Several weekends ago, we have a number of shootings and a killing here in Cambridge. We are a community that has seen gun violence go on for too long with an expectation that the Cambridge Police Department with the help of other law enforcement agencies can solve the multiple challenges that exist here; and they can’t. We, the government and the community, have to be part of the solution. We have to start working together and not against one another. We have to listen to those who have suffered personally or through the loss of family, friends, or loved ones. We have to find our strengths and start to spread them across the city.

At our last city council meeting, citizens came forward and spoke out clearly that something needs to happen to change the culture that exists here within our community that causes the kind of behavior that takes lives for no valid reason at all. As a result of what I heard, I started looking to see what I might do with the help of others. I reached out to old friends and colleagues and found one that had suffered the loss of a child through a random bullet that had been fired indiscriminately. He gave me some direction that I have followed and wanted to share with you about what I have been doing since that last city council meeting.

I was first given the names of some people in Maryland who have been involved in the gun violence reduction mission. I also looked back at the work of the Cambridge Gun Violence Reduction Task Force that had been created here in the summer of 2022 and what work that they had done. I spoke with a representative of Moms Demand Action who is here in Maryland and learned about an organization called Mayors Against Illegal Guns. I found that there are a number of mayors in Maryland that have joined that organization so I looked at what they were trying to do and have added Cambridge to that growing list of communities that include Easton and Salisbury.

I heard that representatives of CAN were meeting with the Cambridge Police Department to talk about the recreation of Neighborhood Watch programs throughout the city that the police department will support. I attended the meeting along with Commissioner Laurel Atkiss and learned some of what needs to happen to get these programs up and running. We also learned that the police department will provide us with some handout materials on how to get these programs started in the city.

I was then introduced to Mary Hunt Miller, who is a member of the Upper Shore Maryland Moms Demand Action and learned about a gun violence reduction event that they are planning for here in Cambridge on September 30th from 2:00 – 6:00 p.m. at the Empowerment Center on Pine Street. Please put that on your calendar and come.

At the same time, I have been reaching out to people that I know in our community to recruit them to a Mayor’s community engagement committee that I am forming under my role as a Mayor Against Illegal Guns. I already have 10 people who have offered to help develop our plan of work, vision and mission, and community engagement so that the community will be the moving force to help reduce crime, reduce gun violence and illegal guns, and redevelop a community wide effort to support one another as we work to improve the quality of life here. If you would like to meet and talk about what we are and will be doing and what your vision might be, please email me so we can find a time to meet and talk.

This past Friday I had a chance to meet with Mary Hunt-Miller where we were able to discuss her plans for September 30th and to finalize the speakers who will make a presentation on gun violence reduction at our city council meeting on Monday September 11th. In addition to Mary, Suzanne Todd will be present in person and Lisa Molock will be presenting virtually as she lives a distance away. I hope that you will join the meeting that will be at the Empowerment Center, due to work being done on city council chambers, or on www.townhallstreams.com Cambridge at 6:00 p.m.

The goal for all of what we are starting to do is to develop a vision for Cambridge that will make us a community that works together to be safer for everyone and with fewer illegal guns. We hope to do that by all parts of our community reaching out and supporting one another while collaborating with the Cambridge Police Department and churches, groups, and nonprofits to seek to reduce crime and in particular gun violence in our city.

I hope that you will be willing to join this effort and play your part in making it happen. We have not arrived here quickly and we will not be changing the culture here quickly either, but with your help it will happen.

Thanks for reading.

Steve Rideout in the Mayor of Cambridge, Maryland. Judge Rideout is the former Chief Judge of the Alexandria, VA Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court (1989-2004). From 2004 until the present he has consulted in different states to support their efforts to improve their child welfare systems. From 2016 to early 2021, he was the Ward 1 Commissioner on the Cambridge City Council. Throughout his career, he has been an advocate for improving the lives of children in his and other communities.

