Funeral for the American Dream and other local events

Posted by ameister on Wednesday, February 1st, 2012

I received an email informing me about a Wells Fargo protest that is going to take place on Thursday at 4PM in front of the Wells Fargo in West Baltimore.  The protest is called Funeral for the American Dream.  Good Jobs Better Baltimore is the organization that is promoting this event.  They are going to use the #ripUSdream hashtag for live tweets during the event. You an actually see the Wells Fargo Branch at the 5:20 mark in my run on North Avenue video:

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On Saturday some of the people behind Occupy Baltimore are encouraging citizens to show up at the Mayor’s Budget Workshop and actually ask hard questions. This type of community meeting is usually just a show where people can feel like they are being heard. Here is the Facebook invite that has more information.

Speaking of funerals for the American Dream… CBO: Federal workers make more than their private-sector counterparts.

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The gas tax and owners of Baltimore’s vacant properties

Posted by ameister on Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

I receive daily emails from the Maryland Public Policy Institute. Today’s email contained the following information:

“If you’ve been to our website recently (and seen the new feature on our main page), you’ve probably seen that we’re really going to be focusing on the gas tax increase for the next couple months during the 90-day legislative session. Specifically, we’ll be doing our best to inform the electorate about how unnecessary this tax increase truly is, and on some better ways to plug the holes in our infrastructure budget.

To this end, we’ll be sending emails out specifically pertaining to the gas tax increase whenever we publish new content on the subject. Today, we begin with a brief list of myths and realities.”

If you are not a fan of the proposed gas tax then you probably should keep up with the Maryland Public Policy Institute.

If our gas taxes actually went to funding public transportation (heavy rail subway lines in Baltimore) then we probably would not have the vacant property problem we have in the city. A few weeks ago Mike Subelsky compiled a list of major Baltimore vacant property owners. The city of Baltimore is by far the biggest owner of vacant properties in Baltimore.  It is a shame that they did not liquidate their portfolio back in 2005 (like I recommended) when housing was extremely overvalued. Most of the portfolio is now worthless.

One of these days I want to search through all the private owners and find out if any gave political contributions to our local leaders.

Mike’s lists:

Largest Vacant Property Owners in Baltimore, Grouped by Name

Owner #  Vacants
Baltimore City 1407
UP# BUSINESS TRUST 38
SS# BUSINESS TRUST 25
JAMES E. CANN 24
NB# Business Trust 24
State of Maryland 19
2008 DRR-ETS, LLC 18
BALTIMORE RETURN FUND, LLC 18
EAST BALTIMORE DEVELOPMENT LLC 18
COMPOUND YIELD PLAY, LLC 17
CE REALTY, LLC. & EPHRAIM WEINGARTEN 16
KONA PROPERTIES, LLC 16
CE REALTY, LLC 15
J.A.M. numbered corporations 15
BALTIMORE PREFERRED PROPERTIES LLC 14
DRUID HEIGHTS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION 14
HOLABIRD INVESTMENTS, LLC 14
NEW HORIZON DEVELOPMENT, LLC 14
DOMINION PROPERTIES LLC 13
COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS, LLC 12
M&S JOINT VENTURE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION 12
MAHS-BE HOLDINGS, LLC 12
BALDWIN TRUSTEE, LEROY 11
HARRISON DEVELOPMENT, LLC 11
HUD 11
CHESAPEAKE HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INC 10
KGB numbered corporations 10
University of Maryland 10
L.A.M.B., INC. 9
REBUILD AMERICA, INC 9
CARTER, NATHAN 8
EQUITY TRUST COMPANY 8
KREISLER, SANFORD 8
LAMB, DERRICK 8
N-#, INC. 8
OAKMONT DESIGN LLC 8
SANDTOWN HABITAT FOR HUMANITY 8
DOMINION RENTALS, LLC 7
GREEN, CARL 7
HARBOUR PORTFOLIO 7
LEO, CAROLINE G. 7
N10 BUSINESS TRUST 7
NEIGHBORHOOD PROPERTIES-4, INC 7
SAUNDERS TERRAINE 7
EAST BALTIMORE DEVELOPMENT, INC 6
APP CONSULTING GROUP, LLC 6
DJ LAND CO, LLC & WODA GROUP LLC 6
EMERALD BAY DEVELOPMENT GROUP & ONE, INC. 6
FIRST NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, LLC 6
JOHNSON, MARTIN 6

You can also download the entire list of non-owner-occupied vacant building owners in Baltimore.

