Task force proposed to fix struggling housing program

City Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young and Councilman Bill Henry are calling for the creation of a task force aimed at fixing Baltimore’s struggling housing program. In 2007, city officials enacted an Inclusionary Housing Program to address a lack of quality affordable housing. But eight years later, only 32 affordable units have been constructed, city officials said. Young and Henry are proposing a 13-member panel to review the program and propose legislation to improve it. The panel will include the housing commissioner, president of the Baltimore Development Corp., chair of the city’s inclusionary housing board, a representative of the Public Justice Center, and two community members, among others. “I feel we need to get a task force back together to make sure the developers are putting some money in,” Young said. “It’s not meeting the goals. We have to give developers a lot of subsidies to do it. Those days are over. They have to put skin in the game.”

Baltimore police identify three homicide victims

Baltimore police have identified three people who have been killed in the city this week. Brian Tchiyuka, 46, of Ellicott City died after being found with a gunshot wound to his head about 2 a.m. Monday in the 2400 block of Guilford Ave. in Barclay. Police offered no further information about that shooting. Police also identified two people killed Sunday: 33-year-old Michael Harris, who was fatally shot in the 2600 block of Boone Street in Better Waverly, and 34year-old Heather Carlton, who was fatally shot in the 1900 block of Wilhelm Street in Carrollton Ridge.