Baltimore City’s key anti-gun violence prevention program known as Safe Streets is revamping its structure but city council members complained they were left in the dark about the changes before they happened. Safe Streets was rolled out in 2007 and has been run collectively by six different community organizations. But now it’s slated to be taken over by two nonprofits already involved in the program, Catholic Charities and Life Bridges Center for Hope.
Some city council members complained that the mayor’s office didn’t communicate such changes that started in March until September, around the same time the public became aware of the transition.
Shantay Jackson, director of the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, said that centralizing administration of the program makes sense.
“These two partners make up hospital violence intervention programing, victim’s services, mental health, job supports, child abuse, domestic violence, early education programs,” Jackson told the rules and legislative oversight committee on Thursday.
There’s too much decentralization as the city coordinates with six different organizations to oversee 10 different sites, she said.
Council member Mark Conway, who represents District 4, was upset that the city’s legislative arm didn’t know about the changes until news of these changes were released in September and said he wanted to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
“There were definitely opportunities. An email, a text, you’ve got my phone number. We don’t need to pretend that we missed the opportunity here,” Conway said.
Council member Sharon Green Middleton, who represents District 6, was frustrated about the mayor’s office not sharing information.
Jackson countered that conversations about the process were private until they were made public, because the transition was still in the works.
“It would have been imprudent for us to be having public conversations around something that hadn’t been finalized,” she said.
Council member Conway and Jackson with the mayor’s office argued about the lack of communication until another council member halted the meeting.
Isaac Schleifer, who represents District 5, stopped the hearing. Schleifer argued that the meeting was no longer discussing changes to Safe Streets.
