CCA Public Meeting Minutes from September 2017

Below are the minutes from the Canton Community Association's Public Meeting, held on Tuesday, September 26, 2017.

CCA Public Meeting

Tuesday, September 26, 2017

The meeting started at 7:15PM at the United Evangelical Church.  Doug Kaufman, President, welcomed everyone.

City State’s Attorney’s Office:  Marilyn Mosby, State’s Attorney, Shelley Spruill, Legislative Affairs (Canton resident), Andrea Curley, Community Engagement/Liaison, Don Walter, Deputy Chief Juvenile Division and Michelle Lee, Southeast Community Liaison.

Brief Announcements:

Doug said we have a tremendous agenda tonight.  He thanked the Rev. Cathy Oatman for use of the church.

Canton Canopy raised $18,050 for trees at no charge to be planted and maintained along Hudson Street.  If people do not want them, please advise.

Friends of the Canton Library:  Darryl Jurkiewicz made an announcement about Poe, Times Two at the Church on the Square, Friday, October 13, from 7-8PM.  Info can be found at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/poe-times-two-performance-tickets-38121237648.  Two $50 gift certificates will be raffled off to Annabelle Lee Tavern.

Councilman Zeke Cohen’s office is involved with a Baltimore Reads event Saturday, October 7 at Patterson Park.  Volunteers are needed.  Vidushani Jayalal, Neighborhood Revitalization Fellow, was present.

Solar Info Session:  Lexi Williams spoke for a few minutes about this energy efficiency event to take place Wednesday, October 11, from 7-8:30PM at the Breath of God Lutheran Church, 141 S. Clinton Street. Info can be found at:  www.retrofitbaltimore.org/rsvp-baltimore.

Creative Alliance:  Heather Keating spoke for a few minutes about the upcoming multipurpose Creativity Center.  They hope to break ground in 2019 with completion sometime in 2020.  They have outgrown space at the old Patterson Theatre.  They are thinking of rebranding.  It is a $5,000,000 project; so far $2.2 million has been raised.

Alzheimer’s Association:  There is a Walk on Saturday, October 28, at the Canton Waterfront Park. Local volunteers are needed.  The goal is to get 2,000 walkers.  Melissa thanked Canton for our hospitality.

Volunteer! with Northstar Baltimore:  Matt Peterson passed out information about this tutoring/mentoring program.  Information can be found at:  www.mpi.org/volunteer-application.

The 10th Annual Oktoberfest here at the United Evangelical Church will be held Sunday, October 15, from 12PM to 5PM.

CCA Upcoming Meetings:

Public Safety Committee:  Doug wants to restart this CCA committee.  There is a meeting Thursday, October 5 at 6PM at the Broom Factory (needs to be rescheduled).

The Economic Development Committee monthly meeting will be held Monday, October 9 at the Broom Factory.

The next Public meeting will be here at the church on Tuesday, November 28.  At the January 2018 meeting, Board elections will be held.

State’s Attorney Office Presentation – Marilyn Mosby:

State’s Attorney Mosby talked about her office and said seeing everyone her tonight inspires her.

She said she is vested in the traditional role of prosecuting cases.  She has a 93% conviction rate

Out of 16 on the Public Enemy Number One List, 11 were sentenced. 

There are about 54 homicide cases per prosecutor, saying we need a holistic approach to crime.

She talked about the unemployment rate for Black males as opposed to White males.

State’s Attorney Mosby wants us to be engaged, visible and vigilant.  Michelle Lee is our SE Community Liaison who handles Community Impact Statements.  She said these do make a difference. 

Since many young offenders are committing crimes between the hours of 6-9PM, this summer there were events held during this time to give these young people something to do.  About 2,437 attended with their parents.

There have been 130 families who have relocated to safely testify in court to help in the fight to get guilty convictions for the worst offenders.  

There were questions.  One was why kids are committing crimes during school hours.  Here office tries to help in this regard by going to the schools.

There is a quarterly newsletter put out by her office which is on the website.  They are also on social media. 

She mentioned the Celtic Solstice Run, Saturday, December 16 at Druid Hill Park.

Doug said that we hear from Canton residents who don’t feel safe and may be thinking of moving. 

He would like her to put out there her office’s victories so people stay in Canton.

She was asked why people are out on the street and where does her office end on this.  State’s Attorney Mosby said her office guarantees the process, but not convictions. There are misconceptions about a lot of this and that some people think her office puts young people back on the street. 

Don Walter gave an overview.  The Department of Juvenile Services is the third party so her office doesn’t see all cases. 

In April 2015 many prescription drugs were out on the street.  She attributes the increase in crime, turf wars and “kids doped up” to the drugs. 

There is mandatory drug testing for offenders.

The presentation ended by Doug talking about recent proposals in this district (46th) for a juvenile package for State legislators.  Residents are encouraged to go to the next session in Annapolis about this matter.

The meeting ended at 8:15PM.

Respectfully Submitted,

Denise Aversa