Baltimore Councilman Nick Mosby, D-7th District, is a man with a plan – a 15-point plan he unveiled Tuesday. It's a checklist he will use if he's elected mayor.
As Light Rail trains passed by along Howard Street, Mosby unveiled his playbook for tackling Baltimore's biggest issues. The setting he chose to make this announcement, among vacant, dilapidated buildings in a once-vibrant commercial corridor, was no accident.
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"It really represents a microcosm of unkept promises, unfulfilled potential, but a tremendous opportunity for our entire city," he said.
Mosby is one in a crowded Democratic field, with hopes to be the next mayor. His comprehensive plan targets five areas: government reform, public safety, transportation, education and economic growth.
"Creating pathways of development and employment opportunity by creating an expungement task force, vocational training, apprenticeship training, also providing a lot of opportunities for our local entrepreneurs," he said.
Mosby also wants to make city living more affordable, by lowering property taxes.
"We're committed to developing a property tax reduction plan that not only focused on the targeted development areas that we talked about in these bold districts, but that also does a full-scale plan throughout the city," he said.
Perhaps the biggest and most pressing issue, how to turn things around after a near record-setting 344 homicides in the city in 2015.
"The 2015 homicide numbers, one, it's unacceptable, two as a city, we can never go back there," Mosby said.
Mosby is pushing for a data-driven strategy, with an emphasis on community policing.
"We're going to leverage CitiStat to go and focus on target, repeat offenders," he said. "We have to stop targeting communities and we have to target the violent, repeat offenders that are trying to destroy our communities."
When asked if he would keep Police Commissioner Kevin Davis, Mosby said Davis has done an amazing job in his short tenure, but a lot can happen over the next year. To read Mosby's plan for yourself, click here.
