The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland • A13

TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2016 THE BALTIMORE SUN 13 Minimum wage hike gets initial OK their base pay increase from $3.65 to $5, but they wouldn't be guaranteed cost-of-living raises. Washington, Seattle and San Francisco have approved a $15 minimum wage. Montgomery County is considering a similar increase. Council members Brandon Scott, Robert Curran, Bill Henry, Sharon Green Middle-ton, Nick J. Mosby, Edward Reisinger and Clarke voted in favor.

Young, Rochelle "Rikki" Spector, Eric T. Costello and Warren Branch voted against Stokes, William "Pete" Welch and Helen Holton abstained. James B. Kraft was absent. Kraft has said he opposes the legislation.

Young plans to evaluate the next steps, including possibly pushing again for the $1150 amendment at the next council meeting. He called that rate a compromise between those who want to raise the wage and those who are concerned that an increase will push businesses out of the city. He said he wants workers in the city to make more money but believes raising the rate comes with too many risks. If council members continue to push for $15 without accepting a compromise, he said, there might be no increase. "If I believe we would do it and the whole state would follow, I would do it without batting an eye," Young said.

"I'd rather $1L50 than $0." Business groups have opposed the legislation. The city's finance department has said it could cost Baltimore as much as $65 million per year. And the Baltimore Development the city's development arm, has raised concerns. In a survey of 322 Baltimore businesses, 97 said the bill would cause them to reduce hours for workers, 69 said they would lay off workers, 56 said they would close, and 33 said they would move out of Baltimore. Others strongly support the proposal.

More than 100 people packed the council chambers and an overflow room. Charly Carter, director of the advocacy group Maryland Working Families, said the organization will pressure Stokes and other council members over the next week. "We're really disappointed," she said. "This is about the legacy you want to leave." Carter and others were especially critical of Costello, saying he previously indicated his support for a $15 minimum wage. Costello, whose district stretches from downtown to South Baltimore, said he supports raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour so long as it does not hurt small businesses and their workers.

"This bill is going to have dire consequences for the small-business community in Baltimore City, and their ability to continue to employ Baltimore City resi dents," Costello said. "These small businesses are already at a severe competitive disadvantage with businesses in the neighboring counties." Costello pointed to the city's property tax rate, which is double the rate in surrounding counties. He pushed for an amendment that would have frozen Baltimore's increase, pending similar action in Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties, but it failed. Spector said increases in the minimum wage over the decades have not eased Baltimore's poverty rate before and won't now. Many workers commute into the city and live outside its borders, she said.

"It matters where you sleep at night, not where you earn it," Spector said. "Let it be statewide, don't let it just be Baltimore." Clarke said paying a higher wage to city-based workers is a matter of justice. "It's about independence," she said. "People are working hard sometimes two jobs, sometimes three and they still need to stand in a long line to get groceries at the end of the month. No wonder we're two cities." Clarke said local governments must take the lead in requiring companies to better pay workers, increasing pressure on states and the federal government to follow suit.

ywengerbaltsun.com twitter.comyvonnewenger MINIMUM, Frontpage 1 said to Stokes. "It's a false hope Stokes replied. He said he was concerned that a higher wage in Baltimore would draw higher-skilled workers to the city, squeezing residents out of jobs. Stokes said workers should be paid $15 an hour, but requiring companies to pay that rate could lead to unintended consequences. He said he prefers the state to take action.

"I am betwixt and between," Stokes said. "I am not sure we should lead the pack. It would be better if we move together." The city does not have a minimum wage. Employers in Baltimore are required to pay the state minimum wage, which rose to $8.75 an hour last month and will increase to $10.10 by 2018. The city legislation would exempt businesses with fewer than 25 employees or less than $500,000 in gross annual income.

The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore and the city's YouthWorks program would also be exempt. The bill calls for the rate to increase to $9.50 an hour next July, with $1 raises thereafter until it reaches $13.50 in 2021, then jumping to $15 an hour in 2022. A cost-of-living adjustment would be added in each year. Employees who work for tips would see In turnaround, Mosby lauds cops in Cagle case MOSBY, From page 1 testifying against their fellow officer who did the wrong thing," Mosby said. "We believe under this police commissioner, this will become the rule rather than the exception, and this case highlights our commitment together to work with one another," she said.

