• Ranks of Executive Volunteers Studying City Agencies Swell to 250
• GBC, Presidents' Roundtable Study Team Leaders
• Matt Gallagher, Former Philadelphia Assistant Deputy Mayor, Staffs Management Studies
• General Assembly Approves Plans For Baltimore Community Court
• GBC UPDATES:
  • GBC's Business After Hours "Olympic Glory" Reception Draws 150 to the Science Center
  • GBC Orioles Luncheon Rite Of Spring is Friday, April 7
  • Daily Record Readers Say GBC Meetings Good for Networking
  • GBC Begins Ad Sales For Print, Online Directories
  • GBC Web Site Now Features "Member News" Section
  • Leadership Class of 2000 Holds Its First Session
• Reducing Homicide: Operation Safe Neighborhood Launches "Call-ins," GBC-Funded "DISARM" Radio Ads Begin Airing
• GBC Board Urges Pay Differential to Attract Math, Science Teachers
  To Baltimore City Schools

Ranks of Executive Volunteers Studying City Agencies Swell to 250

The cadre of executive volunteers participating in the GBC-Presidents' Roundtable management and efficiency studies of key city agencies swelled to more than 250 in February.

Executives and other professionals from the business community continue to enthusiastically rally to assist as members of the GBC and the Presidents' Roundtable get to work in reviewing management and operations of the Fire Department and the departments of Health, Housing and Community Development, Public Works, and Recreation and Parks. The city's information technology resources are also being reviewed.

Almost 150 executive volunteers attended a Jan. 31 meeting at the GBC offices to launch the studies.
The large volunteer turnout on a snowy day is "an incredible rally of support for a revitalized, re-energized government," said First Deputy Mayor Michael Enright.

Enright greeted volunteers on behalf of Mayor Martin O'Malley, who had asked the two business groups to conduct the studies. "We are committed to an honest, transparent process," Enright told volunteers. "The unvarnished truth is what we want."

Volunteers heard keynote remarks by David L. Cohen, Esq., chairman of Ballard, Spahr, Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP, who served for five years as chief of staff to former Philadelphia Mayor Edward G. Rendell. Also, volunteers were given a brief orientation on the city's budget structure and process by Ed Gallagher, director of the city's Bureau of the Budget.

A similar partnership between the Rendell administration and Philadelphia business leaders produced almost 400 recommendations -- of which more than 350 have either been implemented by that city or are in the process of being implemented. The recommendations are saving Philadelphia an estimated $500 million annually, said Cohen.

Cohen warned the volunteers that even with the mayor's strong backing, "not everyone in government will welcome you with open arms." He urged volunteers to overcome "natural resistance" in city agencies by respecting government managers, establishing working partnerships with them, and sharing credit for improvements that are developed through the study.

"Go into this with an open mind," Cohen told volunteers. "Everything you are about to see is not a disaster."

GBC, Presidents' Roundtable Study Team Leaders

DEPT. OF PUBLIC WORKS

• Peter M. Martin, president, Provident Bankshares Corp.
  
• Garland O. Williamson, president, Information Control Systems Corp.
  
• Donald A. Manekin, partner, Manekin LLC
  
• Tyrone Taborn, president, Career Communications Group, Inc.
  

FIRE DEPARTMENT

• James L. Shea, Esq., managing partner, Venable, Baetjer & Howard
  
• Joshua C. Matthews, president, JCM Control Systems
  

HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

• Robert C. Embry, Jr., president, The Abell Foundation
  
• John Hamilton, president, Advance Bank
  

HEALTH DEPARTMENT

• Sister Helen Amos, RSM, president and CEO, Mercy Medical Center
  
• Victor C. March, Sr., president, Marcorp, Ltd.
  
• John P. McDaniel, CEO, MedStar Health
  
• Percy Allen III, president/CEO, Bon Secours Hospital
  
• Dr. Morton I. Rapoport, president and CEO, University of Maryland Medical System
  

RECREATION AND PARKS

• J. Scott Wilfong, regional president, Crestar Bank
  
• Kenneth R. Banks, president, Banks Contracting Company, Inc.
  

