Hogan has hurt Baltimore

While people are looking for the billions of dollars that the president alleges that Baltimore has wasted, Gov. Larry Hogan steps into the racist debate by claiming that Rep. Elijah Cummings “could do more to help” Baltimore (“Maryland Gov. Hogan tells national audience Rep. Elijah Cummings ‘could do more to help’ Baltimore,” Aug. 1).

It was Mr. Hogan who refused $900 million in approved federal money and wasted more than $200 million in state money actually spent on design, when he arbitrarily shut down plans for the Red Line transit project, which would have served Baltimore city and county. In June 2015, when Mr. Hogan made that devastating decision, Dan Rodricks explained that the Red Line “would have created jobs during construction and better connected people to jobs after that. In fact, Mr. Hogan killed the Red Line just two weeks after the Baltimore Metropolitan Council’s ‘opportunity collaborative’ pointed out the profound need for public transportation to address the economic disparities that surfaced for the whole world to see.”

When Republicans, including the president and governor attack the Democrats for the difficulties facing our cities, they point out that many of these cities are led by African American mayors and congressional representatives. What they fail to address is the devastating impact of Republican fiscal policies on the ability of those cities to address basic necessities. The multicultural Marylanders, including Congressman Cummings, who fought to get the highly competitive $900 million in federal money for the Red Line were doing all they could to help Baltimore City. In minimizing the work that Mr. Cummings has undertaken for his constituents in Baltimore and surrounding counties, Mr. Hogan is speaking with the arrogance of a governor who decided he did not need the votes coming from those constituents.

The City Paper’s headline following the Red Line announcement was succinct and accurate “Hogan to City: Drop Dead.” At that time, Mr. Hogan promised that he would assist Baltimore in other ways. Those ways have not materialized. Mr. Hogan does not even see the irony of his proclamation that he will be promoting a nationwide “Infrastructure: Foundation for Success,” focusing on state-led projects to repair and improve infrastructure to “grow the economy, create jobs and meet the needs of the 21st century,” while Baltimore’s city streets continue to crumble. The City Paper’s headline remains an accurate representation of Hogan’s actions toward Baltimore.

Janet Bush Handy, Bel Air