Neighborhood Leaders

Ronald Bailey takes his community work seriously. His business cards read: "Ronald Nathaniel Bailey, Community Activist, Proudly serving the people of Baltimore City."And he chairs the Do It Now Coalition, working with a group of tough West Baltimore neighborhoods to arrange neighborhood cleanups, vigils against drug dealers and overnight camp-outs for poor children.But only after finishing a six-month training program for neighborhood leaders can Mr. Bailey say he's ready to begin solving his community's more difficult problems: drug addiction, crime and illiteracy.

A shooting early Friday outside a small inn and residence next to the Belvedere Hotel in the Mid-Town neighborhood left a 41-year-old man dead and another critically wounded, police said. The wounded man was identified by Mount Vernon-Belvedere Association President Jason Curtis as 56-year-old Lawrence R. Peterson, the owner of the Empire House inn. Peterson is a well-known booster for the Mount Vernon area who is regarded by residents as its unofficial mayor. Friends also confirmed that Peterson was wounded.

In Southeast Baltimore, where declining employment opportunities and illiteracy plague some of the city's oldest communities, neighborhood leaders have put together a blueprint for jobs, affordable housing and education programs.After 18 months of study and debate, the Southeast Planning Council -- made up of 40 to 50 neighborhood leaders -- last week released its Southeast Community Plan.The plan, perhaps the most ambitious created by any group of Baltimore community leaders, calls for an industrial park, the creation of small businesses, the formation of employment training programs, the expansion of literacy and Head Start programs, and a program to help businesses find homes for workers in the area.

Salary: $62,000 Age: 32 Years on the job: 10 How she got started:: After graduating from Towson University with a bachelor's degree in psychology and sociology, Allen went to work as director of admissions for a Baltimore-area long-term nursing care and rehabilitation center. She came to Levindale in 1999 as a guest relations specialist. Two years later she became director of guest relations, and in 2006 she started as a "neighborhood" leader. Typical day:: The day starts early for Allen, who said she's usually in by about 6 a.m. One day a week, she arrives by 10 a.m. and stays through dinner service in an effort to keep in contact with all three shifts of employees.

In his effort to woo Baltimore, gubernatorial candidate Parris N. Glendening met with more than two dozen neighborhood leaders yesterday to hear their concerns and to seek their influential support.Mr. Glendening, a Democrat, told the group that he understands the city's problems, having tackled many of them in his 12 years as Prince George's County executive.He vowed to make urban schools his No. 1 priority, encourage city investment through property tax breaks and push for community policing.

The plan to build a 10.5-mile Red Line transit service to carry commuters from Woodlawn to Fells Point is in the earliest stages of study by state officials. But with glossy brochures, "open house" signs at public meetings and large maps of the proposed route, some Woodlawn community leaders say it feels as though the east-west corridor project is for sale, not for consideration. And with fears about crime and trash accompanying any new light rail or rapid-transit bus route, neighborhood leaders say they are not convinced of Maryland Transit Administration assertions that the commuter line would reduce traffic jams and spur economic development.

I RECENTLY participated in a focus group of community leaders regarding problems, solutions and priorities for Baltimore's neighborhoods. I was surprised by how concerned several neighborhood leaders are with the impact of gentrification. Most Baltimoreans are aware that Federal Hill changed from a working-class neighborhood to a yuppie neighborhood more than a decade ago. Canton made similar changes in far less time. In both cases, long-term residents were hit by higher taxes and with a change in lifestyle as new residents with different tastes moved in. Certainly, many of us can sympathize with the increasingly isolated old-timers as their neighborhoods changed.

Charlotte, North Carolina. -- Three dozen Charlotte neighborhoods, ranging from dirt-poor to affluent, met in May to adopt a ''Declaration of Interdependence'' -- a kind of mutual assistance pact to fight for equal attention from city and county governments on every issue from crack houses to parking, crime fighting to neighborhood policing to housing.The neighborhoods are agreeing to assist each other with information, education, training and plain old political infighting. For some of the most afflicted neighborhoods, that could mean a set of powerful new friends.

WITH THE appointment of Diane Bell as president of Empower Baltimore, pessimism among some Baltimore neighborhood leaders about their role in this project has turned to optimism. They believe their complaints have led to better cooperation with the business-oriented members of the empowerment zone board.That is good to hear. Baltimore's success last year in winning a coveted empowerment zone grant was due in part to heavy business-community-government interaction. The success of the program will hinge on making that cooperation an on-going reality.

Mayor Martin O'Malley stood in the CitiStat room in City Hall, lobbing questions at six neighborhood liaisons recently enlisted to act as his eyes and ears on Baltimore's residential streets. At the evening drill late last month, O'Malley heard from a gathering of about 100 community leaders about a litany of problems: Leakin Park on the west side was looking worse; the 2500 block of McHenry St. was pitch dark at night because of broken street lamps; tennis shoes were left hanging over telephone lines.

