therealnews--2020-02-03--Detroit’s Land Bank Holds More Trouble for City’s Remaining Homeowners

This is a rush transcript and may contain errors .
It will be updated .
Jacqueline : This is Jacqueline Luqman with the Real News Network .
In part one of our coverage of the massive foreclosure crisis in Detroit that was driven not just by the lingering damage from the 2008 recession , but also by the city overcharging homeowners $ 600 million in property taxes , we talked last with Mark Bettencourt of Reveal News about his investigation into how the city could have overcharged so many homeowners so much money .
But that ’ s just one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ foreclosure crisis created a glut of abandoned city-owned houses that had a negative effect on the remaining homeowners , their properties , their neighborhoods in the majority black Motor City of Detroit .
Katlyn Alo , investigative reporter for Outlier Media , joins me to explain what happens to these properties once they ’ ve been foreclosed and the effect this massive number of foreclosed properties have on Detroit ’ s remaining homeowners .
Katlyn , thanks so much for joining me .
Katlyn Alo : Thank you for having me .
Jacqueline @ @ @ @ @ @ @ results of the massive overcharging of property taxes in Detroit left the city with a huge inventory of foreclosed and abandoned homes .
Now , most people in America are pretty familiar with the idea of a home or property being foreclosed and owned by the bank or owned by the city , but the scope of this issue in Detroit is unique .
Can you give us an idea of just how big the foreclosed property inventory in Detroit really is ?
Katlyn Alo : All of the inventory that is contained @ @ @ @ @ @ @ necessarily foreclosed , but foreclosure creates that cycle .
It feeds it and it feeds that portfolio of real estate .
There are several ways to state the scope of the issue in Detroit .
The first is that the Detroit Land Bank Authority is the largest land bank in the United States .
The second is that it is the biggest property owner in the City of Detroit .
You can also look at the distribution and what that means for the remaining residents .
About three quarters of all residential property @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Land Bank Authority is on the same block as at least one Land Bank Authority property .
I know that that ’ s a mouthful , but it kind of gives you an idea of just how many Detroiters are living in close proximity to not just vacancy but Land Bank owned vacancy .
Jacqueline : Let ’ s get into what this means for the remaining residents and those homes .
Now , the homes have sat vacant and the properties untended for years , stretching all the way back to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ areas of the city , entire city blocks of abandoned houses .
In some places , one or more house is abandoned in some neighborhoods , on some blocks , and there are a small number of occupied houses left on the blocks , a small number of residents still living in the neighborhood .
So , what happens to those abandoned homes , and then what happens to the neighbors in the places where most of the other homes around them are owned by the city ?
Katlyn Alo : The first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a lot of that has been contingent upon whether or not the property sits in what ’ s called the Hardest Hit Fund zone , which means that these federal funds , that the City of Detroit decided to use for demolition , can be allocated to those zones , but not to properties that are outside of those zones .
So , that can account for a lot of delays in getting demolition , even if a property has been slated for demolition , and could leave it sitting there .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t initially given to the Detroit Land Bank Authority .
The authority was revamped after the bankruptcy and a lot of property , we ’ re talking it went from about 1500 to over 90,000 in around 2014 , that sort of huge transfer was an effort to consolidate the ownership with the authority because land banks have special powers to clear title , and at the time that ’ s what the city thought was best .
So , as far as what happens with the vacant property , there are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ face delays , but what we hear from residents is basically not much .
That if they are living next to it , we hear from folks who have boarded up the vacant properties next to them , in part because even if it is boarded up by the city , maybe it isn ’ t reboarded , whether because of the weather , or because of squatters , or someone who is coming in to strip the property .
There are a whole bunch of reasons why the boards might come off @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reboard it .
Also , I think just overall it ’ s a relic of the home that it used to be and it ’ s a reminder of the disinvestment in the city .
To live near vacancy was really my hardest task in telling this story for a national audience .
I had folks ask me what the significance is .
So , it ’ s an empty property that has boards on it , but it ’ s more than that , right ?
It ’ s lead paint .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ can harbor crime , and it often is just a symbol of what your neighborhood used to be and how vibrant it once was .
Jacqueline : There has been an interesting effect on the residents who remain in some of these neighborhoods where as much as the abandoned properties are neglected by the city , so are some of the neighbors , the residents who are left still living in occupied properties .
What did you find in those instances ?
Katlyn Alo : Detroit was built for , at its peak @ @ @ @ @ @ @ under 2 million people .
Today it ’ s under 700,000 .
It lacks the tax revenue to maintain its infrastructure .
One woman that we spoke to , Sherry , had her water disconnected for something unrelated to the Land Bank .
Really , it had to do with a leak in her property .
We spoke to a spokesperson at the Water Department who said that the only time the city would basically foot the bill for that repair is if the whole water main for that block were getting replaced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they would foot the bill for fixing the service line for individual properties .
But Sherry ’ s the only person on that block .
Actually , she ’ s one of two on that census block , but on just her side of the street , she ’ s the only one there .
So the rest of them , the rest of the parcels , are owned by the Detroit Land Bank Authority .
So , it clearly wasn ’ t going to be a priority for anyone to remove and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Sherry was just kind of stuck .
She did end up getting her water replaced because of media coverage- Katlyn Alo : … and because some readers of Bridge Magazine donated their services and their money and made it happen .
But , yeah , I think that is sort of a really unusual case- Katlyn Alo : … but it really represents , I mean , what it ’ s like to just not be made a priority .
When you live near to so much vacancy , that is something @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that being the only one there , they like to forget about her .
We heard a lot from folks who don ’ t get regular garbage pickup service , mail delivery , who are plowing the snow by themselves , and just generally a feeling of being alone because they physically are .
Jacqueline : These are our residents , again , residents who pay their property taxes .
They pay their property taxes and they ’ re not able to get the services from the city in the home that they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ implemented , and you brought this up , the large-scale demolition program to tackle the urban blight that these properties created .
Now , the $ 1 billion , $ 1 billion with a B , project was welcomed by some Detroit residents , and there ’ ve also been some criticisms and problems with the demolition program that you mentioned .
Can you go into a little bit more detail about how that demolition program has fallen short , or hasn ’ t met the needs of the remaining residents , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ especially considering its scope , the way that Detroit hoped it would ?
Katlyn Alo : The demolition program has been fraught with varying criticisms .
Part of it is federal investigations and that ’ s something that I don ’ t feel like I can speak to because I didn ’ t cover those in step- Katlyn Alo : But in the piece that we did with Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX , I touched on this meeting , right ?
The story opens and closes with this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that it was packed .
It ’ s a huge auditorium , and it was packed because Detroiters care about housing and they care about demolition .
That also speaks to the scope that you asked about earlier .
The demolition , the first half of these funds , right , have been exhausted .
That goes back to the federal dollars that I was talking about earlier , where if you live in a specific HHF zone , you can have these federal funds that the city elected .
That ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ these funds for demolition .
Today , well , last year , the mayor started asking for this bond proposal and he needed City Council to approve it to be on the spring ballot .
He was asking for another $ 250 million in bonds to carry out more demolition that would not be constrained by these zones .
And so , that ’ s important for folks like Jackie and Kelly in the story who are not in an HHF zone , who certainly could have benefited from these funds , perhaps @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I found , sitting and listening to public comment for many hours in a really overheated , packed auditorium was that people just didn ’ t trust the city to be good stewards of their their tax dollars .
That they don ’ t understand where the money went , which makes sense .
If you ’ ve lived on a block with high rates of vacancy and therefore your block was not prioritized for demolition , what you see is that millions of dollars has allegedly been allocated to it , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has had much impact in your neighborhood .
Katlyn Alo : And so , to go to voters and ask for more money feels like salt in a wound .
Right ?
Katlyn Alo : Especially for folks like Jackie who have been inquiring about a demolition for a decade .
Right ?
So , to ask to foot another bill just further down the line , and also coming off of a bankruptcy , asking to create more municipal debt is a hard sell , I think .
The City Council ultimately @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ballot .
I spoke to one council member who said that this felt like voter suppression , that they were rushing this issue to the spring ballot , which historically has really low turnout , and that they just didn ’ t have their ducks in a row .
The current demolition program is not completely out .
We don ’ t know if it ’ s still under active investigation for misappropriating funds , and in the end , I mean , at least that particular bond issue has become dead in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Jacqueline : Another issue is that the properties held in the Detroit Land Bank have also fueled a greater interest by private investors , hasn ’ t it ?
So , I mean , there ’ s been this gentrification .
There ’ s been a big deal made about the gentrification in Detroit that was dying , as it was described in the media for a long time .
So Katlyn , is it fair to say that this massive inventory of properties and the management or the lack of good @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bank was part of the engine that has been driving this gentrification in Detroit , welcoming new residents with new money , but also pushing out Detroit residents , poorer residents who had no access to the properties and no access to affordable housing , even though there were literally tens of thousands of abandoned houses the city owned ?
Katlyn Alo : I spoke with Arthur Jemison , who works in the Housing and Revitalization Department for the City of Detroit , and essentially asked him if this was this Land Bank @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which is restricted in Michigan .
Eminent domain , it has a fraught history in Detroit and Hamtramck in particular , and it ’ s restricted so the government can not take land for private development in the same way that some other states allow their cities to .
The mayor has said something about being able to leverage , well , basically being able to facilitate redevelopment without eminent domain .
I asked if the Land Bank inventory was essentially a work-around for that .
If you hold and sit on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a way to get around the fact that you can ’ t take it from private owners ?
Mr. Jemison said , “ No .
It is not a work- around , ” but it is the hand that they ’ ve been dealt , and they are trying to be opportunistic .
I think that we see that in a degree of responsiveness .
We have folks like Jackie who have been trying to get the same property torn down for a decade .
In 2014 it was transferred to the Land @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been able to get it torn down still .
Then we have the Fiat Chrysler deal that involved the transfer of over 150 Land Bank properties , and the whole facilitation of land acquisition was done in about 60 days .
Katlyn Alo : You hear that , and I think in some ways it ’ s unsurprising .
I don ’ t think that people are surprised when the Fiat Chrysler ’ s and big corporations of the world can can get a city to respond faster than an individual .
Obviously @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there are more resources , but it ’ s frustrating .
To position those two truths side by side , that the Land Bank could move 150 plus properties for this deal very quickly , but this property we ’ ve been getting sort of vague answers about , it just being delayed because we can ’ t get a contractor and it ’ s not in a specific zone , that ’ s a frustrating reality .
Those are truths to reconcile .
I think that what you mentioned about us having @ @ @ @ @ @ @ yet there ’ s an incredibly vast stock of vacant properties , also two truths that are very difficult to reconcile .
Part of it is that a lot of these vacant properties are not livable .
They have gotten to a point of disrepair where it would not be safe to occupy them , and that ’ s true as well .
We hosted a forum as a publication , Outlier Media .
We hosted a forum to bring in advocates , residents and other just interested parties to come in and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to propose a $ 250 million bond , what would it be for ?
Not one of them said , “ Just for demolition.
” Jacqueline : Wow .
So Katlyn , final question .
In the light of all of these different and opposing truths that Detroit residents are facing , what is the outlook for them ?
Where do they go for help , and where do our viewers go to find out more information , especially if they ’ re in the Detroit area or they are interested in finding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Detroit area ?
Katlyn Alo : Christine MacDonald , one of the reporters for the Detroit News that did the first segment of the piece , has a lookup tool online now so people can see if their properties were over-assessed and by how much .
We are working to incorporate that data into Outlier ’ s texting system , which is SMS because a lot of low income Detroiters don ’ t have consistent access to internet .
So that ’ s part of my job , is maintaining the data @ @ @ @ @ @ @ text Outlier to 73224 in order to learn more , or they can text Detroit to 73224 and enter an address and get information like whether the owner is behind on taxes , and also information on recourse , like who to call if you are in a particular situation .
There ’ s always an option to reach out to a reporter if you have questions or need help getting answers if you ’ ve gotten the runaround with any sort of city program .
That ’ s what we do .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ you , Katlyn , for joining me today to talk about this issue , to explain its depth and its scope in this one aspect of just foreclosed or abandoned in particular , vacant rather , properties in Detroit .
Katlyn Alo : Thank you for having me , and thank you for the questions .
Yeah .
Jacqueline : And thank you so much for watching .
This is Jacqueline Luqman with the Real News Network in Washington D.C .

