From the office of Del. Pat McDonough:
The Solutions Summit should invite all interested parties from around the entire state to bring ideas and solutions to the table. It is time to cease all name-calling and begin to fix the problem. I invite the Mayor to help lead in this much needed event.
I acknowledge that I do not have all of the answers. At least, I am making an honest effort to be part of the solution. The youth crime problem in Baltimore City and the state must no longer be ignored. I believe in a Stick and Carrot” approach.
Let us begin with the “Carrot.”
* I am already preparing legislation that will create a Maryland Youth Advocacy Fund, financed by private special tax deductible contributions. The fund will address a broad spectrum of concern ranging from research to job creations.
* Job Creation and Development Program
Grants and assistance to youth programs that are already successful
Youth leadership and mentoring program
Scholarship programs
Expansion of Funding to Police youth clubs
Advocating for support and coordination with the church community
A parental involvement initiative
New energy and expansion of Neighborhood Watch Programs and Other Neighborhood Level Ideas
Renewed Support for Existing Organizations that participate in public safety programs
A privately supported youth volunteer organization connecting young people with various positive projects rewarded by grants and scholarships
Eliciting programs with the Orioles and the Ravens (Ray Rice does a lot of this already)
A media and advertising program financed by local television and press
And now, “The Stick.”
* Effective and aggressive enforcement of city curfew law
* Zero tolerance, arrest, and penalty including mandated community service for youth crime
* Addressing and lobbying against the “criminally friendly legislation” emanating on a regular basis from the MD Gen Assembly. Seven “criminal benefit bills” were passed in the last session including a free college education for rapists, child molesters, and violent career criminals. The college credit accumulated will guarantee an early release. The Baltimore City Delegation supported all of these criminal friendly measures.
* The Mayor should stop “pressuring” Baltimore City’s “top cop,” Commissioner Bealefeld into leaving his job.
This is tragic, No man should be coerced into giving up his job!
McDonough should try to get legislation passed that benefits Harford County rather than become the Trump of Maryland.
McDonough is a fool. Why would Mayor Blake stoop to the “good delegates” level and meet with him? He’s proven time after time that he’s an intolerant bigot. Hey Pat….what evidence do you have that Mayor Blake is “pressuring” Commissioner Bealefeld to leave? Give us some facts, not just your biased opinion for a change!
At least Pat is trying to get something accomplished and brought the crime in Balto. out in plain view.If it wasn’t for him and the youtube video of the St. Patrick’s day beat down no one would be talking about Balto.’s crime mess.Has anyone noticed that the farther we lean to the left and liberalism the more crime, more wards of the state and less freedom we have? Maybe in the next 2 or 3 special sessions we have
(at $ 20,000/day) the Dems can actually do something.
HYDESMANN: What I’ve noticed is the more the GOP/Tea Party cuts social programs designed to mitigate the loss of jobs sent to China by the wealth party, the more crime we have. Perhaps if we didn’t have such crushing corporate welfare and some of that money you people give to billionaire tax loopholes was spent creating jobs in the USA, things would be better.
Joseph Biden predicted crime would go up due to the cuts in federal funding to state and local governments and the Republicans cried foul to high heavens. As a result of the cuts, guess what happened? Crime went up. The watch the increased reports of murders in Baltimore.
What I find interesting is the increase number of stabbings in the city. To be fair, just so, as not to conflate the issue over the availability of guns I am pointing out the lack of funding to police and precints.
Baltimore’s spending did not decrease.