 Yeah, I just thought it was going to move the doors and get the fire marshal or something great. We're good. Thanks. Okay. Hey, bud. Good evening, I like to call this meeting of the Durham City Council to order at 7 o'clock on February the 18th and certainly want to welcome everyone here tonight We're very very glad to have you with us I'm going to first ask if you would join me in a moment of silent meditation. Thank you Now I'm going to ask Councilmember Reese if he will do the honors for the pledge to the flag. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, good evening everyone colleagues members of the public who are here tonight We're joined by the Cubs Scouts of pack 486 if they'll come on up and assume their place at the front and everyone else If you're able and if it's your practice to do so, please rise and join us for the pledge Well the audience please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance I Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands One nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all Great job gentlemen. Thank you so much Yes, thank you all great job And now madam clerk, would you please call the roll mayor shul here mayor pro tem Johnson here councilmember Alston here councilmember Caballero here councilmember Freeman Councilmember Middleton here councilmember Reese here. Thank you. Thank you so much Let me just tell you how we're gonna proceed tonight. We are now going to have our ceremonial items And after our ceremonial items, we're gonna move into announcements by the council and then we'll have The state of the city address and then following the state of the city address We will have a a video that I'm excited about it's a short video and Let me just say It's got a character in it named duramina and I will be proud to debut for you this evening our 2018 annual report video and let duramina take you through just some of our accomplishments last year and show you what's to come in 2019 So that's what we're gonna do after after I give my address We will have a short video and then we will have a five minute break And I know that some of you all might want to leave although you will be most welcome to stay for the rest of the business But that's how we're gonna proceed this evening. So now We'll begin with our ceremonial items our first ceremonial item is a very very exciting one and I'm going to ask representative HM Mickey Michelle and Our public historian Eddie Davis if they would join me here at the microphone and also any members of Representative Michelle's families of whom we have several tonight. Would you all please join us up here? Here at the podium as well, and I'm gonna turn it over to Eddie Good evening to all Gives me a great honor to be able to stand here to talk about Representative HM Mickey Michelle I believe that there is a Proclamation for him and that will maybe come later Although I think that there have been other occasions where he's been honored in leather little locales Where this has circulated But as historian for the sesquicentennial I would like to talk a little bit just a small bit about some of the signature Things that Mickey Michelle has done actually I want to confine that to just one piece Someone who has had I think a career that is expand almost 40 years in one legislative body There are many things that one could look at But I want to talk a little bit about one piece that is very dear to my heart because I was serving as the student council advisor at Hillside High School in the late 80s When the students there celebrated the bicentennial Of the United States Constitution in in the fall of 1987 Then Lieutenant Governor Bob Jordan came in on a helicopter and landed on the football field Practice field of the old Hillside High School We had the students to be there to greet him and then they went inside the building and the students heard and addressed by a Lieutenant Governor Jordan about the Constitution and the things that had been done in terms of the amendments The students there at that time led by a student body president named Tanya Robinson Put forth the idea that perhaps there was a piece of business that probably should have been done by the state of North Carolina Earlier, but it had not been done the 24th amendment was an amendment that removed the poll tax and North Carolina during the 1964 Lead up to the ratification of that amendment chose not To ratify and chose not to be among the states that had ratified that 24th amendment The students decided that they wanted to have a living Exercise that would allow them to go to the North Carolina General Assembly and to work hard to make sure that They were able to lobby the General Assembly to get the local delegation to put forth legislation that would actually allow for that a retroactive ratification and they were successful under the leadership of Represented Michelle, but he was not alone and with us tonight. I wish she would come forth, too Is represent former representative Sharon Thompson? This is a sort of a reunion of these two people who worked together as colleagues in the General Assembly George Miller was the other member of the house at that point and on the Senate side. We had Kenneth Royal And Ralph Hunt and those folks worked together to make sure and they gave those students at Hillside the opportunity to really learn How legislation was put forth? They were able to get the House of Representatives to Unanimously approve that legislation it went over to the Senate side and there, too It got a favorable vote and the students were able to get the then secretary of state Rufus Emerson to empower them to take that legislation To that legislation at that point to Washington DC and turn it over to the National Archives so if you look at the The Constitution of the United States and to look at the 24th Amendment There will be an ascarus after the passage that lists the number of states that actively retroactively did ratify the amendment and so when you see North Carolina there and not in 1964 but on May the 3rd of 1989 1989 15 years after the rest of the country had put forth this Opportunity these students along with represent the Michelle representative Thompson and others in the in the North Carolina General Assembly that Ascarus stands for the work that they did under the leadership of H.M. Mickey Michelle and Sharon Thompson So I think it was a wonderful opportunity and the student leaders at that time She Tanya Robinson was the president of the student body in 1997 and She went on to go to school at Duke University served as the student body president at Duke University went on to To Harvard for law school She was able to work for Terry Sanford and also to work in South Africa and most recently until I guess the administration changed she worked in the White House and you see that she was the acting general counsel of President Obama's the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and now she works as the general counsel for one of the biggest allotting firms that we have in our nation But she graduated before the legislation could actually be Ratified and it fell to the next student body president whose name was James K Reeves Who went on to Appalachian State? played football there and Now serves as a senior executive with BB and T Bank in Winston Salem And there is a picture of JK He was these were two outstanding young people and it shows the kind of leadership that was developed When people ratted around them and were able to bring young people together There were other students involved, but these were the elected leaders of that process back in the late 80s So I'm sure they would join me in saluting these two fine representatives Thank you so much, Eddie. I love Eddie's history moments I'm going to read this proclamation the proclamation I've already read it once to represent a Michelle in the building named after him But let me tell you here's the favorite my favorite thing that happened that day We were waiting kind of in the green in the green room to go out on stage at the HM Michelle building at North Carolina Central the education building and we were talking to each other and he was telling stories And here's how one of his stories began. I Was standing in the White House with Thurgood Do you know anyone else in the world that can say I was standing in the White House with Thurgood and That's Mickey Michelle I will tell you one other story that he's told many times But I just think is one of the most moving stories that I whenever I think about Durham history. I think about this story You all if you know represent a Michelle You know that Martin Luther King was very close to him and his family and Martin Luther King loved his mother's cooking and he Dr. King was coming to Durham and had Talked to make you on the phone about coming to Durham to have his mother's cooking Until he was called a Memphis the garbage workers try and And I've always thought that that was such a poignant piece of our Durham history I'm gonna read this proclamation now Whereas HM Mickey Michelle is a native of Durham, North Carolina born in September 4th 1930 and whereas HM Mickey Michelle attended the esteemed Alice Freeman Palmer Institute and today in North Carolina under the tutelage of Charlotte Hawkins Brown in 1948 and whereas HM Mickey Michelle attended North Carolina Central University where we see both his Bachelor of Science in Biology in 1952 his doctor of jurisprudence in 1964 holds an honorary doctorate of laws and became a member of a mega sci-fi fraternity and Whereas HM Mickey Michelle served the United States Army Medical Corps from 1952 in 1954 in the Army reserves from 1954 until 1960 and whereas HM Mickey Michelle also served as assistant district attorney in Durham until his election in North Carolina General Assembly Whereas HM Mickey Michelle has served as a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives from 1973 to 77 from 1983 to date and Whereas HM Mickey Michelle in 1977 became the first black United States attorney in the south since reconstruction When he was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to head the office in the Middle District of North Carolina And whereas HM Mickey Michelle ran for Congress in 1982. I worked on that campaign. I won't tell you that Winning the most votes and initial bowing in the Democratic primary But due to the 50% threshold lost in the primary runoff his victory would have made him the first African-American elected to Congress since Reconstruction and whereas HM Mickey Michelle was re-elected to return to the House of Representatives in 1983 And whereas HM Mickey Michelle is a practicing attorney and partner Michelle and Michelle practicing attorneys established in 1970s the current vice president of Union Insurance and Realty Company has held this position since 1955 Whereas HM Mickey Michelle is a proud alumnus of North Carolina Central University having served as a member of the board of trustees board of directors for the NCCU Foundation a three-time national president the NCCU alumni founder association and in recognition for his contributions renamed the School of Education in his honor 2007 and whereas HM Mickey Michelle is highly regarded as an attorney and holds membership in the National Bar Association North Carolina Bar Association North Carolina Association of black lawyers and whereas HM Mickey Michelle has displayed to the performance of his duties in the state legislature the highest standards for personal ethics and dedication and Whereas HM Mickey Michelle is known far and wide as a fighter for justice a Champion of the poor and disenfranchised and a tireless advocate for civil rights voting rights criminal justice reform Tax fairness public education and the future of our historically black colleges and universities now therefore be at resolve the city of Durham does hereby Extend their sincere appreciation and thanks to HM Mickey Michelle for the service of the community They had further resolved that I Steven M. Shull mayor of the city of Durham, North Carolina do hereby proclaim the birthday of HM Mickey Michelle September 4th as HM Mickey Michelle day in the city of Durham to hear by a commend its observance Do all of the residents of this city in recognition and appreciation of the many significant