Bmore Involved

It pains and saddens me to announce that I have withdrawn my candidacy for a House of Delegates seat in the 44th District.  I am excited about my other, current and future, political ambitions–but more on that in a minute.  With regard to the 44th District, encompassing parts of West Baltimore, Downtown, and East Baltimore, I was looking forward to continuing to raise issues not being adequately addressed and discussed among citizens, elected officials and local institutions: how to reverse the persistent cycle of poverty and incarceration in Baltimore, how to attract and keep more city families and residents, and how to engage faith-based institutions and our world-class centers of medicine and academia in a more dramatic way to help us heal and reclaim our neighborhoods.  I hope that my candidacy added something to the race and that those who continue on until Election Day will debate issues which actually matter to the average district resident.

I want my supporters to know that I am not walking away from a fight, but instead making a prudent decision based on circumstances which have fundamentally altered the race.  First, all three incumbents decided to run for reelection, leaving no open seats.  Second, former City Councilman Keiffer Mitchell, Jr. threw his hat into the ring, adding a quasi-incumbent into the mix.  The 44th has historically been the “Mitchell District,” with two of Keiffer’s uncles and a cousin counted as former delegates and/or senators in the district.  Plus, his great-uncle, Parren Mitchell, represented the area in Congress for 16 years.  I wish Keiffer well and hope that he can shake up the 44th delegation and bring some new blood to the team.

So let’s recap: three seats, “four” incumbents, and a name that places me smack dab at the bottom of the ballot.  I thought it best to regroup and live to fight another day.  But keep in mind that I will still be on the ballot on Election Day–as a candidate for the Democratic Central Committee in the 44th.  I still need to campaign because this race is no “gimmee.”  There are 11 candidates vying for seven seats.  And again, my name is at the very bottom. 

As far as future plans, next year’s municipal elections could present an intriguing challenge if my rep, 11th District Councilman Bill Cole, decides to run for higher office–which many anticipate.  That would leave an open seat, theoretically presenting better odds for me than those which exist this year.  Also, I must admit that many of the issues I have discussed on the campaign trail speak directly to the future direction of Baltimore City.  I am confident I can bring the same passion, professionalism, and vision to next year’s City Council race that I did in this year’s state election.  I trust that my supporters will agree with my decision and continue to help me bring Active, Accessible and Accountable Leadership to the citizens of Baltimore.

Stay tuned, also, for the launch of Bmore Involved, a movement to engage more city residents in the nuts and bolts of our community.  Among the goals of Bmore Involved are: to register more young people to vote and make sure they get to the polls; register more ex-offenders to vote; support the needs of Baltimore’s families and encourage more families to take advantage of Maryland’s cultural hub; promote healthier lifestyles and preventative medicine; conduct public forums to explore bold new policy initiatives with the potential of actually solving some our persistent urban problems; and foster greater familiarity among neighbors and neighborhoods so that the needs of the entire city are always in the back of our minds.  We’re all in this boat called Baltimore and we want everyone to swim instead of sink.

The last thing we need is another jail…

So let’s get this straight:  The state of Maryland and the city of Baltimore both face massive budget deficits, furloughs and layoffs– plus pension cuts– and yet the state is pressing forward with plans to build a shiny, new $100 million facility to house youth offenders who will be tried as adults?  So not only do we have $100 million to spend inappropriately, but isn’t it ironic that the same $100 million could be used on effective programs which would eliminate whatever need it is perceived the jails would fill? 

Follow me?

Liz Ryan, president and CEO of the Washington-based Campaign for Youth Justice, wrote an op-ed in the Baltimore Sun which gives several reasons why building a new jail is the wrong solution for troubled youth.  Chief among them is how the state is trying to build its way out of  deplorable conditions which currently house youth offenders and adult criminals together, while ignoring alternative programs which might obviate the need for another facility that will soon enough become full, then overcrowded. 

