The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland • Page B2

Maryland Page 2b Thursday, Feb. 6, 2003 The Sun in Howard URBAN CHRONICLE Victory surprises activist Condemnation: A bill to allow the city to seize certain properties had an unexpected outcome in the City Council. By Eric Sieqel SUN STAFF BARBARA HADDOCK TAYLOR SUN STAFF Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.

(left), with Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, chats with fifth-graders at Van Bokkelen Elementary in Severn after laying out his proposal for a charter school law in Maryland. Ehrlich pushes for charter schools NOT ONLY CAN you fight City Hall, you can even win at least temporarily. But you might have to fight again.

Just ask Ward Eisinger, president of the Remington Neighborhood Alliance. For months, the 36-year-old lab technician led a lonely and seemingly futile fight against a bill that would give the city the right of eminent domain to seize properties for private economic development projects. Eisinger's principal concern was that the bill would allow the city to condemn homes in commercially zoned areas structures abundant not only in his North Baltimore neighborhood, but in many communities across the city. He also worried that small businesses could be seized to clear the way for potentially more lucrative, larger ones. On Jan.

27, a majority of members of the City Council finally came to share his concerns thanks largely to a leaflet distributed by Eisinger's group just before the meeting. It was titled: "IS THE CITY PLANNING TO SEIZE YOUR PROPERTY?" Two weeks after approving the legislation on a preliminary vote, the council reversed itself, voting to kill the bill when it came up for a final vote to the astonishment of just about ev- "I'm not opposed to increasing industrial land," he said this week. "We do have to get back to the nuts and bolts of making things. But there were some unanswered questions." Soon eight other council members joined the chorus of nays. Cain turned to Garey and said, "The first duck walks across the road and everyone follows." "All of a sudden, you heard all these no's," said 4th District Councilwoman Catherine E.

Pugh, one of only five council members to vote for the bill. (Four members were absent.) "I didn't understand what all the controversy was." Baltimore is not the only place grappling with the issue. In a case that drew nationwide attention, the Illinois Supreme Court struck down last year a development authority's condemnation of a scrap yard to provide more parking for a motor speedway. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the case despite the urging of the International Municipal Lawyers Association that the court use the case to "resolve the question of whether the Public Use Clause of the Fifth Amendment allows government to condemn private property for economic development when the property is transferred to another private party." That's the kind of discussion Eisinger says the council bill never had but sorely needs.

Talk of amending the bill to clarify that it will not apply to residential properties makes the situation "better than it was" but far from ideal, he says. Legislators voice plea for program to governor A delegation of Southeast Baltimore legislators has asked Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. to restore full state funding to the Live Near Your Work program, whose cuts were the subject of a column in this space two weeks ago.

"For young andor low-income homebuyers, the program has been a key in their ability to purchase a first home," said a letter to Ehrlich signed by state Sen. George W. Delia and 46th District Dels. Peter A. Hammen, Carolyn Krysiak and Brian K.

McHale. "These homebuyers are now revitalizing marginal neighborhoods and strengthening older communities." eryone involved. "I was sure that the stinker was going to pass," Eisinger said in an e-mail the day after the vote. "What a shock to hear that the council killed it." But the legislation giving the city the power to condemn industrial property outside designated renewal areas for economic development regarded as allowable under U.S. Supreme Court rulings but prohibited under the city charter is considered likely to come back Monday.

Under council rules, defeated bills may be brought back at the next meeting at the request of a majority of members or one of the members voting against the bill. Andrew W. Frank, executive vice president of the Baltimore Development which is seeking the legislation, said the economic development agency is working on new language that would make it clear that the bill would not authorize the city to condemn a residential building in an industrial zone for economic development. "That was not the intent of the bill," Frank said this week. "As drafted, it's not clear that is not the intent." The intent, Frank said, was to give the city the power to condemn abandoned industrial sites that owners are unwilling to sell or spruce up, assembling parcels for new businesses or the expansion of existing ones.

"We've been beating the drum for seven years we need more land," Frank said. With new authority, he said, "we believe the city would capture 40 acres of industrial growth a year" creating jobs and improving nearby neighborhoods. Without it, he said, "every day there's another opportunity lost." Frank called the bill's defeat "unexpected," given its favorable report by a committee and approval two weeks before. The vote, as recounted by members, was an example of the council in action. First District Councilwoman Lois A.