Largest Vacant Lot Owners in Baltimore, Grouped by Name

Baltimore City 2926
B&D PHASE III, LLC 64
METRO II OLDHAM, LLC & SUNNYS ASSOCIATES, LLC 42
CAMDEN ASSOCIATES, LLC. 40
HARBORVIEW LIMITED PARTNERSHIP NO. # 35
State of Maryland 32
LOWMAN ST.,LLC 31
Oblate Sisters of Providence 27
BG&E 23
COMPANY, LLC & FEDERAL HILL HOLDING & SCC CANYON II, LLC 23
ATLAS MD I SPE, LLC & BB&T BANK (CREO), ATTN: T. GEORG 19
J & J PARTNERSHIP, INC. 19
Baptist Church 18
SANDTOWN HABITAT FOR HUMANITY 18
NANTICOKE INVESTMENT CO., LLC 17
L.A.M.B., INC. 15
CSX TRANSPORTATION, INC. & TAX DEPARTMENT 13
DRUID HEIGHTS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION 13
SINGER PARK & PLAY, INCORPORATED 13
STATION PLACE LLC 13
TRIMARK MANAGEMENT 13
ASSOCIATION, INC & MCHENRY POINTE HOMEOWNERS 12
Benedictine Society of Baltimore 12
CHESAPEAKE HABITAT FOR HUMANITY & INC 12
JUBB JR, WALTER H & JUBB, EDWARD H 12
CASTLEWOOD COMMUNITIES, LLC 11
MOUNT SINAI BAPTIST CHURCH & OF BALTIMORE CITY 11
MARYLAND JOCKEY CL 10
CONVENTION AND AUXILIARIES & OF BALTIMORE, INC. & UNITED BAPTIST MISSIONARY 9
DUNN, GREG 9
RIVERSIDE WORK FORCE LLC 9
BALTIMORE URBAN LEAGUE, & INC.,THE 8
C&P TELEPHONE COMP 8
CORPORATE SECRETARY, AMTRAK & NATIONAL RAILROAD & PASSENGER CORPORATION 8
DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION & DRUID HEIGHTS COMMUNITY & JACQUELYN D CORNISH 8
FRP HOLLANDER 95, LLC 8
HOLABIRD PARK APTS. INC 8
MUELLER HOMES, INC. 8
NEWSTAR DEVELOPMENT AT CANTON & PEAKS, LLC 8
SCARFIELD SR, FRANK D 8
THE KCR DEVELOPMENT GROUP & SPICER’S RUN HOMEOWNER ASSOCIATION
BALTIMORE SCRAP CORP. 7
BRIGHTON DEVELOPMENT GROUP & LLC 7
CHURCH, THE & VESTRY OF MOUNT CALVARY 7
FLAG HOUSE RENTAL I, L.P. & METRO PLAZA II 7
FOWLKES, ROBIN 7
PARADIGM BUILDERS, LLC & RICHARD MIRSKY – OFFIT KURMAN 7
URBAN HEALTH INSTITUTE OF & WASHINGTON, THE 7
CANN JAMES E 6
CHURCH OF THE REDEEMED OF THE & LORD, INC, THE 6

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The developer behind the City Arts building purchases the largest vacant building in Station North

Posted by ameister on Monday, January 30th, 2012

Charm City Current is still live for some reason so I will post here for now.  You should be ready to switch to this site.