The Cagle trial began the same week Mosby dropped charges in the remaining three officers' trials in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray. At a news conference following that decision, Mosby sharply criticized the Police Department, saying it and the criminal justice system needed radical reform. "We've all borne witness to an inherent bias that is a direct result of when police investigate themselves," she said at the time. Leary, Smith and Cagle had been called to a store in the 3000 block of E. Monument St.

for a reported burglary. Leary and Smith were cleared for shooting Johansen because prosecutors determined he reached toward his waistband and refused their commands. Leary testified that Cagle told him he'd shot Johansen, and said he believed Cagle's actions were unnecessary. "The threat was over," Leary said. Smith testified that he heard "an exchange of words" between Cagle and Johansen, but could not make out what was said.

Then, he said, Cagle fired his weapon. Johansen told the jury Cagle stood over him as he lay on the ground, called him a "piece of expletive" and shot him in the groin. Mosby quoted Johansen's testimony, including the expletive, on Monday. "The vast majority of police officers in this city are good officers, and I'm gratified that in this case, the good officers testified against the bad officer," she said. Mosby and Davis delivered prepared remarks at a news conference at police headquarters and did not take questions afterward.

The officers involved were not present, and the department did not make them available for comment. Mosby said she was heartened by the two officers' standing up for justice, and she credited Davis for helping to create better police-prosecutor relations. "Commissioner Davis and his staff are working extraordinarily hard to create the kind of police department that Baltimore residents deserve, and I thank him and all of the men and women that uphold that sacred oath." Davis also praised the officers and said he was "not surprised one bit" that the Police Department and prosecutors were able to work together to convict Cagle. "Reporting misconduct, now absolutely BARBARA HADDOCK TAYLORBALTIMORE SUN Attorney William H. "Billy" Murphy, who helped Freddie Gray's family win a $6.4 million settlement from the city, praised Police Commissioner Kevin Davis and State's Attorney Marilyn J.

Mosby for being "dedicated to breaking that blue wall of silence." "This case highlights our commitment together to work with one another." Marilyn J. Mosby, state's attorney required by our new use-of-force policy, is something that the community has a right to expect from all police officers in Baltimore," he said. "My team and the state's attorney's team are here today to support the vast majority of police officers who routinely do the right thing day after day, and call after call. "There's nothing more a good cop hates than a bad cop," Davis said. The joint news conference was an attempt by city police and prosecutors to "reset" a public perception of animosity after the tension of the Freddie Gray case, said David Harris, a law professor at the University of Pittsburgh.

"It's a chance for these two leaders to say, 'No, look, we're on the same and change the narrative away from 'God, they hate each other's Harris said. "As leaders of their respective agencies, they know they have to work together." Jeffrey Ian Ross, a criminologist at the University of Baltimore, called Monday's news conference "Mosby's opportunity to engage in what we might call a type of charm offensive to orally, verbally give right, and what's wrong is wrong, and so we have to encourage and protect these two officers and other like-minded officers to come forward," Murphy said. Mosby had a "good-faith basis" for complaining that she had "less than total cooperation" from police investigators in the Gray case, he said. Davis has defended the department's investigation, saying more than 30 detectives "worked tirelessly to uncover facts" in the case. Murphy also criticized the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3, the union that represents the city's rank-and-file officers, for not condemning Cagle's actions.

He gave a blistering portrayal of the city police union as dominated by "old, white, retired officers who come from the older generation, where the blue wall of silence was respected and honored." FOP President Gene Ryan did not respond to a request for comment. Baltimore Sun reporter Alison Knezevich contributed to this article. cmcampbellbaltsun.com twitter.comcmcampbell6 her praise to the officers who came forward and provided evidence." Gray, 25, died a week after his arrest from injuries sustained in police custody in April 2015. Amid tension from weeks of protests and a riot on the day of Gray's funeral, Mosby announced criminal charges against six officers in Gray's arrest and death. Three of the officers were acquitted of all charges by a judge, and the charges against the remaining three were dropped.

