Hope is not a Strategy

By: Joel E. Gordon

In a twist to the notion of taxation without representation after 37 businesses representing the one of the city’s more vibrant areas paid attention to the city’s reaction to violence, including shootings that injured three people in Baltimore’s trendy Fells Point – described as one of the “crown-jewels” of the city - business owners there signed a letter threatening to not pay taxes if city officials did not provide additional resources for what they described as long-standing problems, including crime, trash and traffic.

“We have reached our breaking point. Our elected leaders have closed their eyes and ears and turned their backs on our community for long enough. We are fed up and frustrated, and we now realize that nothing will change unless we demand action.”

“When it comes to prostitution, public urination and defecation, and the illegal sale and consumption of alcohol and illicit drugs on the streets, we know these crimes are not as serious as the carjackings, shootings, and homicides that have become routine,” the letter read. “But, as this past weekend proved, a culture of lawlessness rarely remains confined to petty offenses and invariably leads to the kinds of violence and tragedy we witnessed late Saturday night.”

“The trash that piles up every week drifts into the Inner Harbor and hurts the environment, attracts rodents and fosters disease, and stinks up the streets and damages the beauty of our wonderful waterfront community. Every neighborhood, residential and commercial, is entitled to regular and reliable trash removal.”

“Frankly, it’s pathetic that we have to ask for these basics.” “But this is where we are.”

The businesses advised the city that they would be putting their taxes, permit fees, and other funds withheld into an escrow account that would be released once the city had met their demands.

“Many of us have obtained expensive liquor licenses and are subject to routine code inspection,” the letter further read. “We are carefully regulated and pay taxes on the proceeds of our liquor and alcohol sales. Yet, there are individual vendors in Fells Point illegally selling large volumes of alcohol, marijuana, and a range of other illicit substances directly in front of our establishments with no consequences or penalties.”

The response was swift. A town hall came at the request of Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson, who sent a letter to the mayor and Police Commissioner Michael Harrison asking for the meeting. Three state delegates and City Councilman Zeke Cohen echoed his request. In addition to the meeting with residents, they demanded “a comprehensive plan for Fells Point that not only aims to deter violence, but that also addresses the other conditions.”

Mayor Brandon Scott convened the virtual town hall before about 700 participants and the police department announced detailed plans to flood the area with officers, along with a promise to start enforcing laws such as open container violations that have long been ignored. But this in conflict with State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s policy not to prosecute what she considers to be low-level crimes.

Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced at the beginning of the pandemic that her office would stop prosecuting lower-level crimes such as open container violations, public urination, defecation, prostitution, and alleged low-level drug possession offenses. The business owners said in their letter that the lack of enforcement of the petty crimes has led to a violent situation in the neighborhood, and they demanded city officials have the police department take action.

Mosby responded to the criticism from the Fells Point business owners and defended her policies. “Having the police respond to the Harbor for an open container makes absolutely no sense when we have an increase in non-fatal shootings and homicides,” the prosecutor said. “It’s about resource allocation. You can’t have it both ways. We want to deploy our officers in a way that makes sense for trying to change the trajectory of violence in our city.”

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott released a statement shortly after he received a copy of the letter.

“Mayor Scott shares the business owners’ frustrations over the violence across the city, and has ordered the Baltimore Police Department, Department of Public Works, and Department of Transportation to work collaboratively to address it,” the statement read. “The Mayor is working tirelessly to hold people committing violence accountable, remove violent offenders from our streets, and identify illegal firearm traffickers so Baltimore residents can enjoy a night out without fear of endangerment.”

Yet, while Fells Point received a greater reaction from government officials than other less affluent areas of the city have traditionally experienced, Mayor Scott himself, failed to even attend the highly touted virtual town hall which was promoted in response to the Fells Point business owners threats of action against the city. Scott’s office issued a statement that said the mayor had a previously-scheduled commitment.

Richard Vatz, rhetoric professor at Towson University, said Scott’s actions spoke louder than his words and displayed an apparent lack of leadership. “I think when the chief administrative officer of the city decides not to go to a meeting that implies it is not his number one priority. There’s no way to get around it. By saying ‘we hope to see you there’ he implied that he’s going to be there and when he’s not, the inference is that he doesn’t care very much. It’s irresponsible to imply you’re going to be there and then not be there.”

Other, less affluent areas of the city who have been plagued with the same concerns for decades paid attention to the city’s overall reaction to the demands in trendy Fells Point. Community leaders across the city for the most part said they weren’t criticizing the Fells Point business owners for their demands, but the city for its lack of response elsewhere.

“We don’t get any kind of response like that,” said Marvin L. “Doc” Cheatham, president of a Neighborhood Association in West Baltimore. Cheatham said the majority of the city’s homicides are Black victims and their killings are occurring in Black communities.

“What if we stopped paying taxes?” he said.

The city of Baltimore has surpassed 300 homicides in 2021 once again for the seventh consecutive year in a row. "You've just had the pastor of St. Leo's pistol-whipped. This poor woman stabbed to death in a church in east Baltimore. No, there is no place safe anymore," said former Baltimore City Police commissioner Ed Norris.

"I don't even know how to respond to some of the things being said. We're hoping things get better and no one is doing anything about it. I have a bulletin for everybody - hope is not a strategy."

Is there any solution to improve Baltimore’s future? The federal government made a commitment to step in on crime wave issues as they see it but if ineffective, uncaring and ill-advised, often conflicting policies, rule the day it is clearly not very likely, if not impossible, until major leadership and philosophical changes occur at every level.

Joel E. Gordon is a former Field Training Officer with the Baltimore City Police Department and is a past Chief of Police for the city of Kingwood, West Virginia. He has also served as vice-chair of a multi-jurisdictional regional narcotics task force. An award winning journalist, he is author of the book Still Seeking Justice: One Officer's Story and founded the Facebook group Police Authors Seeking Justice. Look him up at stillseekingjustice.com