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

• Donald P. Ruthig, Director of Information Technology, Baltimore Sun

Matt Gallagher, Former Philadelphia Assistant Deputy Mayor, Staffs Management Studies

A Baltimore native, who has worked on major elements of the Philadelphia government's fiscal turnaround during the last eight years, has been hired by the Greater Baltimore Committee to be the staff coordinator for a private-sector management study of five key Baltimore City government agencies.

Matthew D. Gallagher, assistant deputy mayor for the Philadelphia Mayor's Office of Management and Productivity, joined the GBC staff on January 31. He is coordinating studies by executive volunteers from the GBC and the Presidents' Roundtable, an organization of leading minority CEOs. The groups are jointly conducting the studies at the request of Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley. Drawing from a similar strategy employed successfully by Philadelphia, O'Malley is seeking to form a partnership with the business community to strengthen the city's fiscal management, its operations and the overall efficiency of city government.

"Matt's first-hand experience in the same kind of initiative in Philadelphia should be an invaluable asset to this project," said GBC President Donald P. Hutchinson.

For the last three years Gallagher has worked in the Philadelphia agency that coordinated the management and productivity initiatives developed by Mayor Edward G. Rendell through that city's partnership with the city's business executives. The Office of Management and Productivity acts as a clearinghouse for new ideas and champions management improvements across departmental boundaries.

During much of that time, Gallagher also served as the staff director for Philadelphia's Productivity Bank, a $20 million revolving loan fund for public service projects designed to generate long-term savings, revenues and service enhancements. The 22 projects funded by the bank will generate an estimated $72.5 million in government savings over five years.

After graduating from La Salle University in 1994, Gallagher worked a year for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, where he was assistant to the coordinator of youth programs. He earned a Master of Government Administration in 1997 from the University of Pennsylvania.

Gallagher worked as a special assistant for the Philadelphia Commerce Department from September 1995 to January 1997 before joining Rendell's staff.

General Assembly Approves Plans For Baltimore Community Court

Legislative leaders have formally approved operating plans and authorized the use of state "start-up" funding for the Community Court of Baltimore. The Greater Baltimore Committee has championed the court's creation.

The approval clears the way for final design work on the court to be completed and, subsequently, for renovation work to begin.

Modeled after the acclaimed Midtown Community Court in New York City, the court will quickly process nuisance crime offenders, with most being sentenced to immediate community service in the areas in which they committed their crimes.

The GBC and more than a dozen governmental agencies to be involved in running the court agreed on the operating plan in November and forwarded it to the General Assembly on Dec. 1.

The GBC has been leading a four-year effort to establish a Community Court to bring swift and visible justice to nuisance-crime offenders in downtown Baltimore. Approximately $1.1 million has been raised by the GBC from private sources to renovate the building at 33 South Gay Street that will house the court. The court is anticipated to begin operating in early 2001.

GBC Updates

• GBC's Business After Hours "Olympic Glory" Reception Draws 150 to the Science Center

  Approximately 150 GBC members got the Olympic spirit during the GBC's Feb. 16 "Olympic Glory" reception and IMAX presentation at the Maryland Science Center.
  
  The reception, sponsored by Kaiser-Permanente and catered by the Hyatt Regency Baltimore, featured guest Olympians including David Hearn, a 1996 US team member and two-time world champion in the men's single canoe slalom, and Meredeth Rainey Valmon, a member of the 1996 US team in the women's track and field 800-meter event.

• GBC Orioles Luncheon Rite Of Spring is Friday, April 7

  New manager Mike Hargrove, the entire Orioles team, the Oriole Bird and Orioles sportscasters will be welcomed back to Baltimore for a new baseball season at the GBC Lunch With the Orioles on April 7 at the Baltimore Convention Center.
  
  An 11:30 a.m. reception will be followed by a noon luncheon program, featuring the characteristically lively question and answer session with fans.
  
  This year, in addition to the table souvenirs, each guest will get an autographed photo of an Oriole star.
  
  For more ticket information, go to our homepage, or call Sharon Cooper-Kerr at 410-727-2820.

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• Daily Record Readers Say GBC Meetings Good for Networking

  GBC meetings were cited among the top seven places to network by readers of the Daily Record, Baltimore's daily business and legal publication.
  The GBC was listed as a "Favorite Place to Network" in the Daily Record's "A" List, published in late December, 1999.
  
