Local government

Their alliance was not exactly a secret. Dixon had appeared at a major Costello fundraiser over the summer, while the councilman appeared at a public safety town hall in Little Italy, outside of his district, that Dixon held this month.

“I’m always concerned when we have budget deficits like that,” said Mayor Brandon Scott. “But I’ve been around for ones a lot larger than one hundred million. So I know what we can do.”

With gun violence abating this year but car theft skyrocketing, most Baltimore residents say they don’t feel any safer. That could prove consequential in the contest between Mayor Brandon Scott and former Mayor Sheila Dixon.

Both bills advanced to second reader, though City Council members said they remained largely unfinished and would need to be refined ahead of another vote.

One bill would require all new developments exceeding a certain size and value to reserve a portion of units for people earning below the Baltimore-area median income. Another would allow developers to apply for a property tax credit.

Rent control measures under consideration in Howard County aren’t the right approach for making housing there more affordable, Linda Ostovitz, who chairs the county’s Chamber of Commerce, says.

While Baltimore’s leaders continue to look for ways to lower the city’s murder rate, a flattening of the curve on homicides is evident, Lawrence Brown, an author and research scientist in the Center for Urban Health Equity at Morgan State University, says.

Former Gov. Larry Hogan channels former President Ronald Reagan at the end of a new 90-second video, saying: “I believe in peace through strength. And I believe in standing up for our allies and standing up to our enemies. We need to stand with our allies and secure peace through strength.”

The Maryland Office of the People’s Counsel, which has estimated the conduit deal could cost BGE ratepayers upwards of $860 million over 50 years, is calling on state regulators to publicize an internal accounting memo about the deal.

Saturday, Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley will lead an unprecedented trip to the Netherlands for five days, hoping to learn what else the city can do and what Maryland and the nation can learn from Annapolis.

Kionne T. Abdul-Malik has been named chairperson for the Baltimore Commission for Women, whose mission she sees as more vital than ever in today’s current political climate.

The proposed charter amendment, which would go before voters in the 2024 general election if backers collect enough signatures, takes aim at a group of large nonprofit institutions that are exempt from paying property taxes to the city.

Council President Nick Mosby says he’ll introduce charter amendments to expand the council’s veto powers, following Scott’s third veto of his first term as mayor.

Redistricting always seems to include the Ridgely’s Delight neighborhood in downtown Baltimore, a resident of that community says.

The Anne Arundel County Fire Department is seeking names for its new fireboats.

The county proposal would require new development projects that exceed a certain size to reserve a portion of their units for people earning below the Baltimore-area median income. It would also allow developers creating smaller-scale projects to pay a fee in lieu of the moderately priced unit requirement.

The Baltimore County Council restored liquor stores to the short list of small businesses — convenience stores and other shops with fewer than four locations — that may continue providing goods in thinner, single-use plastic bags at checkout.

Council President Mosby admonished the mayor for the eleventh hour veto Monday night. The evening’s council meeting represented the last chance for the body to override a veto before a statutory 60-day deadline expires Nov. 17.

Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development Secretary Jacob R. Day said state lawmakers would likely not prescribe rent stabilization as a solution for Marylanders — at least not this upcoming session.

In a Nov. 6 morning email to Department of Economic and Workforce Development staffers, Wang, whose appointment was confirmed by the Baltimore County Council in July, said that, “with the the consent of the County Executive, I believe the time is now right for me to return to the private sector.”