Frustrated business owners in Baltimore are tired of rising crime and are becoming increasingly concerned about the safety of their employees and customers.
Dozens of them are now telling the city to do its job, or they won’t pay city taxes and fees.
This is completely justified. The City of Baltimore is not delivering the services that these business owners pay taxes for in the first place.
Jessica Anderson and Tim Prudente report at the Baltimore Sun:
Fells Point businesses threaten to withhold taxes if Baltimore does not address crime, drug dealing and other issuesMore than 30 business and restaurant owners in Fells Point are threatening to withhold taxes if city leaders do not address crime, trash and other issues they say are plaguing the waterfront neighborhood.The group sent a letter to Baltimore officials Tuesday — two days after three people were shot in the popular and historic nightlife destination early Sunday morning — complaining about blatant drug sales, public drinking and other problems they say are happening in plain sight while police are handcuffed from enforcing the law.The letter bemoans a “culture of lawlessness” that allows the ” the kinds of violence and tragedy we witnessed (over the weekend).”The letter is a sharp response not only to the violence of the weekend, but also to the policies of State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby, who earlier this year announced that she will no longer prosecute a host of crimes, including drug possession, public drinking and urination, and trespassing, among others.
Kai Reed of WBAL News has more:
Fells Point business owners send letter to leaders following recent weekend violenceNearly 40 Fells Point business owners sent a letter to Baltimore leaders on Tuesday, threatening to withhold tax and permit payments if the city doesn’t respond to their requests.The letter comes after recent violence over the weekend, including two separate shootings that injured three people in Fells Point.The owners of “EC Pops” moved to Fells Point from Ellicott City three years ago. The pandemic was tough to navigate of course, but owner Doug Yeakey says in addition to the violence in the neighborhood over the weekend, the problems go even further.”There’s public defecation, there’s trash all over the place. It’s just totally disgusting. The other things that were seeing, we’re seeing people selling alcohol out of the back of their vehicles, we’re seeing those same people giving alcohol to minors, and so that’s not doing anything to help the problem…The business owners demand the following actions:- Reliable trash removal- Enforce traffic and parking laws through tickets and towing- Stop illegal open-air alcohol and drug sales- Empower police to responsibly do their job
This short video report from WJZ News includes interviews with two local business owners:
The left is fond of making lists of demands. It’s way past time for the people who pay the bills in this country to start doing the same.
Featured image via YouTube.
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