Politics

After a 20% drop in Baltimore homicides last year, Mayor Brandon Scott said Wednesday that his administration would carry 2023’s momentum forward and work on “sustained, long-term” reductions in violent crime. Flanked by more than a dozen city officials and community group leaders, Scott said last year’s decline in homicides and slight decline in nonfatal shootings is not cause for celebration, even if it is “meaningful progress.”

The Frederick County Council on Tuesday voted to adopt two measures concerning retirement plans for county government employees. The council voted unanimously to update the deferred retirement option plan (DROP) for career firefighters in Frederick County and to approve changes to the vesting schedule for non-uniformed county government employees.

Baltimore’s leaders are trying all sorts of tactics to reduce the city’s thousands of vacant properties. Attorneys with the Department of Housing and Community Development have been testing out a legal tool they think could soon bring hundreds of delinquent properties into the city’s control each year. One councilwoman wants to create a “land bank” to channel vacant properties into the hands of community-minded developers.

Pointed fingers and angry recriminations punctuated the Harford County Council meeting on Tuesday night, as members argued about amendments to a hotel tax revenue bill that would alter the way revenue is distributed across the county. Four amendments to Bill 23-034 passed on Tuesday by a 4-3 vote, changing a piece of legislation that was originally sponsored by District A Councilman Dion Guthrie, who said he attempted to try and fix the broken hotel tax revenue distribution system.

After news of major cuts in the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) budget were announced last month, Montgomery County’s elected officials are rallying to figure out ways to fill the gaps. “This is a massive blow, a massive hit,” Council President Andrew Friedson (D-Dist. 1) said at a Dec. 11 press briefing. MDOT announced Dec. 6 that it will cut $3 billion from its budget under a draft proposal, including a $400 million reduction in contributions to local government transportation funding.

A package of housing bills that would have eased the mounting cost burden on Howard County residents failed to advance through the County Council, effectively ending the county executive’s campaign for more affordable options in one of Maryland’s most expensive areas. Nicknamed the HOME Package, the policy bundle included local legislation meant to curb rent gouging in the county and expanded a Right to Purchase law that would have given nonprofit organizations and private companies the power to purchase and preserve existing rental units as affordable units.

Baltimore County Councilman Izzy Patoka was elected to lead the council this year, becoming the first new chairman since 2021. The second-term Democrat was the 6-0 choice at a Tuesday evening legislative session to lead meetings and set the agenda of the seven-member council; Councilman Todd Crandell was absent. Patoka is “a veteran of this body,” Republican 5th District Councilman David Marks, the longest-serving council member, said shortly after nominating Patoka. First-term 1st District Councilman Patrick “Pat” Young quickly seconded Marks’ nomination.

Frederick County Executive Jessica Fitzwater is reworking her proposed admissions and amusements tax in response to public feedback, officials said. Last month, the County Council held a public hearing on the resolution, which would impose a 5% tax on ticket sales, equipment and facility rentals and other revenue streams for businesses in the entertainment and recreation spheres. The resolution was originally scheduled to come back before the council for a vote on Tuesday, but Fitzwater’s administration decided to pull it from the meeting agenda.