Dear Neighbors;
Due to the public health crisis, the City Council meeting on Wednesday, June 24 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: Sign-up for Live Public Comments.
Here’s a link to the agenda: https://takomaparkmd.gov/meeting_agendas/city-council-meeting-agenda-wednesday-june-24-2020/. There are no votes this week. The work session includes three agenda items: a presentation from the Grants Review Committee with their recommendations for Fiscal Year 2021 Quality of Life grants; a report from our State Legislative Advocate on the 2020 session in Annapolis; and an update on planning for the City’s November local elections. For details on these topics see below. Meanwhile we’re tentatively scheduled in our July 1 Council meeting to discuss updated drafts of the Tree Ordinance revisions and our resolution on the City’s Urban Forest Policies and Tree Canopy Goals, with possible votes on both the ordinance and the resolution at subsequent meetings in July.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Montgomery County Math-Science Building Project Update -- 6:00 PM Tonight. http://mcblogs.montgomerycollege.edu/tpss-math-science-building/virtual-project-update-forum-june-23-2020/. On Tuesday, June 23 the College will host a virtual forum on the project, with a focus on proposed tree removals, stormwater plans, and related matters. Register in advance through the above link.
County COVID-19 Phase II Reopening Notice. As noted previously, Montgomery County announced that the Phase II Coronavirus reopening would begin at 5:00 PM on this past Friday. For those who haven’t already seen an explanation of the County order, you can see the details through these links:
https://www2.montgomerycountymd.gov/mcgportalapps/Press_Detail.aspx?Item_ID=25449
https://montgomerycountymd.gov/exec/Resources/Files/orders/082-20.pdf
Library Project -- Exterior Design Survey. https://takomaparkmd.gov/news/help-choose-a-new-design-option-for-the-exterior-of-the-new-library-building-survey-ends-july-5-2020/. In April the Council voted to move forward with the next design phase on the Library project. At the completion of the design process later in the year, the Council will review what should then be more detailed cost estimates and make a decision on whether to go forward with construction. It’s possible at that time -- depending on cost information -- that the project could be scaled back from its current scope. For now, though, with the current design there are several options for what the exterior could look like, and City staff have developed a survey to receive input on those exterior options. This doesn’t mean that a final decision has been made on going forward with the project in this form. But in order to have a clear sense of the potential construction costs, it will be helpful to see if residents have a preference in terms of the three versions of the exterior that are part of the current design framework.
Pop-up COVID-19 Testing, June 25, 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM, New Hampshire Ave. Rec. Ctr. https://takomaparkmd.gov/news/free-pop-up-covid-19-testing-by-dhhs-on-thursday-june-25-from-10am-2pm-at-the-takoma-park-recreation-ctr/. This Thursday at the New Hampshire Avenue Recreation Center the County health department will host its first community-focused pop-up testing site. This will be a cheek swab method testing program. Advance registration before 2:00 PM tomorrow (Wednesday) by phone is required (see details via above link). The testing is free with no insurance information or payment required. The program is for individuals without any current Covid-19 symptoms. Those with symptoms will be referred to other area sites for testing when they call in to schedule an appointment.
UPDATES FROM LAST WEEK’S COUNCIL MEETING
Mayor and Council Salaries and Fringe Benefits. When we appointed a resident Task Force last year on Council Compensation (which we generally do every four years), several of us raised concerns about the extent to which the part-time pay with frequent full-time hours creates a barrier for many residents to considering running for and serving on the Council. We asked the Task Force to consider how to address that problem, and they recommended a more substantial pay increase than the standard cost of living adjustment, as well as an expansion of benefits for which Councilmembers would be eligible.
With City staff pay increases on hold for now because of the budgetary restrictions connected to the Coronavirus, the Council was not supportive of a major pay increase (though it couldn’t have gone into effect until after the next election in any case). Unlike the inflation adjustments for City workers, the Council cost of living increase will go into effect automatically on July 1 unless we take some action to address it. We had before us last week a resolution aimed at allowing us to donate the increases back to the City. In the end, though, the mechanism for doing that appeared unduly cumbersome, so we didn’t vote on the resolution, and it’s left to each of us to handle on our own. I’ll be donating the funds.
We also had a lengthy discussion about expanding the health and other fringe benefits which could be made available to Councilmembers, and our Human Resources Director will be following up on the discussion by providing more details on potential costs for such benefits.
