* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.
THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.
INTRODUCTORY*
CITY OF BALTIMORE
COUNCIL BILL
(Resolution)
Introduced by: Councilmember Pugh
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
Let=s Not Just Imagine a Better Image for Baltimore
Title
FOR the purpose of exploring what avenues can be taken to project a more positive image of Baltimore; determining how the negative images of Baltimore as portrayed in Areal-crime@ fiction, T.V. dramas, and movies can be counteracted; highlighting the positive images that have caught the attention of the country and the world; and identifying actions that can be taken by government, businesses, and individuals to promote a better image of our fair City.
Body
Recitals
AThe camera starts in tight focus on a stream of blood on a city street at night. The blood is given a blue strobe-light effect by the flashing lights of police cars parked around it. The blood leads to the lifeless body of a teenager@. This is not a description of one of the shots in the very successful Believe campaign but a the opening scene in the debut episode of the latest in a string of dramas based on Alife in the streets of this bombed-out, Beirut-like corner of Baltimore@ B The Baltimore Sun.
ABaltimore is a cool city. Been there. Would love to go again. But I never want to explore [the Baltimore depicted in TV shows] in person. It=s a scary, scary place. It=s a town I only feel like I know. These vial-strewn streets and bland red-brick public housing units are familiar from...two productions based on writings about Baltimore=s bad side.@ B Times Union,.
AThe setting could hardly be less festive: drug-infested slum neighborhoods of Baltimore, where life tends to be cheap but cocaine and heroin cost plenty..a sensationally harsh drama, also set in the poor neighborhoods of Baltimore, that dealt hauntingly with poverty, racism and the drug epidemic..infused with a contagious hopelessness.@B The Washington Post.
AI=m a middle class English boy, pretending to be a Baltimore cop,@ says the star of the latest cable TV crime drama. Before I knew what the (heck) I was doing, I was in the back of a cop car with a crack addict. He was with the police when they arrested a man who had cut off his friend=s arm with a machete. They ended up in the hospital with a man who had been shot 8 times. This is my first day after arriving in Baltimore!@ B USA Today.
APoor old Baltimore! It appears to be the City of choice for producers doing somber crime stories. One worries that all this gloom and doom may adversely affect tourism@ B The Washington Post. A[It] is the starkest look yet at the redoubtable battered, drug-ridden, streets of Baltimore. It=s a wonder Cal Ripken, Jr. survived the City. The Chamber of Commerce must be apoplectic by now. Suggested new slogan: ABaltimore - a great place to be murdered. Crab cakes optional.@ B T he Dallas Morning News.
ABaltimore: gleaming with new-found optimism, this thriving Maryland port brims with maritime lore and family-friendly appeal...Mounted on the smokestack on an old power plant, a giant neon guitar heralds the home of Baltimore=s Hard Rock Café, part of an entertainment complex that symbolizes the new image of a historic port City once short on glitz, glamor, and visitor appeal. The National Aquarium in Baltimore, an Inner Harbor landmark crowned with a pair of ribbed glass pyramids, is one of the country=s best aquariums. The Maryland Science Center is another family-friendly attraction. The nation=s third largest children=s museumB the only one designed by Walt Disney Imagineering. Little Italy is typical of the City=s well-kept ethnic neighborhoods..@ B Travel America.
The first 5 paragraphs are examples of just a few of the ways Baltimore was written about in newspapers articles across the country in publicity reviews heralding the summer debut of a new cable TV crime-drama set in our City. Each vying to outdo the other in gritty depictions of a crime ridden hell-hole of a city and in a clever way of expressing their chagrin at Baltimore=s fate as a patsy for blood and guts storytellers. The last description is taken from the January-February, 2002 edition of Travel America in which Baltimore was chosen City of the Month. As residents of this City, which description do we want to prevail?
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That this Body will explore what avenues can be taken to project a more positive image of Baltimore; determining how the negative images of Baltimore as portrayed in Areal-crime@ fiction, T.V. dramas, and movies can be counteracted; highlighting the positive images that have caught the attention of the country and the world; and identifying actions that can be taken by government, businesses, and individuals to promote a better image of our fair City.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That .
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to.
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