 Morning Kim. Good morning, Mr. Mayor. How are you? One minute. One minute Andre yes, I hope you're hanging in there. I know it's tough time. Oh, thank you mayor Um, you know, we're we're we're gonna be fine You know, you know, this is today. We'll get through today and you know, we'll continue Appreciate it. Stand by 30 seconds. We're at 10 a.m. On May the 28th 2020 This is a special budget work session for the council want to welcome everyone here members of the council staff and Anyone that maybe members of the public who may be observing We appreciate you Madam clerk, will you please call the roll? Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Good morning, everyone. I'm mayor Schuall here Mayor pro tem Johnson here councilmember caballero here And some member Freeman is councilmember Freeman here present Councilmember Middleton here councilmember Reese here. Thank you everyone Thank you, madam clerk. I'm now going to turn the agenda over to the city manager Thank you, mr. Mayor members of council. Good morning, everyone It is second day of budget work session usually Kind of filled normally filled with the the drain of the first day But I think yesterday went actually pretty well felt like did a great job of setting the stage of the challenges in terms of the revenue picture but also the staff did a terrific job of kind of balancing the the Issues associated with the the transitions of COVID-19 in their operations as well as the the budget impacts of that so today these sessions are going to be very similar as I'm sure you've seen in in the reviews and We I thought the flow yesterday went pretty well with You know asking having council members for sure ask questions and and interject along the way As we've continued to say this is a fluid process and I suspect that Many of the discussions that we'll have today will be similar to those that we've had you had yesterday that Were you know basically going on the best information we have at this point? but also Acknowledging that that we will remain flexible and evaluating transitions as they They occur so with that Bertha anything else you want to add before we can start with the departments Good morning, everyone Bertha Johnson director of budget and management services We just wanted to share the agenda for today and show the order of the presentation for those viewing May not be able to stay with us the entire time So we'll start with planning then public works community development OAWD and engagement We wanted to have the engagement meeting Discussion last because many of the departments you'll hear from or have heard from have an engagement component of their work So we didn't want to be redundant, but we wanted to have the discussion at the end so that you all can give us some Guidance and direction and feedback on how we move forward with engagement And with that I'll turn it over to Pat Young our first presenter Good morning the Pat Young director of the City County Planning Department, it's good to see each of you virtually and Thank you for the opportunity to provide a little bit of context and overview of our the Planning Department's adaptation to the COVID-19 Pandemic and talk a little bit about our the impact on our our key priority projects particularly Comprehensive plan and the associated engagement effort and then just spend a few moments on our budget highlights So John next slide please So I'm happy to report that with the excellent work of our development services center team and many partnerships across the city Particularly technology solutions and finance department We've been able to successfully shift our core our core business operations To virtual environment very successfully Prior to the pandemic we had a strategic plan goal to convert all of our development review application Submittals and reviews to a digital process with the pandemic we were able to Implement that goal with some low-cost solutions So that we now have all of our land use applications can be submitted Digitally Can be reviewed paid for digitally reviewed and approved So it's a completely touchless paperless process We are offering paper review if necessary if someone has a Impediment or inability to get access to digital programs. So that's been very successful in our Effectiveness and efficiency have stayed high and our volumes have stayed relatively high. I'll talk more about that at the end of the presentation We also worked with our many partners or 18 other city departments that have some role in the development review process With the support of technology solutions, we made sure to get them on the software that was needed and With technology solution support the hardware needed to do these reviews remotely and again, we've had very good success We had a lot of positive feedback from our our core development review customers That is something that they really appreciate not having to come down to City Hall to deliver paper so We as you all know We had a number of Public hearing items for zoning and annexation cases and UDO text amendments that were scheduled for March and April that have been postponed We spent some time working with public affairs technology solutions and the manager's office on coming up in the in the attorney's office coming up with a legally compliant and fully Public a process that is full can be fully engaged by the public for these public hearings and Those are gonna start on Monday night on June 1st. Y'all have been gracious enough to schedule to As you well aware to special call meetings during June and one in July 1st to try to clear that back long We have I think it's 12 or 14 cases that we feel very confident with the Great support that's been provided and that the leadership of Sarah Young of our team in terms of coming up with some Process pieces for our team. We'll be able to Successfully work with you all to have those hearings held Next slide, please so in terms of next steps as I mentioned earlier, I talked about our core business operations our Development review applications our long-term Comprehensive planning policy team has been able to also be successful at home I'll talk a little bit more about the status the comprehensive plan as well as our administrative staff primarily and other other key staff members, so we feel like we can operate successfully Remotely for really an indeterminate time. What we've committed to do is working with our partners and inspections and public works to evaluate carefully evaluate two things each month one is the the criticality of having restoring in-person services and Routinely Establishing in-person services. We do make we do have in-person services available to folks who who need them who cannot access Services through the telephone or through a digital medium, but we will assess the criticality of Reestablishing those in-person services and then the the safety of doing so and really we'll just do that on a monthly basis At this point as of yesterday, we've decided to keep the development services center lobby closed through July 6 And we'll reevaluate at the end of June in terms of criticality and safety And that applies also for things like pre-submitted meetings and other consultations with residents We are still doing those Virtually and that's certainly something I want to emphasize So next slide please Right, so there we do have a very small number of staff. It's about five to seven that are going in for limited periods of time to be to access key Equipment and and documents that that are needed and those are folks are care of carefully scrupulously following our protocols and CDC guidelines for social distancing and keeping the space clean Our field operations zoning enforcement inside compliance have continued it uninterrupted We are of course enforcing strict social distancing on the on sites And I have had really good compliance No, no problems whatsoever. So really grateful that that's been able to continue unabated and Again, as I mentioned earlier we our staff our excellent staff has really adapted to these challenging environment We have enhanced and frequent we have We had daily managers briefings now we've gone to two times a week and we have Frequent all-staff meetings to make sure that we keep that close coordination and Keep communication and morale positive and I think we've been very successful in that Next slide, please So in terms of the impacts in the comprehensive plan as you all are well aware the comprehensive plan is Centered around the idea of equitable community engagement making sure that all parts of our community, especially those parts that have been historically Excluded or left out or otherwise didn't participate That that at each key step in the process We would have a deep Meaningful consultation with the community in an equitable fashion then engage the elected officials and then move to the next step What we've determined at this point is that it is Inherently inequitable to make key decisions about the comprehensive plan in this environment the We believe that Trying to reach consensus and understanding of all parties positions requires some amount of in-person Consultation and Working together to successfully develop policies and a vision that we can our entire community can support and that's done equitably Also folks of course are dealing with very very serious employment Health and mental health problems because of the pandemic and to ask folks to focus To make to be part of key decision-making for our community We think is is kind of inherently inequitable that being said we are able to I'll say two things we are Going to Kind of front load some of the technical aspects that were planned to be later in the process I'll give a couple of examples are developing what we call our place types Which is a model that for kind of the evolution of our future land use map that would look not just the density and limited use categories, but how we want buildings to interact with the the public realm look at The street standards in in different areas and Look at environmental preservation and other key outcomes that are a little bit more nuanced and sophisticated than the future land use map model We adopt in 2005 Additionally, we would be looking at level of service standards working with our department partners to look at how How They can ensure continuous Levels of service with in the face of growth which has been of course a big challenge So those are those involve a lot of technical assessments that we can do now that we were going to do maybe in a year or 18 months And that's certainly Has some Benefits that when we go back and do the full engagement community That we'll have that data and information that we can share But very importantly something I want to emphasize here is we made a lot of I think progress in the fall and earlier this year before the pandemic in establishing relationships with our outreach team our ambassadors and then Literally thousands of residents that engaged with us in the process. We want to make sure we Maintain and even grow those relationships even in this challenging environment John to go to the next slide, please. So we do want to continue to communicate and engage with the community just not make Decisions and so we're going to continue to meet virtually with the outreach team as we have we have a group of representatives from our Your boards and commissions that you've appointed that we're continuing to meet with we have a staff working group And we are going to continue to work with our ambassadors Provide continue to be able to provide them stipends to provide the invaluable Feedback that they provided with our hardest to reach communities And and to find ways to reach our youth community our Latinx community And some of the folks in the rural part of the county that we were not very successful in reaching in the first part of the engagement Next slide, please So in terms of budget highlights will be very brief. We do not have any new budget requests we Something I will mention here is that at this point we've had a Very very minimal impact on our volume. We still had a lot of zoning site plan cases come in I've had a lot of consultations with representatives in the development community who have told me that You know many cases that had financing in place prior to the COVID pandemic are going to likely proceed not all of them But many of them because of the high level of demand that still exists despite the incredible economic hardships. We're suffering Therms very well positioned to recover from this pandemic very quickly. There's been a number of National reports in that include one clean ones, but by moody it moody's analytics that put us number one in a country in terms of likely Quick recovery once the public health emergency has been addressed. So that being said we do anticipate Some impact on our revenues. We did we did project a modest Reduction and anticipated revenues for the FY 21 based on overall economic conditions We'll obviously have to track that very closely and I think provide you all and certainly the budget office and manager's office with with Updates frequently to see how we're tracking on that, but at this point we are continuing to see Recently high volumes. I think in this current fiscal year. We will either meet our revenue target or be very very close to doing that So next slide, please So this is our resource allocation table again that reflects the slight reduction in projected revenues for FY 21 And with that next slide, please. Yeah, I'll be happy to take any questions. Thank you for your time and this opportunity And thank you. Thank you so much for that report. We appreciate you very much I'll first ask If my colleagues Have questions If you do, please go ahead. I can't see everybody on the screen that right now, but Maybe we can actually go back to the full screen to the To the everybody you've been able to be seen John Thank you. And John, I know you're back there pulling the strings. You're like the Wizard of Oz and this is these budget sessions I want to thank you for being behind the curtain and making it all happen. John Allure. We appreciate you Pat thank you for your presentation colleagues any questions for Pat anyone, please who's has a question. Please raise your hand or just go ahead It's your merit by Mike Mark Anthony. Thank you. Good morning everyone and good morning Pat Good to see you. Thanks for the incredible job. You guys continue to do down and planning. I just want to say again how Much props I get and how smart people think I am when I just simply repeat stuff I've heard you say in meetings. They think I'm a planning guru. So thank you so much I'll start attributing one day. I Did want to I was heartened to hear about the Site compliance in terms of social distancing because I must say and it's purely anecdotal When we were first starting out in this thing and I was moving about the city I noticed on certain sites and Work sites around the city that some of the workers were not Adhering to social distancing and things of that nature and I know habits. It takes a while for your habits to change So it may have been a time to get you know for adaptation But I'm glad to hear that we're doing the enforcement of their site compliance Now and just for whatever it's worth. It has looked better to me as I've moved about seeing worksite So I want to thank you for that. I also want to commend you on your Even as important an economic driver our planning department is for still Championing our values particularly with the comprehensive plan. I appreciate very much your sentiments expressed about withholding making decisions until we can get people to a position where they can Fully Participate in the process. So I want to commend you on that for for keeping the money flowing keeping the doors open But still defending our values. They are not mutually exclusive So I just want to publicly commend you for that and thanks for the great job that you're doing for us and stay safe Thank You mr. Mayor Thank you Sorry, mr. Mayor Go ahead Pat. I just wanted to say thank you councilmember Middleton You can certainly take credit for any good ideas that we have done planning free work We're gratified and honored that you would and thank you for the good words Questions or comments for Pat I have a question Pat Do you think that there are practices that you all are? Going through now in terms of virtual Work That will be ones that will be something you continue It will be advantageous after the pandemic. Are you learning things that? You think could be Better practices that just you had to do now and might be something you want to do later Yeah, thank you for that question, mr. Mayor It's a very good question and you know with with every crisis there is some opportunity and I think something we definitely have learned is that We are able to operate very effectively remotely particularly in Development reviews regulatory compliance. I think With community planning policy planning that human interaction is critical As you heard councilmember of Middleton allude to and then I talked about earlier And really getting back to that's going to be very important. I think but in terms of our answering inquiries about land development and in terms of doing reviews for zoning cases and Site plans and plats and other administrative reviews I think our employees in our more importantly our customers have really Appreciated and I think it's it's a cost and time saving to not have Really reams reams of paper being passed back and forth. So that is something that I'd like to see Really institutionalized and kept consistent and I think that does open up more opportunities for remote work Which I think opens up opportunities to save money on Space renovations and expansions. We are near our capacity in our space on the ground floor city hall And this may provide some relief and additional time if we able to have Maybe folks that rotate in and out maybe share desk once that's safe to do Thank you very much Council members any questions or comments for Pat? All right. Thank you very much Pat. We let you off easy today You did. Thank y'all very much. I'll I'll stay up. Thank you. Mr. Mayer appreciate that I'll stay available if there's any questions later during our engagement session and of course, we're going to see You're going to see way more of us than you want to see Pat as we do the As we do the public hearings We appreciate you getting that ready for us and we'll do our best. I was going to say the same thing For you, I know we're going to be seeing a lot of each other and we'll certainly do Thank you all for being willing to support that look forward to seeing you all soon. Thank you. Thank you very much, Pat We the way we're going to do the chairing today we have We have five presentations the first of which we've already gone through The second is public works, which the mayor pro tem was going to chair I'll do community development and OEWD and then the mayor pro tem will do engagement. So they're pro tem. You're you're up. Thank you for Pitching in absolutely anytime. Thank you, mr. Mayor. So our next presentation It's from the public works department and I'll just pass the mic over to director Williams Good morning mayor mayor pro tem members of council So I'll do something similar to what pat did just give you a high-level overview of public works where we're at during the cobit 19 Response and where we see things going forward as we move to the end of this fiscal year into next fiscal year next slide So with the cobit response Despite the outbreak public works has had to continue to provide a lot of in person services Our maintenance division has had to perform services Continuously throughout the outbreak. So has our inspections unit within our engineering division for both right-of-way inspections and construction inspections related to both public and private Construction activities, you know litter control has gone on through our maintenance division as well as our design services for various capital projects and Just like Pat stated our development review services through public works both in the engineering and storm water side have continued throughout the response We have shifted some staff primarily the staff that was based in City Hall to working remotely at this point And we've continued to provide all the services that public works normally provides either in person or remotely Through all of our divisions and we we truly haven't seen a decline in any of the requests for services from public works Whether it's on the maintenance side the engineering side or the storm water side So we're the department since we're front-facing. We've had to provide a lot of services continuously We don't see that changing throughout the rest of the summer into the fall and into the next year next slide So just to give you all some highlights and information We've continued to have construction activities can go on throughout the stay-at-home order Even though the city temporarily suspended our own capital projects for several weeks Private construction continued to be active so that's where our Engineering division with our inspectors had to perform a lot of in-person services We did adjust how we operate we tried to do some things remotely, but construction The reality is it's a service that you have to provide in service in person I'm sorry The same thing for the private utility work right of way activities did not slow down at all Throughout the initial outbreak of COVID-19 and that's continued to wrap back up as we get into these summer months And we don't see the trends going down at all for the foreseeable future with any private utility work in the public right of way and Private development submittals as Pat stated we continue to see those Stay steady or slightly increase and by the time we get to the end of the fiscal year We do expect to see an increase in our overall Development review activities when we compare it from last year to this year So Durham is in a good position to recover after this pandemic starts to get under control And that's one of the reasons why we're looking to add additional positions into the department as we go into the next fiscal year Slide So here's a summary table that gives you a breakdown of the positions that I've requested for public works It's a combination of positions that are going to be in both the stormwater fund the first one there the engineering inspector and The general fund with the rest of the engineering positions So the stormwater position the inspectors tied directly to capital projects that we need to do both on public and public Right-of-way and our private property and it's one that we've had planned in the stormwater fund for several years And we're now at that point where the number of projects that we have pending. We do need to add additional staff there And with the principal engineers that we have for development review Those are to address the ongoing demand that we have from the development community to provide Faster turnaround times to add additional enhanced development review services that we just cannot do at this point with the current staff that we have On hand and those two principal engineering positions are going to be fully Cost recovered through development review fees that we've proposed to increase as we go into next fiscal year To cover those costs. So those won't be an impact to the general fund The remaining positions that you see there for the engineering senior the senior engineering specialist and The other in senior engineer are all going to be general fund positions But they're all related to the volume that we have and I really like to you know hit home Especially with the senior engineering specialist and one of the senior engineer positions Those are tied to right-of-way management activities That we do not have the ability to charge fees for because the state made the change in around late 2016 early 2017 that prevents the city from charging fees for those positions But the volume of work has continued to uptick each year So we are at the point where we don't have the ability to Properly inspect all the right-of-way activities that go on between the different private utility companies whether that's Duke energy Dominion energy the various fiber companies Google Verizon AT&T you name it, you know those positions do help us with actually doing the field inspections But also the permitting so we know what company is actually putting what infrastructure in various locations around the city and the other senior engineer position is to help us with our survey division who has essentially gotten to the point where We have a bottleneck of Activities because we only have one license survey or within that work group And there's a number of capital projects that not only come from public works by other departments within the city But we don't have the ability to move forward once we get the fieldwork done because we only have one staff person That's a license surveyor that can actually go through and complete the necessary steps complete professional surveying duties on those projects Next slide So I gave you an overview with all the positions on the previous slide But here we'll go through individually as a state of engineering inspectors for the stormwater utility And it's tied directly to the various capital projects that we have both on public property and a private property And you see here the funding source is going to be from the stormwater utility That was already built in for the last three or four years as needing an inspector And there will be additional positions as we continue to expand the stormwater program over the next several years Specifically with capital projects that will need to add staff So this is just the first of other positions that will come but all have been planned for in the overall stormwater rate that we have Had in place for several years next slide And this slide just gives you an idea of the number of projects that we have that you can see the top purple trend line there That since 2017 we've been on a pretty steady upward trend And we broke it out here between the city-owned projects and the private projects There just kind of gives you the number of completed projects that we have and that that's steadily increasing And that's where we believe that the need for additional inspector positions aid us in completing these projects Next slide So here are the two positions for development review as I stated before these are gonna be fully I'm sorry Marvin I seem to have lost some sound from you Is that any better now Anyone else noticing the sound is lower it's going up and down a little bit. Yeah I'll move my computer. Can you be more than that'll help? Okay, it's okay right now. I think if you if you go ahead and just try to speak up a little bit It'll be okay So the two development review positions that you have here the principal civil engineers as I stated Those are going to be fully cost-recovered through increased fees for development review That's one of the areas where we have been working with planning through the development services center to try and get our on time percentage through the engineering division to improve but as you can see from the workload comparison chart that we set up here our total review volume for engineering is Much higher than the other departments and even through even higher than our own storm water division within public works and With the number of FTEs that we have currently assigned to us We're only able to hit roughly a 76 80% at the most on time average For reviewing plans and that's a combination of construction drawings site plans building permits various documents that are submitted to us through the development services center and As I stated earlier, you'll see the bottom graph there It shows that we're anticipating to have an increase by the end of fiscal year 20 for the number of FTEs Or I'm sorry for the number of plans that are submitted to us for review through engineering So right now we're anticipating to have Over 4,300 close to 4,400 plants submitted to engineering for review So the volume has been increasing steadily since 2014 and at this point we don't see an end in sight So that's why we think we have a need for additional positions within development review of engineering so that we can get to that 95% on time Benchmark that the other departments within the city has planning transportation and our own storm water division Next slide Okay, go go back one more there go to the right so they These two positions are the right of way management program positions These are the positions that handle all the activities that you see in the right of way like I stated earlier We have the private utilities