Scott Talks About Charter Proposals

City Council President Brandon M. Scott has no intention of being a placeholder, he said Thursday.

In studio with C4, Scott said that after he was elevated to the position by City Council colleagues earlier this year, his constituents told him to "be who you have been on the council.

"We want you to get in there, be bold, push the city and do what you think is best and work with us the citizens to make Baltimore City's government the best it can be," Scott said, recalling what residents told him.

Scott is set to hold a town hall at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Baltimore City Community College Liberty Campus at 2901 Liberty Heights Ave. It is his second town hall this week, following a Tuesday event in Waverly. He is seeking feedback on a suite of charter reforms, including the institution of a city administrator and shrinking of the city's spending board. Any changes to the city charter must be ratified by voters in the next election.

The city administrator would be appointed by the mayor and would be responsible for management of day-to-day tasks. Scott pointed to a number of other counties, including neighboring Baltimore County, that have county administrative officers appointed by their county executives.

"This would not take away power of the mayor. What this would do is to have our administrative functions, the day-to-day operations of city government, be focused on by a professional, someone who is degreed, someone who is experienced... to make sure that the government is operating efficiently and effectively," Scott said.

Scott also said he wants the charter to be revisited every 10 years. He said he recently asked Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke when the governing document was last overhauled. She told him it was around the time she was first elected to the council in the 1970s.

"We in Baltimore have to start to understand and, look, if we want to have people come and say, 'We have to look at other cities and adopt things,' it can't just be the things that we want of the things that are fancy," Scott said. "It also has to be the nitty-gritty, nuts-and-bolts operations of city government."

Scott also talked about public safety and quality-of-life issues, including trash pickup and cleanliness.