Dear Neighbors:
Here’s the link to the agenda for the City Council meeting on Wednesday, January 27: https://takomaparkmd.gov/meeting_agendas/city-council-meeting-agenda-wednesday-january-27-2021/. There are two voting items: on amendments to the Police Retirement Plan, and on the budget amendment we reviewed in last week’s meeting. Then we’ll have two discussions in the Work Session: a report out on the recent Council priorities setting session, and an update on plans for the City Manager search process. For more details on these topics see below.
The meeting will start with proclamations recognizing Shepherds of Zion Ministries International Church (which has been organizing and running the biweekly food distribution program at the Takoma Park Elementary School parking lot), and in honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day. Sign-up for public comments is open until 5:00 PM on Wednesday: Link to sign-up for Live Public Comments
COVID UPDATE
The Takoma Park Data Dashboard has been updated as of January 22. Some key data points flagged by City staff:
· There were 69 new cases reported since last week, for a confirmed case total of 1341 and a city-wide prevalence of 7.6%.
· In the last month, both Montgomery County and Takoma Park peaked in their 7-day moving average of new cases per 100,000 residents -- a measure of new cases that controls for population and day-to-day spikes/dips -- around New Year's (possibly caused by holiday-spread), and then experienced a decline in new cases. While the County's 7-day moving average has continued declining since early January, Takoma Park's has not, and remains near late-December levels.
· Following a week of no deaths caused by COVID-19 in the 20912 zip code, three new deaths were reported in the 20912 zip code in the last week.
Testing continues at our Recreation Center every Wednesday and Saturday, 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM. For other Montgomery County testing locations, visit this link. The situation around vaccination availability and sign-up remains frustratingly unclear, and I don’t feel at this point I can recommend a specific strategy or location for securing a vaccination. You can see some details on the County and State vaccine plans through these websites: https://montgomerycountymd.gov/covid19/vaccine/
And you can try this one to pre-register even if you’re not in the categories indicated in the heading: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=-bEBbuWxc0Csl3eAaaCtZIX4xtdwGclLpDnoMzWyXUdUODM1SDhTNlNSREVJSEhOMlZKSjJKTkFBRy4u
ANNOUNCEMENTS
February 4 Community Conversation on City Manager Search Process. Residents can participate in a discussion on the skills, experience, values, etc. we’re looking for as a community in our next City Manager on Thursday, February 4 from 6:00 - 8:00 PM. More details about this event will be provided soon.
Reimagining Public Safety Task Force -- Information Event on January 26, Applications to Serve on the Task Force due January 29. There’s a public information session today on the Task Force for those who may be interested in serving or who would simply like to learn more about it: https://takomaparkmd.gov/news-alert/join-us-for-public-information-session-on-public-safety-tuesday-jan-26-at-630pm/. Applications for appointment to the Task Force are due January 29: https://takomaparkmd.gov/news-alert/call-for-applications-reimagining-public-safety-task-force/
Dance Exchange Classes for Older Adults. Join Dance Exchange, in partnership with the City, for a FREE weekly online dance class for older adults. Led by Dance Exchange artists on Zoom, the Dance On creative aging class celebrates aging with dance, creativity, and connection. All abilities and experience welcome. Learn more and register at bit.ly/danceonclass. For questions, call 301-270-6700 or email mail@danceexchange.org.
UPDATE ON KEY ISSUES FROM LAST WEEK’S COUNCIL MEETING
County Zoning Proposal: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2021/council-20210121-6.pdf. In last week’s blog I outlined the zoning change proposed by County Councilmember Jawando which would permit construction of duplexes, triplexes, and small apartments within a mile of Metro stations in areas throughout Montgomery County currently zoned for single family homes. Since County zoning changes can have significant impacts on the City, I’m glad Mayor Stewart scheduled a City Council session on the proposal. The link above includes a map that gives a rough approximation of the one-mile area around the Takoma Metro station. It encompasses most of Ward One and not much of any other Ward, as well as most of the historic district, so I’m looking at the proposal very carefully.