accomplishments of this outstanding public servant? Witness my hand the corporate seal the city of Durham, North Carolina this 25th of death 25th day and this was of August 2018 and our entrance is to you HM Mickey Michelle. Thank you. So thank you so much, Steve I appreciate that Reverend Middleton you all have a saying that that Since I was supposedly retired. This has been happening to me all along And and you guys got a saying at the end of a funeral Undertaker come and close the lid and lower the coffin That's the way I feel Tonight because because this has happened, but I'm grateful to the citizens of Durham I've lived here all my life born, bred and raised and Really enjoyed the service That I've been able to give to Durham and the environs and many things I could say tonight I want to thank my wife who's been holding me up Telling me where I needed to go When I needed to be there And when it was time to go home My brother and his wife Della Are with me here and Sharon. I'm glad to see you Because you were one of the shining stars the Joe Manfredic named When he took over the general assembly a few years ago But there are a couple of guiding things that have followed me um Like I say I used to call Durham a second-rate mill town and that's what it was But I have seen it over these years over these 88 years that I have been here I've seen it grow into one of the most prosperous one of the most One of the best places on earth There's no other place I would rather be and in Durham And what Durham has the contributions Durham has made not only to the state to the nation Reserves recognition all over the world Two things that that that I have driven me particularly in Durham One is something I learned from Dante's Inferno. You had to get a little reading too Dante's Inferno there's a passage in that he goes like this to hardest places in hell A reserve for those who take a position of neutrality in the face of a moral crisis And if our politicians would do would would would would follow that Then I think that we would see better things happening You one other little thing that that that I Adopt as a creed goes something like this I do not wish to be a common man I want to be as uncommon as I can I seek opportunity not security I do not wish to be a kept citizen humbled and dull by having the state look after me I want to take the calculated risks to dream and to build to fail and to succeed I will never cower before any master or bend to any threat It is my heritage to stand erect proud Unafraid to think and act for myself To face the world boldly and say this I have done Thank you so much Thank you so much representative Michelle. Thank you Eddie. Thank you Sharon. It's great to see you all here Now we're going to move to our next ceremonial item Which is the neighbor spotlight and could I ask Tony Simpson of the north street neighborhood to please come forward and Your Tony your friends Tony And neighbors if they would like to join you Anybody else like to come up supporters friend very nice Bring my brother and sister Tony Simpson Tony stand over here so everybody can see there we go right there. You're good Is the recipient of the neighbor spotlight for the month of february 2019 The neighbor spotlight award Community members that have gone above and beyond and volunteering their time to serve the community This month Tony Simpson a resident of the north street neighborhood was nominated and selected because of the wonderful work He has done in this neighborhood including but not limited to Encouraging the involvement of other neighbors in the work of peacemaking and care Working to dismantle the barriers disability creates and trade them for places of belonging and friendship participating in community activities such as the neighborhood garden weekly bingo and community meals Congratulations, mr. Simpson on being the february neighbor spotlight for the city of durham And thank you for all the work you do to improve our durham community We are all so impressed and so proud to know you and to have you be the durham neighbor spotlight For this month I say The greatest and the neighborhood is doing very fantastic very well Fantastic to win the award and I am about to Know about it and I am very pleased at the neighborhood award because of me um, it's a peacetime I accept it and also I've been working on real estate knowing about it and uh Doing a radio station His name is Dave Compton And lee kindham. He's been on On channel two news and a great friend and I would like to be on a ready. I mean be a radio disc jockey And the people are the greatest so far and I can handle it. Well And I got a brother Ron and jerry jerry's up and caught a Colorado and it's freezing cold up there 19 degrees. It's snowing Don't even think about snow But I'm going to also say I work with reality and the gardens And the gardens are very good I work with katie katie at the farm and we have a farm at the corner house and also reality farms and I like to say this The gardens are doing very well and my mother She passed away And and wanted to know and rid her and ron I wanted them to know that I love them very so much since I went to see ron many years ago in uh summerfield And he's getting ready to move in the house Saturday right ron He's shaking his head. Yes And I'm saying thank y'all very much. Thank you And I I will say that if if you would like a wonderful lunch sometime go to reality ministries Where tony is a cook and a friend No, uh, and uh, I recommend it. I've spent a wonderful lunch there not long ago and I recommend it to all of you It's an amazing. It's an amazing place And now our third, uh, what a great night at derm city council. Gosh Um, I'm now going to ask uh, mayor pro tem jillian johnson if she will join me Uh to uh issue the black history month proclamation And uh, is mr. Andre van here dr. Andre van Here he is. Okay, great Good evening everyone I'll be uh reading this proclamation and then presenting it to our distinguished local historian mr. Andre van Whereas in 1976 black history month was formally adopted to honor and affirm the importance of black history throughout our american experience And whereas the history of people of african heritage goes back thousands of years and includes some of the greatest most advanced and innovative societies in the history of human existence And whereas african americans have played a significant role in the history of derm north carolina from the early days of the pioneers to our present day leaders In such industries as aerospace finance government and international trade education and science And whereas black history month is a time for all americans to recognize the courage and tenacity of these hardworking americans Who blaze trails for themselves and their children despite facing daunting challenges and indignities And whereas during black history month all americans are encouraged to reflect on the rich history and teachings of black americans And bear witness to the progress beauty and achievements. They have made throughout our region Now therefore I steven m shul mayor of the city of derm north carolina do hereby proclaim february 2019 as black history month In derm and hereby urge all citizens to take special note of this observance Thankful all we for those who came before us Let us be thankful to dr. Cottagey witson and others in 1915 who have helped to enliven our lives about the experiences of african americans And here in derm he had a little help. Yeah, dr. Helingy edmonds for those that may remember her Yeah, dr. John ho franklin for those who should know him and of course who had dr. Early thought those who have Really helped to enrich our lives So I would like to say on behalf of those of us in the history collective We say thank you for this great honor And I will close with the words of great dr. W. B. Du Bois who was a great visitor to this city early on He remarked and said these great words, which I think has such resonance that all should remember He said that the rich depth of the black experience offers the world new points of view. That's what black history is We thank you so much And if I can say one last thing, I hope you don't think i'm rude But we have a meeting going on with the derm honors commission down the hallway So let me just take this time as a member of that commission to remind you that you still have time to nominate someone for the derm honors Okay, so keep that in mind. Thank you so much. Thank you Dr. Van is a member of our sesquicentennial honors commission where we are For our 150th birthday of the city of derm We will be They will be recommending folks that we can honor and how we should honor those people from our history They're so appreciative of his service I'm now going to move to announcements by the council and I know that Council member austin has an announcement and i'm going to begin with her. Thank you. Mr. Mayor Good evening everyone. I want to briefly address The events at immaculata catholic school from a little over a week ago The rescission of my invitation to speak at the school because of who I love The cancellation of the african-american history month celebration were shocking unfortunate And the result of what I believe to be a hasty and bigoted decision that does not reflect the values of many in this community It was most unfortunate to me because I remember being one of only a few black students And indeed black people at immaculata during my years as a student And the thought of current black students preparing for a celebration of their history and heritage The thought of the growing anticipation and joy about sharing who they are with their school community And the thought of all of that being taken away from them Broke my heart and I know it broke yours too For all of our students And especially the students at immaculata You deserve better than that And over the past week, it's been the students their parents and many of you in this room who have made that point abundantly clear To that end, I want to thank you and thank everyone here for your words and notes of support And I especially want to pass that support on to all the wonderful students at immaculata And I want to applaud them for their commitment to each other And for the lessons they are teaching all of us about resilience overcoming bigotry And the power that we have to create change when we stand up for each other In the remarks that I had planned for february 8th, I had not planned to talk about my family But I do now I have an amazing wife and daughter We trust each other We laugh together We disagree We watch a lot of doc McStuffins And we help each other experience happiness We also continue to work towards our full recognition as individuals and as a family For full and equal rights, for LGBTQ people And for the space for those who need to fight for something else I love my family and I love yours too no matter what they look like Finally to the students at immaculata, I look forward to joining you soon To talk about the contributions of african-americans and particularly african-american women to our history African-american history is vital to your education It's vital for many reasons Not the least of which being that the celebration of those who are different Of those who have been outnumbered Of those who have overcome discrimination and prejudice Help us and they help you to not let the same barriers stand in our way in the future Thank you and thank you, mr. Mayor. Thank you very much Thank you so much councilmember for those beautiful words Does any other councilmember have an announcement that dramatic? Are there any other announcements by members of the council? Mayor can I make a quick comment? City manager bonfield, I apologize mr. Mayor, and I know we're very pleased that We have such a large audience here with us this evening But also we also have a compliance issue with the fire code the fire marshals are at the door We do need to be sure and keep the doorways and the passageways clear There are chairs and micro our speakers and everything out in the lobby for those people who would prefer To to sit out there I would ask if any staff members who are not otherwise going to be recognized during the mayor's remarks who are here for some Agenda items later in the evening if you wouldn't mind Stepping