Jubilee Baltimore now owns the old theater at 10 East North Avenue in Station North.  This building went to auction in June. The Jubilee Baltimore web site says: “Over the next three or four years, we will work to create a center for the arts, including theatres, studios, galleries, and probably much more”.


10 East North Avenue

You can barely see the building in the background at the 8:44 mark in the following video (although you get a good feel of the surrounding area):

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Jubilee developed the nearby City Arts building.  You can see the City Arts building at the 7:52 mark in the following video:

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Bolton Hill legend Charlie Duff is one of the people behind Jubilee Baltimore.

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Last post here- Where to find me and some cool links

Posted by ameister on Friday, January 27th, 2012

I will continue to cover local politics like no other person out there at the No Conaways In 2014 blog. Save this URL: http://noconawaysin2014.wordpress.com/ or just bookmark BaltimoreHourly.com, TechBalt.com, or AdamMeister.com. Feel free to email me at Adam at AdamMeister dot com.  I hope to get the real BaltimoreHourly.com online newspaper off the ground later this year. I need to find time for it and quite a few other ideas of mine.

Some stories from around Baltimore from all sorts of different sources on this final day of Charm City Current:

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A Baltimore fire department employee lives in Garrett County and some random water bill information

Posted by ameister on Thursday, January 26th, 2012

According to this table a Baltimore fire department employee lives in Garrett County!  Does this person make the 348 mile round-trip commute every day? Pittsburgh is about 100 miles from Garrett County. I wonder why a  Garrett County resident wants to work in Baltimore? There has to be more to this story. 

The table also shows that six Allegany County residents work for Baltimore City, three Worcester County residents work for Baltimore City, and one Somerset County resident works for the Baltimore State’s Attorney’s office.

Some random water bill information for you:

My last city water bill included a page informing me of an “URBAN/SUBURBAN MYTH”- “Reality: The actual amount paid by customers in both jurisdictions is about the same, with Baltimore County paying slightly more under current rates”.

The city provides information about the “myth” here. The page that came along with my bill goes on to say:

“While each jurisdiction sets its own rates, City residents receive a quarterly bill for all water and sewer charges. County residents receive quarterly bills for water usage only AND are billed separately on their annual tax bill for additional water costs and all of their sewer fees. Baltimore City is then reimbursed by Baltimore County for all water and sewer costs owed”.

It is in Baltimore’s best interest to mail out its water bills quarterly. If a yearly bill was combined with Baltimore’s already super high property tax bill then many more residents would wake up and be outraged. A one time combined bill also is less likely to be paid in a timely fashion than one that is spaced out over four quarters.

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So much more to say

Posted by ameister on Thursday, January 26th, 2012

On Friday Charm City Current will shut down. I have no idea how long my old posts will remain on the Internet. My media career is not over.  I will have another blog by Monday. BaltimoreHourly.com, TechBalt.com, and AdamMeister.com will all forward to that new blog.  My BaltimoreHourly Twitter account will still Tweet out links to my new stories. I wish my dream online newspaper site that I have been talking about since 2009 was ready, but sadly it is not even close to being ready. I really need to dedicate some time to that project. For now you can expect my current blogging style/format to continue at my new WordPress blog. If I figure out the new URL on Friday I will post it here.

Thank you Charm City Current for allowing me to speak my mind. On August 1, 2011 Examiner.com stifled my freedom of speech when the prevented me from posting this. I said if they did not allow me to post that on my Examiner blog then I would never write for them again. They did not give in and I did not give in. I never wrote for them again.

This is not my final Charm City Current post. I will have at least one more news story today and hopefully a few more on Friday.

Thanks for your support!

Adam

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Require that all city employees live in Baltimore and the number of families living in the city will increase by 10,000 in a decade

Posted by ameister on Wednesday, January 25th, 2012

Many people are talking about a Baltimore Deputy Mayor who lives outside of Baltimore. Quite a few people think it is offensive for a high ranking (and high paid) person in the mayor’s office to live outside of the city. A few people are shocked that this could happen. There is nothing illegal about this and none of you should be shocked, but I think there is something wrong with this picture.

