The Mayor and Board of Aldermen held a public meeting on February 2, 2023, at 7:00 PM in City Hall. The meeting included approval of minutes, consent agenda items, and three public hearings on fee waivers and a zoning text amendment. All items were approved unanimously.
Good evening and welcome to the mayor and board of alderman public meeting for the second of February. We begin with the Pledge of Allegiance. Liberty and Justice. We have minutes to approve from the January 5th, 2023 regular public meeting. So moved. Second. Motion by Alderman Shackleth, second by Alderman Russell. All those in favor. That is three with one abstention. And one absent. Alderman McShane. January 5th, 2023, closed session. So move. We want to second. Motion by Alderman Shackleburg, second by Alderman Russell. All those in favor. That is two. With two abstentions. Two zero with two abstentions. That works. Mayor's comments. Uh this will be a busy weekend in downtown Frederick. Please uh spay pay special attention to altered traffic patterns and uh opportunities to uh take a shuttle into downtown Frederick, where it might very well be crowded with vehicles and pedestrians for the downtown Frederick Partnership's annual fire in ice celebration. They've added some Friday evening festivities to the weekend, so it's just one of those exciting weekends in downtown Frederick, and I think the weather will cooperate for um ice not melting. Um it might cooperate for everything not melting. Um it's uh it's supposed to be cold, but uh it'll it's always a good time. So beware. Alderman a comments. Alderman Shackelford. Yes, February is Black History Month, and tonight I would like to highlight uh particularly for the City of Frederick uh three persons. Uh Mr. Claude De Lauder, who was the first African American to serve on the Board of Alderman, Mr. William O'Lee, and Mr. William G. Hall. I highlight their accomplishments and uh I've got to know them opportunity to know them before I served in the public office as a youngster, as a younger person than I am now, and those their tremendous contributions that they have made to our communities and the imprint that they have made on my life personally. I am extremely grateful for what they have imparted to me. And I acknowledge that I would not be sitting in this seat if we're not if I were not standing on their shoulders. So tonight I would like to highlight those three persons and also um a colleague and a friend of mine and a mentee of my Mr. Cavante Deckett, who was the first African American to serve on the county council. Thank you. Thank you very much. Aldermange. Yes, Mayor, if you indulge me, I'd like to just read something. I've got to read it from my phone. Um Martin Luther King Jr. once said, a riot is the language of the unheard, which again was in his many letters he wrote during his time in an Atlanta prison. He once led a march that went from Selma to Montgomery, nicknamed Bloody Sunday because of the horrible police brutality witnessed that day. But again, no one knows about these marches because you can't wash over the message of these marches. During his time to minimize his power, Martin Luther King was made out to be a leader of violence and a hater of America, and some people even called him a terrorist, and said that I am not anti-America, I am anti-injustice.