Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott discusses juvenile crime, Trump, taxes and priorities for new term
BALTIMORE -- Mayor Brandon Scott sat down with WJZ for a wide-ranging interview to discuss challenges and successes in Baltimore City ahead of his inauguration Tuesday.
Scott will be the first Baltimore mayor in 20 years to be inaugurated into a second full term in office.
The mayor said he is "humbled" by the support of voters.
"This term is about growth and finishing the work that we started," Scott told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren.
"Obviously, I'm a different person than I was on December 8th of 2020. We've been through a lot as a city," added Scott, who noted he is now a married father.
Reductions in homicides and shootings
The mayor touted historic reductions in homicides and shootings. As of Monday morning, 185 people have been killed this year compared to 243 at this time last year.
There have been 392 non-fatal shootings compared to 590 at this time in 2023.
"For me, this is not a cause to celebrate but a cause to acknowledge that progress because those are hundreds of lives saved," Scott said.
But he also acknowledged some do not feel safe.
Juvenile crime concerns
Carjackings with juvenile suspects are up 233%. Robberies with juvenile suspects are up 44%.
Last week, WJZ was the first to report about a man attacked in Federal Hill who may lose his sight in one eye.
"What we have to do is work harder to make sure that more people do feel safe," Scott said.
As far as reducing some stubbornly high categories of juvenile crime, Scott said, "We have to enforce the laws. When we consistently see the same people, whether they're old or young over and over again, that's a huge frustration point for us, especially when they are young people because we know that we probably can get to them and change their lives."
DPW deaths
Mayor Scott also addressed safety conditions for sanitation workers after two Department of Public Works (DPW) employees, Ronald Silver II and Timothy Cartwell, died on the job.
"I think the culture change is ongoing. That's why we brought director [Khalil] Zaied back, to make sure he's putting the high-quality public servants we need in positions to do that," Mayor Scott said.
When asked if he is confident that there are safety measures in place for those workers going out and collecting the trash, Scott replied, "Yes. And we just need to make sure that we're reminding everyone about all the protocols and procedures that are in place so that we don't have incidents like we unfortunately had with Mr. Silver."
Harborplace redevelopment
Scott praised the voter referendum that paved the way for a controversial redevelopment of Harborplace.
"The referendum showed Baltimoreans saw through all the noise and know what's best for Baltimore—and that's for the Inner Harbor to have a new birth and a new version of itself," Scott said.
He also touted cutting vacant homes by 17% in his first term.
"To make sure we're rebuilding those neighborhoods that were disinvested in for so long and going and bringing back people, particularly I am talking about middle-class Black families who used to live in Baltimore," the mayor said.
Reducing property taxes
Part of Scott's strategy to increase population is reducing city property taxes that are far higher than the surrounding counties.
"Most cities get to keep some of the local sales tax. We do not," Scott said. "We're going to continue to ask for one percent of our local sales tax in order for me to give every single homeowner $1,000 off their property taxes."
Impact of President-elect Trump
Scott told WJZ he is willing to work with President Trump, who in his first term criticized Baltimore and its leadership, and feuded with the late Congressman Elijah Cummings.
"The truth is, the only thing that is certain with the president-elect is uncertainty, and we just have to be ready to pivot whenever necessary," Mayor Scott said. "…If the president-elect reaches out, much like President Biden, we have to answer that call because it's our responsibility as leaders and really as Americans to do that. But we're just hopeful that the tone is different from the last time."
Immigration enforcement
The mayor also addressed local police assisting in Trump's promise of mass deportations of immigrants.
"My message to all of Baltimore and to the incoming administration is why would we take our police officers' focus away from dealing with guns, from dealing with shootings and murders and robberies to focus simply on deportation when we know the thing that is impacting our communities the most is their safety," Mayor Scott said.