  The Center Club garnered the most votes. Other favorites included Downtown Partnership meetings and GBC members Polo Grill and Renaissance Harborplace Hotel's Windows Restaurant.

• GBC Begins Ad Sales For Print, Online Directories

  Advertising opportunities are available for the 2000 GBC Membership Directory and the searchable online GBC Business Guide.
  
  For information and ad rates, call Carrie Jacobson at Network Publications, 410-628-0390.

• GBC Web Site Now Features "Member News" Section

  News and events of GBC members are now featured in the "Members" section of the GBC web site.
  
  Submit items for consideration by faxing them to Gene Bracken at 410-539-5705 or emailing them to geneb@gbc.org.

• Leadership Class of 2000 Holds Its First Session
  
  The Leadership's Class of 2000 launched its year of study on Jan. 24 at the Burkshire Conference Center in Towson. This year's class has 48 participants from the business, government, academic and the nonprofit communities.
  
  Class members experienced an opening day of introductions, orientation and inspiration. It included an afternoon session on regionalism, presented by Diane Hutchins, GBC vice president and director of government relations, and an evening address by former GBC board member Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, president of UMBC.
  
  Click here for the list of class members.
  

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Reducing Homicide: Operation Safe Neighborhood Launches "Call-ins," GBC-Funded "DISARM" Radio Ads Begin Airing

Innovative GBC-funded homicide reduction efforts through Operation Safe Neighborhoods entered key "deterrent" stages of development in February.

Operation Safe Neighborhoods is a 14-agency collaborative effort employing a strategy developed by Harvard criminologist David Kennedy. Its funding includes a $145,000 grant from the GBC Homicide Reduction Fund.

The project has begun a series of face-to-face meetings with key groups from among 3,000 - 4,000 known chronic offenders who, research shows, typically generate as much as half of the city's homicides.

At the meetings, known as "call-ins," law enforcement officials, community leaders, clergy, and service providers meet with chronic offenders to make the following two promises:

- "Violence will no longer be tolerated and will be met with an unprecedented interagency response;"
- "Anyone ready to change his or her life will be supported in that effort."

The Operation Safe Neighborhoods team is being coordinated by Kim Morton, an assistant state's attorney on the staff of Baltimore State's Attorney Pat Jessamy.

The "call-ins" mark the beginning of the project's deterrence phase that Kennedy and Morton anticipate will trigger a dramatic reduction in homicide and violent crime in the city. In Boston and Minneapolis, similar strategies resulted in a more than 50 percent reduction in homicide within two years.
Meanwhile, Project DISARM, a program of U.S. Attorney Lynne Battaglia and a key element of Operation Safe Neighborhoods, began running a series of high-profile radio spots warning felons that they will face prosecution and a federal jail term without parole if caught with a gun.

The radio ads are funded by the GBC Homicide Reduction Fund.

Click here for more information on Operation Safe Neighborhoods, Project DISARM, and other elements of this crime-reduction project.

GBC Board Urges Pay Differential to Attract Math, Science Teachers To Baltimore City Schools

The GBC Board of Directors, at its Feb. 10 meeting, urged Baltimore City Public Schools, and other schools in the region and state, to implement differential pay as an incentive to attract qualified math, science and technology teachers.

The board action was recommended by the GBC Education Committee.

The state will soon face a crisis in teacher hiring, as larger percentages of teachers become eligible for retirement. The shortage of math and science teachers, which is already acute, particularly in Baltimore City, will be further exacerbated.

The board also took positions supporting increased state funding for Baltimore City public schools and supporting the state's recent reconstitution of three city elementary schools.

Support for "Remedy Plan." The GBC supports the city schools' request for $49.7 million in increased state funding for the implementation of the School Commissioners' "Remedy Plan." The plan would establish efforts to hire and retain quality teachers, strengthen system-wide student support services, expand pre-kindergarten and full-day kindergarten programs, enhance instructional technology, and enrich instruction in arts and physical education, gifted and talented programs, and modern and classical languages.

- School reconstitution. The GBC board supported the State Board of Education's reconstitution of three city elementary schools, allowing private companies to submit bids to operate the schools.