As a progressive who is committed to taking steps to expand the supply of affordable housing, I think it’s reasonable that Councilmember Jawando is contributing to the debate on these issues through the introduction of this zoning proposal. That said, it’s my view that there are a number of questions on which we need greater clarity before the City Council would be able to take a position on the proposal. Among the areas on which I’d like to have more information include the zoning proposal’s impact within the historic district, and its potential effect on parking, trees and stormwater. Larger buildings with more units could mean loss of trees, more paved areas, and an increase in impervious surfaces, which could contribute to untreated stormwater run-off.
I’d also like to have a clearer sense of whether the proposal would actually help advance creation of affordable housing. It certainly can increase density near Metro stations. But I’m concerned that in the affected areas in Takoma Park, new units built through this zoning change could still be unaffordable for many renters or buyers. The unfortunate reality is that virtually no affordable housing gets built without some type of subsidy. So if the proposal moves forward I’d like to explore whether it could be modified to more fully promote affordable housing, while also ensuring that appropriate construction requirements continue to apply in the historic district.
I’m a long-time resident of the historic district, so that may affect my view of the proposal. However, I worked to strengthen the affordable housing goals and commitments in the City’s housing strategic plan, and I think we all have to reckon with this country’s racist history which has had such a huge impact on where and how so many of us live today. For these reasons, and also because the proposal would affect areas near Metro stations throughout the County, I won’t simply reject it out of hand, even though there are some issues in terms of how it would affect Takoma Park.
To me, the best approach is to get more clarity on the questions my colleagues and I have raised, specifically about Takoma Park. We can then use that information -- if it appears the proposal may advance -- to develop a City position, which could include calling for amendments. There’s a County Council committee hearing on the proposal on February 11. For now, it’s not evident whether it will move toward approval, or whether the type of changes the proposal calls for could be considered in the context of the County Planning Board’s comprehensive “Thrive Montgomery 2050” initiative (https://montgomeryplanning.org/planning/master-plan-list/general-plans/thrive-montgomery-2050/).
You can see video of last week’s Council discussion via this link: https://takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/meetings-and-documents/city-council-video/. The zoning discussion begins at the 2:14 mark, with my comments starting at 2:46:55. This is a complex set of issues, and I welcome continued feedback from residents.
Report on Takoma Park Elections: The Board of Elections provided a summary of our recent local elections, the first year we were synchronized with Federal, State and County elections, and the first time we used a mail-in/drop-off system for most ballots. The primary purpose of synchronization was to boost turnout, and we did have the highest turnout at least in several decades, and maybe ever. Our total turnout rate was 53.7%. The highest since 1993 -- as far back as the Board reported -- was 31.9% in 1995, and turnout only exceeded 20% twice since 2005.
I’d add, though, that it’s not clear whether the higher turnout was because of the easier process for voters connected to the mail-in/drop off system as opposed to synchronization or some other factor. A true assessment of the turnout increasing impact of synchronization may only come about if in a future election we return to physical polling places and voters are able to vote at the same location for Mayor and Council as they do for Federal, State and local offices. For future elections, assuming COVID is no longer a barrier, we’ll have to consider whether to return to physical polling places, stick with the mail-in/drop-off system, or perhaps use a hybrid system.
Regardless of what we decide, I think it’s worth celebrating a successful local election, especially given all the challenges connected to the mail-in/drop-off system. While there were glitches, they tended to be relatively minor: for example, several hundred ballots taking too long be delivered by the Postal Service to people’s homes, and some voters leaving off their signatures, which meant staff had to try to track them down to “cure” the problem. One difficulty that does concern me is that, despite a lot of effort to communicate to the public how the election would be run, a number of residents showed up at the Community Center on Election Day expecting to vote for President. When they learned they would have to drive to Silver Spring to vote for President, they drove away to do so, without casting a ballot in our local election. So, depending on what the format is for our 2022 elections, now that we’re synchronized with the other elections, we’ll have to focus even more on communicating with the public to reduce such misunderstandings.
