Features - Crónicas

O’Malley: ‘Vive en Baltimore’
By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN, Daily Record Business Writer

Mayor Martin O’Malley will soon take to the airwaves to offer Washington-area residents their own little piece of Baltimore. The idea is not new but the delivery is — O’Malley will be speaking Spanish. Mayor Martin O’Malley plans a radio and television campaign in Spanish to urge Hispanics to move to Baltimore.

Producers are putting the final touches on a one-minute public service announcement that will begin appearing on Washington-area Spanish-language radio stations in about two weeks, said Jose Ruiz, the mayor’s Hispanic liaison. “His Spanish is good,” said Ruiz, adding that it only took O’Malley about an hour to record the spot. In the announcement O’Malley introduces himself and asks listeners to consider buying their own house in “la mejor ciudad de América” (the greatest city in America) for the same amount they are paying to rent around Washington.

Affordable housing, plentiful business opportunities and Baltimore’s up-and-coming Hispanic population are the lures featured in O’Malley’s pitch. Ruiz wrote the script and an assistant polished O’Malley’s Spanish. But the Spanish campaign does not stop with radio. O’Malley and Ruiz will begin producing a one-minute television ad later this month. WMDO, a Silver Spring affiliate of Spanish-language broadcaster Univision, will donate airtime for the segment.

The television script has not been written yet, but it will likely be similar to the radio message, Ruiz said. He envisions O’Malley speaking in front of a Hispanic-owned business on Broadway, surrounded by members of the Hispanic community and, in Spanish, asking others to join them in Baltimore.

WMDO programming reaches Washington and its suburbs where hundreds of thousands of Hispanics reside. The 2000 Census counted more than 100,000 in Montgomery County alone. Baltimore’s Hispanic community on the other hand — while growing — is still considerably smaller, with only about 11,000 Hispanics within city limits for the last census.

Immigrants have a tendency to move into neighborhoods abandoned by others, settle their families and open businesses, and that is why the city is making an effort to attract them, Ruiz said. Once they are here, Ruiz’s office tries to ensure their success, whether it is assisting in the preparation of a business plan or helping them secure a loan. “I want to make sure they are successful and stay,” Ruiz said. “I know my people want to come here, and they are going to come.” He will likely be the first to know because at the end of the radio ad, O’Malley encourages listeners to call Ruiz to find out more about making Baltimore their home.

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