Durham City Council Work Session - October 21, 2022
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Durham City Council Work Session - October 21, 2022
The Durham City Council held a work session on October 21, 2022 (the transcript indicates October 20, 2022; this summary uses the provided date). The meeting began at 1:00 p.m. and adjourned at 2:51 p.m., covering consent items, presentations, and board appointments.
Consent Calendar
- Approved consent agenda items 1–12, 14, and 23, as well as public hearings 18–22, unanimously.
- City manager’s priority items (agenda items 13, 19, 21) were accepted unanimously, including a motion to suspend rules and approve an application for the Accessibility for Parks Grant for CR Wood Park (item 13) to meet the October 31 deadline.
Discussion Items
- Social District Designation (Item 14): Director Walcott presented an ordinance amendment to create a social district and designate Downtown Durham Inc. (DDI) as the manager. The council discussed the management plan and communication with businesses and residents. No vote was taken; the item was part of the consent agenda.
- Strategic Plan Refresh Update (Item 15): Sherry Metcalf from Budget and Management Services presented the process for refreshing the FY 2024–2026 strategic plan. The plan involves engaging residents and employees to prioritize focus areas, with results expected at the February 2023 budget retreat and adoption in June 2023.
- Sister Cities of Durham Annual Update (Item 17): Representatives Bob and Brady provided an update on Sister Cities International, highlighting nine sister cities, exchange programs, and the Festival of Nations. They discussed a donated refuse truck destined for Arusha, Tanzania, that still lacks shipping funds. Councilmembers expressed support and encouraged international travel.
- Affordable Housing Deep Dive (Item 16): Director Reginald Johnson presented on income and affordability definitions, AMI limits, and the distribution of renter vs. owner households (chart showing that over 80% of households below 50% AMI are renters, while over 60% of households above 100% AMI are owners). Councilmembers debated strategies: some emphasized increasing residents' incomes through training and economic empowerment, while others stressed the need for continued subsidized housing investment because the private market will never serve lowest incomes. Mayor O'Neill noted that income gains could disqualify residents from assisted housing. Councilmember Caballero asked about referral resources for housing-insecure residents (Housing for New Hope, Community Development phone number, and DSS). The council agreed to continue the conversation.
Key Outcomes
- Unanimous approval of consent agenda and priority items.
- Board appointments: For the Durham Board of Adjustment, after an initial tie (3–3), Mayor O'Neill changed her vote to Nadira Salam, resulting in a 4–3 majority. Other appointments (Convention & Visitors Bureau and Citizens Advisory Committee) were approved by consensus.
- No formal votes were taken on the presentations, but the council acknowledged the need for further discussion on affordable housing and economic empowerment.
Meeting Transcript
We are now streaming one minute till broadcast. I know really sounds so efficient. And then I'll take it through the consent. Yes, ma'am. Okay. I'm trying to so that's me up there. Okay. Okay, so sorry. I think they I think they were in the line too. Good afternoon, good afternoon, Durham City. Welcome to our City Council work session. Uh today we will call that to order for Thursday, October 20th, 2022 at 1 p.m. here in City Hall in our council chambers. We welcome you in attendance here this afternoon, as well as those joining us remotely as well. Madam Clerk, would you please call the road? Mayor O'Neill. I am present. Mayor Pro Tem Middleton. I'm here. Councilmember Caballero. Here. Councilmember Freeman has received an excused absence for today. Councilmember Holsey Hyman. President. Councilmember Johnson. Here. And Councilmember Williams. Here. Thank you. Thank you so much. I now turn our attention to our announcements by my uh colleagues. I did want to start off this afternoon by saying you'll see a little kind of different interaction amongst us uh today. We're we're going to experiment with um different council members leading some of our presentations and conversations this afternoon just to get a different flow of our meeting. So let us know what you think about it because we are always gonna be in a trying to innovate in this space as well. Uh so that would conclude my announcements for today, and I look to my left to see if there are any to my left. No announcements from council. All right, and to our right. Councilwoman Caballero. Yes, just real briefly. Um the ballot to three really really important bonds. Please remember to flip your ballot to vote on those bonds. Uh it's for our schools, the Life and Science Museum, and Durham Tech. Critically, while not necessarily an area that the city operates very much, it's still critically important to our residents. Uh if you are not registered to vote in the state of North Carolina, you can register and vote during early voting. Thank you. Thank you so much. I'll now turn to our Mayor Pro Tem for his announcements and for him to handle uh lead us into our next orders of business. Thank you, Madam Mayor so much. Good afternoon to you, ma'am, to my honorable colleagues, and certainly to Councilmember Freeman. Uh, in her absence, Councilmember Caballero uh knocked off one of my uh uh announcements, so thank you for that.
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