My good friend, Tara Andrews, who serves on the board of the Justice Policy Institute, recently distributed JPI’s intriguing new report titled “Baltimore Behind Bars: How to Reduce the Jail Population, Save Money and Improve Public Safety.”  Not surprisingly, the report cautioned “Baltimore residents about the ’build it and they will come’ maxim that often accompanies jail construction.  Regardless of the State’s intentions, the addition of jail beds can lead to greater numbers of people being incarcerated, most of whom have yet to be convicted.”  In fact, 9 out of 10 people in Baltimore jails are awaiting trial and have yet to be convicted.  Baltimore leads the nation in the percentage of its population which is behind bars.  We can save money and avoid the harm of incarcerating large segments of our neighborhoods by implementing programs that have proven successful in other cities across the country.  Read the report.  Pay attention to the solutions contained therein.

Instead of building more jails.

I’ll say it again: Insanity is the doing the same things over and over while expecting a different result.  Until we get serious about ending the cycles of poverty and incarceration and dedicate ourselves to educating and nurturing our children to become productive, responsible adults, we will continue to fight a war we can’t win.

Be Part of the Solution.  Vote Wood for Delegate.  Change is good.  Vote for Wood.

And support the campaign!  Click here 

Priorities

On June 17th, I attended the 2010 Urban Visionary Awards, the inaugural showcase of Baltimore’s Center for Urban Families (CFUF).  In addition to the determined young men who completed the intense fatherhood sessions, this year’s honorees were local philanthropists Eddie and Sylvia Brown and Geoffrey Canada, founder and CEO of the Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ).  CFUF is the brainchild of Joe Jones, a former addict who has transformed his life from a tragedy to a truly heroic tale by creating a program which is responsible for saving lives, repairing families, and providing a glimmer of hope for those of us who believe all is not lost.  It was a night to be proud of what we can accomplish here in Baltimore, especially sitting in the beautiful Maryland Institute, College of Art center named after the humble, generous Browns. 

It was also a night to be inspired.  Geoffrey Canada is a prophet.  If you’ve read some of my previous blog postings, you know I believe that his strategy for saving youth in New York is the blueprint for rescuing current and future generations of youth–black, white, or other–in our nation’s urban areas.  Canada reminded the audience of a report warning that 75 percent of young Americans are unfit for military service.  The report, issued late last year by a group of distinguished military leaders, said it was a matter of national security that we begin making significant investments in early-learning programs to help children become more likely to graduate from high school and avoid crime as adults.  Canada pointedly observed that the bar must be pretty low if most of our young people can’t measure up to fitness to serve on the front lines.  He continued to note how he used to assume that the country’s brightest minds must be working on a plan to return this country to a place among the world leaders in academia and technological innovation, but the past few Secretaries of Education and Labor, along with other renowned educators, keep asking him for a solution!  His message was simple:  There is no cavalry coming to save the day.  If we don’t make it our mission to educate and prepare our young people properly, we will continue to drop to the bottom ranks of world achievement and productivity.  Canada challenged the audience to make the decision to assume responsibility for this generation of kids. 

While mulling over Canada’s speech the last two weeks, I came across a couple of articles which further helped me to put things into perspective.  The New York Times chronicled the dramatic turnaround of a troubled Los Angeles high school and how many are now questioning the higher-than-expected final cost of the four-year process.  Granted, the amount of federal and private money used for that one huge school was eye-popping, but it occurred to me that too many in America are willing to pay up to $30,000 a year to incarcerate a neglected child who’s all grown up and run afoul of the law rather than spend whatever it takes to keep that child out of jail and on the path to productive citizenship.  We don’t even blink at the billions used to fight two questionable wars, line the coffers of numerous foreign governments, and subsidize wealthy domestic farming operations.  Yet we cry foul whenever it is determined by commission after commission that funding for early childhood education, special education or recreational and enrichment programs should be dramatically increased to, say, $5,000 per student per year. 

It can be particularly disturbing to see how life is valued when Michael Vick is hounded mercilessly across the country for what he did to dogs, and yet daily murders in the inner city are barely noticed or acknowledged and we can’t bring ourselves to provide whatever at-risk children need to help them reach their full potential.  To take it a step further, we do this even though in the long run it will undoubtedly cost America its place of preeminence in global business and technology. 