What happens to the remaining homeowners, their properties, and their neighborhoods in Detroit after the foreclosure crisis created a glut of abandoned, city-owned houses?
Story Transcript
This is a rush transcript and may contain errors. It will be updated.
Jacqueline: This is Jacqueline Luqman with the Real News Network. In part one of our coverage of the massive foreclosure crisis in Detroit that was driven not just by the lingering damage from the 2008 recession, but also by the city overcharging homeowners $600 million in property taxes, we talked last with Mark Bettencourt of Reveal News about his investigation into how the city could have overcharged so many homeowners so much money. But that’s just one part of the issue, as the foreclosure crisis created a glut of abandoned city-owned houses that had a negative effect on the remaining homeowners, their properties, their neighborhoods in the majority black Motor City of Detroit. Katlyn Alo, investigative reporter for Outlier Media, joins me to explain what happens to these properties once they’ve been foreclosed and the effect this massive number of foreclosed properties have on Detroit’s remaining homeowners. Katlyn, thanks so much for joining me.
Katlyn Alo: Thank you for having me.
Jacqueline: So Katlyn, one of the results of the massive overcharging of property taxes in Detroit left the city with a huge inventory of foreclosed and abandoned homes. Now, most people in America are pretty familiar with the idea of a home or property being foreclosed and owned by the bank or owned by the city, but the scope of this issue in Detroit is unique. Can you give us an idea of just how big the foreclosed property inventory in Detroit really is?
Katlyn Alo: All of the inventory that is contained in the Land Bank Authority is not necessarily foreclosed, but foreclosure creates that cycle. It feeds it and it feeds that portfolio of real estate. There are several ways to state the scope of the issue in Detroit. The first is that the Detroit Land Bank Authority is the largest land bank in the United States. The second is that it is the biggest property owner in the City of Detroit. You can also look at the distribution and what that means for the remaining residents. About three quarters of all residential property in Detroit that is not owned by the Land Bank Authority is on the same block as at least one Land Bank Authority property. I know that that’s a mouthful, but it kind of gives you an idea of just how many Detroiters are living in close proximity to not just vacancy but Land Bank owned vacancy.
Jacqueline: Let’s get into what this means for the remaining residents and those homes. Now, the homes have sat vacant and the properties untended for years, stretching all the way back to the recession and creating, in some areas of the city, entire city blocks of abandoned houses. In some places, one or more house is abandoned in some neighborhoods, on some blocks, and there are a small number of occupied houses left on the blocks, a small number of residents still living in the neighborhood. So, what happens to those abandoned homes, and then what happens to the neighbors in the places where most of the other homes around them are owned by the city?
Katlyn Alo: The first question about what happens with the homes, a lot of that has been contingent upon whether or not the property sits in what’s called the Hardest Hit Fund zone, which means that these federal funds, that the City of Detroit decided to use for demolition, can be allocated to those zones, but not to properties that are outside of those zones. So, that can account for a lot of delays in getting demolition, even if a property has been slated for demolition, and could leave it sitting there.
Also, a lot of property wasn’t initially given to the Detroit Land Bank Authority. The authority was revamped after the bankruptcy and a lot of property, we’re talking it went from about 1500 to over 90,000 in around 2014, that sort of huge transfer was an effort to consolidate the ownership with the authority because land banks have special powers to clear title, and at the time that’s what the city thought was best.
So, as far as what happens with the vacant property, there are a slew of reasons why it could face delays, but what we hear from residents is basically not much. That if they are living next to it, we hear from folks who have boarded up the vacant properties next to them, in part because even if it is boarded up by the city, maybe it isn’t reboarded, whether because of the weather, or because of squatters, or someone who is coming in to strip the property. There are a whole bunch of reasons why the boards might come off, and the city might not necessarily reboard it.
Also, I think just overall it’s a relic of the home that it used to be and it’s a reminder of the disinvestment in the city. To live near vacancy was really my hardest task in telling this story for a national audience. I had folks ask me what the significance is. So, it’s an empty property that has boards on it, but it’s more than that, right? It’s lead paint. It’s asbestos exposure. It can harbor crime, and it often is just a symbol of what your neighborhood used to be and how vibrant it once was.
Jacqueline: There has been an interesting effect on the residents who remain in some of these neighborhoods where as much as the abandoned properties are neglected by the city, so are some of the neighbors, the residents who are left still living in occupied properties. What did you find in those instances?
Katlyn Alo: Detroit was built for, at its peak, close to 2 million, just under 2 million people. Today it’s under 700,000. It lacks the tax revenue to maintain its infrastructure. One woman that we spoke to, Sherry, had her water disconnected for something unrelated to the Land Bank. Really, it had to do with a leak in her property. We spoke to a spokesperson at the Water Department who said that the only time the city would basically foot the bill for that repair is if the whole water main for that block were getting replaced to remove lead. In those instances they would foot the bill for fixing the service line for individual properties.
But Sherry’s the only person on that block. Actually, she’s one of two on that census block, but on just her side of the street, she’s the only one there. So the rest of them, the rest of the parcels, are owned by the Detroit Land Bank Authority. So, it clearly wasn’t going to be a priority for anyone to remove and replace that water main. And so, Sherry was just kind of stuck. She did end up getting her water replaced because of media coverage-
Jacqueline: Wow.
Katlyn Alo: … and because some readers of Bridge Magazine donated their services and their money and made it happen. But, yeah, I think that is sort of a really unusual case-
Speaker 3: Ten minutes, Jacqueline.
Katlyn Alo: … but it really represents, I mean, what it’s like to just not be made a priority. When you live near to so much vacancy, that is something that Sherry said in her interview, that being the only one there, they like to forget about her. We heard a lot from folks who don’t get regular garbage pickup service, mail delivery, who are plowing the snow by themselves, and just generally a feeling of being alone because they physically are.
Jacqueline: These are our residents, again, residents who pay their property taxes. They pay their property taxes and they’re not able to get the services from the city in the home that they pay their property taxes on. Detroit implemented, and you brought this up, the large-scale demolition program to tackle the urban blight that these properties created. Now, the $1 billion, $1 billion with a B, project was welcomed by some Detroit residents, and there’ve also been some criticisms and problems with the demolition program that you mentioned. Can you go into a little bit more detail about how that demolition program has fallen short, or hasn’t met the needs of the remaining residents, and hasn’t tackled the problem, especially considering its scope, the way that Detroit hoped it would?
Katlyn Alo: The demolition program has been fraught with varying criticisms. Part of it is federal investigations and that’s something that I don’t feel like I can speak to because I didn’t cover those in step-
