Coats for children

The need for children's coats still continues as we are being contacted by many schools throughout Baltimore City.  We have already provided close to 300 coats this season and yet we are getting requests from the Baltimore City Public School System advising us of the need for these coats for the children of this city.  So take a look through your closet and the coat that you bought for young Bill, your 12 year old, who is now 19 and is six foot tall might not need that small size jacket.  We will happily wash or dry clean them and repair them if they are repairable so that we can get them out to children in need of warm coats for the winter season.

Please bring them to "The Book Thing, Inc." located at Vineyard Lane and 30th Street and our little angel over there will pick them up and wash them for us and deliver them so that we can get them circulated into the school system.  This is really important to make sure that children are not suffering through the winter without warm clothing.  Tonight we will have a pickup and it means that we are running low on coats for children.

Thanks for your help and have a really happy holiday.

How do you correct a serious garbage problem in Charles Village???

One of our neighbors has been concerned over the North Charles Village PUD area and the fact that most of the buildings (home residency, landlord or JHU owned or occupied) within that location do not appear to be following the guidelines mandated by the community before they approved this agreement between the community and the developer.   Many meetings were held and tempers flared constantly at those meetings before an agreement was entered into.  However, at the completion of these meetings an agreement was reached, but most of the buildings within this area simply do not comply with the guidelines agreed upon.  This has meant that garbage is flowing out of dumpsters which are not properly closed, trash cans are non-existent and filth permeates the area.  Charles Village is not unique in that it has a rat program and JHU has supported the CVCBD in establishing a rat abatement program that is supposed to curtail this problem, but now the question arises in that if the garbage is not disposed of in a proper manner, are we now just feeding the rats in order to increase the numbers to then qualify for another grant next year?  Our neighbor has gone to the various agencies involved in this issue, because it is a serious health issue but nothing gets accomplished.  Housing takes 10 days in order to research an issue, which is usually beyond the period that the problem exists.  He has sought the help of his City Council Representative(s) who have meetings with the people involved, but the problem continues.  The CVCA, while approving the PUD and amdendments, takes no responsibility for compliance or enforcement of the PUD and won't even write a letter to our Council Representative(s) to enforce this ordinance, so the problem continues, not that the CVCA's letter would have any further strength than what the neighbor has in getting the problem resolved.  He has been diligent and provided all parties with photographs depicting the situation, but still no resolution. 

I would think that the most simple solution would be to ensure compliance with the guidelines of the PUD and find a mechanism where those who do not follow the guidelines be fined.  If reasoning does not prevail here, direct talks with the individuals and owners responsible for the filth and lack of compliance with the NCVPUD, then it appears that the only way the situation can be resolved is through a monetary fine.  It is amazing how this act accomplishes what promises, meetings cannot.  Baltimore is not going to get rid of the rat issue unless they correct the manner in which they handle their garbage.  Following basic garbage issues can stop the further population explosion of rats.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

I have sent Mr. David T. Hill, Administrator of the Charles Village Community Benefits District, 2434 St. Paul Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21218 an invoice covering my services in removing leaves as he states the CVCBD does for all areas of Charles Village.  In fact it would appear that the work is only accomplished on the gateway streets and in the area immediately surrounding the JHU properties and business district as five (full time or temporary) employees were positioned there cleaning up that area.   It would appear that most of the side streets are ignored by the Benefits District and therefore as I am obliged to pay the tax that is supposed to clean up my street, that I should be paid for their work not performed.

Another neighbor's view on the adequacy of a streetcar

The latest issue of the Charles Villager contains quite an article by Peter Duvall touting the proposed Charles Street trolley.  Like just about all articles in the Charles Villager, it only presents one side of the issue, and one could conclude from the article that there is no opposition to the proposed trolley.  Therefore, i would like here to discuss three problems with the proposed trolley: the design and route, the method of financing the construction, and the operating costs.


The Design and Route:  The proposal is for the trolley to operate almost entirely on one way streets and for the trolley to share its entire roadway with cars, trucks and buses.  The trolley will travel north mostly on Charles Street, go east on University Parkway, go south on St. Paul Street, go west on Mt. Royal Avenue (crossing Charles Street), go south on Cathedral Street, and go through the Inner Harbor using a route that I need not discuss here.  Thus, the route is basically a figure eight with the crossover point at Charles Street and Mount Royal Avenue.  Therefore, if anything blocks the route for a significant amount of time, for example if there is a car accident on the track or if a streetcar breaks down, half of the route will be shut down, either the northern part above Charles and Mt. Royal, or the southern part below that intersection.  Unlike a bus or the Circulator, the trolley cannot go around a blockage or an accident.  In fact, Charles Street has been closed down just north of North Avenue due to a water main break.  If the trolley were in operation, that would have shut down the northern part of the route.  When the Metro or the Light Rail is blocked, the MTA runs buses to fill the gap; will that happen with the proposed trolley?

The streetcars that I remember in Washington, DC were on wide two way streets and occupied the center of each street.  There were two parallel sets of tracks, one for each direction, and the route was shared with cars, trucks and buses only at intersections.  If a streetcar broke down, following streetcars could temporarily use a section of the other track.  This is similar to how the Light Rail had only a single track for much of its route when it was first built until it could be expanded.


The Financing of the Construction:  When the trolley was first proposed, the plan was to use tax increment financing, and Peter Duvall's article makes clear that that is still the plan for covering construction costs.  Tax increment financing has three parts.  First, the City Council would pledge that the increase after a certain date in real estate tax collections in a specified area around the trolley (the tax increment), or a fixed percentage of that increase, would be pledged to pay for the construction of the trolley.  Secondly, in order to begin construction in a timely fashion, the City would issue bonds to be paid off using the tax increment.  And thirdly, the City would set up a backup special tax district to kick in if the tax increment should prove insufficient to make the bond payments.

If real estate values go up sufficiently, this can seem like a way to pay for the trolley with what essentially is free money.  The downside, however, is that the tax increment will be used to pay off the bonds rather than being available for education, public safety, sanitation and the other numerous needs of the City.

The big problem comes if the tax increment is not sufficient.  We recently have seen revenue from the City real estate tax in Charles Village go down and not up.  Unless real estate values soon take off again, there is no way that there will be a sufficient tax increment to finance construction of the trolley.  Instead, we who live near the proposed trolley can expect to be hit with an additional surtax.

David Funk, a lawyer who has worked with the Charles Street Development Corporation and who drafted possible state legislation for the trolley, has said that there is no requirement that tax increment financing include a backup special tax district, and I have no reason to doubt what he has said.  However, it is hard to imagine that investors would buy tax increment financing bonds without a backup special tax district unless they were promised a huge interest rate, and even then, it is doubtful that they would buy the bonds.  Indeed, at a hearing in Annapolis that I attended concerning a bill to abolish all special tax districts (the bill was to solve a problem in Prince Georges County, but a bill could not apply to only one county), a  representative of the City government testified that the bill would kill all tax increment financing.  In short, if tax increment financing is used for the construction of the trolley, we are at risk of another surtax, and that surtax may be sizable.

Peter Duvall's article hinted at 50 year bonds, but bonds are rarely issued for such a long period.  Moreover, the interest rate is generally higher on longer term bonds.