On Monday, the Washington Post ran a story about how China has been investing billions over the past few years to improve its scientific standing in the world.  Moreover, researchers and engineers born in the People’s Republic and educated in the U.S. and Europe are returning home intent on transforming China into a scientific superpower.  When will Americans–Baltimoreans– demand that government act as if every child counts and their achievement is vitally important to our future success and prosperity?  When will we realize that the cavalry’s not coming and it is up to each one of us to do something to lift this generation out of poverty? 

We can start by electing leaders who will speak up for the impoverished child, the working poor, the laid-off municipal worker, and the cash-strapped middle class family determined to make city life work.  We can start by changing our priorities.  We can start by injecting new blood, new ideas and a sense of vision in the delegation that represents Baltimore in Annapolis. 

Be Part of the Solution.  Vote Wood for Delegate in the 44th.  Remember, Change is good.  Vote for Wood.

HIV/AIDS in Baltimore

The following is a response to John Bunting’s comment regarding my previous post: 

Thank you, John, for your comments and challenging question.  Please pardon the delay in my response.  I’ve been concentrating on other aspects of my campaign and haven’t posted anything to social media in a few weeks now.  Also, the topic of HIV/AIDS demanded I take a step back to perform research and contemplate an adequate answer to your question.

It was recently reported that Baltimore had climbed to second in the nation for AIDS cases reported in metropolitan areas, with one of every 48 Baltimoreans living with the disease.  Since 2002, when then-Mayor Martin O’Malley and then- Council President Sheila Dixon responded admirably by declaring a state of emergency, holding hearings and appointing a commission on HIV/AIDS, there has been encouraging progress in providing ample attention to this pandemic.  I must confess, however, that lately the momentum feels like it has stalled. 

The city Health Department’s website treats HIV/AIDS as if it were any other sexually transmitted or communicable disease.  The Commission on HIV/AIDS web page seems like it needs to be updated.  I read somewhere that the commission intended to formally request that the Mayor appoint a cabinet-level official to be in charge of all prevention and treatment of the disease, but I have no confirmation that this has happened.  Frankly, that is where I would start.

I can understand why some don’t want to draw more attention to Baltimore’s HIV/AIDS problem, but the sooner we acknowledge the pandemic—beyond just declaring a state of emergency—and treat it as the public health menace that it is, the sooner we can begin eradicating the disease.  It makes sense to have a point person in City Hall overseeing our efforts to reverse the negative trend.  An HIV/AIDS czar can ensure that the Commission meets regularly, coordinate what is now a patchwork of HIV/AIDS programs across the city, oversee grant proposals for innovative programs, and hopefully engage the religious and academic communities in an effective way.    

Our churches and universities represent the human and intellectual capital that—combined with increased dedicated funding streams—can help turn things around.  Baltimore has a church on nearly every corner.  These institutions must be challenged to return to their mission of helping the sick and the downtrodden, especially the megachurches, several of which have relocated out of the city to accommodate the building of huge sanctuaries with parking for thousands.  Congregations in our neighborhoods should work together to provide HIV/AIDS services, after-school programs, and such to help rebuild the social safety net.  Megachurches, whether within City boundaries or not, should maintain a facility in Baltimore dedicated to these endeavors.  If they can win the contest to house their pastors in a mansion in the county, complete with luxury automobiles, then they can be number one in providing comfort to those in need.  We need more area residents to get involved in reclaiming our neighborhoods.

Baltimore is home to an enviable number of world-class schools of public health, medicine and nursing, as well as top-ranked hospitals—many of which are located in the 44^th District.  Why aren’t these institutions treating the City like a living laboratory, requiring nearly every medical professional who matriculates to make some attempt to quantify, treat, and solve the myriad urban maladies that afflict our city?  I guarantee fame and fortune for any school which helps Baltimore to reverse its HIV/AIDS pandemic; drastically reduce the number of heroin/crack/prescription drug addicts; and help lower persistent African American diseases, such as diabetes, particular cancers, and strokes.  All of these schools have a duty to this community to produce scholarship and provide clinical services for underserved populations.  At the very least, they should play role in providing more preventive medicine to help lower incidents of chronic disease. 

A recent Baltimore Sun article (http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/bs-ed-health-inequality-20100608,0,6605437.story) reported on a city health department study that found “people with lower levels of education and income had poorer health than more advantaged groups in the form of higher infant mortality, higher rates of disease and disability, and premature mortality—and this was across all age groups.” 

