Mayor and City Council

CITY OF NEW CARROLLTON MINUTES COUNCIL WORKSHOP AND LEGISLATIVE MEETING WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2024 7:05 p.m. – 10:05 p.m. PRESENT: Chair Briana Urbina (appearing virtually), Councilmembers Lincoln Lashley, David Lai, Councilmembers Ryan Hussey and Duane Rosenberg (appearing virtually), Major, Marc Butler, Director of Public Works, Andre Triplett, City Clerk, Ashli Pressey, City Administrator Maisha Williams, Director of Human Resources, LaTisha Thorton, and Mayor Katrina Dodro. ABSENT: Chair Briana Urbina opened the meeting at 7:05 p.m. PUBLIC COMMENTS Constituent Agneli stated lowering the voting age and All Resident Voting should be a referendum and not decided by the council. Also stated she was under the impression the form of government had already taken place because the RFP for a headhunter for city manager approved. Council Chair Urbina informed Ms. Agneli no charter change has taken place however, there have been conversations regarding changing the charter. Constituent Don Brown came to discuss commercial vehicles parking in the residential area and lack of police presence. He states the commercial vehicles are making parking difficult because they tend to be dump trucks or full trailers and it makes it to where it is hard to get through the neighborhood. ANNOUNCEMENTS Chair Briana Urbina and council members David Lai, Lincoln Lashley, and Ryan Hussey made announcements. PUBLIC HEARING AND DISCUSSION Geotechnical Engineer: Results of Department of Public Works (DPW) Building Information on testing done to assist with knowing remodeling/ upgrades were needed for DPW building. Explained process that is currently taking place. Explained future recommended solutions. Councilmember Lai needs more information in order to ask proper questions. Mayor Dodro informs council something needs to be done soon regarding the DPW building. Council Chair Urbina agrees with Mayor Dodro about DPW building needing a solution soon. Geotechnical Engineer: Update on Powhatan Bridge Presented bridge plans (drawings). Updates on permits needed/ waiting on from the county. Anticipates construction will be complete six (6) months from the start of construction. Questions from council about procurement however, council understands that is something administration can answer and not CPJ. CPJ states RFP is in progress. Resolution on RFP for City Staffing Analysis Council Chair Urbina states this was a result of the council retreat on 9/21. She has since changed her mind on the resolution. Wanted the analysis to be able to see what each position does and not to overload employees in their position. Human Resource Director, LaTisha Thorton, informed council she has begun the process for the staffing analysis. The goal of the analysis is to get rid of “slash” employees and to fill requisitions that are open or needed. Council Chair Urbina is pulling the legislation. Councilmember Lai asked how can there be an adequate comparison. Human Resource Director, LaTisha Thorton, informed Councilmember Lai she is using desk audits, talks with employees and department heads, as well as using technology net, to do the comparisons. Mayor Dodro agrees with pulling the legislation. Update on RFP for City Manager Councilmembers Lashley and Lai states they would like to see what other cities paid for a headhunter. RFPs from other cities was included in the packet for the council to see how other cities structured their RFP. Mayor Dodro states council needs to tell administration exactly what it is they would like in the RFP. Previous RFP posted on the City website for several street repairs. Mr. Triplett states the city move forward with the company who is the most vetted and has the most trusted work history with the City. Council Chair Urbina wants to wait for the conclusion of the staffing analysis to see what the council may want in their RFP. Will revisit this topic in a December council meeting. Update on Land Sale Allocation Mayor Dodro states the total amount received for the land sale was $850,000. There are no plans at this time for the funding however, there are some things that may come up within the following year. Council Chair Urbina suggest a seed fund for Harland Street. Councilmember Lashley states something for the community is a good idea however, he understands there isn’t enough funding for that as of yet. He also suggested something along Harland Street. Councilmember Lai thinks the logical solution on how to allocate the money should be used on economic development. Update on Monies Collected From Ticket Amnesty First time running the report. Major Butler does feel there is room for improvement. Major Butler explained the breakdown of fees, the vendors police go through to pull the reports, and payment enforcement works between the states. Update on Fountain Club Swim Team Mayor Dodro met with the founder of the swim club. Explained how majority of the team members are not residents of New Carrollton. Founder of the swim club team is not a resident of the city either. Cannot help with grants due to majority of the team not being residents of the city. Samsara Information and Dormancy Report Council Chair Urbina wants to know what information the council would like to have to make a request to administration from Samsara. Councilmember Rosenberg would like to see what is happening with the fleet of vehicles within the city. Also wants access to Samsara for council so they can pull the reports themselves to see how the vehicles are being managed. Mayor Dodro and Major Butler explained receiving a report without knowing different factors that could contribute to them, leaves out important context the council would need for a fair comparison. ARPA Spend Plan Update Council Chair Urbina summarized the budget. Informed council it lays out how much money is left to spend and what has been spent so far. Council Chair Urbina and City Administrator, Maisha Williams, opened the floor to questions. Council Chair Urbina asked when should the council expect an update report from C. Brown and Associates. City Administrator, Maisha Williams, informed council budget amendments will be done at least quarterly. PUBLIC COMMENTS Constituent Agneli came forward regarding a resolution that requested an RFP for a headhunter to search for a City Manager. She states the resolution contradicts what she was told at the beginning of the meeting and asked Council Chair Urbina for clarification. *Council Chair Urbina informed Ms. Agneli council is attempting to follow the guidelines of public meetings to not respond to public comments. Constituent Agneli is frustrated by the council’s inability to address the public comments. She would like to have the language of the resolution that request an RFP to have a headhunter. She states for the Council Chair to state no decision has been made yet, there has been a resolution passed as if the decision to change the form of government has been passed, is unfair to the citizens of the city. *Council chair informed Ms. Agneli of the charter change process and how they have chosen to go about it regarding the change of form of government. Constituent Phelecia came to speak on the change of form of government. She informed the council of a discussion had prior to the change of administration how the government shouldn’t be changed based off of one person. She also raised questions about what will happen to the newly appointed City Administrator and the affects this change could have on the staff as a whole. Ms. Phelecia also suggested council take another look at the power they hold and the message they are sending to the public with the confusion about the form of government change. ADJOURN: A motion was made by Councilmember Lai and seconded by Councilmember Lashley to adjourn, and with a vote of 5-0, the meeting was adjourned at 10:05 p.m. to adjourn the workshop meeting. Public Hearing regarding All Resident Voting charter change is October 9, 2024 Next Council meeting is October 16, 2024. Respectfully submitted by Ashli Pressey, City Clerk