Durham City Council Meeting - August 6, 2024
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Durham City Council Meeting - August 6, 2024
The Durham City Council convened on August 6, 2024, after a summer recess. Members welcomed back City Manager Wanda Page, who announced her upcoming retirement after 36+ years of service. The council approved the consent agenda (items 1-23 and 28) with four items pulled for discussion (10, 11, 16, 18). A closed session was authorized to discuss an employment contract.
Consent Calendar
- Approved items 1-23 and 28, including appointments to the Mayor's Hispanic/Latino Committee, Racial Equity Commission, Durham Board of Adjustment, Citizens Advisory Committee, Workforce Development Board, and other boards. Also approved were audits, contracts, a ground lease agreement, and several other routine items.
- Pulled for discussion: Item 10 (Fictitious Employees Performance Audit), Item 11 (Solid Waste & Recycling Performance Audit), Item 16 (Pre-Development Agreement with Habitat for Humanity), and Item 18 (Contract with GovernmentJobs.com).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Alisa Johnson (Durham Neighborhood United) requested continued support for the Durham Police Department's Disruptive Student Party House program, enforcement of minor special use permits for off-campus Duke fraternities, and stronger landlord accountability for tenant behavior.
- Christopher Langley (citizen) urged the council to prioritize funding and programming for boys and young men of color, specifically citing the Charles Hamilton Houston Foundation and a need to address employment skill mismatches.
Discussion Items
- Item 10 (Fictitious Employees Audit): Audit Services Director Jermaine Brinton presented findings. Councilmember Cook raised equity concerns about the 10 employees receiving paper checks, noting the lack of a debit card option. Finance Director Tim Flora explained the debit card program was discontinued 5-6 years ago due to access issues, and that paper checks were used as an accommodation. He confirmed the finance team would implement changes by October.
- Item 11 (Solid Waste & Recycling Performance Audit): Councilmember Rist asked about establishing a target waste diversion rate. Staff indicated a recommendation would be presented by March 2025. Councilmember also noted the audit report was not available online; Manager Page said she would verify and ensure copies were provided.
- Item 16 (Habitat for Humanity – Beaman Street Assemblage): Major discussion centered on affordability, AMI calculations, and wealth building. Councilmember Cook questioned the 80% AMI threshold, noting federal requirements. Habitat's Adam Lund explained the resale provisions: a 50-year affordability term, with profit splits (e.g., 75% to Habitat/25% to homeowner in early years) to keep homes affordable. Councilmembers debated the role of homeownership in building wealth, the trade-offs of affordability programs, and the importance of financial empowerment and repairs. Support was expressed for the project, with suggestions to collaborate with community land trusts.
- Item 18 (GovernmentJobs.com Contract): Assistant HR Director Jim Ranger clarified that NeoGov is a product of GovernmentJobs.com, answering Councilmember Freeman's question.
Key Outcomes
- The council voted to settle the agenda, approving the consent calendar and the closed session motion (under NCGS 143-318.11(a)(5)) to discuss employment contract negotiations. No separate votes were shown for the pulled items (10, 11, 16, 18) during the session; they were discussed and presumably will be voted on later. Appointments were finalized as listed. The closed session was approved unanimously.
Meeting Transcript
Well, hello everybody. Welcome back. It is good to see everyone. Madam Clerk, do you can uh please give me a head nod when that's back open. All right, good. You can now go, colleagues, if you need it. Thank you. Good. Thank you. We're all good. All right. Um, Madam Clark, you can call the roll. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mayor Williams. I'm here. Mr. Pro Tim Middleton. I'm here. Councilmember Baker. Here. Councilmember Caballero here. Councilmember Cook here. Councilmember Freeman. President Councilmember Rist. Here. Thank you. We are ready to roll. Welcome back, colleagues. So good to see you all. I know that there's there's been a great deal of travel amongst the colleagues. And I look forward to you hopefully sharing at some point the experiences that you had over the summer. Our summer break means about three three weeks, three or four weeks without a meeting. Thank you, colleagues, also for honoring us to be able to uh adjust the schedule so we can get all of July. And uh right, um any announcements by council. Madam uh Councilwoman Cook. Thank you. Um I'll just go very briefly because I know that we have a little quite a lot on the calendar today. Um so during the recess, um Mayor's right. We had uh we had several weeks over July that we took a recess, and I was able to go to two conferences. Uh the first one I went to was in June in DC. I went to the young elected officials conference. It was a gathering of elected officials, roughly around 35 and under um all over the country. So that was really cool. It was all levels of government. Um it was a great opportunity to network. We also had some really good programming. So came back from that uh with uh a lot of great contacts, a lot of great ideas. Um that was really special. And then in July, at the end of July, um several of us attended local progress, and I can let my colleagues speak more to that.
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