Isaac "Yitzy" Schleifer
City Council District 5
About
Isaac “Yitzy” Schleifer is the Councilman for the 5th District of Baltimore City.
Councilman Schleifer is a lifelong resident of the 5th District and currently serving on the City Council since 2016. Councilman Schleifer is the Chair of the Rules and Legislative Oversight Committee and serves on both the Health, Environment, and Technology Committee and the Ways and Means Committee.
“The Lazarus Rite, Inc., a Baltimore-area nonprofit no longer operational, was awarded a $1.6 million Clean Corps contract when Mayor Brandon Scott first launched the pilot program designed to boost neighborhood cleanups. The funding came from the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, and the organization was given more than $414,000 as an advance.
The Baltimore City Office of Inspector General report originated from an employee or subcontractor of the nonprofit reporting they had not been paid for their services. The City of Baltimore, Department of Planning found the organization used ARPA funds to pay for salaries related to other business expenses. The city terminated the contract with Lazarus Rite.” ... See MoreSee Less
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Previous reporting: investigate Clean Corp nonprofit accused of misusing taxpayer dollars foxbaltimore.com/news/local/fox45-continues-to-investigate-clean-corp-nonprofit-accused-of-misusi...
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Wow!! Yitz its time!!!
If you only read one of my posts about this year’s budget, make it this one.
The most troubling piece of this budget is Service 922: Clean Corps, $3 million.
We were told this would be a temporary, two-year program funded with COVID relief dollars. The plan was to use it as a bridge program, then bring those workers into full time roles at DPW. Instead, we’re seeing 144 positions cut from the Baltimore City Department of Public Works, while this failed, wasteful program continues to be now funded with our general tax dollars.
Let’s be clear: this work should be done in house. Period. Not outsourced to outside groups siphoning off taxpayer money that should be going directly to our solid waste division.
This program was a red flag from day one. Why was a trash collection initiative placed under the City of Baltimore, Department of Planning instead of DPW? That alone should have raised alarms. Since then, it’s been widely reported that funds went missing, and yet the Baltimore Civic Fund, through which the money was routed, has refused even to attempt to recover those taxpayer dollars.
If we have $3 million to spend cleaning our neighborhoods, it should go to the hardworking men and women of DPW who do this work every single day, NOT to politically connected groups with little oversight.
For those unfamiliar, Clean Corps started as a $15 million “pilot” program. The administration selected outside organizations to receive funding, routing the funds through a third-party entity to avoid standard accountability measures, such as Board of Estimates approval. It began in 33 communities, expanded, shifted, and now limps along as a scaled-down version still benefiting a select few.
This isn’t innovation, it’s mismanagement and negligence. And taxpayers are footing the bill. ... See MoreSee Less
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investigate Clean Corp nonprofit accused of misusing taxpayer dollars foxbaltimore.com/news/local/fox45-continues-to-investigate-clean-corp-nonprofit-accused-of-misusi...
Despite misuse, most funds not recovered from nonprofit tasked with operating Clean Corps foxbaltimore.com/news/local/clean-corps-taxpayer-money-lazarus-rite-baltimore-city-misuse
We truly do appreciate Clean Corps in my community. The organization is truly making a huge impact. I am happy my tax money is going toward Clean Corps.
So do something about it. You’re the elected official. All I can do is smfh
Thank you for calling attention to this. Clean Corps is doing valuable work that compliments vs. supplants DPW's work. It is first and foremost a workforce development program, with the added benefit of cleaning up neighborhoods. But the program is indeed misplaced within the Planning Department and should be transferred to MOED as this work and model is much more aligned with MOED's mission, and MOED's fiscal oversight has long been much better. Regarding funneling this money through Baltimore Civic Fund - there should be concerns about this as it's less transparent, but it's complicated. The City has not developed appropriate processes and policies to pay grantee organizations efficiently and many cannot foot the bill to pay their hires while they wait to be paid. BCF has been able to do this much more efficiently. Should this be looked at closer? Absolutely. But in the meantime, BCF is a way to make this kind of work and partnership possible despite the trade-off. DPW is a huge agency and has historically been a toxic place to work for many people, and sanitation work has long been a constantly revolving door to fill vacancies - the work is hard, low paid, and many who might choose to do the job can't pass a background check and/or drug test. Clean Corps is a much smaller, more supportive model. There's no reason a Clean Corps worker can't apply for open DPW sanitation positions or attend a DPW job fair if they wish to. In truth, DPW is all too often the last choice for those that can't find work elsewhere. The elimination of DPW permanent positions is to fund equivalent contractual/temp positions to do the same work as a workaround to not being able to retain enough permanent hires - not reduce the workforce. There are potential fixes for this - for example negotiating with the union for 2-man vs. 3-man crews to be able to increase pay, but to date, there's been zero willingness to bring this to the table. Another advantage of transferring this program to MOED is that YouthWorks could potentially expand Clean Corps' reach each summer in more neighborhoods and get a lot of litter off the streets. Every summer, there's leftover YouthWorks funding on account of some youth never reporting to their assignments. Meanwhile, many hopeful YouthWorks applicants are denied a placement every summer. This year, MOED did this notification earlier - just this past week in fact. Given this improved notification timing, and new funds allocated from the Youth Fund towards YouthWorks this summer, it's the perfect opportunity to transfer Clean Corps to MOED, and integrate YouthWorks placements into the program in more neighborhoods for 4-6 weeks each summer. The program could start in June vs. the traditional July/August program when school lets out, providing more flexibility for youth seeking placements, and critically, to be able to spend down previous summer unspent funds in June before the fiscal year ends.