Jacqueline: Sure.
Katlyn Alo: … as they happened.
Jacqueline: Sure.
Katlyn Alo: But in the piece that we did with Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, I touched on this meeting, right? The story opens and closes with this meeting, just to impress upon people that it was packed. It’s a huge auditorium, and it was packed because Detroiters care about housing and they care about demolition. That also speaks to the scope that you asked about earlier.
The demolition, the first half of these funds, right, have been exhausted. That goes back to the federal dollars that I was talking about earlier, where if you live in a specific HHF zone, you can have these federal funds that the city elected. That’s important. The city chose to use these funds for demolition. Today, well, last year, the mayor started asking for this bond proposal and he needed City Council to approve it to be on the spring ballot. He was asking for another $250 million in bonds to carry out more demolition that would not be constrained by these zones. And so, that’s important for folks like Jackie and Kelly in the story who are not in an HHF zone, who certainly could have benefited from these funds, perhaps.
What we found, or what I found, sitting and listening to public comment for many hours in a really overheated, packed auditorium was that people just didn’t trust the city to be good stewards of their their tax dollars. That they don’t understand where the money went, which makes sense. If you’ve lived on a block with high rates of vacancy and therefore your block was not prioritized for demolition, what you see is that millions of dollars has allegedly been allocated to it, but it doesn’t feel like it has had much impact in your neighborhood.
Jacqueline: Right.
Katlyn Alo: And so, to go to voters and ask for more money feels like salt in a wound. Right?
Jacqueline: Right, right.
Katlyn Alo: Especially for folks like Jackie who have been inquiring about a demolition for a decade. Right? So, to ask to foot another bill just further down the line, and also coming off of a bankruptcy, asking to create more municipal debt is a hard sell, I think. The City Council ultimately voted not to put it on the ballot. I spoke to one council member who said that this felt like voter suppression, that they were rushing this issue to the spring ballot, which historically has really low turnout, and that they just didn’t have their ducks in a row. The current demolition program is not completely out. We don’t know if it’s still under active investigation for misappropriating funds, and in the end, I mean, at least that particular bond issue has become dead in the water because City Council said no.
Jacqueline: Another issue is that the properties held in the Detroit Land Bank have also fueled a greater interest by private investors, hasn’t it? So, I mean, there’s been this gentrification. There’s been a big deal made about the gentrification in Detroit that was dying, as it was described in the media for a long time. So Katlyn, is it fair to say that this massive inventory of properties and the management or the lack of good management of the properties by the Land Bank was part of the engine that has been driving this gentrification in Detroit, welcoming new residents with new money, but also pushing out Detroit residents, poorer residents who had no access to the properties and no access to affordable housing, even though there were literally tens of thousands of abandoned houses the city owned?
Katlyn Alo: I spoke with Arthur Jemison, who works in the Housing and Revitalization Department for the City of Detroit, and essentially asked him if this was this Land Bank inventory. He brought up eminent domain, which is restricted in Michigan. Eminent domain, it has a fraught history in Detroit and Hamtramck in particular, and it’s restricted so the government cannot take land for private development in the same way that some other states allow their cities to.
The mayor has said something about being able to leverage, well, basically being able to facilitate redevelopment without eminent domain. I asked if the Land Bank inventory was essentially a work-around for that. If you hold and sit on all of this property, is that a way to get around the fact that you can’t take it from private owners? Mr. Jemison said, “No. It is not a work- around,” but it is the hand that they’ve been dealt, and they are trying to be opportunistic.
I think that we see that in a degree of responsiveness. We have folks like Jackie who have been trying to get the same property torn down for a decade. In 2014 it was transferred to the Land Bank Authority and she hasn’t been able to get it torn down still. Then we have the Fiat Chrysler deal that involved the transfer of over 150 Land Bank properties, and the whole facilitation of land acquisition was done in about 60 days.
Jacqueline: Wow.
Katlyn Alo: You hear that, and I think in some ways it’s unsurprising. I don’t think that people are surprised when the Fiat Chrysler’s and big corporations of the world can can get a city to respond faster than an individual. Obviously, there’s power there and there are more resources, but it’s frustrating. To position those two truths side by side, that the Land Bank could move 150 plus properties for this deal very quickly, but this property we’ve been getting sort of vague answers about, it just being delayed because we can’t get a contractor and it’s not in a specific zone, that’s a frustrating reality. Those are truths to reconcile.
I think that what you mentioned about us having basically a shortage of affordable housing and yet there’s an incredibly vast stock of vacant properties, also two truths that are very difficult to reconcile. Part of it is that a lot of these vacant properties are not livable. They have gotten to a point of disrepair where it would not be safe to occupy them, and that’s true as well. We hosted a forum as a publication, Outlier Media. We hosted a forum to bring in advocates, residents and other just interested parties to come in and ask a question: if you were to propose a $250 million bond, what would it be for? Not one of them said, “Just for demolition.”
Jacqueline: Wow. So Katlyn, final question. In the light of all of these different and opposing truths that Detroit residents are facing, what is the outlook for them? Where do they go for help, and where do our viewers go to find out more information, especially if they’re in the Detroit area or they are interested in finding out more information on this issue in the Detroit area?
Katlyn Alo: Christine MacDonald, one of the reporters for the Detroit News that did the first segment of the piece, has a lookup tool online now so people can see if their properties were over-assessed and by how much. We are working to incorporate that data into Outlier’s texting system, which is SMS because a lot of low income Detroiters don’t have consistent access to internet.
So that’s part of my job, is maintaining the data that feeds that system. People can text Outlier to 73224 in order to learn more, or they can text Detroit to 73224 and enter an address and get information like whether the owner is behind on taxes, and also information on recourse, like who to call if you are in a particular situation. There’s always an option to reach out to a reporter if you have questions or need help getting answers if you’ve gotten the runaround with any sort of city program. That’s what we do.
Jacqueline: I really want to thank you, Katlyn, for joining me today to talk about this issue, to explain its depth and its scope in this one aspect of just foreclosed or abandoned in particular, vacant rather, properties in Detroit.
Katlyn Alo: Thank you for having me, and thank you for the questions. Yeah.
Jacqueline: And thank you so much for watching. This is Jacqueline Luqman with the Real News Network in Washington D.C.
Studio: Taylor Hebden, Will Arenas
Production: Genevieve Montinar, Will Arenas
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therealnews--2020-01-31--Trump Will Be Acquitted but the Political Struggle Has Just Begun

