Comments are by Councilmember Susan Whitney and are not approved or sanctioned by the City of College Park

ANNOUNCEMENTS/COMMENTS – MAYOR, COUNCIL, STUDENT LIAISON

• UMD Student Liaison Dhruvak Mirani
  • congratulated University of Maryland on receiving a nearly $40 million grant for electric busses
  • thanked UMD for publicly committing to diversity in the wake of the recent Supreme Court decision on affirmative action

CITY MANAGER’S REPORT 

• Second-round ARPA grant applications are available online and can be applied for on the City’s website. The City has encouraged small businesses to apply. Checks go out quickly once a grant is approved. The City is mindful that the summer months are slow for many businesses.
• Next Friday Night Live will be this Friday, 7/14 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm and features The Real Geniouses, an ‘80s cover band.
• Bob Ryan – National Night Out is August 1^st from 6-8 pm at 5 locations:  Lakeland, Berwyn, Duvall Field, College Park Woods and Autoville.

PRESENTATIONS

• Presentation to Mayor Pro Tem Denise Mitchell by Mayor Fazlul Kabir and City Manager Kenneth Young thanking her for her service as MML President
• Report from Miss College Park Kennedy Patrice Williams on her year of service—001 

AMENDMENTS TO AND APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA 

• The Agenda passed unanimously without amendment.

PUBLIC COMMENT ON CONSENT AGENDA AND NON-AGENDA ITEMS 

• No public comment

CONSENT AGENDA 

The following items on the Consent Agenda passed unanimously:

• 23-G-99 Approval of a request for a Commemorative bench to be installed on the Trolley Trail near the corner of Amherst Avenue to honor Dr. Richard Wagner, founder and chair of the College Park City University Partnership, who dedicated his career to preserving historic buildings and stabilizing neighborhoods. Motion By: To: 2nd: Yes: No: Abstain: 
• 23-G-100 Approval of a request from the Lakeland community for a Commemorative Bench in the Lakeland community to honor Mr. J. M. Chesley Mack who was a civic leader, entrepreneur, business owner, and served on the City Council from 1945 (when College Park was incorporated) until 1957. 
• 23-G-102 Award of two contracts: 1) Purchase of one (1) new 2023 allelectric Aebi Schmidt ESWINGO Street Sweeper in the amount of $353,957.97 to Intercon Truck of Baltimore, Inc., utilizing pricing from competitively bid Sourcewell Contract #093021; 2) Purchase of one (1) 2023 Crane Carrier Chassis and 25 cubic yard Loadmaster, 25 cubic yard Split body packer in the amount of $379,045.00 to Grand Turk Equipment Co. Inc., under Sourcewell contract #060920; both are subject to the approval of the City Attorney. 
• 23-G-101 Approve the appointments of Nora Eidelman to the Ethics Commission, Jeff Lemieux to the Bicycle Pedestrian Committee, Jennifer Konish to the Tree & Landscape Board, and Maria UlloaBustos, reappointment to the Bee City USA Committee, Frank Cifaldi and Jennifer Lindstrom to the Bee City USA committee.
• 23-G-105 Approval of the Strategic Plan priorities for FY ’24 – Bill Gardiner, Assistant City Manager (15) 002 
• 23-G-106 Approval of a letter of support for a grant application to the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Housing Affordability Planning Program for the Community Preservation Trust Motion By: To: 2nd: Yes: No: Abstain: 

