Baltimore City Council

Council member Zeke Cohen joins Midday to share his priorities as the next City Council President.

“Let me be clear, this fight was about more than just the reduction of the city council or any single policy issue that was about keeping our local democracy intact.”

The measure’s defeat is likely due to a strong and organized coalition of labor groups and city leaders.

Here’s what voters had to share with WYPR reporters as they hit the polls.

Critics have said the ballot measure to shrink the Baltimore City Council will disenfranchise majority-Black neighborhoods. A Banner analysis found the vast majority of signers live in those neighborhoods and are Democrats. But why did they sign?

“We don’t have a sense of when it may happen again, we don’t have a sense of what to do differently,” Councilman Mark Conway said.

City voters have a wide variety of questions to decide this fall.

Promising projects are on the horizon but it could still be a while before the city sees new units under the law, says the housing commissioner.

Jovani Patterson, chairman of People for Elected Accountability and Civic Engagement, thinks that by slashing the size of that office, the city can redirect funding elsewhere. Detractors argue it will decrease representation.

Baltimore’s City Council is looking at a new and untested approach with a special financing package aimed at revitalizing blighted neighborhoods.