By Andrew Barnes
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
A bill regarding the development of an Affordable Housing Trust Fund for the city took center stage at the Baltimore City Council meeting on Monday and drew cheers from supporters when it was unanimously passed.
“It’s showing that the city is serious about affordable housing and the council is leading that charge,” said Lester Davis, the council president’s chief of staff who described the bill as “historic.”
Bill 18-0221 would raise taxes on real estate transactions to fund the $20 million Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which supporters said would help low-income residents who can’t find decent homes or apartments. A similar trust fund already is in place in hundreds of cities across the country, officials said. The council must vote one more time before it advances to the mayor for a signature.
The Baltimore Housing Roundtable, a group with the mission of creating “a unified movement that will promote and facilitate social change,” supported the bill. Prior to the meeting, roundtable members gathered outside the City Council’s chambers to voice their hopes and goals for the bill. Father Ty Hullinger offered a prayer as a poem written about the city was read.
Councilman John Bullock, sponsor of the original bill, said he and roundtable members have been working for years to create legislation tackling the housing issue in Baltimore.
“Fund the Trust!” was the chant that echoed throughout the building shortly before the meeting began.
After the City Council meeting, Bullock said, “Affordable housing has been an issue in our city for quite some time. It’s important to put extra resources to something that was supported by an overwhelming majority of the voters in Baltimore City.”
Councilman Isaac “Yitzy” Schleifer agreed that affordable housing was a major issue.
“It’s something that the city should make a priority,” Schleifer said. “Unfortunately, for far too long, it hasn’t been.”
Schleifer also stressed the importance of legislation being “well thought out and well debated.”
On another issue, the City Council passed Bill 17-0102, or the “Complete Streets” Bill. This transportation legislation, sponsored by Councilman Ryan Dorsey, was designed to create safer and cleaner systems of transportation in Baltimore City. The councilman also stressed the impact of a recent environmental report on climate change as an important reason to continue supporting the bill.