Maria Allwine’s Vision for a Better Baltimore: Overcoming Baltimore’s alarming crime rate requires a new vision regarding drug abuse, jobs, education, housing and health care. This holistic vision is nothing less than a new social contract that puts the interests of poor and middle class people ahead of the interests of wealthy corporate and private political contributors. It is my intention to help Baltimore become a role model for the revitalization of decaying cities across the U.S.! The Power of the Office of Baltimore City Council President: The President of the Baltimore City Council has control over the purse stings—the mayor cannot spend a dime without the approval of the Baltimore City Council President. In short, after I am elected, I will convene a Council of Neighborhood Activists to operate parallel to the City Council and advise me on the problems and solutions specific to their communities. Community activists, members of neighborhood associations and other concerned citizens will not be begging for crumbs after the budget decisions are finalized behind closed doors, but will be equal players at the table from the outset of the transparent process that determines how all our taxpayer monies are spent in our city. BGE: I support the ‘Maryland-ization’ of BGE, including: full public ownership of public utilities; the use of “eminent domain” to take back BGE; returning the ‘stranded costs’ taxpayers have paid to BGE for decades; the creation of a Public Service Commission (PSC) that looks out for the interests of the ratepayers first and foremost; ensuring that all Marylanders can afford the power they need to live; beginning to move Maryland to the forefront of the affordable, renewable energy & conservation movements. Hagerstown, Maryland and Austin, Texas are good examples of cities which control their own power utilities and offer affordable rates to their ratepayers. In fact, there are over 2,000 public electric utilities in the country and the number is growing. They not only offer lower rates than for-profit utilities, but they use more alternative energy and have more energy savings programs as well. I support the re-regulation of BGE as an interim step to ‘Maryland-ization.’ Seven states have already re-regulated their public utilities, including Virginia which charges 9 cents per kilowatt hour as opposed to BGE which charges 13 cents—the highest rates in the South-Atlantic. I think it is disgusting that BGE’s Mayo Shattuck has become the highest paid CEO in Maryland at the same time that our utility rates have nearly doubled! I think the millions of dollars that are pouring into Mayo Shattuck’s pockets would be better kept in the hands of ratepayers who could use the money to save for their children’s college education, etc. If any Baltimorean dies because they cannot heat or cool their homes due to this massive and unjustified rate increase, those deaths will be on the heads of Mayo Shattuck, Martin O’Malley, the Democratically- controlled Baltimore City Council, and the Democratically- controlled General Assembly in Annapolis. Making Baltimore City Energy Independent BGE currently collects a tax from its ratepayers in each monthly bill and turns that money over to the city. Currently that tax is approximately $30 per ratepayer per year which adds up to about $30.8 million to the city per year. Kieffer Mitchell wants to rebate that $30/year to the consumers as his method of "rate relief", which is no rate relief at all when you consider that under the legalized theft called de-regulation, monthly bills have gone up hundreds of dollars for most residential ratepayers. Mr. Mitchell's "plan" completely fails to right the obscene theft of the BGE residential ratepayers' money under de-regulation, does nothing to lead Baltimore to energy independence and utterly fails to acknowledge and take meaningful steps to mitigate global warming. I propose that instead of rebating that $30 per year to the ratepayers, Baltimore City should continue to collect the tax, but should create a Baltimore Alternative Energy program and use that money to begin "solarization" of Baltimore city homes or use it to pay the legal fees to achieve a public takeover of BGE. Instead of BGE, I will create a BAE for our citizens and our city!! Let's talk about solar shingles which are available and in use NOW. Solar shingles are photovoltaic roof shingles which look just like regular shingles, and can be nailed on one's home in the same manner. Solar shingles are comprised of thin film photovoltaic technology which double as electricity generators as well as regular roof shingles. The average price to install solar shingles is around $15,000 per house. If the Baltimore Alternative Energy Program is used to purchase and install solar shingles, the $30.8 million initial start-up money would be able to pay for 2053 installations per year. To solarize more homes in a shorter period of time, the City could then borrow an additional $30.8 Million dollars, such funds repaid by the payments of the ratepayers from the first installations; these additional funds could be used to install another 2053 residences. This plan would continue until all the homes and buildings in Baltimore are fitted with solar shingles. A full roof of shingles can make a home energy independent. This means that for Constellation/BGE ratepayers, their electricity rates per killowat hour would be cut significantly - from the 13 cents we are currently being charged by BGE to approximately 8 cents. Combine this with a public takeover of Constellation/BGE and we would be well on the way to real energy independence for ratepayers - and Baltimore City would be a proud leader in the fight against global warming.