working We this group ensures that any restoration of the right of way Actually happens and we also inspect the work to make sure we don't have as many conflicts as currently exists Within the right of way between the various private utilities and the city utilities So this is another area where we've seen a steady increase Month to month for the last several years and that does not seem to be a trend that's going to be going down anytime soon between January and May Essentially as of Tuesday of this week. We're averaging roughly around 300 permits per month Being submitted to us for private right of way work So this is a group while we can't do any type of cost recovery The work volume has been steadily increasing and the need to perform those right of way inspections and documenting the permits For different companies that they're submitting to work in right of ways very important for us and for the city in general So we need to add additional positions within that work group so that we can keep pace with the amount of work That's coming to us to manage work in the right of way next slide This this last position here is our senior engineer position within our survey group like I stated before We only have one licensed survey or within public works So that's where it creates a bottleneck and then you can see here the comparison that we did looking at the other Large cities within just a general area with their engineering staff and the number of licensed surveyors They have on staff that can help with capital projects and very surveying needs and you can see here that we Are at a deficit when compared to Raleigh Greensboro and Kerry So we have a number of projects that are in our queue that we have been using the consultant to try to assist us with Completing surveying duties, but unfortunately using a consultant is extremely expensive and we're sometimes on the consultant's schedule Which wait which may not line up with our needs as a city for our various projects or just surveying tasks that other departments need from us So we're looking to add an additional person into that work unit within engineering to help us with that backlog of work Next slide So the budget highlights I've already talked about the additional FTEs that we need for the various divisions within public works But another highlight I wanted to put in here was the street resurfacing being reduced going into fiscal year 22 and Just to make you all aware of that or remind you first that when we have the consultant come in at the Budget retreat last year and they get he gave you an overall view of the amount of money needed for the resurfacing program We were at $20 million a year just to maintain our current pavement condition index score of roughly a 69 or 70 Which is a C where you look at it as a grading scale similar to school So by having the street resurfacing fund reduced for fiscal year 22 down to the proposed 6 million That's going to create a need for me and public works as department in general to request additional funds as we go into the fiscal year 22 Budget process so instead of the 20 million a year that we were looking to have in that fund We're going to be looking in the ballpark of 25 million plus or minus that we're going to be requesting an annual basis and I'll stress that's just to maintain The streets in their current condition. It's not to improve the streets beyond Where they are now and these are city streets. These are not state roads These are the primarily the neighborhood streets where we as a department receive several complaints Just about the conditions of the streets with potholes and just a general deterioration And it's going to put us in a position where even with our maintenance activities that we do in a day-to-day basis We're not going to be able to fix and maintain all the streets and at some point Within the next two years when we do the next PCI update, I would expect to see our overall pavement conditions score To drop from that high 60s low 70 range down to the mid 60s possibly even lower 60s Which is really going to depend on what type of weather we have because you know as we've had a pretty rainy winter spring and going into summer Water is a big enemy of asphalt and it causes more problems and it will Accelerate the deterioration of our streets So just letting you all know that that is a concern for us as we go into the next fiscal year having a reduced paving Next slide Here our resource allocation table There's a lot here that we have a lot of different Dollar amounts moving in our budget the big changes that you'll see are the capital needs that we've had specifically for fleet within our budget when we've made purchases For our maintenance division primarily which has been a lot of heavy equipment whether it's street sweepers dump trucks or various pieces of heavy equipment like front-end lower loaders backhoes different things like that Other than that pretty much the changes that you see year to year are minimal when you consider the size of our budget But I didn't want to point that out But it's been the changes in capital that we've had plugged in each year And you'll see here in the next slide specifically for the stormwater fund with the resource allocation table Where we've had the same big changes primarily tied to capital and some of our transfers to different funds around the city But other than that in the grand scheme of things with the amount of money that flows through that part of our budget The changes are pretty minimal Next slide So at this point I'd be happy to answer any questions that you all have about the various requests that I've submitted for public works Thank you so much for your presentation Councilmember Reese looks like you got a first question. Oh, yeah. Hi Hi Marvin. How's it going? Good about you good wanted to say How much I appreciate the work your department's done during this incredibly difficult situation so much of the work of public works is Done sort of in groups and so You get you guys have have been faced with some difficult challenges and I appreciate the work I want to ask specifically about the two General funded positions the senior engineer and senior engineering specialist those two FTEs As I understand it this is intended to To keep up with the volume of permits and The linear feed of instruction installed That is that is a bee that that's increasing in Durham right now. Do I have that right? Yes, you do What are what is the consequence to not keeping up? So I hate to use this as an example, but the explosion that we had Down near downtown is you can put it back directly to the right-of-way management program And those are the type of situations that we're trying to avoid going forward Because right now with the staff that we have we're only able to provide limited inspections and Limited permitting for a lot of the activities that go on So you have private utility companies that will go out They'll do installations within the right-of-way and at times They may not actually properly locate other utilities that exist before they start their excavation work They may not permit so we don't know what they're actually installing What they're installing within our right-of-way and we can't actually follow up if we have issues when another utility comes behind them To make sure that we know who's who's going in the right way who's co-locating when possible or Who needs to come back and makes corrections whether it's on Public property within the street or within the sidewalk or you know Just a general right public right-of-way area and in some cases we have private utilities that will go on private property And they cause damage and we need to have the staff to be able to identify who caused that damage So that the property owners can have their property restored to a condition that was before the work was done So that last part I totally get but I guess my question was more about the the concern you expressed about keeping up with the volume of Inspection requests or the right-of-way management But the way you answer the question gives me raises another issue, which is that are you are you I guess This is just my naivety about how this works But are you saying that that thought that utilities are going into the right-of-way and installing infrastructure without City management or oversight of that at times they do because some utilities will go out Install various pieces of infrastructure one because they may be ignorant to the process that we have in Durham where they need to require That we require them to submit a permit or they honestly may go out sometimes and just begin the installation We're under the guise of it's an emergency work order that needs to be done for whatever reason they just find their head Or they go out and they just attempt to get as much infrastructure installed and then they'll submit permits after the fact And but the infrastructure has already been there. So then we're doing inspections afterwards So what we're trying to do is become proactive with this program So that we can make sure that we have eyes on the street because it is one of those in person services that we do have But also Communicating with the various utilities their contractors their subcontractors. These are the requirements that you have You can't begin work until you submit a permit We know what you're doing review the plans of what you're doing and we're we can ensure that you're not going to create A problem for any of the city utilities water sewer stormwater or the other private utilities to make them aware that these exist And you're gonna have conflicts there. So you may have to come up with a different plan So that we don't have the water and sewer utility strikes that we do have at times Or even the gas line hits or electric lines being cut or cable lines being cut so Totally understand that problem How did these two new staff people help address that? These two new staff positions help us one with the permitting so that we can actually make sure we have permits in place For all the work that's going on in the right of way and this these positions help us with field inspections as well So that we can visually inspect what's happening day to day within the city and ensure that it's being installed per our Standards and that we don't have or we minimize our exposure to yield utility strikes or utility conflicts But what you said a couple of minutes ago is that these? Utilities sometimes don't request a permit or at least not in advance That's correct And that's why having the additional positions so that you have somebody physically out on the streets knowing what's happening We can actually shut down work when we see it occurring if we can if we go to a site if our inspector goes to a site They check with the person working to see if they have a permit if they don't we shut down their activity altogether. Oh So this is more like a and I certainly don't mean this majority but pejoratively But this is like a roving inspector around the city to figure out if work is being done in the right of way and then to Kind of check permits if they're not on some kind of list Well, it's not a not necessarily a roving inspector because all of our inspectors have areas assigned to them and permits assigned to them But we have so much construction going on by private utilities Now our inspectors can only stop for a certain amount of time Check in with the contractor before they know they have to go on to get to other sites where they have active construction So this increases our ability to have additional people on the streets every day Within the various areas so that they can one check the permit at work But then also identify issues with unpermitted work that they see and stop it so that we could get those contractors in line with city policies Marvin I appreciate that that that was exactly what I needed to know Apologize for my ignorance about how all this actually works It uh, I yeah, okay. Uh, that's great. Thanks Marvin. That's that's all I have madam mayor pro tem. Thank you Thank you Other questions from council members Councilmember middleton. Thank you madam mayor pro tem Marvin good morning. Good to see you man. Thank you um being with us and for the work you continue to do I um I'm intrigued by this The these asks in part because I've already kind of publicly drawn a line in the sand about The litmus test I would be bringing to additional fte's across the board Uh and considering the budget Um, but it seems to me and listening to you something occurred to me that that You know, we as a government can't have it both ways um COVID-19 has had some organic and natural impacts on the economy Uh, and then there are some things that we have government have shut down We we say you can't open your restaurant. You can't open your gym and thereby have impacted uh revenues directly impact uh financial flow directly We never told you guys don't accept any more applications or to shut down Uh projects around the city that part of the market seems to be untouched and we have allowed that to continue Um unmolested So because we have not told you guys to shut down projects around the city the growth has continued So it seems to me it just philosophically we can't have it both ways Where we're still benefiting from that part of the market being unhindered And not putting the things in place to manage that growth Um in that part of the economy So so with that said because we have not done that as a government. Uh, I'm looking at these fte requests Um realizing that there's some things that we have done On one side of the economy that we haven't done on the other side of the economy with that I want to ask One just very directly i'm a lay person with this stuff Are these um fte ask mission critical? And secondly, um, I like the pc i index because it's a real hard number It's a real number, you know, which we can determine the the conditions of our of our pavements Is there an equivalent metric for how um How much uh these fte's or these uh employees what would impact safety? I mean, is is there a safety? Is there a is there a wellness issue health and wellness issue for our public? Attached to these positions not being filled while we're still leaving this part of the economy Uh to its own devices in terms of growth And I hope that makes sense It does to answer your first question. Yes, these positions are mission critical Because we've gone several years as a department without requesting any additional positions At all we've tried to make do what we have We've tried to be as innovative as possible as a department change some of our processes to streamline things But even with all those improvements and efficiencies that we've found We still have not been able to maintain the Maintain with the level of work that's coming in as a department and just as a city in general So yes, these positions are absolutely mission critical um As far as a metric as to what the benefit is to the positions I'd say the metric for the development review position You can see that directly with the One the timeliness of reviews and how quickly we turn those around but also the quality of the reviews You'll see an improvement in our ability to actually review plans to make sure we minimize any issues that we have With private developments as those continue to grow within the city Because we have a lot of issues. We have you have drainage issues. You have street issues. You have sidewalk issues You have tree issues So adding the additional positions in our development review group will absolute you'll see a benefit from that by having improved Improved reviews and comments from our plan reviewers with the right of way management positions I say you'd also see Less infrastructure damage both on the city infrastructure side And on the private infrastructure side and also on private property Because like I explained to councilmember reese having that additional capacity to both review in person Permitted projects that are occurring in the right way from private utilities, but then also stopping unpermitted projects You'll see the benefit. Well, you'll have reduced issues with people with complaints about the private property being damaged Reduced issues with our water and sewer lines being hit by the utilities because they're going out to work Without we're properly going through the process and identifying where there's conflicts with our utilities So you'll have less water out. Just less sewer blockages things like that So I'd say there's definitely a tangible benefit that you'll see at the end of the day if we're given these positions going to fiscal year 21 Thank you. That's very helpful. I appreciate you marvin. Thank you madame approach and that's all I have for now Thank you councilmember. Um next up councilmember freeman Thank you. I Appreciate councilmember reese's line of questions It helped to clarify quite a few points and I just wanted to ask just blade just straight out You know the utilities when you say the utilities are you talking about google and at&t? I mean, are you talking about like duke energy and Like who exactly are we talking about because I'm All of the above it's duke energy. It's dominion energy. It's google. It's verizon. It's at&t It's any utility that puts their infrastructure in the ground Or somehow comes into the city because we even have cell phone towers that we manage as part of this program And you know the 5g network has been a lot of discussion about that over the next over the last couple of years We're starting to get more and more inquiries from the different telecommunication companies As to how they can start putting their infrastructure within the city right of way And we're trying to work through that process now specifically through this right of way management group So that's going to be yet another deployment of infrastructure that we're going to be responsible for managing within the city right of way I appreciate that so I think that helps to clarify for me So and and ward one prior to being elected and prior to having Any conversations with like on council the main issue That kept arising where all of these complaints that you mentioned mentioned and it was all complaint driven And it was always about you calling in and making a complaint. What you're referring to is actually making it more Uh less complaint driven and adding the additional staff so that there is not a reliance on residents to to make the complaints And I appreciate that first and then second there's um An underlying current in this conversation in that you're you're you're being kind about saying that the state is screwing us And recognizing that we don't have any way to bring in any additional funds And we need to be able to address it because we're in an urban area that's going to be on 5g in a matter of months, right? So google fiber is coming in they're not asking us whether or not they can put in fiber They're just doing it and in many cases. I mean i've i've seen it in neighborhoods where A whole front yard is torn up and then I know this one lady was She came to work session a few times about her Her uh pipes being destroyed and them not being willing to cover the cost if we don't have some line of defense in this as a city I mean i'm concerned for the residents in that You know, this is what we're supposed to be here for and and i'm just not i'm not okay with the way that the state Or the federal government has allowed These types of companies to come in and push us around and it's just not it's just We're trying to level the playing field. I really feel like you need more But uh, I understand with our budget constraints that the few that you're asking for are definitely Um a good start So i'll leave it at that, but I I thank you Be happy to answer any other questions Yeah, good morning Marvin. Good morning everyone. Uh, I just had a couple follow-up questions as well I do want to say I appreciate councilmember freeman's uh comments Um And uh, I would like to associate myself with them as well so I just so my understanding is that the the work has clearly continued we Construction in this area of the economy was not shut down Um, we know that but as we move forward, um The things that have been in the pipeline were things that were already permitted Have you all been able to see any upcoming trends as to things slowing down? Actually, no. So when I went through and looked at our Our different tracking metrics. I looked at our permits And I think I said earlier in the presentation January we averaged just for right-of-way permits around 278 February we went up to 300 March is the outlier. We only had 60 permits But that's when the malware attack occurred to our unpermitting system went down As soon as we were able to get it back online in april We were back up to 360 permits submitted And as we go into may we're Over 200 and we'll probably hit that 300 mark again. So this is just continuing and the same goes with the other divisions as well Thank you for that. I just wanted to make sure so I I Appreciate all of the information here. Um It is hard, you know, I Hopefully moving forward. I I also appreciate you saying, you know that in the past few years You've all have been tried to be really innovative and not wanted to add physicians And now we're it would be easier on our budget to have spread those positions out Three here or two there because now we're going to have to swallow potentially six One of them obviously through storm water, but it's a little bit over 700 thousand dollar total in a in a year that That's not the type of expense. We would maybe want to put at this time. Again I understand the the need But just moving forward and also within those positions what Which if you had to make a choice at some point if we said okay not six but three It would be I would like to see what those what those positions would be out of the total If we were going to basically do a we're not going to fund all six, but we're willing to fund a percentage of it I can work with our budget analysts to provide that priority ranking Thank you. Thank you council member. Are there any other questions from mayor short Thank you. I just have a comment. I appreciate all the things that my colleagues have said and I think they've hit all the important issues and marvin. Thank you for a great explanation I just want to point out that We used to charge the utilities for a lot of these things um And The state took that away from us marvin. What five years ago. I'm thinking It was around 2016 2017 when that change came in state law Yeah, so, um Just to put a fine point on what the point that a couple of my colleagues have made, uh This is not only are the utilities allowed to come in and You know digging the right of way Um At will but we used to be able to recover the cost of these things that now we're having to put up more money for so I'll just say that uh, that is not fair But it is what our state law is right now and so we're having to fight this bullet But thank you marvin. Thank you madam mayor pretend Thank you, mr. Mayor any other questions or comments from council members. All right, thanks Are you raising your hand again council member freeman? Yes, I apologize for my colorful comments, but um I really feel strongly about the way that the we're being addressed as a city and uh It's it's unfortunate that we would be in a position where we would have to raise taxes to address this and um, I would I would love to find a way not to and I know that this year is a difficult year with covet 19, but I have to say that the What we experienced last year Was a disruption in our complete economy. I mean the heartbreak of losing The gentleman that was that on the prop the uh store. I'm not gonna say and um I would hate for that to happen again And so I understand, you know trying to be guarded about how we add fte's, but I want to be very clear that these are These are these are not things that we we have control over these companies coming in are not yielding to a city they're not even yielding to a state And so just noting like it's not just google and at&t. It's it's sprint is horizon I mean it's all of the major um companies that are using these utilities or using the lines and I mean spectrum, they're all here They're not experiencing a covet slowdown And the way that our small business community is experiencing it They're experiencing a higher demand of you know cell phones and internet and if we don't Provide a front line of defense and that's I mean that's the best way to put it to make sure that our citizens Are residents in this community are safe I I just feel like that would be A hard pill to swallow So thank you Thank you. Thank you, uh, mr. Williams for your presentation And uh for all the work that you and your staff have been doing through this crisis. We appreciate you Sure, absolutely and I'll be on the meeting for the remainder of the time to answer any other questions. You all may have great. Thank you so much I believe I am turning my My chair duties back over to the mayor for the next section Thank you, madam. Yeah um Next up and thank you again, marvin. Next up is our community development department Greetings, mr. Mayor members of city council. Can you hear me? Yes, we can reginald. We're glad to have you. Thank you I'm glad to be here. Uh, this is reginald johnson with the city of dorm department of community development. I serve as director And i'm here to present our f y 21 budget uh, I just want to say that uh as with most of the Uh departments in the city of dorm indeed our whole world. This is been a challenge but I think that The community development staff has risen to the challenge. I definitely want to take this opportunity to thank them For the work the hard work that they are doing and have done I would just share with the uh council that uh two-thirds of the community development staff Are working at home with their own personal computers Because we did not have computers for all laptops for all community development staff and for two months They've been using their own personal Uh devices to do city work But i'm pleased that technology solutions in the city manager's office have worked to remedy that and so next week Our community development staff will have city-owned Uh devices to do city business and so i'm very appreciative for the work for that they've done for the past two months With that, uh, just share with you the overview of what we're going to be talking about This after this morning, uh, we're going to talk a little bit about the covet 19 response from community development We're going to talk about our f y 21 operations We'll talk about the budget highlights and and and the uncertainties that this future presents and how impact our work So that's what you will walk away with at the conclusion of this presentation the next slide This just is a reminder of the presentation that we shared on last week With the uh federal funds as well as the dedicated housing fund Which is real reason you have this slide on here as that relates to the general fund But we'll be allocating three hundred thousand dollars From the dedicated housing fund as part of our covet 19 Response, but i wanted to make sure you had the context again that we discovered We'll be providing additional information as we work through the processes With the federal funds And as we move forward next slide So the new challenges in the covet era covet 19 era Uh, this is will impact the work and uh future that we have here community development and creation and preservation of affordable housing Uh, one is the the economic the impact of the economic downturn uh Courses depends on the depth and severity Uh, but one of the major impacts that will impact our work is that uh, there'll be increased fundraising challenges And there are increased fundraising challenges for our nonprofit organizations that Work to help us particularly in the homelessness area uh, another impact Uh, it will be in housing finance Uh, they could conceivably be a decline in the tax credit pricing Uh for the low-income housing tax credit yields as well as potential decline in lending Another impact is the potential impacts on construction costs and overall market is uh unclear at this point Generally how that works in because community development, we're producing affordable housing when there's a recession We actually tend to do fair a little bit better because construction costs decrease Uh during those times, but we're not sure You know how that's going to pan out uh with the situation that we have now and then how does that fit into the overall housing market? um Not quite sure And then for the work that is proceeding Uh In this we have impact on whether work can proceed is the new new need for