Were it not for the eagle eye of community activist Linda Towe, $250,000 earmarked for the impoverished community of Westport would now be in the hands of a well-endowed foundation miles away in Fells Point.

The backstory of how and why the city planned to transfer funds to the Living Classrooms Foundation is a case study of the internal decision-making that sometimes lies behind the three- or four-minute public sessions of the city Board of Estimates that take place every Wednesday morning.

It also underscores the path by which city money, tucked away in the nooks and crannies of budget accounts, can be reallocated with little advance notice or public input.

In this case, the intended beneficiary of the reallocation is a foundation whose powerhouse board of trustees includes the city’s two top politicians – Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and City Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young.

No Money Available, Community Told

The story started last Tuesday shortly after Towe saw a seven-line item on page 37 of the Board of Estimates agenda.

It reported that the panel was set to approve shifting $250,000 from account 9910-901969-9587 (“Westport Affordable Housing”) to account 9910-907155-9588 (“Living Classrooms Perkins Firehouse”).

“I was shocked, and then I was angry,” Towe said.

For years, she and the Westport Improvement Association had been asking the city to help renovate a modest building at 2322 Annapolis Rd. into a community center

Towe and Ruth Sherrill, president of the association, said the city repeatedly told them there were no funds available.

“Now we find out there is money allocated for Westport. But it’s going to be transferred to East Baltimore for the exact same community uses that are needed here in Westport,” Towe said.

Well-Connected Foundation

Not just going to East Baltimore, but to a foundation known for its close connection to City Hall. Jack Young and Rawlings-Blake serve as members of the Living Classrooms board of trustees (as do Kevin Plank, CEO of Under Armour, Atwood Collins III, executive vice-president of M&T Bank, and other leading businessmen).

Young holds sway as president of the Board of Estimates, while Rawlings-Blake has the power of the purse by controlling three of the panel’s five votes.

Living Classrooms opened the Perkins Firehouse as a community center last December after inheriting the project from the now-defunct East Harbor Community Development Corp.

East Harbor was originally slated to get city funds for rehabbing the building. When Living Classrooms stepped in, it obtained the necessary approvals to transfer public funds to its name.

At the request of the city Housing Department, the Board of Estimates was asked to sign a grant agreement to provide $250,000 to reimburse Living Classrooms for costs associated with rehabbing the firehouse, which has been renamed The POWER House.

The money would come from the Westport Affordable Housing Fund. The fund was established in 2009 to help pave the way for developer Pat Turner to turn his harborfront property in Westport into a luxury residential-commercial center.

With mixed-use developments proposed across the city, advocates had been pushing for the city to require developers to provide affordable as well as high end units.

Because Turner was required to provide affordable housing, the $250,000 was earmarked to be “leveraged” with city TIF bonds to rehab 70 vacant properties for low-income residents.

After Turner’s project stalled, the housing department kept the $250,000 in its capital budget – without ever telling community members of its existence, Towe and Sherrill assert.

Protests to Jack Young

Alerted to the proposed fund transfer to Living Classrooms, Sherrill fired off an email to Young calling the plan “a slap in the face” and concluding, “something is definitely wrong with the city’s priorities.”

Meanwhile, another Westport resident, James Alston, called 10th District City Councilman Edward Reisinger to protest the action.

The messages were forwarded to Stacy Freed, the director of housing’s planning and programs whose office authorized the transfer of funds.

Throughout Tuesday morning and afternoon, Freed defended the department’s decision.

“As there are no current plans to move ahead with development in Westport and in order to meet the City’s prior commitment to the Firehouse, we are requesting approval of the transfer of funds,” she wrote to Reisinger.

But faced with the prospect of residents storming Wednesday’s board meeting in anger, Young ordered the housing department to reverse course.

At 6:33 p.m. last Tuesday, Freed emailed Towe to say that the housing department was withdrawing the item from the agenda and wanted “to begin discussing ways in which we might spend these funds in Westport.” (Freed did not return a phone call and voice message from The Brew seeking comment.)

On Wednesday morning, when the spending board met, there was no mention of the controversy by Young or Rawlings-Blake.

Instead, the panel’s chief clerk stated that the item on page 37 was being withdrawn, and the board approved the other agenda items before concluding a brief session.

Many Needs

Towe said Westport has a desperate need for the $250,000 to establish a community center.

“Right now, we don’t have a community center. We don’t even have a rec center. The children don’t have any place to go,” she said.

Volunteer Merab “Mickey” Rice ticked off some of the services the group now provides to residents.

“We do free tax preparation and we have an energy assistance program,” she said. “We want [to develop] an apprenticeship program and have some tech classes for the kids. Most important is [to have] some place for our kids to go other than the streets.”

They said the services they are providing on a shoestring are nearly identical to those lauded by the city in its description of the accomplishments of Living Classrooms’ POWER House, which is designed to serve low-income children and young adults at the Perkins public housing project.

The Westport residents said they are waiting for a promised meeting with Peter F. Engel, deputy housing commissioner, and Stacy Freed to put forth their ideas.

Westport resident Alston said he is still rattled by the board’s attempt to take away Westport’s money.

“Our welfare is contingent on whatever the city wants to do,” he said. “It seems like once Pat Turner’s development stopped happening, they forgot about us.”

James Piper Bond, president and CEO of Living Classrooms, was reported to be unavailable for an interview and did not respond to The Brew’s request, through his personal scheduler, for comment.