Banking for a Baltimore Undivided

Confronting Race and Class to Increase Opportunity and Equity for People and Neighborhoods

For too long, Baltimore’s people and communities have had little or no say in the direction of the government or how tax dollars are spent. They do not determine how their communities are developed, and so they have watched as government has gone into debt to fund the development of downtown areas - while neglecting the very real needs of neighborhoods throughout the rest of the city. The Baltimore uprising of 2015 brought long festering problems to the forefront and showed that Baltimore needs transformational change - not tinkering with the status quo. The investment strategies and policies for the past 60 years are no longer relevant or feasible. A Joshua Harris Administration is ready to enact enabling legislation to fund investment strategies that make sense in 21st century Baltimore.

This plan, based upon successful urban policies from throughout the United States and the world, will empower the residents of Baltimore to decide the future direction of their city. I recognize the community economic challenges facing Baltimore will not be fixed by the next Mayor alone, but by a Mayor who authentically involves community in every strata of a community economic development vision. It will be fixed by the people, first at the neighborhood level and then as a united city, working together for a better future. As Mayor, we will work to ensure the full participation of our residents in creating a united 21st century city. The plan will shift power from City Hall, big developers and Wall Street to people, neighborhoods and communities - because the people who are most affected by Baltimore’s problems are the ones who have the solutions. It will move the city from behind-closed-doors decision making to transparency and participation. As Mayor I will put this plan into action, it will give people greater control over their economic lives, greater input into decisions made by city government and greater involvement in ensuring safety in their communities.

My administration will rely upon participatory governance where residents make decisions on community investment, development, education and safety. Rather than massive tax breaks and crony capitalism for out-of-town corporations that take Baltimore’s wealth out of the city, we seek to empower locally-owned businesses that invest in our city, provide living wage jobs and build community wealth. Instead of relying upon the same Wall Street banks that have practiced redlining and refused to provide financing for mortgages or small businesses in black neighborhoods, we will move the economic power to a public Baltimore City Bank that will serve the public interest and provide capital to local community banks and credit unions. The people of Baltimore will set the mission of the bank and make decisions about its spending priorities right here in our city – not in New York skyscrapers.

With this approach, the Harris administration will be able to focus on the development of sustainable, healthy and economically viable neighborhoods – in every part of the city, not just the waterfront communities of the wealthy and the well-connected – to unite a divided Baltimore, bring our city into the 21st century, and provide equal access and opportunity to all.

Joshua Harris Executive Summary

A 21st Century Economy For Baltimore 4

Public Banking for Baltimore 5-6 Baltimore suffers from the economic grip of Wall Street, and the citizens are the ones that end up footing the bill. Public Banking presents an opportunity to break free from the constraints of Wall Street Banks, provide access to capital for new homeowners, as well as loans to small business at lower interest rates than traditional banks. The Harris Administration will create a Baltimore City Public Bank that will hold and leverage property taxes, fees, fines and other sources of revenue, shifting these funds away from current predatory lenders. This new Baltimore City Bank will work with community banks to make capital available to people, communities, and small businesses across the city. An equity focus will ensure that black and brown communities, which have historically been the targets of racist lending policies, will have access to capital to build wealth and opportunity.

Property Tax Reduction 7-9 Reducing property taxes in the city is a priority for the Harris Administration. We address the Catch-22, knowing that if we cut property taxes significantly right now, we will take money away from crucial services. If we don’t cut property taxes we will continue to see the population of the city dwindle. To reduce the property tax rate we must increase the wealth of Baltimore’s residents and disinvested neighborhoods, many of which have been overlooked for decades. Healthy and stabilized local economies are key to positively impacting many other social determinants of health in our community.

An Economy for the People 10-12 The Harris Administration will ensure that city money is used in the best interest of citizens first. The disbursement of funding will be determined through an equity framework that includes a serious overhaul and comprehensive review of our city’s usage of Tax Incremental Financing and other development tools. Community Benefits Agreements will be meaningful and inclusive in all city-financed development. Federal HUBzone initiatives will be used to boost local economy and job creation through federal procurement contracts. Lastly, the Harris Administration will encourage innovative forms of local private investment.

Inclusive Community Development 13-14 Baltimore needs a new model of development that puts the people and neighborhoods of the city at the heart of decision-making about how our city develops. This is especially true for the neighborhoods that have been targeted and disinvested from. Baltimore neighborhoods know the most pressing problems they face, but often lack access to the information and resources that could provide meaningful solutions. The Harris administration will pilot a participatory budgeting approach which will set aside a portion of discretionary spending to be allocated by community decision-making processes. Participatory budgeting will decrease fraud, waste and transparency and will increase accountability for government spending. The initial pilot

Executive Summary

program will focus on the most economically disadvantaged communities and will expand beyond that in later years.

