Pubdate: Mon, 06 Jun 2016
Source: Baltimore Sun (MD)
Copyright: 2016 The Baltimore Sun Company
Contact:  http://www.baltimoresun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/37
Author: Zeke Cohen
Note: Zeke Cohen is the Democratic nominee for Baltimore's City 
Council in the 1st District. These Democratic nominees also 
contributed to the op-ed: Isaac Schleifer, 5th District; Kris 
Burnett, 8th District; John Bullock, 9th

REBUILDING FAITH IN BALTIMORE CITY

Throughout Baltimore, citizens' faith in our public institutions has 
been badly shaken.

Last year saw the most murders per capita on record. Scandals have 
hobbled our housing and police departments. The recent election 
resulted in "widespread irregularities." Full agency audits have 
proven elusive amid continual delays.

Our Affordable Housing Trust Fund is broke.

Over a year after Freddie Gray's untimely death, we have not fully 
addressed any of the inequities that haunted his short life

Yet there are glimmers of hope. Throughout the city, citizens are 
digging in, reinvesting, rebuilding community and creating new 
opportunities. In the most recent election, voters were energized and 
turned out in unprecedented numbers.

They selected eight new Democratic nominees for the City Council. 
Five of us have come together to offer an alternative vision for what 
our city could look like.

We reflect the diversity that makes Baltimore great.

In our day jobs, we share a commitment to raising the next generation 
of healthy, well-informed citizens.

We are educators, community organizers, small business owners and mentors.

And while our policy preferences may differ, we ran for office 
because we believe in Baltimore, and we know that rebuilding our city 
will require us to work together across lines of difference. We 
reject the provincialism that has kept our city separate and 
segregated. We believe that economic development must be evenly 
shared across communities. And we believe that government must 
operate with transparency, efficiency and inclusiveness.

Our city cannot survive if we continue to have large pockets of 
poverty near areas of affluence.

We are committed to building affordable integrated housing, creating 
a transit system that effectively serves all citizens and helping to 
usher in a new era of excellence in our schools.

We believe that members of the City Council must reassert ourselves 
in the conversations about how our institutions are governed as we 
work with our partners in Annapolis.

We believe that expanding opportunities for citizens who have felt 
voiceless does not need to come at the expense of public safety.

We reject the misguided impulse to fear our children, even those who 
are hard to reach.

We have wasted too many precious lives and dollars on our failed War 
on Drugs and the resultant wave of mass incarceration. We must invest 
in services and programs that we know will keep our kids on the right track.

Here is one policy proposal to consider: What if we shifted our past 
commitment away from "zero tolerance for drug use" toward "zero 
tolerance for youth unemployment"? The goal would be to make sure 
every young person between the ages of 16 and 24 who wants to work is 
able to attain a decent job with a path toward a career.

We would marshal all sectors including business, philanthropic and 
government toward this end. There is already good work being done to 
make sure our young people have job opportunities, but with the full 
commitment and entrepreneurial spirit of our citizens we could do even better.

We know that rebuilding faith in Baltimore will not be easy. Nothing 
worth doing ever is. But we also know that through collective action, 
and a renewed commitment to civic engagement, we can fix what's been 
broken over so many years.

We are excited to learn from our elders, while also forging a new 
generation of leadership. We hope to help build a city that is worthy 
of its great citizens.

We hope that you will join us in this effort.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom