Local bartender starts petition drive to prevent drownings in the Inner Harbor

By D’Mari Dreher-Smith
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer

On April 4, Branson Oduor went missing from Thames Street in Fells Point after a night out with friends. Ten days later, the 27-year-old accountant’s body was recovered from Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

Mandi Feagans had had enough. After hearing about Oduor’s drowning, the local bartender began a petition, “Make Baltimore’s Waterfront Safe,” that urges city officials to take immediate action to create safer conditions in the Inner Harbor and Fells Point.

The petition calls for specific infrastructural changes such as protective barriers or railing in high-risk areas, increased lighting on walkways, warnings around the area, and life-saving equipment and measures in surrounding areas.

Feagans noted in her petition that deaths in the harbor are something she has seen far too much of.

“I’ve been a bartender in Baltimore City for 20 years,” Feagans said in an interview. “This isn’t the first time someone has gone missing, especially after a night out. It’s looking more like a pattern versus isolated events.”

The petition was launched on April 14 and has since garnered over 2,800 signatures. Despite the positive response, there has been an equal amount of backlash and opposition to calls for new infrastructure.

Under Feagans initial post on Facebook, multiple voiced their resistance to new infrastructure, saying that it would be an unnecessary expense for the city and that barriers are an eyesore. The solution to this problem, some said, is “personal responsibility.”

Baltimore resident Seleru Owens argues the opposite, saying the solution is an easy, necessary change.

“It really is tragic how the physical infrastructure in the harbor allows for tragic and unnecessary deaths to occur,” Owens said in an interview. “Other cities have their harbors blocked off for this exact reason, and I believe Baltimore should follow suit. The city should respond appropriately and swiftly to protect the lives of people who enjoy our wonderful harbor.”

In a news conference following Oduor’s discovery, Mayor Brandon Scott offered his condolences to the family and urged the public to wait for the investigation to run its full course.

“We have to understand that we can’t just blanketly say that a railing or a fence or this or that would have prevented this from happening,” Scott said in a statement. “The reality is, a young man who had a lot of life to live is gone, and he shouldn’t be, and that’s what we have to think about, and pray for his family.”

The call for infrastructure surrounding the Inner Harbor isn’t a new call.

In the 1980s, the question of whether guardrails should be in place was first asked of then Mayor William Donald Schaefer, who opposed the idea. Schaefer believed that barriers would encourage people to sit on them, creating a more harmful environment.

The lack of safeguards was questioned in court in 1982, after a 12-year-old wheelchair user drowned. The city settled out of court, with no changes to infrastructure.

After another death in 2018, calls for infrastructural change rearose and this time the city acted. The city added 16 ladders and 35 safety rings to the Inner Harbor. As of 2026, there are 35 life rings and 26 ladders. But residents and community organizers still want more.

The Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore, a non-profit dedicated to “enhancing the waterfront district,” wants a full investigation to determine what steps the city can make to support safety in the waterfront.

“As the Mayor has noted, it’s important that we let the investigation into Mr. Odour’s passing conclude and that we take the time to review the facts and assess whether there are additional steps that can be taken to further support safety along the waterfront,” the partnership’s president, Dan Taylor, said in a statement. “Baltimore’s Inner Harbor is a vibrant, active public space that gives all Baltimoreans the ability to experience and connect with the water, and we remain committed to working collaboratively with the city and our public safety partners to ensure it continues to be a welcoming and safe environment for all.”

So, what is next?

Feagans is looking to collaborate with the community to support making the waterfront safer for everyone around it.

“I never in a million years anticipated the traction and the response to the petition that it has gotten, and I think that as long as it can keep the momentum,” she said. “We’re going to reach the right people, and something’s going to be done.”