outside to be sure that the residents that are here Who are still in the chambers have a place to sit out appreciate that as well. Thank you Thank you, mr. Manager, and thank you again councilmember aweson Really appreciate that good evening It's great to see everyone tonight. I want to remind you that After my remarks, which will not be brief there will be a brief video And so I hope you will stick around for that and then after that we will be taking a five minute break so that We can get prepared for the next part of our meeting I want to welcome all of you here tonight We're here with us in this room and also to those watching on Durham the Durham television network To this meeting of the Durham city council And to this state of the city address One year ago as the new mayor of this great city, I said in these chambers that our community had come together To forge a common vision of our future And this is that vision We the people of Durham Envision a prosperous innovative green and welcoming city That thrives on diversity and difference A city that puts racial and economic justice at the top of our civic agenda That defends the vulnerable among us the cherishes robust respectful debate on difficult questions That embraces non-violence That embodies the belief that all residents must have an opportunity to share In our newfound prosperity A city that serves as a progressive beacon For the south and for the nation I believe in that vision with all my heart And I want to talk about it tonight And what I think it means But first I want to tell you a story It starts in 1889 And a little shtetl in lithuania Then part of the russian empire The little town was called lingkaba And there lived alias In bluma shul Alias was a yeshiva bacher A student of the rabbinical teachings In the russian empire Jews were barred from owning land or farming They were barred from the professions and from the universities They were confined to living in a certain part of the russian empire called the pale of settlement They were the victims of frequent pogroms Violent riots that often happened just after easter Alias shul, my great grandfather Fled this anti-semitic religious persecution to come to this country Crossing the atlantic alone And arriving in baltimore where he was met by a representative of the hebrew immigrant aid society Who told him that a man with his skills as a shukhet A kosher a kosher butcher Was needed to cut meat for the small jewish community in lynchburg virginia So alias moved to lynchburg and you can imagine how small that jewish community was And six months later he sent for bluma his wife and their children to join him Bluma's baby boy was my grandfather abraham And i imagine her Joining a group of travelers Some might call it a caravan Traveling overland to the port of rega With her children she boarded a ship there and sailed for the new world To join her husband where they built a life together on the edge of the blue ridge mountains Alias and bluma were members of a despised minority fleeing persecution They were refugees They were undocumented immigrants with few skills And no english at all They dreamed of a better life and they set out against all odds to find it here on these welcoming shores This could not happen today Endurham the flow of refugees is slow to a trickle due to the policies of the trump administration An immigrant fleeing persecution arriving unannounced in baltimore harbour Would be turned away without a second thought Last year at this time i recognized the families and supporters of two men in sanctuary in durham churches This year one of those men is no longer with us here in durham Samuel oliver bruno a valued member of our community was lured out of sanctuary to sign immigration papers Then snatched up violently by ice and deported What has happened To our country That we deport hard-working people who have lived among us as our friends and neighbors That we force of forcefully divide families And that even people with documents are driven underground in fear Last week i organized seven north carolina mayors to sign a letter protesting the latest ice raids to sweep our cities But for our refugee and immigrant friends living in durham It isn't the protest that i want to emphasize today as important as that is What i want to emphasize today Is the love In durham we do not build walls between nations or peoples In durham no construyamos Moros entre naciones o pueblos In durham te queremos si estas documentado o no documentado Queremos que estés a salvo aquí Queremos que vivas libre del miedo Te damos la bienvenida a durham Con los brazos abiertos Y corazones abiertos Whatever message you're getting from washington dc In durham i want you to feel the welcoming embrace of a big hearted city I want to congratulate our new sheriff clarence burkin for ending ice detainers in the durham jail In addition i'm so pleased that our police chief We have a wonderful police chief cj davis has greatly expanded the city's u visa certifications over the past year These certifications are granted to undocumented people who help our police solve crimes It is vitally important for our community's safety That undocumented immigrants who have observed crimes Be able to trust the police enough to come forward out of the shadows to report these crimes U visas are designed to build that trust In 2018 our police department certified 144 people to be eligible to attain u visas And stay in this country and reward for their contribution to our common safety Far more than we have ever certified before Chief davis began the program with a four-year look back But tonight with her permission I am announcing that any undocumented person who has contributed to solving crime in durham Since 2011 will be eligible for consideration for use u visa certification Thank you chief davis for this policy change This change that is both humane and a good way to fight violent crime in durham Thank you to councilmember habiera cabillero and to public affairs director beverly thompson For your work on the city's language access plan so that we can make sure everyone can take advantage of all city government has to offer All of you assembled here today revel as I do in durham's diversity So here's the question As new people pour into durham. How are we going to make the city? We love a city for all Last year in my state of the city address I laid out a broad action for agenda for action And i'm proud of the progress we're making on many fronts But after our report to you now on a few of those things I will be asking you tonight our entire community to come together to take a bold step to secure our common future First though I want to report to you on some of that agenda and I will begin by reporting to you about crime and policing When it comes to policing we have to do two things at once We have to effectively fight violent crime at the same time that we win the trust of communities These two goals are deeply intertwined. We can't do one without the other We know that every gunshot wound rips a hole not only in the victim But also in a family in a neighborhood and in our community I read the police watch reports every day And every day brings with it a violent crime We cannot let that stand Of all the depredations visited upon us By our state legislature The most damaging In my mind is their prohibition of any common sense gun control So this means we have to use every other resource at our command Let me tell you how under the leadership of chief davis We are changing the culture and practice of policing and Durham to win the trust of our community It starts with training All of our officers now receive annual training in racial equity domestic violence and de-escalation 45 percent of our patrol officers have received advanced crisis intervention training And beginning in the fall of 2019 every new officer who enters the department will receive this advanced crisis intervention training To support this crisis intervention work the police department Alice's staff clinical psychologist Who has been instrumental in responding quickly to the many people with mental health crises that our officers encounter daily In many other ways we are undergoing a dramatic shift in the way Durham is engaging in police work Traffic stops in recent years have dropped by two-thirds Searches of cars have been cut in half As have charges for drug violations Our new misdemeanor diversion court has kept hundreds of first-time offenders Free of a criminal record These reforms are today making a positive difference in the lives of thousands of people, especially people of color But here's an important question Are these reforms Good for some people, but just leading to more crime We'll listen to the numbers and you can judge for yourself Crime in Durham is on an 18 year downward trend And in particular this last year 2018 saw a striking declining declining crime Every time someone is shot with a gun it is a tragedy And in 2017 244 people in Durham were shot In 2018 this fell by 16 percent to 204 people This is a remarkable, remarkable decline and it affects lives In all violent crimes in which a gun was used including robberies and aggravated assaults declined by 20 percent In one year in 2018 Property crime continued to decline To its lowest level in 23 years Now frankly it's highly unlikely that we can repeat these amazing results in 2019 But the trend in Durham is clear Trust is up and crime is down So tonight I want to recognize some of the police officers who do this critical work And first I want to introduce officer Michael Suposnick sir could you please stand Welcome In December of 2018 officer Suposnick arrived on the scene of a traffic accident at the corner of Austin avenue at Holloway street When officer Suposnick arrived on the scene it was evident that the driver of one of the vehicles sustained life-threatening injuries Was not conscious or breathing Officer Suposnick immediately jumped into action removing the victim from the vehicle and beginning chest compressions Right in the middle of a hectic scene with bystanders and vehicles all around Officer Suposnick for your decisive actions to save this man's life, sir. We salute you Could officer John Wagstaff please stand Officer Wagstaff has distinguished himself by continuously demonstrating his commitment to the police department's crisis intervention mission Many times officer Wagstaff goes above and beyond the call of duty to get those in mental health crisis The help that they need For setting the bar sir for our police department's crisis intervention intervention work Officer Wagstaff we salute you And finally with captain Marianne Bond sergeant Jessica Butler corporal Kimberly de la Cruz Officer Charles Strickland and officer DeWitt Graham, please stand Welcome These officers were among 18 Durham police personnel who spent a week in Wilmington Following hurricane Florence assisting the Wilmington community in the wake of that natural disaster That's the Durham way. Thank you for serving the people of the coast and for representing the people of Durham so well Whatever we do About gun violence and crime We're not going to solve it without getting it root causes We will finally solve this problem for real Only when everybody has good medical care Warm dry affordable home to sleep in every night and a good school a good school The 33 000 students in Durham public schools today are our city's future And we need schools where every child can thrive My two sons flourished in Durham public schools In my city council colleagues jillian johnson charlie reese and javier a cabillero have children attending our public school today So I believe that one of the most important things Durham residents can do for our shared future Is send our children to school together in Durham public schools Last year during my state of the city address. I urge young parents to send their kids to Durham public schools This year with the support of the newly formed Durham public schools foundation I'm making an offer to help and all of the school board members county commissioners and city council members with kids in Durham public schools have volunteered to help as well And here's our offer If you can get together a group of five or more parents We're trying to decide where to send your