Open Thread: What Do You Want From the State of the City Address?

The mayor has used the address in the past to highlight policy priorities.

In the past two State of the City Addresses, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake emphasized her desire to grow the city by 10,000 families in a decade, and to be an executive who doesn’t sugar coat the truth. She previously used the speech to roll out proposals, such as restructuring the quasi-public Baltimore Development Corporation, and increasing the city’s bottle tax to help fund the Better Schools Initiative. On Feb. 11, the mayor will deliver her next State of the City Address at City Hall. The mayor faces an improved budget situation, but still must close an expected deficit. She has also been lobbying state lawmakers to guarantee grants so the city can borrow the money needed to begin replacing city schools, the oldest stock in the …

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Mayor Urges City To Show Purple Pride

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake wants residents to put purple lights on their homes and businesses to show support for the Ravens playoff push.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is urging Baltimore residents to light the exterior of their homes and businesses with purple lights to show support for the Ravens playoff push. Purple lights have already been installed on the War Memorial, the Ravens Logo has been painted on the War Memorial's grass and City Hall will be lit in purple starting Friday, according to a news release. "Coach Harbaugh, the players, and the entire Ravens organization should be commended for their fifth consecutive trip to the postseason," Rawlings-Blake said in the news release. "This year has an added significance with the announced retirement of Ray Lewis. As he carries the team through the playoffs to the Super Bowl, we must celebrate his Hall of Fame career …

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City Seeks Donated Holiday Tree

The tree will be put on display in front of City Hall.

Baltimore is hoping someone will step up and donate a tree to be displayed outside of City Hall. The city announced in a news release Tuesday, that it is seeking a 25-35 feet tall spruce or fir tree with symmetrical branches and no obvious holes or gaps to continue the tradition of placing a tree in front of City Hall during the holiday season. The city will pay to have the selected tree taken down and removed from the owner’s property, send a letter of thanks from Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and as well as post the name of the donor on a sign next to the tree. “In the past, trees have been donated by a number of individuals and businesses, including TDH Nursery of Monkton, Ms. Linda Meyer of Fallston, Mr. and Mrs. Mario Petri of …

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Notes from City Hall

Young Says 'No' to Clack

A look at the news and notes coming from City Hall this week.

The battle over the budget, and cuts to the fire department, continued for a little bit longer during Monday’s City Council meeting. While voting on second reader to approve executive appointments, City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young was the only member to vote against reappointing Fire Chief James Clack. During budget season, Young supported an alternative that would have kept three firehouses open that were closed in the mayor’s budget. Despite the objections of the firefighters union, Clack supported the mayor’s proposal to close those stations. Derecho Hearing Approved The council unanimously approved Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke’s resolution calling for an informational hearing with BGE officials about the lessons learned …

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Kathleen C. Ambrose

3:36 pm on Thursday, August 16, 2012

I hope the bill does pass, but I, too, can't see how it's going to be enforced. Wyman Park Drive and Remington had a mattress and sofa piled around the public receptacle (obvious household trash), but it's not like anyone is leaving their name and address on this stuff.   more ›