Creating Living Wage Jobs that Build Community Wealth 15-17 The Harris Administration will prepare the workforce of Baltimore City for the kind of jobs that can create wealth for people, families and communities. To do this requires creativity and a willingness to embrace different types of business. Worker owned cooperatives will be a central element of the Harris economic plan. Cooperatives provide workers with equity in businesses and ensure that these profits remain in the community. Workforce development will be geared toward training workers in new industries that can help the city grow and remain competitive. Industries like agriculture (including legal marijuana), clean energy, real estate, and transportation can provide great economic opportunity for the city and the Harris Administration will ensure workers are prepared for the jobs that will be created.

Economy of the Future 18-19 We must create a new economy that addresses the local and global challenges of the 21st century. The Harris Administration will expand access to clean and distributed energy systems and train the workforce to create, install and maintain it. High speed municipal WiFi will ensure that all residents have the opportunity to access information and resources. Preparing for emerging markets such as the legalization of marijuana can be catalyst for wealth building in communities historically disenfranchised. The formation of Community Land Trusts will allow affordable housing and business opportunities far.

Baltimore Beyond the Economy 20-21

“It’s time to invest in the people of Baltimore, rather than in waterfront properties. I want to follow the people, planet, profit model, understanding that our citizens and environment come first.” A 21st Century Economy for Baltimore

Baltimore is in a financial crisis, staving off economic collapse after decades of a shrinking population, high joblessness and misuse of development dollars. Unlike previous Mayors, Joshua Harris knows that cutting services, delaying infrastructure improvements and selling off income producing assets is not an economic development strategy. A new economy is needed in Baltimore: one that grows wealth in our communities, is sustainable and transparent, and where people - along with their neighbors - decide how development occurs in their community.

The Harris administration will re-make banking to create a public Baltimore City Bank, so that we will no longer be dependent on Wall Street firms with their high interest rates and fees that extract taxpayer dollars and strangle the Baltimore economy. Residents of Baltimore are burdened with high property taxes to cover debt and fees to Wall Street banks. In contrast, the Baltimore City Bank, along with better management of existing public resources, will provide the financing for a real, community-driven economic growth strategy.

The Harris administration wants local communities to determine how this development happens, and will use participatory budgeting to allow residents to decide where investment in their communities should go. This new approach to development will also emphasize Community Benefits Agreements - rather than corporate welfare for big developers - and emphasize neglected communities rather than the waterfront.

Joshua Harris will also focus on creating new jobs for Baltimore residents through initiatives that support the establishment of more local businesses, particularly those that are worker- owned, and through training initiatives that prepare people for living wage jobs in high-growth industry sectors.

This community-based approach to growth will bring people back to Baltimore, which has lost one-third of its population (300,000 people) in 60 years. Through this new economic vision, and through other investments - such as transforming vacant houses and property from blight to assets, with community land trusts that protect current residents, and a municipal Internet that will provide high-speed Internet access to all residents of Baltimore - Joshua Harris will prepare us for a future Baltimore economy that shows how inclusive economic development can benefit everyone.

4 Public Banking: Controlling Our Own Capital

One of the first priorities for Mayor Harris will be establishing a Baltimore City Public Bank. We can no longer continue to hope that Wall Street banks, with their history of prejudicial practices against communities of color, will change their behavior. Whether redlining neighborhoods to create hyper-segregation, marketing subprime mortgages and contract sales to low-income and minority purchasers, or directing capital away from black commercial districts, these banks have demonstrated no interest in providing equitable financing opportunities for black neighborhoods. This has also opened the door for other predatory lending practices - when there are no fair options available for a person to get a personal loan, a home mortgage, or a small business loan, it leads to high-interest products that exploit people, rather than empower them. Wall Street banks also charge high fees for their services, draining millions of dollars from the city every year. The best way to change those practices is to take our money back from banks that only answer to wealthy shareholders, and put that money into a public bank which is accountable to the residents of Baltimore. The Baltimore City Public Bank will have a mission of serving the public interest, not seeking profit for Wall Street, but building community wealth.

THE BALTIMORE CITY PUBLIC BANK WILL:

• Retain and leverage property taxes, permit fees, fines and all the other sources of Baltimore City government income, as well as house the payroll of all Baltimore public employees including their pensions. • The rainy day fund for Baltimore, which is currently at $90 million, will be moved to the Baltimore City Public Bank, where it can be used to create income for the city by leveraging those funds the same way that private banks do. • The amount of lendable credit in the Baltimore City Public Bank will grow into billions of dollars, based on Baltimore’s $3 billion annual operating budget, all of which could be gradually moved to the public bank. • The bank’s profits - which will be considerable over time - would go into the general fund for the city. • The bank will be run by professionally trained community bankers and will be independent of government involvement in its operations and lending decisions. It will be transparent and audited regularly, so people know it is being managed in a sound way. • The critical role of the public and government will be setting the priorities of the bank. This will include providing funding for some of the programs that are urgently needed in Baltimore like remaking the vacant lots and abandoned homes by providing low interest affordable loans, putting in place distributed solar energy on people's homes and businesses, creating a fund for worker-owned businesses and worker-cooperatives, and infrastructure needs like lead removal, water and waste management and improved transit.

