Originally posted in The Rawlings-Blake Review, Issue #196

Baltimore is the city that I love, and I have worked my entire life to make it better. While our city has struggled with violent crime, and our homicide rate remains stubbornly high, we are making great strides toward being a safer city.

This past March was the safest month that Baltimore has had since 1983, and the number of homicides was in the single digits. This significant drop in homicides coincided with the Baltimore Police Department’s expansion of enforcement zones—from 4 zones to 17. We remain focused on our fight to reduce crime, and we are working in every neighborhood in Baltimore to build partnerships with communities and create a safer Baltimore.

Public safety is my administration’s top priority, and we are not going to let up until every community in our city feels safe. We will continue to invest the resources necessary to protect our residents and continue modernizing our police force.

As part of our efforts to strengthen partnerships with Baltimore’s communities, I am hosting a series of Public Safety Forums—to let residents know how hard we are working to make the city safer, to present our strategy, and to hear citizens’ feedback on how we can build better relationships between police and residents. This month we will be speaking with residents in the Eastern and Southern police districts.

I want to express my firm conviction that Baltimore is a great place to live, and a great place to raise a family. Just consider all that we have going for us! Earlier this week I announced just one of Baltimore’s many summer festivals, the 2014 African American Festival, which will take place June 21 – 22. The African American Festival introduces new & exciting ways to honor our past, celebrate our accomplishments, and showcase our future.

This year’s festival will include musical performances from R&B Divas star Monifa, the multi-talented Jacob Latimore, Chico DeBarge, and the rock-based funk band Mint Condition on Saturday, followed by gospel performances from The Choir Boyz, and Preachers of L.A. star Deitrick Haddon on Sunday. Soulful R&B crooner Johnny Gill, and Grammy Award-winning artist Brandy will take the main stage on Sunday evening to close out the festival. For a complete list of performers, or for more info, visit www.africanamericanfestival.net.

One of my goals as mayor of Baltimore is to grow our city by 10,000 families. I want everyone to be able to have a piece of the amazing Baltimore that I know.