Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.
The Greenbelt City Council held a regular meeting on October 12, 2026, at 7:30 PM. The council passed resolutions recognizing LGBTQIA+ History Month and formally asserting the city's right of first refusal for surplus county-owned property. Extensive discussion centered on creating council working groups to handle legislative reviews, advisory board oversight, financial analysis, and a proposed community visioning process. The council also took steps toward implementing ranked-choice voting (RCV) and directed the city manager to explore the costs of universal mail-in ballots.
I call this meeting of the Greenbelt City Council to order. Madam Clerk, will you call the roll, please? Good evening. Councilmember Fritz? Here. Councilmember Niesel. Council Member McKinney? Here. Councilmember Poppy? Here. Council Member Poe. Mayor Potem Weaver? Here. Mayor Jordan. Here. Please join us in a moment of silent reflection as we pause to remember residents and others who have passed away since the last council meeting. Former resident Russell Andrew Mafey. Well, hearing none, uh, let's go ahead and pause for a moment of silent reflection. Thank you very much. Uh please join us for the uh Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Uh Councilmember Pompey, will you uh share the community pledge with us, please? The strength of Greenbelt is diverse people living together in a spirit of cooperation. We celebrate all people by sharing together, all are enriched. We strive to be a respectful, welcoming community that is open, accessible, safe, and fair. Thank you very much. Uh the city council, we meet twice a month, except in July, August, and December, to set policy and to take formal action on behalf of the city. Tonight's meeting is open to the public, as are all council meetings and work sessions, except for executive sessions as permitted by Maryland state law. We welcome residents who are here in the room tonight, uh, joining us on Zoom and also watching remotely. Uh there will be opportunities for public comment throughout the meeting. Uh if you wish to speak in person here in the room during one of those uh those times, please raise your hand, wait to be recognized, and you can just step over to the podium. You'll need to provide a name and address for the record. If you're joining us on Zoom, just uh you can use the QA feature on the bottom tab of your screen, or you can raise your virtual hand. Uh once again, we need your name and address for the record, and we don't accept anonymous comments. And finally, if you're watching remotely, if you're on Facebook or YouTube and you wish to submit a comment, you can uh send us an email. The email address is questions at Greenbelt MD.gov. Please during the meeting, limit your remarks to three minutes and uh it's five minutes during petitions and requests, but it's uh three minutes uh throughout the rest of the uh the meeting. And we ask uh all speakers to address the matter uh being discussed by council and to remain respectful, avoid personal attacks, questioning the motives of others. So at this time we will begin our meeting with petitions and requests from members of the public. This portion of the meeting allows residents to bring new matters to the attention of the city council, including requests for city action or concerns not listed on tonight's agenda. Speakers may address counsel for up to five minutes during petitions and requests. Council will receive these comments, but does not usually take action action during the same meeting. Depending on the issue, council may refer the matter to the city manager, to city staff, or an advisory board request additional information or to consider placing the item on a future agenda. So once again, we ask that speakers keep the remarks focused, respectful and civil so that all residents have an opportunity to be heard.