City Council

DocuSign Envelope ID: E76619A8-22D5-4D78-ADE1-ED1DD73B24B7 MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL CITY OF SEAT PLEASANT SPECIAL SESSION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2022 7:00P.M. 1. OPENING 1.1.1 Call to Order Council President McCarthy called the meeting to order at 7:06p.m. 1.2 Roll Call Present: Councilmember Monica Higgs, Councilmember Hope Love, Council President Shireka McCarthy, Mayor Kelly Porter, Councilmember Gerald Raynor, Sr., Councilmember Kizzie Scott, Councilmember Gloria Sistrunk Staff: Demetrious Harris, Acting Chief of Police, Dashaun Lanham, City Clerk, Stanley Mosley, Interim City Manager 2. PRESENTATION 2.1. None 3. CITIZEN COMMENTS 3.1 There was no citizens on the zoom call and no written comments was submitted. 4. MEETING TOPICS 4.1. Seat Pleasant Police Department COPS Grant  Mr. Mosley stated that he had received several emails regarding the importance of the COPS Grant. They have gotten to the point where they are poignant and need attention.  Acting Chief Harris stated that it was reported to him that there were some issues with the DOG COPS Grant.  Acting Chief Harris stated that he had the assistance of Ms. Rhoda and officials from DOJ regarding the 2017 grant.  Acting Chief Harris stated that they were informed that the city had only spent $36,000 of the grant, and this will require the city to refund the money.  Acting Chief Harris had requested to meet with DOJ to review and understand the reporting of the grant. Page 1 of 6 DocuSign Envelope ID: E76619A8-22D5-4D78-ADE1-ED1DD73B24B7  Acting Chief Harris stated that he found the issue and the reporting was off.  Acting Chief Harris stated that when Mr. O'Connor initially resigned, he had requested to stay on to ensure that the reporting was accurate. The formal chief denied the request.  Acting Chief Harris stated that there are several aspects of the reporting on the grant from the police department, grants, and finance. Chief Harris stated that he has not seen the reporting from the Finance department due to limited access.  Acting Chief Harris stated that he would like to bring Mr. O'Connor back to assist with correcting the report. Mr. O'Connor had submitted a draft contract that is currently being reviewed by the department’s attorney for review.  Acting Chief Harris stated that there are some concerns regarding the contract amount.  Acting Chief Harris stated that he is familiar with other grants, but he is uncomfortable at this point with this grant.  Acting Chief Harris stated that the grant was for ten officers, and the city had terminated some officer and hired others. They will need to go back by two years for the reporting.  Acting Chief Harris stated that the city is not able to return any funds.  Acting Chief Harris stated that he does not want to deal with any indictments or lose any of his officers.  Acting Chief Harris stated that the Grant Manager cannot assist with the reporting as it is more tedious than the other grants.  Mr. Mosley stated that his concerns is the kind of money that is being discussed, and the guarantor feels that the city had spent down 1.4 million, and we need to prove to them that we did the right way or did not spend down the amount of money.  Acting Chief Harris stated that there was a fee that was charged, and the minimum draw down, and he knows that the money has not been spend down. There have been minimum deposits into the city’s account. We need to show that the funds had not been drawn down.  Acting Chief Harris stated that they are not able to apply for an extension until June.  Acting Chief Harris stated that the issue is in the reporting.  Councilmember Sistrunk stated that Mr. O'Connor was very instrumentally in getting the grant and knowledgeable about the grant. Page 2 of 6 DocuSign Envelope ID: E76619A8-22D5-4D78-ADE1-ED1DD73B24B7  Councilmember Sistrunk stated that would like to know if we are going to adjust the current contract, and she feels that one of the contracts will need to be resolved.  Councilmember Sistrunk stated that with him managing the ARP Grant, and being given another contract for the city, may not be legal, and we need to consult with our legal counsel about providing him with a separate contract. We may need to restructure the contract to allow him to cover both needs. Oppose to having him under two separate contracts. We need legal advice.  Councilmember Sistrunk stated that she agrees with Acting Chief Harris as he would be the best person to come back to assist the grant reporting.  Mayor Porter stated that his concerns would be if the person can fulfill the work with getting it done in the timeframe, as well as the concerns of Councilmember Sistrunk.  Mayor Porter stated that does the city have another plan and if the requirements can be filled in the time allotted.  Acting Chief Harris stated that the concerns with Councilmember Sistrunk are very valid, but we cannot restructure the contract for ARP as the matter cannot be funded by ARP. The contract will need to be funded from the Police department.  Acting Chief Harris stated that he contacted other municipalities regarding the federal grant and others did not want to assist due to not knowing the structure of the contract.  Acting Chief Harris stated that Greenbelt has the similar grant and he had spoken with his counter partners regarding the questions. Others are receiving GOCCP Grant.  Mr. Mosley stated that Mr. O'Connor would be the best person to address the reporting due to him writing the grant.  Mr. Mosley stated that we need to look at accountability, and he needs someone that he can hold accountable, and the police department is a closed environment that anyone should not be working on.  Mr. Mosley stated that he is leaning towards Mr. O’Connor, and he is sure the amount money that is being asked for is negotiable, because we do not have a lot of time.  Councilmember Love stated that what will be put in place to ensure that this does not continue to happen?  