Candidates to respond to Blueprint for Baltimore priorities at Mayoral, City Council President forums in February, March, April

BALTIMORE—Candidates for Mayor and City Council President will be asked to respond to the priorities of Baltimore residents, as identified by the Blueprint for Baltimore survey, in non-partisan forums planned for February, March, and April, in the lead-up to primary elections on April 26^th. The first Blueprint for Baltimore Mayoral Forum will be held on February 5^th from 7 to 9pm at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum (registration here). The moderators will be Tom Hall of WYPR and Lisa Snowden-McCray of the Baltimore Beat and the Real News Network.

Open Society Institute-Baltimore and community partners including Black Leaders Organizing for Change, CASA, Baltimore Votes, and the No Boundaries Coalition conducted the city-wide survey from mid-October to early December, recording responses from more than 5,000 city residents, mostly through on-the-ground canvassing, augmented by online outreach. The survey results will be released in a mid-January report in advance of the Feb. 5^th forum.

“From the beginning, our goal was to reach a broad range of Baltimore residents, particularly those from marginalized communities, and find out what they wanted from city leadership,” says Tracy Brown, acting director of OSI-Baltimore. “The next step is to take that data, present it to those vying to lead the city, and find out how they respond, so city residents can make informed decisions on April 26^th.”

The survey asked Baltimore residents to identify their priorities on a wide range of public policy issues, including education, public safety, and housing. The data collected will be community-owned and community partners are currently discussing a process for community representatives to access and leverage the data to create meaningful change long after the 2020 elections.

Support for the Blueprint for Baltimore comes from Open Society Institute-Baltimore and the T. Rowe Price Foundation.