Which legislative district has the lowest income per capita and the least education?  The 44^th.  We need help in the 44^th!  We need delegates who possess the proper amount of outrage and determination to improve on these numbers.  Vote Wood for Delegate in the 44^th.

Flashback: 1998. Nothing ever changes in the 44th.

I recently posted an article to the News page of my website (http://www.ElectWesleyWood2010.com) that I hadn’t read in several years, at least.  The piece by Fraser Smith first appeared in the Baltimore Sun prior to the 1998 election.  This is how Smith begins:

“Some of the meanest streets in Maryland run through Baltimore’s 44th Legislative District, one of the poorest and most politically star-crossed in the state.  Compared derisively in recent weeks to war-torn and bombed-out Beirut, the district remains home to those without economic choices: the elderly, single-parent families and a population of children who are, almost without exception, eligible for free or reduced-price school lunches.”

He then notes that “there is no greater concentration of poverty in Maryland than the 44th District,” and lists a few disturbing factoids like “Almost half of the adults did not graduate from high school” and “Two out of five district residents live below the poverty line” and ”Households composed of a single woman with one or more children outnumber married-couple families by 2-to-1. More than a third subsist on incomes of less than $15,000 per year.”

It appears nothing has changed in the intervening 12 years, at least not for the most economically disadvantaged among us.  Actually, there is at least one other thing that hasn’t changed: the 44th district delegates have done next to nothing to reverse these conditions.  

Why don’t they introduce original pieces of legislation aimed at conquering any one of the myriad problems facing their constituents?  Why haven’t they developed reputations as the “gadflies of the 44th”, doing everything they can to bring attention to the deplorable conditions in the district?  How can they stand by quietly, without fighting back, while nearly half of the students in the district drop out of school?  How can they ever be satisfied with the number of drug treatment programs when approximately 70,000 Baltimoreans (out of a total population of 600,000-plus) are in various stages of addiction?  

If we do more to improve the living conditions and lifestyle options of the most disadvantaged, we can improve conditions in the whole city.  We are all healthier, wealthier, and better off when we lift up those who have been hardest hit by this economy and circumstance.  Neighborhoods and families are stronger when we help those who are most in need.   

Einstein’s oft-quoted definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results.  I guess we need to tweak that definition for the 44th district: failing to do anything while expecting a different result is business as usual. 

Voters, I guarantee that if you elect me to the House of Delegates representing the 44th district, I will do a better job than that to which you are accustomed.  I am smart, prepared, determined, and hungry for some movement in the district.  I may not be Einstein and I may not be perfect, but I have enough initiative to research potential solutions to problems, I have the interpersonal skills to get a bill passed, and I have enough knowledge and experience to cut down on the learning curve in Annapolis.

Stop settling for lackluster, moribund representation!  Think of the 2010 election as akin to the NFL draft.  It’s time for the 44th district delegation to add some new talent and younger legs to the team. 

You get to vote for three delegates.  I ask that you use one of those votes for Wesley Wood.

Let’s discuss solutions

In today’s Baltimore Sun, columnist Dan Rodricks addresses a topic closely related to the education crisis crippling urban centers like Baltimore: the rise of the prison-industrial complex and its effect on young men of color.  In short, Rodricks wonders why elected officials from the local level to the national level are reluctant to confront a racial caste system that has developed over the last forty years as a direct consequence of favoring the incarceration of black males over their education and training. 

This touches on the point I’ve tried to make in earlier blog postings, that government dollars and policy are not being focused where they would do the most good and have the biggest payoff: on nurturing children from conception through high school graduation.  For too long in our society, we have largely neglected the nurturing of our children in their first few years of life, then we take away rec centers, productive activities, educational programs, and healthy outlets as they develop and grow, only to turn around and incarcerate as many of them as we can once they’ve understandably given in to the temptations of the streets. 

When I ran for this same 44th District House of Delegates seat back in 2006, I mentioned on my website how intrigued I was with the potential of the Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ) as a model for Baltimore.  The HCZ attempts to save children within a defined area of neighborhoods in New York City by improving the experience of growing up.  This is done by providing a healthy, nurturing environment for children from birth through high school graduation, largely achieved through the integration of critical services and programs available to families.  I have followed HCZ for the last four years, while also searching for other programs that have produced laudable results under challenging circumstances. 