The Operating Costs:  When I represented the Abell Improvement Association on a task force charged with examining details of the trolley proposal, we were given figures from the consultant hired by the City to refine the proposal for the trolley.  The plan was to have the same rate structure as the MTA so that passengers would be able to get day, weekly and monthly passes that could be used on both the MTA buses, Metro and Light Rail and on the trolley.  With such a plan, and with the assumption that the money that the City now spends on the purple line of the Circulator would be contributed to the operating costs of the trolley, and with the assumption that the MTA would contribute an amount equal to what it would save by no longer having to serve the riders who would use the trolley, and with the assumption that the City would raise its parking tax citywide to further subsidize the trolley, there still was a need for a special tax district to cover a deficit in the operating costs for the trolley.

Note too that by law, the MTA is required to get 40% of its operating budget from its fare boxes, with the rest coming from a subsidy from the State.  The MTA barely meets that requirement.  Can anybody believe that we will not be taxed a sizable amount to subsidize the trolley?  Or will there be another source of funds?

Note too that if, as the article states, long term continuation of the Circulator is iffy, then so is a City contribution to the trolley of an amount equal to what the City now spends on the purple line of the Circulator.


In short, the Charles Street Trolley is a bad deal for us in Charles Village and for the City.  The purple line of the Circulator, if it is extended north to University Parkway, will do everything for us that the trolley would do.  It will have a comparable operating cost and will avoid the construction cost of the trolley.  It certainly will not cost that much more than the present purple line which goes only as far north as Penn Station.


Steve

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Streetcar Campaign article highlighted in The Charles Villager

"The Charles Villager Holiday 2012" issue ran an article entitled "Baltimore Streetcar Campaign Compares Nationally".  I presume the "comparison" is the chart produced by the article's author, Mr. Peter Duvall , but what I find there is nothing that would support the Baltimore Streetcar campaign. In fact what I see is the opposite and I will attempt to explain:

1.  In one section of the article, Mr. Duvall reports for the proposed Baltimore Streetcar "Route Miles are 3.5 miles" while another section of the article he reports a 4 mile route.   Three and one-half miles (as originally presented in the original plan) to four miles (if extended to Key Highway?) is correct if he is considering that the streetcar will only go up North Charles Street and remain stationary at either JHU or 39th Street and University Parkway, never to move again.  However, as the streetcar has been projected  to complete travel by going  north on North Charles Street and south on St. Paul Street, then  Mr. Duvall's calculation of  "Construction Cost $ Millions of $195 million" does not represent the full cost of  the line.  Another $195 million must be added for the return trip which would make it $390 million to construct the line up and down the corridor, the full trip from JHU to the Inner Harbor via St. Paul Street and back to JHU along North Charles Street.  I don't believe any contractor would offer a bargain of "buy half a route at $195 million and get the other section free".  And even the $390 million figure is $40 million moe than what I quoted several years ago at a meeting in Mount Vernon to a group of residents and business owners who were listening to the streetcar  proposal presented by the Charles Street Development Corp. at that time.  And that was to go only as far as the Inner Harbor and not Key Highway, which could then increase the cost to construct the line up to $500 million.

2.  The author of the article goes on to state that to pay off the "substantial" upfront cost of the streetcar line it can be done over 50 years (actually 55.74 years) through the $1. total ticket cost for the traveling public. And he presumes the City will also be using additional income from presumed increased real estate values to pay for the capital costs as well.  Stating that the cost of a streetcar ride could be only $1.sounds quite reasonable comparing it to the regular bus line's cost of $1.60 per ticket today if every thing were to work out as he suggests, he has forgotten the Operational Costs needed to run the streetcar which would raise the ticket cost substantially.  He uses the $1. per ticket to both pay for the capital costs and to run the streetcar system – but only up to the "start-up period".  None of this makes any sense at all.  Based on his projections, apparently utilizing U.S. Transit Projects analysis, by the year 2030 the annual ridership will amount to 7 million passengers, or simply 19,178 passengers per day to equal revenue of $19,178. in order to pay off an accumulated debt of $390 million dollars, plus unknown and on-going operational costs.  There is no way that this streetcar can run financially sound with such a small revenue base.  Unless the supporters are back to the idea of surtaxing property owners within a mile on each side of the streetcar routes comes back into play as it did in the initial plans for this campaign.

3.  At the beginning of his article Mr. Duvall writes that "some North Central Baltimore residents wonder why it isn't easier to get to Mount Vernon or Downtown".  This seems strange when there are three bus lines servicing the area daily, and since it is really only 3.5 or 4 miles it that can be walked or biked easily. What will really happen to those bus lines that serve not just a very limited population in "North Central Baltimore" but people needing to travel much farther along the line than to University Parkway and 39th Streets for work and to get to other places as far as Towson and Cockeysville without using cars if they even have cars available to them?  Or will these people join all the others in Baltimore who don't have all the bus lines we presently have in this corridor and have to add hours to their commute to and from work.  Real and existing public transportation will have to be sacrificed as there simply isn't sufficient room along this narrow corridor to accommodate a streetcar, bikes, passenger cars that won't simply disappear, and delivery trucks without which every business cannot survive. And what part of the projected 19,178 passengers who take existing transportation up to Cockeysville and Towson and who will not be using the limited streetcar service?  No mention of this in his statistics.

4.  Mr. Duvall mentions how thrilled people were to have the free circulator extended along the same line that the streetcar would service. He presumes that the City lacks the funds to run expanded circulator routes, but doesn't utilize any specific sources to prove his point, as the City believes that it will have sufficient income to continue the route from projected parking revenue.  We are quite sure that the Mayor considered these costs prior to advising the traveling public that the circulator would continue through Charles Village up to JHU.  So now we are to believe that a streetcar line that could cost anywhere from $390 million to $500 million is far superior and less costly to a circulator providing the residents, businesses and students free transportation.   It simply does not make any sense whatsoever.  Can you imagine the traveling public sitting there and saying, "do I want to pay $390 million to $500 million to have a service that was going to be provided to me for free?"  Would you want to be taxed additionally for something that the City would provide for free?

5.  The author continues his sales pitch about how wonderful it will be with the streetcar running north on North Charles Street and forgets that it has to run south on St. Paul Street.  He hasn't considered the loss of the Christmas spectacle of the lighting of the Washington Monument, the Book Fair, the Flower Mart not to mention the deliveries to all of the "140,000 jobs, 55,000 residents and dozens of cultural and entertainment" venues that will be lost by this streetcar that will run on streets that are in some places 15 feet curbside to curbside?  What happens when a water main breaks?  Has he considered for one moment the economic impact it will have on the community when they can no longer park their car(s) because of the space needed to construct this streetcar route?  We in Baltimore City (and therefore Charles Village)  pay a real estate tax (the highest in the state), a surtax for supplemental services and now to add further insult, are we to expect that we will have to pay $150. to $300. monthly to park our car(s)?  And what about our guests, from out-of-town and from other areas of the City?  Since the parking has been limited by the streetcar, will we have to tell them to stay home and not visit us?  I'm sure that this will really help the Mayor's plan of increasing the population of Baltimore City. 

Certainly our money can be wisely used to upgrade the existing bus system that provides services for all residents as well as for those who travel along this corridor.  Increase the ridership on the circulator but don't create a system that will cost far more than the proponents will advise us and, based even on Steering Committee figures, will never obtain financial sustainability.  Let's quit fooling ourselves because this clearly is not a well thought out idea and will not benefit anyone.  Statistically it is based on unfounded ideas that have not been thoroughly investigated and, even using the author's own figures, does not make any financial sense. 

 

Without cause still continues.........

During the recent election of the Quad Representatives, all four participants agreed in essence to Ms. Floyd's question about the "without cause" issue that applies where fellow Board Members can remove an elected and/or appointed member on the board without cause wasn't fair.  One Quad Representative stated to the audience that Ms. Floyd misrepresented herself when asking the question, as there was no such stipulation in the by-laws of the CVCBD.  However, when this provision was pointed out, he admitted in front of those who gathered at this meeting, that it was unfair and that he would check it out. 

