Your neighborhood bar or liquor store causing problems? Prove it!

“Requiring these community associations to actually produce some documentation will help identify the real bad actors. Currently it seems that so many of these anti-alcohol jihads are based on rumor-mongering and smear campaigns.”
– snarkycomments

“They’ll come back next year and the board will just give them more instructions on what they did wrong. Repeat each year until they give up.”
– polterguest

“The idea that the LB would require citizens to photograph criminal activity (i.e. drug dealing) is just completely ignorant of the circumstances that people live in in neighborhoods that are flooded with liquor stores. Hey LB, can you say, ‘stop snitching’. Now we will get to read about shootings related not to the drug trade in b’more, but to the pursuit of information to satisfy the LB in order to shut down a problem liquor store. “
– DC

“Politicians, political appointees, and those with short memories please take a moment and remember the seven members of the Dawson family. The fatal 2002 firebombing was the second attempt on the Dawson family. Encouraged by then Mayor Martin O’Malley’s BELIEVE campaign that asked residents to report drug activity, the Dawson’s called the police over 100 times in a two year period. Their efforts cost them their lives.”
– Tom Gregory

“Residents should keep logs noting the time and date of incidents, call 911 not 311, obtain copies of police records for all calls near the location and be conscious of efforts by the licensee to divide and conquer.”
– John Spurrier, via Facebook
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Rec and Parks ran up a capital deficit in 2012, audit says

“The Schaefer ‘Shadow Government’ lives on! The purpose of all these public/quasi-public/private/quasi-private ‘partnerships’ is the same – to obfuscate the true costs of business. We need these audits more than ever, but the best audit of all would be inside the heads of the people involved.”
– Gerald Neily

“Baltimore City Foundation? Didn’t Sheila Dixon raid that quasi-secret fund to throw herself a parade when she took over as mayor in January 2007? Not to be confused with her 2008 inaugural parade where she raised $700,000 as a non-profit allowing donors to make contributions without regulation limits and open for reporting.”
– Tom Gregory

“The Rawlings-Blake Administration did not want to perform this audit. They took four years to do it, even though their own transition committee recommended it. The test for the Mayor, the Comptroller, and the City Council will be to see if they get a 2nd audit started right away on FY 2013.”
– axbca (Chris T. Delaporte, The Park Advocate)
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Errors, inconsistencies, poor practices in Rec and Parks financial statements

“The city has a huge problem in rec’n’parks in that they OPERATE by obscuring spending and revenues – even from other members of rec’n’parks. Consequently, the people who are supposed to be running the department actually have no valid information and no place to start to look actual spending records. Gennady Schwartz of Capital Development is supposedly the king of obtaining grants for one project and spending the actual funds on something completely different. Mr. Schwartz has apparently held more than one director at bay by waving around funds from bcf while simultaneously refusing to account for them. I’d also be interested in the costs per participant for various parks programs and whether the participants were city residents or purchased tickets or paid permit fees and whether the costs of the fees actually covered the costs of services provided.”
– bmorepanic

“In private industry these offences are criminal. Enron did some of this stuff, i.e. revenues as expenses.”
– Christian Dunn, via Facebook

“Not one single solitary surprise in this audit report. My remaining concern is the report did NOT go far enough in disclosing the CASH management problem better known as the CASH that walked syndrome which is pervasive in the department.”
– trueheart4life
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Fells Point tavern license affirmed, despite opposition by four community groups

“How exactly do they expect any business to try to work with them, when they’ve made the decision that, no matter what, they absolutely will oppose any BD-7 licenses? The Community Associations brought this down on themselves. Maybe they’ll learn some humility and recognize that their decision isn’t the end-all, be-all and that maybe they need to look deeper sometimes.”
– Kryptaku

