Notice of FHNA Special Meeting!

Purpose: Vote on support/opposition for creating a market license for Cross Street Market (SB1035)

Date: Tuesday March 28th

Time: 6-6:30 PM

Location: Jesus Our Redeemer (113 Warren Ave)

Please join us to voice your opinion on the new amendment. It will available on our website after 2PM today.

You must be a member to vote. If you are not currently a member, please register online or arrive a few minutes early and sign up. As of March 21, 2017 there is no longer a waiting period before you are allowed to vote.

Please note you must renew your membership in January EVERY YEAR to be considered an active member.

Letter From Senator Ferguson

Amendment for CSM Bill

 

 

URGENT! March Membership Meeting Follow-Up

Following a discussion on pub crawls at the March meeting, City DOT hosted a meeting this week for representatives of South Baltimore communities (Brooke McDonald and Betsy Homer attended for Federal Hill) with Tom Akras of the Liquor Board and representatives of City departments and the police who are involved in reviewing applications for pub crawls.

Two important outcomes that signal some hope for keeping these events tolerable for communities:

(1) The City agreed to ensure early notice to affected communities of applications for pub crawl events so that community concerns can be considered (and hopefully addressed) prior to the issuance of a permit. They also agreed to post-event reviews with communities.

(2) All the City staff and Mr. Akras called for residents to report to the Liquor Board, either by calling 311 or on-line, any bad behavior, or in the case of dangerous or criminal behavior, 911, from this Saturday’s Irish Stroll in Federal Hill. If using the on-line 311 connection, make sure you specify that you want to direct the complaint to the Baltimore City Board of Liquor License Commissioners. The City reps all indicated they hadn’t heard complaints from residents before (!!), so keep your eyes and ears open on Saturday and if you see bad behavior, let the City and the Liquor Board know about it!

We all hope for a pub crawl that is under control, where attendees have fun and everyone stay safe. But if we see things out of control, let’s let the City know about it!

Calling all FHNA members!

Based on comments received so far on the proposal to update our bylaws, the Board has EXTENDED THE COMMENT PERIOD TO FRIDAY MARCH 17. Based on comments, the Board has made the following changes:

Term limits–Board members may serve three two-year terms, then could not stand for election again until after a two-year hiatus

item 6a (regarding Board being able to remove a member without consent of members) is removed.

A clarification for this May’s election: anyone nominated will be asked if they want to stand for a one-year term or a two-year term. This will allow terms for the newly elected board to be staggered in the future, with the goal of adding new members to the board while allowing  continuity.

Why change the by-laws?

At a meeting last Spring the question of whether the bylaws needed updating was raised, in particular was whether our current bylaws were making it difficult for FHNA to respond a timely manner when issues arose, especially when City agencies were involved. Beth sought the assistance of a lawyer from the Community Law Center, who has expertise in the bylaws of neighborhood associations and small non-profits to review our current bylaws. Volunteers from the Board worked with Beth and the CLC lawyer during the Fall and Winter to develop a streamlined version of the bylaws to propose to the membership. YOUR COMMENTS ARE KEY TO THIS PROCESS, SO PLEASE WEIGH IN IF YOU HAVE CONCERNS!

Draft bylaws

NEW Meeting Procedures

NEW Financial Controls Policy

Bylaws Comparison

SOUTH BALTIMORE GATEWAY PARTNERSHIP PUBLIC MEETING!

The South Baltimore Gateway Partnership was recently created by state and local ordinance to give community leaders greater control over how certain casino funds are spent in the communities surrounding the Horseshoe Casino. As we’re nearing completion of our first-ever Strategic Plan, and developing our initial funding procedures and goals, we want to share our initial progress with you. Come hear about our plans for the coming year, and let us know what you think about our ideas.
Tuesday, February 28th at 6pm
Baum Auditorium
MedStar Harbor Hospital
3001 S. Hanover Street
Baltimore, MD 21225
Contact: SouthBaltimoreGatewayInfo@gmail.comPUBLIC