children to school in Durham I or another one of these elected officials with kids in our schools Will visit your home for a conversation about Durham public schools and tell you about where Durham public schools can offer to your family If you want to schedule a meeting with us, we'd love to do it Visit bothcityschools.org and the Durham public schools foundation will hook you up I look forward to visiting with you if you are interested in thinking about Durham public schools for your kids Send your kids to Durham public schools and fight for them fight for them On many nights when I leave city hall in the evenings, which is often at 6 30 or 7 I see groups of people meeting in our conference rooms the dedicated members of our volunteer commissions And lately too the committed participants in our big sprawling initiative in grassroots democracy called participatory budgeting So here's my prediction about participatory budgeting When this year is over We will be able to say that Durham has created the best initiative and direct democracy of any city in this nation The council has set aside 2.4 million dollars to be spent on projects chosen directly by our residents 550 ideas were submitted the majority by people of color And now city staff and 100 volunteer budget delegates are vetting these projects and fleshing out some 50 fully 50 full project proposals with detailed descriptions and budgets to put before the voters Some of the projects still in the running include bus shelters crosswalks tiny homes and park improvements And the budget delegates are prioritizing these projects which benefit our underserved communities Beginning on may 1st It's coming soon and running that entire month I urge all residents and students who are at least 13 years old to vote for the projects you want to see funded Voting will take place online and also at in-person voting sites across the city Participatory budgeting steering committee has set an ambitious target of nearly 10 000 voters And I hope we can exceed that number With with voting sites established with dedicated city staff involved in outreach with budget delegates committed to turning out votes I know we can go do grassroots democracy Better than any place else in america And I especially want to thank our mayor pro tem jillian johnson for her persistent advocacy of participatory budgeting And for her leadership of the process as well as for our fabulous budget director bertha johnson For embracing participatory budgeting and driving us to do it well This is way outside of the usual scope of work for a budget director, isn't it bertha? While I predict that our work and participatory Budgeting and direct democracy will lead the nation I want to turn out to an area where we are already doing The best work of anybody Where people are looking to emulate the incredible work that we in Durham are doing and that is the work Driven by our city's innovation team our high team Making the city we love a city for all means making the city We love a city of second chances I know about this because it has been the life's work of my wife leo rubert So we talk it over around the kitchen table every night for about the last 45 years They've been awesome years We all have a responsibility in this work If you are an employer We need you to ban the box and be willing to hire more people who have criminal backgrounds If you're a landlord we need you to be willing to rent to people with criminal backgrounds If our neighbors cannot find work and they cannot find housing How can we ever become the city we want to be? I'm proud tonight to share three examples the way our city government is taking seriously Our own responsibility to make Durham the city of second chances The first is the Durham Expunction and Restoration Program referred to commonly as deer The city invested 250,000 this summer to create deer which aims to remove barriers to employment and housing for individuals who are just as involved Having a criminal record or a suspended driver's license makes it much harder for residents to find work and housing and to share in Durham's prosperity These issues affect tens of thousands of Durham's residents specifically Over 50,000 Of our neighbors have a suspended driver's license There are only 300,000 people that live in Durham 50,000 have a suspended driver's license most for minor traffic violations not involving dwi's Over 100,000 of our neighbors have a charge or conviction on their criminal record Eligible for expungement. It still shows up on background checks every time they apply for a job Or go to rent an apartment And to understand why this is a racial justice matter. Let me tell you this statistic 80 of these people are people of color Prior to the creation of deer our community was able to provide free legal assistance for driver's license restoration or expungements Only to several hundred residents a year As a result thousands who live in low-income households mostly black and latinx neighbors Surfer work suffer worse consequences for longer periods of time than others who are charged with similar offenses How much longer? There are over 11,000 people in Durham with a suspended driver's license Due to unpaid traffic tickets that are on average 16 years old That is not and cannot be justice We must do more to ensure that the legal relief provider under law is available to all of our residents Not just those who can afford a private attorney The deer program is doing just that As a result of deer any person in Durham can visit the courthouse Monday through friday and meet with a free attorney to expunge criminal charges or to restore their driving privileges As a result of deer and this is truly worthy of our celebration. I'm so proud to say this Over 50,000 old traffic charges dating back to the 1980s But still leading to driver's license suspensions have been dismissed 50,000 charges dismissed for 35,000 people. I am so proud of that work In addition to getting these charges dismissed the program is working now To waive fines and fees for 15,000 old traffic tickets that are on average 16 years old This is transformative change for thousands of our neighbors in the coming months The program will work to achieve the same kind of success with expungement as we are seeing as we are seeing with driver's license restoration Let me say that our deer network That our deer work is also entirely consistent with holding people accountable for their actions Everyone who is benefiting from the deer program has paid a very steep price They have lost their license for at least two years or they have served time in prison To be a city of second chances There must be an expiration date on what it means to hold someone And finally as related to deer, let me say this is a story about how we are better together The early and amazing success of this program is only possible because of a dynamic collaboration It's only possible and please rise if you are here when I call your name Because of our district attorney's office including our former da roger eckles Current da satana d. Berry in ada dale moral Our judges including judge amanda marris josephine car davis shamica ronhardt and pat evans Our public defender's office Our clerk's office including our clerks of court archie smith ashley croon and melissa hopkins Daniel bows from the nc justice center Gina ryman from legal aid of north carolina Our dear team of attorneys and staff are netta herring Laura holland joseph lasier henry reval palacio And lauren robbins representing the city attorney's office the north carolina justice center in legal aid Whitley carpenter deer advisory board The equal access to justice commission and the north carolina pro bono resource center north carolina and and north carolina central and duke law schools Joseph mackentire and the durham bar association the george eight h white bar the criminal justice resource center alex williams and members of all of us are none dan ririk and students from code for the dream volunteers from code for durham and our city's innovation team erin perish Chuck manning darin johnson Sharon delaney and the brilliant driven leader of the deer program has brought all this together i team director ryan smith If you want to know what better together looks like look no further Thank you all so much another way the city is demonstrating that we are a city of second chances Is how we are welcoming people back home who have served time in our prisons These people will either be successful reintegrating Into our city or we will all be suffering So we need to help them do it 700 people come back home to durham every year from prison And as part of a new program we are piloting i have started writing letters to each of our residents returning from prison prison to welcome them back home Reentry is hard i share but you are not alone The letters are just one part of a larger program called welcome home developed by our city's innovation team in partnership with durham's local reentry council In november the program began welcoming welcoming back residents returning home from three nearby prisons The city provides returning residents with care packages that include food Clothing bus passes and other basic necessities We have also hired two peer support specialists Who have lived experience of reentry and who work one on one with our returning residents to provide a trusted source of support And mentorship and to help connect them more quickly to resources at our local reentry council We are starting to receive commitments from faith communities and other organizations to provide an ongoing supply of welcome home care packages So if you are a member of an organization interested in welcoming back our returning residents by providing welcome home care packages We need you to be in touch with our i team Tonight it is my pleasure to recognize reginald mumford. Is mr. Mumford here please stand The very first participant in our welcome home program mr. Melton mr Welcome home, sir In another effort to give people a second chance This april the city will pilot a new transitional jobs program These jobs are specifically intended for returning residents And are designed to build job readiness while providing employment and wraparound services This program will try to provide a bridge to sustainable employment Our city will work to serve as a model for other employers to follow And after our first cohort completes the transitional jobs program in september We will be looking to private employers to step up and give these job ready candidates a chance To make the city we love a city for all We must become a city that embraces second chances I ask all of you to consider what you can do to help us advance this important work Advancing the innovations team work has required resources and I want to give a shout out here To the bloomberg foundation an incredible partner, which is funded our i team It's funded the mayor's transportation challenge It's also funded a training cohort for new mayors to which I was invited this last year And I will tell you a secret there were 40 new mayors in this cohort and I was the oldest While I'm on the subject of criminal justice reform I want to talk a moment about the money bail system We know that money bail creates a two-tiered system of justice In which those with money are able to purchase their freedom While those without money stay in jail often for months awaiting their day in court Durham's newly sworn district attorney satana d. Berry has recommended an ambitious new pre-trial release policy to senior resident Superior court judge Orlando Hudson to combat this inequitable system The policy takes wealth out of the equation and focuses on what truly matters in deciding who goes home And who is jailed pending trial danger to our community and risk of flight I wholeheartedly support this measure and I hope you all will as well What I have described with the city's police reforms our participatory budgeting And our i-team work is a culture of innovation in Durham city government Tom bonfield has just passed his 10th anniversary as our city manager Everyone knows he has done a spectacular job managing our city's finances and services What you might know about not know about tom is that he encourages Nourishes and protects innovation and that is why we