PUBLIC HEARINGS AND POSSIBLE ACTION

• Agenda Item 23-G-103: Public Hearing and action on the petition request for traffic calming in the 4700 Block of Navahoe Street – Steve Halpern, City Engineer 
  • May 14^th-15^th – highest speed and volume. 
  • The Volume warrant was met, but the percentage speeding was only 2.6%, so the speed warrant was not met. 
  • No members of the public spoke during the public hearing.
  • Councilmember Whitney said she’d spoke with the resident who submitted the petition, who says she has witnessed much unsafe driving in the block over the years and that Spellman House residents often cross the street there.
  • Councilmember Whitney motioned to proceed with installing traffic calming in the 4700 Block of Navahoe Street. Mayor Pro Tem Mitchell seconded the motion, which passed.
• Agenda Item 23-G-104: Public Hearing and action on the petition request for traffic calming in the 6800 Block of Dartmouth Avenue – Steve Halpern, City Engineer
  • May 14^th-15^th – highest speed and volume. 
  • Both speed humps and/or chokers could be considered
  • Neither speed or volume warrants were met, but 10% of traffic (7 cars and 8 bikes) were traveling in the wrong direction.
  • There was one accident involving a vehicle and a bike in 2019.
  • During the Public Hearing, three members of the public spoke against speed humps during the public hearing, saying they’re not warranted, lower property values, hinder access by emergency vehicles and cause noise pollution
  • Councilmember Adams said the 60% of residents who signed the petition were asking for additional traffic safety, not speed humps. He motioned for installation of chokers, saying he has also received emails in support of traffic calming. 
  • Councilmember Rigg said he is not in favor of speed humps because people tend to speed anyway, saying chokers are a superior solution. His experience as an EMT tells him that every second of emergency response is detrimental and crossing speed humps is very painful for those with a major broken bone. 
  • The Motion passed for chokers, not speed humps, to be installed for traffic calming.

