Renew Baltimore, the volunteer group seeking to cut city property taxes by nearly half, has enlisted a new slate of attorneys, those with another high-profile client who seeks to remake the city: Sinclair Broadcast Group executive and Baltimore Sun owner David Smith.

Renew recently hired attorneys Steven Thomas, Constantine ‘Gus’ Themelis and Clint Black V, all of the Thomas & Libowitz firm, to sue the Baltimore City Board of Elections after the board director rejected their petition to put the tax cut on the November ballot.

Thomas and Black have extensive ties to Smith’s political pursuits in Baltimore, with both of their names appearing on business paperwork and court records tied to efforts Smith financially supports. Thomas especially is close to Smith family efforts, having represented the billionaire media mogul and members of his family in court over the last 15 years.

Neither the attorneys nor Smith returned a request for comment about their association with Renew Baltimore and whether Smith is now involved in the property tax cut effort. A spokesperson for Renew Baltimore said Smith is not involved with the group.

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For weeks, opponents of the property tax cut initiative have sought to paint Renew Baltimore as a well-funded effort by corporate interests and outsiders to form the city to their liking. Those detractors regularly conflate Renew’s tax cut with another ballot initiative, one from a group called People for Elected Accountability and Civic Engagement, or PEACE, to reduce the number of City Council districts to eight from 14. Mayor Brandon Scott has said Renew Baltimore’s proposal runs the risk of bankrupting the city.

“But for those pushing [the tax cut], the cuts to city services and negative consequences are a feature, not a bug,” Scott said in June when Renew submitted its petition to the election board. “They are the same political forces that are misusing the ballot initiative process to institute term limits, attempted to implement a recall system, and are now attempting to shrink the City Council.”

Smith, a Baltimore County resident, has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to PEACE, but has not given any money to Renew Baltimore, according to the most recent campaign finance disclosures. Thomas is listed as the resident agent on PEACE’s business paperwork.

Smith also donated $250,000 to a super PAC backing mayor candidate Sheila Dixon, which became an issue in her challenge of Scott this spring.

Organizers of Renew Baltimore have sought to distance themselves from Smith-backed ballot initiatives, like those Scott mentioned.

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In emails, Ben Frederick, a real estate broker and leader of Renew Baltimore, defended the hiring of Thomas & Libowitz attorneys. Frederick wrote that Renew’s last attorney, Carville Collins, recommended Themelis to the group after Collins had to recuse himself because of a conflict of interest with the city.

“We heard that Thomas & Libowitz represented other charter amendment proponents, but we do not have a connection with these other groups,” Frederick wrote.

Frederick wrote that Thomas & Libowitz’s continued representation of Smith and his initiatives has no bearing on Renew’s work.

A midsized firm with a downtown office, most of Thomas & Libowitz’s work is done out of the public eye, with a focus on corporate governance and financing deals. When the work is in the public eye, it is usually in the context of Smith’s efforts.

In January, The Baltimore Banner reported Smith is paying the legal fees for Jovani Patterson, PEACE’s chairperson, in Patterson’s taxpayer lawsuit against the city school system, accusing administrators there of fraud. Smith pays the fees using a company, Election Law Integrity. Black, one of Renew’s new lawyers, is listed on business paperwork for Election Law Integrity as its resident agent. Thomas & Libowitz attorneys represent Patterson, and Smith recommended Patterson use that firm and organized meetings between Patterson and attorneys there, according to court records.

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“With any issue there’s gonna be overlap. They’re two separate issues. They’re two separate groups,” Patterson said. “There may be some overlap, there may be some synergies, but there’s differences as well.”

Smith has also used Election Law Integrity to pay the legal fees in a taxpayer lawsuit an Anne Arundel County attorney brought against former Baltimore Police spokesperson T.J. Smith when he was running for mayor in 2020. Among other candidates in the race was Thiru Vignarajah, who finished fourth, and received contributions from David Smith’s children and spouses and from Sinclair Secretary and Vice President J. Duncan Smith.

David Smith did not give any money directly to Vignarajah in the 2020 mayoral race, but Sinclair’s flagship station, Fox45, hosted an hourlong forum with Vignarajah after other candidates backed out of a debate on the station, including former U.S. Treasury official Mary Miller, who was concerned the station was biased in his favor. Miller is a backer of Renew Baltimore, having donated $15,000 since 2022, according to campaign finance records.

Renew Baltimore pays its own legal fees and will continue to do so through its fundraising efforts, Frederick wrote in an email.

“All money raised and campaign expenses paid are properly and completely reported on our campaign finance reports,” Frederick wrote.

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The hiring of Thomas & Libowitz is not the first time Renew Baltimore and PEACE have shared attorneys. Collins, Renew Baltimore’s former attorney, also represented PEACE to the city Board of Elections the last two cycles, according to correspondence between the board and the group reviewed by The Banner.

Collins did not respond to phone calls and messages seeking comment.

Renew Baltimore’s new attorneys were put to work quickly. Two weeks ago, the trio of litigators filed a lawsuit in Baltimore Circuit Court challenging the Board of Elections’ decision to deny their ballot petition.

Elections Director Armstead Jones determined the tax cut initiative was in violation of state law based on his interpretation of a Maryland Supreme Court case from 1990 which found citizens could propose ballot initiatives that capped tax rate increases but could not set a tax rate through the initiative process.

Under the Renew Baltimore amendment, the city’s property tax rate would have to decrease for seven consecutive years until it is at nearly half of its current level, ultimately imposing a maximum tax rate of 1.2%.

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In its complaint, attorneys for Renew Baltimore, citing the same case that Jones did, argued the law does actually allow for their initiative because it is in essence a cap — in theory, the city could cut taxes below the prescribed yearly maximums.

The trio of Thomas & Libowitz attorneys are asking the court to rule expeditiously; the general election, when the city’s residents could be expected to vote up or down on the proposal, is Nov. 5. Renew collected more than 23,000 signatures for the petition to get on the ballot, far more than the 10,000 needed.

“We trust the judicial system will not compromise Democracy by denying these Baltimore residents the right to petition government as provided in the Maryland Constitution,” Frederick wrote.