Dear Neighbors:
Here’s hoping this year is better than last. Given the awful developments at the U.S. Capitol yesterday, I confess I’m a little abashed to be sending out a message with somewhat mundane City Council information. But we’ll be starting up our meetings next week, so I thought it would be helpful to provide a few details on this month’s Council schedule and several other City updates, even as we continue processing and responding to the effort to overthrow our democracy.
It was horrifying -- though not unexpected -- to see yesterday’s violence and what amounted to a coup attempt inspired by Donald Trump. Since I worked in and around the Capitol for many years, I’m familiar with most of the chambers, stairwells and hallways where the insurrectionists were rampaging, and that added to the anger and sadness I felt when I watched the live coverage. Of course, the striking imbalance in the treatment of white “protesters” compared with those who have peacefully supported the Black Lives Matter movement or with Black and Brown people just trying to live their lives could not have been more stark.
We clearly face some huge challenges as a country, and the narrow party margins in the House and Senate may limit the prospects for progressive legislation. But Inauguration day can’t come soon enough for me. Since it’s probably too much to hope Trump will do the right thing and simply resign, I hope the 25th Amendment is invoked so we can have some semblance of normalcy in the last days of the current administration. Though it’s beginning to look more like resignations from senior officials is what we’ll see, I’m glad in any case there’s a new impeachment effort underway, with our own Congressman Jamie Raskin one of the sponsors.
Upcoming Schedule -- Council Priorities Process (Ward One Meeting on Jan. 12). The first Council meeting this year is on Wednesday, January 13 at 7:30 PM. Then on Saturday the 16th there’s a day-long Council retreat -- viewable by the public -- as part of our priorities setting process (that event runs from 10:00 AM - 4:30 PM). The following week, with MLK Day on Monday and the Inauguration on Wednesday, the Council will meet on Thursday the 21st, to ensure City staff have adequate time to prepare for the meeting. While the public portion of that meeting starts at 7:30 PM, the Council will begin in a closed session at 6:00 PM to receive legal advice from the City Attorney. For the final meeting of the month we’ll return to Wednesday (January 27). There should be updates on COVID-19 in each of the upcoming Council meetings. I’ll provide more details about the agendas for these Council meetings in future messages, but here’s a partial list of some likely key agenda items for the next few meetings:
January 13 -- a discussion concerning the Police Retirement Plan, a review of City finances including funds put on the “hold list” for potential use in our COVID response and options for property tax assistance, and the proposed Collective Bargaining Agreement for City staff along with possible wage adjustments for non-union staff.
January 21 -- A report on the recent City election from the Board of Elections, possible votes on Police Retirement Plan changes, the Collective Bargaining Agreement and other wage adjustments for City staff, and a discussion on the subdivision of 7402 Garland Avenue (an affordable housing collaboration with Habitat for Humanity).
January 27 -- Possible vote on the Garland Avenue subdivision, and a report out on the priorities-setting retreat.
Council Priorities. Each January the Council meets to map out priorities for the coming year, which we generally then approve via a resolution and a detailed memo in later Council meetings. While the retreat on January 16 doesn’t include a public comment period, there are multiple opportunities for residents to weigh in on 2021 priorities. As noted, I’m hosting a Ward One priorities discussion on Tuesday, January 12 starting at 7:30 PM. Here’s the Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83296260626?pwd=R2pVckZZcjJrbW5TaVplcUdzeWNvUT09. In addition, residents can comment at the January 13 Council meeting, or at future meetings, including when we report out on the retreat and when we work on the resolution and priorities memo. Also, if anyone wishes to submit written comments specifically for the retreat, feel free to send them to me and I’ll pass them along to my Council colleagues and senior staff.
COVID Update
The City COVID Dashboard’s last weekly update was on December 29: https://app.smartsheet.com/b/publish?EQBCT=42a594afc3ad4c59ba7b1ca9965b7837.
A few key data points as of that date highlighted by City staff:
· There were 84 new cases reported for a cumulative total of 1,104 infections Citywide.
· Our 7-day moving average of new cases per 100,000 residents continues to trend higher than the County overall.
· New cases in December total 227, compared to 154 in November and 232 in May.
· There were no new deaths in the 20912 zip code.
Takoma Junction Development. The State Highway Administration has released its Takoma Junction Visioning Study report: https://www.roads.maryland.gov/mdotsha/pages/Index.aspx?PageId=365. It’s quite a dense, detailed document, which I haven’t had a chance to go through yet.
WSSC Alerts. You can sign up to receive alerts from WSSC when they are planning local water/sewer work near your home through this link: https://member.everbridge.net/1332612387831877/login
Library Books-to-Go Update: http://www.takomapark.info/library/curbside.html. The Library has expanded its "Books-to-Go" curbside service. The new hours for picking up books are Monday - Friday, 2:00 - 8:00 PM, and Saturday, Noon - 6:00 PM. In addition, the hours for requesting books by phone now are Monday - Friday, Noon - 6:00 PM, and there is only one phone number, for both kids and adult book requests: 240-507-0229. Email requests -- to librarytakomapark@gmail.com -- can be submitted at any time.
Sidewalk Poetry Project. Would you like to see your original poem imprinted in a city sidewalk? City residents can enter their short original poems in a contest organized by the City’s Arts and Humanities Division. Winners will receive a $100 award and a chance to have their poem stamped into a local sidewalk. No poetry experience is needed. You can find more details in the online submission form.
Holiday Art Sale. Although the regular Holiday Art Sale at the Community Center was cancelled owing to the pandemic, the City’s online version raised $2,000 for Uniting US, which benefits artists who are veterans. Crossroads Community Food Network also will receive 10% of the proceeds to support their work fighting hunger in Takoma Park.
As always, please feel free to be in touch with questions or comments about any of the topics covered in this message.
Peter Kovar, Takoma Park City Council, Ward One
240-319-6281; www.councilmemberkovar.com
(He, Him, His)
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