A group of close to 40 Baltimore businesses has signed on to a letter threatening to withhold tax payments from the city until it improves policing and other services.
“When it comes to prostitution, public urination and defecation, and the illegal sale and consumption of alcohol and illicit drugs on the streets, we know these crimes are not as serious as the carjackings, shootings, and homicides that have become routine,” the letter reads. “But, as this past weekend proved, a culture of lawlessness rarely remains confined to petty offenses and invariably leads to the kinds of violence and tragedy we witnessed late Saturday night.”
The group of 37 businesses sent the letter to Mayor Brandon Scott, Councilman Zeke Cohen, State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby, and Police Commissioner Michael Harrison after a violent weekend led to the shooting of three men in the city’s Fells Point neighborhood where the businesses are located.
“What is happening in our front yard — the chaos and lawlessness that escalated this weekend into another night of tragic, unspeakable gun violence — has been going on for far too long,” the letter said.
THEY REALLY ARE ‘DEFUNDING’ THE POLICE, AND IT’S NOT GOING WELL
Baltimore was one of the cities that chose to partially reduce its police budget in response to the “Defund the Police” movement that spread across the country in the wake of George Floyd’s death last year, with the city choosing to eliminate $22 million from its police budget. But a surge in crime caused the city to quickly reverse course, proposing a police budget in 2022 that would be increased by $28 million.
The businesses call on them to put funds that were supposed to go to the city in an escrow until the city meets their demands, including picking up trash, enforcing traffic and parking laws by ticketing and towing, stopping illegal open-alcohol and drugs sales, and empowering the city’s police department to responsibly enforce the law.
The letter argues that Fells Point is “one of the crown jewels of Baltimore,” warning that a failure to meet the businesses demands could lead to the area’s deterioration.
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“Frankly, it’s pathetic that we have to ask for these basics,” the letter said. “But this is where we are.”
