The debate over a maintenance contract for Baltimore’s conduit exposed fault lines in city politics with the 2024 city elections approaching.

The vote culminated a dramatic series of events at Wednesday’s Board of Estimates meeting, in which the protest by Council President Nick Mosby and Comptroller Bill Henry, both critics of the deal, tried but failed to delay the decision.

The emails, obtained in a batch of records requested by The Banner, shed more light on the lead-up to the chaotic chain of events in January that resulted in BOPA Director Donna Drew Sawyer’s resignation and a last-minute dash to hold a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade.

The finance department has called the city’s menu of tax credits “highly inequitable” and singled out the historic preservation incentive as especially in need of reforms.

The community cleaning initiative, which will focus on low-income neighborhoods of East, West and South Baltimore, comes as the city’s public works department is managing severe staffing problems.

A Banner analysis of a revived Group Violence Reduction Strategy in the Western District suggests remarkable impacts.

Under the new rules, a recent move by Mosby that kneecapped an administration request on the city’s 700-mile underground conduit would not have been possible.

A new report, released on the same day that the city’s top public works official announced his resignation, lays out a roadmap to address staffing challenges, equipment shortages and inefficient truck routes.

Jason Mitchell cited family matters for leaving, but has faced intense criticism for matters such as recycling from some City Council members during his tenure.

Mayor Brandon Scott outlined an array of targeted policy reforms as well as several funding requests for addressing vacancy, supporting the Baltimore Police Department and bolstering public safety.

Mayor Brandon Scott is expected to lay out his goals and priorities for the legislative session Thursday afternoon, and Baltimore’s top lobbyist said City Hall will focus on painting the Moore administration an “overall picture of what Baltimore’s holistic need is.”

20 months after Mayor Brandon Scott first announced the city’s intent to buy two hotels to provide permanent and temporary housing for people experiencing homelessness — a flagship piece of the homeless services strategy — city officials say they have yet to close the deal.

The four-year-old equity legislation was introduced and championed by Mayor Brandon Scott when he was a City Councilman.

A rift has been growing between the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and Roca Maryland.

Part of Rosaryville State Park in Prince George’s County has been named the “Rutherford Area,” an honor that Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford did not know was in the works when he visited the park this week.

The delays can often leave city partners to begin work without a contract and without approved funding.

Some, however, express skepticism that the Baltimore Police Department has the manpower to support the expansion.

Baltimore's transportation department has installed more speed humps in 2022 than in any prior year. But the agency is running up against a shortage of the poles it needs to put up new signs.

The pension bill passed 8-5 despite opposition from the city’s retirement system and finance department, which each advised against a rushed decision in a hearing earlier this month.