2/5/2024 Meeting Recap
For your information, state law requires our city clerk to post the action items from the meeting within two business days of the adjournment of a meeting. O.C.G.A. 50-14-1(e)(2)(a). Action items are the issues upon which the Council has decided to take some sort of action via a vote.
A full list of the action items from the meeting can be found here. You can see the recordings of the meeting here. The meeting is in three separate videos - workshop, regular session and the return from executive session.
While you can see the documentation all of the action items via the above link, I wanted to highlight and discuss in detail some of the motions that were considered.
WORKSHOP SESSION
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2. Councilman Carn motioned to move forward with discussion without interruptions from the Mayor, seconded by Councilman Gay and motion carried. (All voted yes)
3. Councilman Carn motioned that members of this body are not required to address all questions to the chair/mayor, seconded by Councilman Gay, Councilwoman McKenzie and Councilwoman Arnold voted opposed, Mayor opposed, motion failed.
4. Councilman Carn motioned a reconsideration of the previous action that members of this body are not required to address all questions to the chair, Councilman Gay seconded; Councilman Gay then withdrew his second, motion failed for lack of a second.
The discussion regarding Robert’s Rules starts around the 55:00 minute mark. Unfortunately it took the remainder of our time during the workshop session and we were not able to have the discussion about the city’s financial status. That will be discussed at our next workshop session.
5. Councilman Gay motioned to table the FY 2023-2024 Financial Status Update Presentation, seconded by Councilwoman McKenzie and motion carried. (All voted yes)
REGULAR SESSION
6. Councilwoman McKenzie moved to delete 7w. Consideration of and action on a request to allow elected officials access to their Ward constituent's contact information that includes name, address, phone number and email, seconded by Councilwoman Arnold and motion carried. (All voted yes)
As I discussed in the preview to this meeting, I had strong concerns about this agenda item and its potential conflict with the Open Records Act. My colleagues and I heard from you about this matter. The response was overwhelming that residents did not want their information shared.
8. Councilwoman McKenzie moved to deny approval of January 16th Council Session minutes due to the lack consequential events and discussion in the minutes, seconded by Councilman Carn and motion carried. (All voted yes).
Our city clerk brought this issue to us last year in the November 6, 2023 Strategic Performance Report, noting: “It is the recommendation of the City Clerk to either honor the per page rate of the City Stenographer to provide verbatim minutes, or to allow the City Clerk’s office to supply a summary style of minutes. By providing a summary style of minutes, the City can save approximately $25,000 annually. After polling the cities in the State of Georgia, it is found that verbatim minutes for City Council meetings have become obsolete in most cities. Word for word dialogue can always be obtained from the live streams and recorded audio of City Council meetings on the City’s website and social media sites.”
9. Councilwoman McKenzie moved to amend the January 5, 2024 meeting minutes due to a missing vote, seconded by Councilman Carn and motion carried. (All voted yes)
I believe the minutes correctly reflect the vote taken in this meeting.
10. Councilwoman McKenzie motioned to extend citizen remarks for Tina Hill, seconded by Councilman Carn, Councilman Gay abstained, Councilwoman Arnold voted in favor and motion carried.
11. Councilman Carn motioned to extend time for Public Comments for all those who chose to speak, seconded by Councilwoman Arnold and motion carried. (All voted yes)
12. Councilman Carn moved to approve a request for council agenda and council chamber upgrades by Granicus for the voting, agenda, and community engagement modules, seconded by Councilwoman Arnold and motion carried. (All voted yes)
Council did not approve a particular dollar amount for this work. By my calculation based upon the discussion in the workshop session, it should not exceed $12,443.62. However, because of council’s approval of Resolution 2024-01 which prohibits me from “express[ing] opinions or otherwise participat[ing] in the debate or discussion on matters before city council,” I was not able to share that information.
13. Councilwoman Arnold moved to table the request for a special event permit from the USA Boxing Sanctioned event "Fight for the Youth” on June 1, 2024 at the College Park Tracey Wyatt Recreation Center from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. with the proviso to schedule a future Workshop discussion or more information, seconded by Councilman Carn and motion carried. (All voted yes)
There was information missing from the packet about this event and it made sense to table the discussion.
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17. Councilwoman McKenzie moved to the repeal Ordinance 2023-04 approved on October 16, 2023 to codify departments under a new organizational restructuring, seconded by Councilman Gay and motion carried. (All voted yes)
I think this organizational structure deserved both the time and the funding to be implemented.
