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Health & Fitness

Council Supports Communities, Entrepreneurs

Baltimore City Council Supports Communities, Entrepreneurs.

It is an unfortunate fact of life that residents of our city periodically encounter nuisance properties that drag down home values and place a drain on precious resources, like our police and fire departments.

I have been focused on combating nuisance properties for some time and over the past couple years I have successfully raised fines for disorderly conduct, like public drunkenness, and raised the fines associated with illegal dumping.

These tools have been helpful, but law-abiding citizens remain vulnerable to the small percentage of negligent property owners who cause headaches for the overwhelming majority of Baltimore’s good neighbors.

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On Monday, during the regularly scheduled City Council meeting, I was proud to introduce a resolution in support of legislation working through the Maryland General Assembly that will amend the Real Property Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland, which is commonly referred to as the “Community Bill of Rights.”

The proposed state legislation (H.B. 365 and S.B. 130) is designed to allow community associations to more easily take legal action against owners of buildings with code violations. The law offers communities an opportunity to address nuisance properties through private legal action, and these amendments remove language that has created roadblocks for communities seeking to take legal action against nuisance properties.

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The proposed changes to the Real Property Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland include:

  • Repealing a requirement that a community association must file a bond with the courts before seeking abatement.
  • Amending the definition of community association, which would make it easier for organizations to file suit against negligent property owners.
  • Allowing a community association to seek legal remedies when a nuisance is present within the association’s boundaries.

On Monday I also introduced a resolution in support of National Entrepreneurship Week, which takes place the week of February 18, 2012.

National Entrepreneurship Week offers us an opportunity to focus on innovative ways that entrepreneurship education can be used to help our children unlock their dreams. Baltimore’s public schools have been huge supporters of entrepreneurship training and currently have sizeable programs in 20 schools. I have for years supported a wide variety of programs and activities that are designed to help Baltimore’s young people grow academically, socially and athletically. Through my P.L.A.Y. (Productive Lives, Active Youth) campaign, I’ve worked to increase and improve recreational activities offered to young people. My resolution in support of National Entrepreneurship Week is a way for my colleagues on the City Council and me to show support for this important initiative. We all need to applaud these students for preparing themselves to serve as the next generation of business leaders.

And finally, I also introduced a resolution during Monday’s City Council meeting in support of legislation in the Maryland General Assembly (H.B. 250) that would boost voter participation by aligning city elections with the presidential election cycle, beginning in 2016.
This past November, after a record low number of registered voters cast ballots in the Baltimore City general election, most people agreed that work needed to be done in future elections to improve voter turnout. Aligning city elections with the presidential election cycle would save Baltimore millions of dollars and drastically improve voter participation.

Thank you for contacting your legislator to ask for support of these important bills. To find you elected officials, enter your home address at http://mdelect.net/

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