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William K. Black, author of The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One, teaches economics and law at the University of Missouri Kansas City (UMKC). He was the Executive Director of the Institute for Fraud Prevention from 2005-2007. He has taught previously at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin and at Santa Clara University, where he was also the distinguished scholar in residence for insurance law and a visiting scholar at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics.
Black was litigation director of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, deputy director of the FSLIC, SVP and general counsel of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, and senior deputy chief counsel, Office of Thrift Supervision. He was deputy director of the National Commission on Financial Institution Reform, Recovery and Enforcement.
Black developed the concept of "control fraud" frauds in which the CEO or head of state uses the entity as a "weapon." Control frauds cause greater financial losses than all other forms of property crime combined. He recently helped the World Bank develop anti-corruption initiatives and served as an expert for OFHEO in its enforcement action against Fannie Mae's former senior management.


therealnews--2020-01-31--Climate Activists to Protest at New Hampshire Democratic Presidential Debate

Democratic presidential candidates arriving at next Friday ’ s debate in New Hampshire will be greeted by dozens of climate justice activists demanding all of the candidates commit to phasing out fossil fuels , and holding the fossil fuel industry accountable for climate change .
The Keep It in the Ground Coalition , made up of groups including 350 New Hampshire , New Hampshire Youth Movement , and Rights and Democracy New Hampshire , is one of the local grassroots groups organizing the protest .
The coalition is also launching a campaign with the hashtag # OurFutureOurDebate calling on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ major part of the debate .
“ We want to see moderators who are going to ask tough questions about climate , ” said Rebecca Beaulieu , an organizer with 350 New Hampshire .
“ And we want the candidates to keep pushing to keep talking about their climate plan and to relate it to other issues , because it hasn ’ t looked that way so far.
” The debate takes place four days after Monday ’ s Iowa caucuses and four days before the New Hampshire primary .
It ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and local Manchester , New Hampshire affiliate WMUR-TV .
So far , seven candidates have qualified for the presidential debate : Joe Biden , Pete Buttigieg , Amy Klobuchar , Bernie Sanders , Tom Steyer , and Elizabeth Warren , and Andrew Yang .
Any candidate who secures one pledged delegate in Iowa will also secure a spot in the debate .
The Democratic National Committee rejected calls last year for a debate that focused entirely on the climate .
They also criticised previous debate moderators , who they say did not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or the aggressive action needed to mitigate its impact , like the Green New Deal .
In January ’ s CNN-hosted debate , Bernie Sanders noted the opposition of major climate justice groups to Trump ’ s USMCA trade deal , but was told by the Des Moines Register ’ s Brianne Pfannenstiel to stay on topic : “ We ’ re going to get to climate change but I want to stay on trade.
” Climate justice activists argue issues like trade , equity , and climate are in fact deeply intertwined @ @ @ @ @ @ @ taken advantage of the system and bought out our politicians and spent all this money to destroy our air , our water and our climate , and it ’ s not the billionaires who are suffering , ” said Beaulieu .
The # KeepItInTheGround campaign has released an environmental scorecard that rates the campaigns on four categories : Preventing new fossil fuel extraction , phasing out existing production , supporting a just transition from fossil fuels , and holding the fossil fuel industry accountable for climate change .
The score card also identifies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden we ’ re looking for a comprehensive plan that manages the phaseout of the existing oil and gas infrastructure , ” said Lisa Demaine , field coordinator for Rights & Democracy .
“ For Buttigieg we are looking for that same comprehensive plan to phase out fossil fuels in a managed decline along with making explicit plans to hold to fossil fuel industry financially and criminally accountable for their role in creating the climate crisis.
” “ The seacoast of New Hampshire has a lot to lose in the climate crisis , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ world , ” said New Hampshire native Griffin Sinclair-Wingate of the New Hampshire Youth Movement .
“ It ’ s been really devastating that we haven ’ t seen the debates take seriously the climate crisis.
” Sinclair-Wingate was among the three dozen activists who disrupted a Buttigieg event in New Hampshire on Jan. 17 , by singing “ We are fighting for our future and together we are strong , ” and holding up signs that read , “ Pete Takes Money from Fossil Fuel Billionaires , ” a reference to Buttigieg @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hosted by billionaire Craig Hall .
“ Our message was that we need Mayor Pete ’ s do better .
And we need the Democratic Party to be united against fossil fuel executives , ” Sinclair-Wingate said .
“ We need to hold those fossil fuel executives accountable for the damage that they have caused and make sure we keep fossil fuels in the ground.
” New Hampshire Youth Movement Action ( NHYMA ) , the political arm of the Youth Movement , recently endorsed Sanders , who polls as the frontrunner in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ effort to turn out thousands of voters for the candidate .
According to New Hampshire Youth Movement Action Sanders has the best plan to stop the climate crisis and implement a Green New Deal .
Sanders tops Greenpeace ’ s climate rankings , and is the # KeepItInTheGround campaign ’ s top rated candidate .
A restrictive voting law has created confusion that could interfere with youth voter turnout .
House Bill 1264 was passed by New Hampshire Republicans after Donald Trump lost the state in 2016 .
But youth organizers said young @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The most important thing for young people to know is that if they live in NH ( and yes this can include a dorm ) , are at least 18 years old and a US citizen they can walk into a polling station on election day and cast a vote for whoever they ’ re passionate about , ” Sinclair-Wingate said .
New Hampshire is one 25 states with restrictive voting laws that make it harder for young people , the elederly , and people of color to vote , despite scant documented @ @ @ @ @ @ @ News will be covering the protests outside of Friday ’ s debate .

Democratic presidential candidates arriving at next Friday’s debate in New Hampshire will be greeted by dozens of climate justice activists demanding all of the candidates commit to phasing out fossil fuels, and holding the fossil fuel industry accountable for climate change.
The Keep It in the Ground Coalition, made up of groups including 350 New Hampshire, New Hampshire Youth Movement, and Rights and Democracy New Hampshire, is one of the local grassroots groups organizing the protest. The coalition is also launching a campaign with the hashtag #OurFutureOurDebate calling on the moderators to make the climate crisis a major part of the debate.
“We want to see moderators who are going to ask tough questions about climate,” said Rebecca Beaulieu, an organizer with 350 New Hampshire. “And we want the candidates to keep pushing to keep talking about their climate plan and to relate it to other issues, because it hasn’t looked that way so far.”
The debate takes place four days after Monday’s Iowa caucuses and four days before the New Hampshire primary. It’s hosted by ABC News, Apple News, and local Manchester, New Hampshire affiliate WMUR-TV.
So far, seven candidates have qualified for the presidential debate: Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, Tom Steyer, and Elizabeth Warren, and Andrew Yang.
Any candidate who secures one pledged delegate in Iowa will also secure a spot in the debate.
The Democratic National Committee rejected calls last year for a debate that focused entirely on the climate. They also criticised previous debate moderators, who they say did not adequately highlight the climate crisis threat, or the aggressive action needed to mitigate its impact, like the Green New Deal.
In January’s CNN-hosted debate, Bernie Sanders noted the opposition of major climate justice groups to Trump’s USMCA trade deal, but was told by the Des Moines Register’s Brianne Pfannenstiel to stay on topic: “We’re going to get to climate change but I want to stay on trade.”
Climate justice activists argue issues like trade, equity, and climate are in fact deeply intertwined: “The fossil fuel industry has taken advantage of the system and bought out our politicians and spent all this money to destroy our air, our water and our climate, and it’s not the billionaires who are suffering,” said Beaulieu.
The #KeepItInTheGround campaign has released an environmental scorecard that rates the campaigns on four categories: Preventing new fossil fuel extraction, phasing out existing production, supporting a just transition from fossil fuels, and holding the fossil fuel industry accountable for climate change. The score card also identifies areas of improvement.
“For Joe Biden we’re looking for a comprehensive plan that manages the phaseout of the existing oil and gas infrastructure,” said Lisa Demaine, field coordinator for Rights & Democracy. “For Buttigieg we are looking for that same comprehensive plan to phase out fossil fuels in a managed decline along with making explicit plans to hold to fossil fuel industry financially and criminally accountable for their role in creating the climate crisis.”
“The seacoast of New Hampshire has a lot to lose in the climate crisis, and so do people all around the world,” said New Hampshire native Griffin Sinclair-Wingate of the New Hampshire Youth Movement. “It’s been really devastating that we haven’t seen the debates take seriously the climate crisis.”
Sinclair-Wingate was among the three dozen activists who disrupted a Buttigieg event in New Hampshire on Jan. 17, by singing “We are fighting for our future and together we are strong,” and holding up signs that read, “Pete Takes Money from Fossil Fuel Billionaires,” a reference to Buttigieg’s now infamous wine cave fundraiser hosted by billionaire Craig Hall.
“Our message was that we need Mayor Pete’s do better. And we need the Democratic Party to be united against fossil fuel executives,” Sinclair-Wingate said. “We need to hold those fossil fuel executives accountable for the damage that they have caused and make sure we keep fossil fuels in the ground.”
New Hampshire Youth Movement Action (NHYMA), the political arm of the Youth Movement, recently endorsed Sanders, who polls as the frontrunner in the state. NHYMA has launched an effort to turn out thousands of voters for the candidate. According to New Hampshire Youth Movement Action Sanders has the best plan to stop the climate crisis and implement a Green New Deal. Sanders tops Greenpeace’s climate rankings, and is the #KeepItInTheGround campaign’s top rated candidate.
A restrictive voting law has created confusion that could interfere with youth voter turnout. House Bill 1264 was passed by New Hampshire Republicans after Donald Trump lost the state in 2016. But youth organizers said young voters should not be deterred. “The most important thing for young people to know is that if they live in NH (and yes this can include a dorm),are at least 18 years old and a US citizen they can walk into a polling station on election day and cast a vote for whoever they’re passionate about,” Sinclair-Wingate said. New Hampshire is one 25 states with restrictive voting laws that make it harder for young people, the elederly, and people of color to vote, despite scant documented evidence of voter fraud.
The Real News will be covering the protests outside of Friday’s debate.
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therealnews--2020-01-31--They Killed a Man in Prison. This Is How They Covered it Up

