Citizens Planning and Housing Association, Inc. » Write or Call

Want More Investment in Our Youth? Tell Your City Council Member to Vote Against the Mayor’s Budget

Aidan — Tue, 15 May 2012 19:50:08 +0000

The Safe and Sound Campaign, which advocates on behalf of Baltimore City’s families, children, and youth, is dissatisfied with the way the City’s FY2013 budget has taken shape. Namely, two resolutions which received UNANIMOUS support in the City Council part of the budget formulation process have not been included in the Board of Estimates-approved version of the document. Those two resolutions would have doubled the current level of spending on afterschool programs and youth summer jobs, respectively. These increases represent a mere drop in the bucket of the City’s $3 billion budget.

Not only are afterschool programs and youth employment especially important at a time when recreation centers in Baltimore are undergoing huge transformations and the job market is slow to recover, Mayor Rawlings-Blake promised during the 2011 campaign that she would support the spending increases Safe and Sound wants in this budget.

This isn’t over yet, though. The City Council now has the opportunity to hold the current budget up until the investment Mayor Rawlings-Blake promised in the youth of Baltimore City is finally made. Each member of the City Council supported the resolutions that got these modest increases into the budget to begin with, now only EIGHT need to be convinced that our children are worth holding up approval of the budget. Click here to see which members are already resolved to hold up the budget, then enter your zip code and a concise, editable message in opposition to the current budget will appear. Simply add your address and hit send.

This post is intended to present an opportunity for citizen engagement. It does not necessarily represent the mission of CPHA.

Tell Your Senator to Protect a Critical Source of Affordable Housing Data

Aidan — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:50:00 +0000

This is a post originally written by the National Low Income Housing Coalition. All emphasis is that of the original post. Read more from the NLIHC at nlihc.org.

On May 9, the House voted to eliminate funding for the American Community Survey (ACS) in its FY13 Commerce, Justice, and Science appropriations bill. Your organization can show its support for the ACS today by signing onto a letter that will be circulated to the Senate. The deadline for signing on to this letter is [today], May 15. See below for instructions for signing on.

The Senate is expected to mark up its FY13 Commerce, Justice, and Science appropriations bill the week of May 21 and it is critical that your Senators hear how important funding for the ACS is to determining the need for affordable housing.

The House also passed an amendment that would make responses to the ACS voluntary by prohibiting the Census Bureau and Department of Justice from enforcing penalties for not responding to the ACS. This would have severely compromised the validity of the ACS if the House had funded it. It is also critical for Senators to know that the ACS needs to be mandatory in order to remain a valid source of data.

The ACS provides critical data on the incomes and housing conditions for households across the country that NLIHC and other affordable housing organizations use to determine the need for affordable housing. The ACS is a critical resource in educating Congress, the Administration, and the public on the lack of affordable housing.

The Census Project, a coalition of organizations including NLIHC, dedicated to a fair and accurate census, is circulating a sign on letter urging Senators to continue funding for the ACS in its FY13 appropriations bill.

We urge you to sign this letter.

The deadline to sign on is close of business [today]. To sign on, email your organization’s name along with the city and state in parentheses (city, state abbreviation) to Brendan Nichols bnichols@ccmc.org at The Census Project.

You can also contact your Senators directly by calling the Congressional switchboard at 877-210-5351 to be connected to your Senators’ offices. Click on the blue Take Action link above and enter your zip code to find your Senators’ numbers.

If you call, please email us at outreach@nlihc.org to let us know which office you called and how the call went.

Save a Life! Keep Baltimore’s Fire Stations Open!

Cammie — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:32:55 +0000

Contact your City Council members and the Mayor’s office. Let them know that the closing of three of the city’s fire stations, Truck 10 in Harlem Park, Truck 15 in Broadway East/Berea and Squad 11 in Bayview/Greektown is unsupported, not to mention a safety hazard.

According to a Baltimore Brew article, City Council president Bernard C. “Jack” Young is quoted as viewing the department’s plan to close these three fire stations as “unacceptable and an attempt to pit neighborhoods against each other.” Baltimore’s City’s response time is currently behind the national standard for response times. Fire officials claim the closings and redeployment of equipment won’t affect response times (just save money). Firefighters unions disagree and are concerned about the lack of coverage swaths of the city would experience if fire units were closed.

Watch this less than three minute video produced by IAFF Local 734, which shows how quickly a small fire can engulf a room. Even a few seconds difference in response time is no small matter.

Your opinion matters! Truck 6 at Locust Point Fire Station is staying open because of a “re-evaluation by headquarters and other factors” and thanks to vocal opposition from Councilman Cole.

Contact your City Council member and the Mayor’s office about the importance of keeping all of the fire stations open. Click here to find which City Council member you should contact.

Write to Your U.S. Senator About the Importance of HUD’s Sustainable Communities Initiative

Cammie — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:08:44 +0000

Smart Growth America needs your help with protecting the Sustainable Communities Initiative (SCI), which has already achieved so much in its first two years of existence! The Senate is currently drafting the budget for FY2013 and the funding for the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s work is yet to be decided.

