City Council Meeting--Wednesday, March 1st, 2023 – 7:30 PM

Somehow, it's March already. Below are my notes for tonight's meeting.

Couple of other things:

1. I have reserved the Azalea room for 7pm on March 23rd us to meet to discuss the budget. I will put together a way to RSVP and send that out soon.

2. I will attend the Youth Council Town Hall March 7th from 5:30pm-8pm. Please encourage young people to attend (SSL hours available for participation) and come even if you aren't technically "young" so that you can support the work this group is doing.

3. I am also attending the Ward 5 Public Safety meeting on March 13th from 7pm-9pm. Our Ward will have one soon, but we are waiting for our turn as we had ours more recently than others. Though the focus of this one is Ward 5, you are still welcome. I'm interested to see the format in person so that I can help us effectively use our slot in the near future. Register with this link: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_JvC46M-jSliFVoUdWD_WmQ

4. Council Member Honzak and I met with john a. powell this past Monday. He is the director of the Othering and Belonging Institute. The work that they are doing is important and I am hoping that Takoma Park will be a city that works towards their goals. https://belonging.berkeley.edu/john-powell

VOTING SESSION

First Reading Ordinance Approving Installation of Traffic Calming on Second

Avenue (PDF)

I will vote in support of this installation. Our City needs to find a solution that is more equitable for petitioning for Traffic Calming devices. The current method favors streets that have single family homes and gives an unfair advantage to residents who have time to meet with other neighbors in order to fill out the petition.

Cover Memo and Resolutions (PDF)

A. Resolution Providing for Appointments to the Commission on Landlord-Tenant Affairs (COLTA)

B. Resolution Providing for Appointments to the Nuclear-Free Takoma Park Committee

I will vote in favor of these appointments. As Council Member Dyballa states, this round of appointees did not reflect the diversity of Takoma Park as well as we should. Please consider applying if you are a POC or a renter. All Takoma Park residents are important voices on our committees and boards.

WORK SESSION

Proposed Temporary Street Closures for Events on Laurel Avenue and Anne Street (PDF)

These are all of the typical road closures for the Old Takoma Business Association. I recommend clicking the link to the PDF above and putting them on your calendar so that you can attend.

FY 2023 Budget Amendment No. 5 (PDF)

The Budget Amendment No. 5 looks a lot different than it did when it was first presented on February 8th. It does not include salaries in our savings. This is because it is not accurate to say that the full amount of the salaries of unfilled positions went unspent. Some portion of those salaries were spent to give employees in “acting” roles, such as “Acting Deputy City Manager,” a pay differential to compensate them for a higher level of employment than that to which they are hired for. When we were presented this amendment last time, we also suggested that we increase the budget for the Tree Fund Reserve. The Tree Fund Reserve money is generated by residents who remove trees in order to replace them. That is the strict use for that fund. I will ask for clarification as to why we have decided to not include our ARPA Fund in this amendment.