TAYA GRAHAM : Hello .
My name is Taya Graham .
And this is a breaking news update in a story that ’ s developing in Prince George ’ s County , Maryland .
And remember , if you have evidence of police misconduct , please share it with us .
Email us privately at [ email protected ] and we might be able to investigate .
Now onto the breaking news .
Prince George ’ s County police have charged one of their own corporal Michael Owen with second degree murder for shooting a man in handcuffs .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a community outside of Washington , D.C. Owen had detained William Green and had put them in handcuffs inside the front seat of his patrol car .
Then , while awaiting a drug evaluation , Owens shot Williams seven times .
Here ’ s what the Prince George ’ s County Chief of Police had to say at a press conference yesterday .
HENRY STAWINSKI : I am unable to comfort our community and offer you a reasonable explanation for the events that occurred last night .
I have concluded that what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ GRAHAM : Stephen , you have covered so many cases like this .
How unusual is it for an officer to be charged so quickly ?
STEPHEN JANIS : Extremely unusual , although it ’ s starting to happen more now than it used to .
Five or six or 10 years ago , they ’ d say we don ’ t want to jump to any hasty conclusions .
Now it seems like police are trying to get ahead of these stories because they know stuff is going to leak out and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
But of course when you shoot a man in handcuffs , who had his hands behind his back- TAYA GRAHAM : And who I think was also seat-belted into the police car as well .
STEPHEN JANIS : Just so you know , in the press conference , they did not confirm that .
And you know , it ’ s interesting .
It was the same sort of , we ’ ve seen in other cases like in Fort Worth , Texas , where the police leaked out some information .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ but that didn ’ t turn out to be true .
They said there a smell of PCP , and then they wouldn ’ t confirm that .
And yesterday at 1:30 , they said they were going to have a press conference and I don ’ t think there ’ s any intimation that they were going to charge this police officer .
I think they ’ re more saying we ’ re going to have a press conference and we ’ re going to try to say we ’ ll wait @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shaken police chief comes up in front of the community and says I had no explanation for what happened .
And I think the reason , the problem is that when you shoot a man in handcuffs , any police officer you speak to who does the job correctly will tell you that you can ’ t mess with , they ’ re in your custody .
TAYA GRAHAM : Right , and you ’ re responsible for their safety .
Once you put someone in cuffs , the officer is responsible for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what the previous condition was .
STEPHEN JANIS : Absolutely .
There is no doubt about it that you can not hit , touch , or any way do anything to a person handcuffs because they are considered defenseless and to be in police custody .
TAYA GRAHAM : Now it said the corporal Owen was not wearing his body camera that day .
How is that even possible ?
Isn ’ t that part of your gear , your equipment , your gun and then your body camera ?
STEPHEN JANIS : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ question because many departments have deployed body cameras throughout their department , but in Prince George ’ s County they have 1500 sworn officers and only about 80 officers have body cameras at this point .
They ’ ve been slowly rolling out the program and that was one of the questions the chief faced .
Why don ’ t you have a body cam program ?
Because obviously a body cam would shed a lot of light on this .
Now , maybe they ’ re all relieved that he didn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could prove to be , but that is a good question .
I mean , Prince George ’ s County as a police department has been under federal consent decree for racist and unconstitutional practices , so you would think that they would have a body cam program , but for some reason it hasn ’ t been rolled out yet .
TAYA GRAHAM : Now , Stephen , there is a law enforcement officer ’ s bill of rights .
As matter of fact , Maryland has one of the strongest in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fact , other states have modeled it for their police departments because the protections for police officers who allegedly have committed crimes are so strong .
Talk to me a little bit about how the law enforcement officer ’ s bill of rights was or was not used in this case .
STEPHEN JANIS : In Maryland , the law enforcement officer ’ s bill of rights is so stringent it makes police almost untouchable .
You know , they have rights that none of us have when we commit a crime .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ question and he said , basically , emphatically , “ I was told the law enforcement officer ’ s bill of rights was not applicable.
” And it ’ s interesting , because it speaks to some of the things we don ’ t know about the case .
And specifically what we don ’ t know is what precipitated the shooting .
The chief has been vague .
The statement of probable cause is vague .
All it says is that the guy was shot seven times .
I would imagine that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s like all bets are off .
Because usually what you ’ re talking about is exactly correct .
Because of law enforcement officer ’ s bill of rights , chief would immediately be defensive and defend the officers , say we need to do an investigation , he deserves due process , et cetera , et cetera .
But in this case , he said , “ No , I consulted someone legally.
” He said , “ Doesn ’ t apply here.
” What I think the reason is whatever @ @ @ @ @ @ @ department feels like in retrospect they can ’ t justify any sort of , anything other than charging the officer within 24 hours .
Pretty , pretty extraordinary .
STEPHEN JANIS : But I feel like because , and in fact this officer has been involved in a shooting before in 2014 and I think he was cleared of any wrongdoing or said that the shooting was justified .
So he probably felt like you could use his gun in any situation , like many police officers feel when there ’ s even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I think the problem is even in our completely lax society where police have I would say I would say almost unfettered ability to use violence against citizenry , he must ’ ve done something that was really screwed up .
TAYA GRAHAM : Right .
And it makes me wonder too , maybe there ’ s some dash cam footage from another police car , or another officer who was outside of the car that hasn ’ t been revealed to us yet and that ’ s what the police chief got @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s why he ’ s quaking in his boots .
Prince George ’ s County police are no strangers to the controversial use of force cases .
Just six months ago , Damon Ward Blake was left paralyzed from the waist down after a car stop in October of 2019 .
Ward Blake suffered injuries to his spinal cord and a broken nose .
Police at the time said they would launch a wide ranging investigation and concluded the officers did nothing wrong .
Police said Ward ’ s crime was that his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s not the only case involving Prince George ’ s County police that has received national scrutiny .
In 2017 , we spoke with Marion Gray Hopkins .
Her son , Gary Hopkins Jr was shot by police in 1999 after a fight broke out in the parking lot following a dance .
Hopkins was not involved in the altercation , but the Prince George ’ s County officer said he had tried to grab his gun .
Prince George ’ s County judge found the officer not guilty of manslaughter , despite @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the air at the time of the shooting .
Let ’ s hear what Marion Gray Hopkins has to say about these police involved shootings .
MARION GRAY HOPKINS : My son was murdered for no reason , and if we sit back and allow this to happen and do nothing , then that means we ’ re in consent with the status quo .
TAYA GRAHAM : Now , Stephen , you were there at the time of the interview with his mother and we talk a lot about the direct @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about their families ?
What kind of legacy does that leave and what kind of impact have you seen ?
STEPHEN JANIS : One of the things I think that from covering this that I ’ ve seen that is incredibly troubling , is that when you are shot by police , you ’ re pretty much shunned by everyone .
The government considers you to be hostile in some ways because they ’ re being held responsible or accountable for the shooting and you really have nowhere to turn .
I think @ @ @ @ @ @ @ social , psychological isolation .
It ’ s bad enough that your loved one was taken violently in an instant .
And people who are murder victims , families of murder victims , generally get support from the police , whatever .
But in this case , you ’ re considered like a hostile sort of person in terms of the relationship with police .
So it becomes even worse .
It kind of heightens the amount of isolation and anger you feel .
And I think that ’ s why so many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that goes beyond just having your loved one killed by a gun .
TAYA GRAHAM : Because they have no one to turn to .
Very often their loved one has been criminalized publicly in the media .
They ’ ve had their reputation and their name tarnished , and then on top of that they can ’ t reach out to the normal victim services because their quarrel is with the police agency that killed their loved ones .
So they really are quite isolated both socially and by the government agencies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ So needless to say , we will still continue to investigate this story and keep you updated .
Wherever we see police misconduct or brutality , we will be there to help the victims tell their story .
I ’ d like to thank my colleague Stephen Janis for his investigative reporting on this piece and before we go , I want you watching to know that if you have evidence of police misconduct or brutality , please share it with us and we might be able to investigate .
Please reach out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tips privately at [ email protected ] and share your evidence of police misconduct .
And of course you can message me directly @ TayasBaltimore on Twitter or Facebook .
And please like and comment .
I do read your comments and appreciate them , and please share videos to help us get the word out .
My name is Taya Graham .
And I ’ d like to thank you for joining me for this Police Accountability Report breaking news .
Be safe out there .