This initiative has helped communities become more economically viable and create jobs, as well as broaden housing and transportation options for millions of Americans. The Baltimore metro area, with the help of the Baltimore Regional Housing Campaign, recently received a Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant currently being used to fund “robust demonstration efforts in green and healthy housing, watershed protection, transit-oriented development” along with “stand alone workforce development and regional housing plans.”

Please join in supporting HUD’s Sustainable Communities Initiative. To do so, click here, enter your ZIP code, and a concise, editable letter will appear in support of SCI. It will be sent to Senator Mikulski, who is a key player in the appropriations process.

How will the National Heritage Area Affect Your Neighborhood?

Cammie — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 18:30:11 +0000

The Baltimore Heritage Area Association, Inc. is in the beginning stages of drafting a Comprehensive Management Plan for the Baltimore National Heritage Area (BNHA) which includes planning the area’s programs, decision-making, and funding over a 10 – 15 year period.

The general public and stakeholder organization meetings are held in order to engage interested parties in this planning process that will ultimately establish new opportunities for education, recreation and heritage tourism. Two public meetings and one stakeholder meeting will be held in April. These meetings give you an opportunity to suggest to the BNHA what kinds of projects (preservation of certain buildings, emphasis on the history of a neighborhood) would best promote the mission of the heritage area: “to foster economic development through heritage tourism and historic preservation.”

What Meeting Should You Attend?

Public meetings are less formal and serve as an opportunity for the general public to review information regarding the planning process. At these meetings, attendees can interact with heritage area staff and choose their preferred format for providing feedback i.e. email, website, note cards or in person.

The general stakeholder meetings are meant for organizations that either currently have or have had a relationship with BNHA in the past.

In addition to attending meetings, the public and BNHA stakeholders are invited to share their opinions and comments on any portion of the drafted plan online. Click here to view the draft and provide feedback.

Public Meetings

Tuesday, April 17, 2012
B&O Railroad Museum
901 W. Pratt St, Baltimore, MD 21223
6pm – 8pm

Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine
2400 E. Fort Ave Baltimore, MD 21230
6 pm- 8pm

General Stakeholder Meeting
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Maryland Historical Society
201 W. Monument St., 21201
9am – 12 noon

RSVP your attendance (encouraged, not mandatory) to Ms. Debora Taylor
email: drtaylor@baltimoreheritagearea.org
Phone: 419-878-6411

Call Now: Tell the Governor to Veto Bill Moving City Elections to Presidential Years!

Aidan — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 22:34:03 +0000

For the past few weeks, we’ve been imploring you to consider the reasons why a change in Baltimore City’s municipal election cycle to the gubernatorial year is best for Baltimore and to contact your representatives in Annapolis to tell them to support such a change. The Baltimore Sun and Baltimore Brew have both published opinion pieces eloquently laying out reasons to stand with the BECC in favor of the gubernatorial cycle. To those of you who have helped us, thank you very much.

Now that the General Assembly has adjourned and a bill that would wrongly move Baltimore City’s elections to the presidential cycle is on Governor O’Malley’s desk, we’re asking you to do one more thing: call Governor O’Malley to urge him to veto that bill and support changing the City’s elections to the gubernatorial cycle instead.

It’s easy, simply call 410-974-3901 and leave a message urging Governor O’Malley to veto the bill that would move Baltimore City’s municipal elections to presidential years, and instead asking that he support the moving of Baltimore City’s elections to the gubernatorial cycle.

Here’s a sample message:

Hello, this is [state your name, hometown]. I am calling to urge Governor O’Malley to veto the bill that would move Baltimore City’s municipal elections to the presidential cycle. The gubernatorial cycle is a superior change, because there has been a more consistent turnout historically, Baltimore elected officials would no longer leave their seat to unelected replacements upon winning state office mid-term, and the gubernatorial year would also mean less of a delay between primary election and general election. Thank you for your consideration.

Time has almost run out on moving elections to the gubernatorial cycle through legislative means. Please take a few minutes to call the governor to ask for a VETO!

Do Not Build Youth Jail – Implement Smiley Book Recommendations Instead

Cammie — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 13:38:24 +0000

A guest post by Baltimore’s Safe and Sound Campaign

The O’Malley Administration is moving forward with plans to build a new jail for youth charged as adults in Baltimore, despite recommendations from a research group commissioned by the administration, the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, that describes five scenarios which would eliminate the need for a new jail, if enacted.

Maryland has an unprecedented opportunity to lead the country in dismantling structural racism. Mass incarceration of African Americans is a tradition in our country. From 1832 to post civil war to present day, public polices favor jails over opportunity in serving African American youth.Maryland has been a victim of this legacy for too long. Today, whereas in the State of Maryland, African Americans comprise 34 percent of the youth population, they comprise 80 percent of youth in detention. Likewise, in Baltimore City, African Americans comprise 75 percent of the youth population and 99 percent of youth in detention.

Instead of building a new jail, the state can use the designated funds to provide evidenced based alternatives to detention; recreation activities and job opportunities to the city’s children and youth.