Three of the quad members returned to their position as "Quad Representative" and one new one was added who will not be sworn in until January of 2013, so now that the three of the four are already on the board when will they take up the argument against this amendment?  As we do not have access to any of the board minutes since May 29, 2012 we cannot know for certain that the three of the four Quad Representatives asked and/or discussed the issue with the remainder of the board.  We have heard that there are problems with the web site, and problems still seem to exist with the Reading Garden and it appears to this writer that there are always problems on issues important to this neighborhood, however there are no problems writing up by-laws which contain the words "without cause".  Strange that the Board has to get rid of anyone they don't like on the Board by applying to the Board of Estimates year after year to approve this condition, but they cannot fix the computer system that they rely upon every day or get a Reading Garden built after they took credit for it.  I passed over there the other day and noted that it wouldn't take that much "sweat equity" to get it looking complete and clean and with the placement of the seating David Hill has in his office, it could still be a Reading Garden.  If you want to see what a neighborhood can do when they want to, go to North and Greenmount Avenues and see what a neighborhood did with a lot there.  Couldn't Charles Village do just as well?

With respect to the "without cause" issue think of it this way, you elect your representative because you believe that he/she will represent your interest and then the Board gets rid of this person "without cause", no reason given, just "without cause".  Is this fair?  Is this right?  No, it isn't because it takes your rights away as though you had not voted.  Let's put this issue in the background, just change the stupid by-laws so it doesn't make us look like pigs.

What's happening at the Benefits District?????

We noted a few strange issues on the CVCBD web site, which we think are interesting in that it makes you wonder what is happening at the Benefits District.  Allow us to explain:

The Benefits District has various sub-sections, which I will list hereunder:

Publications --------- last change made was on November 17, 2009.  So I have to presume that no publications have been issued since that point in time. 

Board Meeting Minutes ------- last updated on May 29, 2012.  For five months there haven't been any meetings of the Board?  Their web site shows that meetings have been schedules, but one has to assume that no one attended any of the meetings and therefore the results couldn't be printed.  I would think that it would be relatively easy to state on a form, that no meeting took place, but really we know they did, so what is taking them so long to issue the results of these meetings?  Inquiring minds want to know.

Listing of Board Members ------ last updated in May of 2012 - no specific date mentioned - but it shows that both Council members Clark and Stokes are non-voting members which is wrong. in that they are  both voting members, but the Benefits District apparently doesn't know it. 

In this section they also list 2 Members from Midtown Churches, Inc., which doesn't exist any more as it was closed several years ago.  So shouldn't the City Code be changed to reflect this information. 

I understand that they pay some company to keep the site current, but these are just a few of the errors that I noted on the site.  Let's have a game, you go out and check the site and let me know the errors you find.  It should be interesting in that the Benefits District can write into their bylaws a provision that they can kick someone off the board without cause, but can't correct their apparent errors.

Streetcar ????? along North Charles Street ????

The newspapers headlines shouted "Baltimore is an old city  .. get over it!!!!!".  The issue, this time, being the rupture of a sixty inch water main pipe on North Charles Street.  When will it be repaired?  No way to know as it depends on what they run into.  What about the businesses along the corridor, complete lack of business and complete lack of transportation going through the area unless you can move up another main street.  But what happens when the public transportation on that street is a streetcar?  What happens to your ability to go to work?  What happens to your getting to school?  The streetcar could be out of service for weeks and most likely will.  The people who depend on this mode of transportation are stuck without public transportation.  If the bus routes continue, then they can easily navigate around the obstruction and get you to your final destination without having to revert to automobiles.  So why even consider building a streetcar?  If you are dissatisfied with the existing bus routes have them improved by investing a nominal amount of money to increase the service so that the buses are not so packed and come more frequently.  It makes no sense to destroy a plan that exists and works to put in a plan that is bound to fail. 

A question

I am now posting a question directed to Mr. David Hill, called by some as the Executive Director of the CVCBD, but his legislated title is "Administrator" and the question is a relatively simple one.

First a background before the question is asked.  The CVCBD shows a "Baseline Agreement with the Community" on their site which is a so-called synopsis of supplemental services which they provide for the various communities they provide services.  However, for some considerable time we have requested that they list the "Charles Village Community Benefits District and Management Auathority Baseline Services" (the official document signed by the city which provides services to this community and other communities in the city).  However despite requests made by our City Council Representatives, the CVCBD has refused to issue the actual document on the web site.

WHY?       WHY?        WHY?

Could it be that they do not want the residents of this community to know that some of the services that they take credit for are already being done by the City?  So now we are paying them a surtax to call the city.  I believe that anyone reading this could easily pick up the phone and get these services accomplished.

Could it be that there is already a Rat Abatement Program in effect and the traps that are being placed throughout the community without confirmation by owners could be considered illegal?

Could it be that as they do not pick up mattresses because of a potential bed bug threat, that they call the city to do it for them?  Strange that one city agency calls another city agency to do what the first one should be doing.

The question remains, WHY??

Reading Garden - Part II

Tweefie Millspaugh, a resident on Vineyard Lane sent the following email to be posted on the blog:

In the Charles Village Benefits District Annual Report 2012 Newsletter, there were a couple of photos and blurb on page 2 about the "Greening Project" on Vineyard Lane, which took place on June 14th.  I would like to point out a couple of items that were incorrectly portrayed.

There were no Barclay students that I know of there that day.  However, the residents of Vineyard Lane who were there working were not mentioned at all.

As of this writing, the "Reading Garden" it was supposed to become, compliments of the CVCBD efforts and grant money, has failed to materialize.  And, lastly, as everyone should know, it is obviously not located in Waverly.

Which I am personally am grateful that the CVCBD has someone come by periodically and pick up trash and mow the lot, I am less than pleased with the fact that after much pomp and circumstance about the project, and once Mary Pat Clark (City Councilwoman) and the media left, the plan seems to have fallen by the wayside.  I am content with a small green space there, but for the CVCBD to have made promises, and announced the noble effort to the public, and then just drop it, is disingenuous.  It leaves people to assume that the plan proceed as advertised, when in fact, the reality is that there has been no change, and the agreement between the lot owner and the CVCBD for basic care is as it has been for several years.

Tweefie reported that she received a response from Mr. David Hill of the CVCBD advising her of some issues with respect to the collection of the grant money and was looking to get some from an additional foundation.  Councilwoman Clark has stated that she will assist Mr. Hill as much as possible to locate additional funds for the project.

However, I would like to make a few points here:

1.  The City has the ability to provide water to the site of this lot for a fee of $150. so that the plants could have been maintained, but none was secured, which actually meant that unless one of the residents took pity on the plants they would have most likely died after being planted.  New plantings need water to survive.  To start a garden without water is just a waste of money.

2.  Why were the trees not planted and left to die?

3.  If the CVCBD are getting paid by the lot's owner to take care of the facility there they should be picking up the trash that is deposited there and mowing the lawn as part of their agreement with the lot owner.

4.  A last correction to the Annual Report involves the Hunter Street Community Garden which was not started by the CVCBD, but by a neighbor who was lovingly called Mrs. "B" many years ago.  I met this woman several years ago with John Houston who as a Vista employee attached to the CVCBD who was able to get plantings donated by Home Depot where he and I distributed them to the local residents of North Calvert Street and Guilford Avenue.