“Wow, look deeper – love the therapeutic sermon there. Do you know what the BD-7 is? It’s a way for taverns to convert to liquor stores, promising to stay 50 per cent bar and 50 per cent liquor sales. And for liquor stores to get Sunday openings. That’s what Bristol did – they were a liquor store, and they bought a tavern license so they could do Sundays. What’s wrong with BD-7s? Easy. Taverns become liquor stores with it, liquor stores do 7 day if they can buy a tavern license, and the hood gets liquor store overkill. And the 50/50 reg is almost unenforceable if not unenforced. It’s dumb head city planning – load up the hoods with liquor stores. One GOOD liquor store, maybe two. But NYC and other towns long ago learned that you don’t grow city hoods by adding liquor stores.”
– Right Time

“The community refused to entertain negotiations with the licensee, which forced the licensee to apply for the license despite their objections.”
– Anon

“You got it backwards. The liquor store applied to expand to 7 days, using a tavern license they bought. That means the place should be changed to 50 per cent bar space, 50 per cent liquor sales. Have you been in there? It has like 10 feet of space for bar stools, and like 500 for liquor sales. More straightforwardly, put it this way: the Liquor Board refused to entertain the enforcement of their own regulations. They oughta be sued or something. That MOU talk is a new Liquor Board cover for incompetence and plain irresponsibility. Oh look, we’re letting this guy violate and it’s the community’s fault, they won’t talk to him.”
– Right Time

“I represented Bristol Liquors on this matter. FPCO was contacted in advance of the hearing in an attempt to garner support. I know because I sent the email. The response was that they voted last year to oppose ANY BD-7 transfers into Fells Point. They were unwilling to negotiate, and gambled they would win at the initial hearing. A gamble they lost. . . Had the community at any time reached out to negotiate a mutually beneficial deal, as we had, my client and I would have met with them. They did not.”
– abehurdle

“One problem with what Mr. Hurdle says is that, unlike what he said at the hearing, he did not contact Victor or David Martz. He did contact FPCO and he is right about our position, although we also took a vote on this specific Transfer. Our position on this issue is not capricious, but is reasoned and based on broader concerns that we have about the impact on the community brought about by a proliferation , and over saturation of liquor establishments. We thought that this position was, frankly, more fair and consistent, and would make us less open to accusations by attorneys and licensees/applicants that we were being biased against specific individuals. . .”
– Joanne Masopust
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Jack Young has City Hall’s biggest war chest – most of it from people who don’t live here

“Wow! What a thorough report on Jack Young’s fundraising. Your questions, research, and reporting will hopefully keep Young on task for the public good.”
– s. mark cates

“it does not necessarily follow from the fact that someone who does business with the city gives contributions that they are doing so as part of a shakedown. even if the contributor _thinks_ he needs to pay to play, that doesn’t make it so. but really, the issues that the Baltimore City Council deals with on a regular basis where they actually have power are so obtuse that it’s not like regular citizens have any reason to care who their reps are for the most part, so why would they give?”
– paticklyons

“Jack Young a populist. I like the sound of it. It is nonsense, but I like the sound of it.”
– Sean Tully
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Inside City Hall: A mayor who literally spends her political capital

“Treating the mayor’s cabal to ball games and covering her hair tab is wrong. She won’t get a dime from me.”
– James Byrnes

“It’s probably just a coincidence that once a politico enlists the services of the mighty [Colleen Martin-Lauer],organizations such as SEIU, Professional Fire Fighters of MD, FOP, Teamsters, AFSCME, etc., soon begin delivering cash and large voting blocs to those select candidates. It’s probably also just a coincidence that those who run in opposition to a CM-L represented candidate rarely win an election.”
– Patti Banks

“Colleen Martin Lauer,
is an enigmatic woman –
not a pretty flower,
a master manipulator of power,
every single day,
she enjoys a dollar shower.”
– Usha Nellore

“If people give [the mayor] money through fundraisers, why should the public care where she spends it? If this was city/state/federal money, I would be concerned but this seems hardly news worthy to me.”
– Andrew Keimig