While it is admirable that you are now disclosing this information for what ever reason; this type of transparency should be the standard. Every tax payer of Baltimore city should receive this type of information on the regular along with a liaison to ensure comprehension.
Councilman Schleifer, what 33 communities are on this list involved in Clean Corps ?
That money might help fix the problems at the water treatment plant in Dundalk.
Litter is a HUGE issue in Baltimore this is a incredibly out of touch thing to post as a "Democrat" Thinking DPW currently has the existing capacity and funding to deal with the huge amount of litter in our neighborhoods makes me question if you actually live in Baltimore. I live on a very busy intersection and I appreciate seeing my tax dollars paying young people to clean up our neighborhood! There is a noticeable difference when Clean Corps are in the area cleaning the medians in front of my house!!!
This program is misplaced and should not be in the Planning Department.
144 positions cut from DPW (when they could be reassigned to other positions in DPW other than waste water management because none of those folks want to lose their jobs )… and the City is rife with litter and trash, graffiti, and potholes everywhere ? Yet the Mayor wants to balloon his staff of “paper pushers” and fund a 3rd party vendor like Clean Corps … give me a break. 😒 Councilman like most of his initiatives as well as over site of all most $700 million in COVID Funds it seems Mayor Scott wants little oversight or to be told what to do. What a joke.
It’s the city, what did you expect?
This is horrible news. I don’t think the rest of the council understands math and logistics.
FYI Lauren Averella
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"Ironically enough there has been an increase in income tax and an increase in property taxes and there's a surplus on both. And all of that money is being spent in this budget as opposed to putting some away into the rainy day fund or really giving it back to the taxpayers. I mean, here's a unique opportunity we actually have for the first time since I've been on the council to really lower taxes without reducing any services," Baltimore City Councilman Isaac "Yitzy" Schleifer said. ... See MoreSee Less
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The Mayor is right.
YouthWorks Baltimore is the gold standard: real jobs, real paychecks, real impact. It consistently delivers for our young people.
The Baltimore City Youth Fund hasn’t met that same standard, and it’s time to be honest about it.
The fix is simple: follow the Mayor's lead and fully fund YouthWorks first, then BCYF can allocate what’s left.
If we care about results, we should invest in what actually works. ... See MoreSee Less
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John Brothers, do you believe the excessive spending, high salaries and consulting fees paid to insiders at BCYF is appropriate?
As one of the co-chairs of the group that designed the Youth Fund, which was developed following the unrest, the Youth Fund is not supposed to ever fund the city. Ever.
Hundreds of youth just got rejection letters from YouthWorks this week.
That's kind of funny cause for 2 terms the city council board/committee has cosigned on every inappropriate spending before election the Council board / candidates for office needs to hold community meetings to educated the voters on amendments and charters to give people a better understanding of the questions they bypassed what it means such as bonds being spent for things we might not want to be spent on thiwe is the duty of those we voted to be our voices, such as the redistricting that
Additionally, I would disagree with the efficacy of YouthWorks but if you wanted to ensure that this program was funded, why not take a percentage of all RFPs through CityBiz that could have youth employed through them and mandate them similar to WMOBs. Literally millions of dollars flow through city procurement that could employ young people but ultimately go to vendors outside the city. YouthWorks not having funding is not a BYCF issue but a public finance and partnership problem
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It’s puzzling that the administration is boosting the City of Baltimore, Department of Planning administrative spending by 50% and committing to more permanent costs, especially since the department lacks a permanent leader. This significant increase could be better allocated toward pressing priorities, such as reducing property taxes or really anything else… ... See MoreSee Less
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Is there anything in his budget that makes sense? ANYTHING?
Once a time a President said: I am not a crook! Looks like they taking to heart! Let’s look under the books and see where all money really going!
The Mayor has to pay his Thugs ( friends). He prefers to call it reparations !
I'm thrilled to announce that the Baltimore City Office of Inspector General position I've been advocating for at Baltimore City Department of Public Works is now included in the annual budget. This move will enable us to identify and eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse within the city's largest agency, providing a significant return on investment. Moreover, it will boost employee morale by demonstrating a commitment to addressing these issues full-time. ... See MoreSee Less
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Can we get one for general services
Thank you it is good to know at least 1 councilman cares about the citizens Thank you Again
i’m pretty sure nothing will change
Do u support her fight to follow the $$$$$ Councilman Isaac Yitzy Schleifer is more important now as she fight to keep us the constituents of Baltimore City in the know of waste..fraud... im still waiting for results for www.helpbaltimoreshomeless.org our homeless shelters