Seeking alternatives for squeegee workers

Community members meet to consider potential options

Investing in Black-owned businesses, incorporating job training into schools and establishing trauma-informed services — those were just some of the solutions community members proposed to serve Baltimore’s squeegee workers.

At least 100 community members gathered Tuesday night at New Shiloh Baptist Church in West Baltimore, hoping to find new ways to tackle the decades-old problem of kids and young adults hustling for money by washing windows at busy intersections.

The community conversation was hosted by the Squeegee Collaborative, launched July 14 by Mayor Brandon Scott. The Squeegee Collaborative is a “cross-section of young people who squeegee, business, community, nonprofit and government stakeholders that will work together to reimagine the city’s comprehensive squeegee strategy,” according to the collaborative’s website.

The perennial problem was brought to a head July 7, when Timothy Reynolds was shot to death after confronting a group of squeegee workers with a baseball bat in downtown Baltimore. A teenager who was 14 the day of the fatal shooting was indicted on one count of first-degree murder.

The collaborative is led by co-chairs Joe Jones, CEO and founder of the Center for Urban Families, and John Brothers, president of the T. Rowe Price Foundation. The group has been meeting weekly in private since July. On Tuesday the conversation was broadened to include any members of the public who wished to give input on how the city addresses squeegee workers moving forward.

The split within the community was exemplified before the meeting began. Outside, a protester named Kenny Ebron questioned Jones, asking why there was a conversation on squeegee workers rather than the rate of homicides in the city.

Ebron refused Jones’ invitation to attend the meeting, insisting that members of the media should be allowed to record inside.

While all members of the public were welcome to attend the conversation, recording and photography were prohibited. Jones said young residents had expressed an interest in attending and speaking only if they were not recorded.

Davion Hodges, 22, is a former squeegee worker. He graduated from high school in February and is on track to graduate from welding school.

Hodges said there are multiple reasons young people might decide to clean windshields on corners, including keeping their families under one roof when someone can’t make rent.

“It’s difficult to be young and carry an older person’s responsibility,” Hodges said. “It’s not fair. It’s not.”

He cited the money and independence squeegeeing affords as positives. On the flip side, Hodges had to deal with police intervention, having racial slurs spat at him and getting things thrown at him while working.

Barriers to alternative lines of work include issues such as transportation. Hodges said people would have to catch buses that take hours to get to other jobs.

Kavin Watterson, 23, said squeegee workers just need activities to get them motivated.

“They dying out here. We’re killing each other. It’s sad, it’s sad. That’s why most of us on the squeegee block: to motivate the younger ones,” Watterson said to applause, including a partial standing ovation.

“To keep them out of trouble, they can take my spot.”

The Squeegee Collaborative is set to present a list of recommendations to Scott in the next few weeks, or “by fall,” said Monica Lewis, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office.

“Now what we have to do [is] to take this collection of ideas, thoughts, and begin to organize them in a way that we then can suggest here is a path forward, alternatives to squeegeeing, by making sure that public safety is also met,” Jones said.

Ebony Thompson, the deputy city solicitor, said the mayor’s office will not be pursuing a plan akin to “clearing the streets” of squeegee workers and panhandlers, emphasizing that solicitation and panhandling are protected under the First Amendment.

She said the office will consider enforcement measures, such as designating certain corners for squeegeeing.

Lewis said that while other administrations have pursued solutions in the past, the collaborative is different because of the number of voices it’s brought to the table.

“We believe in years past you had administrations who were interested in seeing what can be done, but I don’t know if there was a wide net over different groups to opine on what’s going on,” Lewis said. “Rather than us all talking about what can be done to support youth who squeegee, it’s good to have youth who squeegee, or youth that have squeegeed, be a part of the conversation so that they can share what’s on their heart, what’s on their minds and what we can do to help them.”