New documents reveal how prison authorities tried to cover up the death of a man who died of dehydration in a jail cell.
Story Transcript
TAYA GRAHAM: Hello. My name is Taya Graham. And this is a breaking news update in a story that’s developing in Prince George’s County, Maryland.
And remember, if you have evidence of police misconduct, please share it with us. Email us privately at par@therealnews.com and we might be able to investigate. Now onto the breaking news. Prince George’s County police have charged one of their own corporal Michael Owen with second degree murder for shooting a man in handcuffs. The shooting occurred Monday evening in Silver Hills, a community outside of Washington, D.C.
Owen had detained William Green and had put them in handcuffs inside the front seat of his patrol car. Then, while awaiting a drug evaluation, Owens shot Williams seven times. Here’s what the Prince George’s County Chief of Police had to say at a press conference yesterday.
HENRY STAWINSKI: I am unable to comfort our community and offer you a reasonable explanation for the events that occurred last night. I have concluded that what happened last night is crime.
TAYA GRAHAM: Stephen, you have covered so many cases like this. How unusual is it for an officer to be charged so quickly?
STEPHEN JANIS: Extremely unusual, although it’s starting to happen more now than it used to. Five or six or 10 years ago, they’d say we don’t want to jump to any hasty conclusions. Now it seems like police are trying to get ahead of these stories because they know stuff is going to leak out and so it’s going to happen. But of course when you shoot a man in handcuffs, who had his hands behind his back-
TAYA GRAHAM: And who I think was also seat-belted into the police car as well.
STEPHEN JANIS: Just so you know, in the press conference, they did not confirm that. And you know, it’s interesting. It was the same sort of, we’ve seen in other cases like in Fort Worth, Texas, where the police leaked out some information. They said there was a struggle, but that didn’t turn out to be true. They said there a smell of PCP, and then they wouldn’t confirm that.
And yesterday at 1:30, they said they were going to have a press conference and I don’t think there’s any intimation that they were going to charge this police officer. I think they’re more saying we’re going to have a press conference and we’re going to try to say we’ll wait and see. And then a very shaken police chief comes up in front of the community and says I had no explanation for what happened. And I think the reason, the problem is that when you shoot a man in handcuffs, any police officer you speak to who does the job correctly will tell you that you can’t mess with, they’re in your custody.
TAYA GRAHAM: Right, and you’re responsible for their safety. Once you put someone in cuffs, the officer is responsible for their safety and wellbeing, no matter what the previous condition was.
STEPHEN JANIS: Absolutely. There is no doubt about it that you cannot hit, touch, or any way do anything to a person handcuffs because they are considered defenseless and to be in police custody.
TAYA GRAHAM: Now it said the corporal Owen was not wearing his body camera that day. How is that even possible? Isn’t that part of your gear, your equipment, your gun and then your body camera?
STEPHEN JANIS: Well, it’s really interesting question because many departments have deployed body cameras throughout their department, but in Prince George’s County they have 1500 sworn officers and only about 80 officers have body cameras at this point. They’ve been slowly rolling out the program and that was one of the questions the chief faced. Why don’t you have a body cam program? Because obviously a body cam would shed a lot of light on this.
Now, maybe they’re all relieved that he didn’t have a body cam because it could prove to be, but that is a good question. I mean, Prince George’s County as a police department has been under federal consent decree for racist and unconstitutional practices, so you would think that they would have a body cam program, but for some reason it hasn’t been rolled out yet.
TAYA GRAHAM: Now, Stephen, there is a law enforcement officer’s bill of rights. As matter of fact, Maryland has one of the strongest in the country. As a matter of fact, other states have modeled it for their police departments because the protections for police officers who allegedly have committed crimes are so strong. Talk to me a little bit about how the law enforcement officer’s bill of rights was or was not used in this case.
STEPHEN JANIS: In Maryland, the law enforcement officer’s bill of rights is so stringent it makes police almost untouchable. You know, they have rights that none of us have when we commit a crime. But the police commissioner was asked this question and he said, basically, emphatically, “I was told the law enforcement officer’s bill of rights was not applicable.” And it’s interesting, because it speaks to some of the things we don’t know about the case. And specifically what we don’t know is what precipitated the shooting. The chief has been vague. The statement of probable cause is vague.
All it says is that the guy was shot seven times. I would imagine that what happened was so horrific that everyone’s like all bets are off. Because usually what you’re talking about is exactly correct. Because of law enforcement officer’s bill of rights, chief would immediately be defensive and defend the officers, say we need to do an investigation, he deserves due process, et cetera, et cetera. But in this case, he said, “No, I consulted someone legally.” He said, “Doesn’t apply here.” What I think the reason is whatever happened was so horrific that the police department feels like in retrospect they can’t justify any sort of, anything other than charging the officer within 24 hours. Pretty, pretty extraordinary.
TAYA GRAHAM: That’s amazing. Within 24 hours.
STEPHEN JANIS: But I feel like because, and in fact this officer has been involved in a shooting before in 2014 and I think he was cleared of any wrongdoing or said that the shooting was justified. So he probably felt like you could use his gun in any situation, like many police officers feel when there’s even a slight or reasonable fear. But I think the problem is even in our completely lax society where police have I would say I would say almost unfettered ability to use violence against citizenry, he must’ve done something that was really screwed up.
TAYA GRAHAM: Right. And it makes me wonder too, maybe there’s some dash cam footage from another police car, or another officer who was outside of the car that hasn’t been revealed to us yet and that’s what the police chief got a look at, and that’s why he’s quaking in his boots.
Prince George’s County police are no strangers to the controversial use of force cases. Just six months ago, Damon Ward Blake was left paralyzed from the waist down after a car stop in October of 2019. Ward Blake suffered injuries to his spinal cord and a broken nose. Police at the time said they would launch a wide ranging investigation and concluded the officers did nothing wrong. Police said Ward’s crime was that his tags were expired, but that’s not the only case involving Prince George’s County police that has received national scrutiny.
In 2017, we spoke with Marion Gray Hopkins. Her son, Gary Hopkins Jr was shot by police in 1999 after a fight broke out in the parking lot following a dance. Hopkins was not involved in the altercation, but the Prince George’s County officer said he had tried to grab his gun. Prince George’s County judge found the officer not guilty of manslaughter, despite eyewitnesses who said his hands were up in the air at the time of the shooting. Let’s hear what Marion Gray Hopkins has to say about these police involved shootings.
MARION GRAY HOPKINS: My son was murdered for no reason, and if we sit back and allow this to happen and do nothing, then that means we’re in consent with the status quo.
TAYA GRAHAM: Now, Stephen, you were there at the time of the interview with his mother and we talk a lot about the direct victims of police violence, but what about their families? What kind of legacy does that leave and what kind of impact have you seen?
STEPHEN JANIS: One of the things I think that from covering this that I’ve seen that is incredibly troubling, is that when you are shot by police, you’re pretty much shunned by everyone. The government considers you to be hostile in some ways because they’re being held responsible or accountable for the shooting and you really have nowhere to turn. I think there’s a tremendous amount of social, psychological isolation. It’s bad enough that your loved one was taken violently in an instant.
And people who are murder victims, families of murder victims, generally get support from the police, whatever. But in this case, you’re considered like a hostile sort of person in terms of the relationship with police. So it becomes even worse. It kind of heightens the amount of isolation and anger you feel. And I think that’s why so many mothers have such emotional, psychological damage that goes beyond just having your loved one killed by a gun.
TAYA GRAHAM: Because they have no one to turn to. Very often their loved one has been criminalized publicly in the media. They’ve had their reputation and their name tarnished, and then on top of that they can’t reach out to the normal victim services because their quarrel is with the police agency that killed their loved ones. So they really are quite isolated both socially and by the government agencies that normally help victims’ family. So needless to say, we will still continue to investigate this story and keep you updated. Wherever we see police misconduct or brutality, we will be there to help the victims tell their story.
I’d like to thank my colleague Stephen Janis for his investigative reporting on this piece and before we go, I want you watching to know that if you have evidence of police misconduct or brutality, please share it with us and we might be able to investigate. Please reach out to us. You can email us tips privately at par@therealnews.com and share your evidence of police misconduct. And of course you can message me directly @TayasBaltimore on Twitter or Facebook. And please like and comment. I do read your comments and appreciate them, and please share videos to help us get the word out.
My name is Taya Graham. And I’d like to thank you for joining me for this Police Accountability Report breaking news. Be safe out there.
Studio: Dwayne Gladden, Bababtunde Ogunfolaju, Will Arenas, Adam Coley
Production: Adam Coley, Stephen Janis, Taya Graham
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therealnews--2020-01-31--France’s Anti-Neoliberal Protesters Get Their Second Wind

