Speaker 1: It is Bloomberg BusinessWeek Daily. We love checking in with mayors.
Speaker 1: They're the ones on the ground in cities and towns
Speaker 1: across the country. They're the ones who are making the
Speaker 1: decisions that affect the lives of people in their communities,
Speaker 1: and they hear from people in their communities when they're
Speaker 1: just walking down the street. Mayor Brandon Scott of Baltimore
Speaker 1: is one of those mayors, and he joins us now
Speaker 1: in the Bloomberg Interactive Brokers studio. We should note that
Speaker 1: the city has received money from Bloomberg Philanthropies. It is
Speaker 1: the philanthropic arm of Bloomberg Elipy, the parent company of
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Radio. Mayor, welcome to the program. Re elected in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four, you've been mayor since twenty twenty. I
Speaker 1: want to start with the government shutdown, because you are
Speaker 1: pretty close to Washington, DC. You've got some folks in
Speaker 1: your community who certainly work there and obviously benefit from
Speaker 1: people working in the government. The President making comments earlier
Speaker 1: today that we can expect layoff details in four to
Speaker 1: five days. How's the shutdown affecting your constituents right now?
Speaker 2: Well, there's a lot of my constituents on uneasy right
Speaker 2: when you're thinking about over twelve thousand Baltimore we're in
Speaker 2: work for the federal government, either directly or on contract.
Speaker 2: And then when you think about what that's going to
Speaker 2: mean for them and their families, they're just not at
Speaker 2: ease right now. And folks want to go to work.
Speaker 2: They want their government to be working. And of course
Speaker 2: then all our ratherdents who depend on programming and things
Speaker 2: that are just going to be out there that may
Speaker 2: not be having a direct impact as if yet father
Speaker 2: shut down, but as it continues and goes on, it
Speaker 2: would be.
Speaker 3: What do you consider what do you consider your biggest
Speaker 3: problem in running the city? I mean Baltimore. You know
Speaker 3: we report about it a lot. It is the fourth
Speaker 3: most dangerous according to US News and World Report the summer,
Speaker 3: ranking Baltimore the fourth most dangerous city in the country
Speaker 3: behind Memphis, Oakland, and Saint Louis based on FBI data.
Speaker 3: They look at property crime, they look at murders per capita.
Speaker 3: But what are you as mayor. I'm sure there's a
Speaker 3: lot that's on your plate. What's top of mind?
Speaker 4: Well, listen, violence is always top of mi us.
Speaker 2: The reason why I got into office and we understand
Speaker 2: that we have a long way to go. But I
Speaker 2: know you guys know here Bloomberg the many years that
Speaker 2: we were number one on that list, and as you
Speaker 2: and I are talking today, I think it's the mode
Speaker 2: and the talversation around Baltimore and violence has shifted significantly.
Speaker 2: We have the fewest amount of homicide through any October
Speaker 2: seventh on record today. That is a big change. When
Speaker 2: I said twenty twenty one, laying out our Comperhenceive Violence
Speaker 2: Prevention plan, that we were going to reduce homicide by
Speaker 2: fifteen percent from one year to the next, people literally laughed.
Speaker 2: Right now, it's down thirty percent from last year, and
Speaker 2: last year was a record reduction for us.
Speaker 4: We're going to continue that.
Speaker 3: How did you do it?
Speaker 2: We did it throughout our conference's plan, which is which
Speaker 2: is a bunch of things. One first and foremost, we
Speaker 2: go and we identify those who are most likely to
Speaker 2: be the victim of perpetrator of gun violence, and we
Speaker 2: focus on them. We give them opportunities to change their life,
Speaker 2: and if not, we remove them via law enforcement.
Speaker 4: And that's how we're driving down violence.
Speaker 2: We're focusing on guns and the flow of guns into
Speaker 2: our city, going at the gun traffickers, those who are
Speaker 2: using guns, arresting them at my direction with the police department,
Speaker 2: turning them over to to our state's attorney and our
Speaker 2: Attorney General. We have historical levels of investment into community
Speaker 2: violence intervention where we have people who used to be
Speaker 2: on the other side of the law going out and
Speaker 2: preventing conflicts from escalating into violence.
Speaker 4: All of it. We're going after gun manufacture.
Speaker 3: People who understand where the problem the problem is. If
Speaker 3: you're pulling them in to help you, they.
Speaker 4: Were the problem and now they're part of the solution,
Speaker 4: and what better way to do that?
Speaker 3: Get us people to do that.
Speaker 2: Well easy first and foremost, many people who have made
Speaker 2: that mistake don't want people coming behind them to make
Speaker 2: that and they know that we're growing this network of
Speaker 2: community violence intervention workers in our city. So the word
Speaker 2: is out that we want to give people a second
Speaker 2: chance to be a part of solving a problem that
Speaker 2: they once were causing.