safety protocols For example, in our emergency shelters and other homeless service providers We'll need to engage in permanent ways of of social distancing And that might mean Increased cost and increased construction in terms of designing ways to to help for example the shelters lower the count In terms of number of people number of families that they're serving So that's socially they're socially distanced. We don't know, you know, how long that will be and to what extent but that's Something that we have to keep our eyes on Then the rehab and repair of occupied units One of the things that has not necessarily been going on is the rehab and repair of occupied units because we're not going into other person's homes now When that when will that change we don't quite know Uh, but that is something that we also have to keep uh keep tabs on And then also for some of our non-provids for example habitat, uh, as well as others that use volunteers And how do you use volunteers with the work that we you're doing? One is doing in this in this context And so all of those will uh have roles in uh impacts in terms of Presenting new challenges in this new era going forward for the length of time that we have to deal with this Next slide In terms of implementation for the bond program um The impact of the co vid 19 and economic downturn Of course, I just mentioned a small amount of funding that we have will be programmed into uh, co vid response Um, there's a potential need to feel funding gaps created by the latech low-income housing tax credit market downturn or prior Prices like McDougal terrace that could have further impacts You'll have a presentation from the housing authority next next work session Uh, but one of the things we do know is that while we have met their request up to this point We do not know, uh, whether they're Whether there will be additional requests from the housing authority, uh, and what the magnitude of that will be Uh, as it relates to McDougal terrace in particular Uh, but that could have all the further impacts that we'll have to to face And then the the need to assess the market Change in large redevelopment projects This again goes to the housing authority, which is proceeding on the work that they're doing but they're subject to uh, the same market forces with focused on the uh Biotech market as we are and so they're going to be going with these big projects and they're subject to pricing pricing changes Uh and yields and so that's what role that the has on them has on us as well And so what we're going to do is we're just going to continue to monitor and update Uh our leadership, you know over the coming year Uh to see how this you know transpires and we're going to in some respects have to Uh see what happens and then formulate uh plans to to do that depends upon the degree that what what happens Uh next slide So in terms of the f y uh 21 operations, I'm going to uh Divide these up in some categories to make it a little bit easier to um to digest So in terms of the homelessness, uh area Reginald, excuse me. That wasn't the UNC cup was it? Uh, no, sir. It was not all right. Just check it. Okay. No, it's uh southern university and A&M college Okay, good. I was just checking Reginald. I want to see a tar hill logo out there. Thank you. Sorry to interrupt All right. Thank you, mr Uh in terms of homelessness, uh, we're going to have continued covid 19 response. Uh, we have to uh And we're in our two hat one is the leader of the coc That's the lead agency of the coc continue more care as well as the one of the Members of the coc address the impacts of the shelter capacity We've had someone a staff member in the emergency operations center the entire time We've been with the covid crisis to help and advise that And we know that I expect that we're going to have to do some shoring up of provider capacity Uh, then we're one of the things we're aside from Uh, uh, covid 19, but this has an impact on it. It's a stabilization of the homeless housing system after a period of rapid change Uh, we may need to work to stabilize funding levels also strengthening a refined system infrastructure Uh, and we know we've talked about this before in prior presentations and you knew that this was going to be a multi-year project, but working on a coordinated entry, which we have have excuse me The unsheltered coordinating agency, which you've just approved a contract for that I also look at permanent housing replacement including This is a major part that as the uh, clc late lead agency providing training and technical assistance to our homeless housing system providers And then also updating the government structure. And as you know, we're working on that as well Next next slide In terms of multifamily production uh, one we have Issued a 15 million dollar request for proposals. It was actually issued A couple of weeks ago. We just had the uh, workshop On it day before yesterday We had a record Well, I won't say a record but over 40 persons attended that express interest and uh, we'll see what applications we Received the application deadline is July the 10th But there's quite a bit of interest. This does include a combination funds from dedicated housing to Affordable housing bond first to our federal funds are all Included in in this rfp, but we don't know what we're going to receive during this time Um, we're optimistic that we will receive some great applications But we don't know until after we pass the deadline and see what we have to Evaluate but interest has been shown demonstrated Then of course the uh, Durham housing authority it's a major Player in the multifamily production This includes work. You've seen some of this before JJ Henderson entire rehabilitation at 2.9 million the JJ Henderson new construction at 3 million The attracts credit applications for the housing authority You've just seen those a little bit street at 1.5 million in commerce street at 1.1 million And then you'll see upcoming next week at the work session the operating grant just under 2 million and a relocation grant um And so those are uh things that we uh plan and we're trying to move forward with the housing support the housing authority on um Before the upcoming year next slide In terms of our neighborhood stabilization Uh in terms of our public services one of the things that we're working on and particularly proud of is the uh because the bond had Passed we're able to set aside some resources for Employment pilot that we're working with oe wd and uh the housing authority on And so we want to go to get that kicked off This year and we want to also continue the eviction diversion And then one of the things that's been uh talked about that we want to get off the ground in f y 21 it may be toward the end is the property tax outreach If you remember this is where we want to try to Reach persons who were not participating in tax programs for which they could benefit And so we wanted to try to figure out a way if not go to door to door Involve folks to come up with a plan to actually increase the number and percentage of persons The households who take advantage of the programs from which they qualify Then in the housing production and preservation uh Goals in our programs for f y 21 include implementing down payment assistance program During a amount of repair and substantial rehabilitation Of course, this is subject to the slides and the constraints based on covet that i just mentioned I'm sorry. I'm sorry reginald the property tax outreach That's You that's just in relation to the To the bond and not to anything that like the grants that have been done in the past No, this is the property tax outreach is the this program that focuses on encouraging persons who Participate in the circuit breaker program the other programs that uh state Fronted that I just allow people to with assistance on their property taxes Is to make sure that the those persons know about the programs and take advantage of them. That's property tax outreach Then in terms of going back to the housing production and preservation the leg grant is here We have a three million dollar Leg grant the reason that it's on this slide is not because it requires any It's federal money, but it requires an extensive amount of time That the neighborhood stabilization is engaged in and so it is requires such amount of time that It does have an impact on the work that we are able to do and then new construction preservation on neighborhood scale projects And then also getting our financing pilots off the ground This is naturally occurring affordable housing preservation and accessory dwelling units The other financing pilot that if you remember when we had discussions about this was the dorm affordable housing Loan fund and we've been able to uh put in our Contribution the city's contribution and to get that actually has been started Next slide Hey, resident. I'm I'm sorry if I might have a quick question as well about property tax outreach so the the outreach Is it fair to to characterize it as this is a reference to us educating folk about programs that are out there Is this any way referencing actual city money That would be used to stabilize homeowners or is this just an educational program about other stuff out there This property out property tax outreach in this bullet is just education Okay, all right. Uh, thank you I'm sorry also on that NOAA. Is there any information like is that readily available because I don't think I've seen seen that Um council member you haven't seen it because there's nothing too for you to see I'm saying That's one of the things I'm sharing in terms of value I often miss it. I just want to make sure I didn't know You don't have anything to share right now But my our goal is to have start this Some kind of way have discussions and and get this developing these palates, you know Sometime this year, of course that'll be impacted by kovat in terms of our time frame. Don't know kid and tell you even what quarter You know, but that that's where we are now. It's one of our goals for f y 21 Next slide Uh, the this is some information the next two slides on the long time homeowner grant program. We actually discussed this at the last Meeting and I shared with the uh thing mayor pro tem may have asked the the question And I said that we would discuss it a little bit more this this At the budget hearing so in terms of the long term homeowner grant program When we started this pilot we had agreed that we would do it for a year for three years And then after three years we would submit a report and have discussions of how we were To proceed With this long term homeowner grant program just to refresh the memory This is for eligible homeowners who must have annual incomes at a less or equal to 80 percent of the area median income Property must be located in southwest south side northeast central dorm Southwest central dorm target areas and within 500 feet of a city housing investment that occurred between 2010 and 2015 The homeowner must have owned and occupied the property as their primary residence since july 1 2012 And the program was approved by city council for the 2016 2017 2018 real property tax years The grant amount is the difference between the 2015 property tax obligation And that of the 2016 2017 or 2018 property tax obligation Next slide next slide So this is the third year of the three-year Pilot the program is still underway. We extended the deadline to covid to june the 30th of 2020 And in terms of the 2018 tax year, we received a total of 32 applications to date three of them have come in while we're working remotely. That's one of the reasons we extended the deadline And then 15 were approved Uh, thus far our 10 have been declined five Were incomplete and two have not yet been reviewed only because the uh, the staff we're working remotely and they come in by mail And again applications will be accepted until uh, june 30th of 2020 and we may look at extending that to see how that goes But that's where we are in terms of the long term homeowner grant program I uh next slide In terms of new positions This is a new position that we're requesting a compliance Contracts and compliance associate business services analysts This person is part of this position will be part of the team that works on our contracts and compliance And you know in terms of the question is admission critical Actually, it is one of the things that you'll notice in terms of our work that our work Contracts are becoming increasingly more complex One is due to federal regulation Another is our program design and how we're designing those And so from the standpoint of you know, what council city council sees you'll see the contract and amount in a vendor and a scope of services But there's a lot of work that goes into Developing that from a programmatic side That project manager in this position works on And then also after the contract is executed is in place Then oftentimes we're monitoring not just after the the the building is built But sometimes dependent on the affordability period we'll monitor for the next 20 years Sometimes the next 30 years and that's part of what this team this person fits on a team that does that That is in need of some support Next slide Budget highlights. I just wanted to uh share the main uh budget highlight the care funding that we talked about Is one time funding and so uh, we just need to be mindful of that in terms of setting expectations and in our program development to keep in mind that once the firm Funds are distributed that there will not likely be something to come behind it to keep it going And so we just have to keep that in mind next slide In terms of uh resource allocation table, this is the uh dedicated uh housing fund um You will see that it's a decrease of uh in revenue of of 43 uh percent But that's only because the we had a uh Uploaded some money from fund balance last year And so but we have not done that this year for this upcoming budget because we're not sure On what program projects will go forward and which ones will not do to covet And so that's something we need to refine and we'll be working on uh with the budget office and um, um Partners uh going forward so we'll know what money we need to uh refine that number to see what that number will look like Next slide This is all sources and you will see the same thing we have uh some personnel services increases um, but the main thing is uh ascertaining um, what Money's we'll need to up blow from fund balance or bring up from fund balance and include from fund balance For projects that are moving forward and that dissolving involves an analysis of what's going to move forward and what's going to not move forward in terms of uh of covet next slide That concludes the formal presentation I will uh stand ready for any questions. I would want to add though that in terms of the bond referendum Uh resources are not included in these Charts because we're not uh, we don't have project specific just yet in terms of what money is needed But we will uh, I think david boyd is on the line once we know that we'll be able to uh, uh Draw that money Thank you. Mr. Bear that concludes my presentation Thank you reginal. Uh, what a great presentation Um Congratulations when I think about where we were Excuse me three four years ago When our affordable housing work and how much you all have advanced it and how much momentum it has in so many different areas from supporting the housing authority to the homelessness work I mean just a tremendous range supporting our nonprofits and I think you made some really wise decisions on the Expenditure of the cut of the cares money. So I want to congratulate you. Uh, that's one really Continuing to move things forward in a really great way So I think what I'll do now is ask if there are questions By my colleagues questions or comments from any of my colleagues and council member reese I know we can't see you. Uh, but uh, if you want to get in, uh Just, uh Maybe I'll start with you. Do you have any questions because I know we can't see you But uh, we'd love to have you in if you'd like to be now. Thank you, mr. Mayor. I appreciate that. Um And apologies to my colleagues and you reginald I'm would love for you to be able to see my smiling face But instead you must simply deal with my the dulcet tones of my voice Um, can you I've heard a lot about Um, I've heard a lot of people say That uh, there are lots of problems right now with the light tech market. Can you talk us through? What that means and how that impacts? um What we are trying to do on housing right now So one of the things that's important to know the pricing of the bond so part of the high the light tech market is basically you granted, uh, the Some bonds that are sold on the market and the question is how much money do those yield? And how much money does one have to put in their particular project and the performers are built on having a certain amount You know, maybe 92 cents on the dollar But if the market only yields 82 cents on a dollar that produces a gap In terms of financing and so the question is your project is still going to uh Need the 92 cents But you don't have it. So where do you get that from and so that's You know produces a gap that you know, if it's severe enough, you might not be able to proceed with your project okay, um Casper About that just the general market conditions right now or just that that would be great and obviously I don't I don't expect to get that now, but if someone could send those What's happening in the market that would be helpful. Okay. Thank you. We'll have to complete that on follow um, so we have traditionally been given a spending plan for the dedicated housing fund um Is the reason we're not getting that now because of all the uncertainty around How this next year's allocation of the housing fund is going to be spent And do you think do you have a time table about when we might get that? So that is correct. Um, and we have to in Talk with folks who are seeing what when we will be able to issue rfps also when other partners what what that Uh schedules for work is involved, you know, this is what you're referring to that I presented at the retreat And so basically it's the updated version. I imagine that we probably need to you know Look at probably the next Four weeks or so, uh, you know, I just shared with you before a couple of times things that we've been working on But this is an important part of the budget process Um, can you talk a little bit more about the business services analyst analysis position? Um, and help me understand what that position would do and why it's important for you Oh, yes, be glad be glad to so as I shared the uh compliance and and uh Analyst position is part of a team This team is responsible for the development Uh of our contracts The way we do work in community development part of the project managers has a responsibility to work on development But a lot of the fine tuning in the templates come from the uh contracts team and this person is part of that team Uh, and a lot of our contracts now are unique the role of the attorney is that they look for legal But this is programmatic, uh compliance because things can be very much be legal and be out of compliance as it relates to Or any internal things that we in terms of monitoring and so they make sure that our compliance uh contracts are developed well, and and then what once those Uh contracts are in place Then we have to work on monitoring Uh for those contracts in those uh developments for sometimes up to 30 years Uh most often 20 in which that means is that we have to sometimes go out there on an annual basis go to each one and sometimes, uh We do onsite right now. We're doing some desk monitoring But that's really not sufficient. You have to go onsite to do monitoring of files, uh as well and that's what this, uh Position has helped with that on their team Does that help? um, yeah, that's helpful. Um, I think So the work that this person would be doing Who's doing that work now? No one is doing it now But reginal isn't that also because some of those projects haven't been initiated yet Some some have not been initiated, but also, uh, mr. Manager keep in mind We have some projects that are ongoing now that have not been monitored. Thank you Okay, well that's that's good to know. Um Can we talk a little bit now about the long-time homeowner grant program? Um the current status of the budget documentation that we've received so far does not include Uh kind of the granular level of detail that we would normally have seen by now and I totally understand that but From the tone of the of the presentation you've made so far today Um, am I correct in assuming that your department's current budget Does not contain funding for the long-time homeowner grant program for the upcoming fiscal year That is correct. It does not contain Programming to go beyond the three years And can you help me understand? Why that why that is Well as I shared last week and I had just Shared the when the council approved the program it was for three years And what we were intending to do and what the plan was was to come back and discuss at the close of the three years Um, the results and decide what What we were going to do to do next the program is not concluded yet As I was just sharing the deadline has actually been extended But could you also clarify uh, approximately what the annual cost Of the uh, the grants Have been if you know top your head The top of my head, uh demanded if I remember correctly, we did a presentation on this the average was about 250 to 300 I'm talking about the total cost the total cost the total cost We just went over last year went just over 10,000 dollars. Thank you so, um, sorry, did you say 2000 or 10,000? 10,000 10 1 0 0 0 0 All right, excuse me, charl. I'm sorry, but that's okay. So is it original? Is it your intention? To have that subsequent conversation at some point later That was my that was my intention. Um To have that conversation later in terms of terms of what we're talking about in terms of finance And we just have a conversation with the manager about that um Because if it's not if it's not in the budget, I feel like the conversation has already been had and we weren't part of it. So um I guess yeah, I would say to into you know If it was of interest of the council to extend the program while you're waiting for the evaluation Obviously 10,000 dollars Additional cost is is not significant in the in the scheme of those things for sure I thank you. That's thank you as as usual. You put it much more clearly than I did and I'm grateful I I'd definitely like to do that um So and obviously my colleagues can speak for themselves about how they feel about it. Um The last thing I wanted to talk about reginald, um is The long time home. I'm sorry. No the uh taxpayer assistance program That we've been talking about in joint city county for what seems like 10 years I know that uh, that the the kind of collaborative work on that with the county Was interrupted in part due to the malware attack and in part due to uh, COVID-19 But I wanted to kind of hear your thoughts about where that currently where that work currently sits and this what the city's kind of Have ability to participate in that is were the county to decide over the next I don't know four weeks Um to to be ready to move forward with that in partnership with the city Uh, thank you for that question. Uh council member From the standpoint of where we are Uh, I would just say first of all that it's not a program that has been developed So I know I've read commentary that there's a program that it's a vote on yes or no on and Basically what's been county has shared with us based upon some discussions Is a draft of a white paper with a range of options A very range of options that uh, we are the city Going to have to go back and have some discussion with this and get some additional data To even begin to formulate which of the different branches of Program that we would consider choosing Before you even get to a program That one can be presented to the joint city county All the city council all the county commission. And so we're not There yet. I don't know that we'll get there, you know in Four weeks, uh, I don't know but we have not the city has not had to follow up meeting With the county as of yet Um, I don't know when the next joint city county is of what commission meeting and when we're when that will occur But that's where we are in terms of the process Uh, we helped uh to write Feed in information to part of the white paper that's a draft Uh, but there are lots of outstanding questions and additional research that have to be completed Before any decisions are made And obviously as we've discussed many times, this is not something that the city can do by ourselves Um, given the nature of Kind of how tax payments work and in our community Who who collects them? Um, the fact that the majority of people's tax bills go to the county, not the city This is something that we really need the county to come along with. Is that a fair assessment reginal? I would say that is a fair assessment council member One of the things that Is important that I of course keep my eye on is the number of staff that it takes to operate the program since we have Some similar experience with the program in this general area And the magnitude of the program that's being discussed are the options that we have would involve You know if community development were to be responsible Adding way more positions to be able to work through the applications than what we're doing now Council member riz also I wanted to add Wanda page was leading a lot of those discussions that we were having with the county And I was hoping she could comment but unfortunately she just sent me a text that her internet dropped off to and so she's having a challenge Uh in getting engaged in this conversation So hopefully she'll get back on shortly and I'll try to texture with some background And she can you know, maybe also talk about whatever conversations she's had with the county staff Okay, great. Um, I appreciate that. I um I've I've done a lot of talking. I'm gonna let my colleagues get in and I may have some follow-ups, but thank you Reginalm. Thanks everybody. One other thing I wanted to comment on the the analyst position Uh, the the new position that's requested that's funded out of the dedicated housing fund That was in the in the in the plan for the bond issue in the dedicated housing fund. That's not a general fund funded position Thank you, mr. Manager and thank you Reginal. Thank you councilmember um Who would like to go next Councilmember Middleton. Thank you, mr. Mayor Reginald, uh, good morning. Good to see you Uh, as always, I want to uh, thank my colleague councillor risu anticipated some of my uh Questions around long-term homeowner grant program. Although I do have some further My unseen but definitely felt colleague councillor riso. Thank you so much um So I want to um two areas one the long-term homeowner grant then I want to ask about the are some of the rfts. We've been putting out uh for um developers in Reginald when when folk think about the our government's ability to impact Gentrification and other ills social ills Your department is usually the one that is viewed as the tip of the spear for better for worse Uh, appropriately or inappropriately community development is is often I hear a lot about what we can do via your department um Related to a number of issues that that folk are struggling with uh and challenged by our city And and the reality is there are only very few levers that we can pull as a government when it comes to gentrification Because the market tends to assert itself We've got an affordable housing density bonus, which is not quite honestly had stellar impact Expanding housing choices are are yet undetermined as to what it will do in our city Relative to gentrification. So The city using its financial muscle our coffers to directly Impact homeowners is really one of the only on ramps we have to make a substantive uh Entry into this gentrification battle Beyond just you know making speeches about it So I I want to one and for those that are watching that that are really and we've gotten a lot of letters and emails from from activists and And engage residents and citizens about tax assistance in the grant program and its necessity to battle gentrification But I want I want to be clear. It it's not it does not address a homeowners Um temptation to just cash out because it's not just about taxes. It's about repairs It's about the state of the house It's about just being tired of paying bills sometimes and the work that needs to be done to educate homeowners To hold on to their real estate is something that's