Mayor & Commission Meetings

LEGISLATIVE REVIEW COMMITTEE Thursday, October 15, 2020 Committee Members Present: Committee Members Absent: Commissioner Allison Wright, Chair Commissioner Mike Hamby Commissioner Russell Edwards Commissioner Mariah Parker Commissioner Ovita Thornton Staff: Deborah Lonon, Assistant Manager Sherrie Hines, Assistant Attorney Sarah George, Recorder Steve Decker, Transportation & Public Works Stephen Bailey, Transportation & Public Works Tim Griffeth, Transportation & Public Works Commissioner Wright called the meeting to order at 1:03 p.m. A. Approval of Minutes: Commissioner Parker made a motion to approve the September 17, 2020 Minutes, and Commissioner Edwards seconded. The motion passed by unanimous vote. Commission Identified Items of Interest: Deborah Lonon requested to hold the discussion of the LEED Certification Program meeting until Central Services Director Andrew Saunders could be present. Commissioner Wright agreed and requested the Committee review the email update concerning the LEED Certification Program sent by Deborah Lonon before the next meeting. Commissioner Thornton made a motion to remove from “Old Business” the LRC recommendation pertaining to the inclusion office position from the November Mayor & Commission agenda in order to avoid it being further delayed. Commissioner Edwards seconded. The motion passed by unanimous vote. B. Traffic calming/neighborhood traffic management for sub-standard streets, examine sliding-scale metrics regarding speed & frequency of vehicles vs. current requirements (Mayor Girtz assigned to LRC on December 3, 2019) Steve Decker reviewed the changes made to the Neighborhood Traffic Management Program policy based on past discussion. Language was included to provide some background which better defines what can be done on different kinds of roadways. The program exemplifies the rules for neighborhood residential streets and local roadways. In the section concerning procedure, Decker outlined the process through which Commissioners and community members can address perceived problems on roadways. As Steve Decker reviewed the section of the document which discusses the three primary issues the Traffic Engineer considers during the traffic study. Commissioner Wright asked if it would be helpful to add to those a fourth point, “other elements as observed,” to make clear there are more than just three factors considered. Commissioner Parker noted that outlining as many of the factors considered by the Traffic Engineer as possible would help eliminate concerns of  perceived subjectivity with which these decisions are made. Commissioner Parker further explained that some constituents may feel they are being discriminated against if the reason their request for traffic calming was denied is not fully explained to them. The more transparent the considerations for traffic calming are, the more we can mitigate concerns that these decisions are being made on a subjective or discriminatory basis. Steve Decker agreed with Commissioner Parker and explained that was why he had included the three considerations outlined in the document, noting those are the most common. He expressed concern that getting much more extensive than the three might open more issues than can be readily handled. Decker recommended starting with these three and adding to it over time if something specific were to come up. Commissioner Wright and Commissioner Parker agreed with the addition of a fourth point, which makes clear there are more factors than the three listed. Steve Decker suggested adding a section which explained the circumstances in which a Traffic Engineer would conduct a Safety Audit instead. Commissioner Wright and Commissioner Parker agreed. Steve Decker also noted he had changed the minimum amount of community support to 65%. As Steve Decker concluded the section concerning process, Commissioner Parker inquired if a consideration of equity could be included in the ranking portion of the document and asked if areas which have been chronically under-invested in could be prioritized. Steve Decker explained that, in the past when he had worked with these programs, the budget had been much tighter than it is now, and he believes they can do a lot with a little, because the process has been improved; he further believes this new process will prioritize the areas equitably. Commissioner Wright suggested, since this is a geographical concern, the Committee could review the census tracts in discussion about the ranking process. Steve Decker agreed to collaborate with Deborah Lonon and Stephen Bailey to draft some new language in the document concerning the ranking process. Stephen Bailey emphasized that, when this policy reaches implementation and funding, it will be working from a large SPLOST 2011 fund balance, so it will not be immediately necessary to start prioritizing. Bailey suggested putting a three month hold on implementation once the policy is approved, so a large inflow of requested projects can accumulate and then be prioritized; this would ensure all the funding is not spent on less prioritized areas before the would-be prioritized requests can be made. The three-month hold would allow the ranking process, including equity and safety, to be applied before chronology of incoming requests dictates where funding is spent. Commissioner Thornton inquired as to whose responsibility it