have the culture that we do Tom I know that our activist city council can at times be a challenge for you and your staff And I really appreciate the way you offer the stability and the reality checks that we all need I want you to know that you continue to have my full confidence my admiration and my daily gratitude The city managers aside We all know that it's the city's frontline workers who make our city go and tonight I want to recognize three of our employees for their response to the 12 inch snowstorm We had this past week Many of our employees did yeoman's work during the stow and if you listen to city council meetings ever I'm not recommending it You'll know that we our city manager regularly reports on that terrific work But tonight I want to recognize daniel austin Nate marbury and michael norwood. Will you all please stand? Thank you Keep standing Thank you Keeping city hall functioning is vital to our residents and twice during december whether threatened our ability to do that Nate marbury michael and michael norwood are both electricians in the general service department and daniel austin is a newly Promoted facilities division manager during the snow Mr. Marbury worked through the freezing night with duke energy assisting in the replacement of a damaged transformer Located in a vault beneath city hall Mr. Marbury I'm sorry several weeks later when the transformer failed at the sit at city hall Mr. Marbury, mr. Norwood and mr. Austin worked with a borrow generator to keep city hall functioning until the transformer could be replaced and Power restored Thank you for your resourcefulness on those cold cold nights. Thank you for your dedication to our city I would also like to ask acting fire captain jerald wittington driver antwan burton and firefighter hwan verdean to stand This past october engine company six was the first unit to the fatal fire that occurred in the oak creek village community captain wittington Mr. Burton and mr. Verdean arrived to find a roaring blaze where many people were trapped in a two-story apartment They these firefighters put their lives on the line to protect others as they fought the fire But that's not all The firefighters understood the needs and vulnerabilities of the people of oak creek village A few days after the fire they returned and met with community leaders They truly took their outreach to the next level with a community safety event Smoke alarm canvassing and continued homes continued home safety visits Their efforts provided much needed healing and they continue in oak creek village to this day We applaud you sirs The city council itself only only directly employs three people the city manager the city clerk and the city attorney Diana schreiber has been our city clerk for about a year now and I want to thank you diana for a job very well done I appreciate your leadership and responsiveness so much and you have my full faith and confidence As many of you know our city attorney patrick baker Is leaving us in a few short weeks to become the city attorney in charlotte We'll have a lot more to say about patrick not all of it good in his final city council meeting in durham But let me say tonight what a great privilege it has been for me patrick To work with you for the past seven years You have rendered truly extraordinary service to our city government and to our community Both as our city manager And as our city attorney, we wish you well. We will miss you and we thank you Now I want to talk about the future of our city And the opportunity to shape that future Rather than simply to submit to it The issue that I hear about every day In somewhere another the issue that is on everyone's mind Is the issue of gentrification and housing affordability Sometimes I hear the statistics but much more often I hear the stories People tell me all the time they can't afford their rent and have to leave their neighborhood and move farther away from downtown Young couples with middle-class jobs can't afford to buy a home in durham Our homeless advocates and rapid rehousing partners tell me they can't find places for their clients to live anymore How can the city we love be a city for all? If many low-income people Predominantly people of color can no longer afford to live in the neighborhoods they have lived in for years Even decades So as the bull city turns 150 this year We face two possible futures And we get to choose between them One future Is to continue doing all the good work on affordable housing that we're doing now To know that it is not even remotely enough And to watch as our downtown neighborhoods slip away becoming even less affordable and richer and whiter But there's another possible future That I want to show you tonight And that's the future where we choose to fight back I'm going to tell you about the plan. I'm going to tell you how we can pay for it It's going to take a lot of money And a lot of years But I believe this future is worth fighting for and I'm here tonight to ask you to fight for it with me We're already doing a lot of affordable housing work City funds are supporting the Durham Housing Authority as it renovates 336 units at Daymark Court and Marion Road to keep them permanently affordable City funds are supporting DHIC and self-help in their joint venture to build 82 affordable units adjacent to Durham station We're supporting the renovation and permanent affordability of the first phase of 54 units owned by the Durham community land trustees in east Durham We are funding CASA to keep the 44 units at Maplewood Underwood Apartments permanently affordable We're funding habitat We're putting significant city dollars into home repairs which are critical to helping long-term low-income homeowners stay in their homes I applaud our county commissioners for stepping up to fund affordable housing on two of their downtown parking lots There's lots more I could tell you But here's the main thing I want to tell you all that good work It's not nearly enough If we do the affordable housing work we are doing now Funded at the same level Good as it is We will not significantly alter the future of downtown as the province of upper middle class white people While people of color are pushed to the margins Farther and farther from good jobs and the public transit to get them to those jobs Tonight I'm going to outline a transformational plan And I'm thrilled to announce that the first step in that plan is underway Last february In my state of the city addressed I recognized dr. Fail wind Vice president of duke university for taking the lead on the formation of a Durham affordable housing loan fund This fund will allow our nonprofit affordable housing developers to move quickly to compete in the market When a property comes up for sale And it will allow the nonprofit to hold the property for up to five years At a very low interest rate while it arranges a subsidy to create permanent affordability Dr. Wynn My good friend and a great friend to Durham Has to wait tragically before this work could be finished But in his honor others led by our own Karen Lotto And tucker Bartlett of the self-help credit union picked up the effort And would not let it die Tonight i'm so happy to announce in honor of dr. Fail wind The launch this spring of the Durham affordable housing loan fund with initial funding of 10 million dollars On top On top of the two million dollars in city funds in this fund The north carolina community development initiative is lending two million dollars Duke university is lending three million dollars And our final investor is sun trust bank, which is lending three million dollars at a very low rate of interest to the fund So can i ask the following people to please stand Karen Lotto and tucker Bartlett Tara Kenshin executive director of the initiative has been so supportive of this effort Stelfony Williams the new vice president for Durham affairs at Duke was kept and strengthened all of dr. Wynn's affordable housing commitments And chris bell and autries camp along of sun trust Which is setting a crucial example for other banks as we seek to expand the fund. We are so grateful to all of you I might add that autries camp along is married to our solid waste director donald long It's good to have at least one power couple in the house tonight Over the last year Our community development department Under direction of reginald johnson has been putting together a comprehensive five year affordable housing plan for our city They have done a fabulous job I want to fund the plan the whole plan If we fund the whole plan here is what we can do in five years We can develop 30 acres of Durham housing authority property right in the core of downtown At jj henderson oldham towers liberty street the housing authority office itself That property on main street and forest hills heights. We can replace all 387 of the aging housing authority units for residents Who are most in need and we can keep them living downtown? We will make these properties mixed income of communities Ending the isolated poverty of these derma housing authority residents Currently these residents are bearing the double burden of poverty Not only are they poor, but everyone in their neighborhood is poor So they have no common resources to rely on We will change this We will fund the housing authority to build 863 new affordable units or their downtown properties Most of the units affordable to a family of four with an income of 48 thousand dollars or less Plus the housing authority will add 405 market rate units to create truly mixed income communities on their properties instead of a future Where we surrender downtown to the richest buyers We will create a multiracial downtown where people of limited means can live work and play We will also prevent homelessness and we will house our homeless Instead of a future of more and more homeless encampments We will build out our new coordinated entry system so that there's a central front door A homeless services and Durham that is low barrier and accessible seven days a week We will invest in diversion that helps people in moments of housing crisis tap into their own resources We will create a landlord incentive program to encourage landlords to house homeless people and people with section 8 vouchers We will expand street outreach so that single adults sleeping outside and get the resources they need We will expand our rapid rehousing funding and we will increase our supply of permanent supportive housing To house our chronically homeless homeless people with disabilities We will grow the Durham affordable housing loan fund to at least 15 million dollars For those nonprofits who make use of the Durham affordable housing loan fund to purchase property to keep it permanently affordable Our five-year housing plan includes funds to take out those loans once a plan for permanent affordability is in place We will make gap financing available to developers Including the housing authority who make use of the four percent tax credit to build affordable units We will double our support for small scale multifamily projects either preservation or new projects by our local nonprofits We will increase supply for affordable single family and duplex rental projects and target neighborhoods Including neighborhoods in our key bus corridors our light rail corridor and along the belt line and other downtown trails We will strengthen the home repair program to keep more long-term low-income homeowners in their homes We will build partnerships to reach out to these homeowners to significantly increase the number of people Availing themselves of the state property tax credits and to educate them about the dangers of predatory acquisition and the alternatives that they can pursue We will create a citywide down payment assistance program offering $20,000 second mortgages to help low-income people purchase a home We will continue our new funding of attorneys working with legal aid to represent renters in eviction cases So we can reduce our community's too high eviction rates and to keep people in their homes We will work with local lenders to make loans available to families who want to develop their own accessory dwelling units Adding it all up here is what we will do in the next five years We will support the creation of more than 1,800 new affordable rental