I was encouraged when the Obama Administration decided to attempt to replicate HCZ’s successes in several cities across the country under a program called Promise Neighborhoods.  According to an article which appeared last fall in Urbanite Magazine, Baltimore will be represented by four bids in the Promise Neighborhoods sweepstakes for federal cash.  That’s great, but I don’t think we should wait to see if one of the Baltimore bids is selected.  We should immediately begin assessing what it would take to adapt the HCZ model across the entire city of Baltimore.

City schools CEO Andres Alonso is quoted in the Urbanite article, noting that the Big Apple and Charm City are totally different, but that Baltimore should focus on the integration of services for students and their families.  I wholeheartedly agree.  We need to take inventory of what programs are working, identify the gaps in services offered to Baltimore’s families, and begin to project what it will take to expand the reach of these programs and make them as easily accessible and comprehensive as possible.  The goal is to provide wrap-around services for children, parents, caregivers–anyone who touches a child’s life– so that ample resources are available to prevent the real-life consequences of growing up on the gritty streets of Baltimore from taking down yet another generation of our young people. 

It will be complex and costly to establish an effective infrastructure of this sort, but I believe this is what it will take to begin to reverse the crippling effects of inter-generational poverty in Baltimore.  Like my good friend David Miller commented, we must reclaim our families and our neighborhoods, not as a catchy slogan, but as a way to begin healing the wounds of our society. 

I know the economy is horrible, but when will the perfect time come for beginning a discussion about realistic solutions to Baltimore’s problems?  The potential rewards are too great to continue spinning our wheels, getting nothing accomplished while decades pass, generations grow old, and Baltimoreans wonder how long they can put up with the crime, grime, high taxes and fees, and lack of vision and backbone from those whom they elect to lead and to serve.

Education is the key, Part Two

What are some other benefits of shifting governments’ priorities and increasing our investment in the education and development of young people?  I’m sure that if the quality of the educational experience is drastically improved for students in Maryland’s worst-performing jurisdictions–Baltimore City and Prince George’s County– young people will have more post-graduation options and will be more likely to lead productive lives.  Certainly, a child with a decent education is more likely to choose a productive, responsible path in life rather than one filled with poor, often illegal, choices. 

That’s no surprise to anyone, but when was the last time our society really took the development of public school students seriously?  Over the past forty years during times of budget crisis, schools were near the top of the list for cuts.  Our schools lack adequate books and materials, don’t offer students a full curriculum that includes the arts and physical education, and in many cases are crumbling and deteriorating right in front of the students’ eyes.  The condition of Baltimore’s public education is deplorable.  I could be politically correct and offer only words of praise for fear of offending teachers and parents, but be honest:  in any other jurisdiction in the state of Maryland besides the two I’ve mentioned, if schools were in the same shape, a crisis would be declared and steps would be taken to eradicate the unsatisfactory conditions with all deliberate speed. 

In what other jurisdiction would it be possible for most of the young male students of each generation and an alarming number of female students to drop out of school, nearly invisibly, without a sense of outrage gripping the community?

I’ve had enough of our elected officials letting years pass without doing something, anything, to turn the situation around.  At the very least, those who represent us should be hoarse from yelling and screaming to anyone who will listen that these kids are being robbed of their future.  
  
It is truly a daunting problem.  But that doesn’t mean there aren’t potential solutions out there.  I’ll save that for a later post.

Ruth Kirk proves my point

Before I return to discussing the benefits of focusing heavily on nurturing the next generation of educated, responsible, enterprising young citizens, I want to point your attention to an article recently added to the “News” page of my website.  The article by Peter Hermann, which appeared last week in The Baltimore Sun, discusses a new bill whose lead sponsor is the 44th District’s own Delegate Ruth Kirk and which was co-sponsored by the 44th’s other two incumbent delegates, Keith Haynes and Melvin Stukes.  House Bill 752 would effectively gut a year-old law that requires pawnshop owners to separately report each item they buy in their shops.  Law enforcement praises the reporting requirement for making their job easier to track stolen property and, in turn, helps to return more pilfered items to their rightful owners.  In the article, Del. Kirk says she introduced the bill at the behest of an Annapolis pawnshop dealer who found it too difficult and time-consuming to comply with the reporting requirement.  When hearings were conducted to debate the merits of the HB 752, police officers testified that the year-old law makes their job easier and helps to solve more crimes.  Ruth Kirk is quoted as saying she didn’t believe the police officers’ testimony.