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24. Councilman Gay moved to approve the purchase of the Mobile Pro Systems for a mobile surveillance trailer camera to be located city-wide, in the amount of $45,288.00, seconded by Councilman Carn and motion carried. (All voted yes)
While the agenda transmittal indicated this was a ward-specific expenditure, it will be for the entire city.
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28. Councilwoman Arnold moved to approve the contracting Contemporary Services Corporation as one of our Unarmed Event Security vendors at the Arena and the Georgia International Convention Center, motion died due the lack of a second.
29. Councilman Carn motion to resubmit a bid proposal for the Unarmed Event Security vendors at the Arena and the Georgia International Convention Center, seconded by Councilman Gay, Councilwoman Arnold abstained, Councilwoman McKenzie voted in favor and motion carried.
There were questions about the disparity in the bid amounts which led to the motion to rebid the contract. I think additional discussion probably could have answered the inquiries, but because of council’s approval of Resolution 2024-01 which prohibits me from “express[ing] opinions or otherwise participat[ing] in the debate or discussion on matters before city council,” I was not able to engage in the matter.
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34. Councilwoman McKenzie moved to amend the travel policy to remove verbiage “Metro-Atlanta counties” and list the Metro Atlanta counties; Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett, seconded by Councilwoman Arnold and motion carried.
Because of council’s approval of Resolution 2024-01 which prohibits me from “express[ing] opinions or otherwise participat[ing] in the debate or discussion on matters before city council,” I was not able to share my thoughts on this issue. While one of my colleagues shared concerns that the listing of counties in the travel policy (p. 7) was too broad and had caused issues for a board appointee who was traveling to training in Athens, Clarke County was never listed as a location where per diem and hotel expenses would not be paid. Since council has now narrowed the list, a 26 mile trip to Douglasville would be eligible for hotel expenses. I think a radius of 50, 75 or 100 miles makes more sense instead of the county list. I do not think that is the best use of your tax dollars. I hope we revisit this issue.
There was also discussion that my comments in the preview to the meeting were somehow designed to illicit concern and outrage that was outside of the intent of the council. As I said, I was not certain the conversation was going to include discussion of permitting family travel expenses. However, as recently as January, my colleague who asked for the discussion to be placed on the agenda shared frustration with some community members about the elimination of this aspect of the travel policy. The resolution for this is to clearly state the intent of placing an item on the agenda for action - through both the listing of it on the agenda and the backup documentation. That was not done in this case.
35. Councilman Carn moved to approve the code of ordinance to allow Special Called Meetings to be required by the consensus of three City Councilmembers, seconded by Councilman Gay and motion carried. (All voted yes)
The plain language of this agenda item made no mention of allowing the practice of special called meetings to be called by the mayor to continue, which is why I was opposed to the change. The backup documentation in the agenda packet provided no proposed redlined changes to the ordinance, as we clearly did with the changes to the municipal court ordinance that was in the same packet. It is imperative our agenda transmittals are clear, thorough and complete not only for the governing body, but the general public.
Nevertheless, I still have concerns I hope do not arise in regard to this change. Typically if a special called meeting is necessary, it is a pressing issue that needs to be addressed. In my first term we were able to find times that worked for everyone. This year, at the two special called meetings requested, all four of my colleagues have been aligned on the date and time and I have not been included in those discussions. I hope moving forward we can work collaboratively to ensure if we have a special called meeting in the future, we include everyone.
36. Councilman Carn moved to appoint Councilman Joe Carn to the Destination Marketing Organization (DMO), seconded by Councilwoman McKenzie, Councilwoman Arnold abstained, Councilman Gay voted in favor and motion carried.
This was somewhat unorthodox. Each council member and the mayor have an appointee to the ATL Airport District board. I think board appointments are a great opportunity to engage our residents, allow them to gain a greater understanding of all of the ways in which our city works, and build a leadership pipeline.
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40. Councilman Carn moved to approve Personnel Item A to set the Interim City Manager compensation to $177,500 retroactive to January 17, 2024, seconded by Councilwoman Arnold and motion carried. (All voted yes)
41. Councilman Carn moved to approve Personnel Item B to increase the salary of the Executive Assistant to City Manager to $65,000 effective February 6, 2024, seconded by Councilwoman Arnold and motion carried. (All voted yes)