Speaker 1: The city, though in the crosshairs of the President he
Speaker 1: called it a hellhole. Last month, you and Governor Wes
Speaker 1: Moore said that law enforcement from the state will patrol
Speaker 1: some areas.
Speaker 2: Has that begun, Yeah, that's begun, and that's the governor
Speaker 2: is actually restarting something that was ended by his predecessor.
Speaker 4: Think about it like this.
Speaker 2: You would not find any other state police department in
Speaker 2: any state in this country not operating at all in
Speaker 2: it only major city that's Baltimore City was the only
Speaker 2: jurisdiction in Maryland that a Maryland state police did not
Speaker 2: operate in the governor's restarting that, we're grateful for that
Speaker 2: support and to continue that work.
Speaker 1: Are you open to the President sending National Guard troops to.
Speaker 4: This We've been very clear about that. Why we know
Speaker 4: how to reduce violence in Baltimore.
Speaker 2: We have reduced violence to its lowest levels ever recorded
Speaker 2: on record, even lower than the president's first term. The
Speaker 2: way that we have done it in partnership with our community,
Speaker 2: with our police department, with our station attorney Ourtorney General,
Speaker 2: and our federal law enforcement partners who work.
Speaker 4: Beside us each and every day. That's how we should
Speaker 4: continue that work.
Speaker 2: If the President wants to help us, he should restore
Speaker 2: grants and funding that was cut to organizations that helping that.
Speaker 2: Restore grants, I mean funding cut from those law enforcement agencies.
Speaker 2: This president has had the biggest of reduction in funding
Speaker 2: for federal law enforment agencies.
Speaker 4: They should be restored.
Speaker 3: What funding are you not getting?
Speaker 4: So for us, we have.
Speaker 2: Not been directly impacted as of yet. It's our partner
Speaker 2: organizations like for example, a Life Bridge helps them runs
Speaker 2: the Center for Hope that's a part of our CVI
Speaker 2: network that has programming around CBI's community violence intervention. They's
Speaker 2: lost a five hundred thousand dollars grant. The same thing
Speaker 2: for living classrooms. That's big work that is going to
Speaker 2: be not happening, whether it be a hospital based response,
Speaker 2: our community based responders. We need a victim assistance for
Speaker 2: young people, getting those young people the services they need
Speaker 2: that helps to drivent violence as well.
Speaker 1: What will you do though, if the President sends troops, well, listen.
Speaker 2: Will be prepared to take whatever action that we can,
Speaker 2: be it legal, others, alongside our governor and our team,
Speaker 2: based on when, what and how the President does something
Speaker 2: if he does anything. But what we hope the President
Speaker 2: does is to continue to support those agents that are
Speaker 2: already working in our city and let them do their
Speaker 2: work and lit the law enforcement partnership that is driven
Speaker 2: us results this far.
Speaker 4: Carrious all the way.
Speaker 1: But even though crime has improved, even though you shared
Speaker 1: statistics that show they're the best that they've ever been.
Speaker 1: Like Carol mentioned, your city is still on a list
Speaker 1: that you don't want to be on. So I say
Speaker 1: to people out there who are saying, well, I would
Speaker 1: feel more comfortable if there were an increased law enforcement presence,
Speaker 1: and that could include federal trips.
Speaker 2: Well, we had the National Guard in Baltimore in twenty
Speaker 2: fifteen following the unrested Freddie Gray.
Speaker 4: It's one of the most violent years ever. It didn't help. Right,
Speaker 4: We have to remember this is not what those folks
Speaker 4: signed up to do.
Speaker 2: Allow those folks who sign up to go after a gun, traffickers, murderers, robbers,
Speaker 2: car jackins to do their work and allow the other
Speaker 2: people to do their work. And listen, there are other lists,
Speaker 2: you know, there are many of these lists. We were
Speaker 2: on some list, on some list we weren't on. Aw
Speaker 2: the list that we want to be on is the
Speaker 2: list of who has the largest reductions. And you will
Speaker 2: be hard pressed to find a city in this country
Speaker 2: that's had a sustainable, long term reduction like Baltimore's had.
Speaker 2: From a September of twenty twenty two. I mean it's
Speaker 2: twenty twenty three until now.
Speaker 3: What do you see as what's wrong with politics today?
Speaker 3: What do you think is wrong with what some say
Speaker 3: is the Democratic Party not very clear in its mission
Speaker 3: and kind of stepping.
Speaker 4: Up, well, very simply, I think that, And I ask.
Speaker 3: You because I think there's a lot of forgive me,
Speaker 3: but there's a lot of folks who think there are
Speaker 3: politicians who become career politicians and things haven't changed and
Speaker 3: we need some change.