Sandra Coles of the Greater Greenmount Community Association wins the Mayor's contest for best community work

Congratulations are in order for Mrs. Sandra Coles, President of the Greater Greenmount Community Association and recently appointed Quad 1 Representative of the Charles Village Community Benefits District.  Mrs. Coles is a tireless advocate for her community and believes that all people share the same concerns about living in Baltimore City.  She has fought for getting areas cleaned up, speaking recently with Representative Cummings in Annapolis and before the Planning Department about issues that are important to her community and the city in general. 

She has been advised that she and her community association have won the first prize on a project, that we worked with her along with many volunteers on improving an empty lot, over grown with weeds and trash located at North Avenue and Greenmount Avenue.  This project caught the eye of the Mayor who awarded her organization the first prize and a gift of $5,000.  We have worked recently with Mrs. Coles on another project, after attending one meeting of the People's Homestead Group agreed to replace the roof of a local resident on Barclay Street.  The air was ripe with enthusiasm at this meeting and we raised sufficient funding to have the roof replaced and the homeowner is now safe from the oncoming Sandy.

Mrs. Coles is a person that brings people together to ensure that things get done and we are proud to have been of some assistance to her.  We are sure that Mrs. Coles will bring a great deal of ideas and presence to the CVCBD Board and it is hoped that they listen to some of her ideas so that they can improve their image in the communities that they are supposed to represent.

Without cause - part II

We were surprised in a community that provides itself as being liberal and supporting liberal causes that we received only two comments on our article entitled "Without Cause".  Were all these Liberals merely shouting popular thoughts about fairness?  Were all these Liberabls only liberal when it is convenient?  The ability to remove a Board Member from the CVCBD Board "W I T H O U T  C A U S E" is so anti-democratic that it is offensive to anyone and anyone who has received a popular vote from their neighbors and then had their vote destroyed by the actions of fellow board members.  What reason is there to remove someone "without cause"?  Is it due to the fact that they don't like the person's religion, political stance, color of skin or where he or she lives?  Is it because the person doesn't agree with an issue presented, so rather than debate the issue and attempt to bring the person who opposes the presentation, just remove them "without cause"? 

What next?  Do we decide that only blond haired people can participate on the Board of the CVCBD?  Therefore all black haired people cannot be members of the board.  Not only is this undemocratic, it is not the way Charles Villagers thinks and acts.  At the hearing all of the newly appointed representatives tn the Board indicated that they do not support the "WITHOUT CAUSE" portion of the bylaws, now it is time for them to demand that this phrase be eliminated from the bylaws.  I think that the other members of the Board do not truly understand "without cause" means or they would not have voted to have this phrase incorporated in the bylaws.  Ladies and Gentlemen I request that you all stand up and be counted on this position and that the count be printed on the CVCBD web site for all of your neightbors to see.

Your thoughts please

It appears that the majority of taxes paid for the services of the Benefits District are being utilized for the purpose of sanitation.  In fact they have secured grants in the past for the specific purpose of purchasing $600. baskets, where the City will provide them for free to the community.  They report that they checked the various neighborhoods and were advised that the neighborhoods wanted them to handle the sanitation issues exclusively and were not so interested in security issues. 

Since this community pays the City via real estate taxes for this sanitation purpose as well, we think that we as a community who are obligated legally to pay this surtax should be granted an exemption on our City taxes because we don't have the free City corner baskets which have been replaced by the $600, bill board CVCBD baskets.  The City is obligated to empty free city baskets in communities that don't have a Benefits District, but the City is not obligated to empty these $600. CVCBD baskets.

                                                                     What do you think? 

Neighborhoods without borders

Today we went to Terra Cafe, just as we had promised the owner, Mr. Terence Dickins we would to assist him in the preparation of lunches for the homeless in this city.  From what I understand about the details of this offering of food to the homeless, it follows the outlines of "Neighborhood without borders" a program of neighbors helping neighbors.

We arrived at 9 am, and shortly thereafter we were greeted by Tiffany who asked the question, "are you one of the volunteers who came to make sandwiches for the homeless?"  We responded positively and entered the restaurant, situated at the south east corner of East 25th Street and began to work by moving the tables and setting up a system already planned out to ensure that the 250 sandwiches could be made in time for delivery at lunch time.  There was a set of three tables for sandwich preparation, eight tables were set up for the placement of lunch bags and another table for the distribution of fruit and pastries. 

A crew of eager young people started to arrive and they were anxious to start the actual preparation of the lunches and assisted in getting the table cloths on the sandwich table, setting up the bags in rows of five and distributing the pastries and other goodies into the bags, to be set into another bag to bring a total of 50 bags per shelter that Terence was going to visit.  There was not one complaint there and everyone was happy to have whatever job was available and they knew precisely what needed to be done with very little direction.

Shortly as the system worked well we were on our way to finishing the 250 sandwiches and they were ready for distribution.  The atmosphere was casual, no one preached to anyone and everyone was pleasant to each other.  It goes to show that when you have a popular idea and working with positive young people that you can achieve the almost impossible.  We have decided to make this one of our projects as well and if you have some time, check in with Terra Cafe and check out the schedule to see if it works in with your ability to assist.  You shouldn't be disappointed because the people are fun to be with and the purpose of it is simply great.

Without cause

For some time now various members of the community have been fighting the fact that the CVCBD wanted to be able to remove a fellow Board Member WITHOUT CAUSE and therefore revised their bylaws to include this power and extend said power to the Board to substitute someone of its own choosing.  Those of us, as concerned residents of Charles Village, wondered why it was necessary for the CVCBD to even consider such an action.  Is this for the use of personal prejudices or for total power over Board members? Why would you want to remove a fellow Board Member without cause, after he/she had been either nominated by an association's president as outlined in the enabling legislation and/or elected by a vote of people they will represent?  How could you conceivably justify such an action as this robbing the residents of the community of a duly appointed or elected fellow member of the community? 

After casting a vote in favor of including this phrase in the new bylaws, Mr. Emil Volchek told us that he was going to work to remove this from the by-laws, but there this phrase still remains.  Why?  It makes no sense unless the CVCBD wants to control the membership on the Board to a group of members that will agree with what is currently being put forward.  This is not a corporate board of directors but a "governmental agency" and while the CVCBD's Board is hardly anything of a democratic entity, in our Country you do not remove someone without cause after the electorate has supported and voted for this individual.  This is not the time to dally over other issues as this without cause insults the good name of our community.  Remove it from the by-laws and remove it now or show cause why it should be continued.

North Charles Village PUD

One of the neighborhood champions has worked diligently to resolve issues that relate to the North Charles Village PUD, while not apparently getting any real satisfaction.  Let me attempt to fairly inform some of you who may not know what a "PUD" is.  This is an abbreviation for a "Planned Unit Development" project and in our case was the subject of vocal concern for this neighborhood during the planning issues of the creation of Village Lofts and other properties along north Charles Village.  There were several meetings held by the Developer, the City and the community, that ended in essence if you provide proper sanitation, keep building heights to a certain level, don't start destruction of property if you don't have financing in place, the community would welcome this development.  The most basic concern was to not have empty lots and to have in place a policy for handling sanitation issues in an area that was going to be impacted greatly by multi-height buildings with stores in an area that was initially a residential area.  Agreements were made by a local civic association who was on the Design and Review panel that simply have not been followed.  Houses were destroyed and the neighborhood was left with an empty lot that thanks to this neighborhood champion at least gets mowed.  Issues involving over flowing dumpsters, garbage placed out too early in inadequate cans and not abiding upon the basic agreements which were entered into by this community so that construction could move forward have not been followed.  We now learn that the PUD has no teeth and there is nothing really further than can be done.  Reports have been filed to the City constantly to have dumpster companies comply with the agreed time of pick up, but they still manage to break these rules.  Charles Village, like the City of Baltimore has a serious rat problem, but feeding the rats is not the way to get rid of them.   We need to get this issue resolved by either introducing legislation to establish some "teeth" to stop the polluters, those who discard their trash improperly, those who come out at night and throw mattresses away because they are too lazy to go to Sisson Street and get rid of them.  We need to have absentee landlords and "all" residents held accountable for the proper disposal of trash or very soon the rats will be running for election and they will throw us out.  We need, and need it now, a corrective means of enforcing the PUD, or absent that the City must stop using PUDS as a vehicle to entice neighborhoods to accept development.