5 Public Banking: Controlling Our Own Capital

As it grows, the public bank could help fund large projects which use abandoned industrial areas and reactivate manufacturing in Baltimore to meet twenty-first century needs in areas like clean mass transit and renewable energy. The Harris administration will include direct community input on the priorities of the public bank, which will be reviewed and updated annually with the participation of residents.

• The public bank will also work with community banks and local credit unions to help them to remain stable and grow. North Dakota, where there has been a public bank for almost 100 years, has the highest per capita number of community banks. • Support will be provided to make sure that these community banks and credit unions provide local branches and financial services for people and neighborhoods that have been traditionally neglected and ignored, guaranteeing that people can start businesses and own homes without being subject to high interest rates or unreasonable fees.

5 Property Tax Reduction

Joshua Harris recognizes the need to cut property taxes in order to grow the population and the economy of Baltimore. But, there are also urgent needs that cannot be ignored. Baltimore is caught in a Catch-22 where property taxes cannot be cut until the economy and population grow enough to support it; or city spending shrinks despite urgent needs. This economic development plan puts forward a new approach to economic growth that will allow reduction of property taxes in a responsible way.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW:

• Baltimore's property tax rate is about double that of surrounding counties. Anne Arundel County has a 2.3% property tax rate, Baltimore County is 2.75% and Baltimore City’s is 5.6%. This results in high property tax bills for Baltimore residents. • The average house price in Baltimore is $171,000 with a tax bill of $4,000, while in Baltimore County it is $302,000 with taxes of $3,600, and in Anne Arundel County, $375,000 with a tax bill of $3,700. • To cut property taxes by 50 percent, so that we are closer to the rate of surrounding counties, would cost more than $370 million per year, more than the $207 million we spend on education annually.

7 Property Tax Reduction

This has to change, as BaltimoreRising.org says: “There will be no lowering the property taxes in Baltimore unless and until the city’s economy and population grow enough to allow it.” This is the quandary, and this is why the Harris administration is proposing a new approach to development that more broadly improves the city to create neighborhoods that are safe, and where economic growth is not limited to the downtown waterfront and wealthy neighborhoods. Our city is struggling to remain solvent, so cutting the tax rate without economic growth would be irresponsible; it is also a city struggling with failing infrastructure, failing schools and urgent needs in long-time neglected communities. In this environment, cutting property taxes will not bring people back to the city. They need to see responsible government that has a positive vision and a plan to make that vision a reality, and that is what Joshua Harris is putting forward.

The City’s most valuable non-human assets are the 47,000 vacant properties that are often seen as blight, but which carry tremendous potential (we will go into greater detail on vacants in the housing section):

• These properties can become homes where people live and local businesses create economic activity. • This will broaden our tax base and allow lower property tax rates for everyone. • Improving new neighborhoods will also increase the value of Baltimore homes, and as we do so, land trusts can be used to control the value of properties in order to prevent gentrification and displacement - which will be discussed in our section on housing.

As the economy grows the Harris administration will take other actions to continue to reduce property taxes, at a slow but consistent rate, and to do so in a responsible, transparent and equitable manner.

8 Property Tax Reduction

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO BALTIMORE CITY?

• The current mayor has, according to the latest data, reduced the property tax by 14 cents with a goal of a property tax reduction of 20 cents by 2020. Harris will continue to work to achieve that goal, and do more. • Harris advocates for charging a higher tax rate on vacant properties than is paid on occupied properties. Harris will work to improve the assessment process to increase consistency and accuracy and will target tax-exempt property leased to for-profit businesses. The Harris administration will dedicate a portion of these new revenues to reducing the tax rate. • Further, after 2020, the Harris administration will continue the downward trend in property taxes. • The Harris administration will rethink the Baltimore budget, conduct audits of spending and root out waste. Audits will be discussed in more detail in the section on Public Trust. If the Harris administration finds waste or misspending, it will divide the funds between urgently needed programs that are currently underfunded and reduction of property taxes.

