Economic and Community Growth
Baltimore’s comeback story can only be written when people are inspired to live, work and play here. To accomplish this, we must do two things at once: ensure current and legacy residents are thriving, while ensuring the next generation of Baltimoreans feel proud to live in the greatest city in America. In the First District, we’ve grown by more than 5,000 people at a time when the City’s population was otherwise decreasing. We’ve built four state-of-the-art public schools and restarted a long sidelined affordable housing project, while welcoming new small businesses and larger anchor companies to the district.
Those schools can and should be a pipeline for many students into middle class jobs through career technology education programs. Our city is also home to an incredible amalgam of colleges and universities, graduating thousands of bright minds each year. We need to avoid a brain drain and retain that talent in Baltimore: College graduates who put down roots beyond those four years, becoming engaged employees and residents.
- Supported smart development while securing $2.9m in affordable housing funds, resulting in 5,500 new residents amid citywide population declines.
- Brokered an agreement with the Harbor Point development team to ensure that 30 percent of their construction and support staff are local Baltimoreans, putting our own residents to work.
- Secured a community benefits agreement to ensure continued public access to a former public library, even as the space is revitalized by a private developer.
- Helped countless small, minority and women-owned businesses navigate the challenges of the city’s permitting processes to make sure they open as quickly and smoothly as possible.
- Helped UNITE HERE Local 7’s efforts to unionize Marriott employees in a contract that brought the first pay increase for workers in two years and set a new standard for hotel workers across the city.
- Smart development can create incredible opportunity in Baltimore, growing our tax base and providing career pathways for our residents. As Council President, Zeke will work to break down silos that exist between government agencies, developers, and unions and ensure any new development in Baltimore benefits everyone.
- Our ability to deliver world-class public service in Baltimore relies in part on the hardworking people employed by City agencies. Today, these agencies are filled with vacancies, stalling our ability to make meaningful progress. As Council President, Zeke will work to inspire the best and brightest to live in and work for local government, increasing our tax base and providing agencies with the critical resources they need to provide more effective and efficient services.
- Baltimore City’s permitting system is often the greatest single barrier for small businesses hoping to open and thrive here. Our entrepreneurs regularly face significant financial risk when projects are delayed by what can be a ten-month process. As Council President, Zeke will demand greater accountability and collaboration from the agencies responsible for these processes while ensuring the City’s budget provides the funding that will allow our critical frontline staff to move more quickly.