Baltimore City Council District 11 Choose 1
DUTIES: Baltimore’s law-making body is the 15-member City Council. The 15th member, the city council president, is elected city-wide. The primary responsibilities of the city council are to: Enact ordinances (laws) and resolutions of the city,Review and enact the annual Ordinance of Estimates (Operating and Capital Budgets),Enact revenue ordinances necessary to meet the anticipated expenses of the budget.SALARY: $78,577 as of 2023TERM: 4 yearsHOW ELECTED: Baltimore City is divided into 14 council districts. The voters of each district elect one member to the city council. In execution of their responsibilities, City Council members represent their district’s interests and serve their constituents as advocates with city government agencies.
Biographical Information
Campaign Twitter
twitter.com/blanchardforbaltimore
Campaign Website
http://www.blanchardforbaltimore.com
Campaign Email
zac@blanchardforbaltimore.com
Campaign Facebook
http://facebook.com/blanchardforbaltimore
Campaign Mailing Address
2039 Madison Avenue
null
Baltimore, MD 21230
null
Baltimore, MD 21230
Background: What in your background and experience qualifies you to be a member of the Baltimore City Council?
As a Naval Academy graduate and Marine veteran, I have learned the importance of leading with humility and integrity. I have taught American Government, I do economic development in the northern portion of my council district in my day job, I coach football at the second-largest high school in Baltimore City, I am a neighborhood association president, and I am a board member with my local Main Street organization. I am also a parent, and a parent who is committed to raising a family in the City.
Crime: What specific plans would you propose to reduce homicides, violent crime, theft and vandalism in Baltimore?
The Group Violence Reduction Strategy is reducing homicides and shootings - we should figure out how to expand it across the city more quickly without diluting it’s effectiveness. The most common form of violent crime in Baltimore is armed robbery (we have the highest armed robbery rate in the country). We need better after-school and sports programs, we need more investment in our neighborhoods, and all youth charged with a crime should be eligible for services (not just if convicted).
Education: How would you fund public education in Baltimore, while assuring the quality and ongoing structural maintenance of school buildings?
Due to the Blueprint for Education, school spending in the city is now at an all-time high. We need to ensure that enough of that money is going towards better sports programming, more vocational and apprenticeship training, and other uses that keep our youth in-school and prepared for life after school.
Health: What strategies do you have to address continued health disparities in Baltimore? What will you do to make sure that the Health Department has the resources it needs to serve all residents?
Baltimore has the highest overdose death rate of any city in America, by far. Anne Arundel County tracks their overdoses - fatal and nonfatal - weekly on a publicly accessible map. Baltimore City doesn’t even have overdose data from July 2023 yet. If we want to raise awareness for this issue, we have to be able to track it in near-real time. That is my #1 health priority for the city.
Climate and Environment As we face climate change and sea level rise, what would be your priorities to increase sustainable practices by the city and to increase the city’s resilience?
As we face climate change and sea level rise, what would be your priorities to increase sustainable practices by the city and to increase the city’s resilience?
I am in support of adopting a city-wide composting program, and am a transit enthusiast, so I have plenty of ideas on how we can increase our dependence on cars.
Housing: What strategies do you propose to remove or rehabilitate vacant buildings and provide affordable housing through the new inclusionary housing bill and other means?
Baltimore City has 14,000 abandoned buildings. This is a crisis. We can solve it by increasing property taxes on vacant and blighted properties. This will encourage owners to either improve their property or to sell it to someone who can.
Unlike my opponent, who refused to co-sponsor the inclusionary housing bill with the majority of his colleagues, I support the inclusionary housing bill.
Council Size: What are the advantages and disadvantages of reducing the size of the City Council?
Disadvantages: Smaller districts are easier to win with a “grassroots” strategy - when you represent 40,000 people, it is easier to be in touch with regular citizens than when you represent 80,000 people, and it is easier for grassroots candidates, like myself, to win by building trusting relationships with voters, instead of just relying on large donations.
Advantages: councilmembers could then be full-time, so we'd have a more focused, professional set of elected leaders.
Biographical Information
Campaign Twitter
twitter.com/CouncilmanETC
Campaign Website
http://www.CostelloForBaltimore.com
Campaign Phone
443-499-3555
Campaign Email
eric@CostelloForBaltimore.com
Campaign Facebook
http://facebook.com/CouncilmanETC
Campaign Instagram
instagram.com/CouncilmanETC
Campaign Twitter Handle
@CouncilmanETC
Campaign Mailing Address
P.O. Box 6451
null
Baltimore, MD 21230
null
Baltimore, MD 21230
Campaign You Tube
http://youtube.com/@CouncilmanETC
Background: What in your background and experience qualifies you to be a member of the Baltimore City Council?
I have served as the Baltimore City Councilman in the 11th District since October 2014. For the past seven years I have chaired the City Council's budget process. Prior to that, I worked as a senior IT Auditor at the US Government Accountability Office where my work helped save $274 million to the taxpayers.
Crime: What specific plans would you propose to reduce homicides, violent crime, theft and vandalism in Baltimore?
Public safety has always been and will remain a top priority. People are entitled to feel safe in the neighborhoods they live, work, worship, and play in. I was the lead sponsor of legislation to establish a private security camera rebate program as well as a real property tax credit to incentivize public safety officers to live in the jurisdiction where they work. I've led on efforts to hold the Mayor / Administration accountable on public safety and will continue to do so.
Education: How would you fund public education in Baltimore, while assuring the quality and ongoing structural maintenance of school buildings?
I remain committed to fully funding Baltimore City's obligations under the Blueprint for Maryland (Kirwan Commission). As chair of the Ways & Means Committee I worked with the Administration to ensure we met our commitments this past fiscal year and plan to keep that a priority every single year moving forward.
Health: What strategies do you have to address continued health disparities in Baltimore? What will you do to make sure that the Health Department has the resources it needs to serve all residents?
The Health Department is approximately 80% grant funded. The priority of my work in this area has been through audit oversight and during the budget process to ensure Health is correcting issues related to grants management that jeopardize our ability to be awarded future funds. I am in favor of additional budget authority to chip away at and eventually end health disparities that exist in our City.
Climate and Environment As we face climate change and sea level rise, what would be your priorities to increase sustainable practices by the city and to increase the city’s resilience?
The City has a unique opportunity to modernize our vehicle fleet to EVs, to plant more trees and expand our tree canopy coverage, to establish robust composting programs, and to establish solar powered facilities on City-owned land. I have helped move the needle on all of these important environmental priorities and plan to continue to do so.
Housing: What strategies do you propose to remove or rehabilitate vacant buildings and provide affordable housing through the new inclusionary housing bill and other means?
I have worked closely with City DHCD on a block-by-block strategy in Upton that has resulted in the complete turn around of the 800 blocks of Harlem Ave & Edmondson Ave. This strategy is effective and should be replicated across the City. I supported the inclusionary housing law and accompanying tax credit. During my time in office, I have helped guide through over 3,000 new affordable housing units in the 11th District, more than any other district in the City.
Council Size: What are the advantages and disadvantages of reducing the size of the City Council?
Less Councilmembers will result in less focused attention to constituent issues. While not in line with surrounding jurisdictions, it is important to note the extremely high constituent services case load we work through in Baltimore City due to the challenges our residents / businesses face here.