In addition to rebuilding vacants into tax-paying properties, the Harris administration favors property tax reduction areas in the most impoverished communities based on high levels of unemployment. BaltimoreRising.org has found there are 30 communities with over 10% unemployment. These areas will become special tax districts where a five-year property tax reduction could spur development without forcing residents out but by bringing in more people and businesses. The Harris administration believes it is essential to support the communities most in need in order to make Baltimore into a safer, more livable city that will attract new people.

“In addition to rebuilding vacants into tax-paying

properties, the Harris administration favors property tax reduction areas in the most impoverished communities based on high levels of unemployment.”

9 An Economy for the People

Make community benefits agreements (CBAs) standard procedure for all developments receiving public subsidy; Remake TIFs to serve neglected communities A community benefits agreement, negotiated with residents and residents’ groups – not just a small group of special interests – can guarantee that public subsidies are providing local neighborhoods with the resources they actually need. More affordable housing, local hiring agreements, improved recreation centers, or other needs can be part of an agreement with a developer to ensure that the benefits of Tax Increment Financing (TIFs), Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOTs) or other city deals are shared broadly, rather than lining the pockets of the wealthy. This plan emphasizes locally owned businesses, in the case of outside investment interest, CBA’s will be a standard for all deals. Currently, TIFs and PILOTs proliferate racial inequality by offering wealthy developers tremendous tax breaks to subsidize corporate growth. These TIFs and PILOTs put Baltimore further into debt and limit funds that could be used in neglected communities in desperate need of investment. ACCORDING TO THE “BALTIMORE BLACK PAPER” AUTHORED BY DRS. LAWRENCE BROWN AND LESTER SPENCE, RECENT EXAMPLES OF TIFS THAT PERPETUATE RACIAL INEQUITY INCLUDE:

• The $78 million TIF bonds issued to the East Baltimore Development Inc. (a proxy organization for Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions) to displace 742 Black families, develop a new neighborhood, and rename it Eager Park (replacing the former name Middle East); • The $107 million TIF bonds issued to Michael Beatty for his Harbor East project that used the demographics of nearby public housing development Perkins Homes to qualify for the TIF as a part of an Enterprise Zone. Residents of the predominantly Black public housing development Perkins Homes fought to have a signed community benefits agreement connected to the TIF to help improve their community, but were denied. • The $17.5 million in TIF bonds issued to the University of Maryland BioPark developer Wexford Science & Technology to boost research and development. The developer did sign a $4 million community benefits agreement with residents in the southwest Baltimore community Pigtown while excluding residents of the public housing development Poe Homes and Terraces. Additionally, the city eliminated the property taxes for the BioPark for 5 years.

In March 2016, Sagamore Development Corporation (SDC) submitted a TIF request to the Baltimore Development Corporation (BDC) that threatens to outdo the examples above. Sagamore is the development arm of multi-billionaire Kevin Plank, CEO of the sports apparel company Under Armour. SDC/Plank is requesting $535 million in TIF bonds from Baltimore City to develop the Port Covington area. Joshua Harris urges the current council and mayor to not rush the process. A council and mayor leaving office should not be making the decision, a council and mayor that answers to the constituents should be responsible for the decision.

10 An Economy for the People

Baltimore must rethink the use of TIFs, PILOTs, CBAs and other Baltimore Development Corporation programs in effort to support labor intensive, job creating and tax revenue- producing development in the most neglected communities of Baltimore: • The Harris administration will separate the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) from the Housing Authority, which oversees public housing, with distinct directors and responsibilities. • The Baltimore Development Corporation will no longer be a private entity, its roles and responsibilities will fall under the jurisdiction of the HCD where the work will be transparent and accountable to the residents of Baltimore.

EQUITY REVIEW OF ALL DEVELOPMENT: The Harris administration will require equity reviews on major development projects, particularly those receiving public subsidy, that clearly demonstrate the impact of the project on low-income and African-American residents. Tools like the Equitable Development Scorecard, created by community leaders in Minnesota, will be incorporated into the city's processes in order to clearly demonstrate what benefit, if any, black communities and low-income residents will receive as a result of massive public investment. If these projects do not advance the cause of equitable development, they will not move forward under the Harris administration. BUILDING AND SUPPORTING LOCALLY OWNED BUSINESSES AND ENTREPRENEURS THAT KEEP MONEY IN BALTIMORE: For years Baltimore has fallen prey to the mistake of seeking to attract businesses, especially chains and big box stores, from outside of the city rather than growing locally owned businesses that build community wealth.

• Research shows that small, locally owned businesses create communities that are more entrepreneurial, connected, and prosperous. Large corporations that are national and transnational in scope drive inequality while local business with diverse, community- based ownership strengthen the middle class. • Local businesses build community wealth by recirculating a greater share of every dollar as they create locally owned supply chains and employ more local professionals (e.g. graphics artists, accountants), invest in their employees, employ more people, and retain more employees during economic downturns. • Large retailers avoid their tax obligations and demand massive public subsidies that fail to produce real economic benefits for communities. Big box businesses lead to a loss of Baltimore and send it back to their headquarters, making Baltimore poorer.

