Business as usual in our city changes



Business as usual in our city changes when we take deliberate actions to change the status quo. The city’s spending panel — which hands out millions upon millions of dollars to government contractors every week — had an opportunity today to invest in the diversity, equity and inclusion that will drive better outcomes for our city. Instead, in a vote of 4-1, my vote being the only dissenting one, the Board of Estimates rejected the opportunity.


For four months, I have pushed the administration to reach for equity before waiving minority- and women-owned business participation on a lucrative, longstanding contract with Motorola to ensure ongoing telecommunication between our emergency responders was not disrupted. As city leaders, we have pledged to our residents time and time again that we will improve the city’s patterns and practices related to government contracting.


Still, despite our ongoing conversations, promises of equity, pledges to reimagine the role government can play in closing the racial wealth gap in our city, we are once again in the same position as we’ve been for decades.


The administration brought this telecommunications contract back to the Board of Estimates one day before it expired without the analysis my office asked for months ago. This time passed and we continue to have meager goals for minority- and women-owned business participation and one day left to approve the contract or risk interruption to critical communications our first responders rely on.


As chairman of the board, I am deeply troubled that the administration with its control of three out of the five votes steered the process to force approval today. We had a chance to hold our city to a higher standard.


This may look like one vote on one contract, but this stand is about changing the way this board operates. We must put actions behind our promises, so we stop perpetuating the systemic problems that have resulted in the inequities that hold our city back. 


This is our chance to take a reset. Things have to drastically change. I am willing to do the work. Going forward, I am calling on the administration to change its practices, to never again wait until the last minute to bring contracts before this public body and to create a process of awarding contracts centered on equity.


Baltimore, we must expect more.

Watch the full Board of Estimates meeting here

Nick J. Mosby

Baltimore City Council President

This Week's 🔥Topics

Sen. Dick Durbin: remember: You have the power to stop them

Image
Dear Robert, When it comes to the economy, the American people aren’t buying what Republicans are selling. So once again, they’ve pushed the “extreme social issues” button, launching a new series of dangerous attacks on women’s health. Tomorrow, it’s a new Blunt-Brown amendment that would let any employer deny coverage for any health care treatment for any reason. Your boss could cut off coverage for contraception for “moral reasons,” or refuse to pay for cancer screenings because, well, you preventing cancer doesn’t fit into the bottom line. This will be a controversial, close vote. It will be up to the Senate to decide the health choices of millions of American women. But if Democrats stand together, Republicans can’t win. Make no mistake: Re-electing President Obama and keeping the Senate Democratic is the only way to keep these outrageous policies from becoming the law of the land. So if you’ve had it with Republican attacks on women’s health and our basic freedoms,
Read more

Tim: meet the architect of the new GOP tax bill

Image
                                                                     December 18, 2017     About Tim Services Media Center Legislative Work South Carolina Resources Dear fellow South Carolinians,    Thank you for subscribing to my weekly e-newsletter, and please remember to follow me on  Facebook  ,  Twitter  ,  Instagram and  YouTube  .  Tax Reform On Friday, the House-Senate Tax Reform Conference Committee reached a final deal on our historic tax reform package. My colleagues and I have put together a package that will ultimately deliver much-needed tax relief to our middle class families and boost our nation’s economy. This is our chance to say to those who haven’t seen a paycheck increase in decades – we hear you, and we see you. With this bill, we are helping single moms, like mine, by bolstering the Child Tax Credit and allowing more hardworking, everyday Americans to keep more of their hard-earned money. I am hopeful that this week we will have a bill on the
Read more

Katherine Archuleta: Today President Obama announced a common-sense policy change that will make our immigration system fairer and smarter.

Friend -- I wanted to make sure you saw the news: Today President Obama announced a common-sense policy change that will make our immigration system fairer and smarter. I'm proud to support it, and I hope you are, too. Under the administration's guidance, immigration courts are going to focus on deporting people who have been convicted of crimes or who pose a security risk. This means that the courts will focus less on "low-priority" cases -- like young people who were brought here as small children and know no other home, or veterans and military spouses. So the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice will be reviewing the current deportation caseload, clearing out low-priority cases, and making sure they don't get into the system in the first place -- keeping the focus on cases that will make our country safer. It's a smart, strategic change. And it will make a difference. But more comprehensive change requires Congress to act.
Read more

Katie: We did it

Image
We did it, friend! Over the past nine months, we worked together to build our grassroots campaign from the ground up. Our volunteers pounded the pavement to talk to voters, our staff put in long hours and late nights, and we fought for every last vote. Our grassroots donors chipped in $5 here and $10 there to make sure we had the resources to compete. And your hard work paid off, big time. I'm proud to be Pennsylvania's Democratic nominee to take on -- and beat -- Pat Toomey this November. Pennsylvanians deserve a champion who will fight on behalf of families to make college more affordable, to raise the minimum wage, and to make sure that all Americans have access to affordable health care. Friend, we've got a long, hard road ahead -- but our victory today proves that this grassroots team has what it takes to pull together and win. I'll be calling on you for your support soon enough. But right now, I just want to say thank you. I mean it when I say I couldn't
Read more

