Was the $100 million wishlist a City Council member sent to Johns Hopkins University a starting point for negotiations over a planned artificial intelligence center, or was it a shakedown — an unexpected “list of demands,” as school officials have called it?

The dispute involves Hopkins’ proposed Data Science and AI Institute, known as DSAI, and a zoning change proposed by North Baltimore Democrat Odette Ramos that could force the university to rework its plans for the center.

Both Hopkins and Ramos say they’ve now consulted attorneys following the back-and-forth, according to communications obtained by The Baltimore Banner. A good-government advocacy group who reviewed the communications said they were not ideal — but common — deal-making.

In a statement, a university spokesman said Hopkins changed an initial draft of the design to ensure zoning compliance. He said Ramos’ proposed changes to city zoning “would be harmful not just to Hopkins but to all of the colleges and universities that contribute to Baltimore as a center for higher education.”

Ramos said in an interview that her communications were centered on community concerns and “dialogue about what could be possible” around planned construction for the Hopkins AI center.

In 2023, Hopkins officials began soliciting feedback from neighbors and community associations about plans for the Homewood campus expansion. The university unveiled the plans in April.

In a letter dated April 23, the North Baltimore official sent a letter to the university about planned legislation to change citywide zoning laws for college campuses, known as EC-2 districts. The proposal called for increased setback requirements — that is, the distance a building must be from the street. If approved, the increased setback would infringe on the AI center’s proposed design.

Ramos said she would pause the potential legislation, but wanted “to begin negotiations.”

“Commitments are needed on each item to avoid introduction of the ordinances,” she wrote.

She asked for commitments tied to the AI center’s construction, including traffic calming and building designs that “fit with the residential feel of the neighborhood.” She also asked that Hopkins pledge to reimburse residents for potential construction damage to their homes, as well as guarantee fair wages for the project’s construction workers.

Ramos’ letter made other requests, which she described as unrelated to the AI center, including:

• An annual $20 million contribution to the affordable housing trust fund for five years;
• A one-time $10 million contribution for improvements in the nearby Waverly neighborhood and Greenmount Avenue. “I am aware of the politics of this, but I will defend it, and encourage the investment to go through the Central Baltimore Partnership,” she wrote, adding that $200,000 would go toward the re-opening of Thai Restaurant, which recently closed after 43 years;
• A donation of up to $10 million to start Baltimore’s proposed land bank;
• The creation of a fenced dog park on land that the university leases from the city at the Craycombe Avenue and Tudor Arms Drive entrance section of Stony Run.

When Hopkins staffers had not replied to her letter by May 7, Ramos emailed them “to withdraw said letter” and added that she planned to introduce the EC-2 zoning legislation at the council’s June 10 meeting.

“If you would like to discuss before that time, I would welcome a conversation,” she wrote.

Hopkins staffers replied June 7. Maria Harris Tildon, the vice president of Government, Community, and Economic Partnerships at Hopkins, wrote she was surprised and “taken aback” by Ramos’ letter.

“Unfortunately, due to the nature of your letter and on the advice of counsel, we cannot participate in these discussions if they combine requests for funding with threatened legislation,” Tildon wrote.

In a letter dated the following day, Ramos wrote that she was “stunned” by the assertion that her April letter was unexpected.

“To reiterate, JHU was unequivocal about asking me what I wanted for this project so that I would not introduce the EC2 setback legislation,” she wrote.

The Democrat added that she has also “taken the opportunity to seek the advice of counsel. As such, I feel very comfortable in my position and actions.”

The next day, Tildon replied to Ramos by email. She acknowledged that Hopkins had worked with her and other community groups to solicit feedback for the project since last August.

The April letter was “shocking because it specifically ties the threat of official legislative action with citywide impact,” she wrote, “to a list of demands totaling in excess of one hundred million dollars, including demands that are entirely unrelated to the project and demands that are outside of our authority and control.”

While “not ideal, negotiations like this happen often,” Joanne Antonine, the executive director of the nonpartisan organization Common Cause Maryland, said in a statement. “They typically happen behind the scenes with little transparency but here we at least have demands on an official letterhead with a clear statement on next steps if they can’t commit to the asks.”

Corey Jennings, the president of the Greater Remington Improvement Association, which has helped solicit feedback for Hopkins regarding the AI project, said he was disappointed that “feedback from our 2023 canvass of nearest neighbors, the 2017 Remington Neighborhood Plan, and 2023 Neighborhood Needs Assessment” were not mentioned in Ramos’ original April letter.

Ramos eventually introduced her zoning bill at the council’s June 24 meeting. It has yet to receive a hearing from the Ways and Means committee.

Read Ramos’ letter to Johns Hopkins