Schleifer: I deal with all day-to-day
city/life issues. From police, fire, trash-pickup, the roads – really, any
service the local jurisdiction is responsible for.
Schleifer: Most people don’t know, but I
find that they reach out anyway. Because a city councilperson is visible and
accessible, people reach out with all sorts of city, state, and federal issues.
When it is out-of-city jurisdiction, I connect them with the appropriate agency
or party.
Schleifer: If they know what agency they
need assistance from, that answers the question. If someone has a problem with
trash collection, he knows to turn to the Baltimore Department of Public Works.
An unemployment issue would need the help of the Maryland Unemployment Office,
making it a state issue. A national issue with the USPS or passport indicates
it is a federal matter. My office would assist in directing a constituent to
the right agency.
Schleifer: This election was unique.
Typically, voters go to their local voting place, and the data is gathered from
each polling place. This time, since it was an election by mail, there is no
precinct level data. Since my numbers were the highest of all the council
members who ran against opponents (that is, not counting those who ran
unopposed), it demonstrates that I had a broad range of support. Last election,
I got many votes from the neighborhood in which I grew up and from nearby
areas. That put me right under 4,000 votes. This election, my support grew
significantly across the entire district – more than other candidates for state
offices get when they’re running for the House of Delegates: in other words,
districts three times the size of the 5th. I attribute that to our
excellent constituent service. We get daily calls from all neighborhoods in the
district, and we address their needs appropriately. Citizens appreciate that,
and when you solve someone’s issue, he/she is likely to vote for you in the
next election.
Schleifer: I’ve worked with
Schleifer: Scott Brandon’s parents live
in the 5th district, and he grew up here. He’s well aware of the
challenges we face. One specific area is recreation. There are 43 recreational
centers across the entire city. There isn’t a single one in the 5th district.
This is an issue I’ve raised since my first day on the council, when I was told
that, as money became available over the years, it went to places whose
councilmembers were fighting for them. They had never received a request from
the 5th district for a rec center! I’ve made it a priority to have
both indoor and outdoor recreational activities available for the kids in the 5th
district: basketball courts, tennis courts, baseball fields, music rooms. We
need more of these in the district, and the city should be providing those
resources for us as they do in other districts.
Schleifer: My slogan says it all: “Back
to Basics.” That’s what people need from their local councilperson. They need
the basic services provided. As challenges arise in the city, I will work to minimize
their impact in the 5th district. Take trash collection, for example.
The east side trash collection team had a major COVID outbreak. For a couple of
weeks, trash collection on the east side could not function as personnel had to
remain home for 14 days. To respond to this crisis, the west side sanitation personnel
have had to take over the routes of the quarantined workers in addition to
their own. So, instead of collecting both trash and recycling in our area, they
had to do trash collection on both the east and west. During the time they would
ordinarily do the recycling collection on the west side, they went, instead, to
the east side, to ensure that all the trash got picked up. I was aware of this
from the beginning and ensured that the effect on the district would be
minimized.
Schleifer: The fireworks are actually a
nationwide issue. People have been cooped up at home for the past few months
and are looking for entertainment. They set off nightly fireworks across the city,
state, and country. My own kids have been woken up, and I imagine many others have
as well. The city is willing to address it, but it is challenging. You see,
legally, a police officer has to see who’s doing it and give them the
opportunity to stop before enforcement actions are taken. The problem with
fireworks is that a few are lit and you don’t know location. By the time you
pinpoint it, they’re gone.
Now for the next item: the
hot-lunch programs. The hot-lunch program highlights the difference between an
active and a passive councilperson. I try to be extremely active. Prior to assuming
office, I heard about a summer lunch program that had taken place across the city
for close to 40 years. They had no kosher option. I undertook to change that. I
was indeed able to facilitate the first kosher site in the city, and your
readers know what a blessing this has proved for so many persons in our
community – although it is of course open to all persons. (You don’t have to be
Jewish to like kosher food!) The emergency meals being served during COVID were
made possible because of the prior approval for the kosher summer lunch
program. Thankfully, we had the kosher program I arranged years ago, enabling
us to have no interruption.
The third question was about 5G
towers. I get a lot of emails about 5G. I understand, of course, that no one
wants a cell phone tower near his/her house. I do wish to point out that there
certainly are tremendous differences between having an actual cell phone tower
vs. the small cell 5G sites. The impact is significantly lower. Nonetheless,
people often don’t want them in front of their house, and they reach out to
local government to prevent it. Actually, it is a federal government issue. So,
although people think that the local jurisdiction can prevent the installation
of a 5G network site, this is not the case. When people email me or the
Baltimore City Planning Department, they must understand that we have no
ability to prevent the installation of these towers based on health risks,
since the federal government approved the health and safety of these towers.
The only “in” for local
government is aesthetics. If people fight a location based on the building appearance,
claiming that it will ruin the look of the neighborhood, the city can weigh in.
I personally opposed locations where they have been put up, but the cell sites
were installed despite my opposition because I lack the authority to prevent it.
The Planning Department may only move a location based on aesthetics. However,
be warned that, per the cell phone companies, if one location is moved and
there are no nearby alternative locations, that area will have poor cell phone
reception. I have seen this play out in numerous neighborhoods that were
successful in moving towers.