GREG WILPERT : It ’ s The Real News Network and I ’ m Greg Wilpert in Baltimore .
Hundreds of thousands of protestors took to the streets of France again this week as part of what has now become a two month long mobilization of strikes and demonstrations against the government ’ s pension reform plan .
For extended periods of time , public transportation in France has been brought to a standstill as a result of the strikes .
Protests that took place on Tuesday drew a lot of attention because of fights that broke out between striking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ set fire to their own uniforms and lit colorful smoke grenades .
France ’ s union movement has been quite unanimous in opposing president Macron ’ s pension reform .
The plan would unify 42 separate pension plans into one unified system as well as increase the retirement age by two years from 62 to 64 for some of the employees .
Here ’ s what one demonstrator at Wednesday ’ s protest had to say about the plan .
SPEAKER : I think they should hear out the opposition , sooner or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are against this bill .
We want to keep our rights and we can not accept the degradation of all our rights in the future ; be it for us , for our children , or for our workers at the public and private sector .
This concerns us all .
This is an unprecedented step backwards .
GREG WILPERT : Last week , the government tried to make some concessions by re-introducing a watered down version of Macron ’ s original reform proposal .
Most unions , however , rejected the new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protests .
Joining me now from Paris , France to discuss the ongoing opposition to Macron ’ s reform plan is Renaud Lambert .
He ’ s a deputy editor at the French monthly , Le Monde Diplomatique .
Welcome back , Renaud .
RENAUD LAMBERT : Hi .
Nice to be here .
GREG WILPERT : So reports have been emerging that both the strikes and the protests are gradually winding down in France after nearly two months of continuous actions .
Now , first of all , is that true , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the government has managed to wear down unions in this particular flight ?
RENAUD LAMBERT : Well , the first thing is that one should notice how long this movement has been lasting .
You said the strikes and the transportation system lasted around two months .
In the transportation system , it ’ s lasted around 30 days .
I mean that ’ s the longest strike ever recorded in France and usually a government , we would back down or try to negotiate something but this time , the movement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the government who seems to be adamant that it will impose its reform .
So is the movement wearing down ?
No , I think it is not .
People are reorganizing , the strikers in the transportation system have been losing a lot of money .
I mean , they got prepared for a long struggle .
They put money aside .
Solidarity movements have appeared whereby people who can not strike will chip in to help those people who are on strike to live , but this has required some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the government is trying to explain that the movement is losing breath .
I think it ’ s trying to catch another breath and what you see happening at the moment is a different type of actions .
You have people marching at night with candlelight .
You have various groups of professionals , lawyers , sewer cleaners , teachers who will organize protests out of the blue here and there .
I mean , there is no member of government who can speak in public at the moment without being booed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
So I don ’ t think you can say that the movement is wearing down at the moment .
GREG WILPERT : Now , a major issue in this conflict has been the enormous use of police force and repression against some of the protests .
The government recently even had to say that it would no longer use a particularly dangerous form of tear gas grenade , which has been implicated in wounding and maiming protestors .
What effect has the police repression had on the protestors , the public , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Well , it ’ s a twofold effect .
I mean , for one it ’ s very scary .
I mean , protests in France are common .
There is a culture .
I used to go on protesting , marching with my kids .
I would never dream of doing it now because it ’ s too dangerous .
I mean , that has happened over the last three years and I surely am not an exception in this .
So the atmosphere during marches is totally different but that ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The second part is that whenever you are opposed with that type of violence , simply for marching and you are literally being attacked by police forces for simply standing there on the street .
I mean , that tends to radicalize people .
People understand that they are struggling against something more than just a reform plan and this has led to an intensifying of the determination of the people to struggle and to the fact that people are no longer marching against a reform , but there ’ s a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It ’ s no longer just a plan , an idea or way of reorganizing something but it ’ s a system , a way of seeing the world , and I think in this respect , what is happening in France is similar to what you see happening in other parts of the world , in Chile , in Colombia , whereby people are not simply contesting this decision or that decision , but an entire way of structuring the world of seeing as society ’ s built .
I think @ @ @ @ @ @ @ neoliberalism , and I think that , to go back to your question , is one of the reasons why we see so much violence on the streets from the part of the police forces .
In 1995 , a right wing government tried to implement similar reform in the pension system .
After three weeks of strikes , it backed down .
There was no way they could implement the system and things went back to almost normal .
This time , backing down is not possible for the government because I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their minds that if they back down on this , it ’ s not only this pension reform that is collapsing , it ’ s an entire system .
GREG WILPERT : I think that ’ s a really important and very good point that we need to keep in mind where we ’ re looking at these protests , like you say , that are taking place around the world .
Now as we heard from the clip of the protester in my introduction , she said that 60 % of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pension reform .
However , the government says that it is necessary in order to balance the pension system ’ s budget .
Now this is often also couched in the context of France ’ s supposed need to scale back its relatively generous welfare state .
Now , clearly this is a battle for public opinion .
What ’ s your assessment of whether this reform really is needed ?
RENAUD LAMBERT : Well , no .
My opinion is that the reform is not needed .
And I would stress the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is in favor of this movement , despite how difficult it has been to travel around in Paris , in the middle of the winter .
That says something .
The government has been very bad with their figures .
What they said is that the weight of the pension system on public finances should not go beyond 14 % .
we don ’ t know where they picked that figure from .
14 % is supposed to be too much .
They say in Germany it ’ s only 10 % , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ say is that in Germany , something like 20 % of pensioners are living below the poverty line .
In France , it ’ s 7 % .
Anyway , they decided that it ’ s 14 % .
A higher number of people are going to retire so if the figure doesn ’ t change , then you have to pay people less or make them retire later .
The discourse of the government is that they ’ re doing things in order for the system to be fair for everyone to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ effort , but what they don ’ t say and what people that are really aware of is that you don ’ t die at the same age if you ’ re a white collar worker or if you ’ re blue collar worker and if you ’ re a blue collar worker and you accepted work that you know is going to wreck your back , it makes you die at age 62 , 63 and because of the strain your body will have undergone .
Then you know that you ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you were going to retire earlier .
So there is a feeling that what is being presented as fair is everything but fair , and obviously people have it clear in their minds that there are other solutions to reform or improve the pension system .
One is simply taking measures that make it easier for people to get a job .
Why are pensions so low and people finding it so hard to retire in good conditions because they are unemployed for such a long part of their working lives and why @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of measures that governments implement .
That would be one way of sorting the pension system .
Another which is not being considered at the moment would be to make the provinces , the private sector , contribute more to the pension system .
They benefit from competitive measures that make the cost , again , inverted quotes of the workforce in France lower .
They should contribute more , but obviously this is not being looked into by the government because as I said , this does not figure within the context @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
GREG WILPERT : Now finally , what do you think all of this means for France ’ s political landscape ?
Macron ’ s approval rating seems to be declining .
Is either France ’ s left such as Jean-Luc Melenchon or the right as represented by Marine Le Pen ’ s party , are either one of them benefiting under these circumstances ?
RENAUD LAMBERT : Well , years ago when Macron was elected , you invited me to come into the election here at the real news network and one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was that back home was like last ditch effort of that system to survive .
Prior to my call , we used to have a fake struggle between left and right .
This in the same way as it ’ s been organized everywhere in the world .
One was left , one was right , but they agreed on everything and whoever was in government , you pretty much had the same roadmap .
Macron blurred the distinction .
His government is composed of people who are from that left I was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ right I was talking about .
It ’ s the system trying to pull together in order to stay in power and the idea was that by electing Macron , we were defending democracy because close to Macron was Marine Le Pen , fascism and the collapse of the Republic .
What we see now is that for the Macron system to stay in place , democracy has to be tarnished .
Police forces have to intervene .
They have to beat people up on the street .
So people are coming to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ favor of democracy and this is what democracy looks like .
So obviously some people are drawing the conclusion that with Marine Le Pen would ’ ve been better .
She would not because Marine Le Pen represents another strand of that system .
She ’ s definitely on the side of the private sector , but she has a discourse that makes it possible for blue collar workers , for people who did not benefit from globalization , to feel that someone is listening to them .
Macron only says , “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forward .
That ’ s the way the world goes.
” He has an innate disdain and he looks down on people and people feel that so there is a tension there .
As far as the left is concerned , I don ’ t know if you could say that Melenchon would be able to benefit from the movement , but what I am convinced of is that regardless of what happens with the pension bill , regardless of whether it ’ s implemented or not , the trade union movement may @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more radical movement .
I ’ ve put an amazing struggle and I think people will be impressed with that .
It ’ s a force to contend with .
Now the question that is asked is how do you fight a political power that comes to Paris saying we will not touch the pension system that wants to reform the pension system and that does not budge after two months of protest , but one of the questions that is raised is what degree of violence that needs to be unleashed on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and I think that ’ s a very dangerous question to ask because once you unleash violence , I think the state always comes out the strongest .
GREG WILPERT : Yeah , that ’ s true .
That ’ s absolutely a good point .
We ’ re going to leave it there for now , but hopefully we ’ ll have you back on again soon .
I was speaking to Anne Yolanda , a deputy editor at Le Monde Diplomatique .
Thanks again , Renaud , for having joined @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you for having me .
GREG WILPERT : And thank you for joining The Real News Network .