There should be no shock about people in the mayor’s office (or any other city employee) living outside of Baltimore. Two weeks ago I posted about the numerous city employees who live outside of Baltimore and Maryland.  Yakov Shafranovich posted specific numbers at his blog:

  • 38.43% of Baltimore City’s 14,559 employees live outside of the city in Maryland.
  • 5.1% of Baltimore City employees live outside of Maryland.
  • The Mayor’s Office  has 111 employees and 30 of them live outside of Baltimore in Maryland and 16 of them live outside of Maryland.

Imagine if the 6,338 Baltimore employees who live outside of Baltimore were forced to live in Baltimore or quit their jobs.  The mayor wants to add 10,000 new families to Baltimore over the next decade. If the city told every city employee today that they have until the start of 2017 to move to Baltimore or they will have no job with the city then within five years Baltimore would be well on its way to attaining the 10,000 new families goal. Most of the city employees who quit because of this SHOULD NOT BE REPLACED in order to save money. Money that used to be spent on these employees can be allocated to improving services that will help retain and attract residents. In the perfect world this money would be used to lower property taxes.

A 100% city employee residency requirement will help shrink our bloated local government and help bring families to Baltimore. Two respectable accomplishments will be attained because of one policy change that is sure to make current city residents feel less frustrated. Instead of having a Woodlawn resident tell you that you deserve a fine because your grass is too high, you will now have to deal with a fellow city resident who will better understand the situation and empathize with you.  Jobs are not easy things to come by these days so if for some odd reason a large percentage (over 80%)  of current non-Baltimore residing city employees decide to quit then there will be plenty of people who want to live in Baltimore who will gladly fill the necessary jobs that were left empty.

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State Senator Brian Frosh proposes a stronger SLAPP suit law

Posted by ameister on Tuesday, January 24th, 2012

Check out State Senate Bill 221. State Senator Brian Frosh is proposing a  stronger SLAPP suit law.  A SLAPP suit is a strategic lawsuit against public participation. Many people think that FORMER Councilwoman Belinda Conaway filed a SLAPP suit against me when she filed her ridiculous $21million lawsuit in May. We can thank Belinda Conaway for making the general public aware of what a SLAPP lawsuit is. It is no coincidence that this bill is being proposed after her infamous lawsuit. I wonder if Frank Conaway Jr. will vote for it?

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I am in a rush and have no time for a full post

Posted by ameister on Monday, January 23rd, 2012

What a disappointing ending!  The Jeffrey Maier game was worse.

Back to politics….

Anyone else notice the many online ads for the “Support the ‘Wireless Tax Fairness Act“? What is that all about?

In other local news…. Bill would amend constitution to force out convicted officials. That one sounds good to me!

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Mary Conaway owes the city $9362.32 in back taxes and late fees

Posted by ameister on Friday, January 20th, 2012

Today in the Sun there is an article about numerous people losing their invalid homestead property tax credits. For months I have posted about the homestead tax credit that Register of Wills Mary Conaway was receiving at a house on Cross Country Boulevard.  Mary is supposed to be married to Frank Conaway Sr. and if she is still married to him then they can only receive a homestead property tax credit at ONE HOUSE. In March this blog was the first news entity that revealed that the Conaways were receiving a homestead property tax credits at three houses! Our elected officials should know better, they should have to play by the rules.

It appears that Mary Conaway has been forced to play by the rules by the cash strapped city of Baltimore.  Her updated previous three tax bills for her Cross Country house can now be looked up here. She is no longer receiving the credit retroactively and now owes the city $9362.32 in back taxes and late fees!  This blog played a major role in forcing the Conaway family to finally play by the rules.

Below are links to copies of the updated property tax bills:

2012= $1492.16 owed

2011= $2106.56 owed

2010= $5763.60 owed

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