[0:00] Good morning, everybody.
[0:04] Good. [music] I thank y'all
for being here. As always, I'll start at
[0:10] Oh, actually, come this way. There you
go, superstar.
[0:13] Uh I'll start
That's an inside joke.
[0:18] Uh I'll start where we always do with
progress in the city. As of today, there
[0:22] are now 11,620
vacant in the city. That's a net
[0:27] decrease of 18 since the last time we
were together.
[0:31] And there have been 53 homicides this
year compared to 77.
[0:37] That is a decrease of 31%.
We have seen
[0:43] 174 non-fatal shootings compared to 172.
Something that we are vehemently working
[0:49] on. And uh burglaries are down 17%.
Carjackings are down
[0:54] 41%. And as we begin to
shape our next 5-year comprehensive
[1:01] violent prevention plan, we will
continue to let the data and our
[1:05] residents guide that work. And as a
reminder, residents can submit feedback
[1:09] to help shape the next CVIP online or
and attend one of the sessions that we
[1:15] are having. And you can find more
information on that on Muncie's website
[1:19] or on their social media. With that, we
have uh three items at the top. First,
[1:25] for the last 3 months, DOT, wreck and
parks, DPW, and our agencies have been
[1:30] out in the communities working to meet
the six goals that I laid out during the
[1:35] state of the city. Over this 90-day
sprint from April 12th to July 11th, our
[1:40] wonderful workers who you see here
today, let's give them all a big round
[1:43] of applause right there.
[1:46] » [applause]
[1:51] » Not only met, but they exceeded every
single goal. Wreck and parks maintained
[1:57] 622
tree pits, 122 more than their goal. DPW
[2:04] removed 6,172
graffiti marks, completed nearly 20,000
[2:10] bulk waste pickups,
9,000 more than their goal, and swept
[2:15] more than 38,000 miles of road, 11,000
more than their goal. DOT resurfaced
[2:22] more than 28 lane miles and filled
36,000
[2:27] potholes, 11,000 more than what we
challenged them to do. We'll take off
[2:32] 100 cuz I think I did 100 of it.
Uh I have to give a huge shout-out again
[2:38] to all of our workers who uh contributed
to this effort, including all of the
[2:42] folks that we have in the audience and
the people standing here today. Uh they
[2:46] go above and beyond every day, not just
during the time of sprints. Uh they do
[2:51] this work on days like today when it is
really, really, really hot, and we want
[2:56] to thank them for their service to the
city and the residents of Baltimore. Uh
[3:00] from DPW, uh Morton, Leticia, George,
and Britney. DOT, Biente, Keena, and KC.
[3:07] Uh these folks who uh do this incredible
work and all of their colleagues, we
[3:11] really, really want to thank you very
much. But I also encourage our residents
[3:16] to thank our workers. Give them some
water. Talk to them when they're picking
[3:20] up your trash or you see them working on
the street. You'll learn a lot about
[3:23] what public service and what they do
each and every day and really a deep
[3:26] appreciation for folks who serve your
community. Which brings me to my second
[3:31] item. Uh last year we launched the first
ever Charm City Cleanup, the largest
[3:36] citywide cleanup effort ever, and we're
doing it again this year. Uh we are
[3:41] going to, over the next 24 weeks, our
workers and residents will be working
[3:45] together to tackle projects across the
city of Baltimore, building on the
[3:50] progress that we made during our
sprints. Our residents can sign up to
[3:53] visit uh by visiting baltimorecity.gov
or scanning that QR code. We'll have
[3:58] that all over social media. And if you
need an area have an area that you
[4:02] believe needs service, you can report it
through 311 via the app or by the phone.
[4:07] And finally, as we move even deeper into
summer, our youth engagement strategy in
[4:12] the mixed 26 is active across our city,
bringing together my office and and many
[4:19] partners across the city of Baltimore to
balance engagement, outreach, and
[4:24] enforcement when necessary. We've seen
the impact of this coordinated approach
[4:29] in our previous years from 2023 to 2025
alone of youth victims of non-fatal
[4:35] shootings fell by 57% and youth victims
of aggravated assaults fell by 40% and
[4:41] we're building on that progress this
summer. City workers and our community
[4:45] partners have already documented over
950
[4:49] positive interactions and have connect
our young people with resources
[4:53] including employment and financial
assistance to name a few. This week
[4:58] we're also kicking off a Rock the Block,
which of course is our summer block
[5:02] party series that the city has had for
quite some time. Last summer 1,700 young
[5:07] people attended these block parties and
we want even more folks to come out this
[5:11] year. Moco will be sharing information
about the Rock the Blocks in the
[5:16] neighborhoods as they're coming up.
