Dear Neighbors:
Here’s a link to the agenda for the April 15 City Council meeting: https://takomaparkmd.gov/meeting_agendas/city-council-meeting-agenda-wednesday-april-15-2020/. The key agenda items are a public hearing on the City budget for Fiscal Year 2021 (which starts on July 1) and a vote on a resolution to provide continued design money for the Library project. There are also votes on purchasing a Recreation Department van, and on a resolution suspending quasi-judicial proceedings by City boards and commissions during the Covid-19 emergency. The above link has details on how to sign up to speak or submit written comments for the budget hearing and for public comments on the voting items or other topics.
This blog is focused on the van purchase and the quasi-judicial proceedings resolution, since I provided detailed comments on the budget and property tax, and also on the Library, in the blog I posted yesterday: http://www.councilmemberkovar.com/blog/2020/4/13/april-13-more-thoughts-on-the-budget-property-tax-amp-the-library.
Ward One Virtual Meeting -- Thursday, April 16 at 7:00 PM. Given the challenges relating to in-person conversation during the pandemic, I thought it would be useful to organize a virtual opportunity for residents to give their opinions and ask me questions about issues affecting the City. So I’ll be hosting a meeting for that purpose on Thursday night. It will be an experiment, but I’m hopeful the technology will work well enough that we’ll be able to conduct similar electronic get-togethers going forward. I’ll send out a separate message with details on how to log in to the meeting.
Budget Public Hearing: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/council-20200415-1.pdf
VOTING SESSION
Library Project: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/council-20200415-2.pdf
Recreation Department Van: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/council-20200415-3.pdf. Under normal circumstances, this might be a fairly straightforward purchase. However, taking into account the challenges we’re facing in responding to the Coronavirus -- not to mention that most if not all of the summer programs for which the van would potentially be used will probably be cancelled -- I think it would be preferable not to go forward with the van purchase at this time. We can revisit it later in the year when we have a clearer idea of the actions the City needs to take to support residents and businesses that are struggling financially or in other ways because of the pandemic.
Resolution on Quasi-Judicial Proceedings: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/council-20200415-4.pdf. This is a timely matter connected to how certain City functions can operate during the Covid-19 pandemic. Several City boards and commissions -- the Commission on Landlord-Tenant Affairs, the Tree Commission, and the Noise Control Board -- make decisions in quasi-judicial proceedings that may be subject to review by Maryland courts. Given the disruptions and closures that have taken place within the State judiciary owing to the Covid-19 emergency declaration, the City Attorney has recommended that these City entities suspend any quasi-judicial actions for the duration of the declaration.
The bodies would still be permitted to meet (remotely for now, as is the case for other resident committees) to discuss policies relating to their work, but not to consider any individual cases that have or could come before them. There would be an exception to the general postponement requirement in the case of emergencies “relating to the public’s health, safety, or welfare.” I think this is an appropriate move for us to make under the current circumstances, and I’ll be voting in favor of the resolution.
Please feel free to contact me with questions or comments about any of these matters.
Peter Kovar, Takoma Park City Council, Ward One
240-319-6281; www.councilmemberkovar.com
(He, Him, His)
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