Politics

For the first time in more than 60 years, Baltimore’s police district map will be overhauled following approval from Baltimore City Council Monday. City Council members voted 12 to 3 in favor of the proposal, which will shrink the size of the city’s sprawling Northeastern District, the city’s largest by population and police workload. The redistricting process, which began last year, is required under state legislation passed in 2019 that directs Baltimore Police to reevaluate the boundaries after each decennial U.S. census. The current boundaries for the department’s nine districts have remained roughly the same for decades, despite major shifts in population and crime trends.

A proposed bill before the Baltimore City Council would require developers of certain residential buildings that receive subsidies from the city to set aside a percentage of units to be more affordable, a policy that supporters say would help address both the city’s shortage of affordable housing and socioeconomic segregation. Dozens of supporters gathered Monday afternoon across from the 414 Light Street Apartments, a towering glass building that benefited from more than $3 million in tax credits from the city in 2020 but still offers no units below market rate.

While other Baltimore elected officials used the 2022 off-cycle year to build their campaign finance war chests, City Council President Nick Mosby reported just one $500 donation since January. Neither his ActBlue donation page nor his campaign website was active Monday afternoon. Although observers inside and outside of City Hall have wondered if the first-term council president will run again in 2024, the Democrat said the quiet period is consistent with his campaign strategy, which is to ramp up fundraising and events closer to Election Day — a method he said is not in alignment with the traditional structure and power players of the city.

Lawyers for the Maryland Department of Transportation and a losing bidder on the Interstate 495/I-270 toll lanes project tangled before a Maryland appeals court Monday. At issue: whether the bidder, Capital Express Mobility Partners (CEMP), waited too long to file a protest against the agency. The issue, while narrow, ties directly to a broader dispute that may determine the fate of Gov. Larry Hogan’s controversial bid to bring variably-priced toll lanes to the Capital Beltway and Interstate 270.

Maryland’s highest court will hear an appeal challenging the early start to mail-in ballot counting this fall. The Maryland Court of Appeals has set a hearing date for Friday to hear arguments from the Maryland State Board of Elections, which asked to begin counting ballots Oct. 1, and from Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Cox, who has challenged the move. Cox has argued that a court order allowing early counting would violate the state constitution.

Part of the kabuki dance of being a third-party candidate for political office is having to convince skeptical voters and donors that you have even a slim shot at victory. David Lashar, the Libertarian nominee for governor, has dispensed with all that this time. A lifelong Republican and a former top official in the Maryland Department of Health, Lashar quit the party to protest the rise of Donald Trump. In an interview with Maryland Matters, he said he has set a lower — but perhaps more achievable — objective for himself. He’s gunning to outpoll Republican nominee Dan Cox.