Mayor and City Council

CITY OF NEW CARROLLTON MINUTES COUNCIL WORKSHOP AND LEGISLATIVE MEETING MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2024 7:05 p.m. – 10:03 p.m. PRESENT: Chair Briana Urbina, Councilmembers Lincoln Lashley, Ryan Hussey, David Lai and Councilmember Duane Rosenberg (appearing virtually), Chief of Police, David Rice, Director of Public Works, Andre Triplett, City Clerk, Ashli Pressey, City Administrator Maisha Williams, City Attorney, Jason Deloach 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. PUBLIC HEARING AND DISCUSSION Reflection on Public Hearing from October 9, 2024 Council Chair Urbina issued a public apology to the citizens of the community of New Carrollton. Acknowledged the misinformation and missteps taken during the hearing. Announced another hearing will take place in December 2024 prior to another discussion before an official vote. Announced the details of the next hearing will be discussed within the current (October 14, 2024) council meeting. There will be ordinance(s) issued in order to have official guidelines for possible future public hearings. Councilmembers Lashley and Hussey made supporting comments to Council Chair Urbina’s official statement. Noted needs and efforts to improve communication within the community and administration going forward. Councilmember Lai noted the public meeting confirmed the communities need to have a voice and to be properly included. Also states more work is needed to build community and gain trust within that. City Administrator Maisha made a public apology regarding missteps on the administration’s behalf. The goal is to ensure administration is the liaison between the community, administration and council. Noted plans going forward to ensure the mistakes of the past are not repeated. Council Chair Urbina briefly reviews and announces the rules for the public and council for public hearing on December 9, 2024 for All Resident Voting. Made amendments to where the public hearing will be published. Councilmember Lai suggested eliminating proxy speaking as well as requesting interpreters in advance. City Administrator Maisha Williams addressed the many interpretation services that have been researched thus far. Google Meets has been tested and has been suggested to be used instead. Council Chair Urbina states she will take the suggested edits and then briefly revisit the rules on October 16, 2024 before officially publishing them to the public. ANNOUNCEMENTS Chair Briana Urbina and council members David Lai, Lincoln Lashley, and Ryan Hussey made announcements. Discussion of Expanding Voting Rights to 16-year-olds (Presentation by Michael Lynch and Isabel Jensen) Vote 16 research network. Informed what happens when the voting age is lowered to 16. Research shows 16–17-year-olds have a higher turnout in comparison to 18-24-year-olds. Lowering voting age increases the engagement. Showed the comparisons to voting engagements between the age groups once the voting age was lowered within cities in Prince Georges County. Michael Lynch gave his personal experience on voting engagement upon the passing of the legislation that allowed for 16-year-olds to vote. Councilmembers Hussey and Lai gave comments in support of the presenters. Also requested further information on how the municipalities brought the legislation forth and passed. Councilmember Lashley asked if the influence from parents on how the 16-17-year-olds vote differs from those who are 18. Michael Lynch and Isabell Jensen states the influence is the same. Report of the Mayor and the Department Heads Police Department Announced Drug Disposal event on 10/26/2024. Announced breast cancer awareness and domestic violence awareness month. *Question asked by Councilmember Lashley as to what is a premise check and commercial vehicle issue raised by Constituent Brown at the last meeting regarding commercial vehicle parking. *Premise checks requested by residents and business owners when they are out of town or away for an extended period of time *Commercial vehicle in resident neighborhoods addressed on September 18, 2024 meeting night. Administration *Mayor announces the fill estimate for Harland Street pool has gone out. Request was made for adjustments and the bid is now down to $150, 000 instead of the original $350,000. Does not think the price can be made lower than that. The project needs to be started soon due to it being a hazard. Pricing estimate will be sent out during this October 14, 2024 meeting. *Council Chair Urbina would like to know if any of the contractors are available to speak on Wednesday, October 16, 2024 meeting. *Mayor states there isn’t anything to approve officially however, Mayor Dodro does need to know if the council approves of the estimated cost because an RFP does need to go out for these projects soon. City Administrator announced updates on city events and meeting on the website calendar. Also, sign up for weekly e-news for event announcements. Weekly e-news letter will include the Council Meetings and the zoom links. Prior Meetings and agendas are on the website under Agendas and minutes. Announced virtual meetings will be moving from zoom to google meets soon. Department of Public Works Street paving proposals are being evaluated. Fuel tanks RFP has been completed and is to be delivered to the City this week. Sidewalk street repairs are listed and will be revisited within the meeting. Powhatan bridge, CPJ are reviewing bid documents and the bid presentation is expected this week. DPW building is in progress. Discussion of Sidewalk Repair Funds will come out of previous allotted amount for sidewalk repair. VMP construction will be used for this project. This round of sidewalk repair will address the majority of sidewalk trip hazards. Another repair project will come in the spring. Most of the trip hazards has been addressed. 