BALTIMORE, MD – In 2009, when Stephanie Rawlings-Blake was City Council President, she found that the mayor’s proposed budget needed changes. She requested more funding for rec centers and other programs for Baltimore’s youth.
“While the City Council fully understands the difficult fiscal circumstances that the city faces, we must also recognize the importance of protecting our priorities in public safety, public schools and services for our youth,” then Council President Rawlings-Blake said in a press release. “The Mayor has done a good job crafting the proposed budget, but I believe that we can do better for our children and protect these critically important services,” Rawlings-Blake’s press release continued.

What a difference a few years makes.

Last week, now-Mayor Rawlings-Blake rejected Council President Young’s People’s Plan for a Better Baltimore, which would fully restore a host of services championed by Rawlings-Blake just three years ago.

Council President Young’s People’s Plan for a Better Baltimore would do the following:

• Protect neighborhoods by maintaining the existing network of fire companies slated for closure in the mayor’s fiscal year 2013 proposed budget.
• Demonstrate a commitment to families by expanding summer job opportunities and afterschool programs for youth.
• Ease the crippling financial burden on city workers and their families that would result from proposed unprecedented changes to employee health care coverage.

“I am calling on my colleagues on the City Council to send a clear message that cuts to public safety and to Baltimore’s social safety net will not be tolerated,” Council President Young said. “Mayor Rawlings-Blake’s proposed fiscal year 2013 budget represents a good first effort, but we must do more to protect our citizens and increase Baltimore’s population, which has been in decline for decades.”