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Animanialmanac t1_ir5wcy4 wrote

This is a good idea for people to learn more about the city and the council members.

I would rank Councilwoman Ramos and Councilman Burnett even higher if possible, 1+ or gold star. Both council members support residents in my area, respond to questions fast, even though we are in district 10 under Phylicia Porter.

I would rank John Bullock higher, 9 or 8. I have patients in his area, his constituent services are responsive, not always fast. He does a lot for the older, low income people in his area, he’s not visible on Twitter the way other council members are, he responds, fixes problems then moves on. I’ve worked in his area a lot in the last year, primarily with shooting victims. There is a lot of poverty and violence but he supports multiple resources for residents, youth programs, food pantries, employment programs.

I would rank Phylicia Porter much lower. I can’t speak to her specific voting record, she supports heavy industry truck traffic over residents, low wage jobs over living wage opportunities, commercial interests over resident health and the environment. Our area devolved in the last two years, no support for grassroots organizations, youth resources or events that bring neighborhoods together. No support for the small businesses that made our area unique. The feeling of the area changed, no new accessible businesses like retail or restaurants are coming here. We don’t event have neighborhood meetings anymore because people are worried they will be fined for stepping on toes. The only legislation I saw from her was the abortion fund for out of state patients, she never helps the many homeless women in our area who need access to reproductive health services, that legislation seemed more for publicity than to help people who need help now. Constituent services is very bad, I lived here for decades with Eddie Reisinger, I never thought someone could be worse at constituent services but Porter is worse than Reisinger. I have six different 311 requests on my road that effect our quality of life here, no help for months. The block captains for my block and the next one over go directly to Mayor Scott now because they can’t get help from Porter’s office.

I would rank Robert Stokes lower if possible. I have patients in Robert Stokes area, his constituent services are nonexistent. I tried to get help for hoarder situations, elderly abuse, failure to maintain rehab facilities, never received a response from his office.

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LongjumpingShot OP t1_ir6lzqa wrote

Thanks for the feedback. I didn’t know phylicia’s constituents services was so bad.

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Animanialmanac t1_ir81nek wrote

You’re welcome. I’ve heard the services in Porter’s district depend on whether you’re part of her clique. A commenter from Pigtown mentioned the community association there thinks highly of her, but other Pigtown residents wrote she wasn’t responsive. I heard at the Violetville meetings that her friend has special DPW services cleaning the alley behind their home while the rest of the area is dirty.

My area has abandoned vehicles that have been here since last year, one is partially burned. Two large street trees fell earlier this year, neighbors cut the trunks so they didn’t block the road but the debris is still on the curb months later. Half the houses on my block are now empty, people moved out in the last year, one house has squatters who openly use and sell drugs, dump dirty furniture in the park, and break into the other vacant homes. We can’t get any help from Porter’s office or the police. My 311 requests are closed without anything happening, I’ve never received a response to an email or phone call to her office.

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Animanialmanac t1_is2el78 wrote

I’d like to update my ranking if I may. I took the day off to listen to the city council hearing on sewage overflows. Councilman Burnett asked so many good questions, he is really grounded on how the city agencies work and how they allocate money. I move Councilman Burnett to 1+ gold star along with Councilwoman Ramos.

Councilman Torrence was on the panel, he provided a heartfelt story of an elderly person in his area. I was impressed by his compassion and his questions to the agencies. I wasn’t aware of anything from Councilman Torrence before today, after listening to him I believe he may be very good for the future of the city.

Councilwoman McCray is very organized, I’d hire her as an office manager if I still had a busy practice. She kept the meeting timely. This is a valuable service the city needs, more efficiency.

Councilwoman Porter was on the panel, she is my council representative, she is never responsive to my requests, my neighbors’ requests, 311 requests. I heard rumors from people I trust, people I’ve known for years that Councilwoman Porter is only responsive to a small group of her friends in Pigtown and her campaign contributors. She never responded when houses in my neighborhood of Saint Agnes experienced this sewage flooding, 20 houses along three blocks were flooded with sewage, no response to anyone from the council office. I was shocked to hear a resident from Barry Circle speak about how helpful Councilwoman Porter was, even though this resident wasn’t sure if her flooding problem was eligible for the city reimbursement. When I looked up Barry Circle it is part of Pigtown, I’m sad to confirm my thoughts that Councilwoman Porter responds to her friends, neighbors in Pigtown, but not the rest of her district. Our little area got through these sewage flows with help from neighbors and former neighbors. We need someone in council who helps the whole district not just a small group of friends. I think Porter should be ranked below Councilman Torrence.

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LongjumpingShot OP t1_is86zf0 wrote

I’m hoping Torrence rebounds and climbs a few notches up the rank. He’s been out the game and is a rookie so there’s still time to develop. Not sure how effective anecdotals and narratives are in session. Mostly baltimore is seen as a city of complainers and that tone falls on deaf ears.

I’m hearing porter is suppose to be introducing some effective bills, I won’t hold my breathe. I think her friends in pigtown will be drafting for her or she’ll continue to co sponsored bills.

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Significant_Jump_21 t1_islyeva wrote

Porter is toxic for the communities. EXCEPT maybe Pigtown. She and her friends created a group to take down the community organizations in Violetville. Literally every group doing good in this area is gone. Every time I see a problem and call whatever group USED to handle it I hear the group is done because Porter and her Village of Violetville group trolled them. OR fined them. OR made it too hard to operate. The thrift store for the homeless-closed. Food pantry - closed. Community mediation - moved outside the city. Community defense referrals - gone. Community tool library - gone. I know the same happened in Wilhelm Park. Their entire community association folded. No one wanted to deal with her.

I hope someone ethical runs against her. The damage is already done in a lot of the neighborhoods. BUT a good person could fix it. Maybe.

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