WORKSESSION DISCUSSIONS 

• Discussion with College Park Board of Election Supervisors: debrief of Special Election and plans for General Election – Board of Election Supervisors; Janeen Miller, City Clerk; R. C. Carter, ElectionGuard, and Pam Geppart, Hart InterCivic 
  • Board of Election Supervisors Chair John Payne:
    • Proud of way the special election for Mayor was carried out. They learned a lot from it.
    • If they had had one fewer election judge for either day, they would’ve had a meltdown, and they are concerned about inability to hire more. 
    • During the last presentation to Council, they proposed that several early voting days each at Davis Hall and City Hall. They now know that is not possible. 
    • Davis Hall remains difficult for holding elections. The had back-ups that were 35 minutes long with people standing in the rain and the dark because there wasn’t enough space to get good throughput. Still, they will do what they need to do to make it a location in next election.
  • R. C. Carter with ElectionGuard, part of Microsoft’s Democracy Forward program delivers presentation on what ElectionGuard and how it will work in the fall election.
    • Launched in 2019
    • Bug Bounty program started in 2020 (encourages public to try to break the system, thereby identifying problems to fix)
    • First public election in Fulton County, Wisconsin in 2020
    • Partnered with Hart InterCivic in July 2021
    • 1^st public election Hart, Enhanced Voting, Center for Civic Design, and MITRE in Franklin County, Idaho November 2022
    • One of 1^st alternative, innovative uses for cryptography
    • Goal is to make voters more confident in outcomes
    • Free for election system vendors or administrator
    • Isn’t a core part of the voting system. It’s a separate system that can be turned on or off. 
    • It creates a public, encrypted copy of the election results. Can allow independent verification of all ballots and technology.
    • Would hold public, all-day orientation system in September
  • Pam Geppart of Hart InterCivic explains how voting will work.
    • Paper-based system: Voters cast their vote on paper ballots.
    • Verity Scan will be used to scan and tabulate the votes from the paper ballots for early voting, election day voting, and mail-in ballots.
    • On screen instructions tells voters where to insert their ballots. 
    • The Verity Scan scanner sits on top of a secure ballot box. 
    • Voting records are secured in three ways:
      • On media inside the machine
      • Physical memory of the machine
      • Paper ballots. 
    • If voters made a mistake, for example, voted for 3 people when only 2 votes were allowed, the machine will kick their ballot back out and allow them to correct it.
    • When voters scan their ballots, a receipt with a QR code is generated that the voter can use to verify that their votes have been tabulated. This is the ElectionGuard functionality.
    • Verity Scan displays a digital screen that details the voters’ choices, and the voter selects whether to cast or return the ballot.
    • The system has ADA accessibility features that can be requested from poll workers.
  • Mayor and Council comments / questions:
    • Whitney – What happens if a person has voted for too many people for an election? Geppart -Verity Scan would alert the voter. The voter would then choose whether to submit or return their ballot. Payne- If they choose to return, they would approach a poll worker and ask for a new ballot due to error. The poll worker would spoil the ballot by marking every spot on the ballot, then retaining the ballot to ensure every ballot distributed has been accounted for when doing the final canvass. 
    • Kennedy – How much time does this add to the process of voting? Geppart – the only time added was to confirm onscreen what selections were. In the Franklin County, they found the additional time was negligible. Miller – Shouldn’t hold up more than 2-3 second because our ballots are short.
    • Rigg – Would the system work for ranked choice voting? Carter – We’re working on ElectionGuard 2.0. The long-term goal is for it to work for all voting methods.
    • Rigg – If a voter dropped the receipt with their QR confirmation code, would someone who picked it up be able to see their vote or any personally identifiable information? Carter – No. The person would only be able to see that the vote had been counted for the person to whom the receipt was issued.
    • Rigg – Is City staff comfortable with whatever template must be used to make the ballots scannable? Geppart – Hart includes ballot production services. We have specific templates, and the City would carefully proof whatever we produced. Miller – City is proud to be part of scaling this product. We think other people in the area & state will be watching how this works. We would not be able to access the Hart Verity system without the partnership with ElectionGuard.
    • Whitney – Did we get a price break for participating at this stage? Will we be able to use Hart Verity in the future if the price goes up? Miller – We might not, but as a small municipality, we have a lot of trouble finding vendors. Our 2021 vendor is not willing to work with us again. We lease any system we use, but we might purchase a system when we go to poll books.
    • Hew – Would the system read as an error a vote for only one candidate in a race where up to two candidates may be chosen? Miller – The voter will get a message saying something akin to, “You’ve under-voted. Do you still want to cast this ballot?”
    • Mirani – In the past 2 elections, how many voters actually verified that ballot counted? Carter – We don’t have that answer but will after the College Park election.
    • Mirani – Have you invited third-party verification of your results? Carter – Yes, via both Bug Bounty. Also, a student from Denmark wrote an independent verifier of the system as their thesis, and it worked.
    • Mirani – Suggestion to renew their active ssl or tsl certification.
    • Miller – The purpose of the partnership is to work out bugs in the ElectionGuard system. The Hart Verity system is well-tested and has been around for a long time. If ElectionGuard has issues, it will not affect our election results.
    • Payne – BOES has suggested doing a tally of the early voting scanner, the election day scanner and the mail-in vote scanner on election night so they will have a robust tally that night. Only the handful of ballots that have gone to cure or that come in via mail between election day and canvass day would not be included.