Garey said she decided to vote "no" after being handed a copy of the Remington group's flier shortly before the meeting and realizing she really didn't understand the bill. "We probably should understand what we're voting on before we vote," she acknowledged. "But we can't be at all the hearings." Her district colleague, John L. Cain, also voted against the bill. In Annapolis Today's highlights 10 a.m.

Senate meets, Senate chamber. 10 a.m. House of Delegates meets, House chamber. 1 p.m. Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee, a hearing on charter school legislation, 2 West Miller Senate Office Building.

1 p.m. House Health and Government Operations Committee, a briefing on CareFirst Conversion and Acquisition, Room 160, Lowe House Office Building. Charter, from Page 1b sures for the schools. The governor said yesterday that he is willing to work with legislators on "friendly" amendments. "None of these particular issues is enough to kill the bill, in our view," Ehrlich said.

A charter school is organized by a private group but is part of the public system, funded by taxpayers and sanctioned by a specified "chartering authority." Maryland is one of 11 states without a charter school law. The idea is to give parents especially low-income parents a choice, creating what proponents say is healthy competition within the system. Charter schools have increased freedom to set curriculum and policies. Although Maryland's school systems have the authority to authorize charter schools (only one exists, in Frederick), it almost never happens. Without a state law, organizations cannot tap the federal and private money usually needed to establish new schools.

The federal government has more than $200 million available for charter schools. Ehrlich said his connections to the Bush administration, as well as the ties of state schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick, would help land Maryland a substantial portion of that money. Grasmick participated in yesterday's event, saying she is optimistic charter schools would House members want to make sure that charter school teachers would be unionized, and that chartering authority would be limited to local school boards. Ehrlich's bill would allow teachers at charter schools to have collective bargaining rights but stipulates that they cannot be members of any other bargaining unit meaning they likely could not be members of the Maryland State Teachers Association.

(Yesterday, Ehrlich noted that the MSTA, which backed Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend for governor, "did not win the The MSTA is supporting Ehrlich's bill, with amendments. "It makes no sense in our book to divide people out in this way," said union President Patricia Foerster of Ehrlich's collective bargaining proposal. She and others also worry about a section of the bill that would allow charter schools to be exempt from state education laws and regulations if the school's chartering authority approves.

By allowing a wide variety of groups to issue charters, including the state school board, county boards, institutions of higher education and "any other entity designated by the state board," Ehrlich's bill is structured to invite a maximum of federal dollars. Maryland Day Daily 694 Pick 4 9268 2280 Night Daily 465 Pick 4 find their place in state law this year. "We see a renewed sense of urgency," she said. "The administration is putting all possible clout behind this bill." Charter school bills have passed the House of Delegates and Senate in the past two years, but lawmakers have never agreed on a final version. "We would meet, and the other side was intractable," said Sen.

Roy P. Dyson, a St. Mary's Democrat whose charter school bill has passed the full Senate the past two years. The troublesome issues boil down to a few topics. Many 06 13 16 30 31 41 Lotto, Feb.

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Tomorrow's prize will be worth an estimated $105 million. and attendance. The second school will be called the Baltimore Freedom Academy and will be run by a consortium largely composed of university groups and led by the University of Maryland's schools of law and social work. Freedom Academy will encourage students to be involved in their communities and become advocates for social change. "I think it will be a heavy emphasis on literacy, speaking, writing and critical thinking," said Bonnie Copeland, executive director of the Fund for Educational Excellence, a local nonprofit group chosen to oversee the $20 million in foundation money.

"I would anticipate students do a lot of active learning." The consortium, called Community Law in Action, has been working with students at Northwestern High School on projects that required them to research issues such as lead paint. "They won this with their previous work with Baltimore City," Russo said. Locations for the two schools have not been announced, Russo said, because the school system has not talked with the communities in the prospective areas. School officials have chosen possible sites for each school and have found alternates. Two public high schools will open next fall in Baltimore in part to offer students at low-performing neighborhood high schools a choice.

