1. Please describe your educational and professional background and how it has prepared you to serve on the City Council.
I received my Bachelors from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and received my Masters from Morgan State University. I have worked at WJZ as a journalist and my job was to cover East Baltimore news. I am a volunteer at Banner Neighborhoods, which is a community organization where I tutor students. I have become active in all the civic associations in District 13. I have organized many block cleanups and organized my block so that we could have trees planted in front of our houses. I am active in my community and I have developed the skills to work with different people and organizations to help solve the problems in District 13 and Baltimore.
2. Why do you want to serve on the council? What would your top priorities be if you are elected?
I want change the way things are being run. I am tired of seeing the 4,700 abandoned homes in District 13. I am tired of seeing schools, pools and recreational center's budgets being cut or shut down and I am tired of seeing trash everywhere. If elected will not allow the pools and recreational centers to be shut next summer. I want to work with teachers, principals, students and parents to make our schools better to learn. My top priorities will be education, jobs and crime. These are all interconnected problems. The better the schools are and the more jobs there are the less crime there will be. If juvenile offenders are able to apply for jobs in the community this will reduce recidivism and make our schools a safer place to learn.
3. Do you support Baltimore's current crime-fighting strategy? What changes, if any, would you advocate for to improve public safety in the city?
I would first work to repair the relationship between the police and the community. I would increase the amount of community walks with the police and other such positive interactions. I would also work to put more substations in the community so the officers understand the community that they serve in. I would also get the officers who are behind desks right now out on the street and hire non-police to replace them. The police force while being held accountable to the City Council must know that they can trust the City Council.
4. Do you support the recent reforms in the Baltimore City school system? Do you believe any changes are needed in the schools' governance structure (such as direct mayoral control or an elected school board)?
I believe in a more democratic system, in a more transparent system. I want an elected school board so that they will be more responsive to the people. I think that we need to change the way things are being run. Any more reforms that take place must come with the inclusion of parents, teachers and community partners.
5. How would you address the city's backlog in school maintenance and renovations, estimated to be as much as $2 billion?
The first thing that needs to be done is to stop cutting the education budget. That is the first step in improving Baltimore City Public Schools. The next step is to halt the tens of millions of dollars that go to massive development projects that are not helping the communities across the city. It is time we start investing in community level projects to improve Baltimore. As a council we need to put the money where it will be most effective and if the money is spent effectively on schools than the schools will become more effective, better, safer places to learn.
6. Property taxes have become a major issue in this year's election. Do you believe the city's tax rate needs to be cut? If so, by how much, and what steps would you take to keep the city's budget in balance while lowering the rate?
I would work with my fellow city council members to help that the property tax system needs to be reformed. I believe that people need to be incentivized to keep up their properties and penalized if they do not. Before changing any taxes I would first go through the city's budget and find programs that are outdated, superfluous or duplicative. Then after ensuring that there is no money to be saved from there I would work with my fellow council members and the mayor to see how the tax code could be changed.
7. The city has faced large budget shortfalls in recent years. If that trend continues, what top priorities would you protect from cuts? In what areas would you pursue spending reductions?
As I said before I would ensure that there is no spending that is outdated, superfluous or duplicative. Budget cuts that negatively impact the youth are unacceptable. We cannot have the pools and recreation centers closed during the summer because that reduces the positive activies for our youth and push them onto the corners. I would also protect job training centers because there are too many unemployed and underemployed citizens in District 13 and they need to have access to the services that will prepare them for good jobs.
8. Baltimore has lost tens of thousands of jobs in the last decade. What would you do to encourage economic development and provide employment opportunities for city residents?
I would push for more green jobs in our community. Job training centers would be expanded to include green jobs so that the jobs of the future would have workers right here in Baltimore. I would work with fellow City Council members and the mayor to get the graduates of the many colleges and universities in the area to remain in Baltimore City. Another way I would help foster economic development is to enforce local hiring laws so that contractors hire from within their communities.