By Megan Sayles
AFRO Staff Writer
msayles@afro.com
Baltimore City council members and residents gathered at Coppin State University on March 25 discuss changes to the Baltimore City Charter, the foundational document that determines the city’s structure, powers and functions. Council President Zeke Cohen created the Charter Review Special Committee November 2025 with the goal of modernizing and enhancing the efficiency and transparency of city government.
Since then, the committee has been collecting suggestions for amendments to the charter, with a focus on those that could be drafted and placed on the 2026 ballot.
“I’m still learning a tremendous amount of new things about the city charter, but more importantly, I want to hear what you think about it and how you feel like it will impact your life,” said Councilman Jermaine Jones (D-12), member of the review committee. “I don’t take lightly the opportunity of reviewing the city charter. While we’re doing that, I want to make sure on the back-end that it’s going to become a document you all feel like addresses your needs and your concerns.”
Some of the charter changes the special committee is already considering include: requiring the Board of Estimates to submit its budget to the City Council one month earlier, allowing the council to attach conditions to releases of funds for city agencies and removing the requirement for city contracts to be awarded to the lowest bidder.
Jones said the charter change positioned to have the greatest impact on residents’ daily lives is eliminating lowest-bid contracting in city procurement.
“Oftentimes, there’s other things we would like to consider besides who has the lowest bid, such as who’s hiring Baltimore City residents or who has apprenticeship programs so we can get new residents jobs,” said Jones. “We aren’t necessarily able to use these things as determining factors when selecting contracts.”
Jones thinks the current procurement process favors the cheapest bid, even if it’s not the best choice for the city or residents.
“Every Wednesday, there’s hundreds of contracts that go out. This won’t be a change that will only affect the government on that one time of year—when we pass the budget,” said Jones. “Every single Wednesday this will essentially have an effect, which I think will ultimately be in the best interest of residents.”
Pamela Green, Southwest Baltimore resident, said she supported sending the budget to the City Council earlier.
“If it sits for 30 days, that’s 30 days wasted,” said Green. “You have to be fair. They need time to look at it.”
Though she agreed with the proposed change regarding when council members receive the budget, she still raised questions about the community engagement surrounding the special committee created to determine changes to Baltimore City’s charter. Green expressed concerns that residents may not fully grasp the charter’s complexities, making it difficult to weigh in on potential changes.
“They want to push these four or five issues, and they need to show that they talked to the public,” said Green. “This is my first time.”
The Charter Review Special Committee is continuing to gather input from the community. The next meetings will take place virtually on April 8 and in-person on April 14 at Freedom Temple Church in South Baltimore.