Tomorrow the first one is actually in
[5:19] East Baltimore right by Chick Webb Rec
Center and you can visit
[5:23] bmorethissummer.org
to find out all of this information. And
[5:28] with that, I will open it up for
questions.
[5:33] After I take a seat.
[5:38] » Okay, any questions? We're not coming
up.
[5:40] First questions
up here. Up. Chris. Chris.
[5:44] » Go ahead, Chris. You're fine.
>> Good morning, Mayor Scott. Good morning.
[5:46] » Good morning.
>> How many officers is it was last night?
[5:49] A lot of them
>> around football here because the
[5:51] All-Star Game hasn't been in Baltimore
since 1993.
[5:54] » I remember.
>> Have you had any conversations about the
[5:58] bringing that perhaps back to Baltimore?
>> I think everyone knows that
[6:02] this is that Oriole Park is my favorite
place in Baltimore City. It's literally
[6:07] why my daughter was in my office right
now. Her name is Camden because of
[6:11] Camden Yards. I want nothing better.
Camden Yards literally is the ballpark
[6:16] that every ballpark today is built on
its foundation. It deserves the All-Star
[6:21] Game and we're going to be working with
anybody that wants to make that happen.
[6:25] » Okay. Next question.
[6:30] » Yep. I know you're going to ask me about
two big changes in Lake Clifton Park.
[6:33] Can you talk about what's going on over
there?
[6:36] » Yeah, so we we broke ground on a new
stadium, a Senator Robert Dalton,
[6:40] a stadium for
Lake Clifton Reach Partnership Academy
[6:44] High School. They're also have a track
and football field, soccer field.
[6:49] It's really about improving the area.
The school deserves it, but I think
[6:52] what's very unique about this is this is
the first time to our knowledge that
[6:57] Recreation and Parks and City Schools
partner on construction of a facility
[7:02] like that. We know Clifton Park is a
very well-used facility. And it's
[7:07] something that I've been personally
involved in and Senator McCray has been
[7:10] personally involved in because we know
the history of Lake Clifton. We know the
[7:14] history of the people, Coach Tree and
others that have put so many young
[7:18] Baltimoreans on the right path and into
greatness in their own life and we want
[7:22] to make sure that this new school, 21st
Century School and their their student
[7:28] athletes have the same opportunity as
well as the residents in Chum. I know
[7:33] Mark Washington, community leader, is
very excited about it. He tells me every
[7:36] time I talk to him about how excited
they are to see that investment coming
[7:41] to their park that quite frankly had not
had a lot of investment in many many
[7:45] years.
>> Okay.
[7:46] Come on.
>> Sorry. Uh cuz that's a huge property.
[7:49] There's the section that was sold to
>> Morgan State, yeah.
[7:52] » Uh I assume that's separate from the
stadium you're talking about.
[7:54] » Yes.
The stadium's on the other side.
[7:58] » Well, on the west side.
>> Yeah, the stadium's No, the stadium's
[8:01] what we call that the the southern side
of the park, right? And and we're very
[8:05] excited about Morgan State and their
development, too, right? Morgan is a
[8:09] fast-growing a university. We know that
they are having a record classes of
[8:14] incoming freshmen every year. We know
that they're going to soon be another
[8:19] top-tier research institution, even more
of a top-tier research institution for
[8:23] us. And to have them in Clifton Park is
a big thing. I know that again, the
[8:28] community supports it. People are
excited about excited about it. While
[8:32] many of us who who grew up going to see
plays and things at the old Lake Clifton
[8:37] High School, we also understand, you
know,
[8:40] uh that
things have to change. We have a brand
[8:43] new school that they're in.
Uh we're going to see what Morgan State
[8:46] does, and we're excited.
>> We're going to stay
[8:48] » last one.
>> Last one? Okay.
[8:50] » A huge feature in the park, and part of
the agreement of the sale was the valve
[8:55] house.
>> Valve house, uh-huh.
