Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake Outlines Ten-Year Plan To Get City Finances In Order

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SRBSoTC-0212.mp3

February 12, 2013

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake delivered the annual State of the City address yesterday afternoon at City Hall. Her message was simple: "We cannot build the foundation of a growing city on the mud of a fiscal swamp. The status quo is unacceptable, and the price of inaction is clear. We must change to grow."

On the heels of a report projecting a cumulative deficit of $750 million dollars, the mayor unveiled the outline of a ten-year financial plan that includes pension reform, a 20-percent cut in property taxes, a new user fee for trash pick-up, a longer workweek for firefighters, and a 10-percent reduction in the city workforce.

But, will she be able to make these reforms happen? And, will they take the city in the direction she hopes?

Sheilah talks about it with Baltimore City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke, community activist Kim Trueheart, and Christopher Summers, president of the Maryland Public Policy Institute.

Read the mayor's prepared remarks for the State of the City address here.