So let me get this straight.  Delegates Kirk, Stukes and Haynes rarely utter a noise on the House floor and rarely introduce and originate a single piece of legislation during 90-day General Assembly sessions– except for the occasional bond bill or ceremonial resolution– and now they’re backing a measure that will make it more difficult to return stolen property to rightful owners and end up wasting the time of law enforcement?

Amazing.

In the hardest hit district in the state, these incumbents have no ideas for improving the lives of their constituents, never introduce or originate legislation that directly addresses the most pressing issues facing 44th District residents, remain silent in the halls of Annapolis while sections of Baltimore slowly wither away….and this is the kind of legislation they support?! 

As voters, we should be outraged!  The 44th District needs new representation.  Voters in the 44th deserve to have representatives in Annapolis who are persistent and determined in the way they advocate for the needs of the district.  Ruth Kirk began her career in Annapolis in 1983.  Twenty-seven years.  We appreciate Kirk’s service to Baltimore, but I believe she would be hard-pressed to remember a single legislative accomplishment that she originated, especially one that resulted in meaningful and lasting change in her district.  My position is that anyone who serves as a delegate representing the district should introduce several pieces of legislation every General Assembly session that attempt to address one of the many pressing issues facing district residents. We can no longer afford to elect a delegation that seems content to let years—no, decades—pass without playing a meaningful role in turning around the fortunes of the 44th district.

I am running for office to give my community the kind of effective representation which we have all desired for so long. When I am elected to represent the 44th, I will be a delegate who brings Active, Accessible and Accountable Leadership on your behalf to Annapolis.

Please support my campaign by sending a contribution today!  http://electwesleywood2010.com/donate.html

Education is the key

So why do we need to focus on nurturing our children and future generations?  Why re-direct much-needed tax dollars now for a payoff that may not materialize for several years?  For several reasons.  The most immediate benefit of making sure our students receive an honest-to-goodness education is a more attractive workforce.  In today’s highly competitive economy, a region with schools who churn out wave after wave of well-trained and well-educated students won’t have to do much to attract companies of all sizes.  The 21st century economy increasingly calls for workers capable of learning how to manufacture optical lenses or some other sensitive technological apparatus, not just handle the drive-thru at McDonald’s.

Given the shifting requirements for high school graduation in the state, how many seniors do you think learned enough in school to help the high-tech companies of the new economy?

With an enviable concentration of world-class colleges and universities, government labs, and technology firms, this region might one day be able to vault past Silicon Valley as a high-tech economic center.  If we improve the quality of education in our schools, we can gain an advantage by producing workers who can perform a broader range of tasks, and young graduates with the knowledge and ability to be more innovative and entreprenuerial.  Investing in our children now will help transform and strengthen the region’s economy and its tax base for the long term.

We need to be visionary, not reactionary

Here’s a problem: The Baltimore region needs to redirect the focus of government spending so that we are making crucial investments that will pay dividends beyond a four-year political term.  Our municipal and state governments need to begin focusing on raising generations of young people who are equipped with a useful education and/or skills, and imbued with basic moral and civic values.  How can this be accomplished?  I will address solutions in a later blog posting, so please bear with me.

But for now, ask yourself: what are we really accomplishing by touting Maryland’s public school system as the best in the nation?  The publication that came to this conclusion acknowledged that there is a persistent, disturbing disparity between the better-performing schools and the worst-performing schools.  And where are the worst-performing schools overwhelmingly located?  In Baltimore City and Prince George’s County.  I’ll let you draw your own conclusions about the jurisdictions, but I want to know why none of the 44th District delegation went on record to denounce the ”Best in the Nation” moniker until sufficient attention is paid to raising the performance of Baltimore City students.