One other piece of good news: the Board’s report listed all the write-in names that were voted in each Ward. I couldn’t help noticing that “Donald Trump” got one vote in Ward One. So beating him is something I have in common with Joe Biden:)
Board of Elections Report: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2021/takoma-park-2020-city-election-report.pdf
Board of Elections Presentation: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2021/Documents/2020-City-Election-Report.pdf
Staff Wage Adjustments: The Council unanimously approved two wage adjustments, one a Collective Bargaining Agreement for City employees represented by AFSCME, and the other for 31 employees not represented by a union (primarily managers and supervisors). These two packages, plus two previously adopted wage proposals for the Police officers’ union and other non-union staff, all limit pay increases for the current budget year to 1.5%. That’s substantially below the proposal in this year’s budget, which could have allowed up to a 4.5% increase. I think the lower level is appropriate, given the budget constraints we’re facing due to COVID-19. Taken together, the net impact on the budget of these is a savings of approximately $550,000 for this fiscal year. You can see the details of the packages we approved through these links:
AFSCME Collective Bargaining Agreement: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2021/council-20210121-3.pdf
Wages for Other employees: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2021/council-20210121-4.pdf
City Manager Comments: You can read the City Manager’s official comments from last week’s meeting through the following link. https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-manager/city-manager-comments/2020/City%20Manager%20Comments%20_%2001.21.2021.pdf.
THIS WEEK’S VOTING SESSION
Police Retirement Plan Amendments: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2021/council-20210127-1-rev.pdf. This vote involves two changes to the plan: creation of a revenue neutral early retirement lump sum payment program, and giving officers retirement credit for previous military service. The proposal was approved unanimously by the Council in last week’s preliminary vote, and I plan to vote yes again on final passage this week.
Budget Amendment: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2021/council-20210127-2.pdf. The amendment includes reductions in revenue due to lower than projected interest income owing to the economic impact of the pandemic; a decline in expenditures because of reduced pay increases over what was originally in the budget (the 1.5% staff pay increase limits noted above); and an increase in spending connected to the affordable housing collaboration with Habitat for Humanity on Garland Avenue. In response to a question I asked about the net impact of the amendment, the City Manager confirmed the amendment created a little over a $100,000 net increase in the City’s General Fund rather than a decrease of that amount (which had been stated in the agenda information). I’ll be voting for the amendment.
WORK SESSION
Council Retreat: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2021/council-20210127-3-rev.pdf. We’ll discuss the day-long retreat the Council held on Saturday, January 13 and continue the process of considering additions to the priorities list, taking into account the retreat and other suggestions from Councilmembers and residents. You can see some of my thoughts on priorities in last week’s blog (you’ll have to scroll down a page or so): http://www.councilmemberkovar.com/blog/2021/1/20/january-21-2021-city-council-meeting-agenda
Update on City Manager Search Process: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2021/council-20210127-3-rev.pdf. Our City Manager Suzanne Ludlow is retiring on June 30, and we’ve begun the process of seeking her replacement with the hiring of a search firm. We’ll discuss other steps relating specifically to resident input, which will include not only the Community Conversation on February 4th, but also an online survey, as well as two stakeholder focus groups.
SIGN UP FOR ALERTS
You can sign up to receive updates and alerts from the Police Department, the Takoma Insider, the Office of Sustainability, Takoma Park Arts and more: https://takomaparkmd.gov/sign-up/. In addition, you can register with WSSC to be notified when they are planning local water/sewer work near your home through this link: https://member.everbridge.net/1332612387831877/login
HOW TO WATCH THE COUNCIL MEETING
The public may view the meeting on City TV (RCN – 13, HD 1060; Comcast/xfinity – 13, HD 997; Verizon Fios – 28), on the City Council Video Page of the City Website; on YouTube, or on Facebook. The video page has recordings of past meetings.
As always, please be in touch with questions or comments about the topics covered in this blog.
Peter Kovar, Takoma Park City Council, Ward One
240-319-6281; www.councilmemberkovar.com
(He, Him, His)
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