Location: Basement of 7 W. Mulberry St., Baltimore
Next Week’s agenda tentatively includes:

• Updates on the stormwater battle and other legal fronts in the War on Walmart
• Review of the Mayor’s newly redrawn council district map
• Discussion of a coalition retreat and a strategic plan for the 2011 and 2015 election cycles.
• Update on the health of coalition member Caroli Mullen
• Visit by Red Line Community Liaisons

The draft of the new council districts will be our primary focus is it will allow us to narrow our focus on which districts and neighborhoods to target with canvassing operations.  Any concerns as well as any suggestions for topics to be added to the agenda should be sent to Jonny Akchin (443-519-9449) at jonny@progressivemaryland.org

• Rally Video by Bill Hughes: http://youtube.com/watch?v=_dYEw7kekV8
• Balt. Sun: Remington Walmart plan wins final City Council OK
• WBFF: http://foxbaltimore.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wbff_vid_5933.shtml
• WBAL TV: http://www.wbaltv.com/money/25881839/detail.html
• More coverage will be posted as available.

Tell City Council, Mandate Family Supporting Wages and Good Environmental Stewardship” on 25th Street Station PUD Proposal

Special Guests: Members of the Walton Family, America’s wealthiest family to thank Baltimore for being the easiest city Walmart has ever tried to come into!

Featuring Special Guests: Members of the Walton Family

Tell City Council, “Keep Saying ‘NO’ to Walmart until Walmart says
‘YES’ to Family Supporting Wages and Good Environmental
Stewardship” on the 25th Street Station PUD Proposal

Featuring Special Guests: Members of the Walton Family
]]> http://baltimorecan.wordpress.com/2010/11/12/mon-4pm-balt-city-hall-rally-for-living-wages-before-final-walmart-vote/feed/ 0 herbpm http://baltimorecan.wordpress.com/2010/09/21/final-hearing-on-25th-street-station-wednesday-922-at-5-p-m-city-hall-we-need-you-there/ http://baltimorecan.wordpress.com/2010/09/21/final-hearing-on-25th-street-station-wednesday-922-at-5-p-m-city-hall-we-need-you-there/#comments Tue, 21 Sep 2010 22:34:45 +0000 andyellis76 http://baltimorecan.wordpress.com/?p=170 Continue reading →]]> The final Public Hearing on the 25^th Street Station development is  tomorrow – Wednesday – September 22^nd at 5 p.m., despite pleas from many corners to give Baltimore residents and small business owners more time.

WE NEED YOUR PRESENCE!   WE NEED YOUR TESTIMONY! We need to weigh in loud and clear.

Important facts about tomorrow!

• The Development will get an 80% property tax credit on improvements for 10 years (conservative estimate is this is worth 10 million).
• The city will be spending upwards to a million on infrastructure improvements – traffic, roads, sanitation, police.
• Alternative economic impact studies show no job gain from big box retailers – if you add jobs lost to the equation.
• There is no accountability on local hiring or on construction jobs for Baltimore residents.
• The Developers are skirting the most up-to-date recent storm-water management regulations and refuse to apply for silver LEED certification.
• The Developers are building 80 units of market rate housing – skirting the Baltimore City inclusionary zoning law because there is “no city money” in the deal, ie no PILOT or TIF.

RAISE YOUR VOICE AT THIS IMPORTANT HEARING!

From B’More Local.

First you can use this tool to send a letter to your specific city council person, expressing a demand for better community development standards .

You can also download, sign, and,  mail this letter which asks the Council member to do due diligence before voting on the development:

Letters for 25th Street Station Address the letter to your Councilperson, c/o City Hall, 100 N. Holliday Street, Baltimore, MD 21202

Check back frequently for more ways to get involved!

Wednesday, September 15

2:00 pm at City Hall

on the 25th Street Station PUD Proposal

Be there and contact your elected representatives
City Council: Call 410-396-4804 or visit www.BaltimoreCityCouncil.com
Mayor@BaltimoreCity.gov or 410-396-3835

Tell them: SAY NO TO WALMART UNLESS
WALMART SAYS YES TO BALTIMORE COMMUNITY STANDARDS!

Join the 40 Community Organizations that are saying

“Baltimore CAN Raise The Standards for Smart Development”

1199 SEIU United Health Care Workers East Md-DC
A. Phillip Randolph Institute Baltimore Chapter
Bailout the People Movement
Bayview Community Association
Belair-Edison Healthy Community Coalition
Bmore Local
BUILD
Canton Community Association
CASA de Maryland
Change 4 Real – Sojourner-Douglass College
Community Law Center
Entrepreneurial Training University
Evergreen Protective Association
Fayette Street Outreach
Franklin Square Community Association
Fulton Community Association
Genius Movement
Job Is A Right
Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle
LiUNA – Laborers International Union of North America
McLain Wiesand
Midtown – Edmondson Avenue Improvement Association
Moulden Group
Mt. Winans Improvement Association
NAACP Baltimore City Branch
Operation Reachout Southwest
Peer-to-Peer Youth Enterprises
Progressive Maryland
Project T.O.O.U.R. (Teaching Our Own Understanding and
Responsibility)
Safe Streets
Sandtown Winchester Condominium Association
Service Employees Int’l Union Local 32 BJ
Sharp-Leadenhall Planning Committee Inc.
UFCW – United Food and Commercial Workers
United Workers
Wake Up Walmart
West Baltimore Coalition
Workers United Mid-Atlantic

Recent opinions expressed on the pages of The Baltimore Sun make it seem like the proposed 25th Street Station project in Remington is a done deal — and that the proposal as written is the only choice for Baltimore.

The coalition groups we represent, Bmore Local and Baltimore CAN, disagree, as does a large and varied group of city residents who are committed to raising the standards for development in Baltimore, starting with 25th Street Station. We are concerned about the size and scope of the proposed development and what this type of big-box retail center would really mean for nearby residents and those who would work there.

they continue…

There is a compromise, however, between the development plan as written and blocking the project entirely. The solution is a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA). With projects of the magnitude of 25th Street Station, CBAs are pacts between the developer and the community that set the tone for community self-management and sustainability. Strong business-community partnerships create mutually beneficial opportunities for all.

Coyne & Robinson conclude

This isn’t about opposing retail development at all costs. This is about respect and about what’s right. We must never forget that our communities belong to us. We set the standards. And those standards need to be legally enforceable. Otherwise they aren’t standards, they’re just suggestions.

We’re not saying “no” to new development. We’re saying “no” to dead-end, part-time minimum wages, “no” to big-box retailers who take their profits to other communities and give next to nothing back. Have some respect, Baltimore. We deserve it.