We begin today with another edition of Midday with the Mayor, our monthly series of live conversations with Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott, in which he addresses Tom's questions about important issues facing the city.

Among the topics we discuss today are the city's ongoing strategies for fighting crime, City Council battles over the budget, municipal staff shortages, the latest allocations of federal American Rescue Plan funds, and last weekend's celebrations of Juneteenth, the AfrAm Festival and Father's Day.

Mayor Brandon Scott joins us on Zoom from his office in City Hall.

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.