Schleifer: I was fortunate to be in a
position to work on the situation from the beginning. I was monitoring
communities across the country. I saw the virus spreading. Weeks prior to COVID
becoming a household name, and prior to confirmed local cases, I was meeting
with the local Health Department to request that protocols be put in place, and
to prohibit large gatherings. Those efforts fell on deaf ears. Before Purim, I
was gravely concerned. Everything the CDC was telling people to avoid in order
to prevent outbreaks – such as shaking hands, hugging, dancing, and buffets – are
all things we do on Purim. Mesibas (parties)
have hundreds dancing, hugging, eating, and sharing drinks. I called a meeting
of all the day school executives who had been planning to host Purim mesibas. People initially thought I was
crazy, but, although there was some pushback, we ended up leaving that meeting
agreed to cancel all Purim mesibas.
We prevented a cross contamination of the entire community with the people going
from one mesiba to another. This was
a key factor in preventing the spread, and we’ve seen massive outbreaks in
other communities (
Schleifer: I worked and continue to work
with anyone interested in working to control the spread of the virus. I make
suggestions on proper protocol. I stress that it is preferable to have outdoor
tents, even if indoors is okay. I worked together with the administration and
spearheaded the efforts to waive all tent permits for religious organizations
across the city. We took a three-week tent approval process and decreased it to
a three-day process. Instead of 11 approvals, it was only necessary to receive
one approval from the fire department to make sure the tent is structurally
sound.
I stress that people should
prefer to stick to outdoors and social-distance so if there is another
resurgence or outbreak, the impact won’t be as severe. The virus has not gone
anywhere. It is still here. How long do antibodies work? No one knows. We have
no vaccine. The virus remains. For the time being everyone must exercise
his/her best judgment and maintain the proper protocols. Once you let your
guard down, it’s only a matter of time before there are outbreaks. I applaud
anyone in the community who takes it seriously and helps prevent the mass
spread. Although other places have seen a significant impact, we were thankfully
spared the worst of the virus here in
nationally. It seems in
Schleifer: I was at the police station
during the first rounds of protests, and there was a concern that we would see
a repeat of 2015. The police department handled the situation with grace. There
were community members and advocates across the city who took shared
responsibility in ensuring that it was peaceful – which is why it was peaceful.
We had no mass destruction or buildings burned down. The police department used
great restraint. They specifically dealt with the individuals causing problems,
such as breaking windows or setting off fireworks. The police department used
“Foxtrot” to identify the destructive individuals while allowing everyone else
to continue to protest peacefully.
As far as the defund-police
movement, there are always people with all kinds of opinions. I received about
10,000 emails about defunding the police with ideas varying from cutting the
budget in half to cutting it altogether. That won’t work. You have to think
through the cause-and-effect of each cut. Fortunately, even with all the calls
to defund the department, the only cuts made were from unallocated funds. That
means that if the police have projected overtime, that money is already in the police
account. By removing it now, it means the police have to come back and get a
supplemental budget to request it. They do this regularly anyway; whenever
overtime runs over, the police have to come to the council and request the
money. The only things that were really cut were the marine unit – which is
restructuring to partner with the fire department marine unit – and the mounted
unit. I was one of the three council members who voted against cutting the
mounted unit.
Schleifer: We’ve already seen some
positive growth over the past four years from the city standpoint. As a councilperson,
I continue to work to make it easier for small businesses to open in the city;
the city government has been moving in this direction as well. When I was
running for office, I heard many complaints of how difficult it was to get a
permit in the city to do work on your house: for example, plumbing work or building
an addition. The process was extremely time-consuming. You had to come down to
the office, and it was not a positive experience. I checked it out personally,
and I experienced what others experienced. It wasn’t user-friendly. The process
needed to be changed.
I went to work on changing the
permitting-protocol system in
Look, the city is a profit-making
business when it comes to permits. We’re providing a product – permits – and
charging people for them. There is also a timeline for how long it should take
permits to be done. I would like to have a rule that, if permits aren’t done on
time, the permit fee would be waived. People should expect consistency when
doing business with the city. I already hear of investors who say they’d rather
buy a row home and rehab it in
Schleifer: I think the issues we’re facing
here are no different than issues faced anywhere else. Cost-of-living increases
beyond income and how to manage that. We have to do more with less. We must
become more efficient as a city. The police department needs to start to staff
a lot of administrative positions with civilians rather than with police
officers. That will save the city a lot of money, and it will also open the job
field for civilians who want to work for the city.
While these economic issues are
very important, first and foremost must be safety. We must continue to build on
that. Crime in the city is still out of control; however, crime in the 5th
district has dropped significantly. I’m proud to say that violent cases in the
5th district, such as home invasion, carjacking, and armed robbery,
have been few and far between. Previously, we had been seeing these regularly.
Keeping the level of crime down requires constant effort. I personally visit
the scene of all the shootings and homicides in my district to ensure that the
cases are being investigated. I stay on top of it and make sure all information
is known and provided to authorities. We’re paying attention and making sure we
won’t be complacent with crime in our district.
Schleifer: I want to thank everyone for
their support in the last election. There’s another, general, election coming
up on November 3. It is important to vote on November 3! Officials on all
levels scrutinize the voting records to see where votes come from. Communities that
vote get more attention from higher officials. It’s important that we continue to
maintain a strong voting turnout and don’t become complacent, thinking we don’t
have the time to go out and vote. Even if it takes an hour to vote, the return
investment of your time cannot be spent better anywhere else than coming out
and voting.