    • Miller –  If BOES decides to go this route, the preliminary tally could be available by 10:30 pm on election day.
    • Mitchell – Are you recruiting election judges now? Miller – We will start recruiting in September and will notice to councilmembers, civic associations, etc.
  • Miller – asks for Council’s consent on the early voting days/locations proposed by BOES:  Thursday 10/26, 8am -7 pm at Davis Hall & Thursday, 11/2, 8 am – 7 pm at City Hall
    • Mayor and Council comments / questions:
      • Dhruvak – If students had classes on Thursday, this might cause a problem.
      • Payne – BOES decided changing both days of the week and location for early voting could cause confusion and cause voters to go to the wrong location. Requesting a mail-in ballot is an option for such students.
  • Payne – BOES will refine messaging on requesting a mail-in ballot during the 2 weeks prior to the election. We encouraged it during the special election, but the Clerk’s Office was swamped as a result. We will revert to calling it an “emergency absentee ballot.”
    • Rigg- What is BOES’s vision for transitioning to dominant mail-in option and eliminating early voting? Payne said he personally sees the city moving in that direction, but they would have to see at least 50% of votes coming from mail-in or dropbox options. He said BOES will strongly advertise the  permanent vote-by-mail option. Close to one thousand people are already on the registered permanent voters list. If all of them voted, that would be close to half of the voters.
• Discussion of an advisory question for the November ballot for potentially changing M&C terms from 2-years to 4-years – Kenneth A. Young, City Manager and Suellen Ferguson, City Attorney 
  • Young – This item is being put forward now as a matter of timing. If Mayor & Council wants this referendum question to appear on the November ballot, they must make the decision soon.
  • Mitchell – This is just an opportunity to discuss the proposal as a body. We have members on the dais that were not seated the last time the issue was brought forward.
  • Rigg
    • The last time the issue came up, he was modestly in favor of 4-year terms. At this point, the need to run every two years is the main reason he’s considering not running again. 
    • In 2019, it only failed by 4-6 point and won in 3 out of the 4 districts. It lost big in one district where there was, perhaps, a concerted effort to bring it down.
    • Rockville transitioned from 2- to 4-year terms because they were losing councilmembers due to the 2-year terms. Rockville’s M & C made an effort to educate voters about why the change was important.
    • Would consider passing change without referendum process.
  • Adams
    • In favor of having question on the ballot. 
    • If this charter change is made, it will lead to a domino effect of other things to consider
      • Should we add at-large seats?
      • Does moving from 2 to 4 years increase incumbency? 
      • We are unique in College Park due to our student population. Some  could live here for four years and just miss the election of a councilmember. 
  • Kennedy
    • This comes down to the stability of the council. 
    • We should narrow the question down to four-year, staggered terms to ensure we can never lose the entire council at once.
    • Thinks the issue should be put before voters.
    • The cost of running every two years is a barrier to entry. Wasn’t in the report as far as effect on minorities. 
  • Mirani
    • Thinks the issue should go on the ballot
    • Very hesitant about moving to 4-year term if there is not a clear majority of residents in favor of it. 
    • UMD students would have only one opportunity to vote in elections, so it dramatically reduces the time for students to participate, much less run. 
    • Four-year cycle would not allow students to see any changes enacted as a result of their vote, so students will be less inclined to participate. 
    • If move to 4-year terms, they should be staggered.
  • Mitchell
    • The referendum is non-binding, so even if residents vote in favor of 4-year terms, M &C can still vote it up or down. 
    • M & C has discussed placing residents in another Charter Review Commission. She said we should review our Charter every 5 or 6 years. 
  • Whitney
    • She is somewhat agnostic on switching to 4-year terms.
    • While door-knocking many residents said they liked campaign season because it was the only time councilmembers come by.
    • She and Councilmember Esters have made an effort to door-knock throughout their term and would encourage others to do the same were the switch to a 4-year term to occur.
    • Acknowledged the merits of her colleagues’ points about the benefits of 4-year terms
    • Says that although the referendum is non-binding, Council should definitely not change terms to 4 years if residents vote it down.
    • She agrees with the question going on the ballot.
  • Kabir
    • This was just on the ballot in 2019. Why are we bringing it back so soon?
    • Kennedy – We need to provide more education. It didn’t pass the first time in Rockville either. 
    • Adams – The two questions for the 2019 ballot will be combined into one question, yes or no to 4-year, staggered terms. The choice will be more straightforward.
    • Rigg – We would put it back on the ballot because we think it’s a good idea. This job puts a lot of strain on councilmembers. It’s possible to be plugged in and only run every 4 years as the vast majority of municipalities do.
  • Sprinkle
    • In favor of 2-year terms because they
      • offer new voices and ideas
      • prevent stagnation
      • allow voters to have more influence on process. 
      • students deserve the chance to cast ballot, learn from decision and cast again.
  • Mitchell
    • This is about transparency and allowing new colleagues the chance to weigh in
    • This is a difficult issue, but we shouldn’t avoid it because of that.
    • It will be the voters deciding the issue, not Council. We’ll listen to what voters say.
    • In 2019, she was very much a proponent of 2-year terms, but sometimes we change. We should let the residents 
  • Hew
    • Our society is ever evolving, and requirements and needs of council seats have evolved over time. 
    • He’ll support the referendum, saying he thinks we need to move on this and educate the public about why it’s important to us. 