units with a great majority of them downtown We will support the preservation Of more than 800 affordable affordable rental units most of them downtown We will move at least 1700 homeless households into permanent housing We will create at least 190 home ownership opportunities Including construction of 100 new units and down payment assistance to 90 low-income households We will stabilize more than 1,800 low-income renters in their homes Through eviction diversion, emergency rental assistance, property tax assistance and repairs We will act on a scale that few if any other cities in this country are doing Certainly no other city of our size But this isn't just about scale It's also about where the housing will be We will create an inclusive downtown in Durham A racially diverse downtown The impossible dream for growing american cities We will choose the future that is worthy of a city that wants to live up its lived up to its claim To be a progressive beacon for the south and the nation What will it what will it cost for us to become the city we want to become In addition to our current local and federal funds the cost of this work will be 95 million dollars over the next five years So i will be asking my city council colleagues to place on our november election ballot a referendum on a 95 million dollar bond issue The fund affordable housing and change the future of our city forever 95 million dollars is a big number There's an even bigger number that's important here This city this city spending will leverage at least $445 million dollars in spending by other public and private entities on this affordable housing work And it will create thousands of jobs And what will this cost you the taxpayer? We can fund this bond for about two and a quarter cents on the tax rate and here is what that means in plain english If you own a 250 thousand dollar house in Durham You will be paying 56 dollars more per year To help provide this housing for others and to help create the just community that we all want It's a big lift. I know that But it's time one city in the nation did it and I know that city can be Durham Over the next month I'll be putting together an advisory committee to help explain this plan to our community To reach out to every constituency between now and november We have to decide if we as a community really want to do something about gentrification and affordable housing Or if we're just going to complain about it Are we going to talk about racial equity a lot but ignore it when it comes to the biggest equity challenge that faces our city The stars are aligned We have a great plan We have the nonprofits that can do the work We have an anthony scott a terrific director of the Durham housing authority Folks, there's really only one question that's in front of us Do we have the moral commitment and do we have the political People ask me all the time what you can do for Durham They ask me that all the time on the street. This is what you can do You can join the campaign for this bond referendum for Durham's inclusive future Look out for ways you can join and sign up Before leaving the subject of housing I want to say that the subsidized affordable housing plan I have focused I've been discussing Needs to be supplemented by thoughtful land use planning if we are to do everything we can to create affordability In that regard I feel called upon tonight to make a few remarks about our expanding housing choices program Our planning department zoning proposal that is making its way through the neighborhood forums and soon to the planning commission into our governing bodies I'll always reserve my final judgment on any public hearing matter like this Until I've listened to all voices And until the hearing is over But at this point I haven't even seen And at this point I haven't even seen the proposed text changes But I do have a perspective a general perspective on this that I want to share with you tonight Over 2,000 new housing units are needed each year in Durham just to keep up with our population growth Population growth and we have missed this number in six of the last 10 years This lack of housing production is made worse by the fact that the average person that moves to Durham Has $10,000 more in annual income than the average person that lives here now So newcomers are better able to compete for scarce housing resources That has I'm sorry scarce housing opportunities And that is the major cause of cause of displacement of longtime Durham residents City zoning rules are also part of the problem For example, approximately 40 of our land is zoned exclusively for single family housing Which can be very costly and is increasingly inaccessible to our low and middle income residents These restricted housing opportunities didn't just arrive out of thin air They are a legacy. They are a legacy of redlining and urban renewal that have contributed significantly to the racial wealth gap in Durham and across the country The planning department's expanding housing choices initiative is one important way to address that legacy of racism We need more affordable duplex Small house and accessory dwelling unit opportunities Particularly in the neighborhoods that have seen huge run-ups in housing prices such as East Durham Waltown and Southside if we fail to provide these opportunities in the near downtown neighborhoods close to jobs Transit and all the great things Durham has to offer We will guarantee rising prices and more displacement in a historically stable lower and middle income neighborhoods These new housing opportunities can and must ensure that the character and quality of our neighborhoods is protected We have all seen the demand for housing in our near downtown neighborhoods Lead to tear downs and conversions of affordable housing to unaffordable housing Expanding choices initiative cannot stop this phenomenon But we've but we have to do something to address the supply demand aspect of our housing problem As my counsel colleague charlie reese wrote recently displacement isn't inevitable But newcomers to Durham are we have to make room for them somehow and that's what this initiative does We also need a light rail system We need it so that the thousands of people living in the mixed income neighborhoods We will be building in a near downtown will have affordable transportation to the good jobs throughout our region We needed to mitigate the highway gridlock that threatens our quality of life And we need it because it's a single most important thing we can do to fight climate change Along with affordable housing the light rail is the issue i've worked on the most since i was elected mayor Especially in the last several months The light rail 18 miles 19 stations will be the first crucial backbone of our regional transit system To be followed by a commuter rail line from Durham to Raleigh The federal government is providing half Of the 2.5 billion dollar cost of the light rail and that money is teed up and waiting for us to just meet our local deadlines Durham and orange county voters you all overwhelmingly approved the sales tax to fund the transit system And the state of north carolina is providing 190 million dollars Some more local funding will be necessary, but that's not the biggest challenge February 28th Just 10 days from today is the deadline for go triangle to sign cooperative agreements with both the north carolina railroad And norfolk southern as well as duke university Although intense negotiations are ongoing neither the railroads nor duke has signed yet as this critical deadline approaches If we don't have these agreements by february 28th A 15 year effort to fund and build the light rail So close now that we can taste it will die a sudden death I've urged president price of duke and the railroad executives to sign the cooperative agreements So that we move meet we can move forward and solve any lingering concerns together And I call upon them again tonight to do so the future of our region depends on There's so much more. I want to tell you tonight I want to brag about our grant our neighborhood improvement services department sought and won to protect families from lead paint in 180 older houses About the mayor's challenge that we won from bloomberg to use behavioral economics To persuade commuters to come downtown and ways other than their car About parks and recs my Durham after school program for teens I want to brag about our solid waste departments organics recycling Which will eventually have us creating compost right here in Durham from our yard waste our food waste And bio solids for our wastewater treatment plant I want to tell you how excited I am about the shared prosperity plan that our economic and workforce development office is building Including plans for a debt and equity fund to provide badly needed working capital to minority businesses I want to tell you about the race equity work that our city staff will be doing in partnership with neighborhoods along the belt line trail A wonderful new asset for our city I want to tell you about trees Durham the new nonprofit that is driving us to meet our goals For a replenished and equitably distributed tree canopy I want to tell you about the community led food justice work going on to ensure that no one in Durham goes hungry About our new racial equity task force About the terrific report of our committee on confederate monuments and memorials About the mayor's council on women and the even newer workers rights commission So much great work is going on in this in this city 150 years after its founding On april 13th We will hold the first big bash of our sesquicentennial year A family friendly event to which everyone is invited and I invite all of you to attend I'm very grateful to discover Durham the Durham history museum We're taking the lead on Durham 150 and i'm excited that this celebration will occur in true Durham fashion The plan is for a decentralized celebration between april and november when we hope that 150 groups will plan 150 different events Some of them will be sheer fun Some of them will take a hard look at the challenges of our first 150 years So we can learn from them as we move forward If your school or church or civic group wants to sign up to host an event Check out Durham 150.org where you can also find out how to apply for a mini grant to support your group's event One thing i'm waiting for with baited breath is the recommendations from our sesquicentennial honors commission About the people in our history we want to honor during this special year, which you heard from briefly dirt from from andre van We had a statue come down in Durham not long ago Who in our history do we want to honor instead? Here then is the state of our city in this our 150th year We're a welcoming city a diverse city and a prosperous city Determined that our prosperity be shared A city challenged to truly live up to our creed To our belief that we can be a progressive beacon for the south and the nation When I think about the world we want to build I'm drawn to a poem written during the women's suffrage movement Then turned into a song sung by the immigrant women who led the great laurence textile strike of 1912 Goes like this As we go marching marching In the beauty of the day A million darkened kitchens A thousand mill lofts gray Are touched with all the radiance That a sudden sun discloses It is bread we fight for Bread and roses bread and roses As we go marching marching unnumbered women dead Oh crying through their singing Their ancient song of bread Small art and love and beauty Their dredging spirits new It is bread we fight for But we fight for roses too As we go marching marching Standing proud and tall The rising of the women means The rising of assault or the drudge the idler And that toil while one reposes But a sharing of life's glories Bread and roses bread and roses Let's make the city we love a city for all We have a video and then we're going to have a five minute break. I understand. I understand Um Well, this is a really busy time of year. So let me get back with you as soon as I can Sorry about that. So what's going on? Tom, it's that time of year again. Is both selling Girl Scout cookies already? No It's time for us to create our annual report to tell people what we did last year. This has been a