Mayor Martin O'Malley and his top officials traded a wood-paneled conference room in City Hall for one of Baltimore's worst drug corners yesterday, holding a Cabinet meeting on a vacant lot to symbolize a city taking its streets back from crime.
Under a blue tent pitched at North Avenue and Rosedale Street in West Baltimore, O'Malley and his aides met for about an hour, shivering in winter coats and raising their voices at times to be heard over rumbling buses and trucks.
They got an update on the Human Services Commission's activities, heard the latest crime figures, were briefed on an energy assistance program and Earned Income Tax Credits, and learned that crews were ready to salt roads if it snows.
But the substance of the official business was beside the point. The exciting thing, to community activists and passersby, was that the mayor and his staff were willing to spend time in their troubled corner of Baltimore. "This is great. This is great," said Jeff Pitts, president of Winchester Improvement Association. "Getting exposure in these areas, the crime areas, lets the people know that they're not alone ... that the city's behind them."
The meeting was organized by Councilman Keiffer J. Mitchell Jr., who since last summer has been setting up a temporary office on street corners around the 4th District. The idea was to interact more with constituents and drive away drug dealers -- if only for a day.
Mitchell recently invited O'Malley to join him on the corner, and the mayor accepted. When O'Malley realized he was scheduled to attend a Cabinet meeting that day, he decided to move the meeting there.
An ordinary Cabinet meeting takes place not just indoors, but behind closed doors. O'Malley teased reporters and photographers about their rare chance to watch, and predicted they wouldn't stay long because of the cold. A tent heater had to be shut off when the session began because it was too noisy. Mitchell, who planned to spend all day at the tent, was bundled up in long underwear.
The meeting occurred after a rash of high-profile violence in the city. Within the past two weeks, six police officers have been shot, one fatally. Last month, arson killed seven members of an East Baltimore family who had reported drug dealing in their neighborhood.
"It almost makes you want to say, 'What's the use?' " Mitchell said. But, he added, "Taking back a drug corner even for a day is not a fruitless act."
Mitchell's street-side office was little more than a tent and a table, covered with brochures on fighting drug addiction, treating AIDS, removing lead paint and getting other forms of help. Nearly 90 people have signed up for drug treatment since he set up his makeshift office in June, Mitchell said.