Why?

In today's Baltimore Sun, there is an article entitled "Last doctor standing at Afghan clinic" which is something important to read.  Please do as it is an education in itself.  A Dr. Asad Mojadidi, Afghan-born U.S. physician behind the creation of the clinic once deemed a model for Afghanistan is pictured in a shuttered clinic that once helped 5,000 patients a week.  If Dr. Asad Mojadidi were to receive payment of $10. per patient, in two weeks he would have made his annual budget, but the Afghan Government did not allow him to do so.

After going to Afghanistan and building this clinic, this Doctor who received payment of $400 per year, not minute, not hour, not week, not month .... but year, along with nurses who only received $150.00 per year cannot get sufficient money from the U.S. Government which previously supported it or the Afghanistan Government to keep this clinic open, which means that the poor in this country have no place else to turn. He moved heaven and earth to get it established, then created a fully serviceable facility with modern equipment at a cost of $750,000. versus the $1,300,000,000. in cost to build the new Johns Hopkins hospital in East Baltimore and now cannot raise sufficient funding  from the Afghan Ministry of Public Health which has an annual budget of more than $300 million a year.

He is seeking $100,000. a year to keep the facility running.  What is that in relationship to the billions that we spend on missiles and bombs?  How many thousands of a percent does it represent and what does this say to the people of Afghanistan?   We spend billions of dollars convincing the Afghanistan people that we are the good guys, but can't spend $100,000. to ensure that they can get good medical care.

If everyone of you would today after eating your turkey would send CARE, $1.00 check marked for "The Urgent and Primary Care Clinic in Kabul" just think of what good that donation would do.  The people of Afghanistan would have primary care and the world would be just a better place in which to live.

Holiday Events at St. John's Episcopal Church on Greenmount Avenue

Come one, come all to the Waverly Main Street Holiday Events "Taste of Waverly?" on December 7th, at St. John's Episcopal Church, Parish Hall on 3009 Greenmount Avenue and visit our table and learn about the exciting new program we have established with several Partners in the greater Charles Village community and beyond.  It is an opportunity to see what a real grass roots organization started as a local project of the St. John's of Baltimore Church United Methodist Church has grown into.  We started providing weekend backpacks to four homeless families over 2 and a half years ago, and will now now be expanding to 69 families who are homeless existing possibly right next door to you.  We provided these weekend backpacks to Margaret Brent School, expanded to Barclay School and now are ready to start deliveries to Waverly School and Dallas Nicholas School. Each weekly backpack represents a total investment of $25.00 each, which has been borne by all of the Partners.  This is a need in our neighborhood, in our city and it cannot be ignored. We were advised of the need after visiting with the Principal of Margaret Brent and said to ourselves, can we get involved?  So we have rolled up our sleeves and decided that we will tackle this problem and have.

Working quietly with the Office of Engagement of Baltimore City Public Schools, which introduced us to Mr. John Shaia of the Maryland Food Bank we plan on bringing this program to the entire Baltimore City school system.  Did you know that last year's figures indicate that there were 1,700 homeless children registered in the public school system?  We are actively doing something positive to ensure that these children do not go hungry over the weekend.  Give yourself and a hungry child a present come to the "Taste of Waverly?" on December 7th and show you care by making a donation to continue this program so that no child has to face the weekend hungry.

Come and pick up some literature that we have produced and make a donation to assist us in providing what the Maryland Food Bank cannot to make sure that the children of our city are fed over the weekend.  This is one donation that you can make that will make a difference to a child this Christmas and throughout the year and isn't that what Christmas is all about?

If you cannot make a contribution come on by and say hello and become a Partner who is willing to help further this campaign to feed homeless children.

Our current partners include the following organizations and churches:

Maryland Food Bank, Inc.
St. John's of Baltimore United Methodist Church
Grace United Methodist Church
ss Philip and James Roman Catholic Church
Heart's Place Shelter

Money that may be due to the CVCBD

The following is a presentation by Stephen J. Gewirtz, who made this presentation at the CVCBD Board Meeting on November 12, 2013.  Mr. Gewirtz is a community member, surtax-payer and is the Head of the Court Watch Program.  At the end is a shortened version of this issue but it is important to read Mr. Gewirtz's presentation which more fully explains the situation about the building on the corner of 23rd and North Charles St., the second location of the CVCBD offices.

On March 29, 1996, officers of CVCBD formed the Charles Village Community Foundation (CVCF).  On March 27, 1997, the building was sold to the Construction Industry Educational Foundation, Inc. for $32,500.  On November 25, 1997, the building was sold to CVCF for $130,000, and the purchase by CVCF was financed with a seller provided mortgage for $115,000.  Thus, there was a down payment of $15,000, and I do not know the source of the down payment.  The president of CVCBD and CVCF had an architectural firm, but I do not know whether he had an association with the Construction Industry Education Foundation (later renamed as the Building Congress and Exchange Foundation, Inc.).  At the same time, I should note that I have been told that some people raised questions at the time about whether CVCF might have paid way too much for the building.  I should note too that before acquiring the building, CVCBD had operated out of a storefront which was accessible to people who are physically challenged, but that the first floor of the new building was accessible only to someone who could climb very steep steps (and I was in fairly good shape then and had difficulty ascending to the first floor).  In fact, CVCBD had to hold its board meetings at Future Care to make them accessible.

