A possible cure for the Baltimore City Budget shortfall
Last night I couldn’t sleep as I was concerned over the City’s financial shortfall.  It then came to me, in the middle of the night, that there is a solution to this problem and the solution is very sustainable.  Part of the shortfall will most likely mean the closure of recreation facilities in the City and, while our Mayor was depending on philanthropic assistance from our 1%, apparently she is having difficulty enticing them to take over some of the rec centers that the city has determined it can no longer afford.  My solution is simple.
The City, State and Federal Government gave approximately $28,000,000. (that's $28 Million!) to reconstruct 4 blocks along North Charles St. from 29th to 33rd as a new entrance to the Johns Hopkins University  that will almost equal Versailles in scope and design.  Additionally, along with a prince from the UAE and an alumni of JHU, Mayor Bloomberg of New York City, Baltimore City, the State of Maryland and the Federal Government gave JH another roughly $1,100,000,000. to build the new hospital in East Baltimore.  These are not small projects but enormous undertakings that are using, in good part, our tax money to support JH Inc., et al, and now, as they say, “it is time to give back to the community.”  I think with this $1,128,000,000. public investment in JH Inc., that it is only fair for JH, Inc. to help Baltimoreans, who are paying grandly for JH Inc.'s projects, by taking over one, two or possibly three of the recreation centers and to run them without cost to the public in neighborhoods where these recreation centers are slated for closing.

Additionally, M&T Bank arrived in the State of Maryland with much fanfare and has been able to establish itself as a regional bank with at least two officers in my community who cater to the their 'large corporate account' of Johns Hopkins University, so it seems to me that M&T Bank should be able to give back to our City by taking over the day-to-day management and control of at least one of these recreation centers.  Equally so there is Mercy Hospital who just built an elaborate wing at considerable cost and sees no problem in sending out donation cards to former patients for this project.  An obviously financially stable institution could take over funding and running one of these recreation centers as well, as many of the other institutions in this city should.  Many of these wealthy institutions don’t pay any taxes and should be morally obliged to assist the City, where they are making so much money and receiving so many tax-funded advantages, by at least taking over the recreation centers of this City.
The Baltimore Museum of Art and the Walters Museum which have significant grant abilities could participate in this program.  Within the rec centers they could provide art programs along with other children's programs; if their rec centers are at a distance from the museums they would have a chance to acquaint nearby communities with the museums and hopefully generate new members from different parts of the City.  It could be a win-win solution to a problem that requires a solution. 
The recreation centers are very important to Baltimore City.  They provide both a safe haven for our children and adults and also a way to channel the physical and creative energies of the young people who use them.  It is time for the institutions and companies of this City, who have earned a place and a substantial income from this City to contribute to make it a safer and better place to live for all of us.
The excuse that all these entities provide many jobs for the citizens of Baltimore and by that alone they should be considered good corporate citizens is no longer valid.  We tax-paying citizens pay for City services that benefit these institutions and we lavish grand boulevards, parks and other amenities upon these wealthy organizations.  It is time they shouldered a little more of the burden for the good of us all.
The Mayor of cash-strapped Providence, Rhode Island has called for all of Providence's seven large tax-exempt institutions to contribute more to the city.  His 2013 budget counts on increased contributions from these entities.  Why can't Baltimore do the same.