“Fair enough, but I’m concerned about who’s on the list of donors and who is controlling the money.”
– Tom Gregory
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Eastside market-rate housing planned near Hopkins medical complex

“They’re not being built for the 1%. They’re being built for the medical residents and staff physicians who relocate from out-of-state or wish to live close by.”
– Sheila Ebelein

“OK, and why would that be bad?”
– Barnadine_the_Pirate

“Well, *I* don’t consider it good. I think it is yet another example of how JHMI has benefited from the community (surrounding & metropolitan in general) in order to serve their own goals while filling their pockets.This is not community redevelopment. This is a project that will serve the housing needs for JHMI. Don’t be blind to the master that is being served here. If you think that this development will draw residents into the city, you are mistaken. It *may* draw some from other parts of the city temporarily. When they complete their medical residency or fellowship or have children who reach school age, they will take their tax base and flee.”
– Sheila Ebelein

“Explain to me why you think it’s bad to replace mostly boarded-up vacants with new houses containing taxpayers? Even if – under your scenario – they depreciate in value after a few years?”
– Barnadine_the_Pirate

“It will provide a shiny new house *proximal* to the JHMI campus for those who come here *temporarily*. And let me be crystal clear – this neighborhood was *allowed* to deteriorate *because* it was beneficial to Hopkins for it to so. I believe this without a shred of doubt. I watched it happen.”
– Sheila Ebelein

“So we’re getting into the delusional paranoid fantasy phase of the conspiracy theory. . . These are not ‘temporary’ houses. Someone will live in them. Again, they may go up in value, or they may go down in value, but they are houses, not tents or motor homes.”
– Barnadine_the_Pirate

“The reality is that Hopkins gets what Hopkins wants and Hopkins wanted the real estate to be used for its benefit. Educate yourself. Do a little research. Start with old maps of the surrounding area. Make sure you go back far enough, though. This didn’t happen overnight. Do you have any idea what has been razed to expand their footprint?. . . I never said that the structures were temporary. That is *your* misrepresentation. I believe the buyers of those homes will primarily be Hopkins employees. They will not become long-term city residents. They will be assisted in making their purchases by the Hopkins credit union. They will also be assisted in selling the house when the time comes for them to move on. Subsidies from the hospital? Possible. Purchasing units through a subsidiary corporation? Possible.”
– Sheila Ebelein

“If this was the only neighborhood in Baltimore to deteriorate in the past 50 years her point would be better taken. Did Hopkins cause the decline of Sandtown? Cherry Hill? The problems which have afflicted the city, including my own neighborhood, took decades to develop and stem from a very wide and complex web of circumstances. It’s foolish to blame Hopkins for the collapse of Middle East; Hopkins had a vested interest in seeing that neighborhood thrive.”
– Barnadine_the_Pirate

“I stand by what I’ve written. I didn’t allege an Illuminati-esque Machiavellian conspiracy, but I see how your strawman might benefit your position for some readers.”
– Sheila Ebelein

“Pirate and Sheila, regarding psycho-pathologies, what about a city and its institutions that keep destroying block upon block of its own surroundings?”
– Gerald Neily
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Re-carpeting City Hall to cost $750,000

“$750,000!!! The audacity to even float that idea. Please tell us – who landed that lucrative contract? Lunacy.”
– Citizen_MD

“This is catnip for outrage junkies. A city has to maintain its infrastructure, and as silly as it sounds carpet is part of that responsibility.”
– einbalt

“That being said, there’s nothing wrong with trying to force the government to justify their expenditures. to that degree the article, catnip or not, is worth it.”
– Aaron Mirenzi

“The expense is morally offensive Renew Baltimore when compared to the needs in the city schools, the city infrastructure, and the reduction of murdered citizens especially the children in the last week. Do you need more examples?”
– micamon

“Of course it costs $750K. Goes with the phone system they have to have.”
– Andrew