Mr. Mosley stated that we can designate someone that is up and coming, and the police department needs to identify someone with the full acumen to Page 3 of 6 DocuSign Envelope ID: E76619A8-22D5-4D78-ADE1-ED1DD73B24B7 address the concerns. We need to have the finance department fully staffed so that we can account for the spending that is going on.  Mr. Mosley stated that we had the Chief of Police/City Manager doing the spending and approving and there was no accountability. It is on the Chief to identify someone in the department with the acumen to manage the grants. The State grants are easy, and anyone can prepare the reporting. However, the federal grants and county grants hold you to strict accountability.  Acting Chief Harris stated that he did not want to come to the council to make the request, but ninety percent of days is spent cleaning up and this is one of them. He does not need Mr. O'Connor to address anything else within the department.  Chief Harris stated that he is interested in identifying the issues and managing them.  Councilmember Scott stated that she heard everyone concerns and she agrees with Councilmember Sistrunk. However, she cannot sign off on Mr. O'Connor returning to assist as the reporting appears to be incorrect with the numbers.  Councilmember Scott stated that it is a reporting issue, and she cannot sign- off on this request. She still questions why the city has a Grant Manager that does not deal with all the grants for the city, and she works under Mr. O’Connor, and she should be familiar with the grants.  Council President McCarthy stated that she does not have an issue with Mr. O'Connor returning to address the concerns with the grant, as he is most familiar with the grants. However, she does have concerns with the money that is being asked for, as well as the other concerns raised by Councilmember Sistrunk.  Council President McCarthy stated that she would like to see the Grant Manager to address the grants in the police department, or staff person in the department to address the grant.  Council President McCarthy stated that with him having other responsibilities can he address the concerns in a timely manner.  Council President McCarthy stated she feels that people know that we are in a dire situation, and they are taking advantage and she does not like to be taken advantage of.  Councilmember Sistrunk stated that Mr. O'Connor cannot have two separate contracts for the city, so they will need to restructure one contract that will include them both and she feels that Mr. Mosley, and the Chief needs have another solution. Page 4 of 6 DocuSign Envelope ID: E76619A8-22D5-4D78-ADE1-ED1DD73B24B7  Councilmember Sistrunk stated that she has concerns with the amount of money he is asking, and Chief and Mr. Mosley needs to sit-down with Mr. O'Connor to work on a reasonable plan.  Councilmember Sistrunk stated that we do not have the luxury of finding someone else.  Councilmember Sistrunk stated that she strongly suggests that someone contacts Jason or whomever has replaced Jason. We are on a tight timeframe otherwise the city will need to return the funding.  Acting Chief Harris stated that he agrees with the thoughts and the amount needs to be adjusted. The problem is one person was managing certain aspect of the department and he has multiple people working on the same thing. He knew firsthand that it was a problem, and they have signatures of people on paper, but they did not know anything that was going on. The reporting was not an issue until Mr. O'Connor had left.  Chief Harris stated that he did not want to bring this to the council, but he did not have any other choice.  Council President McCarthy inquired how soon can they meet to discuss the ARP contract?  Mr. Mosley stated that he will meet with the Chief on tomorrow.  Council President McCarthy inquired what cost center will the funds come from for the contract.  Acting Chief Harris stated that he would like to use speed camera funds since over $400,000 was just deposited. He would like to use one of the labor lines he would prefer that.  Acting Chief Harris stated that they are still receiving bills that have not been paid, so he does not want to use the contract or subscription services.  Mr. Mosley would like to know if they have permission from the council to negotiate with Mr. O’Connor on the COPS Grant.  Council President McCarthy stated that before they move forward the contract and dollar amount needs to come back before the council.  Council President McCarthy  It was motioned by Councilmember Raynor and seconded by Councilmember Sistrunk to renegotiate the contract with John O'Connor as it pertains to the COPS grant.  Councilmember Raynor inquired if they could include the discovery of any other grants that are concerns that they be addressed also.  Mr. Mosley stated that he does not feel that they other grants are an issue that the department cannot address. Page 5 of 6 DocuSign Envelope ID: E76619A8-22D5-4D78-ADE1-ED1DD73B24B7  Acting Chief Harris stated that he agrees with Mr. Mosley, but he would like to negotiate an hourly rate oppose to a flat rate.  Motion by Gerald Raynor Sr, second by Gloria L Sistrunk.  Final Resolution: Motion Carried  Yes: Hope Love, Gerald Raynor Sr, Gloria L Sistrunk, Shireka McCarthy  No: Monica Higgs, Kizzie Scott ANNOUNCEMENTS 7.1 Seat Pleasant Police Department Meet & Greet/Town Hall, Thursday, September 22, 2022, Seat Pleasant Activity Center-5720 Addison Rd., Seat Pleasant, MD 20743 at 6:00pm 7.2 Councilmember At-Large Vacancy Candidate Packet Due, Friday, September 23, 2022, at 5:00p.m. to the City Clerk's Office 7.3 Regular Work Session, Monday, October 3, 2022, by Zoom Webinar at 6:00pm, Meeting Link details are available on the city's website, Seat Pleasant, MD 7.4 Councilmember-At-Large Public Hearing, Monday, October 3, 2022, by Zoom Webinar at 7:30pm, Meeting Link details are available on the city's website, Seat Pleasant, MD 7.5 Ward V Breakfast Meeting, Monday, October 17, 2022, Seat Pleasant Volunteer Fire Department, 6305 Addison Rd., Seat Pleasant, MD 20743 RSVP required with Councilmember Sistrunk or Ms. Smith from 9:30am-11:30am 5. ADJOURN: The meeting adjourned at 7:48pm Submitted by, Dashaun N. Lanham, CMC City Clerk Page 6 of 6