A group of nonprofits have been given the greenlight by Mayor Brandon Scott to receive almost $15 million from the city to clean up neighborhoods as the Department of Public Works continues to struggle with staffing and adequate equipment.
Mayor Scott made the announcement Monday and said the $14.6 million is coming from the city’s American Rescue Plan allocation. The initiative is called Clean Corps and will work with six community-based organizations to hire and train workers to clean, maintain vacant lots and alleys, remove street debris and empty public trash cans in select communities, according to Mayor Scott’s Office.
Denise Johnson lives in the Greenspring area, which is one neighborhood that will have a crew cleaning run by Park Heights Renaissance. Johnson said the city “is lazy” when it comes to trash pickup and keeping the city clean.
“When I heard that on the news this morning, I was so overwhelmed,” Johnson said when she heard about the Clean Corps funding initiative. “I can’t even describe [the trash]. It’s just so unbelievable.”
Park Heights Renaissance will also work in the Arlington neighborhood. The other organizations and selected neighborhoods are listed:
- Bon Secours Baltimore Community Works, Inc. will work with the residents of the Boyd-Booth, Penrose, Fayette Street Outreach, Carrollton Ridge, and Franklin Square neighborhoods.
- Broadway East Community Development Corporation will work with the residents of the Broadway East and East Baltimore-Midway neighborhoods
- Civic Works, Inc. will work with the residents in the Coldstream, Homestead and Montebello (CHM), Darley Park and Four by Four neighborhoods.
Mayor Scott’s Office described the two-year project as “a multi-agency, all-hands-on-deck effort.” It’s unclear how much money each organization will get, but the funding will allow the non-profits to pay employees $15 an hour.
City Councilman Isaac ‘Yitzy’ Schleifer said the funding should not have gone to the non-profits; instead, he said, the money should have been given to the Department of Public Works.
“It further shows how out of touch some decision makers are when it comes to needs and infrastructure needs,” he said. “Why in the world would the administration give $15M toward privatization of community groups to perform these functions and to hire these people, when that’s what we are trying to do.”
Councilman Schleifer, who also called for raising the salaries for DPW sanitation workers through a resolution with Councilman Zeke Cohen, said equipment and staffing seem to be part of the issues within DPW, so the funding could be better spent investing in the agency.
“It’s a slap in the face to our workers when they see these private entities get shiny new equipment when they have equipment barely works,” Schleifer added.
Outgoing DPW Director Jason Mitchell said he looks forward to partnership with Mayor Scott and the Department of Planning for the Clean Corps initiative, adding he hopes the new plan will encourage community members to “renew their love and commitment to improve the overall cleanliness” of Baltimore.
“A cleaner, greener, more beautiful Baltimore is a city-wide effort and will take full participation from all of our community members, partners, residents and stakeholders to achieve it,” Mitchell said in a news release.
Questions to Mayor Scott and his office went unanswered about how the non-profits were chosen, why not give the money to DPW, and what will happen to the effort once the money is spent.
While there are some concerns about the effort, including keeping track of the money, for people like Denise Johnson who live with the dirty reality, she said anyone who said they are willing to help should get funding to make it happen.
“Look at it now – they not doing nothing really,” Johnson said of DPW and the City’s efforts.