got to happen Outside of government channels. We can help with that But but there's got to be some conversations in our community about the importance of holding on to real estate So I I just want to say to folks that are watching We don't want to oversell this program Um 30 some odd applications. I think you said last year Or this year is not really the penetration We need in order to seriously affect gentrification in this city. I want to be very clear to folks watching. There are some other things Going on in some other aspects of discussion But it is something It is at least an effort on the part of our city To do something With money with real money on behind it So I want to associate myself with those who who want to continue the program And I also want to challenge us that that Although the numbers have not been stellar in terms of penetration or reaching folk to to participate in it I'm wondering if there's more we can do in terms of outreach Of lowering barriers to participate in the grant program. Some folks have said that some of the application process is onerous You know and that's anecdotal But are there things we can do to to make this program more robust In your assessment and do you have a recommendation about continuing this program? You're a manager That's and you're here to to you know, give us numbers and say this is work This hasn't worked or in my opinion But I I want you to to do that for us because I really think That this is really one of the only levers we can pull One of the only buttons we can push as a government In this in this issue of gentrification. I don't want to oversell it to Our friends that are watching and our residents that are watching to think that this is something we can do I don't want to oversell the program But on the other hand I want to make sure that we've given it all of the chance it deserves to work as well And there are other things that we need to be doing to make it more robust and impactful So if you would speak to that and then I'll go to my next issue Okay, well, thank you all for your comments and your question council member the first thing that would say Uh from my standpoint and our standpoint from view to community development It's not the only lever in terms of the grant program One of the things that's most important is to preserve the best we can with the resources we have Existing affordable housing that we have That's that's the number one number two is to produce Much more than what we can that's the reason to work with the housing authority and the work that we're doing is so critical uh in terms of Making sure that persons have the resources to participate in the programs that are out there We have evidence to suggest that for the programs that are out there that the number of people who qualify are not participating in those and indeed That's one of the reasons that with over COVID-19 funding that we are looking at the tax program as well In terms of the tax program and making sure people can qualify for their stimulus checks um Sure, and I get and and I and I I wanted to be very clear that that and I think I said it's not the it's one of One of the only ones we can do and I understand the other um Affordable housing initiatives, but you and I both know there's very something different about home ownership It's it's home ownership that drives wealth creation. I'm not not renting and there's a specific um concern around The amount of black home with the diminishing a percentage of black home owners Uh in Durham, we know we got plenty of renters So again, I I would ask you and to speak to this particular program In terms of preserving home ownership and then we can get to the rental situation After that if you would Well, I would I would suggest uh one of the things I have to look at is the managers the number amount of resources that we put in to get the yield And as I shared with the council before in terms of specifically the long-time home owner grant program Whether it takes to process an application uh based upon the yield that that we have in terms of the Amount of money that one would benefit by is very small. It takes us way more time in terms of uh The time and effort that it takes to produce a 300 dollar 250 dollar check to help someone with their tax bill Which is oftentimes much more than that Uh That I have to look at what about all the other work including work on home ownership that needs to be Done and so in terms of cost benefit, you know, I understand that, you know, everybody needs assistance with their taxes Yeah Everybody can use that We understand and appreciate that what I have to look at is balance that on the other side Right takes to be able to to produce that Absolutely, and and that's why you're here. That's why you know You guys win awards constantly and why our staff wins awards constantly because That's what that's what we pay you to do to give us that kind of information I want the those are the watching to be aware that that's what you're supposed to say to us. Um What what what how folk might hear that though is that and you're not saying I'm saying is now How folk might hear that and I think some folk might interpret is that It it's too expensive for us to help people in this program. That's a per per unit cost Relative to our outcome is is is just not worth the cost. You didn't say that I said that so I guess the question is to do Taking the onus off of of folk out there Trying to justify why we need to do this do is there something we can do as a government? Do we need to be how can we make it more robust? Is it more money? Is it more staff around it? Have we done our level best at at promoting this program and educating folk About it at lowering barriers to participation in it So I can so when folk asked me with What can I say to them about that? I would say uh councilmember in terms of advertising the program pre-covid uh that we actually went to Uh Pack meetings we had talked to community groups We actually would go out and offered to go out to seniors homes to help them fill out the applications One of the things that we struggle with Uh, is that in terms of covet? Uh, a lot of application with some applications come in by mail Because seniors mail in those and we're concerned about that they might not be able to do that They don't have the technology to necessarily go electronic Uh, but we offer to help them. We've kept notaries on staff to be able to do that In terms of supporting them in terms of the application um You know with if you had if one gave a lot more money, you know, we can do a lot of different things But what I'd have to look at You know, it's terms of even the models that we've talked about with the joint city county with the county that's going models to process applications in the thousands uh Will involve, you know, seven to ten more people or if you're not you're outsourcing it It's still going to involve Having a contract with somebody to be able to do it and you're still going to have to pay them for it So it's going to be paid for either way It's not not necessarily free and the question that we all have to ask and I have to ask You know as a manager is what is the cost benefit analysis? No people, you know might not want to hear that uh But that's what I have to in fact look at in way that because I understand about the the taxes and Taxes have increased maybe not this year, but we're dealing with a kovat 19 crisis that has an impact on people's household incomes uh And all of that, uh, but we at the city have to be uh efficient and and Costs would use cost benefit analysis to cost benefit analysis to as we use the taxpayers doll Absolutely and and no and I and I want you to keep asking about cost benefit analysis Listen, you're one of the best in the business that do it and we're and we're blessed to have you so keep doing that I'm going to pivot from this issue But I will say that this this program was adapted before I was sworn in and I thought I think it was done um With wisdom and I think it was prudent and I think it was a reflective of our values And I want to associate myself With those who are interested in not discontinue with this program. I think I would like to see it continue In some form or fashion and for us to press ourselves To find ways that we can make it more robust I do want to pivot now Middleton Before you go to your next question. I think why don't we stick with that? Your current topic for just a minute. Oh, sure. I agree with you I think that's important to a lot of people we'll get back to you But let's try to sure on this one because I'd cal's member Reese raised that you've raised it Uh, and I see the mayor pro tem would like to come in as well. Yes, I'll see you. I'm Freeman. Is that okay? We'll come back to you Absolutely, sir. I'll yield. Yeah, thanks mayor pro tem Thank you, mr. Mayor. Yeah, I just wanted to jump in and say that I agree with my colleagues that this is a program that we Need to continue at least in its current form until we can Secure the participation in the county of the county for an extent expanded program I believe that the I hadn't remembered that the program was supposed to end this year and had thought that we were continuing The existing program in our budget And would like to keep doing that at least for the folks so that we can continue to serve some of our residents Um, I agree that it's you know, it's it's critical for the county to be involved as we build out a broader program of tax relief and to think to think deeply about who we're targeting and What kind of parameters we need the city going it alone Doesn't make sense given the proportion of the tax bill that we hold and that the county Runs the tax office and so I have been encouraging those residents who have contacted me about this question To continue to engage the county to move forward and as charlie said we've been discussing this for a long time. I think At least on my part. I'm ready to to move forward with an expanded program and hope that our colleagues over at the county will Will choose to join us in that but want us to Add whatever funding in our budget would be necessary to continue our existing program For at least the next year while we try to to build out something that can be more substantial and more impactful Thank you Thank you madam mayor pro tem councilmember freeman Thank you, and I appreciate the line of questions from councilmember reese and councilmember millton And I associate myself with those comments and also want to add that the The prior to being on council. I was actually partnered with gem savara and presenting this as an option to the council in 2015 16 And I was excited about the opportunity for it to move forward I was not happy about the way it was set up And so I just want to highlight that I think that there could be some changes that are made in this cycle That could help to to to help evolve What the city and counties plan could look like along the lines of extending the number of years that you have to be a long term Long term homeowner and then also, I know we extended. I think the the Places last year from just northeast central and south side to a couple of others And I want to make sure that they align with I think I think kind of the transformation in 10 conversation That there should be some aspect of this that looks more city-wide And I also want to say that that this this is not about the $10,000 This is about how we how we express our values and recognizing that it's not just gentrification That is also racism and race equity and you know redlining So when councilmember millton brings up that home ownership Is the wealth building tool that most families use And black families and brown families are less likely to have them. There's a reason we put this in place So I um I'll hold off on the rest of my comments But I do I do want to note that uh, I don't want I do not I do want to have the conversation on what shifts could be made to make it more impactful because it is uh, it is a very Innovative way to think about how to address issues around race Because it's not it's not that we're saying that That people who are not of color don't have um tax burdens or are experiencing tax, you know financial and tax, um hardships, but it's different And I think that it's important to note the same thing For the small business community and I really want to I really want to dig into how This program was set up and figure out what parts and pieces of this can be transferred and a more race equity conversation Um towards businesses in the same way that is addressing housing. Thank you Thank you councilmember All right, uh councilmember caballero Thank you. I just want to say that I um Agree with all my colleagues. I would like this to continue into our next budget I know that we need more from the county on this and I look forward to your partnership Thank you Colleagues, I think it would be best to formalize what I sense is a unanimous sentiment And so I'll I think we should go ahead and vote to put this in the budget And I think first we will need a rule to Suspend the rules and vote and uh, so could I have a motion to that effect? Move to suspend second The moved in second that we suspend the rules and vote and I'm going to ask the clerk if she could mr manager you want to comment Mr. Mayor, I'll certainly defer to you I think in the past for these kind of decisions We've just used the the straw poll kind of thing as opposed to an official vote of the council Because you're directing us as to how you want money is adjusted In the budget that you will be considering uh on the 15th But I'll leave it up to you Yeah, I'm just in this in the covet 19 era. I just have felt more like we need more formal But I'll that's fine. That's what what she thinks Madam attorney, are you with us? Yeah, thanks So that's okay the question I have is uh, you know, I was going to just have the rules suspended have a vote on that and then vote on the Just directing that this be in the budget The manager's right. Usually we do this just by thumbs up. Do you have any thoughts? I mean thumbs up. Okay I think so. Yeah, because it's not an official vote on the item itself. So I think the manager's direction is Correct. All right. Thank you Then colleagues, uh, if if uh, we'll go back and if the maker and the seconder of that motion are okay We'll just do thumbs up on this to direct our administration. So can I see a thumbs up everybody who has a I'm trying to get mine to show in my picture. There we go Uh, I see don't see councilman millton. Got it. Yes, I do. So it's unanimous. Uh, mr. Manager and thank you Thank you for including that in our budget um We also I think uh relative to this want to discuss the long term The the larger program. I know there's there's I have some thoughts and I'm sure others do too But before we do that, let me go back to councilmember middleton For his questions and then we'll uh in comments and then we'll uh, we'll come back to the long term We'll come back to the uh, the the taxpayer Uh grant program, uh in a little bit councilmember middleton. Thank you, mayor and thank you colleagues Thank you. Reginald for hanging in here with us. I want to pivot to some of the rfps. We've been issuing um in anticipation of the uh affordable housing bond projects. Um I I addressed a group of the state meeting of minority and women contractors Uh, I think a couple months ago at wake tech and and afterwards Um, a participant Uh said something to me, uh that that really kind of caught my attention Uh that speaks to the the equity And how aggressive we're being in terms of meeting our equity goals Uh early in the process as opposed to later in the process. I think we've got some really Uh really wonderful number and uh, correct me if i'm right It's something like 30 some odd percent. We say we're we're targeting of our contracts Development contracts with the affordable housing bond projects for uh minority firms or business firms, I think I think it's a Uh, really really aggressive number. My question is now that we're we're issuing rfps and what this Contract has said to me is that there are ways to have our equity people and equity apparatus involved Early in the process even in the way we craft rfps and there are best practices and industry guidelines on how to even craft rfps to to to make your meeting your equity goals of More realistic or or or more robust as opposed to putting out the rfps in kind of a vanilla form uh boilerplate form and then hoping that there are minority and women-owned firms out there that can meet the standards And I guess my question is now that we are actually issuing rfps relative to affordable housing bond projects and we have this very aggressive Benchmark for participation. Have we started now Putting in assurances and and triggers in the process to to make attaining that goal of whatever it is at 30 percent More More likely than not I guess is a question in terms of our equity work Yeah council. Yes council member we have actually we were just talking about yesterday in the day before yesterday in the The workshop that we held one of the things is that we stress to those who are interested in applying It's in writing as well as we did verbally at our work session On the rfp that a minority and women-owned business participation is something that we look at really closely that we evaluate That we are is important to us as a value for the city of Durham. That's very clearly communicated and was communicated quite clearly yesterday the day before yesterday and it's in our rfp issuance as well The if there's always we are open to listening to others to receive comments on how we can make them better as regard with regard to minority and women-owned Business participation always I have open ears for that but also keep in mind that it is open. We are gap financiers uh So that means that we don't necessarily fund a project we fund gaps to make the project Affordable to the extent that we needed to reach the target groups that we need Which actually a lot of times are? um Black and brown quite frankly and so That is something that is important as well Um, thanks. I'm gonna We're definitely open to that. There's no question Absolutely and I'll follow it with you offline department about some of the uh, uh best practices I've been reading about in terms of Ensuring more equity at the front end as a beyond just to kind of standard things We normally do with rfps and our statements of Desiring inclusion, but but my understanding there are some things going on In the industry where you can be more Uh, uh within legal confines more Uh robust in terms of ensuring success at the at the backing as opposed to the front end So we'll talk more about that. I'm going to yield now. I've taken up time. So thank you. Mr. Mayor. Thank you colleagues Thank you. Reginald. I'm always good to see you Thank you councilmember. Those are important issues. Um, and I do know I just want to say that the housing authority which of course uh, will be the The the largest by far Organization that we would be supporting with our funds is Meeting upfront Has had lots of meetings. Uh, and they're um Their contractors has been meeting with minority Developers and potential minority contractors and that's super important. I was on the call I was on a call with one with uh, anthony scott and A potential minority developer Uh, a couple of days ago. So I'm really appreciative of that and Agree that it's critical that it happened upfront and I'm glad that you all are thinking about that reginal and that the housing authority is as well Absolutely So, uh, other questions and comments, uh for reginal at this time Other others, uh, uh councilmember freeman Thank you I appreciate the opportunity to, um Catch up on community development every year. So this is my third year and I will say that uh Last year was a little bit intense. Uh recognizing that I felt like the bond wasn't going as far as I needed it to go and now I feel like I'm glad that it's done and I wish we could have done much much more But uh from where we are I do have a lot of concerns around Race equity and how we engage and I just want to put that out front and noting that Um, like I like I mentioned before that the reason that we're doing these things. It's not just To address affordability in a way and I mean from your side on public administrations. I yes On a policy side it is to right the the wrongs of the past And I think that we need to be more prescriptive and identifying that and I'm hopeful that uh as a council that will focus on on On trying to find ways to to pencil that in to note that it is around race equity and not just around Providing home ownership to everyone or you know making everyone whole This is this is a specific issue for me around how folks of color Have been disenfranchised in home ownership And so it just needs to be spelled out a little bit more And so I can't fault you for that or any or the city manager or any staff for that That's something on our side that we we just have to spend some time on and um, I would love to to engage the mayor and mayor pro tem And figuring out how to set up some roundtables around that so that we could actually spell out what that looks like. So thank you We'd welcome that council member Thank you council member. Happy to talk about that other questions or comments Mayor pro tem You're muted jillian Sorry microphone issue folks hear me now Great. Yes So wanted to bring up some concerns that I've heard on the homeless system calls that I've been listening in on Over the last few weeks related to covet with regard to an increase in homelessness that we're seeing right now In the community various causes that are kind of floating around with no I don't think people really know why that's happening yet, but I think it's something that we As the city and as a council especially need to keep our eye on in terms of resources that might be needed in the next year to To try to mitigate the impact of an increase in homelessness and especially during a pandemic when we know that Folks who are who may lose their homes or be evicted or be unable to stay with friends and family due to covet are going to be at even greater risk do you have Like what are what are your feelings about that in your department? I know that that y'all are aware of this but in terms of resources that might be needed to handle To handle an increase in the upcoming budget. Do y'all have thoughts or ideas about whether we need to be thinking about that right now Mayor pro tem. Thank you for the question. So keep in mind that We are that's one of the reasons that we wanted to have some money for use some of the covet money for Help people with rent assistance and then there is actually some more other resources to use for Counseling as it relates to for closure prevention but also do remember in terms of Actually homes homelessness. We have the sheltered and the unsheltered the unsheltered our coordinated agency Is just getting off the ground you just approved that contract What we additional resources they'll need we're not sure Just yet they need to get up and running running more. They've been running at a I would say a challenged level a lower level Since the alliance pool their funding and so that's been one piece of we need to let them Get off the ground fully without funding and then they can make some recommendations to us. That's their role Another part is with the that's the unsheltered then you're talking about also talking about the the sheltered That's something that we're also going to have to keep our eye on because the Sheltered are going to those that are in a hotel are probably going to have to come out in July I think july the 8th don't know what's going to happen after that Don't they they are engaging in some Procedures and trying to revamp as I mentioned earlier around Engaging in social distancing what role we'll play in that Not clear just yet depends upon What cdc says what the guidance is what needs to be done But we know we're going to have to do something around that and don't have can't come to you with a specific dollar amount and say We need x amount right now But that is something that we are monitoring very closely Thank you. If y'all could just um keep us in the loop on on that situation what trends you're seeing and Um, so we can just stay on top, but that'd be great Thanks Thank you, madam mayor pro tem other questions and comments um, if not, I'm going to move us to the discussion of the The tax grant Relief program Reginald that we've talked a lot about at joint city county. You mentioned Uh, and also council member Reese mentioned as well um, I want to Just uh and and the mayor pro tem also and I just want to um second what the mayor pro tem was saying I really feel like this most of our property tax is locally it's county property uh somewhere around 60 percent And also they have the tax office that has to administer this Uh I I sent last night I received last night and sent last night to my colleagues a memo or From the county a draft memo that that um Honestly does not spell out a plan it as you mentioned Reginald it is a It it includes options that our community development staff developed It includes um And those are partially in response to what jim svara had drafted and has been circulated But it doesn't include any recommendation on the part of county staff It doesn't include any preference preference for any For any of the programs It identifies a cost at the what they believe of the low end if it was a 30 percent AMI program 30 percent and below And that that program got a 50 percent uptake Uh, they estimate the administrative cost would be about 750 thousand dollars And that's on the low end of those costs uh, so With all that said, uh, I really feel We have been very you know heading into this budget I was Very much in favor of doing this now. We've got a new situation with our tax revenue And we've determined that we're not going to raise taxes um And I think that's definitely the right call and that was we were unanimous in that But heading into the budget we very much wanted to do it But we knew we needed to do it with the county as our partner Not only as our partner, but our leader. They're the ones with the tax office. They collect the taxes they have to And I was really hoping that their administration would come forward With a plan that we could get on um, I don't see that And I don't see that plan coming In the near future I I remain and I believe our council remains very supportive Have a broader tax relief program For long-term low-income homeowners than the one that we have now and so I'll put that out there and um I guess that my You know without that I don't see how without a county plan And I don't see how we Allocate any money for that now But I am very interested In us doing this in the future very much support that and so I will I'll just put that on the table for my colleagues. I would like us to figure out how we might proceed on that And so I'll see if my any of my colleagues have any comments Reginald would you like to go ahead? Don't mind mr. Mr. May. I'd just like to add that Uh, the document that you're referring to is uh, what I characterized as a white paper Uh, that listed different types of options I would just offer to you that the uh numbers financial numbers in that are being updated Uh, that's one of the parts that's on the city side of the legend that we are doing But we as I mentioned earlier We've not had we've on the city side have not had the follow-up conversation with the county staff And no the electives may have but we've not to to try to narrow down some of those options to come up with the proposal So yes, you are exactly correct that it's not a proposal. Uh, that's defined as to bring to the elected officials Okay I'm going to make a recommendation to my colleagues I'm going to recommend that we tell our county commission Uh colleagues That we are supportive Of a program of long term a citywide program of long of tax relief for long term low-income homeowners That we await their proposal That we are interested in funding this proposal and that we will consider a proposal like this mid-year We don't have a proposal now that we can we can support or not support But we await uh from the tax office and the county The proposal from them, uh, and that we will consider this whenever we get it if we get it in February We'll consider it then we don't have to wait until the next fiscal year to consider such a program And that would be my recommendation to colleagues Uh, I think that You know, there's a there's a large there's there's a very significant Need here. We all know the need We've been wanting to fund it But we need the tax office and the county commission