Mayor Brandon M. Scott Building a Better Baltimore


Dear Baltimore,

Thank you for your interest in my Action Plan for Baltimore. This tool allows you to see the goals my administration is committed to making significant progress on and accomplishing during my first term as your Mayor. The tool is organized into five core pillars: Building Public Safety, Prioritizing Youth, Clean and Healthy Communities, Equitable Neighborhood Development, and Responsible Stewardship of City Resources. You can follow along with the status of our actions, which will be updated on a quarterly basis, as well as view key performance indicators for each goal.

At the start of my term in December 2020, I embarked on a process to operationalize my vision for the City of Baltimore and give residents a way to see immediate transformation in their City government. This Action Plan seeks to establish measurable goals and intentionally reverse course from outdated policies and strategies that have not yielded results in the past. I strongly believe that to make progress, we must set ambitious goals and work every day to achieve them.

To put our city on a new path, my administration will need to operate with greater urgency, transparency, accountability, and commitment to equity than ever before. This Action Plan represents my continued and very personal commitment to work tirelessly every day on your behalf, in strong partnership and coordination across my administration. We must show progress over time and provide a way for residents to regularly follow along with our work — not just report on what we have accomplished once we are done.

My Action Plan builds on the thorough work of my transition team, more than 250 committed Baltimoreans — including young people, community advocates, business leaders, current and former government officials, artists, and academics — who generated clear recommendations for change and progress in Baltimore. That transition report was taken up by my executive team and agency leaders, who considered how to bring those recommendations, as well as other improvements, to life.

I invite you to follow along with our progress and hold my administration accountable as we prove that a new way forward is possible in Baltimore.

In service,

Brandon M. Scott
Mayor

To view and download a PDF overview of the Action Plan, click here.

To watch the Mayor's Action Plan announcement address, click here.

Building Public Safety

As Mayor Scott frequently says, Baltimore is wrestling with multiple public health crises: the global COVID-19 pandemic and local epidemics of gun violence and preventable overdose deaths. Since 2015, Baltimore has seen more than 300 homicides per year — the overwhelming majority of which were gun-related. In 2020, there were 954 opioid-related overdose deaths in Baltimore.

Historically, our city has over-relied on the 3Ps — policing, prosecutions, and prisons — which have failed to yield long-term results. Never before have we developed a holistic public safety strategy, one that aims to treat gun violence as a public health crisis and operationalizes what Baltimore residents want to see from their City government. These goals and actions recognize that every agency, institution, and organization that interfaces with Baltimoreans has a role to play in preventing violence.

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In Progress

Planning

Prioritizing Youth

Mayor Scott has committed that the City will do more to invest in the promise of young Baltimoreans, rather than their failure. Historically, Baltimore has over-invested in punitive approaches when young people act out or make a mistake. The Mayor has named Prioritizing Our Youth a cornerstone of his administration's strategy for a safer, accountable, and more equitable Baltimore.

The goals and actions in this pillar range include ensuring a quality education, providing modern recreation facilities, employment opportunities, support for disconnected youth, socio-emotional health, and engagement with City government. They also span youth at all stages of development, from babies and children to teens and young adults. The Scott administration will ensure that young people are not just a topic of discussion, but are represented around the table and part of the process.

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In Progress

Planning

Clean & Healthy Communities

Mayor Scott recognizes the connection between neighborhood cleanliness and the public health of our communities. The Scott administration has been focused on building clean and healthy communities. Upon taking office, the Mayor restarted residential recycling pickup, which had been suspended due to the pandemic, and initiated regular neighborhood cleanups. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic put public health disparities, along lines of race and class, in stark focus.

Uplifting quality of life for Baltimoreans, regardless of zip code, will require all stakeholders to work together and find new, innovative ways to build a more equitable city. The goals and actions in this pillar seek to move the needle, improving life outcomes for residents, cleaning up neighborhoods, and focusing on collaboration with communities.

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In Progress

Planning

Equitable Neighborhood Development

Mayor Scott is focused on building a city longtime Baltimoreans can enjoy and thrive-in by building an effective and equitable City government — the very things that will make our city attractive to new residents, as well as new investment. Historically, investments made in Baltimore's Downtown have been to the detriment of our neighborhoods.

The goals and actions in this pillar center on uplifting our Downtown corridor and our incredible neighborhoods, with a vision rooted in inclusive and sustainable economic growth. Building more equitable neighborhoods starts with supporting the businesses and workers most impacted by COVID-19, retaining legacy residents, supporting capital investment in formerly redlined neighborhoods, prioritizing local, women-owned and Black-owned businesses, and closing the digital divide.

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In Progress

Planning

Responsible Stewardship of City Resources

Since taking office, Mayor Scott has emphasized the importance of practicing responsible stewardship of the City's budget during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, while also realigning the budget with our shared values. Modernizing the City's outdated processes — from paying bills and fees, to engaging with the procurement process — and increasing resident participation in their government are imperatives to restoring the public's trust in their government.

The goals and actions in this pillar center on making City government more effective, while prioritizing services and resident opportunities in neighborhoods that have historically been left behind. By being responsible stewards, the City of Baltimore will improve access and affordability of services, recruit and retain a strong workforce, and be transparent and accountable about the government's performance.

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In Progress

Planning

Thank you for your interest and involvement as we work together to make Baltimore a safer, equitable and accountable city. Get involved below.


Designed by the Mayor's Office of Performance & Innovation