Baltimore City Council report card: Zeke Cohen

Council Member Zeke Cohen emerged from this year’s Democratic primary for City Council president far ahead of the other two candidates , including incumbent Nick Mosby. Cohen was elected to the council in 2016 and serves District 1 in Southeast Baltimore , which includes neighborhoods like Fells Point, Canton, Highlandtown and O’Donnell Heights.

Cohen is the second most active sponsor of legislation on the council and received positive reviews on constituent services from people who spoke with The Sun.

This is the second report in a joint Baltimore Sun-FOX45 News series examining the effectiveness of the City Council in serving the residents of Baltimore. The series comes in advance of a ballot measure this November where voters will decide whether to reduce the council’s size from 15 to 9. The ballot measure is funded by Baltimore Sun co-owner David Smith, who is also the executive chairman of FOX45’s parent company, Sinclair Broadcasting.

Cohen does not support the ballot measure. “I knocked thousands of doors during my campaign for City Council president,” he said. “What I never heard, not even once, is people say, ‘I want less representation.'”

Since 2020, Cohen proposed 152 ordinances, 92 of which were enacted or passed, 30 withdrawn or failed, and 30 still in progress. He also sponsored 190 resolutions, 115 of which were adopted. Ordinances are city laws, while resolutions represent the will, opinion, or public policy of the council.

Among his most notable legislation, he co-sponsored an ordinance, enacted earlier this year, requiring police to have two agency staff members be trained in trauma-informed care.

“We should take a mental health approach to mental health and a law enforcement approach to crime,” he said.

He also helped create the Office of Aging, to help connect the older population with city services. The city set aside $500,000 for the program in the 2024 fiscal year budget.

Cohen introduced the Neighbors Against Predatory Dumping Act, enacted in 2021, which raised fines from $500 to $1,000. That ordinance made an impression on Chris Lewkovich, treasurer of the O’Donnell Square Homeowners Association, who’s been working with the adjacent Greektown Neighborhood Association to combat illegal dumping.

“It’s so commonplace now to see these big piles of trash in these specific areas. I think people just think at this point, ‘It’s just what people do, that’s how you get rid of your trash,’” he said

After residents in his community file 311 requests, the tickets are forwarded to Cohen’s office so he can follow up on them, Lewkovich said.

Benjamin Miller, president of the Upper Fells Point Improvement Association, said businesses sometimes use the corner pedestrian trash cans instead of paying for commercial pickup. He said the situation has improved somewhat since he reached out to Cohen’s office, who organized a walk through the community with city service employees.

“That day was particularly fun because we were walking around with the trash truck. So we could just point to things, and they would go away,” Miller said. “Trying to not be spoiled by that experience; we’re not going to be able to do that every time.”

When asked about constituent services, Cohen provides an exact number of completed requests: 5,223.

“I dig deep into the weeds on constituent service,” Cohen said. “We are going to make sure our constituents get great, world-class service.”

Cohen said he wants to create a shared system for the entire City Council to collaborate on constituent services, so they can notice patterns and trends with problems in different parts of the city. He also said the city’s 311 system “needs a lot of work.”

“It frustrates me deeply when I have a constituent who has a legitimate grievance and [calls] the 311, which is what we ask them to do, and nothing happens,” he said.

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Cohen added that it shouldn’t take 311 tickets and a call to a council member to resolve an issue.

Giovanna Blatterman, who has served in leadership of the Little Italy Community Org for the past 50 years, says even though she might disagree with some of Cohen’s political views — “He’s very progressive; I’m a Bill Clinton liberal” — she gives him high marks on responsiveness to constituent service requests. She said it usually takes between 15 and 30 minutes after filing a request with Cohen’s office, to get a response.

Blatterman said it’s much better service than before 2002, when Baltimore’s City Council was made up of six districts, with three members splitting up the work in each district — which she said got “political.”

Liz Bement, past president of the Upper Fells Point Improvement Association, said she’s “really sad” to see Cohen leaving her district to become council president.

“If he’s going to go, I’m glad that’s what he’s doing,” she said.