Chosen recently from a list of proposals submitted by groups interested in running schools, the two academies are the first tangible results of a partnership between the school system and local and national foundations. Those private organizations have pledged more than $20 million to reform the city's failing neighborhood high schools. "The research shows that in cities with big choice for high schools, there is a higher graduation rate and lower dropout rate," said Chief Executive Officer Carmen V. Russo. The first school, called New Era Academy, is intended to be a rigorous academic school for students aiming for college but who might not meet entrance standards for the selective city-wide high schools such as City College.

New Era will be run by an educational nonprofit group called Replications which oversees eight schools in New York City. The academy will have strict standards for behavior restate our agreement with the city and renew our contract for purchasing raw water." Gouge said she spoke to Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley at a meeting of the Baltimore Metropolitan Council on Tuesday and found him supportive. "The mayor assured me that he would talk to his public works director about our issues," Gouge said. "Everything is all out there on the table and I am certain we can get it all straightened out." The county can draw up to 3 million gallons a day from Liberty Reservoir, a 45-billion -gallon lake along Carroll's southern border with Baltimore County. Carroll would like to double that amount.

"We would like an additional 3 million gallons in the future," Gouge said. "We don't need that much now, but peak usage in the future is expected to be 6.4 million gallons a day." Kurt L. Kocher, spokesman for Baltimore's Department of Public Works, said the city's once-strained relationship with the county has improved significantly. "We will be discussing all the matters but we don't want to reveal the specifics," Kocher said. "I will say that everything is going in a positive direction and we have set the date of the director's and the mayor's calendar." The county has not asked for any changes to the nearly 20-year-old agreement, but it might request amendments to a series of environmental protection strategies that the metropolitan council might add to the document, Gouge said.

Those measures, such as stream buffers, could further safeguard waterways from runoff from farms, businesses and residences. "The idea is to get the signatures and then get to work on the strategies," said James Slater, Carroll's environmental compliance specialist. "This needs to be a living document, the subject of good debate and including new developments." With only a few details to be worked out, the county commissioners have set a date to sign an agreement to help protect the Liberty Reservoir watershed and, indirectly, augment the water supply for Carroll residents. The commissioners, apparently within reach of an understanding with Baltimore City officials on conditions within the metropolitan area's Watershed Protection Agreement, have set Feb. 24 for a formal signing of the document.

By signing the document, the commissioners would renew a promise originally made by the county in 1984 to safeguard watershed areas from rampant development. The renewed agreement also could mean that the state would act swiftly on Carroll's request to build wells to supply more water to South Carroll, its most populous area, and it could greatly enhance the county's bargaining position as it tries to negotiate more water from the city. The city owns Liberty Reservoir, the source of drinking water for nearly 2 million people, including about 20,000 in South Carroll. "This signals improvements in regional cooperation on a broad scale," said Frank Johnson, special assistant to Julia Walsh Gouge, president of the Carroll County Board of Commissioners. "The date for the signing is on the calendar and it will be a big day for Carroll County and the whole region." The county has a few issues to work out with the city, but nothing that would delay the signing, which is expected to draw officials from Baltimore city and county and the state, said Gouge.

"I think it will all come together," Gouge said. "We want to with flomc Every other Wednesday. To advertise, call 410.332.6372. SUNDIAL Sun 1 A 247 news and information service ofThe Baltimore more 410.783.1800 INFO CENTER SunDial Directory 1000 Talk Back 1800 Dialing Directions Using a touch-tone phone, call SunDial and enter the four-digit code of the category you want to access. Main Menu 1000 Science Nature 3800 Today In History 3423 Sports Directory 5000 Weather 4003 Books 3564 TV Movies 3500 Lottery 6020 Teen Topics 3631 Financial News 3000 Indice en Espanol 8200 Recipes 7000 National News 1145 Horoscopes 7630 SunSource 6800 World News 1146 Soap Operas 6040 Stockline 2000 Music 3400 Stock Update 3002 Seniors 3643 Bond Market 3004 Mortgage Calculator 3199 Fun For Kids 3600 Golf Tips 3626 Fitness Report 3908 Health Care 3200 DP946400704 THE SUN Where Maryland Comes THE SUN Whore Maryland Comes Alive.

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