  • Miller – We need to wording for the ballot by 9/5. After we get results of election, Council will bring the issue back for discussion. Depending on its decision, that would be followed by a public hearing, which would be followed by a Council vote.
  • Mirani – We need to ensure students, specifically, have ample opportunity to weigh in on this. He said he’s had many conversations with councilmembers and IUMD staff about increasing student engagement, and he thinks 4-year terms run diametrically opposed to that.
  • Miller – Council needs to determine who would educate the public about this.
  • Whitney – It is the role of the press to interview councilmembers about this, and councilmembers should answer questions at civic association meetings. She emphasized what Student Liaison Mirani said about specifically reaching out to students.
• Discussion of plans for the additional revenue from the 3-cent increase in taxes on commercial, industrial and apartments – Kenneth A. Young, City Manager and Gary Fields, Director of Finance
  • Fields – The 3 cent increase covered many councilmember priorities during budget negotiations, as well as restoring cuts to economic development. That left $340 thousand, and Councilmember Adams brought forward student housing subsidies. Staff is coming back to M &C to get direction on that.
  • Young – We had to put this money in the budget so Council could have this discussion without having to go back and take money from other budget line items.
  • Adams
    • Many city residents are students who are tremendously housing burdened.
    • Tonight, we passed a letter of support for the Community Preservation Trust. One goal of the trust is to deter absentee landlords from buying houses in neighborhoods to use as student rentals. This destabilizes neighborhoods, but it’s also the cheapest housing for students. 
    • M & C has also put forward revitalization tax credits to expensive apts. I think supply ultimately leads to affordability, but the housing has to age a bit first.  
    • Put forward a pilot program for housing affordability for students living in apartment because students and burdened and money we’re taking are coming from these apartments and businesses. Half of the residents in Districts 3 and 4 are students.
  • Rigg
    • The funds were raised from certain types of businesses and multifamily dwellings in college park. Best use to accomplish city goals with those funds.
    • Suggests business grants specifically aimed at small and minority-owned businesses. 
    • Small businesses, not big chains, are the future of this city. 
    • Shares enthusiasm for making housing more affordable for students.
      • Need to determine who are legitimate recipients of aid. 
      • Suggests Pell Grant recipients as a baseline qualifier.
      • Many residents wrongly assume UMD students are wealthy. UMD is good at admitting less affluent students, but then they have to commute. 
  • Kennedy
    • The challenge with this is the process. Many administrative questions need to be answered, and the dais isn’t the best venue for that.
    • Move to create a sub-committee to answer the questions such as who would benefit, who we’d partner with to administer the program, etc.partnership, etc questions. 
    • Proposes student liaisons sit on sub-committee and CM Adams leads it. 
  • Whitney points out that there is a broader affordability problem in College Park. We have community college students, young people who’ve gone into trades, seniors, all of whom struggle to live here. Kennedy– We are addressing that through the affordable housing projects coming on-line.  
  • Hew
    • Supports small businesses as part of the vitality of the city. 
    • Does not want to put the responsibility of awarding this money on staff
    • The program needs to be better structured before moving onto it. 
  • Mirani
    • Should use the funds undergrad and grad students affordability. 
    • Students are a defined group that faces a common problem that the City can help solve now. 
    • The city talks a lot about student retention. This is a tangible way to achieve that. 
    • Council has received 3 dozen emails from students in favor of this today.
    • Pell grants are a great starting point for eligibility. 
  • Sprinkle
    • Subsidizing students creates a talent pipeline for local businesses.
    • This is a way for the City to provide a safe and supportive environment for students. Affordability is on students’ minds each day every day. We need to help them out.
  • Rigg – This is an opportunity to request UMD to step up as well. The number of beds on campus has been flat for many years. If the City steps up, we should encourage UMD to match.
  • Adams asked the Michael Williams, the city’s Economic Development Manager, if the amount of money Council has proposed to put forward thus far for economic development is enough given the business displacement we now know is pending. Williams – We could use more money for business retention, and he is very aware of how difficult it is for students and seniors to live in College Park. 
  • Adams suggests we might move some, perhaps, $50 thousand, of the $340 thousand proposed for the student subsidy into business retention and opens the floor.
  • Mitchell suggests $75 thousand might be more effective, saying a big business on Cherry Hill Rd has left the city, which is a major blow. She said we need money to bring other investors to the table.
  • Kennedy – Lots of affordable housing units are coming into the city, but students will not be able to take advantage of them as easily as most. The City has money in reserves to address these other challenges. 
  • Miller – Council cannot take a vote on an amount tonight, as this was not an Action Item on the agenda. This is only to provide direction to staff.
  • City Attorney Ferguson – Council can create a sub-committee tonight but cannot take further action. 
  • Mirani – Asserts that a sub-committee will not be effective without knowing how much money it is working with.
  • Kabir – A sub-committee can discuss eligibility criteria, who can receive the grant, how much would be a good amount to provide. Next, the sub-committee would come back to Council where public comment and a vote could occur.
  • Council votes to form a sub-committee with four councilmembers, one from each district, both student liaisons and City manager will also attend.
• Discussion of the Mayor Pro Tem position – Kenneth A. Young, City Manager and Bill Gardiner, Assistant City Manager 
  • Rigg, who put forward the agenda item, moved to table it.
  • Council voted unanimously in favor of doing so.

