Statement on Governor Moore’s Executive Order
On Tuesday, October 1st, Governor Moore signed an executive order to create the Reinvest Baltimore Initiative. I am extremely excited about the work ahead! The Reinvest Baltimore Initiative has two parts to it.
The recommitment of Project CORE funding for demolition, stabilization and acquisition to Baltimore City at $50million capital funds per year. This recommitment comes with a new name of the program called the Baltimore Vacants Reinvestment Initiative.
The creation of the Baltimore Vacants Reinvestment Council “to coordinate State and local efforts to implement Reinvest Baltimore and provide timely and accurate information to the Governor about the programs, activities, and progress of Reinvest Baltimore.” This Council will work to ensure there are accurate metrics and data to show progress toward rehabbing or reusing 5,000 vacant properties in 5 years. The coordination effort includes coordination of state and local funding, as well as capacity.
You can find the entire executive order here. It also includes the composition of the Baltimore Vacants Reinvestment Council.
It is significant that Governor Moore and the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development are prioritizing attacking Baltimore’s vacant property crisis head on, assisting our city with the resources and coordination to be successful. The data and metrics that will be outlined are critical to tracking success. This builds off of the plan that Mayor Scott/GBC/BUILD announced last year to raise $7Billion to have the resources to address this crisis. Part of that funding is the Reinvest Baltimore commitment, part of it is the Affordable housing TIF that Mayor Scott and Council President Mosby announced this week, and part of it is still working through the process to materialize.
These initiatives represent a huge step forward. We have the political will, we are working on the funding, and now we need to be sure we have the right tools and capacity to deploy the resources and accomplish the goals. I am proud to have been one of the advocates to bring In Rem Foreclosure to Baltimore and continue to work with DHCD and the Circuit Court to implement this game changing acquisition tool. It is so exciting to see progress after working on it for so long. I look forward to working with my colleagues, Mayor Scott, Governor Moore, GBC, BUILD, Baltimore City DHCD and everyone willing to roll up their sleeves and do this important work.