To: Baltimore City Council
CC: Mayor Sheila Dixon, Maryland Legislature, Maryland Congressional Delegation, Sheriff Anderson, Local and National Media

Dear Baltimore City Council members:

I sincerely commend each and every one of you for passing important resolutions calling on Congress to declare a moratorium on a national level, for holding investigative hearings, and for all of your hard work on this issue.

But at this moment you have both a special opportunity and a responsibility to take specific and concrete actions that will immediately impact the lives of entire families and neighborhoods who are threatened by the foreclosure epidemic.

We have learned both through individual council members and through Sheriff John Anderson’s Lieutenant, Samuel Cogen, that the city’s sheriff’s office is willing to halt foreclosure action if it is directed to do so by the Baltimore City Council.

Our communities are in a state of total emergency -- joblessness and budget cuts are wounding us all. Boarded up houses and torn apart families threaten the well being of our city.

It is unfair that the bankers have received billions of dollars while so little has been done to help workers and the poor. Until we can stop the hemorrhaging—and turn this around—we urge our representatives to take a crucial step that will allow us the time to figure out broader solutions.

Pass a bill and resolution as swiftly as possible to direct Sheriff Anderson to declare a moratorium on conducting foreclosure action and forcing families out of their homes and into the streets.

Sincerely,
(Your signature will be appended here based on the contact information you enter to the right)
Initial Signers:
Pastor Heber Brown III; Sharon Black, Network to Stop Foreclosures & Evictions—Bailout the People Movement; Andre Powell, AFSCME Delegate, Baltimore Metro. Central Labor Council AFL-CIO; Kevin Zeeze, Executive Director, Campaign for Clean Air & Clean Politics; Darren Muhammad, Chairperson, Black Think Tank; Maria Allwine, MD Green Party; Max Obuszewski, Baltimore Nonviolence Center; Charlie Cooper, Generations for Peace & Democracy; Leo Burroughs, MD Coalition for BGE Reregulation (partial list)