11 An Economy for the People

SUPPORTING LOCAL BUSINESS

• The Harris administration will put in place a locally focused development agenda because it recognizes that local ownership ensures important decisions are made by people who live in the community and feel the impacts of those decisions. • Harris understands that a marketplace of tens of thousands of small businesses is the best way to ensure a sustainable economy, encourage innovation and create low prices. • Supporting and encouraging local business will be integrated into other economic plans of the Harris administration. For example a public bank, along with community banks and local credit unions, could develop micro-financing for entrepreneurs so they can start their own businesses, provide low interest business loans or start-up funds for worker-owned cooperatives. • Joshua Harris will involve local businesses in development decisions, stop subsidies for out-of-town big business enterprises and instead encourage local businesses, e.g. zoning rules that protect historic buildings, favor pedestrians and transit over cars, mandate multi-story mixed use buildings, and insist on humanly scaled development.

BALTIMORE HUBZONES

The Harris administration will help to ensure that Baltimore gets federal contracts, especially in neglected communities. For example, the Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZone) program helps small businesses in urban and rural communities gain preferential access to federal procurement opportunities. The program, administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration, has billions of unused contract dollars annually. The program encourages economic development in HUBZones through the establishment of preferences. Baltimore has fourteen census tracts approved as HUBZones covering most of the city and the neglected neighborhoods in Baltimore. For a business to be approved for contracting it must be a small, locally owned business with its principal office located in the HUBZone and 35 percent of workers must be from the HUBZone. The Harris administration will help businesses achieve HUBZone certification and maintain it, as well as to apply for federal contracts.

The Harris administration will also put in place policies to protect locally owned business from the rising cost of renting space:

• Ownership in commercial properties can be broadened through structures like real estate investment cooperatives, where neighbors invest in commercial buildings to guarantee long-term stability and reasonable rent increases for local businesses. • As Mayor, Joshua Harris will seek to establish tax credits to landlords in order to encourage reasonable long term leases for locally owned business. • As neighborhoods of vacants are rebuilt, the Harris administration will ensure an ample supply of small spaces to include business diversity with a mix of different types of businesses. Similarly, new development projects and public buildings will set aside space for locally owned businesses.

12 Inclusive Community Development

CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR PRIVATE INVESTMENT IN BALTIMORE: The Harris administration will develop tools for people in Baltimore to invest in Baltimore. This could be the equivalent of a Baltimore Stock Exchange or a Baltimore Community Fund or as simple as a Local Investment Group. Investors will be able to put their money into Baltimore and profit from their investment. This will ensure local wealth helps to build more wealth in Baltimore for those who want to use their money to help build the community.

Public Resources for the Public Good: Using the City’s Budget and Subsidies to Create Equity PARTICIPATORY DEVELOPMENT: The Harris administration will seek opportunities for replacing government decision-making with direct democratic decision-making by residents of Baltimore. This will start with participatory budgeting at the community level. When fully implemented, each community in Baltimore will be given a certain amount of dollars each year that they will decide how to spend.

Participatory budgeting is a process where people in a community directly decide how to spend part of a public budget. This process begins with the government providing a certain amount of resources for neighborhood improvement. The residents meet to brainstorm spending ideas for their community. Those who support a project develop proposals and a budget. Residents meet to review and debate the proposals and then vote on them. The vote is not an advisory vote, it is decision-making by the community and the city provides the funding for the projects that are approved. For example, if community members identify recreation spaces as a priority, they might develop a proposal for renovation of a community center. The residents would then vote on this and other proposals, and if they approve the renovation then the city pays to renovate it.

Participatory budgeting is now used in 1,500 cities in Latin America, North America, Asia, Africa, and Europe. In cities like New York and Chicago, residents now have direct control over millions of dollars each year for capital investment and neighborhood improvement.

13 Inclusive Community Development

The Harris administration believes that communities know what they need and how their neighborhood should be developed. Residents’ knowledge, clarified through open discussions among everyone affected, ensures that projects are prioritized to address the greatest needs of the community. Joshua Harris will set aside a portion of discretionary spending for participatory budgeting. This will begin with pilot programs in a small number of communities, with priority given to long-neglected communities, and then will grow to cover the entire city. Experience with participatory budgeting shows that once people are invested in the process, they make sure that money is spent wisely. Community decision-making on spending through a public process reduces opportunities for corruption, waste, and backlash. Through regular meetings and assemblies, people will get to know their neighbors and feel more connected to their community and to Baltimore.