Jobs and a Living Wage: As your City Council President, I will require any city-based business that employs over 10 people to pay its employees a minimum wage of $12/hour. Why should any CEO make millions while the workers eke by on wages that no longer allow them to afford to rent, much less buy, no longer cover their rising BGE bills and prescription drugs, no longer allow them to send their children to college? Corporations receive enormous hidden subsidies (such as Payment In Lieu of Taxes programs and obscene tax breaks that ensure they pay little or no corporate state income taxes) from our lawmakers - it's time for that to end and end it I will when I am your City Council President. Baltimore no longer has the kinds of well-paying, manufacturing/union jobs that were the mainstay of the middle class and that made this city vital for so many decades - those jobs have disappeared with NAFTA and the so-called free trade agreements. I will create a new public works program to provide well--paying jobs in our city, train our unemployed and underemployed city residents in new trades and skills, and repair our crumbling roads, bridges and infrastructure. Crime & Drugs: The so-called war on drugs has failed; as President of the Baltimore City Council I will work to decriminalize drugs abuse in Baltimore and ensure treatment on demand. I will work to decriminalize drugs while increasing funding for drug treatment programs providing treatment on demand. I will also strengthen city oversight of drug treatment clinics to ensure that they are run with the needs of the communities in which they operate as a primary focus. Drug addiction is a health issue, not a criminal issue and should be treated as such. Some people turn to crime because there are too few good paying jobs; I will work to enact a real living wage law in Baltimore-- $12/ hour. I will work to fully-fund our police department to ensure an adequate level of policing in Baltimore. But I also know that the so-called ‘zero-tolerance’ approach of arresting young people for nonviolent offenses is often counterproductive insofar as it puts them on a fast track to a life of poverty and crime in the underground economy. I believe that in order to ensure the safety of our communities, police resources should be directed away from arresting drug users and juvenile drug runners and toward the middle and upper level dealers. The relationship between the Mayor, City Council President, Baltimore City Police Commissioner and the State's Attorney for Baltimore City must be strengthened and these agencies must forge a new, productive and more harmonious working relationship. I intend to lead them to that new relationship. Education: As President of the Baltimore City Council I will work to fully fund the Thornton education plan, with a special emphasis on Head Start and other early education programs that work. As President of the Baltimore City Council I will work to replace the non-elected school board with elected, local representatives. I believe that principals, teachers and parents know best how to run their own schools. No two schools are alike and forcing a one-size fits all solution on every school ensures that creative and workable solutions never see the light of day. I will work to decentralize the school system so that a majority of decisions will be made at the school level, not at North Avenue. Heath Care: I believe health care is a right of citizenship and single--payer health care for all is the hallmark of a civilized society. Baltimore City Council President Maria Allwine will work to enact the proposals of Maryland Universal Health Care Action Network (MD UHCAN) first in Baltimore, then across the state, and finally across the nation. The home of world-renowned Johns Hopkins University must be a city that ensures not just affordable health insurance but single--payer health care for all. Affordable Housing: After my election, I will let developers know there is a new sheriff in town: The only permits for new construction that will be considered for approval by the Baltimore City Council under my leadership will be those that include affordable housing, job training, and partial municipal ownership components. (Partial municipal ownership is a strategy currently being employed in other cities to make them and their citizens real stakeholders in the "unseen" wealth of their communities like future land values.) Gay Rights: The members of the GLBT community are our neighbors, our co-workers and our friends. They have the same inalienable rights as everyone else and they should have the same legal rights as everyone else. I will work to make civil marriage a reality in the state of Maryland by passing a resolution in the City Council advocating the right of our GLBT brothers and sisters to marry and will advocate with our state legislature on this issue. Clean Elections: As your City Council President, I will introduce Clean Elections legislation. This legislation has been passed in several states and cities and guarantees public financing of election campaigns in return for candidates agreeing to accept NO money from corporations, PACS or other special interests. The Green Party already takes no corporate, PAC, union or any special interest money. It's past time for the other political parties and candidates to join the Green Party in cleaning up the corruption in our campaign finance system that is nothing more than a pay to play system. What better way to begin the process of returning Baltimore to its people and communities than by leveling the playing field to ensure that all candidates have an equal opportunity to be heard by the voters.