Dear Neighbors:
Due to the public health crisis, the City Council meeting on Wednesday, June 17 will be held remotely. The public may view the meeting as always: on City TV (RCN -- 13, HD 1060; Comcast/xfinity -- 13, HD 997; Verizon Fios -- 28), on the City Council Video Page of the City website; on YouTube, or on Facebook. Sign-up for public comments will be open until 5:00 PM on the day of the meeting: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_mXBCHS1tQfS2_T7AwcP9Yg
Here’s a link to the meeting agenda: https://takomaparkmd.gov/meeting_agendas/city-council-meeting-agenda-wednesday-june-17-2020/. The key agenda item is a presentation by Police Chief DeVaul with a Council discussion on policing in Takoma Park. We’ll also be voting on a resolution to prevent salary increases for the Mayor and Councilmembers from going into effect as scheduled on July 1. In addition, there will be a single consent agenda vote on several contracts, as well as discussions on fringe benefits for future Councils, and on planning for this fall’s local elections. On Tuesday evening the City Council will hold a town hall style forum with our District 20 State legislators to discuss State policing issues that affect law enforcement and related issues in the City. See below for details on these matters. There will also be proclamations on Pride Month and World Refugee Day.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Takoma Park Town Hall on Policing with State District 20 Delegation -- June 16.
Mayor Stewart and the City Council will host State Senator Will Smith and Delegates Lorig Charkoudian, David Moon, and Jheanelle Wilkins for a virtual discussion on policing reforms in Maryland on Tuesday, June 16 from 7:00 - 8:30 PM. Topics will include the Law Enforcement Officer’s Bill of Rights, officer training, use of force, and de-militarization. For information and registration: D20 Town Hall on Policing in Maryland
City Youth Council -- Applications Due by June 30. Information and application can be found here: https://takomaparkmd.gov/government/boards-commissions-and-committees/takoma-park-youth-council/
Closure to Automobile Traffic of Laurel Avenue’s Commercial Side. As I outlined in a previous message, the commercial side of Laurel Avenue in Old Town is being temporarily closed to help enable businesses and patrons to follow social distancing guidelines during the current phase of Montgomery County’s COVID-19 reopening. The following link has more details along with a Community Feedback Survey: https://takomaparkmd.gov/initiatives/project-directory/use-of-public-space-covid-19-response-re-opening-phase-i/. We can make adjustments to the Laurel Avenue set-up on an ongoing basis, based on feedback from the community. So I encourage residents to respond to the survey once you’ve had a chance to see how things are arranged along that block.
UPDATES FROM LAST WEEK’S COUNCIL MEETING
COVID-19 Assistance. We received a detailed presentation from City staff on COVID-19 assistance that’s being provided to City residents and businesses, along with staff recommendations on the use of the COVID-19 fund established by the Council as part of our recent work on the City budget. You can see the presentation with the recommended expenditures through this link: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/Meeting-Documents/Takoma-Park-COVID19-Response-Presentation-20200610.pdf. I think the recommendations are a reasonable start, though I’ve made the point that we should be prepared f necessary to spend more than what’s in the COVID-19 fund and the staff recommendations (which we could do through the use of some of our reserve funds). I’m also following up with staff to get more details and clarifications on the funding recommendations to help determine if the proposed breakdown on purposes and spending is on target, and also thinking about how to put in place systems for appropriately monitoring the expenditure of COVID-19 funds.
The City website’s COVID-19 page (https://takomaparkmd.gov/initiatives/project-directory/information-and-resources-covid-19/) now has, in addition to a wealth of information and resources about the pandemic, a listing of the number of cases in the City to date (you’ll need to scroll down on the right hand column). As noted previously, our infection rate (currently 2.3%) is significantly higher than the County-wide figure (currently 1.3%), which underlines the importance of Takoma Park taking active steps to help address needs connected to the pandemic here in the City.
VOTING SESSION
Resolution on Mayor and Council Salaries: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/council-20200617-1.pdf. I’ve expressed concern, as have my colleagues, about accepting the Council salary increases that are scheduled to go into effect on July 1 when the 2021 fiscal year starts. At a time when, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we face unusual budgetary challenges and the negotiations with the two unions representing City employees have been put on hold, I think it would be inappropriate for us to receive pay raises. However, State law and the City charter prevent us from amending the Council pay ordinance so as to affect our salaries during our terms in office (changes that are approved can only go into effect after there’s been an election). So, we’ll be voting on a resolution that enables us to donate the salary increase back to the City, which is permissible under State and City law. I’ll be voting in favor of the resolution.
Consent Agenda (a single vote on all the proposed contracts (I’ll be voting yes):
Engineering Services Contracts: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/council-20200617-2ab.pdf
Lunch and Learn Contract: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/council-20200617-2c.pdf
Election Services Contract: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/council-20200617-2d.pdf
WORK SESSION
Discussion of Fringe Benefits for Future Councils: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/council-20200617-3.pdf. The Council has asked the Council Compensation Task Force to look into financial and other barriers to seeking election to and serving on the Council, including the part-time compensation for what is often a full-time job. The Task Force recommended a significant pay increase beyond the standard inflation adjustment along with a more expansive array of fringe benefits for which Councilmembers would be eligible. While my colleagues and I didn’t think it was appropriate to put in place a large pay increase during the pandemic, I agree we need to take steps to make service on the Council something that a wider range of residents, including those with lower incomes, can more realistically consider. So with that in mind we’ll be continuing the discussion on the Task Force’s recommendations concerning fringe benefits for Councilmembers.