to And the county management all of them to tell us how that we need to What their plan is once they have that plan? I would recommend that we would be willing to consider that at any time during the next fiscal year And make funds available as necessary And so I'm I'm making that proposal to my colleagues and I'm interested in your Thoughts, it's not something we need to vote on but it is something that we would need to make clear to Our county colleagues. So I'm interested in your thoughts on that uh and would welcome any comments Mr. Mayor council member freeman. Thank you. I appreciate that as a way to move forward I just have some concerns about deferring to the county Noting that there's some parts of this that we could actually nail down which is why I was proposing similarly Some way to set up some conversations With folks who actually are experiencing these hardships Whether virtually or Socially distanced in person I think it's important to make sure that we understand just What's happening because in addition to the tax burden that people were facing pre-covid There's now an additional an additional layer of covet support that might be needed And so I just want to make sure that we don't isolate Um, this is just the the conversation we were having previously with joint city county because there's some parts of this That will need to come forward In a way in a way that pushes towards the state and federal government to make sure that they understand Um, you've tied our hands on being able to apply Fees to services that that are offered in our city And I mean other than taxing our folks out of the city We have very few options And I just think that this is an opportunity that we could have a conversation with the state And I would love to push in that direction in addition to what you're talking about with the county And so I just want to make sure that that's that's clarified in a way that makes it Less about our pre-covid conversation and more about where we are right now and how we make things better going forward Thank you councilmember Any other comments? Mr. Mayor, I've lost my video again, but I'm hoping you can hear me. Yes, we can check councilmember Awesome. Thank you, mr. Mayor. Um, I think your uh proposal is sound. I think that's the direction we ought to head I would have been prepared even in these difficult this difficult budget year To put money into a broader taxpayer assistance program During this budget cycle I think a number of factors have conspired against our ability to To feel that kind of program right now using this particular budget process Chief among them the fact that the county is not prepared to Move alongside us. I think for all the reasons that have been said by you by the mayor pro tem And others the county's participation is absolutely essential most of a homeowner's Property tax bill is actually from the county's tax So even our current longtime homeowner grant program You know every 60 percent of every dollar that we put into those grants to those homeowners Goes to the county We decided early on that that was something we were willing to do to support those homeowners But if we expand the citywide that becomes untenable and also mr. Mayor as you and others have said The tax assessor a tax collection function doesn't exist within city government. It's within county government We absolute their participation is essential making this kind of program successful um I do appreciate the the staff work that's gone into getting us where we are right now I think early on When this program first came to the city as a proposal there were big questions about whether or not We had the legal ability to do a program like this. I'm glad to see That there is a consensus within the city county attorney's office that this program can go forward consistent with the requirements of state law Um, and I just I am very eager to finding a way to do it But I don't believe that that making an allocation now in this budget document From the city side makes any sense given the absolute necessity for the county to come along with us And so while I wish we were at that point I desperately wish it and had hoped that The joint city county process would have been further along when the Sort of twin crises of the malware attacking COVID-19 came along I do think that making the Making the taking the position that you have argued for mr. Mayor that we were prepared If and when the county is gets ready and is prepared to do there They're part of this program that the city's ready to move forward None of that And none of that should get in the way of the valuable and important work The council member freeman is advocating for uh this morning. I should say this afternoon in terms of Looking at what other needs exist in our community That also make home ownership difficult and more to the point maintaining a home that you already own or difficult And I think that's where our legislative committee Can really make a difference in terms of pushing our delegation to understand Just how urgent and critical these needs are in our community, you know, just by way of example And I know everybody on this call knows this but in terms of COVID relief from the federal government, you know, there were million billions and billions of dollars Allocated by the federal government to support our country during this difficult time Three counties in north carolina Received somewhere on the order of 480 million dollars in federal aid The other 97 counties are splitting 300 million dollars of which only 150 million dollars has been allocated by the general assembly in the most recent state COVID relief bill And so 97 counties are splitting 150 million dollars Durham county will receive somewhere on the order of five and a half million dollars Of that allocation of which the city of Durham will almost certainly receive zero dollars Um These are these all point to a huge funding disparity That's happening in north carolina and we're not the only state that that's happening in That are that we absolutely positively have to keep pushing our state and federal delegations to understand That that's not acceptable as councilmember freeman rightly points out the only way we have Uh to support our residents is to tax them out of home ownership. That can't be the right answer We've got to keep pushing at other levels and I really appreciate councilmember freeman for raising that issue But to the direct point mr. Mayer that you raised I'm definitely in support of the position that you've taken. Thank you Thank you councilmember councilmember caballero Thank you. Um, I agree with the Plan moving forward. I wish we were in a better place I think it makes sense to take this up as soon as we see movement from the county and I think that pushing our What you know both at the state and federal level are going to be crucial and I wonder You know, we have a task force fed up set up with different round tables. I wonder That's supposed to be working on covid relief. So plugging in some of that work to me also makes sense Thank you very much Any other comments Mayor pro tem I think that's a great plan and Would support it. Thanks I don't know if you can see me mr. Mayor. I'm sorry councilmember councilmember medleton. Thank you, sir Um, I want to uh associate myself with your recommendation mr. Mayor and your comments But I want to add a little more octane to it. Um, if I might the uh I mean we just directed um Our staff to put in ten thousand dollars Or whatever the amount is going to be for Um grant program for homeowner assistance Um, because we have deemed that important And and the staff responds to our Um desires And I would I would just you know basic civics lesson at the end of the day The county commission has the power to order their staff tomorrow Uh to bring them a tax assistance program So I I just want to be clear that residents know where the buck stops just like what we did right now Um, the the county commission can do as well and I would call them to do that. I would also just for historical Uh, um purposes a remind the the my colleagues that the argument being made for not Putting anything in our budget now because of the county's critical role Is precisely the same argument I made not to pass the task force the the crime task force Because the county's participation was absolutely critical And at that time we thought it was a powerful message-sending tool I think we packaged it as an invitation in hopes that it would perhaps prod the county to move Why don't we employ that same tactic now? And I think this is actually far more important in park far more prescient Uh an issue right now Given the way things are I would totally support going ahead and indicating what our financial commitment to this program is In hopes that it would prod the county in hopes that it would send the the proper message In hopes that it would be an invitation for our colleagues down the street to move Just like we did with the crime task force, which to date has not been taken up and doesn't exist yet Uh, but we still moved and placed the imprimatur of the city on that program Uh, I support uh, which you said mr. Mayor, but I support it with an actual If at the very least a symbolic gesture Of us going ahead and putting it into our budget in hopes that it will encourage our colleagues to move Thank you, mr. Mayor Thank you very much I'm sorry other comments Just mr. Mayor, I would I um appreciate all the other comments that um council members and may input to him added and I I think um council member Reese highlighted a lot of The national context that I was referring to But I do want to just note that the reason I'm saying like deferring to the county Shouldn't be where we start. I think um council member middleton is hitting on exactly my point and saying like we need to Send the message that we're moving forward And I think we should name a number and it should be indicated in our budget To make sure that folks know that we are here in the city Trying to do what we can to make sure you can stay in your homes Thank you Thank you Other comments Okay, I appreciate this discussion. Let me see if I can try to uh Help us pull it to some sort of conclusion um If we I think that there is um Uh Unanimity that we figure out some way to indicate our support for this program and the fact that we are Planning to fund it when our county colleagues are prepared um, I think I can safely state state that state that um I think we have two options that are in front of us One is that we uh name a number that we would in the future be willing to put into this program should the county um Develop this program and come to us with a recommendation for it and what their commitment is The second is that we Wait until That that we tell the county to come to us whenever they would like They have to take the leadership. They have the tax office of the assessor They are the ones that need to tell us what this program will look like and cost And that we would ask them to come to us anytime In could be in this coming year and that we would Uh at that time Be supportive of funding a program That they that uh, they brought to us and that we would agree to So those are the two possible ways to proceed And uh interested in thoughts on that Maybe I'll offer mine first I think my problem with naming a number is I don't know what that number is. I think that the The likelihood that uh, you know, so we have in front of us for example A june spar put out a program that we got that was very well thought out It had the city funding about 900 thousand dollars in this county Somewhat more than that It didn't include the administrative cost that we know will be substantial And I think that we before we say what a number is we need to know what that number is and um I would be uncomfortable myself Saying that we had a number. I'd rather say We're looking forward to hearing from you. We're looking forward to being supportive and um Let us know and we will we will not need to wait until the next budget year to consider it We'll consider it whenever we get it from you That would be my that's where I'm leaning, but I'm happy to hear any other thoughts Mr. Mayor, I don't know if you can see me when I'm raising my hand. Yes councilmember freeman. Yeah, sometimes I can sometimes I can't It's not intentional. I I just wanted to say that I I hear you on that I think that The message we've already sent to the business community and naming a million dollars not knowing what The need would be is is similar And I just want to make sure that our homeowners our residents in the community know That we're We're we're recognizing that something needs to be done as well And so just along those same lines. I think that if we named, you know, a million dollars to be held in and and You know until It's not It's not as problematic And not knowing the number so I just just want to add that piece But I mean I just want to be clear either way. It's fine. It's not a it's not a big difference But I do think that the message we send is is important Thank you. Uh, okay one other possibility and uh hearing that Is that we could say to our county colleagues? Um, we would consider up to a million dollars in expenditure um After we receive your plan Uh And and your and and uh your commitment that sounds phenomenal Mayor pro tem Is the the memo that we received detailing costs. Is that total costs? For the Like for the theoretical program The one that they um the memo that we received yesterday, right? It's very honestly, it's quite confusing. Um, is exactly they don't make a recommendation Uh, the amount of money that the 750 000 dollars in original you could correct me Is the low end of the administrative costs That that is correct. Mr. Mayor, and then I would just add that It's not a recommendation Because there's several policy decisions that will directly affect cost And so that's the reason this hard I mean, even if you asked me for a number which you did not I couldn't provide you one because there's several decisions that have to be made To come up with a number Even a range and that's the reason it's not a recommendation. It's just a white paper And then uh, can I also add just looking at the memo right here that It it the At the 50 application rate It looks like the total cost is about three million dollars plus administrative costs So that's very different than the estimate that mr. Sparrow made Uh, you know, there's a lot of work that needs to be done here You know, it's really clear to me that there's just there's not a program There's a lot of different estimates out there. Um, so That's what we know, I think Okay, thank you Yeah, I I feel like I'm sorry mayor pro-town and then Yeah, I was just gonna say I feel like given And that was my impression too that it just it feels very up in the air what the cost would be I feel like we could I mean if people feel that a formal commitment is necessary beyond what we've already stated here today in order to um In order to make the commitment that we will move forward on this program that we could That we could make that commitment without a number attached that that would be more Reasonable given the fact that we don't really have any sense of what this would cost But Yeah, I mean so I would I would be open to that I feel like we've all made our intentions fairly clear on this call and that we can be held to the commitment to move a program forward at a future date But if we wanted to take a vote to commit to that, I feel like that would be reasonable Thank you Thank you very much mayor pro-town councillor middleton. Yes. Thank you, uh, mr. Mayor and I'm gonna associate myself with mayor pro-tems Uh comments. I I was going to say I I think you're concerned about naming a number Are valid and reasonable And I was going to actually recommend that that we still issue some statement either with the force of Of a resolution of a statement of intent or something that carries the imprimatur of our board officially Taking a stance In hopes that it would it would light a fire perhaps prod our colleagues Since that is a threshold we've already crossed Uh in doing so so I would I would support with or without a number a statement a formal statement of intent On the part of the council, so I'll defer to my colleagues on on the specifics, but I think it should be formalized Thank you. Okay. Thank you councilmember caballero I I agree. I'm The number piece to me seems hard to get to just adding It would be 1.2 million if we added if we had zed or not straight hats because that was 700,000 for administrative costs that they The low ball number that was given So I've added that would be 1.2 based on jim's far as number that he provided um, so I feel very reticent to To put a dollar amount to this at this time I do think that it would be helpful to have maybe that formal vote so to kind of have the The clear commitment to our residents and then also to uh clearly state to our county commissioner colleagues where we stand on this Thank you I feel an emerging consensus. Maybe I could councilmember reese. Did you Yeah, I've lost video yet again. This is the life we live. Um, yes, it is The uh, I have a suggestion about how to I think address some of the concerns if I if I can make it to my colleagues um What if we what if we as a council direct you mr. Mayor To prepare a letter under all of our signatures over our signatures um explaining the council's position um, and uh encouraging the county commission to Partner with us in this program and if if there is a consensus amongst us That adding a dollar amount. It is valuable. I've heard I've heard it both ways Amongst my colleagues, and I'm frankly agnostic about whether or not it It makes a difference, but I think we could say The city's prepared to commit um in the neighborhood of a million dollars of city funds to the To the grant administration of the program Thank you. Um So let me respond so far to what I've heard I like the idea of the letter on behalf of the council if you don't mind I don't want to collect everybody's signatures these days. So if it would be all right with you, um I would the the letter would be On behalf of the count on the behalf of the council's unanimous council um I would be writing to our county commission colleagues Copping the county manager Saying that we on the city council are prepared to entertain a proposal from the county with the support of the county tax office for tax relief for long-term low-income homeowners which And we would be prepared to entertain that um We would be prepared to entertain that uh Proposal at any time that it comes to us during this current tax year this upcoming tax year That we don't need to wait until the next tax year to consider this We will be happy to consider the proposal When it comes to us I don't think we have you know a consensus on naming a number and i'm comfortable with that I think we could think that people have heard this discussion But I think that there's I think that if we made that statement clear That we are ready to entertain it, uh, and we welcome it Not only we're ready to entertain it. We invite it. We welcome it How does that sound to people as a way to go? Can I have one one thing mr. Mayor? Sure, and then I councilmember middleton. I see you have a comment I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I can't raise my hand everybody out. It's bad. No worries. Go ahead I think the other thing we have to keep in mind is that obviously Making commitment to spend the money means we have to at least make an effort to figure out where it's going to come from Um, and I think that's one of the the the the fact that we don't have The dedicated housing funds spending plan in front of us makes that more challenging But I think we have to amongst the six of us Make a commitment that if the county says, okay, we're ready Here's where we're going to come up with say one and a half million dollars that would include their grant plus administration portion that we will have to Open up the dedicated housing fund spending plan and make adjustments make hard choices um, because this is very much a preservation of home ownership we have um, we have portions of the spending Of the spending plan the dedicated housing fund that are that are devoted to that that that uh goal I mean we're just going to have to move some money around to get enough money into that particular bucket To make it work and those are hard choices. We just have to commit to making them. That's all I wanted to add Thank you, mr. Mayor. Thank you. It's important. Um councilmember Middleton Thank you, mr. Mayor and thanks, uh charlie I um, I agree 100 with all of the content that councilor reese just recommended Only I think it should be on an official statement Officially a voted statement on the part of the council. I think this is beyond the letter writing Threshold, I don't want it just on letterhead. I want to send a clear Message with the full weight of this government in the city on it. I want to raise seal and the clerk stamp on it That we acted as opposed to just a letter You know letters it's intent, you know, we might I mean letter you can go back on a letter. I want this codified So I I I'll accept a motion It's absolutely. I move that we uh adopt the councilor reese's language in the form of an official statement from the city council Is there a second? second Thank you Um, I'm gonna try to restate what do we need to suspend the rules Thank who we do can I have a motion that we suspend if we suspend the rules second I appreciate the parliamentary reminder Um Madam clerk, there's a motion that we suspend the rules and vote on this issue and I see Uh our deputy clerk welcome Uh, could you please take the call the roll for the vote here? Mayor shul I Mayor pro tem johnson I councilmember caballero I councilmember freeman I councilmember middleton I vote yay councilmember reese I Thank you Thank you the eyes habit and the motion passes unanimously Now let me try to see if I can state what the uh, and there's a motion on the floor now from councilmember middleton seconded by councilmember freeman that we uh That the council uh supports and will wants me to communicate to the county commission Copying the manager Maybe I should say and the manager that we invite and welcome a proposal of Uh tax relief for long-term low-income homeowners from the county Uh any time that they are prepared to make such a proposal Uh and that uh, we will At that time You know After the appropriate vetting uh, we at that time after the appropriate vetting will be Prepared to support such a proposal for long-term low-income homeowners Point of clarification that that doesn't need to happen For the will and we'll consider that anytime in the in the upcoming fiscal year Point of clarification Yes, sir. I just wanted to be clear on my motion. The the means of conveyance was not you writing a letter on our behalf It was an official statement of the council Uh, effectuated by vote. I just wanted to be clear that that was my motion Okay, then um So are you happy if I write the statement? Oh, absolutely. Yeah, man. Okay, so in other words the statement would then come from the council And not just from me. That's the point or is it a resolution rather than a statement because i'm understand it like Something with the full weight of the body is a resolution um A resolution's okay I'm not interested in a lot of vet resolves um But uh, I think a statement from the council carries the same way as a resolution Absolutely We've got a motion on the floor any more discussion Madam clerk, will you please call the roll? mayor schul Yes mayor pro tem johnson i councilmember caballero hi councilmember freeman ah councilmember middleton I vote yay councilmember reese hi Thank you Thank you, madam clerk the eyes have it the motion passes unanimously Reginald, I think we're gonna let you go. We appreciate you Mr. Mayor, thank you so much. I'm glad that wasn't a UNC cup Southern university I've got good. I could have been the end of our friendship reginal. Yeah, I didn't want you to switch over. All right All right. Thank you so much. We appreciate you. Thank you so much. Appreciate all of you. I'm glad you know where he would switch to Wow Okay. Well, everybody's bringing it today Okay, um, thank you so much and let me just say I see that uh, terry porter holmes and Carolado have been on the call. Thank you all as well. We appreciate all of you all in community development Let me uh now move to um, I guess i'm presiding over this next piece as well Which is the office of economic and workforce development and I see andre pedigrees with us welcome andre. We're glad to see you Thank you, mayor. Thank you members of city council So I'd like to uh, thank you again for allowing me to have this continuing Conversations with you about the role of the office of economic development And workforce development In response and support of our small businesses and residents relative to cold it Again, we seek your advice your input and insights are very important to to us in designing these programs And again, we'd like to be responsive to our community given your insights um, you know, I wanted to maybe comment that The owd staff is in fact working virtually now in telecommuting Since the stay at home order And that's working well from our standpoint because many of our businesses are working in a remote fashion Um, I also want to acknowledge that the workforce development center the career center Is in fact Working virtually in clothes. However We have put together a plan That we're working with city and state officials to begin opening that up As a safe environment But all the appropriate social distancing and other tools ppe Required and we'll hear more about this Again, and today what we'll be talking about is uh, more specifics about our economic response Uh, that's more specific to how we're working with small businesses in response to this As well as workforce development, uh, the unexpected spike in unemployment Has presented some major challenges and again, we're stepping up to those challenges In the budget highlights, we've identified some projects that Uh, we're doing and I believe we need to consider doing Uh specific to cobit Relief in in response to Uh, what we're seeing out there for our businesses Next slide So since The cobit program or the stay at home orders were put in place uh, we have had to be Quick at assessing and adapting our program We have put All the programs and resources that are currently in this fiscal year budget as we close out towards cobit Cobit relief every one of the projects And programs have quickly pivoted into supporting this work And i'm going to highlight some of them But the first bullet point here is really around The small business recovery loan program that I spoke to you about last week In the work session again We're committed to coming back to you With a full program at the next work session On the june 4th We are on track to do that We have taken into Account many of the comments that you've made but also some of the inputs that we're hearing also in the community I like where we are and again You know how that model was built how it's delivered Uh in the types of funds provided are all under consideration And again, we will present that to you until we should spend a more in-depth conversation about that on june 4th The second point is really around The importance of information and partnership Uh during a crisis This pandemic has forced that has forced The city and our partners to work in a way that we had never really anticipated None of us can do this and be responsive to our community alone And so we were a part of putting together The small business advisory council coalition Uh is made up of many of the organizations that you are familiar with ddi The greater Durham chamber the small business development center Uh the greater Durham black chamber Uh and a number of other sort of service providers Uh, we've been able to consistently add to this coalition a number of the banks And I think that's significant because during this first phase much of the activity surrounded The cares act including the payroll protection program And the emergency disaster loan program so We were able to have banks financial institutions like horizon bank fifth third bank truest As well as cdfi's like carolina small business fund and self-help consistently be a part of this program And again the information sharing and coordination has allowed Us to sort of direct our resources and services in a much more appropriate fashion And again, we have been a resource in terms of Answering questions specific to some of the workforce development things and helping individual firms Get access to resources and