Mayoral candidates on the issues (Part 9): squeegee workers and youth recreation

The 2022 killing of Timothy Reynolds in downtown Baltimore sparked a citywide conversation about the presence of squeegee workers—many of which were young Black men—on street corners. 

Mayor Brandon Scott, who is running for reelection in next week’s primary, convened a diverse working group to organize an action plan. The group included representation from law enforcement, the business and philanthropic communities and more than 150 squeegee workers themselves. 

City residents turn to the mayor to address the needs of Baltimore’s youth, including through youth programming managed by the Baltimore Department of Recreation and Parks. Voters in next week’s election will decide on a vision for enriching the lives of the city’s next generation.

“The squeegee issue in Baltimore is older than me,” Scott said when asked by Baltimore Fishbowl about his ongoing efforts and work to create spaces for youth recreation and enrichment. 

Scott said he was proud of organizing the Squeegee Collaborative and the action plan to address the root causes of the phenomenon following Reynolds’s death. 

“What came out of that,” he said, “is a plan that all of Baltimore believed in.”

The plan resulted in an 81% reduction of squeegee-related incidents, according to the mayor’s office. It included efforts to link Baltimore youth to workforce development and education programs. 

Running against Scott is Baltimore businessman Bob Wallace, who ran and lost to the mayor in 2020. Wallace said the collaboration was a “good idea, poorly executed.” He’s not keen on “rewarding bad behavior.” 

Former mayor Sheila Dixon, hoping to unseat Scott next week, also worried that the program did not achieve its goals. 

Wendy Bozel, an Upper Fells Point resident and Baltimore City school teacher also running for mayor, called the squeegee workers issue a “social services issue,” noting that in the school system teachers and staff  are trained to report when young people are asking for money to social services. If elected, she’d look to direct squeegee workers to Baltimore workforce programs to get at the root cause of the issue: money. 

Youth programming and opportunities

Beyond the street corners, young people need recreational, employment and educational activities, and those running for the city’s top post believe their vision for Baltimore’s youth will create the most opportunities for them.

“Sometimes I get criticized for the amount of time I spend with our young people, and it’s because I don’t want them to feel the way that I felt” growing up Scott said. A young Black man, he said, is often seen as a “boogeyman,” or blamed for what’s wrong with the city.

Scott touted his record on creating spaces for Baltimore’s youth, pointing to the opening and renovating of city recreation centers. 

“We have five under construction right now in the city of Baltimore,” Scott said, pointing to the current and underway projects at the department. “But it’s not just about that we’re building the buildings, it’s the programming.”

The mayor said the Spring break and B’more Summer Fun programs were created with direct input from young people.

But Dixon, Scott’s top rival, said she is worried about low activity levels at the recreation centers. If elected, she’d look into how well the facilities are actually used. 

“Young people don’t want to just do sports,” she said. “Folks are like gaming; they like to produce videos or rap songs, so maybe we need to create a production studio in there [or] a gaming room.”

Dixon said that since she’s been out of government for many years – the former mayor served from 2007 until 2010 when she left office as part of a plea deal on a perjury charge amid a corruption scandal – she’ll want to assess how every department including the Department of Recreation and Parks are doing and “improve upon our professionalism.”

“I’m gonna go through every department; I’ve got to talk to every employee,” she said. “’I’m gonna go to every rec center and talk to families as well as talk to staff to figure out what we need to do.”

Dixon wants to work with a private company to create a program that would encourage youth to collect recycling and exchange cans and bottles for money. That idea, Dixon contends, would also help with keeping the streets clean. She’d like to explore a program that pays Baltimore youth to work with younger children inside the department as well. 

“Most young people today want money, more so than going to a rec center,” she said. 

Bozel would like to reinvigorate the Police Athletic League (PAL) in the city as an “opportunity for kids to play sports, to get help with their homework, from 4 to 8 pm.” 

She also thinks a reinvigorated PAL program would help drive Baltimoreans to enroll in the police academy, helping to address a police staffing shortage plaguing the city for the several years. 

Bozel agrees that youth are eyeing cash. She’d like Baltimore schools to mirror a program in Florida, releasing students in the afternoon to work, participate in an internship, or take college-level courses after completing their core curriculum in the morning hours. 

Wallace said the city needs to address the economic trauma experienced by families across the city, until those needs are met, issues like squeegeeing “will always persist.”

Wallace wants to “tear apart the budget” to find more money for youth recreation activities. He’d also like extended hours for Baltimore City schools so young people have places to be before and after the school day.  

“I have to believe that there’s funding that we are currently targeting and in other places that we could possibly move to to deal with this issue,” Wallace said. 

Wallace would eye “community tech centers” and other places dubbed “safe zones” for young people to participate in activities but also receive wrap-around services. 

Baltimore Fishbowl’s 2024 mayoral candidates issues coverage includes candidates with an active campaign website and who are receiving contributions into their campaign accounts. Among Democrats, Scott, Dixon, Wallace and Bozel meet those criteria. Previous On The Issues coverage included former city, state and federal prosecutor Thiru Vignarajah, who dropped out of the race earlier this month.

Full mayoral campaign issues coverage:

Mayoral candidates on bicycle transportation

Mayoral candidates on supporting art

Mayoral candidates on the environment

Mayoral candidates on vacant properties

Mayoral candidates on recycling, trash collection and public works

Mayoral candidates on graffiti, dumping and cleanliness

Mayoral candidates on jobs and the economy

Mayoral candidates on large development projects and special tax treatment

Mayoral candidates on squeegee workers and youth recreation

Mayoral candidates on crime and public safety