Businesses caught placing signs on telephone poles and along street medians in Baltimore would face not only stiffer penalties but also the wrath of community groups incensed over the practice, under a proposal approved by the City Council yesterday. The ordinance - the latest intended to increase the quality of life in city neighborhoods - doubles the penalty for posting illegal signs to $200 and directs half of the revenue collected from those fines to the neighborhood groups who organize efforts to rip them down.

The plan to build a 10.5-mile Red Line transit service to carry commuters from Woodlawn to Fells Point is in the earliest stages of study by state officials. But with glossy brochures, "open house" signs at public meetings and large maps of the proposed route, some Woodlawn community leaders say it feels as though the east-west corridor project is for sale, not for consideration. And with fears about crime and trash accompanying any new light rail or rapid-transit bus route, neighborhood leaders say they are not convinced of Maryland Transit Administration assertions that the commuter line would reduce traffic jams and spur economic development.

A contested proposal to rezone part of a 32-acre tract on U.S. 1 in Elkridge near the community of Harwood Park will be withdrawn, according to the sponsor, Howard County Councilman Christopher J. Merdon. The withdrawal was announced at last night's County Council public hearing. "I was trying to make things work and get the place cleaned up, but I can't do it without ... the property owner," Merdon said. "We can't force him out. We can't force change on him." The landowner, Jim Roberts, whose decades-old business is considered an eyesore by some, vowed yesterday to clean up and screen his land with either a fence or trees.

Community leaders in Southwest Baltimore expressed satisfaction yesterday at the news that New Psalmist Baptist Church is relocating to a Northwest Baltimore business park and that its property would be joined with a sprawling vacant apartment complex to create the city's largest residential housing development in decades. "I think it's what you call a win-win," said Angela Bethea-Spearman, president of the Uplands Community Association. "New Psalmist appears to be very happy, and we're happy for them."

Over the past 25 years, Mark Sissman has been Baltimore's deputy housing commissioner, president of a nonprofit investment corporation, a banker and a key player in the redevelopment of the Hippodrome, the $70 million downtown performing arts center that opened in February. The 59-year-old lawyer has made another career change. With Clear Channel Communications in day-to-day control of the Hippodrome, Sissman has moved over to be the head of Healthy Neighborhoods Inc., an ambitious drive to improve 10 Baltimore communities and turn them into hot real estate commodities.

I RECENTLY participated in a focus group of community leaders regarding problems, solutions and priorities for Baltimore's neighborhoods. I was surprised by how concerned several neighborhood leaders are with the impact of gentrification. Most Baltimoreans are aware that Federal Hill changed from a working-class neighborhood to a yuppie neighborhood more than a decade ago. Canton made similar changes in far less time. In both cases, long-term residents were hit by higher taxes and with a change in lifestyle as new residents with different tastes moved in. Certainly, many of us can sympathize with the increasingly isolated old-timers as their neighborhoods changed.

Baltimoreans captivated by the charms of city living are planning to send their message to the world on the byways of the World Wide Web."People who live in Baltimore can be their own best marketers," said Cheryl A. Casciani, executive director of the Citizens Planning and Housing Association (CPHA) and one of several people who had a hand in creating a Neighborhood Marketing Institute that will help city residents tout the beauty of Baltimore."The goal of the marketing institute is to show community leaders how to focus on their assets and develop a strong marketing plan for their neighborhoods, so they can attract and retain residents," Casciani said.

Businesses caught placing signs on telephone poles and along street medians in Baltimore would face not only stiffer penalties but also the wrath of community groups incensed over the practice, under a proposal approved by the City Council yesterday. The ordinance - the latest intended to increase the quality of life in city neighborhoods - doubles the penalty for posting illegal signs to $200 and directs half of the revenue collected from those fines to the neighborhood groups who organize efforts to rip them down.

Sandra Sparks, executive director of the Midtown Community District since 1998 and an advocate for more lively city parks, resigned this month. A Midtown staff member, Charles L. Smith, has been named to serve as interim director while a search for her successor takes place. "I'm moving on," Sparks said in her Charles Village home Friday, as she patched the dining room walls. "I'm still deeply committed to the concept of a community benefits district as a model for revitalizing diverse city neighborhoods.

Allegations of prostitution and drug use made against a Catholic priest have rocked Lansdowne, the small blue-collar Baltimore County community where he was viewed as an activist champion. Whether it was fighting to preserve a church day care center, trying to keep a county library branch from closing or making sure children received vaccinations, the Rev. Steven P. Girard regularly stood at the forefront of the battles in Lansdowne, neighborhood leaders said yesterday. And in a community that abuts the city line and has had its share of rising social ills, Girard's advocacy was welcomed.