Investing in Local Communities

Martin O’Malley believes that strong communities are the fabric of our state and that government should do everything in its power to improve the quality of life, the education of children and the safety of our communities. Martin O’Malley’s unprecedented and immensely successful “Believe” campaign has transformed the way our communities tackle challenges such as drug addiction. As Mayor of Baltimore, O’Malley has invested in neighborhoods by rebuilding schools, cleaning up parks and attracting new businesses and homeowners. O’Malley’s focus on quality of life has made Baltimore a cleaner, safer, and healthier City. O’Malley knew that these early efforts would bring private investment and significantly improve the quality of life, making Baltimore a better place to raise a child.

• Martin O’Malley has nearly ended Baltimore’s five decade population decline while increasing home values, doubling the population of people living downtown and ensuring current residents are not displaced.

• Martin O’Malley’s has reduced violent crime in our communities by nearly 40% – leading the nation since 1999 – through his smarter policing and proven crime-fighting techniques as the Comstat tracking computer program, the addition of new policing operations and the decision to place security cameras in high-crime areas.

• Martin O’Malley has worked hard to invest in local communities. Since taking office, he has recruited 18 new or expanded grocery stores and built 85 new or renovated playgrounds for the City’s children.

• Martin O’Malley’s innovative “Main Street” program to revitalize struggling businesses has produced $60 million of private investment; opened 234 new businesses; created 571 new full-time jobs and 299 new part-time jobs and funded 291 facade improvement projects.

• Martin O’Malley’s innovative “Believe” campaign to curb drug abuse has resulted in 4,000 additional people seeking drug treatment through the Baltimore Substance Abuse System; a three-fold increase in participation in area youth mentoring program; and a six-hour telethon led to 1,200 people expressing interest in helping their neighbors through the “Believe” campaign.

• Martin O’Malley’s Office of Neighborhoods is specifically charged with the mission “to ensure that city government is an effective partner with communities in improving the quality of life in neighborhoods through government and community partnerships.” It was awarded the 2005 National Association of Counties’ (NACO) Multicultural Diversity Award for extraordinary outreach to ethnic communities.