In this special series of 2 BMore, we focus on the ongoing violence in Baltimore City. Over the next several weeks, we will talk to survivors who buried their loved ones along with those in leadership tasked with making the changes our city so desperately needs. In this episode, T.J. speaks with Mayor Brandon Scott about initiatives to curb the violence and whether they are actually working.
T.J. Smith is a retired police commander, former chief spokesman for the Baltimore Police Department, former press secretary for the Baltimore County Executive, and a former Baltimore City mayoral candidate. More recently, Smith partnered with Jimmy’s Famous Fund where he assisted in raising more than $600,000 over the past year that was donated to small restaurants in Baltimore, children for a holiday experience, and the families of a police officer and firefighters killed in the line of duty. In addition to hosting the 2Bmore Podcast, Smith consults on government, leadership, and law enforcement issues. He is also a frequent guest on a national news outlet and TV One network programming.
Brandon Scott is the 52nd Mayor of Baltimore, working to end gun violence, restore the public’s trust in government and change Baltimore for the better.
Scott was unanimously elected President of the Baltimore City Council by his colleagues in May 2019. As Council President, Scott developed and released the first-ever City Council President legislative agenda, focused on building safer, stronger communities, cleaning up city government, investing in Baltimore’s young people, and centering equity. Previously, Scott served on the City Council representing Baltimore's 2nd District. He was first elected in 2011 at the age of 27 and is one of the youngest people ever elected to the Baltimore City Council.
During his first term, Scott emerged as a leading voice in reducing violence in Baltimore and reinstated Council Oversight of the Baltimore Police Department by holding quarterly hearings. He believes that reducing violence will require a holistic, all-hands-on-deck approach, one that recognizes violence is fundamentally a public health issue. Scott led legislative initiatives that created extensive crime data sharing and online reporting of crimes by the Baltimore Police Department. In 2016, Scott introduced and passed legislation creating an open data policy in Baltimore.
In early 2018, then-Councilman Scott introduced and passed monumental legislation on equity in Baltimore. His equity assessment program law will require all city agencies to operate through a lens of equity and require all operating budgets, capital budgets, and proposed legislation to be weighed through an equity lens. That legislation is in the early stages of implementation.
Mayor Scott is a rising star in politics. He was a member of the Young Elected Officials Network and served as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for YEO’s America’s Cabinet. He also served as the Chair of the National League of Cities' Large Cities Council.
Mayor Scott is a community leader, public servant, and lifelong resident of Baltimore City. A proud Baltimorean, Scott is a graduate of MERVO High School and St. Mary’s College of Maryland. He lives in Baltimore’s Frankford neighborhood in Northeast Baltimore.
