Hello Ward One Residents,
On December 11th we had two Council meetings: a special one with our District 20 Delegation about the current State legislative session, and a second one for regular business.
City Website: https://takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/meetings-and-documents/city-council-video/
Quick summary: (1) our Annapolis delegation is proactively advancing City interests against tough budgetary odds and is well aligned with Tk Pk is wanting to support vulnerable people against Trump Administration risks (deportation, health care cuts, reproductive and LGBTQ rights, among others); (2) our budget priorities Resolution giving guidance to the City Manager in developing the FY 26 proposal is not all I had hoped for in clarity or focus on sustainability, but it was completed far earlier than in past years, and is clearer about the need to bring spending in line (and raise more revenues from other sources); we will all have another bite at this apple in future weeks.
1. Meeting with Annapolis Delegation:
All 4 of our District 20 legislators (an exceptionally strong team) spoke, as did the Council members, who jointly presented the City’s priorities to them. (That PPT presentation still needs to be posted to the City’s website.)
a. Senator Will Smith addressed the anticipated State deficit of about $1.3 B, due to commitments on pay raises and school funding, noting that local capital funding will be tough – but he plans to try to help the City. As chair of the Judicial Proceedings Cttee he will work to safeguard immigration, reproductive and just cause eviction rights.
b. Del. David Moon, House Minority Leader said MD laid strong groundwork already on protecting the people at risk from incoming Trump administration reproductive and immigration plans: we have protected reproductive rights, secured the privacy of health care records, and ensured health care services are available for immigrants. MD also shut down immigrant detention centers and provided legal services to immigrants. The Moore Administration wants to extend protections for legal records.
In response to Q and A, Del. Moon also said that he worries that Mo Co and TkPk are aging and not growing much. While proud to offer sanctuary to the vulnerable, he urged for creativity in keeping the commerce engine running and attracting new working families. And he reminded us that it is challenging to generate additional revenue sources for municipalities when the States and Counties are also in need, so it will be an uphill climb to gain new taxation powers for Tk Pk. To advance the goal of making housing more affordable (another TkPk priority) they are exploring ways to put state-owned land to use for housing (and solar arrays).
c. Del. Charkoudian dug deeper into energy law and policy: she is working on legislation to improve our electricity grid’s reliability and open the door to developing more renewables-based generating capacity through regulatory changes that favor renewables and battery storage.
Del. Charkoudian also mentioned her efforts to move bills authorizing enforcement cameras on stop signs in school zones (we asked her to expand the authorization to community college sites), and to allow liquor boards to consider density of liquor stores when awarding licenses. Another innovation she is exploring (which was well received) is a proposal to grant free Purple Line ridership and advertising to residents and small businesses harmed by its construction. Finally, she mentioned aFood Forest bill she authored to authorize foraging on state-owned land. (This bill stems from TkPk’s food forest initiatives.)
Responding to comments about Purple Line challenges, and the State Highway Administration’s (SHA) duty to pay for ADA-compliant sidewalks on State roads, she cautioned that the State Highway Trust Fund is depleted: the gas tax revenues that fund it are falling, due to improved gas mileage and use of electric vehicles.
d. Del. Jheanelle Wilkins, who sits on the Ways and Means Committee responsible for tax legislation, is working on a couple of other bills of great interest. One would protect specific sanctuary locations such as churches,hospitals and courtrooms. The other is her bill to require just cause to evict tenants, which passed the House but stalled in the Senate last session.
Meeting Number Two: presentations on 2 City programs and Resolution Budget Priorities
At our regular Council meeting, we heard presentations on our sustainability program (see presentation here) and the library’s construction (see presentation here.) Both were impressive, showing progress but being candid about where things are slower and costlier than we want. Indeed, the sustainability manager lobbied for an additional employee (an Energy Project Coordinator to raise more grants and carry out current commitments) to speed up accessing Federal dollars that may soon evaporate. [Note: In my own view the sustainability presentation was focused on emissions reductions, which is of course critical, but we could benefit from hearing more about flood avoidance/storm water measures and about the tree canopy reservation programs.] For the library, conversations continue about how we might provide some library services at the current temporary location when the new library reopens in mid- 2025.
Finally, we turned to the meeting’s central purpose: adopting a Resolution to help guide the CM in developing a FY 26 budget proposal. You can see the draft Resolution here.
I offered several amendments to this crucial Resolution. One amendment was aimed at clarifying that affordable housing should be a priority (it passed 4-3). A 2nd one sought to add language to prioritize climate resilience and energy efficiency in multifamily housing (it failed). A 3rdcalled for adding support for larger fees on vacant buildings and parking (for policy and fiscal reasons); it also failed. A 4th friendly amendment, to fix some grammatical and wording inconsistencies, was agreed to without formal vote.
[Note: My personal view is that it is unfortunate that the Resolution about our priorities is silent about sustainability and climate resilience, which is why I offered the (defeated) amendment. But we did have a robust discussion about this topic, so perhaps that will help to guide City staff in assembling the draft budget.
[Also, the current revenue/spending projections assume a flat tax rate – but not a flat tax revenue stream. If residents feel strongly about holding spending to inflation-only increases, they will need to argue that point convincingly to the Council and CM, and signal where they want the trade-offs to be made in City services and programs.]
We are now on recess until January 8th.
Summary of residents’ comments:
Comments from meeting with delegation:
- David Reed (W2), for the Long Branch Citizens’ association spoke of both renters and homeowners needing to see a boost in the tax credits for people whose home values have raised their property tax assessments (and hence taxes) beyond what they can afford. (Sadly, this was a bill that went nowhere last session and was deemed DOA by our State lobbyist, much as I would also like to see it move.)
- Priscilla Labovitz of Ward One (a Friend of the Rec Center) called for regularly holding CC meetings at the Rec Center, and for direct bus service from the area around the CC and local schools to the library and rec center sites. (It now requires two ride-on buses to make this trip.
- Residents from Wards 3 and 6 spoke about the severe traffic problems being caused by temporary re-routings necessitated by Purple Line construction, and some proposed reopening Sligo Creek Parkway 24/7 until this construction is concluded.
- Buddy Daniels, Rec Department and election stalwart, noted the complexity of running 4 different precinct voting sites within a ½ mile of the Community Center.
Comments for meeting #2:
- Therese Gibson (W3), who urged the City to turn the rec center project over to Mo Co given our lack of success in keeping previous large building projects under control (The Mayor responded later that the County will not consider such an idea given their budget situation)
- Arthur David Olson (W4) reminded the Council that people pay tax bills and not rates – and that people will pay more this year due to higher assessments unless the CC adjusts last year’s rate downward. He proposed pegging our spending increase to the COLA adjustment of 2.5% rather than simply planning to spend the entire 4.5% increase we will get from property tax assessment jumps in value.
- David Reed (W2) speaking for the Stormwater Solutions Group invited people to a stormwater ‘virtual reality’ exercise being run Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, to help us see more clearly what the true flood risks are in the City.
- A Ward One neighbor who had concerns about surveillance, which the Police Chief committed to addressing.
News you can use: Our City needsCrossing Guards! These wonderful community-safety-promoters are much-beloved by our kids. It could be an excellent way to get out and meet your neighbors, earn an hourly wage of nearly $20/hour, receive a great benefits package, and have a very short commute!
Please consider applying for these part-time posts (20 hours/week during the school year). Apply here. Happy holidays,
Jessica