CVCBD Quad Elections

This morning we received a posting for this blog (as "Other Voice from Charles Village") from a Benefits District homeowner, Joan Floyd:

"I attended the October 16, 2012 Quad Elections of the CVCBD for the sole purpose of presenting the following statement and question to each candidate:

"If tonight's election results in you being on the Board in 2013, that result can be undone by the Board, which has the power under the by-laws to vote you off the Board and decide for itself who should hold this position.  Do you agree with this by-law, and if so, why should the Board have the power to remove you and choose your replacement?"

There was one candidate for each of the four Quad positions.

The first three candidates, Ms. Coles (Quad 1), Mr. Richardson (Quad 2), and Mr. Herman (Quad 3), stated that they did not agree with the by-law and that the Board should not have this power to remove them.

The Quad 4 candidate, Mr. Jones, accused me of misrepresenting the by-law.  When I read the above statement (for the fourth time) and asked him if he felt it was incorrect, he did not say so.  However, he insisted that the Board did not have the power to remove a member without cause.  

Some attendees familiar with the by-laws spoke up and corrected Mr. Jones, whose final word on the subject was that he would have to read the by-law. 

Surely Mr. Jones read the by-law in 2011, prior to casting his vote in favor of it.  The minutes of the March 8, 2011 Board meeting show that not only was Mr. Jones on the Board at the time and present at the meeting, but that the vote on that day was unanimous to approve the new by-laws and ask the Board of Estimates to authorize them.

The public record shows that Mr. Jones not only agrees with, but also helped to establish, the Board's power to remove and replace an elected Quad representative.

-- Joan Floyd"

The bylaws are available on the CVCBD's website and we quote hereunder from it:

253 Section 8. Removal of a Board Member.
254
255 A Board member may be removed with cause by a vote of 10 of the voting Board members. A
256 Board member may be removed without cause by a vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the voting Board
257 members. Such Board member and the association, organization or officials, if any, that
258 appointed the Board member, shall be given no less than ten days’ notice of the meeting at which
259 his or her removal is to be considered, and shall have the right to appear and speak on his or her
260 behalf.

Certainly, this establishes without a doubt that Board Members of the Charles Village Community Benefits District (the CVCBDMA) simply do not understand their responsibilities and have not read the City Charter and Code, the legislation that established and governs this entity, nor the CVCBDMA's own by-laws and yet they vote on issues that affect this community.  We cannot, as a community, allow this board and/or any future board to remove someone from the board "without cause" as they did years ago when they removed Doug Armstrong from a non-voting seat without cause even before the Board changed the by-laws to allow it.

This 2011 amendment to the by-laws is an abomination since even the only community-elected Board members chosen by their own "quad" people to represent them on the Board of Directors can be removed and replaced by an individual of the Board's own chosing.  This by-law must be removed as soon as possible by the Benefits District's Board.

Peabody Heights Annual Coat Drive

We are off and running our annual coat drive this year and hope to get more coats for both children and adults this year in order to beat our past records.  This is an opportunity for all to go through their closets and pull out coats that they don't want or need and bring them to The Book Thing at 30th Street and Vineyard Lane so that our friend and neighbor, Ms. Didon Pacher will collect those that can be washed and wash them for us and the others we are working with O.K. Taylor's on 25th Street who give us a special discount to clean them.  Most of the repairs are made by me and those that cannot be repaired by me are done expertly by a local company, opposite the Benefits District office.  After the coats are cleaned and repaired, we then contact the Baltimore City Public Schools and with Luke Dillon's assistance we either make deliveries of the coats and/or have them picked up at our home in Charles Village.  Sometimes our living room looks like a warehouse for coats because there are so many of them.  After we complete this process of cleaning and repairing the coats, they are given, never sold, but given to those who need them.  Without all of these people helping us, we cannot succeed, but thanks to their assistance many in our communities are getting freshly cleaned and repaired coats for the winter time. 

So remember this yearyour 5 year old son, or Maria your 11 year old will never be that age again and if they can't fit into those coats, please donate.  We also want to thank "Heart's Place, Inc." for their contribution of coats yesterday that has filled up our back porch with many coats on their way to be washed, dry-cleaned and prepared for this years' use.  Because of the coat drive, we have received clothing that has been donated to the International Rescue Committee, Mercy Hospital and several other institutions.  Thanks to all of our friends and neighbors for their help in making this a wonderful project.

Another day, another window broken

I am beginning to think that perhaps we shouldn't take too many walks in the community because lately we have been noting commercial establishments with broken windows along North Charles Street.  While returning from a walk we noted another broken window at 2526 North Charles Street, next to the Bank of America.  We called 911 and reported it to the Baltimore City Police Department and waited for the police to come, but apparently they were busy on some other important issue so we left.  We were called some time later by the BCPD who confirmed the damages and asked if it were our building.  We replied that it was not our building and the end is another commercial enterprise is going to have to pay a considerable amount of money to have the window repaired.  What brought our immediate attention to this broken window as the fact that two houses down a screen was laying on the ground which made us look up and see the broken window at the building listed above.  It appears that North Charles Street, St. Paul Street and the unit block of West 25th Street are being targeted since we started noting these conditions.  However, I guess we should be happy that, after hearing about the shootings on 2300 block of North Charles Street and at 300 East 26th Street, that a crime as small as the breakage of another window doesn't appear to be too bad.  However, these businesses along these areas are being targeted and it could result in commercial establishments moving out of Charles Village.

Woman laying on street

Today, we were walking down St. Paul Street around 2:15 pm and noted a woman laying in the street next to Terra Cafe, located on the SE corner of 25th Street.  We noted a young African American male attempt to raise the woman who was sleeping in the middle of the sidewalk who had used her coat to make up a pillow.  We proceeded across the street and suggested to the young man that he should call 911 to report the incident, as we were not carrying our cell phone at that time, so that some care could be achieved for this person who could have been under the influence of drugs or possibly sleeping out a diabetic issue.  We then suggested that he call the 911 Operator, as we noted that her breathing was very shallow and this young man immediately called the police and reported the incident.  He gave excellent directions to the 911 Operator who had an ambulance there, along with a large fire truck within the next two minutes and they took the woman away, presumably to a hospital. 

What we were surprised upon approaching this site was the fact that many people walked by this person laying on the sidewalk and continued walking without bothering to check to see if they could provide assistance by calling 911.  We didn't get the name of the young African American man, but would like to use this opportunity to thank him for calling the 911 Operator and letting this individual be taken care of.  He was a very polite young man and because of his actions this woman hopefully is recovering from whatever issue she is facing.

