President Schmoke: Action Plan Could Drive City Forward
January 19, 2017
Contact: Public Affairs
Phone: 410.837.5739
Writing in The Baltimore Sun, University of Baltimore President Kurt L. Schmoke says that the "Solutions Summit" action plan—the result of a citizen-led coalition determined to take on some of Baltimore's most important issues—offers a way forward after a period of local unrest and uncertainty.
"We have a new mayor who has promised to work with communities to address our city's most pressing problems, including jobs, economic development, public health and safety, and criminal justice reform. We have a new City Council with eight new members—the biggest turnover in the council's history—who have already demonstrated a commitment to new ideas and reform.
"Perhaps more importantly, 20 months after the turmoil of the Baltimore uprising, more residents than ever seem to acknowledge the need to make fundamental changes in the way our city operates and that each of us must have a role in that effort.
"Hundreds of those residents came to OSI-Baltimore's Solutions Summit last month. This full-day event, with organizational and financial support from a broad range of business and community groups, came after a rigorous public process that produced three white papers and included half-day forums on jobs, justice and behavioral health. At the summit, more than 700 Baltimore residents debated potential solutions to some of our city's most entrenched problems and voted on a 16-point action plan for the mayor and City Council to follow over the next 12 to 18 months."
Read President Schmoke's op-ed in The Baltimore Sun.
Learn more about Kurt L. Schmoke.