NEWS
May 15, 2013
On the face of it, City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young's local hiring bill sounds eminently reasonable. When Baltimore spends its residents' tax dollars, why shouldn't it do so in a way that supports hiring city residents, particularly considering the high rate of unemployment here? That common-sense appeal, perhaps, explains why the measure got preliminary approval on a unanimous vote Monday night. Indeed, it sounds like such a good idea that one might wonder: Why doesn't every city and county do the same thing?
NEWS
By Luke Broadwater, The Baltimore Sun | May 13, 2013
In a unanimous vote, the City Council gave preliminary approval Monday to a bill that would require businesses getting large city contracts or financial support to hire 51 percent of new workers from Baltimore. "My council colleagues believe this is a fair thing to do," Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young, the bill's lead sponsor, said after the vote. "We have an unemployment rate of 9.6 percent. We need to get Baltimore City to work. There are qualified people in this city that can do these jobs.
NEWS
By Justin George, The Baltimore Sun | May 6, 2013
The Baltimore Police Department tapped one of its lawyers as the new head of internal affairs, saying Rodney Hill's experience as an officer and his recent turn as a prosecutor of police misconduct cases give him the credibility to lead a group charged with restoring public trust. Hill, 50, replaces Grayling Williams, who left in March to accept a position with the Pennsylvania attorney general's office. Since April 2012, Hill has been assigned to the Police Department through the city's Law Department, providing legal advice to internal investigators, prosecuting police officers at internal disciplinary hearing boards and representing the department in court.
NEWS
January 14, 2013
A recent Sun editorial ("Jobs for city residents" January 9), suggests that city government has done little to promote local hiring and job creation and that by ensuring proposed city ordinances are legally-sufficient, the Baltimore City Law Department is somehow impeding the city's progress. The truth is that under the leadership of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, much has been done over the last three years to achieve the goal of increasing local hiring and job opportunities without violating the law and exposing taxpayers to the great risk of costly litigation.
NEWS
By Luke Broadwater, The Baltimore Sun | June 26, 2012
Outside West Baltimore's Penn Station Liquors, folks say the store is no place for children. Only a block away from Westside Elementary School, Penn Station is one of four liquor businesses within feet of each other on North Fulton Street. Youngsters sometimes wander in to buy candy, soda and chips - stocked next to the alcohol, flavored cigars and sex pills. "Kids don't belong here," says Pauline White, 50, who lives nearby. "When people start drinking, they get crazy. " On Monday, the City Council overwhelmingly voted to pass a bill, championed by freshman Councilman Nick Mosby, to make it illegal for liquor stores to sell anything to minors, including seemingly innocuous goods such as snacks or T-shirts.
NEWS
By Scott Calvert, The Baltimore Sun | April 22, 2012
Like a car salesman, the City of Baltimore started high, came down and ended up making a deal all sides could live with. The city has agreed to give Patterson Park homeowner Maureen Coyle about two years to repay $5,702 worth of property tax breaks that she didn't ask for and that she thought reflected a legitimate discount for being an owner-occupant, Coyle says. On Friday the city's law department emailed her a contract spelling out terms of the deal that will require her to repay $250 a month.