Rash of window break ins in commercial center of Charles Village

Over the last four weeks we have noted six windows broken within the commercial section of Charles Village.  These have taken place on North Charles Street, St. Paul Street and 25th Street and in each case we noted that the major window to the commercial establishment has been broken into.  In four instances we informed the police of the break ins after our return to our home and it was apparently the first notice that they have received.  It would appear that the break ins take place during the day time, with the exception of the break in at 25th Street and Saint Paul and while it doesn't appear that anything was taken, after we waited for the police to come and survey the damages, they all involved businesses in our community.  We are noticing during our walk that the windows are being then boarded up to give additional protection to the contents inside the business and in one instance the establishment had the window replaced shortly thereafter and was again the target of an additional breakage by unknown parties.  Also on the southeast corner of North Charles Street and 26th Street additional graffiti has been placed on the office of a new attorney establishing her practice at the property owned by CSX.  These silent crimes are happening to our neighbors and the BCPD needs to investigate the circumstances in order to stop them.

Good news for the community, children and adults alike

Thanks to the efforts of the Recreation and Parks Department our neighborhood has a new outdoor basketball court; the only one in Charles Village.  This is a culmination of our working with the City to clean and get the 26th Street Playground back to what it should be for the children and adults that utilize it in this community.  This improves that area of St. Paul Street and makes a welcoming attaction for those who may be considering going to Margaret Brent.  It was heartening to see the look of pride on the faces of children who are just waiting on the side lines to enjoy this new facility and we are happy to be a part in getting this accomplished.  Walk by and see how nice it looks, you will be pleased.

Charles Villager - Fall 2012

This morning I received my copy of the "Charles Villager" which announced "New Wyman Park Dell Playground Embraces Nature".  I was pleased to read of the proposed changes and benefits the residents of our communities could receive from this plan.  From that article I learned that "The new and expanded playground will include an initial phase which should be under construction before the end of 2012, and future phases, which requires a Friends fundraising campaign."  Since the City’s Department of Recreation and Parks (the same people that so quickly came to restore the 26^th Street Playground Basketball Court this past weeks) are involved this initial phase this should be completed without much delay.  However, the words “future phases” and “requires a Friends fundraising campaign” bother me.  The first two words remind me of what happened to the “Reading Garden” project that quickly fizzled and died and the suggestions made by some readers that maybe that project was to continue in future stages.  Several years ago a similar article in the Charles Villager boasted grand plans for the Dell including kiosks at street level and a variety of other plans that appeared to be imminently forthcoming but nothing happened. 

The last part of the above quoted sentence got my interest in that several years ago I questioned the fact that the Spaghetti Discos, at that time, were supposed to have raised more than $30,000.for playground renovations.   When we saw no renovations in the neighborhood taking place I asked about those funds, where and when were they to be used.  This seemed to cause quite a to-do and an angry response from a member of the Charles Village Community Foundation which we were told was the group holding the funds.  I never understood the concern caused by the question and never really got a response to my inquiry.  It would appear that the funds are needed now so that the new Playground area can continue to move forward on one of the future proposed phases.  So now may be a great time to use these funds to ensure the continuation of the proposed phases.

I also read that the new playground would include "a portable ping pong table". This seems odd to me in that the children in this community would really want the project to have a basketball court in the Dell to service the children north of 29th Street.  Having a "portable ping pong table" outside just doesn't seem to be a logical thing in that it will have to suffer the outdoor elements which may be why it is to be “portable”.  And, portability also means it could easily be removed (as in stolen) if not locked up when not in use but who then will oversee control of this.  The article boasted the "Ping Pong in the Park, [as] an informal programming activity” and again, who would control the activities on a regular basis?  Who will be allowed to participate in those activities?

A compelling notice at the end of one of the paragraphs in the Charles Villager article included the following quote:  "At the February workshop families and children offered important input, such as the desire that a portion of the playground and plateau area include opportunities for nature-based play."  We have sat in on any number of “plans”, “projects” and other “design your own perfect place” programs.  We saw the promoters of such projects encouraging children, and adults alike, handing out paper and crayons and cut-outs to imagine and play-build their own personal Eden, like some kindergarten class.  Was this the same kind of workshop offering “important input” for “nature-based play” similarly lead?  Some of the outcomes of earlier workshops in our neighborhood touted possible “butterfly gardens”, “humming bird sanctuaries” and the like.  But often the people putting together such workshops already know what they want to do and, unfortunately for the participants, the “feel-good” workshop can result in nothing other than a way to show “community support” even if the community is not fully aware of the end result, if there actually is any result.

One must hope that the plans in the article meet fruition so that the community has another site for its children to enjoy and that truly benefits the people in Charles Village.

Let's help Margaret Brent Elementary & Middle School

Another member of St. John's advised us of the following way to help Margaret Brent.  Let's make this a real success.


Subject: [St. John's] Vote for Margaret Brent Elem. School

Target is doing a giveaway through FaceBook.  Every 25 votes gets a $25 gift card for the school of your choice.  I became aware of this through an affluent parent who is rallying her friends to vote for a very rich school in the 'burbs.  Since St. John's is already helping Margaret Brent through weekend food, school supplies, winter coats, etc., why don't we help them in this way as well?  The rich schools are going to win big because of parental involvement and networking, so schools like Margaret Brent really need our votes.  Thanks! 

Saturday night breakins along North Charles Street

Last Sunday when going for our morning walk we noted that the offices located at 2524 North Charles Street were broken into and reported same to 911 where the Police reported shortly thereafter.  After staying with the Police Department while they went inside the building and giving them the information that we noted, we left.  Shortly thereafter and continuing currently we noted that the plate glass window was replaced with plywood.

This morning while returning from Safeway we noted that 2517 North Charles Street was broken into next to the Baltimore Times.  In this case we noted that the steel door was apparently pulled out and the glass on the front door was smashed.  We again reported the incident to the Police Department but as we were home we did not return to the site.

On the corner of 26th Street, east side of North Charles Street the little building now occupied by a single practioner was hit by a tremendous amount of grafitti.  This was after Parks and Recreations Department had their crew in and cleaned up the area to make it presentable for the residents of Charles Village.  For some reason this area appears to be signaled out for crime and needs the CVCBD to employ the Off-duty police who might have just prevented these crimes.  As you know there has been considerable publicity in Midtown over the recent shootings in that area and now with the additional policing there, criminals are targeting our community. 

PRAY AND WORK FOR PEACE

St. John's United Methodist Church of Baltimore City invites you to attend the next monthly Baltimore Interfaith Peace Partners gathersing to take place Wednesday, August 22nd at 7:30 p.m., in their Sunday Room located on the side entrance of East 27th Street between St. Paul Street and Lovegrove Street.

This monthly interfaith gathering is open to all people interested in promoting peace in the world.  Plans for Wednesday's gathering include a discussion by attendees and fellowship. 

The Interfaith Peace Partners is a U. S. - wide initiative.  The Rev. Charles Cloughen, Jr., is the Coordinator for the Baltimore area. 

Please attend and join us to pray for worldwide peace. 

26th Street Playground gets a clean up

Thanks for the assistance of Mr. Ronald Rudisill, Sarah Hope and Eric of the Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks in cleaning the 26th Street Playground, a neighborhood staple for many years.  Some in the community insist on incorrectly calling it the Margaret Brent Playground due to its proximity to that school.  We have been talking mostly with Sarah Hope who is a wonderful person who has helped us move this cleanup so that the children will be able to enjoy the playground now and when the school is opened.  Eric is working to get the lights at the basketball court fixed as it has to be put out to the market for repairs and the playground is looking much improved.  The fencing of the basketball will be fixed shortly so the old basketball can continue to be a much used court for the children and adults of this community.  Thank you all for your good work in making Charles Village a better place to live. 

