Rolley unveils plan to 'rebuild' city government
Mayoral candidate Otis Rolley is slated Wednesday to release his plan to "rebuild" city government by cutting high-ranking staffers, requiring new or promoted municipal workers to live in Baltimore and performing random anonymous checks of city services.
Rolley says he wants to "increase... the public's faith in how government makes decisions" by forcing disclosures of contributions from contractors and subcontractors and barring major donors from receiving no-bid contracts or participating in powerful boards.
"If you’re serious about a open and transparent government and if you're truly respectful of the citizens as your customers and your bosses then you do things differently," Rolley said in an interview.
Rolley, who served as the city's planning director under then-Mayor Martin O'Malley for four years and as former Mayor Sheila Dixon's chief of staff for one year, plans to present his plan tomorrow afternoon at his campaign headquarters in Hampden.
In the seven-page proposal, Rolley says he would eliminate the two deputy mayor positions, which currently have a salaries over $100,000.
"The mayor needs to hire competent, qualified courageous [agency heads] and deal with them directly," he said.
Rolley said he would require more detailed disclosures from lobbyists working in the city and require contractors and subcontractors bidding for city work to disclose all political donations. He would also prevent companies that donate more than $10,000 to receive no-bid city contracts.
"I want to be sure there isn't the illusion or even the appearance of someone being able to buy business with the city," he said.
Rolley would also require the city to seek competitive bids for all non-emergency contracts larger than $25,000 -- limiting "sole source" contracts -- which he said would provide more opportunities for minority- and women-owned businesses.
He would also employ "secret testers" of city services, similar to secret shoppers.
"When you're paying the highest tax rate in the state, I think its appropriate... to raise the bar," said Rolley.
Rawlings-Blake's campaign manager, declined to respond to the specifics of Rolley's proposal.
"Mr. Rolley who served as Sheila Dixon's chief of staff is a latecomer to ethics reform.," said campaign manager Travis Tazelaar, reading from a prepared statement. "This mayor has led the way since her first day in office as Baltimore's mayor 15 months ago."
Rolley said that he made the planning office more efficient while he was at its helm, eliminating management positions, among other initiatives. And he says that he was limited in his power to reform government in his role as chief of staff.
"There's a difference between implementing my agenda and implementing someone else's agenda," he said. "What you have in front of you is my agenda."
Comments
I >>LOVE<< the idea of "secret shoppers" of city services. City employees should know that the quality of their work is being monitored and that their jobs are about providing customer (taxpayer) satisfaction. This is a brilliant, simple idea! Bravo, Otis!
Posted by: Aaron Meisner | May 18, 2011 12:59 PM
Can a pdf of the plan be added here, or somewhere on The Sun?
Posted by: Daniel Ewald | May 18, 2011 1:50 PM
Sounds like a plan Otis! But we have heard enough on what the left considers "transparency" and it is getting hard to beLIEve anything they say.
Now you can tell why people are skeptical.Univ.
"Obama Official Refuses to Disclose Information About Executive Order on Transparency"
Posted by: Anonymous | May 18, 2011 3:57 PM
While Rolley has a vision for Baltimore, SRB plays a shell game with tax dollars.
Posted by: Tomato Head | May 18, 2011 4:19 PM
sounds like a plan, lets lower taxes and bring more people who work into town.
Posted by: allen | May 18, 2011 4:26 PM
I'm with you, Sounds like a good layout. We have to get rid of Acting Mayor SRB by not re-electing her excuse me electing her to a real term.
Posted by: Johnny Angel | May 18, 2011 5:18 PM
Free Baltimore from the puppet-SRb-and the puppetmaster-MOM- ASAP!
Lower property taxes.
Charm City needs real change.
Otis Rolley has my vote.
Posted by: john | May 18, 2011 5:46 PM
Step 1: Explain the "balancing a checkbook" thing to them.
Step 2: Pay them what they are actually worth.
Step 3: Keep employees who can actually help change Baltimore City from a drug-infested crime sewer into a place where people want to live and businesses want to open.
Step 4: Teach personal responsibility to everyone who receives welfare...okay...okay...you can all laugh now.
Posted by: HarlanR | May 18, 2011 5:56 PM
This guy has my vote, after reading his agenda and looking back on what's been written about him in the past. You can't blame him for Sheila Dixon's shortcomings. If anything, seeing how that turned out, plus seeing how largely ineffective SRB has been, it probably makes him more pro-active to stop these things in the future. I see this guy as our best chance at a transformative mayor who will think outside the box and make people proud of their mayor again. I don't need to agree with him on everything to see that he is better than our other options.
Posted by: chappy10 | May 18, 2011 11:07 PM
Rolley was a joke when he was in charge of the Planning Department. He wanted to build skyscrapers in Canton and Mount Vernon during the housing bubble that would be belly-up now. And he was Sheila Dixon's transitional chief of staff -- 'nuff said on his ethics.
Posted by: Jason | May 18, 2011 11:23 PM
Jason, I'm curious as to which skyscraper(s) Rolley pushed for Mt. Vernon?
Posted by: Anon | May 18, 2011 11:59 PM
The interim mayor is an educated, intelligent individual. And she is to be commended for the many years she has served in elected office. She is not, however, the type of leader that Baltimore needs in order to progress and finally realize its full potential. This city needs leadership that is innovative, creative, strategic and driven to move us forward in the areas that matter most - economic development, education and public safety to name a few.
I am beyond appalled by the lack of vision, the mediocrity, and the "doing just enough to get by" (and get over on voters) attitude that is so pervasive among the current de facto administration. I also hear too many rumors about how SRB is part of the political machine and she's just biding her time until she becomes judge. I refuse to spend another 4-8 years in a city where so-called public servants are allowed to coast along, play the game and get what they want for themselves, while neglecting the responsibilities of the office to which they were elected. I support Otis, over and above SRB and the other non-factors that think it's ok to throw their hat in the ring just because it's an election year. Otis represents the kind of leadership and commitment that Baltimore needs from its Mayor.
Posted by: Angela | May 19, 2011 12:01 AM
Anon -- he wanted to allow developers to build up to 230 feet for almost any property in Mt. Vernon. It's amazing how people forget things like this-- I'd be curious about how much of his money is coming from these developers. http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2005-06-28/news/0506280232_1_mount-vernon-washington-monument-height-restrictions
Posted by: Jason | May 19, 2011 8:32 AM
OK, so it was more about the height allowances, per se, than any particular high rise project. I do remember the City pushing for taller, but it was 200 ft? Too tall, but not absurd.
Posted by: Anon | May 19, 2011 10:35 AM
@ Jason, the developers are backing the current Mayor, her last two fundraisers were thrown by them. The first one was by Turner himself and the second had a slew of developers on the host list (http://hnseek.com/images/mailer08/710.jpg).
I am not saying that this guy is going to save this city, but his plan is a good start to implementing standards that make sense. I understand the concern with what happened with the height restrictions, however, this is how progress works. One side comes to the table with one angle the other comes to the table with another and then when everyone starts working together to come to an agreeable conclusion. I have read his whole plan and recommend that everyone do so as well: http://files.www.otisrolley.com/news/otis-details-plan-to-rebuild-baltimore-s-broken-government/Rebuilding_Government.pdf
Based on what I see the man has my vote. This is the first time I have ever seen a Mayor/Mayoral Candidate do this. I am actually inspired. He has my vote thus far...
Posted by: Deb G | May 19, 2011 9:23 PM