Speaker 2: Well, I think that what folks have to understand is
Speaker 2: that for me, and I say this about the Democratic
Speaker 2: Party all the time, more recently, they have to let
Speaker 2: the folks that are closest to the problem be outfront
Speaker 2: and part of the solution, meaning they need to listen
Speaker 2: to mayors. The mayors are the ones that have to
Speaker 2: solve the problems. The mayors are the ones that have
Speaker 2: to meet the people in the grocery store. And we've
Speaker 2: proven in city after city at the city we know
Speaker 2: how to drive down crime, and you have.
Speaker 4: To talk to people where they are.
Speaker 2: We have to get out of being up in the
Speaker 2: sky with pie and the sky talk to people in
Speaker 2: real sense, real things that impact them and explain to
Speaker 2: them how these things are going to make their communities better.
Speaker 3: How long do you want to be mayor?
Speaker 2: I want to be mayor for as long as the
Speaker 2: residence of Baltimore will have me. This will be my
Speaker 2: second term.
Speaker 4: Believe it or not.
Speaker 2: I've been an elected office since twenty eleven, and this
Speaker 2: is I've been in city hall since two thousand and seven.
Speaker 4: But you're a young man right now, Yes, a young man.
Speaker 4: I'll be forty two on my birthday. But this is
Speaker 4: about making my city better.
Speaker 2: I got into this service because I saw someone get
Speaker 2: shot at seven years old and no one care and
Speaker 2: wanting to drive down that violence, to have vacant housing.
Speaker 2: Be it as lowest point in my lifetime in Baltimore.
Speaker 2: Something we're proud of, but we're not celebrating.
Speaker 4: We have a lot of work to do and we're
Speaker 4: going to do it.
Speaker 3: The reason I go back there is I do think
Speaker 3: we talked about this in media that there isn't a
Speaker 3: lot of you know, local publications anymore. A lot of
Speaker 3: newspapers have shut down, and so we get kind of
Speaker 3: the high in the Yeah, we don't need that, we
Speaker 3: get that view, but we don't It's why we love
Speaker 3: talking to mayors. But often people are mayors and then
Speaker 3: they move up and they go to governor and then
Speaker 3: they go to Congress and stuff. So I'm just curious,
Speaker 3: how long do you want to stay on that loco?
Speaker 4: Yeah, well, everyone knows the endgame.
Speaker 2: Everyone knows I don't want to be governor, and everyone
Speaker 2: in Baltimore knows that I will be quite okay if
Speaker 2: being the mayor of Baltimore is the last elected office
Speaker 2: I've had.
Speaker 4: This is my dream job as a child.
Speaker 2: I will hold it as long as the residents of
Speaker 2: Baltimore will allow me to do so, as long as
Speaker 2: I'm living within term limits.
Speaker 1: Before we let you go because you have a train
Speaker 1: to catch to get home, Yes, and we want to
Speaker 1: be respectful of your time. The attracting and retaining business
Speaker 1: to the city, we know that's a economic development, is
Speaker 1: a way to improve cities. What are you doing right
Speaker 1: now to say Baltimore is open for business? Yeah?
Speaker 4: I think that way.
Speaker 2: We have to understand we had four billion dollars of
Speaker 2: investment into Baltimore. We have seven billion dollars investment coming
Speaker 2: too downtown Baltimore, whether it's t ro Price's new headquarters.
Speaker 2: So under Armer's new headquarters, everyone knows throughout Downtown Rise
Speaker 2: Plan we are open for business in the City of Baltimore,
Speaker 2: re forming our permit process and reforming our zoning code,
Speaker 2: all the things that we need to do to help
Speaker 2: grow business in Baltimore, especially in the tech and life
Speaker 2: science industry that is taken off out of Hopkins and
Speaker 2: out of the University of Maryland, putting a lot of
Speaker 2: money and a lot of tech businesses out into the EFILM.
Speaker 3: Any signs that we're headed towards a recession.
Speaker 4: Well, we'll see.
Speaker 2: We know that with terrorists and all the other things going,
Speaker 2: we just have to all be mindful of what's happening
Speaker 2: and prepare as we're doing our budgets. I've been talking
Speaker 2: to my brother and sister mayors to make sure that
Speaker 2: we're being responsible right now because we do not know
Speaker 2: yet what is to come.
Speaker 3: So appreciate it.
Speaker 4: Go for your train, yes, ma'am, thank you very much.
Speaker 1: He's running for that train.
Speaker 3: Well, well, be safe. Brendan Scott, the Baltimore Mayor, joining
Speaker 3: us here in our interactive broker's studio. As Tim mentioned earlier,
Speaker 3: that city has definitely received money from Bloomberg Philanthropies, which
Speaker 3: is of course owned by Michael R. Bloomberg, founder, A
Speaker 3: Bloomberg LP, and Bloomberg Philanthropies