CVCBD's contract with CSX - A failure or a success you decide!

We are attaching two photographs of the property owned by CSX.  According to Mr. David Hill, the E.D. of the CVCBD, the CVCBD negotiated with CSX to clean up these properties.  This is work accomplished by the CVCBD on a fee paid basis of approximately $1500. annually, for work that CSX were paying another firm $1500. per month.  A review of the photographs will show that instead of cleaning the growth off the fences which has caused them to partially collapse as is evidenced in the second photograph, the CVCBD have apparently elected to spray the foilage with some chemical and when they do cut some of the growth they leave it on the street to rot.  I do not consider this a successful operation for two reasons; the damages done to the growth by introducing chemicals at the site and also the fact that the area still continues to be an eye sore.  What do you think?  This property is located accross 26th Street in Baltimore City.




 

The new Reading Garden, complements of the CVCBD

This is the heralded new Reading Garden on Vineyard Lane that Mr. David Hill, E.D. of the Benefits District recently boasted about in the Charles Villager.  We understand that after placing the trees there, which were donated by Ace Hardware, the CVCBD just left them in their containers at the spot to die and never be planted.   So to all Charles Villages, why not pack a little luncheon meal and head over to the site and look at the improvement offered to the community by the CVCBD?  This is what over $750,000. gets you as a resident of Charles Village.  Isn't it wonderful? 

WE ARE NOT ALONE - more on Special/Benefits Districts

This week we received the following two e-mails sent from San Diego, Californina by an individual who also had experiences with an "assessment district" in her city and who, along with others, sued and finally won their case in appelate court.  To us it was a surprise to find out that this concept of a "Special Benefits District" is apparently another of those ideas spread like wildfire through cities in the U.S. without concern for the affected citizenry and that it takes individuals within those communities to fight city hall and the experienced, well-connected and wealthy who are behind these plans, in order to protect themselves from all that is wrong with these schemes.  Maybe now Californians will indeed get what the writer from San Diego hopes for, assessment districts "that property owners really and honestly want and understand, and control themselves".

Besides the court cases linked below, there is an article referred to below with the perfect title of "The Problem With Being Special - Democratic Values and Special Assessments" by Vladimir Kogan and Mahew D. McCubbins of the University of California, San Diego.  It can be found at http://pwm.sagepub.com/ Public Works Management & Policy, Volume 14, Number 1 July 2009 4-36.  Unfortunately, there is a cost to download the article but it points to so many of the problems I have outlined in my series of blogs concerning the Charles Village Community Benefits District.

If you have any interest in delving deeper into what we are dealing with our "Benefits District" in Charles Village I strongly suggest you continue to read this entire post.


E-mail 1 from San Diego:

"Just read your May 2012 post (http://othervoicesfromcharlesvillage.blogspot.com/p/this-post-is-from-another-voice-from.html). Excellent writing, informative and cogent. You cited two studies, "The Sub-Districting of Cities" and "Private Governments In Urban Areas - Political Contracting and Collective Action." Attached is another publication that you might appreciate." ("The Problem With Being Special - Democratic Values and Special Assessments" ).

I follow developments in establishment and operation of assessment districts (aka "benefits districts, "improvement districts," "maintenance districts") and routine googling pulled up your blog entry. My interest stems from an assessment district that was established  in my community in San Diego in 2007. Over 3500 property owners were assessed on a weighted dollar-basis vote. I and a few others sued, and after 5 years of legal battles, the district was ruled illegal in appellate court. (In California, we have a State constitutional requirement that a property assessment imposed on this weighted-majority aggregated  basis, and not on a 2/3 vote of the entire community or voting public, must meet two criteria: that it pays only for special benefits to the assessed property, distinct from general benefits to the public at large, and that the amount assessed on each property is directly proportional to the benefit received by the property.)

Importantly, your analysis of the level of community awareness and participation is spot on, identical to what happened in my community,  and is representative of  every district I have analyzed.

Good work."

Continuation - E-mail 2:

Isn't it time for a change on how the CVCBD operates

With crime still not under control and the CVCBD now having an opportunity to really do something positive, isn't it time for the CVCBD to change how it operates?  Instead of picking up garbage cans to ensure tonnage numbers of removed refuse so that the City can justify the existence of the CVCBD, isn't it time for the CVCBD to start the Off-duty Police program in the community now?  How many crimes will it take for the CVCBD to mount an effective crime prevention program like the hiring of the Off-duty Police?  They have been talking about it for a considerable time now and nothing is happening ..... but crime.  This is a time for action, not discussion and certainly not for sitting there contemplating their respective navels.  Do something effective now to provide protection from the drug dealing in the neighborhood, to prevent cars being broken into, to stop the thefts from the stores in the community and possibly even save a life or two of our residents.  Take a significant portion of your budget and stop trying to raise money for more $600. garbage cans and do something positive like putting an off-duty police man on the beat so that people can walk the community in safety.  No more meetings, no more discussions ,,, now is the time for action.

A better way to run a Community Benefits District

This is my final entry on "What if there was no Charles Village Community Benefits District (CVCBD)?  And, what is it anyway? by Pamela Wilson

Part V - "A better way to run a Community Benefits District – By, of and for the People".

When we moved into Charles Village 13 years ago, long-time residents began telling us about the Charles Village Community Benefits District and their confusion about what it is, what it does, and who runs it.  The answer to who runs it is certainly not the community of Greater Charles Village since a community individual who is not affiliated with a legislatively-named organization can only run for and only vote for one voting seat on the CVCBD Board which consists of 18 voting seats from named associations and quad representatives.

As I've said in my earlier blogs on this subject, I and others in the community spent a long time trying to unravel the threads of this governmental entity.  What has become apparent to many of us now is that Greater Homewood Community Corporation (GHCC) may well be the force behind the CVCBD and we wonder if its involvement has a lot to do with JHU.  Once, GHCC was a true community-run group and one of its first presidents, upon receipt of a check to GHCC from Johns Hopkins University (JHU) to support one of JHU's initiatives, returned it back to the JHU president because the initiative was not of benefit to the community.  Somewhere down the line something changed and we now hear GHCC called a "development corporation".  Since inception GHCC has grown to cover a huge area that GHCC claims encompasses 45 neighborhoods and almost 13% of Baltimore City's population.  This makes GHCC another layer of non-elected control over communities, beyond that of our elected City officials, special benefits districts, other committees and initiatives, and local community and business associations.  We wonder if GHCC any longer serves only community interests as it once did or if it now serves some larger power as it spreads throughout North Central Baltimore?  Contrary to how GHCC began in 1969, GHCC's Board of Directors now includes at least two members from Hopkins, Inc..  Does GHCC's heavy influence over the community organizations which agree to "partner" or connect to GHCC point to the day when GHCC will be the sole voice of the residential and commercial neighborhoods impacted by JHU's present and future plans?  And how does this relate to the CVCBD and its lack of democratically elected Board members?

Does the Benefits District Engage in Taxation without Representation?

 Here is another of the "Other voices from Charles Village", Joan Floyd, Benefits District homeowner:

DOES THE BENEFITS DISTRICT ENGAGE IN TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION?

Because the Board of the Benefits District decides on a surtax rate to submit to the Board of Estimates, and decides how all surtax funds are spent, it’s a very powerful group.  Does it engage in Taxation Without Representation?  This question is on the minds of many.

Perhaps the way to explore the question is to look at how each voting member is placed on the Benefits District Board.  