Policing in Takoma Park: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/Meeting-Documents/council-20200617-4.pdf. This will be an important discussion for our community, closely connected as it is to the unconscionable police assaults against Black and brown people across the country, and the Black Lives Matter and other demonstrations occurring in response to that violence. When combined with the Tuesday night town hall involving our State legislators, I think the discussion can be a useful step toward reimagining policing and other services in Takoma Park. I hope residents from across the City will sign up to speak, or watch the discussion live or later through the Council video page: https://takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/meetings-and-documents/city-council-video/.
As someone who cares deeply about this community, and also as a local elected official who has responsibility for voting on changes to our laws and budgets, I look forward to being an active participant in these discussions. But I’m grappling with the question of how I can best contribute to the debate on changing policing and other priorities in the City. As a white person who has benefited -- doubtless in ways I don’t perceive or fully appreciate -- from a system with structural racism built into it, there’s a lot more listening for me to do, including to residents from outside Ward One and to my Council colleagues who represent them.
Our discussion and work on policing in Takoma Park will go well past Wednesday, and will connect to actions taken by other levels of government. For example, without changes to the State Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights it will remain difficult to hold local police accountable for misconduct. Similarly, absent reforms to the qualified immunity doctrine at the Federal level, lawsuits over incidents of police violence will continue to face severe challenges. Tomorrow night’s town hall will offer a good chance for residents and Councilmembers to encourage our State lawmakers to push for needed changes.
We have more direct control over our own City budget and priorities. I’m hopeful the City will be able to move quickly on some ideas to begin to address local challenges around law enforcement and community service priorities. But these are areas where making meaningful reform will likely require deeper engagement with residents. In recognition of the need to listen more to those who are most affected by the racial inequities in Takoma Park, I’d like us to consider appointing a committee of residents to look at broader changes in policing and other aspects of City programs and governance.
I believe there has been some progress in Takoma Park, in such areas as adoption of our racial equity policy, and -- under the leadership of Police Chief Antonio DeVaul -- efforts like moving away from the warrior toward the guardian model for police officers, as well as more actively embracing community policing, improving our use of force policies, and hiring a more diverse workforce. But those are way stations on the path forward -- there’s more work to be done.
As Chief DeVaul appropriately noted in his statement about the murder of George Floyd “I am not one to say, ‘it could never happen here in Takoma Park.’” Sadly, as the recent incident involving removal of the Black Lives Matter posters in our City has shown, we don’t live in a bubble. The removal of the posters is obviously not of the same magnitude as police killing an unarmed resident, but Takoma Park is not immune to these controversies. Indeed, there’s longstanding physical and political segregation in our community that needs to be overcome. That would be challenging under any circumstance, and the difficulties are heightened because of the pandemic. But we can’t allow the hurdles to effective public engagement and communication created by COVID-19 to deter us from taking action.
We should consider if we need an Emergency Response Team; whether to accept weapons and gear from the Defense Department; our relationship to the County police; and the appropriate level for our police budget and options for reducing it and shifting resources into such areas as social services, child care, health and housing programs, job training and business start-up help. We also need to look at internal police matters like increased de-escalation and anti-bias training, more emphasis on community policing, better dispatcher training, and more changes to use of force policies.
Another key for us is to seek new ways to encourage greater participation in municipal affairs from a broader cross-section of the community. That may involve more frequent scheduling of Council meetings at different times of the day, in different formats, with day-care, and continued experimentation with remote technology like Zoom even after there’s a lifting of restrictions on public gatherings because of the Coronavirus. In addition, we should to re-double our efforts to have more diverse membership on our resident boards, commissions and committees.
There are other steps along those lines we can take, including expanding translation of City documents, continuing to increase recreation opportunities for a wider range of residents, and providing more support for immigrants. I’m also taking a closer look at the question of City streets named for Civil War generals. I’d previously felt that -- because of the impact on residents whose street addresses would be changed -- plaques putting the street names in historic context or adding a second ceremonial name would be preferable. However, certainly for our street named for Robert E. Lee, I now see a stronger case for making the switch.
The nationwide response to the George Floyd murder, the broader support for the protests and for police reform, and the growing number of young people from all backgrounds coming together to reject systemic racism, create a sense that we may be at a point where more fundamental changes are possible. On the other hand, the police killing of an unarmed black man in Atlanta -- after Mr. Floyd’s murder -- shows this isn’t just about raising consciousness.
And simply adopting “reforms” or passing laws, though crucial, won’t be sufficient. When I worked at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, decades after passage of the Fair Housing Act we still confronted the awful legacy of the Federal government’s previously adopted discriminatory laws and practices that have done so much even down to the present day to destroy opportunities for African Americans and other people of color. In the housing sphere alone these actions have denied millions of Black and brown people a fair shot not only at living in desirable areas with adequate public services and commercial offerings, but have also prevented them from building financial security, obtaining good educations, having access to quality jobs and health care, and so much more.
So there’s a level of legal, judicial and governmental follow-through that’s essential. Beyond that, there’s societal and personal work many of us need to undertake, and those efforts need to be part of our discussions, too. The bottom line is that it’s past the time when we can continue to accept excuses for a failure to address the abhorrent and violent practices in police departments and our broader society that put the lives and bodies of our Black and brown neighbors at risk. While larger forces beyond our immediate control have brought us to this place in time, we have the ability and the responsibility at our local level to take action to help ensure that people of color in our community are treated fairly and that we live up to our Takoma Park ideals.
I hope that if we approach these challenges together as a community we can be successful. And, whether it’s in relation to this week’s events or later on, I’d like to hear what residents are thinking.
Election Planning Update: The background information on this agenda item was not yet available when I prepared this blog.
Please feel free to be in touch with questions or comments about not only policing, but any of the other issues covered in this blog.
Peter Kovar, Takoma Park City Council, Ward One
240-319-6281; www.councilmemberkovar.com
(He, Him, His)
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