit for getting him to capitulate.  One important consideration appeared to be missing, however:  Mr. Peroutka was not responsible for the death of Lt. Collins.  Mr. Petrouka has no “moral obligation” to perform an act of contrition for something that he did not do.

I am not defending Mr. Peroutka’s past membership in the League of the South or his theocratic ideology, both of which I find very troubling.  I didn’t vote for him when I lived in his district but plenty of my neighbors did; he defeated the Republican incumbent in the primary and a Democratic opponent in the general election in 2014.

Mr. Peroutka renounced racism before his election and since taking office he has earned a reputation on the County Council for his civility and has done nothing to justify having his character placed on trial in the media.  In my opinion this is not about anything that Mr. Peroutka has done; this is about Mr. Snowden trying to even the score with Mr. Peroutka, whether Mr. Snowden can admit that to himself or not.

The attempt to embarrass Mr. Peroutka will make him a martyr in the minds of many white residents in his district and elsewhere in the county.  It will be perceived as race-baiting, with some justification.  Mr. Snowden and Ms. Jamison appear to be concerned that Mr. Peroutka is part of the alt-right faction that has hijacked this country.  The sad irony is that what they did provided recruiting material for the alt-right, which is absolutely the last thing that we need.

This was not the occasion for Mr. Snowden to refight the battle that he lost in 2014.  Doing so dishonored the memory of Lt. Collins and did nothing to promote the cause of racial harmony.  To the contrary, it threatened to turn what should be robust conversation about race relations into a political sideshow.

Credit to Mr. Smith.  He may have saved Mr. Snowden from embarrassing himself any further and prevented him from doing any more harm to race relations in Anne Arundel County.  His announced intention to sponsor the resolution shifts the spotlight away from the personal feud between Mr. Snowden and Mr. Peroutka and back to the subject of how to prevent future tragedies like the death of Lt. Collins.

June 2, 2017