Creating Living Wage Jobs that Build Community Wealth

Creating Living Wage Jobs that Build Community Wealth

Jobs are a top priority for Baltimore as the city has lost jobs every year since 1995, putting more than 57,000 Baltimoreans out of work. Baltimore consistently lags behind Baltimore County and the rest of the metropolitan region in employment.

• While 7.1% of Baltimoreans are unemployed and tens of thousands are underemployed or have given up looking for work, Baltimore County has 5 percent unemployment and Anne Arundel, 4.1% percent. • For young black men between the ages of 20 and 24, the unemployment rate was 37% in 2013, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, while 10% of white men of the same age were unemployed. • Wealth inequality seen through a racial lens is astounding: the median income for white families is $61,000 and $34,000 for black families.

The loss of businesses and jobs has increased the cost and pressure on Baltimore’s already stressed social services network, reduced advancement opportunities for Baltimore’s minority workers and businesses, aggravated youth delinquency, increased poverty and economic distress, which increase crime and criminal justice costs, and eroded the City’s tax base. Special areas of focus will be employing ex-offenders, youth, the chronically unemployed and the underemployed, as this will reduce crime, increase safety and increase participation in the Baltimore economy.

The Harris administration proposes transitioning to a clean energy economy which will create jobs installing new energy systems, increasing efficiency of homes and businesses, in solar manufacturing as well as in research and development of clean energy.

INVESTING IN BALTIMORE’S RESIDENTS: The Harris administration believes that we need a coherent economic strategy to grow Baltimore’s greatest asset - our people - in a way that creates businesses which are rooted in our communities and grow community wealth.

This strategy requires coordination with other policies, including remaking vacant buildings and lots, supporting and growing local businesses, educating and training people for the new energy economy, a broadened transit system that ensures workers can get to their jobs quickly and inexpensively, and others.

Creating jobs requires determining unmet needs for goods and services that can be filled, such as manufacturing clean transit, and surveying the purchasing needs of local institutions such as universities and hospitals. The city will work with local communities, entrepreneurs and worker- owners to develop business proposals to meet these needs. This will include job-training with prioritization of the needs of ex-offenders, youth and people who are chronically unemployed.

While corporate trade agreements and globalization have driven manufacturing overseas and increased unemployment locally, the loss of jobs cannot be blamed on global trends alone. These losses are also due to civic leaders’ inadequate response to these global trends and other factors such as increased use of technology and monopolization of industries as well as the failure to take advantage of new industries in green energy, robotics and more despite Baltimore being well-positioned to do so.

15 Creating Living Wage Jobs that Build Community Wealth

SUPPORT EMPLOYEE-OWNED BUSINESSES SO WORKERS HAVE CONTROL OVER THEIR JOBS AND SHARE IN THE WEALTH THEY CREATE: There are a number of ways that the city can support not only job-creation but real wealth-building for workers.

• One way is through employee ownership of businesses. These more democratically- controlled businesses take a variety of forms including worker-owned cooperatives, horizontally managed ESOPs (Employee Stock Ownership Plans), worker self-directed non-profits, collectives and other forms of social enterprise that include pathways to employee ownership of capital. Worker-ownership means workers share in the wealth (the profits) created by the business and participate in decision-making on the future of the business. • Developing cooperatives in neighborhoods like Sandtown-Winchester and Oldtown will increase neighborhood equity and wealth, significantly increase the range and quality of goods, significantly decrease unemployment, and build civic capacity. The city of Baltimore can enhance support for cooperatives by providing direct seed money and training in their development and maintenance. The city can also connect workers and purchasers to cooperatives. • The Harris administration will work with major anchor institutions in Baltimore (e.g. universities and hospitals) to create businesses that serve their needs. This will keep money in Baltimore rather than sending money outside the city for work that can be done here. • The City will also prioritize worker ownership of small businesses, rather than inviting big box stores to Baltimore. • The Harris administration will also require new development projects to negotiate agreements with impacted communities, which may include requirements that there be subcontracts with cooperatives.

The Baltimore City Public Bank will create a fund to support start-up costs and provide other resources, such as technical support and business services, needed to launch worker-owned cooperatives. A similar program in New York City has been very successful. In the first year, the city provided a total of $1.2 million in grants. The grants supported education, business incubation, services such as promotion for existing cooperatives and loans for start-up costs. The number of worker-owned cooperatives in New York City almost doubled in the first year and is on track to triple in the second year. TRAIN STUDENTS AND JOBSEEKERS IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT CAREERS: While traditional training programs prepare people for existing jobs, there also needs to be a track for people who want to run their own businesses, including collectives and worker-owned cooperatives, and who want to re-develop their own neighborhoods and communities. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’s) will be crucial partners in developing and running programs that prepare people for careers in these fields. The Harris administration will also expand city entrepreneurship and technical assistance programs, particularly in connection with schools, to increase local control of our economy.