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. September Meeting Minutes Will be voting on the meeting minutes come October 16, 2024 legislative meeting. Final Budget Amendment of FY2024 City Administrator is working on getting budget amendments to the council quarterly. This is the final amendment for FY2024 budget. Will be voted on at Wednesday, October 16, 2024 legislative meeting. Discussion of Proposed Charter Language Based on Discussions at Mayor/Council Retreat Council Chair Urbina states current charter copy and pasted into the document and noted changes from the retreat into the document. Council Chair Urbina proposes veto timelines, how to enact, and when it can be enacted should be moved to one section so it is easy to find and read. Suggested changes to notification to council by the mayor of unavailability to perform duties. Councilmember Lashley comments the language implicating how the mayor should share staff with the assistance from staff to council. Mayor Dodro informed council this was already in the charter the number for which it stands was changed. Council Chair Urbina and City Attorney Jason Deloach states a majority vote is and should stay for appointments and dismissals of positions. Council Chair Urbina changed from 4/5 to 3/5 for appointments of positions. The requirement of 4/5 for recommendation of termination stands as is. Mayor Dodro and City Attorney, Jason Deloach disagree with the suggested timeframe to fill important positions. States the thirty (30) day recommendation to fill the position is ambitious. Council Chair Urbina wants to have some form of a limitation for when positions should be filled based upon history with filling unfilled positions. Mayor Dodro states it can be made a requirement to have the positions filled but not necessarily have a set number of days on when. Questions on what is the consequence for if the mayor does not fill the positions or if and when the council can step in arose. This is considered an ongoing conversation to answer the questions posed. Councilmember Hussey would like to see language allowing the mayor to supervise appointed positions. Council Chair Urbina states there is language involving what and who the mayor should supervise. City Attorney Jason Deloach recommends there should be language stating specifically the mayor’s power and duties to sign off on/ and approve contracts and other important city affairs. PUBLIC COMMENTS Constituent Richard Potts questions what a headhunter is and why it is necessary for what the council needs. Also questioned if the rental license cost is still $100. *Council Chair Urbina informed Mr. Potts a headhunter is essentially a recruiter and they are being used to source for a City Manager. Also states there is no concrete change to the form of government and that a City Manager form of government is not set in stone. *City Administrator informed Mr. Potts the cost is $350 for a single-family home and $250 for Multifamily condo units. Constituent Cynthia Mills gave comments regarding the apology of unprofessionalism displayed at October 9, 2024 meeting. States based upon Robert’s Rules of Order, gaining order by muting during previous council meetings, the standing council members, mayor and Council Chair would have displayed better behavior. Constituent Angela Alcorn is confused about why it has been stated questions will not be answered via public comments. She also suggested having the public forums just as was had during community day. *Mayor Dodro and Council Chair Urbina informed the professional standard, although not usually practiced during our council meetings, public comments are strictly public comments. *City Attorney, Jason Deloach informs the council of the risk that comes from answering questions or giving a response during public comment. ADJOURN: A motion was made by Councilmember Hussey and seconded by Councilmember Lashley to adjourn, and with a vote of 4-0, the meeting was adjourned at 10:03 p.m. to adjourn the workshop meeting. AMENDMENTS TO AND APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA: Recess called at 8:58pm for a brief reading of the suggested language changes to the Charter for Mayor Powers and Duties. Meeting Called back to order at 9:09pm Next Council meeting is October 16, 2024. Respectfully submitted by Ashli Pressey, City Clerk