[8:57] » Valve house, yeah. Can you tell me about
what was in the agreement?
[9:00] » Uh I can't. We can follow up on that. I
do not have the details. I can I cannot
[9:03] remember.
>> Okay. We're going to keep it back. Uh
[9:06] welcome to Bmore.
>> Good morning, Minister
[9:08] » Hey, man. How are you?
>> Uh this is a question about the curfew
[9:10] enforcement.
>> Yeah.
[9:11] » BPT referred us to Morgan State because
BPT is not enforcing curfew. How is a
[9:16] rule with no consequences a solution to
an ongoing issue surrounding juveniles?
[9:21] Is it time for BPT to start enforcing a
city mandate?
[9:24] » Well, I don't know who BTP is, but uh
I'll start here. First of all,
[9:29] everybody's in part of of doing it,
right? BPD has a role, Morgan State has
[9:33] a role. And when we talk about curfew
enforcement, uh curfew enforcement isn't
[9:37] just about the police department. It's
about our youth engagement folks through
[9:41] Munsey. It's about BPD. It's about other
police agencies like school police. This
[9:46] is something that Baltimore has done for
quite some time. This is not anything
[9:50] new. And we have to make sure that that
accountability is is not just with those
[9:55] young people, with their parents, right?
There was a time
[9:58] uh that people if a young person was out
on the streets of Baltimore that we
[10:03] would go and arrest the parents, right?
Well, if you arrest the parents, where
[10:06] you think the kids are going to be the
next night? We are smarter and now
[10:09] that's what we're going to be doing is
making sure there is accountability uh
[10:12] for for everyone involved, but also uh
creating opportunity because uh while
[10:18] while most of the focus is always on
like teenagers, 13, 14, 15, 16, uh if
[10:24] you work the curfew center like I have,
you would know that sometimes they're
[10:28] like four, five, six-year-olds wandering
miles away from home at night. And
[10:33] that's not about holding just simply
that young person accountable.
[10:37] Something's broken there with their
family and we have to make sure that we
[10:40] help them so that that young person does
not uh grow into uh having something
[10:46] very bad happen to them.
>> Okay. And we're going to kick it
[10:49] » Excuse me, uh go ahead, sir. Yeah,
you're fine.
[10:51] » Okay.
>> Mayor?
[10:52] Mayor, if you could just talk um
I again we we've got a serious heat and
[10:58] uh code red. If you could talk about
that and an extension of anything that's
[11:01] going on.
>> Yeah, it's going to be very hot, right?
[11:04] So, we extended all public pools to 8:30
today. Uh we want people to stay
[11:09] hydrated, uh stay inside if you can, use
our cooling centers. Please check on
[11:14] elderly and vulnerable neighbors uh
because this is going to be a very hot
[11:19] day as is tomorrow, right? We just went
through a wave of this a few weeks ago.
[11:23] We have to take the heat very seriously
because it can kill you. Uh uh don't do
[11:28] things that push yourself too hard. Make
sure that if you have to work outside,
[11:32] that you're taking appropriate breaks
and things like that.
[11:36] » Here.
>> Well, um and this this deals with um
[11:39] Lake Montebello and the dredging.
>> Yeah.
[11:41] » Um
it's a project of uh $23 million.
[11:46] And just just checking on that in terms
of the cost of that, um the issues that
[11:51] that that are that led to that, and and
uh
[11:55] why it's taking so long.
>> Matt.
[11:57] » Mhm.
[12:02] » Uh yes, hey Barry, good to see you. Um
yeah, so this project is actually was
[12:06] awarded today about $23 million. It's
actually been bid three times. Uh part
[12:11] of what we are seeing that project
really encompasses the issues we're
[12:15] seeing with supply chain disruption,
issues around the world, which have
[12:19] increased the pricing. Um
we have now gotten to a point where the
[12:23] estimate that we have uh meets that uh
pricing that we actually got, so we were
[12:27] able to award the bid. So, it was
something that's been a couple years in
[12:31] the making, but if anyone's been out at
Lake Montebello, you know that it needs
[12:35] to be dredged. And this is going to
start this fall, and it should be about
[12:38] a 2-year project.
>> Okay.
[12:41] Emily.
>> Oh.