16 Creating Living Wage Jobs that Build Community Wealth

PREPARE PEOPLE FOR CAREERS IN FAMILY-SUPPORTING WAGE SECTORS, INCLUDING CONSTRUCTION, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, HEALTHCARE, BUSINESS SERVICES, AND TRANSPORTATION AND LOGISTICS: The Baltimore Regional Workforce Development Plan found that the greater Baltimore area is creating thousands of new mid-skilled jobs in each of these five sectors. However, too many residents are not trained and ready to take these jobs. The Harris administration will task the Mayor's Office of Employment Development with strengthening efforts that collaborate with employers to develop training programs that put our job-seekers on Career Pathways that lead to these good jobs, and keep local businesses here with a well-equipped workforce. COMMUNITY CONTROLLED AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY: Baltimore has neighborhoods that are food deserts and it also has space for urban gardening that could provide fresh fruits and vegetables to those communities. Baltimore has a lot of space for growing crops between yards, vacants, and municipal space. It also has space to develop food forests and parks where trees, bushes and other food-producing plants are grown and shared in the community.

• Small scale agricultural businesses are a sector that could become agricultural cooperatives controlled by the farmers and other workers. • Markets for local agricultural products exist through farmers markets, community supported agriculture, restaurants, and more. The Harris administration will craft a policy that links them with community stakeholders, and nurtures the growth of this sector. • A rowhouses to growhouses program will allow worker or community cooperatives to purchase vacant houses and lots and turn them into agriculture production and processing facilities. While the renovation necessary to turn a vacant rowhouse into a sustainable growing space is higher, the return on that investment is also higher. • The product of these growhouses can be sold at local markets, turned into food products at local commercial kitchens, or sold at restaurants, a certain portion could also be added to neighborhood food security initiatives.

The Economy of the Future

PREPARING FOR THE COMING LEGAL MARIJUANA MARKET: The regulation and taxation of marijuana is advancing through the United States and will be coming to Baltimore. 61% of people in the United States already live in states that have reformed their marijuana laws by allowing medical marijuana, imposing a fine — rather than jail time — on marijuana possession, or making marijuana legally available and regulated for adult use. Gallup reports that a majority of people in the United States support making marijuana legal and CBS found 86% support allowing the medical use of marijuana. Medical marijuana is legal in Maryland and the city is likely to open dispensaries in mid-2017. • The Baltimore Sun reports medical cannabis could generate $20 million to $70 million in annual economic activity in Maryland, and support between 300 and 1,000 jobs. Each growing facility can create 50 to 100 jobs. • In 2015 and 2016, bills were introduced in Annapolis to regulate marijuana like alcohol. • Experiences in states that have set up a legal marijuana market prove that it safely creates significant tax revenue that can be used to meet needs. • Colorado (population 5.4 million) sold $996 million worth of recreational and medical cannabis in 2015, according to the state Department of Revenue. Colorado also collected more than $135 million in marijuana taxes and fees in 2015 — more than $35 million of which is earmarked for school construction projects. • In 2015, Washington (population 7 million) collected $128.9 million in marijuana- related taxes, directed toward its general fund and health-related services. Total sales in Washington were $486 million in 2015.

BALTIMORE CAN LEARN FROM OTHER CITIES

Denver, C.O. with a population of 650,000, slightly higher than Baltimore’s 620,000, is a useful city for comparison.

• Denver has 210 stores that sell medical or recreational marijuana (or both), including 63 that grow marijuana on site and 211 standalone cultivation sites. This has generated $29 million in marijuana sales taxes and licensing proceeds for the city in 2015, including $7.7 million from a special 3.5% sales tax on recreational marijuana. • In Denver, stores and gardens are causing community conflicts and so it is now requiring that cultivation sites not be within 1,000 feet of residential areas and that stores develop a good neighbor plan and plans to reduce odor from cultivation. • Outside of Denver, in Oakland, C.A., they recently passed a Marijuana Equity Program that allows people who were in the marijuana business when it was illegal to participate in the legal market so they do not go on to other illegal activities. Seattle, population 652,000, has about 40 retail outlets, and is also a good model of this activity. In addition to jobs in retail outlet and cultivation areas there are a variety of ancillary industries that also develop with retail cannabis. These are often not considered in regards to planning and anticipated revenue sources. Among these are processors, packagers, POS systems, weights and measures, employment services, security, containers, safes and more.