 

On Monday the 14th of August the city council will consider the new proposed Curfew Ordinance that is up for its second reading, public hearing, and possible passage. At the same time, an alternate legislative proposal for the curfew will be available for the city council to consider. I made the alternate proposal at a prior meeting, and our city attorney is drafting the language for what I have proposed.

What follows is intended to help you understand the differences between the two proposals and to ask that you let the city commissioners know your preference. While I think that there should be general agreement with my proposal, I understand that there are some different opinions on this issue. 

I am hopeful that you will support what I am proposing. You can do that by emailing your commissioner or emailing me so that I can share your views with them. You can also come to the city council meeting on August 14th and speak during the public hearing portion of the meeting that deals with this Ordinance.

For some background on how we arrived to where we are, Ordinance 1207 was passed early this year to go into effect in February 2023 and to expire June 30th unless extended. It was not extended in time.

To address the ongoing concerns that Chief Todd has about some youth being out late, Ordinance 1221 was then proposed. It effectively extends Ordinance 1207 for a full year starting in September. I am including a copy of Ordinance 1221 that is up for second reading, public comment, and possible passage

I have proposed modifications to Ordinance 1221. The city attorney is working on the language for those changes that I have suggested so that the formal changes are not yet available. My changes, however, offer  opportunities for the family, our local child-serving agencies, and the Cambridge Police Department to address the concerns of children under the age of sixteen being out on the street too late in the evenings. My proposed changes are in line with Chief Todd’s community policing initiative and the idea that parents should be  raising their children and not the government. It provides that with every child who is a curfew violator, CPD will notify in writing both the LCT and the parent(s). In addition, my proposal uses existing state law that has rarely been used here in an effective way to address community concerns.

In summary, my proposal allows the local child serving agencies and CPD to do the following: 

1. For cooperative first offender youth, it allows parent(s) to address the issue within the family without further police involvement. If they want, parent(s) can engage in services through the Local Care Team (LCT). The LCT includes, at a minimum, the school system, the local DSS, the local Department of Juvenile Services, the Health Department, and the Local Management Board (LMB).
2. For the LCT, the Ordinance will have CPD make it aware in writing of the curfew violation of a first offender or a child and family that are otherwise already involved with the LCT or other local child serving agencies.
3. For the  LCT, the Ordinance will make it aware in writing of second or subsequent curfew violations and non-cooperative first offenders so that the child serving agencies can determine family challenges and offer, if needed, voluntary services.
4. For the LCT or one of its members, it will provide them the option to file a complaint or seek a Child in Need of Supervision (CINS) petition through the local Department of Juvenile Services (DJS) if the child and/or family are not cooperative and the LCT or one of its members feels court involvement is warranted.
5. For CPD, it will provide them the option to file a complaint or seek a CINS petition through DJS in the event the LCT or a member agency declines to act regarding the child or family.

Under Maryland law an entire system has been established for local child serving agencies or the courts to address the needs of children who need supervision but are not otherwise involved in delinquent behavior. The law that explains that system and what resources can be brought to a child and family can be found at https://law.justia.com/codes/maryland/2022/courts-and-judicial-proceedings/title-3/subtitle-8a/

Included under the existing law can be additional diversion of cases by the court depending on the circumstances as determined by the court or adjudication of the petition and determination by the court of the services that the child and family are to undertake. 

As part of any consequences for noncompliance, the power of contempt of court is available if the court determines that the services offered or directed are not being followed. In addition, under Maryland Courts and Judicial Proceedings Code Section 3-8A-30 (2022) – Contributing to Certain Conditions of Child :: 2022 Maryland Code :: US Codes and Statutes :: US Law :: Justia there is a separate criminal charge that can be placed against an adult for behavior that renders a child to be in need of supervision.

What this means is that the sanctions that are proposed in Ordinance 1221, which are the same as in Ordinance 1207, already exist along with additional sanctions in the current Maryland Law. Spelling them out in Ordinance 1221 does not improve or enhance the Maryland law that already exists. 

It actually detracts from or limits existing Maryland law. It could even allow a lawyer for the parents or child to argue that the city is limited to the consequences that are included in Ordinance 1221, and the family is thus relieved of responding to the services that the court might order under existing Maryland Law to address the family challenges. 