really busy year I can barely remember last week what we accomplished more or less everything we accomplished in 2018 Well, Tom, what are we gonna do? I know who we can ask Duramina, what did we accomplish in 2018? Tom, I thought you would never ask Here, let me remind you Monday January 1st 2018 woke up fresh tea took the dog out No, not what did I accomplish? What did we our city employees accomplished for our residents in 2018? Hold on. You have a minute by minute record of my entire Never you mind Tom. Let's get on with your original question In alphabetical order, here are the top 10 accomplishments of the city of Durham for 2018 A is for affordable housing Buoy Travajo Felici Dadez Meet to play add some directions for everyone to follow Did you know the correct spelling of the team does not include the letter I Traffic signal boxes look fantastic These ceremonies Duramina that's more than 10 I can count Tom Well, Duramina, this is great, but Please remain quiet until transfer is complete Wow, Duramina, we accomplished a lot of great things I know Tom. That's what I was trying to show you all before you interrupted me We apologize for that, Duramina Don't worry about it. Computers never forget Well, since you've been so helpful already Do you have any ideas how we can make 2019 even better? After all, it is the city's 150th anniversary Ask me nicely Please, Duramina Good humans Now let me see We are now recessed for five minutes You're welcome to stay for later, but you certainly don't have to I'm going to call this meeting to order And we'll now move on to the Sorry, we've already had announcements by council prior to items by the city manager Close that back door, please Steve, you need to be a little closer to the microphone. Thank you. I do. Thank you, Mr. Mayor And good evening again, everyone, Mr. Mayor I do want to take just a minute to thank you for recognizing so many city employees during your state of the city that was Certainly not necessary, but very much appreciated by all of our employees and the great and recognizing the great work they do Someone say thank you very much. The city manager's office does not have any priority items this evening. Thank you so much, Mr. Manager And Madam Attorney Good evening, Mr. Mayor. Good to be with you this evening. The city attorney's office has no priority items Thank you very much and madam clerk. Good evening, mayor council and city manager. The clerk's office has no items Thank you so much Alrighty, we'll now move on to the consent agenda. The consent agenda can be approved by a single vote of the council Items can be approved can be pulled from the agenda by a member of the council or a member of the public In which case will be taken up at the end of the meeting Item one approval of city council minutes item two citizens advisory committee appointments Item three during historic preservation commission appointment item four recreation advisory committee of commission appointment item five universal release of ncr 17 restrictive covenants reversions item six amendment to existing home investment partnership agreement And construction permanent loan agreement with community alternatives for support of abode's casa Hey chock Could you close the door? Thanks Thank you. Thank you very much bum Item seven interlocal agreement with Durham county for the conveyance of county property of the city for affordable housing development This item has been pulled by a resident item eight long range water resources plan Item non-design services contract with clark paterson lee pccp out for the public works operations center renovations Item 10 contract with cedar grove institute for sustainable communities develop a strategic plan for shared economic prosperity item 11 street and infrastructure acceptances I'm going to now entertain a motion on the consent agenda With the exception of item seven that moved second the move and second in madam clerk. We please open the vote Please close the vote The motion passes seven zero. Thank you very much We'll now move on to our public hearing items. Uh, first is item 12 radford place closing Good evening. Um, i'm carl Rosenberg with the planning department And I would like to state for the record that all planning Department hearing items have been advertised and noticed In accordance with state and local law and avid affidavits of all notices are on file with the planning department So for radford place jeff williams on behalf of colter jule tens requests to permanently close the entirety of a 423 linear foot cul-de-sac named radford place This street is an unimproved unmaintained platted right-of-way self-help ventures fund owns the parcel immediately surrounding this right-of-way and if closed The right-of-way will be fully incorporated into the surrounding parcel as shown in the associated street closing plat and attachment four The request meets applicable ordinance requirements and no issues are raised by review agencies Staff recommends the permanent closure of this 423 linear foot cul-de-sac radford place Thank you, miss Rosenberg. You all have heard the report from staff. Are there any questions or Um, I'm sorry. You've heard the report from staff. I'm going to clear this public hearing open Are there any questions or comments for staff by members of the council? If not, I'm going to ask is there anyone here any member of the public who is signed up to Who there's no one signed up to speak on this item There's any member of the public who would like to speak on item 12 any member of the public here tonight Who would like to speak on item 12? Any other comments or questions by the council? If not, I'm going to clear this public hearing open and the matter is now before the council We would need one motion to adopt an order permanently closing The 422.84 linear foot entirety of radford place to being closed public hearings Did I close did I not close it? I'm sorry. I now hereby close the public hearing in that respect Thank you Mayor, I'll make a motion to adopt an order permanently closing the 422.84 linear foot entirety of radford place The move and second of that we adopt the motion Madam clerk, we please open the vote Please close the vote The motion passes 7-0. Thank you so much. Well, now move on to item 13 consolidated annex. I should not I'm constant comp stock industrial Good evening. I'm jamie sagnac with the planning department requests for utility extension agreement voluntary annexation And zoning map change have been received from patrick biker of morning star lower group For two parcels located at 4509 page road and 5505 comp stock road totaling 7.879 acres The annexation petition case bdg 1-800-007 Seeks to bring the parcels into the existing city limits, but would result in a 34 acre unincorporated enclave completely surrounded by city limits The subject site is presently zoned rural residential and the applicant is requesting a zoning designation of industrial light There is no development plan associated with this case The parcel is currently designated as industrial on the future land use map, which is consistent if the zoning is changed Approval of the annexation petition and zoning would become effective on march 31st 2019 The public works and water management departments have determined that the existing water mains have the capacity for the proposed development The budget and management services department determined that the proposed annexation will become revenue positive immediately following annexation Additional information can be found in the staff report The Durham planning commission at their november 13th 2018 meeting recommended approval of the proposed industrial light Zoning district by a vote of 10 to 2 Staff determines that these requests are consistent with the comprehensive plan and applicable policies and ordinances Three motions are required for this application The first is required by law to approve the utility extension agreement And the voluntary annexation petition the second is to adopt a consistency statement and the third is for the zoning ordinance Thank you very much miss sonyak. Uh, we have heard the report from Staff i'm now going to declare this public hearing open I'm going to ask first if there are any questions or comments from members of the council for staff Mr. Bear one. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Mayor. Good evening miss sonyak the Not I don't need a hard date, but how long do you anticipate? Before staff comes back with a donut hole um The recommendations are how to deal with donut holes. I noticed in the menu the menu the i'm hungry In the memo it said that uh staff will be coming soon With proposals uh to the administration so to the council Yeah, member middleton. Uh, this is pat yang with the planning department Those will be coming in the very near future We've met with the city manager and the other key departments And this should be the last suite of cases that you see that don't have a more explicit policy guidance around those With this specific case, we feel confident that those adjacent donut holes will be Filled in if you will in the very near future because of likely develop activity development activity similar to this case Okay, thank you. Thank you, mr. Mayor. Thank you Any other questions comments by members of the council? Is there uh, oh, yes. I'm sorry mr. biker I must pass you by. I apologize. We have one person signed up to speak tonight and that's uh, mr. Patrick biker. Well Good evening, mayor schul. Mayor pro tem johnson members of the city council. My name is patrick biker I live at two six one four steward drive at durham. I'm with morning star law group And i'm here tonight representing page road land co llc First of all, I want to thank jamey for an outstanding staff report on this item And next what I would like to discuss briefly is our team's decision not to submit a development plan with this zoning map change To industrial light or il Our client is just the property owner and not a developer and we do not have an end user For the 7.8 acres at the present time What we think is important is that duke health system owns about 45 acres to the south of this site And the il district gives our client the flexibility To serve the needs that arise from from what duke health system does with its campus The il district allows for a limited service hotel Or for medical office space or a restaurant depending on what use or uses would be most synergistic with duke health system services at this location Since we do not have an end user it is impossible to scope a traffic impact analysis at this time But once an end user is identified the tia will be done in conjunction with the site plan I also think it is important to note that this area of durham east of page road west of 540 And south of long logistics way is developing as a good quality light industrial area And that is why I think we received a strong 10 to 2 recommendation from the planning commission for this rezoning Please keep in mind durham city ordinances including but not limited to the udo place limits on the noise building height Lighting at the subject property and impose pretty significant pretty significant project boundary buffers under udo section 9.4 Accordingly for all these reasons. We respectfully ask for your approval tonight, and I'll be happy to try to answer any questions Thank you for your time. Thank you, mr. Biker Is there anyone else who would like to be heard on this item? Is there anyone here tonight who would like to be heard on item 13? Consolidated annexation item for constiped comstock industrial anyone else All right council members any questions or comments for mr. Biker or staff mr. Mayor I have a comment for staff one of sorry one of our planning commissioners Wrote what I thought were some really Thoughtful comments about the isle district and the range of possible uses that are allowed in the district Not really being able to give us a sense of what would be built because the use is so broad and I would just love to hear at some future point more of y'all's thoughts around Around his thoughts on the district Well, I'm not sure how many of you have Read through the staff report, but there is an attack. We all read it and we all memorize it Good answer so One of the attachments provides a full list of the