The Mayor and Board of Aldermen held a public meeting on March 2, 2023, at 7:00 PM. The meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance led by Cub Scout Pack 48, followed by approval of the February 2, 2023 minutes. All votes were 4-0 in favor, with Alderwoman Kazemchak absent. No public comments were made during either public comment period.
Good evening and welcome to the mayor and board of Alderman Public Meeting for the 2nd of March. This evening, leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance. I had the honor before tonight's meeting to spend a little time with these scouts from Cub Scout PAC 48. And they ask really hard questions, but I think I answered them okay. They might be interested in being mayor someday. Who knows? I don't think I frightened them away, but they are going to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. One nation under God, indivisible liberty and justice for all. This is Jack Chase and Reese. Um I told them that if they didn't start the Pledge of Allegiance that we would be standing here until they did. So good job. We have minutes to approve February 2nd, 2023 public meeting. So move. Second. Motion by Alderman Shackler, second by Alder Woman Nash. All those in favor. That is 40. Thank you very much. Alder Woman Kazemchak sent us a message before the meeting tonight that she would not be able to attend this evening. They're always surprised at a couple of things. They're surprised at how many people live in the city of Frederick. They're surprised at the scope of services that we provide as a city, and they're surprised at how much money we spend to do it. Um so that probably makes them no different than anybody else who um lives here. But um I I hope that with this that we can uh introduce young people to the idea of government service and uh demystify the work that we do every day. Um we're not that much different than um the way government works at most other levels, and they're often surprised to hear that as well that we're sort of organized the same way as most of our other governments, but it's always great to spend some time with young people and hopefully get them inspired about the work that we do. Aldermanic Business and Commons, Alderwoman Ash. Thank you, Mayor. Uh some of us have had the opportunity this week to get uh sort of an annual update from the Flowers of a Frederick group. Uh and I just wanted to your comment, Mayor, made me think about the fact that we have so many folks that sort of leverage dollars into much more efforts. Uh and oftentimes those efforts go maybe underappreciated or undernoticed, but uh just wanted to take a moment and thank them for the work that they do, and of course, thank this body for supporting them way before way before I got here. So thank you very much. Thank you. Alderman Russell. Thank you. I'm going to follow in the footsteps of my colleague Alderman Shackelford. Uh, and since it is uh women's month, I'm going to uh lift up uh a notable woman in the city of Frederick, and uh just indulge me for a minute. Um this is uh a tribute to retired Lieutenant Alice Rose Moore, and I'm gonna read a little bit of an article from 1971. This is uh the monthly meeting of the Frederick Sivanette Club was held, and I don't know what civinettes are, other than they're probably like the female version of civics. I don't know. The civitans. The civetans. They're civitans and civinettes, all right. A most enjoyable program was arranged, uh, and she introduced Mayor Charles V Main, Chief of Police, who in turn introduced Frederick's first policewoman, Detective Alice Stanfield Yap, now more detective Yap graduated from the Frederick Police Academy in 1971 as valedictorian of her class, and since then has become a great asset to the Frederick Police Department. In her brief but enlightening remarks, Detective Yop stressed the importance of establishing a positive image of law enforcement in the minds of the people. She said that this image is directly reflected in the police officer as an individual protecting rights, lives, and property of our citizens. She continued by remarking that more and more the young people of our city, as well as our nation need an appreciation and understanding of the vital role which the law enforcement officer plays in their daily lives. One of the great tragedies of our national life, she said, is the constant undermining of public confidence in the officer of the law. Detective Yop hopes that this atmosphere will improve and that the peace officer will be respected for the loyal, strong, trustworthy, intelligent, and diplomatic person, and this is old reporting, that he is. And in conclusion, read the police policeman's code of ethics, which to her symbolizes the function and duty of a peace officer. And I think it's notable that that was 1971, and I think all of those words still ring true today.