REQUESTS FOR / STATUS OF FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS 

• Adams – Some residents looking for next steps with ranked choice and fair elections. 

COMMENTS FROM THE AUDIENCE – None 

COMMENTS FROM THE MAYOR, COUNCIL, STUDENT LIAISON OR CITY MANAGER

• Adams and Mirani thanked the 36 students who sent emails in favor of a student housing subsidy.
• Young
  • Staff will send an administrative item regarding election dates and how they affect the Council’s meeting calendar.
  • M & C should look for an email regarding a confidential matter happening with one of the committees.

MEETING ADJOURNED

Click here for the July 11th meeting agenda. Click here to watch the video of the July 11^th meeting. 

Click here to see the agenda for the City of College Park Mayor & Council Hybrid Meeting on July 18, 2023. Tune in, show up or share your thoughts/concerns about the following Agenda Items, Presentations and Workshop discussions:

• Approval of Early Voting for the November General Election: October 26 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Davis Hall and November 2 from 8:00 a.m. to 7 p.m. 
• Approval of lease for St. Andrew’s Church Rectory 
• Approval of an amendment to the existing St. Andrews Church parking lot agreement increasing the permit fees, setting the number of parking spaces at 30, providing for a year-to-year term, and quarterly payments to the Church 
• Approval of wording for a ballot question asking voters if they support 4-year staggered terms for elected officials 
• Approval of Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Maryland concerning division of proceeds from Veo Bike Share system 
• Introduction of an Ordinance to amend City Code Chapter 184-18 and 184-24 and Chapter 110-1 to update the hourly parking rate to $2 and reflect that bills and coins will no longer be accepted as payment for parking meters; and Chapter 110-1 (referencing 151-4) to eliminate reference to the monthly parking programs in the downtown garage and add a reference to the St. Andrew’s parking lot permits 
• Introduction of a Charter Resolution to amend the City Charter to remove the authority for Urban Renewal
• Worksession discussion of Agenda items for July 27 Four Cities meeting in Berwyn Heights