The other benefit in what I am proposing is that the CPD officer does not detain a youth who is a curfew violator but rather she/he gathers relevant information and then directs the child to go home or possibly turns them over to a parent. CPD can otherwise address a curfew violator’s behavior as part of the notice process to the parent(s) and the LCT. By CPD having no authority to detain a child, any claim that the curfew ordinance is unconstitutional or unlawful should fail. That does not mean that a lawsuit won’t be filed, but the chances of its success are dramatically lessened.

Finally, the proposed ordinance is scheduled to last for a year. While that is certainly up to the commissioners to decide, what I am proposing, if a curfew is desired, should not, in my view, be time limited. It simply puts in place for the community to see a process that exists for other behavior of youth but does not currently exist for curfew violations as the city does not presently have that ordinance in effect. Passing the amended ordinance 1221 will provide that process.

If my proposal becomes law, it will give the police a tool with which to encourage youth to go home that will also empower the parent(s) to take back their home or empower the LCT to work voluntarily with some parents or seek court assistance for those that decline help but clearly need it.

Your support of this alternative legislation will be an important first step in creating for Cambridge a system that will allow the LCT or the police to seek services for some of our youth and/or consequences for them and their parent(s) if the youth’s behavior continues.

Thanks for reading.

Steve Rideout in the Mayor of Cambridge, Maryland. 

I have often heard that we focus most often on what is known or familiar to us or what is of most concern to us. For me it is on juvenile justice and k-12 school issues.

When I go on social media, I see what appears to be ever present concerns and complaints about children in our community and bad behavior. It is almost like the major source of our problems here involve the children in our community.

While we all know that is not the case, it is important that we also hear about the positive things happening in Cambridge and Dorchester County related to our youth. That does not mean that we can ignore those youth who are creating challenges. Understand, however, that the challenging youth are a small portion of the youth living here.

What follows are some examples of positive things that our youth and their parents are doing:

Almost twenty students graduated this spring from the Nursing Assistant Program at DCTC. Most of them are going on to college to seek a degree in nursing or other health related career and about ½ of them have already passed their test that qualifies them to work as a Nursing Assistant.

At the graduation of the class of 2023 from Cambridge South Dorchester, Principal Stover announced that this class had the highest percentage of students graduating since he became the Principal.

At a scholarship event I attended for a friend who has given over $90,000 in scholarships to Dorchester County students over the past 18 years, the stage was filled with young people that will be going on to some post high school education or training because of their achievements and funds supplied by donors, foundations, and colleges.

In recent months, Captain Patton told me that he had almost two hundred youth participating in the Police Athletic League (PAL) winter basketball program and had up to 250 parents in the stands cheering on their children.

Jordan Pearlstein has started a skills development basketball program that he is running at the YMCA that has a computer program component being run at the Pine Street Police Substation . He is hopeful of growing this initiative out into the county to help other youth that may not have any after school programming.

Dr. Stafford is running her summer program with three youth that she was able to hire with ARPA funding from the city. Cambridge has hired ten youth to work for the city in various positions to earn a salary and learn about how government works.

The Campaign for Grade Level Reading has some preliminary and somewhat positive first-time data on how it is helping to improve early childhood education here with plans for what it will be able to do with funding from the J2W Foundation that is supporting this effort.

Over the winter, Moving Dorchester Forward, a local nonprofit, supported the Parent Encouragement Program (PEP) that worked with local parents to help them develop skills to improve their parenting and communicate more effectively with their children. A graduation event was held at Cabin Fever earlier this spring.

Dedra Harris and others have started the New Creation Marching Unit initiative for youth and adults and have obtained some funding to help buy some of the instruments that the band will need in order to both practice and perform at events here in Cambridge and elsewhere.

On the 4th of July, the YMCA and Cambridge Multi Sport ran the Gerry Boyle Firecracker kids triathlon with the help of many volunteers where over one hundred youth from five to fifteen years of age participated. The crowd of parents, family, and friends were all over the YMCA property cheering on the kids as they swam, biked, and ran different distances based on their age. It was a wonderful event that was a perfect expression of the importance of community, volunteers, and parental support for the children of our community.