again This is a very important resource Uh, this effort has been supported by the Durham business 360 comm website You know the digital presence Has been critical We have been working on a website. We weren't going to release it until Next quarter, but we accelerated that effort Brian Smith on my staff has done an outstanding job of putting together a portal That is hosting I believe some of the most comprehensive information about covet Not just north carolina, but even beyond Just not our programs, but also programs that involve the state and local and it's been relied upon You know in the first three weeks of covet. We actually posted over 50 Webinars seminars that essentially were made available to our residents and small businesses in order to get information And again, I don't want to underestimate the value of knowing How these programs work and how they can be effective Next slide next slide am I okay? Thank you um again So one of the other lessons around this pandemic and covet Is the importance of oewd making sure that its programs are delivered much more directly and closely to Our small businesses and residents Again, we are known for the program management of some of our incentive contracts Even our federal contracts are things that we do. We're primarily a program management organization But what I want to now talk to you about is how we have pivoted Programs to directly impact companies Um You know the office of economic development, we've had a number of programs, you know the chair of economic prosperity We have built We've developed the built the last roadmap that we've been utilizing as a part of our program And and again, we've gone from developing a program to implementing projects that touch businesses here and i've asked grace to talk a little bit about Uh a pivot that I think is really important Uh, you know for our work, uh that bill the last is leading right now and I'll talk about the other two grace Good afternoon. Mayor shul. Mayor po tem johnson of the members of council and the administration Thank you. Andre. I want to discuss briefly two key, uh targeted populations that we were working with as part of the bill to last team We are working with the um rdu airport and the small business program for rdu rdu has about 28 um small businesses that have been awarded contract contracts and out of The 28 14 are actually germ based and so the amount of contracts that the businesses Have received are about 7.9 million dollars and those germ based businesses have been awarded about 5.6 Million dollars So we are targeting and working with the businesses to assess the needs of both the owner of the business and their employees the second group of Small business support that we're giving is working with Some of the businesses with they have been impacted by the closing of north gate We are working through Durham tech small business and also The north kelana small business and technology center We had compiled some questions that will enable us to gather some data From those businesses so we can target specific the specific needs of those businesses the um The director of Durham tech small business and north kelana small business and technology development center Are compiling they had actually compiled the survey a couple of weeks ago And we contributed to some of those critical questions The survey will conclude next week and given the results and outcomes of those surveys We as the bill to last small business team will target the type of support so that it will be more impactful And i'd like to maybe add In regards to this particular set of projects Again, the demand and the need is is great And it's impossible for us to be everywhere And so this coordination with our partners and identifying opportunities that aren't being served become important We know that the hospitality industry and restaurants in the downtown area have been greatly impacted But we're fortunate enough to have ddi and the chamber as partners Who are developing programs and responses? That are there The airport is not an usual target for the city of Durham And north gate is just an unfortunate set of circumstances where people who were businesses were already impacted And expecting to come back to their place of business Again will not be able to And so we're building programs around both of these challenges That no one really anticipated But again, you know our office is looking to provide the technical assistance In coordination and the resource connections to businesses in these communities So if there are any questions i'll take i wasn't sure mayor you look you want to ask a question Thank you very much. I was thinking actually this might be a good time um Do you want to finish just this slide hundray and then then we'll have questions for you and for grace Okay, yo, why don't you just finish this slide and then we'll take you from there So pivoting is really all about trying to lean into The need as well as sort of leveraging the resources that you have Momentum 360 and to that matter the seas african-american legacy programs or programs That we have developed this year Momentum 360 Is a new model for us Where we actually have done cohort training putting groups of entrepreneurs together not necessarily from the same industry A range of industry and taking them through a sort of a six to eight week boot camp And we did this one in the late fall Towards the end of december very successful was it was focused on women entrepreneurs What we learned in this process is the value of cohort training and the value of networking Of small businesses in general are challenged around their own isolation and the ability to come together No one is going to be successful responding to covet as an individual or in isolation It absolutely requires a level of networking and connection as a part of this So we've extended the work that we're doing with this model To provide again additional information and technical assistance to the cohort group. They have gelled together They're doing peer-to-peer learning and and helping in this regard We actually have a whole program of work That we will be implementing Now virtually before we were going to do it on the ground uh and the seeds program we actually You know have been working on the legacy project But we transformed that To focus in on how we work with the 24 African-american businesses all who have been in business more than 20 excuse me more than 10 years To be a resource for them again a for Program, you know for a unit program Of training and counseling and peer learning and again, we were successful in getting businesses in this cohort Money's for ppp and some of the other small business programs And again, it's just a model in terms of what we're doing The final thing I wanted to just touch on the equitable engagement and outreach because that's important Again, nis is leading us on this effort and We have reached out to and have had conversations with some of the embedded Rooted Community rooted organizations as a part of nis Particularly around our challenges within the hispanic community Our program is not robust enough We will be putting up our Hispanic or spanish website that parallels the Durham business 360 website and we're going to essentially work with the Hispanic representative of the community rooted organizations To help us make sure that it's responsive to the needs and will we resource? That spanish-speaking website to make sure that it's timely the final thing on this slide mayor that I also Want to say is is that? COVID Has has demonstrated to me and should to all of us the importance of on-the-ground partners People who can deliver the service beyond the reach of the city You know because they have relationships and they can be there in a more consistent and constant basis I think is a model that I want to sort of move forward in going forward And so we entered into an agreement with the greater Durham black chamber to develop and deliver some training programs targeted at small businesses all businesses They develop eight webinars That they are delivering for us for this month and they will do eight in june It's it's everything from how to apply for resources under the cares act But it's also one that was specifically targeted for our total proprietorship In independent contractors around how they took it access resources particularly unemployment insurance resources that that weren't That for the first time they are available in doing this I think this is an important partnership. I'm seeking to do a similar partnership with the hispanic community And again within the minority contractors community in order to have that capacity on the ground More directly related to the work that we want to do. So I'll end with that there and take some questions at this juncture Andre, let me let me um I kind of changed my mind. I think maybe let's go through the whole Presentation and do the questions. Is that okay? That's fine. I was thinking we that's what we've done today And I think let's just stick with that And then and then we'll we'll have questions for you and grace Um, actually, I'm going to ask adria grams got to join the conversation now. Okay, great. I think you all know that adria is the Manager of our workforce development program She works with our contractors as well as the state I you know would like adria to Take us through the next two slides and We'll continue from there. Thank you Thank you, andre and good afternoon. Mr. Mayor mayor pro-tent officer and council members and uh other members of the administration I apologize. I do not have visual Um, I too am experiencing some challenges and so this is just a prep protection from getting bounced out of my system Um, so but it's very good to see everyone else is facing Um with regard to our workforce response Um, everything that we are doing within our workforce department has just made a pivot And we have been able to Adjust a number of our program offerings as well as augment a number of our services in a virtual sense and Um, while that has been really a big benefit in terms of maintaining our client Connectivity and continuing with providing services One of the things that's missing is um with our career center on briggs avenue We have um the section in the front our lobby area. It provides computer access and um, and so this is a I think a critical component that's missing from the from our Community at this time since there's not access to many other public domains where individuals can access computer services That's our crc and it's a part of our career center So that's one of the main reasons that we're pushing to reopen our career center So that we can provide access to that area for individuals who need to have that computer access In addition, as you all well know, um, this was formerly the unemployment office in air quotes But of course now all unemployment services are being offered online However, we know and anticipate that there are people who have questions and That have concerns and frankly in a situation like this with so much turmoil We recognize that there is also a value to be able to come and ask the question Even if we can't necessarily resolve their issues Even if it's a referral situation We recognize that there is great value in having that safe-to-safe Engagement with with our members of the community So with that in mind, we're looking to reopen our career center Hopefully to staff by the end of this month by the end of June And then open to public that first week of july We put forth a reopening plan that's been vetted by your reopening task force And in fact, we'll be meeting tomorrow with the risk management team to do a site visit and a walkthrough To look at the specifics of what we are proposing at both our career center site As well as our recity site, which offers our youth programs So we'll have more I guess more specific information about timing, which we're hoping to do After we get feedback from the team If they have any further recommendations that we'll need to address As I said, you know, we're looking at all of our programs and we have been providing continuous virtual services But with the state and the federal approval They've actually allowed us to start doing virtual enrollment There've been a couple of logistics Sort of hang ups and one of which is how do we provide our supportive services? And so we're in the process of resolving that now But we're on deck and ready to start our contractors who actually administer those services They're already ready to go. We have all the necessary technology And we have our career counselors are prepared and ready to start providing virtual not not just the services, but actual enrollment And what that means is is that now we can start being proactive and bringing in new individuals To help provide services to them. So we're looking forward to being able to to jump start that by next week Um our virtual job fairs is another means of trying to reach out Beyond the the bounds of our normal our normal Facility in the past we've had job fairs right there at our career center This gives us the ability to provide virtually a job fair scenario Where a number of employees can come Employers as well and they can engage with potential employees As you might imagine there are still a number of employers that are hiring In fact in a in a recent study conducted by I think the recruiters But it was quite telling in that Employees are now seeking opportunities that don't have face-to-face engagement And so, you know, as you might imagine with the high level of unemployment in our hospitality and on tourism areas with our food services A number of those individuals will not be Reabsorbed back into the workforce and they're looking for other employment opportunities Well, most of those are pivoting towards non face-to-face or non public engagement positions And so now the demand for those positions have skyrocketed When you look at the potential of maybe data processing or Maybe looking at contact tracing if that is something that we move forward on But right now we have a number of employers that are already in the hiring phase And we are connecting those employees with those employers through our NC work system But the job fair that virtual job fair will provide a much bigger platform for that So we are involved with a task force now to determine the best provider for that Our worn notices we've had about 15 But as Andre always indicates, you know, at this point, we are pretty sure that that's an undercount A number of the employers have not actually submitted worn notices In an effort to try to maintain their employee base So they will put them on a temporary Leave or temporary furlough to avoid having to go through the the actual worn process But with those in those employers that have had to release their employees We developed a virtual Program where we have our rapid response. We talked to the employees about what next steps are the services that we offer We connect them with unemployment And we provide a bridge for them So that they have support the necessary support to continue moving forward and and to obtain employment We now already have that in a virtual component And we also have a Spanish speaking version of that as well So both of those are currently already available I mean much much appreciation to staff on that they move forward and we're able to get that up and running If we can move to the next slide Um, as you know in response to COVID-19 We've had as a result of the the COVID-19 pandemic the Correction facilities have been a hot spot and an unfortunate hot spot for the transmission of this virus And one of the responses has been to provide early relief for some of the Some of the participants who might be able to come out on an early and released basis It's limited and it was very structured However, they have been about a dozen of these inmates that have been released back out into the population an early release But we also have our regular release You know population that's coming back and we've been working with the the reentry council As well as community-based partners in an effort to make sure that we're addressing the issues That are arising around our reentry population um Courtney McCollum, who is our our specialist in that area as you know Made an interesting point when she was reviewing this program That of the people who are coming back, you know, the challenges that they're facing one is is that they only have Correctional IDs and so um one of the big challenges is access to Other identification or social security as you know with dmv and the social security office either clothes on restricted hours um, it actually Presents quite a challenge and a barrier um in terms of getting those necessary Identification documentation so that they can start the employment process and of course, you know There's a whole spectrum of needs that are Uh pressed upon them when they are released, especially when they're released early So there are home issues. There are food security issues support services And so we've had a partnership with our community-based organizations and the department of Health and human services has worked together to help to address that and create a more comprehensive program For us We were already on the road to creating a comprehensive justice involved program our training to work program grant ended on the 31st of march and You know, we have been there was already in the works to have that program continued And merged into so that we have a larger comprehensive approach that went from In the facility to actually outside when once you've actually Exhibit And that included of course the welcome home program So we are still moving forward with that But within the context of helping both those who are on that normal track of release as well as those who have been early release For our dyip program We were able to make a very important visit. Um, we put a team together staff has come together to Actually create a curriculum that has taken our usual face-to-face program and As you know, it's a face-to-face place-based program a six week program What we've done is taken that pivot we reached out to some national Program and looked at how can we take that program and make that change so that we can provide Some type of service to our youth and and have a paid experience for them and With the leadership under, you know, kelly slain and and keanna brown They put together a curriculum in partnership with Durham tech as well as with america fade So that we have now structured a program ready to go Um, we have the curriculum prepared and ready to roll We're working with durham tech to provide the technical architecture So that the the participants would engage in the program and they would be Tracked and monitored so that it would show that they've completed the various tasks and program milestones So that you know at the end of the term They would be able to receive compensation and we would have a level of accountability for their participation We're excited about the prospect. Um, durham tech has been a great partner. They've helped us to put together that virtual program They offered already a human resource development program that they've delivered in person and had not put together a virtual Component, um, but working with with our program at oewd They've worked together and created a new virtual platform that we will be able to launch With this dyip program that we are proposing The real I think one of the real assets of this is now that we have this and I'm recognizing that Post-covid life is going to be very different. We all recognize this is a watershed moment And so consequently what we're looking to do is to take this and use it as a model To continually provide services throughout the year for our youth We always work closely with dps and with our other youth providers And so with a virtual program it provides us with that flexibility to move it forward Now that we have a curriculum that's a canned curriculum Of course, it's open to modification But we do have the genesis of a program that we can run virtually And so I think that it's an important asset for For the city to have in its process With our work-based learning component It's it's it's with in the advent of COVID-19. We've somewhat pivoted but what we've done is we've taken that work-based learning concept and Sort of changed it to provide more assistance a more targeted assistance To our employers So that it would provide our employees with an opportunity to up skill And to get an obtained training We have our incumbent worker program which allows In our employees that are currently employed to become up still and to You know to increase their ability for different types of employment within the company And in many instances one company that we're working with currently They're providing a cohort of individuals that would up skill together as a cohort And that would then open up a segment of entry level positions so that it actually does create a pipeline Entry pipeline for employment. So we're excited about that and we're using that incumbent worker program In conjunction with our on-the-job training as well as with apprenticeships In the in the in this age, we're being creative And i'm looking at ways to kind of daily chain these programs together So that it maximizes the benefit to both the employer and the employee And incentivizes the process of having our employees move up and through as I mentioned earlier We have a lot of employees who will not be reabsorbed back into their prior employment And so it's key for them to be able to have access to the training that's necessary And a lot of that is going to be on the job training. It will be not in The typical classroom setting However dorm tech as well as some of our other training providers will be essential partners in order to help make that pivot but They will be able to take advantage of those on-the-job training opportunities as well as the apprenticeship opportunities So we're moving that forward as well And that sums it up for What workforce is doing Thanks, adria. I just wanted to make the comment and just keep on that slide. No, you can go back to the the slide that the the The summer internship program is really a pilot program. We we think that We'll start this pilot It will inform how we can then scale it For our youth, but also throughout the year. So Again, I can talk a little bit more about it on the budget highlights. So again, what you have listed here are Some highlighted programs that We want to consider. First of all, thank you for your support On the Small Business Fund program that we're going to develop and again, I just wanted to remind everyone that The motto actually requires a third party administrator to originate service the loans and most importantly provide the technical assistance and again, We will have that information budgetary to you on the fourth The transitional jobs and welcome home program Again, it has been funded. We work very closely with bms and the i-team to put together a comprehensive program Again, the city is in fact delivering These services along with training the work directly as opposed through a federal contract dyip Again, you've heard about it, but the only other thing I will say about this Is that that negative number? By the way, is what was in our budget? From last year and it's been removed from our budget Because we're not doing the physical program and expanding it So we will need some investment in order to do the summer internship pilot Going forward The second thing I'll say about the summer youth pilot is that Most cities Has this have discontinued their physical summer programs But we think some smarter cities like Durham Philadelphia Denver and Baltimore are communities that know the importance of keeping their youth connected to their economies And they're utilizing a virtual internship paid program. And again, I just think This is a project that we can deliver I too think it's important that our youth continue to be maintained in our economy In spite of the fact that we can't deliver this service in a physical way The next one here is around neighborhood revitalization Um, I think you recall that in part of the design of the proposed fund We made a connection to neighborhoods in opportunity zones Again neighborhoods businesses are being impacted individual residents are being impacted But neighborhoods are also being disproportionately impacted And i'm anticipating Above and beyond the revitalization grants that we have that there will be needs to continue to provide infrastructure and support for neighborhoods again the targeted neighborhoods As a result of covet Again, it is so hard to come up with a club number A budget number We're working on some concepts and programs that that we expect to roll out But we think this is important to connect The recovery post covet with our neighborhoods in targeted programs where we know they're low-income people and again, uh, adria already explained the career Next-gen center opening we can go to the next slide This is the resource allocation table. Um, it actually reflects a continuing base budget Almost flat You know One of the biggest operating drivers in our operating budget is of course the management of Some of the business incentive contracts that we have booked in prior years and those things are coming due During this period next slide In this slide what I want to reference is really are down at the revenue area And specifically at the employment and training line item Again, we have typically received between 100 and 307 excuse me 1.3 to 1.7 million dollars under our federal department of labor wioa programs Uh, again, it's always late in terms of getting what that amount was Uh, we we did was project essentially a flat budget Uh, and this was done before covet We know That we're going to need additional significant resources The feds are essentially evaluating the resources that they have In my understanding in the upcoming Bill that I think went through the house There are dollars specific to Employment and training and workforce development So again that number is going to change but You know, you know, it's the number that actually drives all the work that we're doing So let me in here mayor and council and maybe take a question Thank you very much Andre Thank you, adria and thank you grace. We very much appreciate you all being here and for that excellent report I'll just make a couple of comments. I really was uh Great to hear um about the the uh Businesses at the airport. I was not aware of that those Durham basement businesses and I'm assuming A good number of those were minority businesses as well. And that's that's my first question grace That's correct Howling all of that data. Yes. Thank you And also about the work with the north gate businesses. I think we've all been really worried about that and I'm glad that you all are in touch And appreciate you all doing that survey and and working with them On the I'm also really glad that we're working to reopen the career center and appreciate Adria what you said about that being a place where one of the few places where there's Computer access for this kind of thing. I know how important that is. I mean, it's more important than ever now And it's just an irony that we are You know, it's so difficult to reopen but I appreciate you. I appreciate you all As well as you know, just the we're all so You know at a time when we need so many of our resources like the youth internship program Our inability to do that in person is the heart on on our community I want to thank you for doing what you can to try to make that possible and the The Durham to my colleagues anyone else is listening if you have not looked at Durham business 360 you really should um It's really becoming I don't know come it really is an excellent website They're It lists coveted related resources, but it's really much more than that. It's a it's a small business resource Of community wide and it's just full of really good stuff. It's extremely well done. It's very easy to navigate uh, and uh, I want to congratulate the department and um And I believe you mentioned brian smith particularly And just it's just it's a really great resource um, and I noticed that there's a seminar today actually a webinar today from the black chamber Is it so it's a list of various webinars that lists other things that are happening like our small business Called a forum that We're having tomorrow At the uh renewal recovery task force So it's just it's just I think a wealth of information and I really think that's great And I hope we can figure out ways to really publicize that and I I'll ask my council colleagues on many of you all have a really