Mayor & City Council

MINUTES College Park City Council Meeting Tuesday, May 14, 2024 7:30 p.m. – 9:51 p.m. HYBRID In Person in Council Chambers of City Hall Virtual over Zoom PRESENT: Mayor Kabir; Mayor Pro Tem Mitchell; Councilmembers Hernandez, Hew, Esters, Whitney, Mackie, Adams (via Zoom), and Rigg. ABSENT: None. ALSO PRESENT: Kenneth Young, City Manager; Bill Gardiner, Assistant City Manager; Janeen S. Miller, City Clerk; Stephanie Anderson, City Attorney; Miriam Bader, Director of Planning; Rakhmel Rafi, Grants Coordinator; Michael Williams, Economic Development Manager; Dhruvak Mirani, Student Liaison; Gannon Sprinkle, Deputy Student Liaison. Mayor Kabir opened the meeting at 7:30 p.m. ANNOUNCEMENTS: Councilmember Hernandez encouraged applications for City advisory boards. Councilmember Esters thanked people for voting. Councilmember Whitney congratulated her daughter for voting for the first time, announced the Berwyn District Civic Association meeting on Thursday, and the commencement schedule next week. Mayor Pro Tem Mitchell congratulated Councilmember Hew on his recital last weekend. Councilmember Mackie thanked staff for their enforcement of the unruly social gathering ordinance. College Park City Council May 14, 2024 Page 2 Councilmember Rigg announced the new Calvert Hills Civic Association Board, and said their next meeting is the June 1 ice cream social. Mr. Mirani discussed an event he attended at the White House, UMD finals week, and food pantry donations. CITY MANAGER’S REPORT: Mr. Young said the DPS Building Safety Month event has been rescheduled to Friday, May 31; Saturday is the last DPW clean up event; the ITGA conference will be in College Park June 4-7. PROCLAMATIONS: Mayor Kabir read the proclamations for Bike to Work Day, and National Cities, Towns and Villages month. AMENDMENTS TO AND APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA: A motion was made by Councilmember Rigg and seconded by Councilmember Whitney to add Resolution 24-R-04, a Resolution in support of peace in Gaza and the return of the Israeli hostages, to the agenda. The motion passed 6-1-1 (Mackie opposed; Hernandez abstained due to his employment.) A motion was made by Councilmember Rigg and seconded by Councilmember Mitchell to adopt the agenda as amended. The motion passed 8-0. COMMENTS FROM THE AUDIENCE ON CONSENT AND NON-AGENDA ITEMS: David Dorsch, resident: Spoke about the public comment at the meeting that was held two weeks ago and asked if Council listens to their voters. Maxine Gross, resident: She invited everyone to attend the Restorative Justice Commission’s second event at Embry AME Church on Saturday at 4:00. She commented on some of the material she has seen online. CONSENT AGENDA: A motion was made by Councilmember Mitchell and seconded by Councilmember Hernandez to adopt the Consent Agenda, which consisted of the following: 24-G-79 Approval of City comments on the Mandatory Referral for the Leonardtown graduate student housing redevelopment. College Park City Council May 14, 2024 Page 3 24-G-80 Approval of a letter to the Department of Transportation supporting our grant request and approval to submit the Safe Streets and Roads for All grant application to the U.S. Department of Transportation, including the allocation of the required twenty percent cost-share match of $135,000.00 from the City's budget for FY26 if the grant is awarded. 24-G-82 Approve a letter of support for UMD Bikeways Grant Application. 24-G-81 Approval of minutes from the April 16, 2024, April 23, 2024 and May 7, 2024 Council meetings. The motion passed 8-0. ACTION ITEM: 24-R-04 Resolution in support of Peace in Gaza and the return of the Israeli hostages Councilmember Rigg introduced the item and read the resolution. A motion was made by Councilmember Rigg and seconded by Councilmember Whitney to adopt the resolution. He acknowledged that this is a controversial issue and that not everyone will agree. Comments from the audience: Josie Skinner, resident: supports. Jesse Levine, resident: this is not going to accomplish what you want to accomplish, and the timing is bad because some students would have wanted to be here. Luai Alamawi, resident: supports, and spoke about his views on what is happening in Gaza and in Israel. Patricia Conner, resident: supports. Jameelah Malik, non-resident: supports. AaNiah Sanders, resident: supports. Andrea Alvarez, non-resident, student: supports. Maxine Gross, resident: supports. Richard Birch, resident, student: supports. Claudia Barragan, non-resident: supports. Ruth Murphy, resident: supports. Ali Alleftawi, resident: supports. College Park City Council May 14, 2024 Page 4 Manar Dajani, resident: supports. Jenan El-Hifnawi, non-resident, student: supports. Lasair ni Chochlain, resident: supports. Aurangzeb Nisar, resident: supports. Philip, non-resident: supports. Abel Amene, student: supports. Talya, student: supports. Huda Said, resident: supports. Shahnaz, non resident: supports. Samir Kabir, resident: supports. Ifar Lafan, resident: supports. Councilmember Mackie explained why she disagreed with putting this resolution forward. She does not believe this is something the City should weigh in on. Councilmember Esters explained why she will support the resolution. Councilmember Hernandez will abstain due to his employment. Mayor Pro Tem Mitchell explained why she will support the resolution. Councilmember Hew explained why he will support the resolution. Mayor Kabir explained his support for the resolution. The motion passed 6-1-1 (Mackie opposed; Hernandez abstained). DISCUSSION ITEMS: A. Discussion of reducing the number of Campaign Yard Signs in City elections -Janeen S. Miller, City Clerk Ms. Miller reviewed the staff report. Mayor Pro Tem Mitchell discussed her reasons for bringing this item forward. A resident felt pressured to place another candidate’s sign in her yard because she already had one. She wanted to gauge interest in the Greenbelt voluntary program. Council Discussion: College Park City Council May 14, 2024 Page 5 • Regulating sign locations (i.e., sign centers) in the ROW: some interest but no consensus. • Limiting the number of signs that appear in a ROW: interest in a “gentlemen’s agreement” among candidates not to inundate an area with signs. • Changing the allowable time frame for signs from 45 days to 30 days prior to the election: some interest but no consensus. Concern this could harm new candidates more than incumbents who already have name recognition. • Mention of a recent Supreme Court case on this. • Discussion of regulating the size of the signs: no interest. No changes at this time. REQUESTS FOR / STATUS OF FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS: Councilmember Esters: • Pending submission of form: Discussion of how we handle National Night Out – one central event vs. a variety of neighborhood events, passed 8-0. • Formation of affordable housing task force. No form needed. Need to schedule a discussion to get the direction we need. Councilmember Mitchell asked when we can schedule “Review and update current Code for Code Enforcement and Parking Enforcement and Review of Current Parking Statutes.” COMMENTS: Councilmember Adams discussed a vote being taken tomorrow by the MWCOG Transportation Planning Board. Mayor Kabir attended bill signing in Annapolis last week. Councilmember Hew attended an Asian American Pacific Islander event at the White House. Councilmember Hernandez attended the Latin American Youth Center 2024 Gala. Mr. Young said the first Vacant and Blighted Property Tax Committee meeting will be held tomorrow. ADJOURN: Whitney/Rigg, 9:51 p.m., passed 8-0. Respectfully submitted by Janeen S. Miller, City Clerk