The Pine Street Elks are funding a variety of programs that are making a difference here for children and families in Cambridge.

This is just a short list of positive things happening here in Cambridge and Dorchester County. I know that there is much more going on, so let’s start sharing more about what we are doing here that is positive to balance out the negative that we too often hear.

Thanks for reading.

Mayor Steve Rideout is the former Chief Judge of the Alexandria, VA Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court (1989-2004). From 2004 until the present he has consulted in different states to support their efforts to improve their child welfare systems. From 2016 to early 2021, he was the Ward 1 Commissioner on the Cambridge City Council. Throughout his career, he has been an advocate for improving the lives of children in his and other communities.

Earlier this month I wrote about the City Council considering our current trash collection contract and the possibility of bringing the service back into the city as the manager. I did not realize that City Council had made some decisions the night before I wrote my earlier Cambridge Matters that impacted what our new city manager would be called upon to do and how quickly council wanted him to do it.

I provided the members of City Council and Mr. Carroll copies of the documents that the prior city council had considered in determining the need to move to a private contractor. The issue for me is not that the city should not spend the gift from the federal government but how city council might spend it the most wisely.

There are several places where I think the money could be better spent or put in reserve for future spending. In no particular order, the first is the police department. In an earlier article, I suggested that another way to get and keep good officers is to provide housing for some of them based on criteria that the city council could establish in conjunction with the police chief. Using some of that money to purchase homes that could be rehabilitated that are on the tax sale list would be one good way to do that and then rehabilitate them for some of our officers either new or long term.

Another place where the city must step up, and appears to be planning to do so, is to help fund programs for nonprofits here in the city. Helping to fund on a long-term basis programs for children and families is critical to improving the lives of the people who live here. That is a much better investment than buying trash trucks. Just remember what has happened in the past few years in the way of tragic deaths of children and adults as the result of fires and gunfire. Putting money into effective programs for children and code enforcement for safe homes can help ensure that children are given things to do, jobs as they get in their teen years, and safe places to live. They are more important than spending more money than is needed to bring trash collection in house when there will still be complaints from some homeowners or businesses.

The final place where this money could be better spent is to fund a long standing but, to my knowledge, never used program that is imbedded in our city code to address improving and maintaining our sidewalks. City Code Section 3-36 – https://library.municode.com/md/cambridge/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTITHCH_S3-36SI

And Section 16-21

https://library.municode.com/md/cambridge/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIITHCO_CH16STSIPUPL_S16-21SICOGE

are relevant here. I will let you read them for the details, but they lay out how the city can require sidewalks to be build, maintained, and repaired and includes the ability to create a fund that can be used to repair or replace sidewalks where property owners fail to do so and then assess the costs against the property owner. In the time that we have lived here, I have never seen the city either fund that program or repair sidewalks when property owners fail to do so. I have seen the city place some property owners on notice about the need to repair the sidewalks on their property. While there are some additional ways to make these code sections even more effective, I will leave that for another day.

While trash pick up is an important part of the responsibility of city government, we now have even more important and long-term problems and challenges that need to be addressed. I think that it would be prudent to give the newly hired city manager the opportunity to fix what may be a problem with the current trash company, which could be resolved more quickly and much less expensively than what the city commissioners appear to want to do.

If you agree with me and others that may be supporting other uses for the available monies that the city has, please let your commissioner know. Your silence could tell them the wrong thing. It is usually those who have complaints that are heard. Now is the time for the rest of us to speak out.

Thanks for reading.

Judge Rideout is the former Chief Judge of the Alexandria, VA Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court (1989-2004). From 2004 until the present he has consulted in different states to support their efforts to improve their child welfare systems. From 2016 to early 2021, he was the Ward 1 Commissioner on the Cambridge City Council. Throughout his career, he has been an advocate for improving the lives of children in his and other communities. Steve can be reached at [email protected]