great, um Social media presidents All will take a look at Durham business 360 if you haven't pushed it out, please do and then the um I appreciate the concern expressed about our returning residents uh, and I want I have written recently I've been in correspondence with deputy secretary, uh, tim moose of the department of public safety to Try to get more information from our State prison system when folks come home We have 60 people coming home every month We know that many of them are coming home from places where there are COVID infections and I'm They were all deeply concerned about that and we want all those people connected as you said to our local reentry council That's not happening in advance. It's a big big Challenge I understand but it's also a huge problem for our community. It's been a huge problem But in the time of COVID-19 It's even more that these people will be connected. So I just wanted All everybody on the on the at the meeting today and especially my colleagues to know that that's something I've really been working hard on along with our members of our local reentry council and others One thing you did not mention was the Or at least I didn't I may have missed it was the integration of the Welcome home program. Did you all you want to talk about that at all? Yeah, so so again, I'm gonna let adria give more details, but the the partnership that We made with the budget and the The itime really Again a lot of Staff work, you know talked about really the importance of sort of a comprehensive approach to our justice involved program and just as you mentioned the ability to Connect with our residents prior to coming Out of the correctional facilities is critical. We learned that in our project training the work on the federal grant The welcome home piece the work that the itime has done over the last two years Essentially provides a a natural entry way for the broad range of workforce development services that we have And again the transitional jobs program, which is a very effective pilot just to remind me This is where city agencies actually took on justice-involved individuals who were recruited Through the welcome home and other programs with us and it was highly successful Again, we've expanded that program So again departments Are going to be looking towards that and we actually are wanting to move it out To the private sector Nonetheless, there's some cobit challenges You know because we didn't design it with that in mind But again, I think it still is valid in terms of us working and supporting all of our residents Regardless of where they're at in lives and particularly our most vulnerable And so this alignment and coordination I think fits very well With the work that we want to do and justice-involved and it will complement the work that we're going to have to do overall in workforce development Thank you very much I'm looking at the clock and I want to just talk to the manager for a minute Mr. Manager, I believe four hours is our limit. Is that right? Mr. Mayor, I checked with Bertha and from what we know right now We do have the ability to extend that time We we thought we had a hard stop at two And it does appear that we can we can continue on And she'll continue to monitor that okay Unless you want us to unless you want us to work toward a hard stop at two I would like you to I would like us to go ahead and move with dispatch Thank you That will be your decision. Yeah, no, I'd like us to move with dispatch And I'll I'll next ask for questions and council members, of course moving with dispatch means we also have to move with dispatch But I'll I'll now call on my council colleagues for questions and comments Council member Freeman and then council member Middleton and council member Reese if you have anything to say you'll let us know thank you, I I appreciate the presentation and I I know that there's someone else that's in the background of this work. Um, and I'm I'm blanking on her name um, but I know grace and Idra And it's one of I can't I can't call her first name, but I'm I really Selma your your tilda Zelda Zelda white I really appreciate the work that your team has done Over the last three years I've been on the workforce economic development board and or workforce board and trying to understand this whole like Mish Mosh of departments and pieces and grants and everything you did a really good job of explaining it at the council budget retreat and I just wanted to touch back on um Just a little bit of the the kind of state level issues that I want to make sure is at the forefront for the council in these budget conversations recognizing that uh, north carolina is the lowest paying unemployment insurance, you know compensation provider in the country I think we're at 51 not even like 50 like 51 and so just noting that people on average are getting um, the 277 dollars plus the additional 600 Payments that are coming in and that's going away very soon and so yes, um I I recognize that we we have budget constraints and I'm concerned that that if we're not Allotting anything or addressing anything around how that's going to have impact On people in our community As we talk about children without food. There's a reason they don't have food And it usually is related to the people in their household who provide the food And so just making sure that that's at the forefront of the of this Conversation as well. I'm not sure how we address it, but I I do know that That I that I didn't see anything in the presentation that looked like we were going to address it and then um You mentioned uh on the ground partners And I know uh, we had conversations about the greater dirt of business chamber And some of our budget retreat conversations And I expressed a whole lot of hesitation around working with them and I just want to make sure that that that um That's fine in the interim, but I really would like a more um comprehensive Plan around how to get folks on the ground involved and the eight sessions is a great start Um, I would like to make sure that they're in English and in Spanish Um, I know that we have a huge Latino population of business owners and they can use the support now not next year not down the line and um Around the reopening the career center. I'm not sure what the Where the holdup sits if that's city county or if it's state But um, I think it's important to make sure that that is open as folks For unable to uh submit their claims for unemployment are spending three and Six and eight hours on a phone trying to submit it and getting dropped and it's just completely It's just inhumane and it just there just needs to be something that addresses that just make them regret that and I uh I really wanted to to thank Um grace and adria for presenting on the the work that they've been doing I have to apologize to council. I have not been giving good updates Um around a lot of the things that they're talking about and I could tell you that there's a lot more than what they presented today and uh I would hope that at some point we could bring forward some of some of the other items that you guys have been working on and I mean, I think that I'm not sure people understand as a whole how much restructuring has happened And workforce and economic development under andre's leadership And I really appreciate the efforts that have been put forward to try and get us to to a position To work within this arcane system that's been set up by the state. I I have not held back on any of my complaints um regarding the way it's set up and I know that our grant structure sucks Our funding situation is is slighted And we have we have all of this happening all at once and then kovat as well And so just no pre kovat. It was an issue and I know in kovat. It's it's an issue and again post kovat It's going to be an issue but how we respond is going to matter and Whatever we can do um, I look to you guys as the experts, um in the office of workforce and economic development um to provide those types of innovative solutions That uh, that will address what what we can do And so I just I just hope that uh that you guys are not stopping where you are and um as I pushed yesterday I think it was with uh parks of rec. This is the department I'm looking at like the most to say we need more so I thank you Thank you councilmember Mr. Mayor if I may respond Yes, you may Um, thank you for your comments councilwoman freeman. I just wanted to make a clarification That unfortunately we are not in the the unemployment office and that is a critical distinction that has to be made especially to our public because The state has made a decision to remove all unemployment services into an online Format um, and I recognize and appreciate the frustration that people are experiencing But there's we don't have any resources at the career center to help alleviate that Um, they are going to have to be referred to that online venue in order for them to resolve many of the issues especially around Claimment issues and payment issues I do recognize the benefit of just being able to have a person To talk with and that was one of the things that I feel Is really of critical importance to us getting the center open again But I do want to make that clarification that we cannot resolve unemployment um Claim program um Claim issues or payment issues Thank you, um Miss scott. I I appreciate you making sure to clarify for me if I implied that it was the office. I was talking about I was specifically Talking about the computers that are made available. That was all and um, it wasn't that I thought the staff was available I know I do want to make sure that the public is very clear that that's not what happens at that office Any longer and so it's it's just important the library's the light the main library downtown is closed And yeah the closest resource for many people in my neighborhood is stamper warned with like five computers I just want to be clear like we're completely under resourced and probably one of the hardest hit areas no library no You know employment security commission office with access to computers Even just if it's from 12 to 1 for an hour a day like there's just nothing here and Yeah, I mean I just I'm I'm experiencing this uh from a place of trauma and and that I've I went through this in 2008 with the with the uh recession the great recession And I knew what I knew then what it felt like to try and and access services being laid off and giving up on looking for um For jobs and trying to apply for the um and the unemployment service like I just don't want to see the same thing happen and folks fall behind and ways in which that we can prevent So thank you. Thank you for the clarity Yes, ma'am. Thank you Thank you councilmember Other questions or comments Any other questions or comments councilmember middleton? Thank you, mr. Mayor Andre good to see you brother. Thank you for being here pushing through like brave heart today. Appreciate it Listen, I have to move with dispatch I never thought as a black boy from the inner city. I'd ever grow up to hear the words hurry up and spend this half billion dollars so This is a great land. We live in man. Won't we do it? I real quick rdu in northgate. Um, I wanted to ask about Northgate when when northgate was was sold and the developer was making the rounds and meeting with council members I met with the representative from the developer and they made representations that They would be committed and I'm going to be very clear I say that they would be committed to to providing aid and assistance and relocating Um merchants that were there to their they didn't we didn't talk. I want to be very clear I didn't make a number they didn't commit to any specific numbers or anything like that But they did in principle so that they would be committed to helping Uh and providing aid with with displaced um business owners in northgate I want to ask or at least lean in and and and make sure that as you Do your work and your staff does its work that you follow up with the developer and probe them on what they can do I understand they have some portfolio holdings of other properties around our the triangle and around our city that may Uh be you know part of the the efforts to to relocate Some of these business owners So I wanted I wanted you to speak to that or at least uh be alerted to that and secondly and that i'm done Um anecdotally um some some members of the community have have reported to me that There were efforts made to relocate some of the the work the staff at northgate not very many people but A few folk in that uh white workers at northgate were found other assignments and jobs and that there were some black employees who were not reassigned Again, this is anecdotal. This is what community members brought to me. I want to know Do you know anything about that? Do you have any information on that? um So those are my two And then i'm done So first of all, I don't have any information on the workforce placement issue that you you spoke to Again part of what we're really doing is getting our team on the ground we've engaged In a sort of a webinar a group of businesses. I think it was around 25 And the broader survey is actually try to get very specifically to the needs of the businesses The We we we've come in in coordination with the small business development center They were in touch with the developer and the developer participated in that meeting but with your You know coaching We will engage the developer directly to assess What resources and how they can be used in alignment with the needs of the businesses You know we We can be very specific based on what you just told me as opposed to general so Again, we're the survey as grace said was going to be completed You know next week We'd love to you know update You know counsel on on how that has gone and and where we have Defined our role again in alignment in coordination 70 businesses affected We must have a strategy to support them to efficiency efficiently find their next best place And a set of resources that enable them to continue to stay and work in in Durham And that's the the goal of the program that we're doing in partnership with other agencies Thank you. Andre. Thank you your honor Thank you councilmember Any other questions or comments for andre? Uh, yeah, I do mr. Mayor councilmember Reese Andre I just want to Say that our thoughts and prayers with you and we're just it's amazing that you're with us today, but we really appreciate it Thank you Can you tell me a little bit about the current status of your ongoing work on the small business loan program? I know we're going to hear details a week from today Um, it's been a week since we talked last and I just wanted to get an update um again council provided Some very helpful and useful feedback around the urgency of completing a program for your review and approval on the fourth Again, there were specific comments about Um, this is a form of the fund that we're evaluating that um There were comments about You know Who who is this fund for? Would it in fact reach? sole proprietorship Freelance or independent contractors and again, they are part of the model We expect to be able to more explicitly talk about that and provide that And again refinement around terms and conditions I think you had a comment around a securitization of loans how that might work All of those things are being evaluated And I think one of the the bigger things is really the service delivery model How we roll this thing out in a very expeditious way wanting to rely on experience Um Infrastructure and capability in order to roll the program out rapidly. So I that that those are the the the sort of pillars that We have already begun to modify and and adjust So I hope that answers your question Yeah, no, I appreciate that any um any further progress on a funding Um a community partner to help us to administer the program I've you know, I've reached out to a number of them and Again, we are much further along Uh than we were when I met with you on thursday Building in some of the comments that you have Um It's imminent, but again, you can understand why it's it's premature to announce anything today but you will have that full program With a delivery model And and and delivery mechanism going forward All right. Thank you andre and thanks again for all your work. We appreciate it Thank you andre. Thank you so much. Thanks to you and your team for being here Grace and adria and I think there are others on from your team on this call as well And we're very grateful to you. Thank you so much and Uh, adria, we're glad to have you with us today. I'm happy to be here. Thank you for the opportunity and Appreciate all the prayers and blessings offered my family's way Our thoughts are with you. Our prayers are with you and uh, we're thinking about you all the time All right, great. Thanks. Thank you All right, um We're now to the next part of our agenda and i'm gonna Hand the chair back to madame mayor pro tem for our discussion of engagement Thank you, mr. Mayor. Um And i'm just going to turn it right over to our staff who will be presenting this i'm not sure Who that is oh, it's robin. Hi robin Turn it over to you Good afternoon mayor members of council I'm robin baker with the budget department and today i'll be presenting an overview of the city of Durham engagement activities Next slide please And so we are going to start with an overview of some mandatory and urgent engagement activities and also talk about some of the non mandatory non urgent engagement activities that are programmed for this upcoming fiscal year And then we're going to discuss some of the cross departmental coordination that's been occurring to prioritize and deploy resources in our post COVID air and lastly we'll have a discussion and solicit feedback from council on some recommendations For community engagement post COVID-19 next And so this is just kind of a high level overview of some of the current engagement activities that are occurring um related to urgent and mandatory items such as the census as well as stimulus check assistance and tax assistance And so there are a number of departments that are engaging On departments that have the most outward facing And some of the biggest initiatives that you all have covered such as the comp plan As well as the transit plan And so for the purpose of this presentation urgent refers to anything from now until august And so there are a number of urgent and mandatory items that the city is currently Engaging and community with and then we have a number of items that are programmed for the upcoming fiscal year such as the comp plan The dpr master plan as well as the strategic plan refresh next slide, please And so currently a number of our departments are utilizing CDC recommendations to practice in person and a hybrid method of online and in person engagement Our nis department as well as budget police and other departments have been assisting residents in identifying needs in the community and prioritizing those Another one of the urgent and mandatory items are related to use services and ensuring that the Census is completed as well as language accessibility related to um a number of our initiatives And then lastly some of the next slide, please And some of the non urgent non mandatory items like I said refer to The larger community engagement that has multiple phases within each initiative such as our comp plan And so we next slide, please And so we're going to transfer now and talk about some of the engagement activities by department And so these are just some images of some of the work that our neighborhood improvement services department is doing They have conducted needs assessment with their residents and assisted with getting games coloring books toiletries household items and Deploying those to communities most in need They're also working on Meeting with community as well as the community related partners virtually and continuing to build equity and in person and virtual mediums And so some of the most urgent and mandatory items that they're working on include the census outreach with the goal of Getting a response rate of 82 percent The census of course has been extended until the end of summer given the COVID situation as well as deploying The city hall on a go to assist with community building and the fair housing outreach and education component, which are all Going to a virtual medium And here's just some more images of the work that nis is doing currently in the community deploying resources to specifically Dha residents as well as residents that may be low wealth or low income And here is some of the non mandatory non urgent items that are programmed for the upcoming fiscal year The neighborhood matching grants is one of the most notable this occurs on a annual basis where communities can submit funds for a matching grant opportunity for beautification projects A neighborhood pride projects As well as some code enforcement and impact team neighborhood cleanups That are not able to occur right now in person, of course, but they are programmed for the upcoming fiscal year So the parks and recreation department had a number of community um playground renovations Some were from the half cent fund as well as from pb funds And so this spring they conducted a number of in-person engagements related to each of these Playground renovations and pump trucks. And so they are currently working on doing a combination of survey monkey to Get feedback from residents. All of their materials are translated in Spanish as well And they also have a number of trails projects that are programmed for the upcoming fiscal year The most notable would be the belt line trail next slide and so our general services department has a number of uh community projects that are related to transportation Public works as well as a number of participatory budgeting projects from our cycle one Related to bus stops public art. And so all of these projects are continuing on schedule virtually um and have not been Directly impacted by cove it or have been able to find a different medium for ensuring the schedule is met General services also has a number of non urgent non mandatory activities um A lot of them consist of of course pb related projects, but also transportation public works um the Hoover road athletic park. They are currently Using virtual bid meetings to maintain schedule for some of the larger scale cip projects And they are working with their um State quarters as well as the public art community to solicit feedback on what virtual engagement looks like next Our office on youth has a number of current activities and activities that have been um ongoing since the early spring. The most notable is a youth listening project That had about 18 sessions scheduled. However, it um occurred Of course, they had to move to some of the virtual meetings So six of those 18 were held on virtual forums And so are they are currently in the information sentencing phase and hope to share out that information via Survey monkey or some other online platform It's also important to know that they have been very responsive to youth needs currently they have Set up kind of a text line, which is the one way communication for any kind of social Emotional and physical needs for youth. They send out resources a few times a week and they also have the scenic quarantine challenge, which is um really meant to increase participation And shed light on the youth that are experiencing, you know, Unnormal circumstances and disruptions to their life as well Next slide and some of the non urgent non mandatory things are continuing the youth listening project as well as the youth engagement network Which is a network of service providers caregivers that is a city county joint effort They also have the youth commission, which is continuing to meet on a monthly basis via virtual medium Next slide, please And then our transportation department has a number of community engagement activities program for the upcoming fiscal year They also are using some innovative practices in partnership with the community rooted partners to how zoom Walkthroughs of the community as well as having a virtual online forum for the woodcroft parkway extension design And they are also researching street closures Well, they call them soft closures and so soft closures Result in it's the potential to expand dining into surface parking lots As well as closed streets to cars to allow for more walkability pedestrian friendly environment And here's just some promotional material for their virtual open house that is ongoing. You can submit information until the early uh better july And of course they have their transit plan and other operational Analysis that they are getting feedback from the community on a regular basis in terms of how to improve service connectivity coverage and on demand times And so the budget management services department has continued to conduct in-person engagement the um office of performance and innovation has been working to assist dha residents with Stimulus check assistance as well as partnering with nis parks and recs in general services and other departments to ensure That cdc recommendations are put in place here. You'll see that plexiglass Was installed as well as social distancing of six feet And masks were also provided to residents who did not have any of their own and so this has been occurring since mid may where The teams are going out into specific dha communities on a regular basis to assist with signing residents of to receive their stimulus check As well as census uh, complete the census and so bns is also um working on redesigning budgeting Cycle for pb Durham 2 which is scheduled to launch and fall of this year as well as the strategic plane refresh which is scheduled for engagement in spring of 2021 And so the last department that will cover is planning we we heard a lot about their um kind of engagement efforts and The potential to delay some of the decision making until in-person engagement is safe again And so they will be entering phase two of their engagement this fall and we hope to Utilize planning as a way to get feedback for multiple engagement efforts including the transit plan and potentially other citywide initiatives And this just is a brief highlight that the ambassador program and outreach teams are still meeting and assisting with coordinating the virtual engagement strategy for the comp plan And so I just want to pause and take a moment to thank all of our partner departments The ones that are included in the pre-session and are not for all of the work that they've been doing in the community um our fleet department General services police have all been present and responding to community needs and i'd like to kind of um take this opportunity also to Uh invite monica shepard to the conversation who is also going to talk about how this work relates to some of the Restoring government operations um work that her team is leading Thank you robin. Good afternoon mayor Mayor pro tem other members of city council I realize i'm the only thing between us and lunch But at this point i'm not sure if we just wait until dinner or not. So i'm going to be brief in my comments. Um We've been very very thoughtful in our process of how we are discussing how to restore services Whether a service is going to be fully restored. Perhaps reduced hours or a different service delivery Um, but when it came to community engagement, we recognize that there's community engagement And then there's Durham standard for community engagement. So we didn't feel like we could have those conversations about Restoring community engagement without engaging city council into a conversation about it I do want to briefly highlight the process that we're using for other services because I think it's been very thorough and comprehensive And us recognizing that the decision to restore or not to restore has ripple effects and consequences So we've been working with departments using forms to really um capture what are vulnerabilities associated with Restoring a service and then what are our mitigation factors? um, so We foresaw that waste made the decision or in got the approval to open the convenience center Lots of conversation about traffic control was going to be a vulnerability And making sure that we had proper provisions to address traffic control as a mitigation strategy So just a heightened level of just thoroughness We're looking at policy considerations Um interdependencies and equity So Sharon willians our equity inclusion manager. She and her team And supported by erin as well Have been going through these forms and issues or recommendations that catch their eye They are looking at them in deeper detail. Um, so to give you a quick example