The state has both moral and fiscal obligation to do the right thing and stop this jail from being built. Building a jail for youth who live in communities void of the basic opportunities to grow up healthy and educated makes no economic or moral sense. Our children – all our children and youth – are born to thrive and succeed – and the Smiley Book, the Safe and Sound Campaign’s recommendation for an alternative use of jail funds, shows just how that can happen. Even after centuries of discriminatory policies – we can stop the legacy of the past.

ACTION: Call the Governor and demand that all plans to build this jail stop immediately and that, instead, the funds be used to pay for successful alternatives to detention, recreation and meaningful services for Baltimore Youth. 410.974.3901

*Be sure to include your name and address, and ask that you receive follow up on the Governor’s actions.

This post is provided as an opportunity for citizen engagement but does not necessarily reflect the mission of CPHA.

Take Action to Support Clean Water Legislation in Annapolis!

Aidan — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 22:32:48 +0000

There is less than a week left in the Maryland General Assembly’s 2012 session, and here’s some more important legislation that you can help pass with just a few clicks of a mouse. The Chesepeake Bay Foundation is highlighting the fact that Maryland waterways are beginning to improve, but that the failure of three pieces of legislation to pass this session might undo the progress of recent years. The respective senate and house bills you could SUPPORT would:

“Finish upgrading the wastewater treatment plants that Maryland has already committed to fixing” (SB 240/HB 446)
“Ensure that local governments have resources to reduce polluted storm water runoff and implement their local clean water plans” (SB 614/HB 987)
“Reduce pollution from poorly planned development – including limiting new septic systems” (SB 236/HB 445)

The CBF has set up an easy way to send a message to your legislators in support of this legislative program, referred to collectively as the Clean Waters, Healthy Families campaign. On this page, just enter your zip code and a concise, editable message to your three state delegates and state senator appears in support of these bills. As you might imagine, interests with reason to oppose this program are attempting to wield influence in Annapolis and turn back the tide on the cleanliness of Maryland’s waterways. Counteract this with your message of support!

This post is provided as an opportunity for citizen engagement but does not necessarily reflect the mission of CPHA.

Protection from Predatory Rent-to-Own Businesses

Cammie — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 00:46:40 +0000

Call the House of Delegates’ Economic Matters Committee and show your support for Delegate Mary Washington’s new bill on Maryland Rental Purchase Best Practices (HB 997). This legislation will bring an end to predatory practices experienced often in “rent-to-own” business transactions. The rent-to-own industry has been notorious for targeting low-income and middle-income families for offering merchandise at 2 to 3.5 times the total cost of the same product at another store, and with exorbitant interest.

Delegate Washington and the Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition (MCRC) call for “caps on prices and interest rates, better disclosures of costs and fees, more time for consumers to reinstate their contracts if they miss a payment, and other reforms to protect consumers” through passage of this legislation. Approval of this bill in Annapolis is the first step to stop rent-to-own business from preying on communities.

Show your support and help Delegate Washington’s legislation pass!

Email Delegate Washington: mary.washington@house.state.md.us

Contact the Economic Matters Committee and tell them you support HB 997:
Call 1-800-492-7122

Visit Mary Washington’s facebook page for a full explanation on this important legislation.

If you have a problem with a rent-to-own transaction, contact the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division at 410-528-8662.

Two Calls Can Help Ensure School Construction and Renovation in Baltimore

Aidan — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 18:04:24 +0000

Whether or not a financing system that will allow for the renovation or modernization of all Baltimore City school buildings is now up to just a handful of legislators in Annapolis. House Bill 304-Senate Bill 533 would crucially allow the city to undertake a financing system in which large sums of money could be borrowed so that projects could start immediately, while also guaranteeing that the debt will be paid off. CPHA’s partners in the Transform Baltimore initiative along with representatives from the Baltimore Education Coalition will be advocating on behalf of this legislation each day in the next week, and need your help!

If you can be in Annapolis to help in person, email transform.bmore@gmail.com to let Transform Baltimore know. In the likely event that you can’t be there in person, you are being asked contact your three state delegates and state senators to ensure their support of this bill (click here to find contact information for your representatives) . In addition, please make calls to two of the twelve legislators who will likely make the difference in whether these bills pass or not, even if they do not represent you. Those legislators are:

Senator Douglas Peters (District 23): 410-841-3631
Senator Nathaniel McFadden (District 45): 410-841-3165

Here’s a sample message for you to leave:

Hello, I’d like to leave a message for [Senator Peters / McFadden]. We are strongly urging the senator’s support to pass Senate Bill 533 – Block Grant for Baltimore City School Construction. Our schools are crumbling and unhealthy, and do not support a modern academic curriculum for our students. Under the current system, the conditions of our schools will continue to deteriorate. We desperately need Senate Bill 533!

If you’d like to call more of the legislators at risk of voting against making school construction and renovation possible, contact Frank Patinella at the ACLU of Maryland at (410) 889-8550 x123 or patinella@aclu-md.org!