Nonetheless, CVCBD and CVCF signed a lease under which CVCBD would make the mortgage payments (principal and interest), while CVCF would own the increase in equity as the mortgage was paid down plus any capital gains on the building.  CVCBD was also responsible for maintenance of the building, and I have been told that CVCBD spent quite a bit making the building usable.  After that, maintenance was minimal.  The same owner of an architectural firm signed the lease on behalf of both parties to the lease (CVCBD and CVCF), and he was also the one who had signed the agreement to purchase the building.

Let me note too that when the building was acquired by CVCF and leased to CVCBD, all CVCBD committees operated in secret, and times and locations of committee meetings were not revealed to the public.  In addition, CVCF has always operated in secret except for some past joint audits with CVCBD and except for the annual filing of form 990 with the IRS.  By law, the 990 is public information.  Thus, it is difficult to gather information about what occurred at that time.

On December 9, 2008, about a year after the building had been vacated by CVCBD when it had moved to its present location, CVCF sold the building at auction for $210,000, and CVCF received $200,000 (the other $10,000 presumably being the commission on the sale collected by the auctioneer).

As of June 30, 2008, according to the 990 filed by CVCF, the amount of the mortgage on the building was $54,489.  Thus, the profit on the sale by CVCF can be calculated as the purchase price ($130,000) minus the down payment whose source I do not know ($15,000) minus the balance of the mortgage (less than $55,000, to use a round number), i.e. the profit is approximately $130,000.

It is my belief that some members of an earlier board set up CVCF so that they and those they would appoint as their successors controlling CVCF would control any eventual profit on the sale of the building.  It is also my belief that the conflict of interest on the part of those board members is such that CVCBD would be able to convince a court of law that it should be able to recover that money.  It is clear that the people controlling CVCBD and CVCF did not look out for the interests of the taxpayers who pay for CVCBD.  We can certainly use more money for public safety, and public safety is what we were told at the time of the 1994 referendum would be the primary purpose of CVCBD.

Therefore, I am urging the board of CVCBD to sue CVCF to recover whatever is left of the $130,000 profit on the sale of the building.  Unfortunately, I have doubts that the money given away when the building was acquired at an excessive price can be recovered.

Thus, my recommendation to the board of CVCBD is that you request that the CVCF  provide the $130,000 to the CVCBD.

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Condensed version of the actions explained above:

Construction Industry Educational Foundation, Inc. (CIEF) purchased the bldg. on 3/27/97 for $32,500.

8 months later 

the CVCF purchased the bldg. from the CIEF for $130,000. with a $115,000. mortgage

                                                                                                        + 15,000. down paym. from.?

    CVCBD agreed to pay for the mortgage, including principal and interest

    CVCBD spent a large sum of money to make necessary repairs to the building to make it habitable

    CVCBD paid for all maintenance on the building (possibly including a new roof)

In 2008 the CVCF sold the building for $210,000. - $200,000 less $10,000. sales commission

                       The balance left on the mortgage was $- 55,000.

                        Repayment of down payment was      -  15,000.

                                        CVCF makes a profit of   $130,000.                 

Apparent interest in article about the CVCBD

Lately we have been noting that there is considerable interest in the article posted on the right side of our blog entitled "Information about the Charles Village Community Benefits District". For those of you who want to get a little education on this subject all you have to do is look at the right side of the home page and look for the title and click it and you are immediately taken to the article.  We think that this education and review of the Charles Village Community Benefits District will assist you in understanding what it is and what it does.  Don't let anyone fool you into believing it is a community association, or quasi-community association, as the legislation clearly states that it is a governmental entity that taxes you and if you don't pay the taxes the City can take your home.

In the hope of improving the lives of children

As you know Pam and I are involved with several other partners in Baltimore City, including Heart's Place Services, Inc.  to provide food for homeless children during the weekend.  It is a goal that with the help of the Maryland Food Bank we will be able to work with all of the Baltimore City Schools to ensure that these children and their care givers/parents are fed during the weekend when there are few resources available to help these people, or the resource is too far to get to for these children..

We were requested by the Maryland Food Bank to assist them in handling this program throughout the state of Maryland, but the area requested that we involve ourselves is very large and as there are only a limited number of individuals involved in this program therefore we believed attempting to help the children of Baltimore City would be a tremendous achievement in itself.

At each school we travel to within our city we learn of an increasing number of children who are homeless, last year's statistics created by the Baltimore City Public School system indicated that a total of 1,700 children who were homeless were registered in the school system.  1,700 children who more than likely would be hungry over the weekend left their schools each Friday knowing that perhaps they would not eat over the weekend.  What a horrible way to start the weekend, don't you agree?   I don't know what the figure is for this year as the statistics are still being calculated, but I firmly believe that the figure of 1,700 children only represent the tip of the iceberg.

On Monday these children return to their schools; not with learning on their minds, but run to the school's cafeterias to eat a meal, perhaps the first one over the long weekend.  How can we allow this to happen?  How can we as a city think for one moment that they can learn when all their thoughts are on food?  Why do we keep on expecting that these children will grow into adults with goals and dreams when the only thing on their minds is hunger?  We can do something and should do something that will improve the lives of these children and that is making a donation of any kind to:  Heart's Place Services, Inc. - 2640 St. Paul Street,
Baltimore, Maryland 21218.  Make this donation your Thanksgiving donation to the hungry that exist in the open and in the shadows of this city, or a Christmas donation to ensure that a child will get some nourishing food for the weekend.  Our backpack program is unique in that all of the food within the backpacks do not require refrigeration and/or heating and provides the calories to help a child grow.

We don't want you to discontinue your contributions to any other cause that you may consider, but to give you an opportunity to share what you have with a child.  Think about it, a child is worth helping, don't you agree?