Some of our services have decided to go cashless to help mitigate the exposure and the risk But thinking about those in our community who are unbanked What's the strategy to make sure that those folks can still be served? appropriately So it's just a a lot of detail That we're considering when we talk about service restoration And then our executive team takes a bite of that apple of looking at this information every single week Everyone's talking risk management's involved general services. So just being really really thoughtful About service restoration So that brings us to community engagement And wanting to make sure that we are meeting city council's expectations as to how do we make sure that we are Meeting the standard and your level of expectation when we think about community engagement When we think about our community's capacity to engage with us Whether it be emotionally The financial challenges folks may be so Facing connectivity Issues so just wanting to hear from council Because that will definitely drive our decisions of what we restore how we restore it So would love to engage you all in a conversation with whatever energy you all have left to have a robust discussion Thank you so much monica and robin um for your presentation. This was It was really great to see um all the information in this presentation about all of the engagement the departments are doing And to kind of get a comprehensive picture of all the ways that we're Engaging the community. Um, I'm gonna ask my council colleagues if anyone has questions and since a couple folks are having Issues with their internet Maybe y'all could just write in the chat if you have a question if I can't see you But I see um council member freeman's hand They're on to result Thank you. I appreciate this presentation It's a little confusing to to just look at the slides without the context. I have to tell you I was trying to figure it out before I got here, but um, I I think I get it now and it makes a lot more sense. Um the My main questions are specific to um, I understand that you're listing like What's um I'll go back to to what your slide said hold on to what's urgent non urgent currently active Non-mandatory is there any way to get a list that shows them because it's it would be a lot easier to kind of understand How much is actually happening? Um, what is urgent and needs to happen versus what is um Urgent but not mandatory versus what is mandatory and not urgent kind of like that quadrant Situation I it would be it would be more helpful to me. I'm sorry. I'm just that simple, but um I appreciate the the The thought and the actual like effort that they're putting in to make sure that you're identifying Those who would be disproportionately impacted and that might not be able to engage around being unbanked Or uncell phone I think everyone tends to think that everyone has access which is why I which is why I was hard pressed about you know restarting uh committees and and boards in a way that would Kind of disproportionately lean towards folks who had access Uh, I just want to make sure that we keep in mind that that this is this is like the Lynch pin of engagement of making sure that everyone who who's not normally engaged is involved in the process and so I I'm I'm noting that I heard one the Very large like comp plan engaged derm part said that they were on pause until the fall and the Something out there was something else that was also on pause when I was trying to catch you but um I I know what struck would would actually like peak the interest was there was something about public art being virtual Uh Someone if someone could explain what that means that would be helpful or some of the um Kind of information gathering related to public art has been moved to surveys Rebecca brown is leading that effort and I can follow up with her if you have any specific questions related to any of those initiatives But there are and mainly it would it would be the question around how you're surveying If we're not having like those big events or we're having like, you know gatherings that people are just there I mean, are you just surveying online? Is that the sense? But it would be nice to know what that looks like and how Um, it's it's actually equitable We'll get more more information on that for you for sure And and I'll stop there I have a few more questions around provisions and policies. Um, and and Sharon's not on is Sharon on the call I'm not sure she is but that would be that would be the most helpful Sharon williams. Yes, she's she's not on on this call. She's probably watching Um, yeah, that would be the most helpful because I have a lot of questions about how the equity and inclusion aspects of these are working But um, I'll I'll allow, um, just yield to other folks to ask questions And the spirit of uh, it's past two o'clock Thank you councilmember councilmember middleton Thank you so much. Madam mayor pro tem. Of course. She's watching this is must-see tv Um Monica and robin good to see you both you guys are rock stars with this stuff. Um, and you've done an amazing job Uh, since since coming and joining this this happy band of travelers of ours Um, I do have some questions I uh looking at the budget and management services and maybe maybe budget needs to answer this or perhaps other city staff But uh on the budget budget management services, first of all, let me just say Any platform that's just virtual That is trying to, uh, solicit Input from members of the community be it selection of artists or anything else To me right now is just problematic just virtual for the same reasons that I argued for holding up on Picking award three Of replacement those same arguments still present persist And I don't know that we have any assurances from public health professionals or anything else That somehow the fall, which is only a couple of months away Is going to be uh, you know when we can go full throttle opening up I haven't heard any A professional say anything about the fall. So i'm just curious. Um under budget management services your your Um Slide we have participatory budgeting cycle two scheduled to launch in the fall Which is a couple of months away, but strategic plan refresh pushing to 2021 and i'm wondering Why are we comfortable thinking that we can do in person? Uh, a common a hybrid of in person and virtual Engagement with say participatory budgeting in the fall um But we we see strategic plan refresh being better in 2021 and if that's not for you to answer That's for administration Why do we feel safe or comfortable that we're going to be ready to do that then and what and what do we lose? By pushing that to 2021 as well Great question councilmember meadowton. Uh, that's when the strategic plan refresh was always scheduled to engage So that's not driven by health concerns Although I would say all of those timings Everything's really evolving. So this is like when staff is recommending when we're projecting And really wanting to hear from you all Which types of services is there a principle or a guideline to help us understand? Which types of engagements are or projects you all are comfortable with us pausing? Which ones do you feel that they are just So time-sensitive so critical that we need to move forward come up with mitigation strategies to address Rural abilities get back out there and in the community. So just trying to Gage you all's temperature your appetite for either pausing certain Practices and waiting until it is safe. It is clear Or ones where we need to be working to develop mitigation strategies Yeah, and I appreciate that and um, thank you for that for me participatory budgeting is so dependent upon Community engagement and it can't be done just virtually It's got to be some in-person events in order for it to work And and you know and I'm already on record with the great work we've done last time And you know our numbers weren't the best in terms of Equity equitable participation in terms of the voting populace. So we already had that to deal with So we need to work on that we need to make it better We need to do more engagement work to make sure that the voting populace is more reflective of the population of our city So it just doesn't turn into a two million dollar No supplemental white voter initiative. I'm concerned about that. So and and we had those challenges when we didn't have kovic So I'm just I just don't understand I'm not really comfortable with the fall, which is a couple of months away When when we're you know, we don't know If folk will leave me back to the work yet Uh in the fall of this year just talk about possible a possible another wave Or possibly another outbreak of the virus as we as we open up. So I I um We need to we need to make sure that this program is as successful as it can be and has full equity And with the challenges we've already had and the to-do list that we already have I just don't see why we would try and do this um this fall um Knowing how dependent upon dependent is upon actual in-person engagement. I as a decision maker I haven't seen any indication that we can plan with any confidence that You know, three months from now two and a half three months from now Uh, we're going to be in a position to hold the type of robust type of that engagement activities That are necessary absolutely necessary and critical for the successful deployment successful rollout Uh, um in practice of participatory budgeting So I would just ask that some consideration be given to that and not just participatory budgeting The the selection of artists any any platform that's just virtual um You know, we've seen what virtual issues can come up in this meeting during the course of this afternoon Any platform that's just virtual I would I would ask that serious consideration be given Uh to my colleagues. I'm talking to us now seriously consideration be given to giving a pause Uh, particularly, you know matters that are not urgent or mandatory be given pause until we get a better grip On on when it would be safe to engage. I rest on the same Body same corpus of arguments that I forwarded for pausing on selecting our colleague for the ward 3c I think those arguments are still just as applicable And um, I just don't see how we can plan for the fall to have the robust robust engagement We need and with that I'll yield the others. Thank you madam. Mayor pro tem. Thank you Other questions or comments from council members Mayor shul Thank you I thought this was a great presentation. Uh, I really like the rubric That is That was a lot I thought that the rubric was so thoughtful and The way in which each department's Work was plugged into that Um makes a lot of sense to me Um I think that there is an important balance to be struck between Monica what you rightly called Durham's Durham standard of participation And the work that we have to get done is a city to move forward There are a lot of things that just have to happen And I think you all have done a good job of Identifying the ones that are you know, the urgent and mandatory and the non urgent and non mandatory and those and that kind of stuff I thought that you just did a great job of identifying them And I have a lot of confidence That you all will figure out What You know what what I think you've made good choices about what are which things are in which categories and I think you'll Do a good job of figuring out which things virtual Participation is enough for and which things in person participation is enough for um the one thing that uh There there was nothing in the when I look through the chart and I've done it a couple times now I'll just do it again There's nothing that that I see and that I think wow, you know, this isn't their own category or that kind of thing the one thing that I feel like Um We we should give some thought to we need to do this as a community or at least as a The leadership team for uh for this for this work is the census um I really am concerned that we are not where we need to be We have very limited options. Uh in terms of In-person contact is much more limited than we would have wanted for the census and so I hope that we'll give A lot of attention. I'm not just this is not just city government. This is our whole census leadership team to how we use every every ounce of Virtual capability that we have to be able to get people to sign up and then Uh, and then when the in-person plans are you know, I don't even know what the in-person plans are But when the in-person plan when it's time for them and it may be now that we are Doing everything we can it's so critical to the future of our city and Our ability to get the resources that are due to us and serve our people well So when I when I looked at the public engagement plan, um, that was the one thing that I Was a red flag for me not that nothing that you all had in the plan but Just my concern that we have to really figure out how to advance that and I think that You know, I need to try to play the appropriate role in that as well And I know we're well led by a really good committee that's doing that. That's that's a really great group But I do want to Urge us all to forward that word But thank you. I just think you've done a great job. It's a bang-up job. I really do and Also, just while I'm at it, Monica, I want to thank you for your leadership on there restoring our city services I've heard a lot from the manager about the leadership that you've given that work and the thoughtful way in which You've approached it and want to express my gratitude. Thank you. Thank you all so much Thank you, mayor Thank you, mr. Mayor Any other council members have thoughts or comments? Recognizing the need to move with dispatch Council member ease. Yeah, I don't want to belabor the point I think we do we are going to need to spend some time as a group thinking about Those priorities and what's important to us For the coming year, but obviously I think staff is doing a great job meshing our the public health Reality on the ground With the things that we have to do and want to do and I think that's just going to be an ongoing process as we Move further into this public health crisis Otherwise, this was one of the best power points. I've seen in a long time So robin if that was you who did that. Thank you very much. It was great I actually want to shout out shana delaney So she did a great job. Thank you council member Um, I'll just add a couple of things. I think that uh, this is really helpful in thinking through these questions about What kind of engagement we should and need to be doing in light of the public health? consequences, um, I think we're starting to move from thinking of covet as a Like temporary blip on the radar to realizing that it's something that we are going to be dealing with for a very long time. Um I Do not think that even in a year. We're going to be able to do Engagement without some sort of attention to The public health situation based on some of the predictions that are coming out right now from scientists and experts um, and so we need to think about um So so so it brings up several questions, right? We can't not do engagement at all Um, but we know that the virtual engagement is not going to meet the The standards that we have if we're only able to do virtual engagement Um, but not doing engagement at all for for a year or more is also not an option So I think that we just need to think through all these questions and Um, I know the there are a number of efforts in the community to get devices out, especially to Students as we look into a possibility of not going to in person school or fully in person school in the fall There are a number of initiatives to get to get resources out to folks so that we can try to to To deal with that digital divide questions. I feel like it's bigger It's bigger than us. Um, they're Almost everyone in this new era is going to need more access to technology in order to function in a number of ways um and so just something thanks for us to consider and maybe participate in efforts to you know to decrease those digital disparities in our community and And we know that that would improve not just you know our our work but all of the various ways in which people are able to interact and just participate in community and the economy and In society right now given given our our circumstances Um, I'm going to stop talking as we need to finish up Anyone else have anything to say? Council member freeman Can't hear you Am I can you hear me now? You're good. Yep. Thank you. I I just um, I appreciate those the follow-up comments. I um, I just wanted to add that the county is currently at 55 percent and as a response rate for the census and I really appreciate the mayor pointing that out and it is it is um a huge area of um concern and we are just about at where the state is and just a little below where the country is I think it is hold on but um I I I appreciate mayor pro tem pointing out that it is beyond us and and how the digital divide will play into this I uh, also want to note that uh, here locally that um along the same lines with the computers access and you know cell phones internet All of that needs to line up in a way that's really equitable Um, as we move forward and I think that that can that will happen Um, it's just going to take a lot more effort to be directed in that In that direction or a lot more support to be directed in that direction. We're not there yet and so I just want to um Just echo that I I think that this this the way that it's laid out. Uh, I would appreciate a Oh, I still appreciate a a more simplified version and The presentation is helpful Thank you. Thank you councilmember freeman. We'll get a matrix for you We all learn differently and absorb information differently. So we're happy to do it in a different format for you Thank you very much Thank you All right. Thank you so much. Um monica and robin. This was really informative and we'll continue having these conversations and dealing with all these difficult issues Thank you. Thank you All right. I believe i'm gonna yield the floor um to bertha To finish up Yes, thank you. Let me let me jump in real quick if I could great Hey, um, so uh one thing about the census and mayor you may have heard different more But I know the call we were on what about two weeks ago There were two or three census tracks in derm and some of our most vulnerable neighborhoods. It had less than a one percent response rate I think the number was and I was stunned by that I haven't seen an update lately But I wouldn't want people to think that the 54 percent that the councilmember freeman was reflecting that's a citywide But we do have some census tracks that are just incredibly incredibly Undercounted that we know we've we've got a lot of work to do. It's really important that we we do that I don't know if you've all heard that but uh, we want to call a couple weeks ago Mary when that was mentioned and it just really stunned me So I just want to say you kind of been wrapping up certainly. Thank everyone for sticking with us This was a lot of material today A lot of information uh reflective of just amazing work By our staff the last couple days You only heard from maybe a third of our departments And don't want to in any way minimize the the the folks you didn't hear from because there are There is a an equal amount of thinking and work Around both covet response and budgetary impacts from covet response that are happening and in every Every department in the city I was thinking that In my um, you know don't want to keep repeating the many many years. I've been doing this I don't recall ever having a set of budget work sessions with the city council that didn't include a police department and a fire department Which was which was interesting, uh, uh, you know the the two biggest Departments in terms of our total expenditures and and we didn't even talk about them today Uh, certainly I think in one hand it's reflective of the competence that we have of of what they're doing But also don't want in any way to to minimize the The fact that they are and have continued to do incredible incredible work for the community under some incredibly, uh difficult difficult situations And and i'm just proud of them but proud of all all of our folks all the departments who are just continuing To do great great work. Um You know, it is nice to hear hear from Folks face to face like we did for a couple days, but uh, don't want to in any way Forget the folks who who also are are contributing in so many ways um, I was going to mention that normally, uh, as we go forward Following the public hearing which I know berth's going to talk about in a minute in terms of the format of that Uh, we typically have a the potential anyway. We haven't always done it the potential for A, uh, kind of final budget work session check-in Sometime the morning of the uh work session day which in this case would be june the uh the fourth Uh, I have uh the the unfortunate the news to tell you that that work session is a bear It looks to be a long long long afternoon from everything that I have seen that we went through yesterday So, uh, just wondering, uh, to what extent you want to have Uh, another follow-up budget discussion, uh, we we can talk about any flagged items for today There was just a couple from yesterday but try to get some sense of um You know the framework of of what else the council needs In order to uh to be comfortable following the public hearing obviously but adopting the budget On the uh on the 15th of june Which is the current schedule So any feedback you have for us there, uh, you know, we I'd appreciate knowing so we can we can properly plan about it We have a lot of work to do There are a lot of initiatives that we've heard about uh things that we've talked about even today that are Not necessarily budget adoption related But there's certainly our policy decisions and other actions that the council's going to need to be taking over the next several weeks that are going to continue to To to advance us. I know we've talked about the potential for Uh, july meetings. There's nothing on the plate right now for that. We're going to stay flexible about that But there's a lot of work, uh, both budget and otherwise to be Completed in the next two or three weeks. So Those are just some of my my quick reflections bertha if you have anything to add to that Please do and then any feedback we could receive from the mayor and council today would be very helpful So so tom, I would just add that I that I hope that we have been uh, you know We have been cataloging those follow-up items But I would hope that we can separate those items at a budgetary that we need to have decisions around before we adopt The budget to those items that could come in a later date that are more about process or program Um, if we can separate those so that we can make sure we can follow up and get uh accurate and tonally information back to you all and Mr. Mayor, would you like me to keep? presiding Okay, your mind. No, sure go right ahead um I personally don't feel the need for that budget session. Uh, unless Unless the staff does we we've hardly had any flagged items of a budgetary nature. Um And I personally would be satisfied with hearing, uh From staff in a written format about any of the flagged items that we had Uh, if there were one or two that didn't need to be taken up I think we could do it at the but at At the very long work session rather than having a whole uh morning session devoted to that that would be my preference Thank you. Mr. Mayor Other comments ditto Yeah, I agree. I think having as part of the work session, um Even though it's really long would be fine I do want to have and flag Any additional general fund spending and have further conversation about additional general fund spending Um, but I think that would be fine to have as part of the work session I I just specifically um have some concerns around uh equity inclusion and whether or not there are items that are budgetary So that is one that I would like flag I don't believe that department had any new initiatives. Uh, there were that was More of a continuation of their existing kind of ramp up of services I do uh concur and grouping everything into that monstrous work session. I do I think, uh I think there are some engagement issues. We do need to revisit based upon today's conversation I think it it what really makes a start for me is is in our most um needy census tracks We have one percent participation in the most important engagement issue the census Um, everything else is downhill from there. So I'm I'm not going to anesthetize myself thinking that, you know We're not even six months out. This thing started in March that we're going to have um, um great engagement In a hybrid in person virtual model as soon as this fall With one percent participation with the census which trumps everything we're talking about And I just think we need to be clear-eyed and sober and realistic About that making the decisions. I love I love the presentation that Monica and Robin did and I love the fact the last slide talked about us Making sure that it comports with uh, Durham values and they did a remarkable job presenting to us But the buck finally stops with us and I and I have some issues that I want to discuss about What our engagement should look like in the next Three to five months moving forward in the city and if we can seriously Make a case that the engagement will be Uh as equitable as possible given all that's going on. So I would just put that to us respectfully. Thanks ma'am Madam ma'am, I'm sorry. Thanks everyone Thank you So Do we have a consensus we can just add it to that work session? great And then I would just ask any any, you know information that we want to be sure and cover I know I'll be talking to each of you in the next over the next week And I'll be sure and flag that to be uh, see if there's anything that Comes up afterward or that you've thought more about Following the last couple days discussion that you want to be sure that uh that we're talking about at that work session as well That'd be great. Thank you All right, I'm gonna ask for final comments from council members Are we happy without them? Mayor pro tem and I make an announcement Absolutely whenever you're ready for me. No go for it We just want to remind and uh make some people aware of the public hearing which is on june 1st at 7 p.m To make sure that our residents are aware how they can engage in that process and provide feedback So the information is here on the screen They can also reach out to the clerk's office for additional information on how they can provide feedback or ask questions This is the first time, of course, we'll have a virtual public hearing So we want to make sure it will continue to try to promote this on our social media as well And our second announcement is um Normally during this time the last day of the work session We have a cake for our city manager. His birthday is may 30th And so we were not able to provide him a cake today and shireen was so distraught about that So she wanted to make sure that uh, we kind of send him a virtual cake and a virtual happy birthday And so I just want to say happy birthday to tom On may 30th, and I appreciate all his work. If y'all need my address to deliver the cake. I'd be glad to give it Thank you. Mayor pertin. That's it for me. Thank you. That is a lovely cake. It is a lovely cake Mayor pro tem. I just had one um Just posing an option um request for bertha Um, just noting that uh, we're having this conversation around engagement. Do you think 24 hours is enough time? Um after the meeting, I know that that's the minimum that was set Um by the the legislature, but um, do you think that's enough time just because it's the budget? And I know there's always a lot of people who are always trying to get feedback Um, I was thinking maybe it could be 72 hours just some a length of time that gives More people a chance to engage um, it's especially since i'm going to be trying to trying to go uh Prod those folks who always come and beat me up later to to say something now so I I don't see a problem with that. I I think the the time was just set by the clerk's office based on that legislation So i'm happy to extend that time Thank you Thank you All right, everyone. I believe we have concluded our business And we can adjourn the meeting at 2 33 p.m Thanks everyone everybody Tom you supposed to drop that cash app in the chat, man They hit you how it works in these streets, man Happy birthday. Happy birthday God bless everybody. Take care. Um councilmember freeman What's the timeline that you wanted for the public comments to be extended? I'm sorry. Can you hear me? Uh-huh. I just said 72 hours. Okay, no problem. Thank you