William H. "Billy" Murphy, the attorney who won the Gray family a $6.4 million civil setdement from the city, attended the Monday news conference and afterward praised Mosby and Davis for being "dedicated to breaking that blue wall of silence." "As Officer Leary said, what's right is Md. awards $3 million to fight heroin, but not in Baltimore grants didn't meet the department's needs. "They just weren't good fits for the Baltimore Police Department," he said. Smith said Baltimore police shied away from the heroin coordinator grant because the funding lasted only one year.

He said the HEROIN, From page 1 "We would have encouraged the participation of anyone who was qualified in this administration to apply," spokesman Anthony McCarthy said. Police spokesman T. J. Smith said the DEATH LODGE NOTICES state grants awarded Monday will go toward hiring or providing overtime pay to heroin coordinators at law enforcement agencies in 17 of Maryland's 24 jurisdictions, as well as the Maryland State Police. The heroin coordinators track, analyze and share data to help police identify drug traffickers across jurisdictional lines.

Heroin-related deaths in Maryland rose 29 percent in 2015, according to data released by the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene this summer. There were 393 overdose deaths in the city last year, most related to heroin, fentanyl and prescription opioids. Baltimore County was second with 220 deaths, followed by Anne Arundel County with 112. Grants range from $20,000 to $84,000. The Baltimore County Police Department received $57,345.

Mayer said the money was distributed based on the severity of the drug overdose problem in each county, with those having the highest overdose rates getting enough money for full-time positions. The governor's office said both programs carry out recommendations made by the Heroin and Opioid Emergency Task Force, chaired by Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford. mdresserbaltsun.com twitter.com michaeltdresser city might have had to lay off whomever it hired when the money ran out.

The money at stake was a relatively small amount of the state's $42 billion budget. The budget includes $74 million this year for aid to local police. Of the nearly $3 million, $2 million will go toward the state's Safe Streets Initiative, which is distinct from a Baltimore program of the same name. Under the state program, five cities and four counties will receive amounts ranging from $161,000 to $345,000 to address problems with heroin and other drugs. According to the governor's office, the state initiative tracks down and arrests the most serious offenders while steering those with addiction programs into drug treatment and other services.

The city's Safe Streets works to prevent violence through conflict mediation. The city learned last week it wouldn't receive $1 million in state funding, part of a broader decision by Hogan not to spend $80 million that the General Assembly left to the governor's discretion. About 50 people gathered in Sandtown-Winchester last week to protest the lack of funding. Dr. Leana S.

Wen, Baltimore's health commissioner, called the cut a "death sentence" for the city's Safe Streets program. Meanwhile, more than $900,000 of the ROONEY, James P. On Friday, August 5, 2016, 1 ROSS, Elaine Barbara On August 6, 2016, Elaine Barbara Ross (nee Rosner); beloved wife of Harvey M. Ross; devoted mother of Claire MacCallum, Susan Ross-Siegel, and Frederick Ross; adored grandmother of Kailin MacCallum, Elizabeth Brooke (Peter) Meny, Alexander (Ariel) Ross Siegel, Robert Maxwell Siegel, Amber Ross, Grayson Ross, and Parker Ross; cherished daughter of the late Milton and Claire Rosner. Services at SOL LEVINSON 8900 Reisterstown Road, at Mount Wilson Lane on Tuesday, August 9, at 3 pm.

Interment is Private. Please omit flowers. Contributions in her memory may be sent to Friends of the Jewish Chapel at the United States Naval Academy, 326 First Street, Suite 22, Annapolis, MD 21403. www.sollevinson.com YANKELOV, Louis The Beth Tfiloh Congregation deeply regrets the passing of our member, Louis Yankelov, brother of our member, Edith Yankelov, and extends deepest sympathy to the family. James P.

"Pat" Rooney of Bowie, MD passed away at the age of 76 after surgical complications. Survived by his wife of 53 years, Barbara I. Rooney, daughter Claire Rossmark and husband Fred, daughter Sheila Ball and husband George, granddaughter Megan Leyh, and grandson Max Rossmark. The family will receive visitors at the Beall Funeral Home, 6512 N.W. Crain Highway (Rt.

3 South) in Bowie, on Wednesday from 2-4 and 6-8 PM (pastoral service at For more information or to post condolences, please visit www.beallfuneral.com..