The Baltimore Vacants Reinvestment Council or BVRC met for a third time this year, at its monthly meeting. The council’s task is to come up with a plan to turn at least 5,000 vacant properties into productive use by 2029. They have two options: rehabilitate or demolish.
Baltimore City’s Housing Commissioner Alice Kennedy, who is also the Vice-Chair of the BVRC, told members that the city relies on two contractors for demolition, both hired through a standardized procurement process. These contractors also use subcontractors.
This year, the city is projecting 200 demolitions of properties unsuitable for rehabilitation. Last year, the city demolished 89. To handle the work, Baltimore partners with the Maryland Stadium Authority, which hires private contractors.
Mark Anthony Thomas, a BVRC member and president of the Greater Baltimore Committee (GBC), raised concerns about the reliance on external contractors.
“The city has made some mistakes, where we said, the private sector will do it better and now we have no internal infrastructure to do demolition. Sometimes that is correct, the private sector will do it cheaper, faster, more efficiently. And then sometimes that's not correct,” Thomas said.
This issue has been reflected in other city operations, such as the wastewater plant according to reporting from WYPR’s news partner, The Baltimore Banner.
Thomas suggested the city build out internal infrastructure to do its own demolitions, even if it would take 20 years.
“It's going to cost either way. As we spend these dollars, we need to ensure it benefits Baltimore residents in the long term. How do we spend in a way that recycles those dollars within the city?” Thomas asked.
Other major cities rely on external contractors for demolition work. Gary, Indiana, on the other hand, has a small internal crew for minor demolition work.
During the meeting, council members seemed to agree on a hybrid approach.
However, Tammy Hawley, spokeswoman for the Department of Housing and Community Development, told WYPR that building out internal capacity is not in the city's current plans.
“Two contractors are plenty to meet the need,” Hawley said. “They have been able to meet the need both in emergency and planned demolitions over the past few years.”
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND ORGANIZING CHALLENGES
Members also discussed the importance of community engagement, particularly in neighborhoods without established neighborhood associations, as the goal is to tackle vacant properties throughout the city.
Council members suggested the following strategies:
- Door-to-door canvassing to hear residents’ concerns.
- Identifying potential leaders within communities.
- Collaborating with churches and other institutions.
- Pairing neighborhoods with strong associations with those lacking them.
Members also put a call-out to the public.
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Correction: The headline of this story has been updated.