Policing in Takoma Park. Police Chief DeVaul made a lengthy presentation, after which Councilmembers asked a number of questions (many of us also followed up with him after the meeting with additional questions and comments). He outlined the actions he has taken to modify the Department’s use of force policies and the additional policy changes under review in that area (https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/message-on-TPPD-use-of-force-re-8cantwait.pdf). He also described the steps he has taken to bring a much more diverse workforce (officers and civilians) into the Department since he came to Takoma Park in 2018, and he outlined the work he has done to emphasize community policing, including moving from the warrior model toward the guardian model for officers, changing performance measures to reward community policing and problem solving, and the use of body worn cameras.
I think these and other moves have been very helpful in shifting the Department in a more positive direction. But there’s still plenty of work to be done. I see this discussion as the beginning of a serious ongoing look at making changes to public safety and law enforcement here in Takoma Park to address concerns that have been raised by our Black and brown neighbors, as well as finding ways to increase the support and assistance we provide to areas in the City that are most in need.
In addition to taking a closer look at the Police Department budget in general, and considering how we might shift funds into other community programs, I’d like to look especially at whether we need to continue having an Emergency Response Team and other actions we could take to reduce more militaristic aspects of policing. I’d also like to explore setting up a committee of people from the community to advise us on police reform in the context of our racial equity policy. I’d be interested in hearing more from residents on their ideas for how best to reimagine policing in Takoma Park.
You can see the Chief’s presentation and the Council discussion with him through this link to video of last week’s Council meeting, starting at the 2:54:20 mark: https://takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/meetings-and-documents/city-council-video/.
Election Planning. https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/Meeting-Documents/BOE-Statement-2020-06-17.pdf. A representative of the City Board of Elections made a presentation on behalf of the Board recommending that the local City elections this fall for Mayor and Council be conducted by mail. This recommendation was made primarily because of concerns, during the pandemic, about voter and election worker health and safety; election worker recruitment; and voter turnout, all of which I share. While there’s still plenty of uncertainty on where things will stand with COVID-19 this fall, if we’re going to switch to a mail-in system, we need to start making decisions. That includes for example choosing a vendor to handle mailing out the ballots. I agree with the Board that going with a mail-in system seems like the best move at this point, and that we should begin taking steps to set it in motion.
We had switched to even year elections with the expectation that by having our balloting coincide with the Federal, State and County elections, there would be a substantial increase in voter turnout. We likely won’t see a major effect along those lines this year, because our mail-in ballots will be separate from the mail-in system for other elections (assuming they also go with the mail-in approach) owing to the eligibility for non-U.S. citizens and 16 and 17-olds to vote in our local elections. However, there’s a reasonable chance that voting by mail will help boost turnout to some extent.
City Manager Comments.
https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-manager/city-manager-comments/2020/City%20Manager%20Comments%20_%2006.17.2020.pdf. Read City Manager Suzanne Ludlow’s official comments from the June 17 Council meeting.
THIS WEEK’S WORK SESSION
Grants Review Committee Recommendations: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/council-20200624-1.pdf. We’ll hear the Grants Review Committee’s recommendations for this year’s Community Quality of Life grants. As I’ve noted previously, I’d like to see us target City grants to programs that help address challenges connected to the COVID-19 pandemic or that are at least potentially focused on communities that are disproportionately affected by the virus. I’ll be listening to the presentation with that in mind.
Report on the 2020 State Legislative Session: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/council-20200624-2.pdf. The Council receives updates periodically from Alice Wilkerson of Public Policy Partners, who serves as the City’s legislative advocate on State legislation in Annapolis. She’ll be providing an update on this year’s legislative session, which was truncated because of the pandemic. The Council will also have some initial discussions on what our State priorities for the coming year should be.
Election Update: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/council-20200624-3.pdf. Given the planning underway for moving our local elections to a mail-in system, we’ll likely have updates on the elections on the agenda for most of our upcoming Council meetings. This week we’ll be looking at potential City Charter amendments needed to make the switch to a mail-in system, plus a proposed election calendar.
As always, please feel free to contact me with questions or comments about any of the issues covered in this week’s blog.
Peter Kovar, Takoma Park City Council, Ward One
240-319-6281; www.councilmemberkovar.com
(He, Him, His)
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