Pitching For Recreation

Mayor Takes To Neighborhood To Explain What Survived Budget Cuts

Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon bounded up the stairs to a home on Federal Street in East Baltimore ready to make her pitch.

"You have kids?" the mayor asked a man sitting on his porch Wednesday morning.

He looked stunned.

"Grandkids?" Dixon asked.

He nodded, and the mayor, surrounded by aides, began selling a city-sponsored summer camp. It is free, it is just down the block, Dixon said.

She passed out a white plastic bag bearing a city seal that contained a schedule of camp activities at Fort Worthington Recreation Center (formerly the Fort Worthington Police Athletic League). There will be drama, arts and crafts, games. Breakfast and lunch will be served.

Then the mayor and staff moved on to the next house, going door to door in the Berea community to explain what is open and what is closed - a matter of much confusion after a messy budget season in which Dixon cut $65 million from her spending plan and shut some recreation centers, pools and police athletic centers.

But under pressure from the City Council, Dixon restored some cuts, including two pools and summer programs at most recreation centers. Two child care centers that were supposed to be closed received funding approval from the Board of Estimates on Wednesday morning to stay open. The mayor's plan for the city's 18 Police Athletic League centers remains the same: Fourteen will become recreation centers, two will be absorbed by the city's school system and two will close (though a last-minute budget deal allowed summer camps to operate at all but one of the facilities set for closure). One of the city's recreation centers will close, and two will be run by the school system.

The Berea community was ground zero for confusion. Only five children were signed up for the summer camp at its PAL center this year, with many mistakenly believing that the city had closed it.

Residents greeted the mayor warmly when she stopped by, but after she moved on they said they are worried about enough activities for youth.

"We're waiting and seeing. ... We are holding our breath," said Zatella Giles, an East Baltimore community leader. "We are all angry. You have an angry community."

Members of Dixon's staff learned about the lackluster interest in the Fort Worthington summer camp after a community meeting Tuesday evening and made quick plans to canvass the neighborhood to gin up interest. Mayoral fellows began knocking on doors about 9 a.m. and three even wrote a song.