Baltimore shouldn’t give away conduits like it gave away what is now Johns Hopkins Bayview

As Baltimore City ponders how best to sustain one of it’s widely perceived assets in the underground conduit system, let’s not forget what transpired years ago when an unrealized municipal asset was seen as a significant burden (“Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott pushes forward conduit agreement vote, circumventing members who sat out meeting,” Feb. 15).

It was 1984, or thereabouts. A parcel of significant acreage, containing a diversity of institutions collectively known as Baltimore City Hospitals was seen as a significant hazard for the city due to continuing operating losses. The city had little clue on how to operate the campus and its long-standing public hospital. William Donald Schaefer saw this clearly and made a grand and quick deal. It was a giveaway sweetheart deal that had a $10 million guarantee against losses for the new receiver of this 130-acre gift, The Johns Hopkins Hospital and The Johns Hopkins University.

The rest is the history of Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center.

Was it a win-win as it had been promoted? Some would say categorically yes, but others say perhaps Baltimore was sold short. All corporations seeking to control assets do so because it satisfies their fundamental drive for growth. It’s the same regardless of the corporation’s tax status (whether for-profit or not-for-profit). The real challenge with any public asset is how to sustain (if not build) on services that are needed by all efficiently. Governments don’t do this well and corporations increasingly serve themselves and not necessarily direct public good — just look at the status of health care today. In a system where there’s no market control for costs, we are all now medically indigent and form fodder (and profit) for corporate medical debt collection.

The provocative analogy of utility conduit with health care may not be valid for a whole range of reasons. But then, as we consider who controls the flow of information as a public asset and ask who benefits, the comparison may be spot on.