We would need certain information about each group that is entitled to send a member or members to the Board.  What are the group’s eligibility requirements for membership?  Are there dues to pay?  How many members does the group have?  When the group chooses its Benefits District representative(s), exactly how is that done?    

Once this information appears on the Benefits District’s website, it will be possible to explore the question of Taxation Without Representation.

This is the continuation of my blog entry "What if there was no Charles Village Community Benefits District (CVCBD)?  And, what is it anyway?

Part I. What is the Charles Village Community Benefits (CVDBD) and where did the CVCBD come from? was posted on Sunday, May 6th, 2012

Part II. How the CVCBD is run? was posted on Sunday, May13, 2012

Part III. What does the CVCBD do? was posted on Monday, May 21. 2012

                                                            ----------------

Part IV – If you are wondering "Why don't I get any services" I think you'll understand the reasons when you read below "What would happen if it was to cease operations, if there was no CVCBD?"

A.  What would happen if there was no CVCBD is that very little would change in terms of losing services because:

What does the CVCBD do?

This is the continuation of my blog entry "What if there was no Charles Village Community Benefits District (CVCBD)?  And, what is it anyway?

Part I. What is the Charles Village Community Benefits (CVDBD) and where did the CVCBD come from?" was posted on Sunday, May 6th, 2012  and

Part II. How the CVCBD is run?" was posted on Sunday, May13, 2012

                                                            -----------                                                       

III. What does the CVCBD do?  Here's what it's supposed to do:

The legal description of the Purpose for establishing the CVCBD:

            The State's enabling legislation, City Charter, Art. II, Sec. 63 "Community Benefits District Authorities" gave the City the power "(2) To establish community benefits district management authorities to promote and market districts, provide supplemental security and maintenance services, provide amenities in public areas, provide park and recreational programs and functions, and after an authority is established, other services and functions as requested by the authority and approved through an ordinance by the Mayor and City Council."  This is what the City's enabling legislation, City Code, Art.14, Sec. 6-3 also designates as its (b) Purpose."

We'll consider each Purpose:

This is the continuation of my blog entry "What if there was no Charles Village Community Benefits District (CVCBD)?  And, what is it anyway?" - by Pamela Wilson

Part I. What is the Charles Village Community Benefits (CVDBD) and where did the CVCBD come from?" was posted on Sunday, May 6th, 2012

                                                            -----------                                                       

Part II. How the CVCBD is run?"

Confusion about the CVCBD was rampant when my husband and I moved into Charles Village in 1999.  A lot of people were asking "How does it work?" and "When do we get to vote again on the CVCBD as we were promised?" For these questions we need to continue my explanation of the State and City laws that set up this Community Benefits District but the quick answer is: by a Board of Directors, the long answer is below:

This post is from another voice from Charles Village - by Pamela Wilson

What if there was no Charles Village Community Benefits District (CVCBD)?  And, what is it anyway?

As was discovered in a University of Maryland study a few years ago*, many people in our community do not even know what the Charles Village Community Benefits (CVDBD) is or even that it exists at all.  Many people, even those paying the surtax, do not know what the CVCBD does.  Many people credit the CVCBD with programs that have nothing to do with it.  Many people do not really know how the CVCBD is run.  Many people are dissatisfied with the CVCBD but are uncomfortable in directly opposing it because they are not sure what would happen if it were to cease operations.

Certainly there is much misinformation out there not only for the people who live within the "District" but also people who are not in the District, including academia and the government.  I recently discovered two papers on urban issues which used the CVCBD as their subject, one entitled "The Sub-Districting of Cities", was written by two professors, one from the University of Maryland College Park and one from Indiana University and the other, entitled "Private Governments In Urban Areas Political Contracting and Collective Action", written by professors Susan E. Baer of San Diego State University and Richard C. Feiock of Florida State University.  I found some of the information used in these papers was not entirely correct or was missing important aspects affecting the outcomes described.  In both cases neither paper correctly states the Maryland State law's percentage of required referendum support for passage of the CVCBD's enabling legislation.  Instead the papers give credit to much greater community support for establishing the CVCBD than the actual numbers from the referendum show.  This affects the research and continues the spread of the misinformation about the CVCBD possibly resulting in governmental decisions not beneficial to communities.   

Even among long-time residents and property owners in the area who voted in the sole referendum establishing the CVCBD few know much about it.  So, I will try, as briefly as possible, to explain a few important facts so that people reading our blog can better determine for themselves what this CVCBD really is and how it affects their lives, more than they may suspect.  The information provided here comes from more than a decade of work by community activists, including me and my husband, to research every source of information we could find.  These sources include the enabling State and City laws (before and after amendments to the original bills), early promotional pamphlets, grass-roots efforts to defeat passage of the law, and recounting of meetings and experiences by residents present at that time.  We obtained board meeting minutes and as many notes as possible from the inception of the CVCBD.  Besides our research, we participated in the CVCBD, we worked to make the CVCBD better and we even worked to eliminate it, through legal means via law suits as well as governmental means through our City representatives.  In an effort to more closely understand on a personal level how the CVCBD worked and what it was doing, I and others of our group even became members of the CVCBD's Board of Directors as well as participated in many of their committees.  Here is some of what we discovered from all our work. 

Because there is some complicated information to pass along I feel it better to divide my blog into several smaller ones which will cover the following questions:

I. What is the Charles Village Community Benefits (CVDBD) and where did the CVCBD come from?

II. How the CVCBD is run?

III. What does the CVCBD do?

IV. What would happen if it were to cease operations, if there was no CVCBD?

Each week I will post one of these chapters and will also keep them listed on the right side of the blog's under the list of pages starting with "Home".  This way it will continue to be readily available to readers.  Here is the first chapter on this subject -

I. What is the Charles Village Community Benefits (CVDBD) and where did the CVCBD come from?

Crimes in Charles Village

If you review the crimes hereunder you will note that 75% of the crimes happened above 25th Street whereas only 25% happened along 25th Street.  Don't you agree that there is a substantial need for police 24/7 - 365 days a year in our community of Charles Village as was promised by the supporters of the Benefits District. 




Larceny: 3200 block of St. Paul St., 9:10 a.m., April 23. A woman left her cell phone at Starbucks. When she returned to get it, the phone was gone.
Robbery Unarmed: 2500 block of N. Howard St., 1 a.m., April 26. A man was walking when robbers approached him and demanded money. He tried to run away but they caught him and began kicking and punching him. They took his wallet, cell phone and cash before running east on West 26^th Street.
Larceny from Auto: 2600 block of Guilford Ave., between 6 and 11 p.m., April 27. Handwipes, $10 in coins and an umbrella was stolen from a car.
Burglary Residential: 200-block E. 31^st St., between 9 p.m. April 26 an 11 a.m., April 27. A burglar attempted to break through the back glass door but failed.

Quirky Baltimore


Baltimore is a great city to walk in as most blocks in this city have wonderful things to see and enjoy, but there are also strange things to see as you walk the city. One of the strange things that we have noted over the years during our walks is that there are always clothes on the sidewalks. You can be walking down North Charles Street and then you sight a shoe, very rarely do you find two, and another day a pair of pants on Maryland Avenue, while the following week you find a shirt and a capon St. Paul St . It looks like each previous evening some individual started to disrobe on the street until he/she got to their destination which makes you wonder, does Baltimore have a mysterious Nudist Camp? When it gets dark, do people run to this encampment preparing to be a nudist on arrival ? The next time you walk around your neighborhood and you see a sign that says “This way to the Nudist Camp” please let me know. This really is a puzzlement, as the King quotes from the “The King and I”.