18 The Economy of the Future

The Harris administration has a working group on marijuana policy and will expand the group in order to decide how Baltimore should regulate marijuana so it is consistent with community values and benefits the city. The group will ensure opportunities for wealth building and job creation are given to those who have mastered the underground marijuana market. The legal marijuana market should be designed to ensure the population involved in the illegal marijuana market is not driven into another illegal trade. Harris does not want to create an economy where only the wealthy will benefit from this new market. Among other issues that need to be considered are:

• Where retail outlets can be placed (some communities will want to be more restrictive than others) • How people will be allowed to grow a personal supply • How marijuana will be grown for retail distribution and retroactive provisions for expungement of marijuana arrest and conviction records. The Harris administration seeks to ensure that local control over the marijuana market is achieved, to allow small-scale cultivation and retail operations that do not require outside capital and to put market controls in place that prevent big business interests from coming into Baltimore to control the market. An overriding goal is to ensure that production and distribution are kept in the hands of the people of Baltimore and our communities.

19 Beyond the Economy

In the closing of this section, “Banking for a Baltimore Undivided,” we step back and look further into the future to where we want to go, beyond where we are capable of fully envisioning today. Decades of neglect and poor management will not be corrected in one term by the next mayor and will require the united participation of the residents of Baltimore to build the city we want to live in.

The Harris for Mayor platform describes a new way forward where the people of Baltimore and their communities are given the power to set a new direction not only for their communities but for the city. This participation in decision-making will be a transformational change that builds on Baltimore’s greatest assets – our communities and people – and unites all of us in a common destiny that we create together.

As people engage with their neighbors in developing their neighborhoods through participatory budgeting, community bonds will become stronger and people will know the people who live in their neighborhoods in ways that are impossible today. As people work in worker cooperatives where they determine the direction of their business together, people will share wealth they create and develop deep partnerships. As communities build wealth together, bonds will strengthen.

The upcoming chapters of the Harris for Mayor platform will describe how this overarching philosophy of empowering people and communities will positively impact all aspects of life in Baltimore:

• Harris urges the expansion of land trusts that allow the community to decide how housing, business and community services will expand and maintain affordability. • Baltimore will expand distributed clean energy so communities and individuals can put in place solar and other energy sources that serve them through a municipal partnership with communities. • Baltimore will advocate for state and federal policies that ensure Baltimore’s lowest income residents participate in distributed clean energy and the cost savings that come with it because equity, both racial and economic, is fundamental to the Harris administration. • The education system in Baltimore will teach clean energy skills to the next generation, ranging from installing solar to upgrading the efficiency of buildings and increasing the research and development capacity of local universities. • Universal access to high speed fiber optic Internet will give everyone in Baltimore the opportunity to participate in the web economy and many other benefits. This will be coupled with education in the use of computers and programs to provide computers to low-income residents. • People will participate in creating community gardens, food forests and parks as well as local food distribution centers in their communities to provide access to healthy foods and decrease hunger.

20 Beyond the Economy

• The Harris administration will put forward a breakthrough policy of ‘Community Partnership Policing’ where as partners they will develop a vision for safety and security in their neighborhood along with a community safety plan; and where as partners the police will be accountable to the community and vice a versa.

Putting in place these proposals will mean that wealth and security will build in communities from the ground up and people will share in that wealth through the encouragement of local businesses, worker-owned cooperatives and developing the mission of a public bank that serves Baltimore. Money will be spent in Baltimore and remain in Baltimore rather than going to chains and big box stores that extract money from our communities. Money will re-circulate as businesses hire local graphic artists, accountants, lawyers and other business services. The experience with the North Dakota public bank is that the Baltimore City Bank will grow and become a partner in helping local community banks and credit unions to grow. Over the years, Baltimore will develop a local financial center that serves all the neighborhoods of Baltimore. The people of Baltimore will continue to of the Baltimore City Bank and, as resources grow, it will be able to take on larger projects that we can only begin to envision today.

Baltimore has numerous abandoned manufacturing and industrial centers. The Harris administration envisions using these areas for larger projects. For example, no trains, light rail, or subways are built in the United States. As the nation moves to a sustainable, clean economy Baltimore can fill not only the void of US built transit but also green technology and manufacturing of new energy equipment that will be needed throughout the country. Joshua Harris envisions working with surrounding jurisdictions to build a regional economy that not only creates jobs but infrastructure like a solar rail system connecting major cities in region. Over time, we envision a city that has confronted generations of neglect so that homelessness and hunger no longer exist and wealth in every community is growing; where safety has increased so that people can walk the entire city without fear at any time of day or night; where communities build their own personalities based on development that people have decided on together.

The Harris for Mayor platform banks on the people and communities of Baltimore - because the only way to create the city we envision is by elevating and empowering the people and communities of Baltimore.

“Putting in place these

proposals will mean that

wealth and security will build in communities

from the ground up…”

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