is to get the comments from the community and who is responsible for managing the follow up, especially in cases where there are pressing needs. Stephen Bailey explained that promoting the program is up to each Commissioner in their district, so neighborhoods know about this opportunity and can start that process in the three-month period, noting three months is typically how long traffic calming implementation process from start to finish requires. Commissioner Wright asked the Committee if they feel, after this item is sent out with the agenda, if they can start managing the marketing of the new program to their constituents. Commissioner Wright also requested Steve Decker if this would include managing the list of requests he already has received. Steve Decker answered he would need to review that list with the Traffic Engineering. Some of those listed were already studied, but now the new criteria for handling the process can be applied. Legislative Review Committee Meeting Minutes Page 2 101520  Commissioner Thornton inquired as to whether or not the Committee was considering a timeline extending to around late February for implementation. Commissioner Wright agreed and explained they were looking towards late winter/early spring for implementing requests. Steve Decker noted he would not like to hold some of these requests much longer, saying he would like to move as quickly as possible. The Committee agreed to this three-month timeline in which to heavily market the new program process to residents. Deborah Lonon asked Commissioner Wright if when Steve Decker completes his revisions of the document she wants them forwarded to the LRC or just moved forward in the Agenda Item process, noting that it was already in the Agenda Item cycle. Commissioner Wright explained that because the revisions were minor, she would like the item to stay on the agenda for this cycle. The Committee agreed. C. Examine opportunities for local civil rights legislation, modelled on the recent Brookhaven ordinance, and utilizing the Municipal Court and ACC Attorney’s Office as support for the prospective ordinance. (Mayor Girtz assigned to LRC on March 3, 2020) Sherrie Hines introduced this topic and explained she had taken the Committee’s direction and based the draft ordinance off the Brookhaven model. The only changes Hines noted were taking some language from the Decatur Ordinance to apply to this draft and cutting a few things that were very specific to the City of Brookhaven. One example, section 6-20-3 describes individuals’ rights; Hines felt the Brookhaven language for this section was a little confusing concerning what constituted as violations of rights, so she adjusted it using language from the Decatur Ordinance which reads more clearly. Hines noted that Krystle Cobran reviewed this and wanted to remind the Committee that just because a non-discrimination ordinance is passed does not mean that people will then use the complaint process with regularity, which has happened in other areas. Krystle Cobran suggested discussing ways to increase resident participation and engagement, possibly through grassroots education efforts that are transparent and easy to understand. She also discovered an equity resolution from Arlington, Virginia which might be discussed or compared. An equity resolution is similar but distinguishable from a non-discrimination ordinance. Commissioner Parker suggested making references in the “whereas” section of the draft to the previous action taken by the Mayor & Commission, noting that other than this section, she felt the language of the resolution clear and strong. Commissioner Wright agreed to adding a timeline in the “whereas” section in order to capture what had been previously discussed and what actions had been taken in the different agenda items historically. Commissioner Wright and Commissioner Parker requested more time to review the language but noted, overall, they were satisfied with the draft ordinance. The Committee agreed on using the Decatur Ordinance language concerning rights violations instead of the Brookhaven in that one instance mentioned by Hines in section 6-20-3. Commissioner Edwards explained that the purpose of this ordinance was to announce that enforceable civil rights laws have been adopted at the local level, so making it clear and succinct as possible is key. Commissioner Edwards further noted he did not think the “whereas” section should be too lengthy for the sake of maintaining this clarity. The Committee agreed to further discuss ways to make the complaint process more user-friendly as suggested by Krystle Cobran. Legislative Review Committee Meeting Minutes Page 3 101520  Commissioner Wright motioned to revisit the draft ordinance again at the next meeting with the discussed improvements. Commissioner Edwards seconded. The motion was passed unanimously. D. Schedule/Agenda Changes The next LRC meeting is scheduled for November 19, 2020 at 1:00 p.m. and will be held remotely via WebEx. Review of LEED Certification Program and further discussion of the non- discrimination ordinance will be discussed at the November meeting. *The November 19, 2020 meeting was subsequently cancelled. Commissioner Thornton made a motion to adjourn. Commissioner Edwards seconded the motion, and it passed by unanimous vote. The meeting adjourned at 1:48 p.m. Legislative Review Committee Meeting Minutes Page 4 101520