The strikers protesting President Macron’s pension reform are expanding their target to the whole neoliberal system. They’re gathering their forces for a new wave of opposition, says Le Monde Diplomatique’s Renaud Lambert.
Story Transcript
GREG WILPERT: It’s The Real News Network and I’m Greg Wilpert in Baltimore.
Hundreds of thousands of protestors took to the streets of France again this week as part of what has now become a two month long mobilization of strikes and demonstrations against the government’s pension reform plan. For extended periods of time, public transportation in France has been brought to a standstill as a result of the strikes. Protests that took place on Tuesday drew a lot of attention because of fights that broke out between striking firefighters and riot police.
Firefighters even set fire to their own uniforms and lit colorful smoke grenades. France’s union movement has been quite unanimous in opposing president Macron’s pension reform. The plan would unify 42 separate pension plans into one unified system as well as increase the retirement age by two years from 62 to 64 for some of the employees. Here’s what one demonstrator at Wednesday’s protest had to say about the plan.
SPEAKER: I think they should hear out the opposition, sooner or later. 61% of French people are against this bill. We want to keep our rights and we cannot accept the degradation of all our rights in the future; be it for us, for our children, or for our workers at the public and private sector. This concerns us all. This is an unprecedented step backwards.
GREG WILPERT: Last week, the government tried to make some concessions by re-introducing a watered down version of Macron’s original reform proposal. Most unions, however, rejected the new proposal and promised to continue strikes and protests. Joining me now from Paris, France to discuss the ongoing opposition to Macron’s reform plan is Renaud Lambert. He’s a deputy editor at the French monthly, Le Monde Diplomatique. Welcome back, Renaud.
RENAUD LAMBERT: Hi. Nice to be here.
GREG WILPERT: So reports have been emerging that both the strikes and the protests are gradually winding down in France after nearly two months of continuous actions. Now, first of all, is that true, and if so, does this mean that the government has managed to wear down unions in this particular flight?
RENAUD LAMBERT: Well, the first thing is that one should notice how long this movement has been lasting. You said the strikes and the transportation system lasted around two months. In the transportation system, it’s lasted around 30 days. I mean that’s the longest strike ever recorded in France and usually a government, we would back down or try to negotiate something but this time, the movement has been presented only with a rebuttal from the government who seems to be adamant that it will impose its reform.
So is the movement wearing down? No, I think it is not. People are reorganizing, the strikers in the transportation system have been losing a lot of money. I mean, they got prepared for a long struggle. They put money aside. Solidarity movements have appeared whereby people who cannot strike will chip in to help those people who are on strike to live, but this has required some form of reorganizing. Even the media, the government is trying to explain that the movement is losing breath. I think it’s trying to catch another breath and what you see happening at the moment is a different type of actions.
You have people marching at night with candlelight. You have various groups of professionals, lawyers, sewer cleaners, teachers who will organize protests out of the blue here and there. I mean, there is no member of government who can speak in public at the moment without being booed. Security is very tense around them. So I don’t think you can say that the movement is wearing down at the moment.
GREG WILPERT: Now, a major issue in this conflict has been the enormous use of police force and repression against some of the protests. The government recently even had to say that it would no longer use a particularly dangerous form of tear gas grenade, which has been implicated in wounding and maiming protestors. What effect has the police repression had on the protestors, the public, and the government?
RENAUD LAMBERT: Well, it’s a twofold effect. I mean, for one it’s very scary. I mean, protests in France are common. There is a culture. I used to go on protesting, marching with my kids. I would never dream of doing it now because it’s too dangerous. I mean, that has happened over the last three years and I surely am not an exception in this. So the atmosphere during marches is totally different but that’s the first part of the implication. The second part is that whenever you are opposed with that type of violence, simply for marching and you are literally being attacked by police forces for simply standing there on the street.
I mean, that tends to radicalize people. People understand that they are struggling against something more than just a reform plan and this has led to an intensifying of the determination of the people to struggle and to the fact that people are no longer marching against a reform, but there’s a word that comes back on the street. It’s no longer just a plan, an idea or way of reorganizing something but it’s a system, a way of seeing the world, and I think in this respect, what is happening in France is similar to what you see happening in other parts of the world, in Chile, in Colombia, whereby people are not simply contesting this decision or that decision, but an entire way of structuring the world of seeing as society’s built.
I think you might say a general criticism of neoliberalism, and I think that, to go back to your question, is one of the reasons why we see so much violence on the streets from the part of the police forces. In 1995, a right wing government tried to implement similar reform in the pension system. After three weeks of strikes, it backed down. There was no way they could implement the system and things went back to almost normal. This time, backing down is not possible for the government because I think they have it very clear in their minds that if they back down on this, it’s not only this pension reform that is collapsing, it’s an entire system.
GREG WILPERT: I think that’s a really important and very good point that we need to keep in mind where we’re looking at these protests, like you say, that are taking place around the world. Now as we heard from the clip of the protester in my introduction, she said that 60% of the public continue to be opposed to the pension reform. However, the government says that it is necessary in order to balance the pension system’s budget. Now this is often also couched in the context of France’s supposed need to scale back its relatively generous welfare state. Now, clearly this is a battle for public opinion. What’s your assessment of whether this reform really is needed?
RENAUD LAMBERT: Well, no. My opinion is that the reform is not needed. And I would stress the fact that 60% of the population is in favor of this movement, despite how difficult it has been to travel around in Paris, in the middle of the winter. That says something. The government has been very bad with their figures. What they said is that the weight of the pension system on public finances should not go beyond 14%. we don’t know where they picked that figure from. 14% is supposed to be too much. They say in Germany it’s only 10%, but what the government doesn’t say is that in Germany, something like 20% of pensioners are living below the poverty line. In France, it’s 7%.
Anyway, they decided that it’s 14%. A higher number of people are going to retire so if the figure doesn’t change, then you have to pay people less or make them retire later. The discourse of the government is that they’re doing things in order for the system to be fair for everyone to get the same out of the same effort, but what they don’t say and what people that are really aware of is that you don’t die at the same age if you’re a white collar worker or if you’re blue collar worker and if you’re a blue collar worker and you accepted work that you know is going to wreck your back, it makes you die at age 62, 63 and because of the strain your body will have undergone.
Then you know that you’ve met that concession because you knew you were going to retire earlier. So there is a feeling that what is being presented as fair is everything but fair, and obviously people have it clear in their minds that there are other solutions to reform or improve the pension system. One is simply taking measures that make it easier for people to get a job. Why are pensions so low and people finding it so hard to retire in good conditions because they are unemployed for such a long part of their working lives and why is that? Because of the types of measures that governments implement. That would be one way of sorting the pension system.
Another which is not being considered at the moment would be to make the provinces, the private sector, contribute more to the pension system. They benefit from competitive measures that make the cost, again, inverted quotes of the workforce in France lower. They should contribute more, but obviously this is not being looked into by the government because as I said, this does not figure within the context of what is possible with this system.
GREG WILPERT: Now finally, what do you think all of this means for France’s political landscape? Macron’s approval rating seems to be declining. Is either France’s left such as Jean-Luc Melenchon or the right as represented by Marine Le Pen’s party, are either one of them benefiting under these circumstances?
RENAUD LAMBERT: Well, years ago when Macron was elected, you invited me to come into the election here at the real news network and one of the things I remember commenting on was that back home was like last ditch effort of that system to survive. Prior to my call, we used to have a fake struggle between left and right. This in the same way as it’s been organized everywhere in the world. One was left, one was right, but they agreed on everything and whoever was in government, you pretty much had the same roadmap. Macron blurred the distinction. His government is composed of people who are from that left I was just talking to that and from that right I was talking about. It’s the system trying to pull together in order to stay in power and the idea was that by electing Macron, we were defending democracy because close to Macron was Marine Le Pen, fascism and the collapse of the Republic.
What we see now is that for the Macron system to stay in place, democracy has to be tarnished. Police forces have to intervene. They have to beat people up on the street. So people are coming to the conclusion, well we voted in favor of democracy and this is what democracy looks like. So obviously some people are drawing the conclusion that with Marine Le Pen would’ve been better. She would not because Marine Le Pen represents another strand of that system. She’s definitely on the side of the private sector, but she has a discourse that makes it possible for blue collar workers, for people who did not benefit from globalization, to feel that someone is listening to them.
Macron only says, “Well, that’s the way forward. That’s the way the world goes.” He has an innate disdain and he looks down on people and people feel that so there is a tension there. As far as the left is concerned, I don’t know if you could say that Melenchon would be able to benefit from the movement, but what I am convinced of is that regardless of what happens with the pension bill, regardless of whether it’s implemented or not, the trade union movement may need, which is the bigger and more radical movement. I’ve put an amazing struggle and I think people will be impressed with that. It’s a force to contend with.
Now the question that is asked is how do you fight a political power that comes to Paris saying we will not touch the pension system that wants to reform the pension system and that does not budge after two months of protest, but one of the questions that is raised is what degree of violence that needs to be unleashed on the street for the government to move, and I think that’s a very dangerous question to ask because once you unleash violence, I think the state always comes out the strongest.
GREG WILPERT: Yeah, that’s true. That’s absolutely a good point. We’re going to leave it there for now, but hopefully we’ll have you back on again soon. I was speaking to Anne Yolanda, a deputy editor at Le Monde Diplomatique. Thanks again, Renaud, for having joined us today.
RENAUD LAMBERT: Thank you for having me.
GREG WILPERT: And thank you for joining The Real News Network.
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therealnews--2020-01-31--Real Talk Tho: New Year, New City

Real Talk Tho: New Year, New City

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therealnews--2020-01-31--Real Talk Tho: Special Election for 7th Congressional District

A field of 32 candidates — 24 Democrats and 8 Republicans — are looking to fill the congressional seat left vacant by the death of Rep. Elijah Cummings last October. Cummings died Oct. 17 at the age of 68. He had a rare form of cancer called thymic carcinoma.
Maryland voters will have an important decision to make next year when they must pick who can best represent the 7th congressional district, which includes parts of Baltimore City, Baltimore County, and Howard County.
At our Dec. 3 Real Talk Tho, The Real News Network will talk about issues that show why this election is so important, including the candidates’ positions on how to best represent Baltimore, the investigation into President Donald Trump, and the Green New Deal.
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therealnews--2020-01-31--Real Talk in the Community: The 14th City Council District Early Forum

After decades of service on the Baltimore City Council , Councilmember Mary Pat Clarke is retiring .
“ I regard @ @ @ @ @ 14th as my extended and beloved family—and always will , ” Clarke wrote in a @ @ @ @ @ .
“ But the time is right for a new generation to assume leadership and @ @ @ @ @ of the City .
The person we elect will contribute ideas and talents to the @ @ @ @ @ Council I have ever had the honor to work with .
The time is right @ @ @ @ @ of 2020 the most promising possible.
” To help residents make an informed decision about @ @ @ @ @ seat , we are teaming up with citizens in Baltimore , BmoreNow.org , and the @ @ @ @ @ present a forum for the 14th City Council District .
Baltimore ’ s primary election @ @ @ @ @ 28 , 2020 .

After decades of service on the Baltimore City Council, Councilmember Mary Pat Clarke is retiring.
“I regard the people of the great 14th as my extended and beloved family—and always will,” Clarke wrote in a May email announcing her decision. “But the time is right for a new generation to assume leadership and responsibility in our crucial corner of the City. The person we elect will contribute ideas and talents to the most progressive and diligent City Council I have ever had the honor to work with. The time is right to make the coming transition of 2020 the most promising possible.”
To help residents make an informed decision about who will next fill this seat, we are teaming up with citizens in Baltimore, BmoreNow.org, and the Greater Remington Improvement Association to present a forum for the 14th City Council District.
Baltimore’s primary election will be held on April 28, 2020.
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