[12:43] » For Madison Town, I was just wondering
if you could explain how the walking
[12:45] path situation is going to be and if
it's going to stay open or how that
[12:49] » Yes, so what's going to happen is there
is going to be um
[12:53] basically a bypass that's going to go up
and around so that we can take stuff out
[12:57] of the lake without impacting the
walking path. There's going to be some
[13:00] periods where we have to move equipment
that's going to require the walking path
[13:04] to be closed, but we heard from uh the
council member there as well as the
[13:08] communities that they really want this
to stay open, so we made that uh
[13:11] contingent part of the design.
>> And how how long will it from the
[13:15] dredging you're talking about starting
in the fall, how long will it take?
[13:18] » About 2 years.
>> Okay.
[13:20] » Emily, you know there's a a certain high
school with a great track team across
[13:24] the street
that they they did not want to hear from
[13:26] me about that.
>> Emily.
[13:29] » I just one more question about the
Mechanic Theater. I recently the city
[13:32] cited the owners of that property for
the first time, you know, even though
[13:35] it's sat vacant here for a long while.
So, I guess I'm wondering if they can
[13:39] expect more citations and if this is a
part of a kind of coordinated squeeze on
[13:42] the city's part to try to push
development on that site.
[13:45] » They should develop on the site and keep
the site up to code. If not, they will
[13:49] get citations. That simple.
>> Have you seen any response to this?
[13:53] There's a new
program that could eventually help them.
[13:55] » I have not heard Yeah, I have not heard
yet, but we're hoping so. As you like uh
[14:01] that site has been vacant Emily looking
like that longer than I've been in City
[14:06] Hall and I've been here 19 years. So, we
we know that people want to
[14:10] uh uh see a development and so do we. We
think it can be a crucial part of I
[14:14] think about the investment that went
into the arena, some of the other things
[14:17] going on around the area. It can be a
crucial part of of downtown having its
[14:21] rebirth.
>> Okay.
[14:23] Uh Chris
>> Mayor Scott, uh police reported eight
[14:27] arrests this past weekend in Fells
Point, uh seven involving youths.
[14:30] » Yep.
>> And some one of the
[14:33] TV colleagues reported that she spoke to
somebody who this has been kind of going
[14:37] on a number of people descending upon
Fells Point since 2020.
[14:41] » I think they've been descending on Fells
Point a longer than 2020, but yes, sir.
[14:45] » Yeah, I guess that's kind of uh answered
my question. That is it kind of the
[14:49] norm, I guess, that in the summertime
large groups are going to gather there
[14:54] and you know, that's just kind of the
reality.
[14:56] » Listen, I think that that I think what
has happened Chris to your point uh
[15:01] post 2020, post pandemic, it's not just
in Baltimore, this is this
[15:05] around the country.
Uh um
[15:08] people are going to places where folks
were already gathering and now they're
[15:12] gathering outside instead of going
everyone going inside. Well, I grew up
[15:16] at a time where we went into the club.
You didn't stand outside of the club or
[15:20] parking lot pimp unless you couldn't get
in as they used to say, right? But, it's
[15:25] a cultural thing, right now that folks
are doing this. People have always
[15:28] descended on Fells Point and at the
entertainment areas where the bars are,
[15:33] where their bars are, young people are
going to go to to hang out. People want
[15:36] to meet guys, they want to meet girls,
they want to have a good time with their
[15:39] friends. Uh we understand that. We know
that since the pandemic, it has grown in
[15:44] a different way because folks, like I
said, don't do clubs and to the level
[15:48] and other things that they used to do.
But, that's also why we have increased
[15:53] our resources there. That's why you see
not just all the police presence there,
[15:57] but city agency presence there, uh
Muncie and the other folks there uh
[16:01] trying to deal with the issues there
because uh while it's okay for adults to
[16:06] to be there and in bars, it's not okay
for people to be selling alcohol to
[16:11] kids. It's not okay for parents to know
that their 14-year-old daughter is at
[16:15] Fells Point at 1:00 in the morning.
That's not okay. And that's why we're
[16:18] working with the community and working
through with law enforcement, our
[16:21] partners to address the issue. If I had
my way, people would go back into
[16:25] hanging in clubs cuz I'm not standing
outside in the heat, but I'm not them,
[16:29] right?
>> Okay, last call for questions.
[16:33] All right, thank you very much.
>> Thank you, everybody.
[16:35] » [music]
[16:41] [music]