a kid growing up poor in Orangeburg

Image
  We understand that now is a difficult time for our country and that it may be a difficult time for you personally. We're so grateful to have your support, but if you'd like to opt-out of emails for the next two weeks,  click here.  If you would like to unsubscribe,  click here . If you'd like to update your name or other information,  click here . Robert, I want to share my story with you, and tell you how it shaped me into the person that I am today. I’d really appreciate if you could read this entire email. But before I do, I have to ask for a $10 donation to help me defeat Lindsey Graham:  Can I count on you? In 1992,  I met Jim Clyburn for the first time. I had just been elected President of the National Honor Society in my high school in Orangeburg, SC and he had just been elected to Congress. I didn’t know any better, so I reached out to him and asked if he would swear me in. He agreed, and came down for a little ceremony. I’ll never forget it, Robert. That was the
Read more

Martin: the enduring symbol of our nation isn't the barbed wire fence

Friend, Throughout my service as Mayor, as Governor and campaign for president, I never wavered on the need to pass comprehensive immigration reform. I believe that our outdated and inhumane immigration laws no longer meet our economic needs, our national security imperatives, or most importantly, our values as a people. I believe that we need to lead with the compassionate message and actions that have made us who we are: a nation of immigrants, bonded together by our diverse beliefs and traditions. Immigration is what has made America, America. And while much can be done by bold executive action, it is no substitute for Congressional action. We need leaders in Washington who will tirelessly stand up to the kind of hateful, misguided rhetoric we've seen thrown at the millions of New Americans and fight to forge consensus on an issue that has shaped this country. I believe Braddock, Pennsylvania Mayor John Fetterman is that kind of leader, and that's why today, I
Read more

Cole Leystra: we have to act now to seize the opportunity.

Image
Robert, The Republican answer for averting the "sequester" -- a huge glut of indiscriminate cuts to military spending and critical public services -- is to restore all military funding and cut programs like Social Security and Medicare to the bone. There is absolutely no justification for making any cuts to the benefits hardworking American families have earned or are earning. But the Pentagon budget is full of wasteful programs that exist in large part because a defense lobbyist pushed for them. We can help turn the self-made dysfunction of Washington, D.C. into a blow against utterly wasteful defense spending. But we have to act now to seize the opportunity. Join our friends at USAction, and sign our joint petition to Congress. Tell legislators to cut wasteful Pentagon spending -- not Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security benefits. It has to make you wonder when members of Congress continually focus on slashing earned benefits for ordinary Americans, includ
Read more

President Trump is fighting each day against the left’s attempts to indoctrinate our children

Image
  The White House •  September 17, 2020 President Trump: ‘Our youth will be taught to love America with all of their heart ’ President Trump  is fighting each day against the left’s attempts to indoctrinate our children with a radical, misleading, and unpatriotic story of America.   Divisive and distorted histories  of our country—everything from Howard Zinn’s  A People’s History of the United States  to  The New York Times’  1619 Project—seek to erase America’s tradition of liberty, free expression, and self-determination from memory.   For too long , the left has been winning that fight. For example, even though the 1619 Project has been criticized as inaccurate by multiple prominent historians, it already has been quietly disseminated in 4,500 classrooms across the United States.   🎬  President Trump: We must stop the lies in America’s classrooms   Today marks 233 years  since the signing of our U.S. Constitution. To honor this Constitution Day, President Trump spoke at the White H
Read more

DRAFT JOHN JAMES FOR GOVERNOR

Image
  Dear Mr. Gilyard, Regardless of what you and I may personally believe concerning the integrity of the 2020 Election, there are two undeniable facts that we must recognize and address before we can move forward: Our fellow conservatives are being censored, ridiculed, and attacked for raising valid questions over possible "foul play" in the election. And because their concerns are being ignored, they're quickly losing faith and  may   not   vote   any   more The Dem. Governors of key swing states made unconstitutional revisions to election rules & procedures that sacrificed election integrity to ensure Democrat victories Now, the Democrats are not only fighting to keep these illegal rules in place, they're plotting to  impose   even   more  unlawful election changes to make it impossible for conservatives to ever win again. To prevent a permanent Democrat majority, we must  defeat  these corrupt Democrat Governors and  replace  them with principled conservatives w
Read more

Team Trump Pence: President Trump is pushing to rebuild American infrastructure

Image
Robert Louis, This week, President Trump addressed America's crumbling infrastructure, which is out of date and falling apart. The Obama Administration’s attempt to rebuild the country’s infrastructure was an expensive waste that saw little money actually go to the intended purpose. Billions were spent on projects that still have not been completed after years of development. President Trump is pushing to rebuild American infrastructure by partnering with the private sector and getting government off the back of the American economy. As such, President Trump dedicated $200 billion as part of his proposed $1 trillion investment plan to rebuild infrastructure. Read more about President Trump Making America Great Again below.   New Era In American Aviation President Trump kicked off Infrastructure week with the announcement of his Air Traffic Control Initiative. The President proposed to shift the Federal Aviation Administration's air traffic control function as a not-for
Read more