permitted uses within the isle zone and obviously as you know Since there is no development plan associated with this case We do not have any sort of commitments in terms of The ultimate end user, but you'll note within the isle zoning district. There are a number of uses That are permitted that would help to support the existing development within that area such as daycare facilities a range of retail and service type uses medical office facilities hotels restaurants And and other general type office related uses So that gives kind of an idea of besides the things that you traditionally think of in terms of Light industrial type uses. It is a sort of a broad brush to allow for those other supportive type uses Great. Thank you. Um, I think so the The planning commissioners comments, um, which I'm I'm generally in agreement with is that Having so many uses for this zone makes it less useful as a planning tool Um, now that we have text only development plans. I think that that will cut down I'm hoping that will cut down on the projects that come to us without a development plan Um, but I'd like to I mean and it doesn't have to happen tonight But at some point in the future if y'all could respond to some of these points around whether this district Whether it could be improved in some way to make it more useful would be great Sure, if I might madam mayor pro tem pat young with planning department We definitely reviewed those comments in detail from the two commissioners that you referred to And I think they made some excellent points, uh, and I'm meeting with one of those commissioners Later this week to discuss the migrator detail I think the what we understood what I understood as a key takeaway was that we really need to Through the comprehensive plan process, which is going to be being kicked off in the next couple months here Really evaluate and investigate um our land use designations And um the mix of uses that are allowed in each of those and more importantly how they integrate with the nearby uses I think really the headline for me was our comprehensive plan is out of date and it and it um Resultantly our land use categories and that's what we're committed to looking at with the comp plan process So thank you for those comments. Thank you Thank you, madam mayor pro tem pro tem, uh council member freeman Uh along those lines. I just wanted to just ask a General question around how you assess the water usage on a project that's Going from rural residential to il and based on like what exactly is the formula that you used to come to that? Conclusion that it's that is, you know something that staff supports So we when there is not a specific use We look at the highest intensity that would be allowed within that zoning district And in this case it would be an industrial type of a use We use that category. We have a spreadsheet where we calculate out the Gallons per day based on the overall usage and so it's based on highs okay Thank you. Thank you council member And also not just the use but we also look at the total square footage that would be permissible using the impervious coverage And building height as well and you use all of the max On each of those correct Thank you any other questions or comments on this item council member risk Thank you, mr. Mayor. I just want to join in uh appears to be a small chorus of uh folks Thank you commissioner baker for the pretty remarkable written comments attached to this item And I think no matter what happens tonight All of us Involved in this work need to take those comments to heart the Cities are not built overnight. They're built slowly through individual development proposals like rezoning applications Um, I think that's an important lesson that those of us who sit up here and do these things all the time might tend to forget but on balance um, I found commissioner miller's comments uh most persuasive in addition to the merits of the proposal itself just because The reason is consistent with the future land use map And it's near this project and i-40. I think the wide variety of i-l uses are More appropriate and that's why I tend to support the measures tonight. Thank you. Thank you Any other any other comments or questions? Is there anyone else who would like to be heard on the side? If not, I'm going to declare the public hearing closed and I'm going to just say to miss sunyak c everybody did read it Okay, uh, we have three motions that are necessary versus to adopt an ordinance annexing page road land co Move the formal second been moved and second that we adopt an ordinance annexing page road land co llc The city of durham madam clerk, would you please open the vote? Please close the vote Motion passes six to one with councilmember caballero voting. No, all right. Thank you Uh, and now we'll go to uh the second motion adopt a consistency statement as a quiber ncgs 168-383 It's been moved and second to adopt the consistency statement Madam clerk, will you please open the vote? Please close the vote Thank you Motion passes five to two with councilmember caballero and freeman voting. No, all right And uh motion number three to adopt an ordinance of implementing the unified development ordinance Some of second been moved and second to adopt the ordinance amendment the udo Madam clerk, could please open the vote Please close the vote Motion passes five to with councilmember caballero and freeman voting. No, thank you very much Thank you very much, mr. Biker and now we'll move to the zoning map change weaving water initial two And we'll hear from staff Good evening. Jamie Soniek with the planning department A request for voluntary annexation and initial zoning map change Were approved by the city council on december 3rd 2018 for legacy case z 18 0007 and bdg 18 0005 The application which was weaving water Was located at 39 12 and 39 to zero rivermont road Have an effective date of december 31st 2018 at that time the council approved the plan development residential 1.962 pdr 1.962 zoning For 12.31 acres of the 22.258 acre parcel This uh due to miscommunication between the applicant and planning staff It was not clear on the application submitted by the owner that they preferred an exact translation of the rs 20 Zoning to the remaining 9.948 acres of land Staff is now asking council to say to designate the remaining lands as rs 20 residential suburban 20 Zoning since the legal description of the property to be rezoned did not previously reflect that Staff determines that these requests are consistent with the comprehensive plan and the applicable policies and ordinances And two motions are required for this application. The first is to adopt a consistency statement And the second is for the zoning ordinance Thank you very much miss sunyak. You have heard the report from staff and i'm now going to declare this public hearing open Are there questions or comments for staff from members of the council? Questions or comments for staff Is is there anyone in in the uh in the chamber tonight who would like to be heard on this item? Anyone that would like to be heard on zoning map change weaving water initial two The questions or comments from the council if not i'm going to declare this public hearing closed in the matters back before the council Can i have a motion to adopt the consistency? Second move to second that we adopt the consistency statement. Madam clerk, we please open the vote Please close the vote Motion passes seven zero. Thank you. And now we'll move to motion two and to adopt an ordinance amending the udo Moved in second that we adopt the ordinance amending the udo. Madam clerk, we please open the vote The motion passes seven zero. Thank you very much We'll now move to item seven interlocal agreement with durham county for the conveyance of county owned property the city for affordable housing develop This item was pulled by uh, mr. Kevin primus. Mr. Primus Primus and i'm sorry, apologize We're glad to have you here And uh, you have three minutes. Thank you Uh, good evening. My name is kevin primus. I've resided three seven zero three kilgo drive durham And i'm speaking to item seven interlocal agreement with durham county for the conveyance of county owned property To the city for affordable housing development. It seems like a no-brainer Right, but i imagine that this might have taken two years in development and there have been some things to work through um, but things like this take work and and uh, you know, i'm for this i'm a proponent, um, but in honor of Of a black history month. I want to bring us way back in history to a really important moment Which was the beginning of this meeting When the boy scouts came out, um, you may not Recall you may not know that the integration of the boy scouts in durham didn't just happen It didn't just happen overnight. There's an important role That white people in power played in the integrating of the boy scouts There's an important role that white people in power are going to play for affordable housing Moving forward. I want to speak specifically to the role of the light rail transit project and duke university and the opportunity for juke's president and an exhortation to get on board For this project, but i want to read this little bit of african-american history It was made possible by a white person in power making an important decision uh former mayor uh mayor of durham harry rhodenheiser The late harry rhodenheiser was a republican and a fiscal conservative who also served as a city school board member and sent his children To the predominantly black city schools when nearly all white students attended the predominantly white county schools He led the first integrated local boy scout troop troop 13 in the 1970s and later served as the first district scout chairman When the two local white scout groups merged with the area's single black group He owned and ran the pizza palace an iconic pizza place on hillsborough road for 25 years That's where i met a rhodenheiser and the opportunity Is something i'm a duke and i know that some of you all are duke's and some of you guys aren't i understand that But uh, this is a big week A duke was put on the map literally i'm from pennsylvania put on the map because of the duke carolina basketball rivalry Where i came from in pittsburgh nobody knew where duke was in 1991 They thought i was an ivy league school but because of that rivalry because of the connection between durham and chapel hill Duke was put literally on the map to be oh, that's in north carolina and so i'm exhorting A different approach in this last 10 days that we would say to president Vincent price here's an opportunity for you to learn from UNC Dr. Fred Brooks wrote a book called the mythical man month and in this book he said You know, it's too late in a project to add one more engineer This project has been in the works for 25 years. We understand that you're from pennsylvania You went to you or you were the provost at penn you came down here. We've been working on this project for 25 years Please just for once as an elite Person as a white man in power just get on the back of the bus Have the opportunity to change history give opportunity to the black people of durham Who might not have the opportunity to have opportunity for this right light rail transit project? Which is critical to our whole affordable housing solution? So i know that you all know that but i'm just encouraging that this Opportunity for affordable housing cannot happen without the light rail transit project and the opportunity For dr. Vincent price to get in the back of the bus and just ride along with the work that's been going on for 25 years Is that for him to change history? So exhort you to continue this project. Thank you so much. Thank you. Mr. Primus and maybe you would like to be Have you been in direct touch with dr. Price? I think that'd be useful Thank you so much appreciate your comments Alrighty, we've heard from the speaker and now we're going to take up the item We need a motion to approve this item It's been moved in second to we approve the interlocal agreement with durham county Madam clerk, will you please open the vote? Please close the vote The motion passes seven zero. Thank you very much There being no other business to come before this body i'm going to declare this meeting adjourned