Let's give them a warm clap in.

Come over here.

Come over here.

Come this way.

Good job.

Good job.

All right.

Are you ready?

Are you ready?

I pledge allegiance.

Invisible with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you all.

Thank you, Troop 3349.

You have made our day, and I think we could hear the hope and optimism in your voice.

We really appreciate you being here with us today.

We're now gonna move on with our agenda.

I'm turning over to City Clerk's Office for agenda review, Miss Penny.

Mayor, there are no changes to this evening's agenda.

Thank you very much.

Next we have our city manager for the city manager's report, Jeff Mahillick.

Mayor Ashton, members of City Council, ladies and gentlemen, good evening.

We expect a very long meeting tonight, so I'll be super quick, but I do have three things that I want to point out on your consent agenda that are noteworthy, and I think they're kind of cool.

First of all, I want to note that we are moving forward with the design and construction administration for Redgate Park.

I know this community's been talking about Reggie Park improvements for a number of years, and this is a big step in the right direction to award the final design and construction administration with hopefully the opening of the park into not too distant future.

Secondly, I want to acknowledge the city's um contribution of program funds to the Rockville Housing Enterprises for their youth build project.

That is really to help at risk students earn a high school degree, occupational skills training, and leadership development.

Excited to see them.

And lastly, and we're gonna show an image, but we gotta do the kind of the fireworks thing.

Um I think we're taking our public art to the next level by doing a brand new public art display at David Skull Park.

It's called Shared Passage.

There it is on the screen.

Go ahead, everybody with me, pretend it's fireworks.

Right.

That really is a beautiful concept design for a new archway with stained glass, and we're really excited to award that to the artists today.

I do want to stress that there are additional opportunities for a community engagement as that moves forward the final design process.

So really excited about that.

That's all I have, Mayor.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Mr.

Mahalik.

Very exciting.

Uh, this is part of a number of artistic elements we're putting all across the city.

Want to thank the team for that.

I have a couple of quick things I wanted to add.

Um, your team has done a fantastic job with the principals roundtable that was in this room last week.

Uh we convened principals from all across Rockville, both public and private, to share their feedback with us, and I want to thank the Education Commission for their leadership on that.

It was fantastic.

We always say I say that uh strong cities are anchored by strong schools, and I really believe that, and that kind of partnership is what's gonna help us to continue that work.

Um there was a wedding expo yesterday.

Uh, folks worked very hard, and we one of my colleagues had a chance to experience a wedding.

So I want to say congrats to Councilmember Vanguard.

We're excited for all of you.

Um there is a some sad news with uh someone in the rock that has been a lot of to people in the Rockville area.

Uh Mr.

Harry Gazanian from Los Delises uh passed away in the past month or so.

Uh he has been making French bakery items for people all across Rockville, and I think there's been an outpouring of love and concern for his family.

So I want to thank the community for that.

Uh and they were also um that was a pedestrian fatality.

There was also a crash yesterday that resulted in two fatal two fatalities.

Um I wanted to just also note two things that are coming, a couple things that are coming up this week, Mr.

Mahillick.

The Twinbrook Neighborhood Connect is this Wednesday at the Twinbrook Community Rec Center at 7 p.m.

And then the housing needs assessment, which is very important.

We want everyone to come out, is on 5 30 at Rockville Memorial Library.

And uh those are things that you can do to get involved, learn more on our city website and on Engage Roth.

Okay.

All right.

We'll now move on to agenda item six, boards and commission appointments and reappointments.

We have appointments for the community policing advisory board, the culture arts commission, the education commission, the human rights commission, and the recreation and parks advisory board.

Do we have a motion for the nomination for the community policing advisory board?

Councilman Valeri.

Yes, Madam Mayor, I move to appoint Latrice Michelle Ware Allen to the community policing advisory board to serve an expiring three-year term until February 1st, 2029.

Do we have a second?

Second it.

All those in favor, please raise your hand and say aye.

Aye.

Thank you.

And I believe Ms.

Latrice Michelle Ware Allen is here today.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And if there are any other appointees that um were saying your names, please feel free to stand up.

Next is the Cultural Arts Commission.

I'm the liaison here, but I can't make the motion.

Councilmember Fulton.

I move to appoint Francis Bevington to serve as chair of the Cultural Arts Commission for a one-year term until March 1st, 2027.

Thank you.

Do we have a second?

Councilmember Jackson seconds.

All those in favor, please raise your hand and say aye.

Aye.

Thank you.

Next we have the Education Commission.

Councilman Miles.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Move to reappoint Edward Reed and Wendy Whitaker to the Education Commission, each to serve a two-year term until April 1st, 2028.

Do we have a second?

Councilman Fulton seconds.

All those in favor, please raise your hand and say aye.

Aye.

Excellent.

We have Ms.

Whitaker here.

Yes.

Thank you.

Thanks for all your work.

Human Rights Commission, Councilmember Shaw.

I move to appoint Emily Stevenson to the Human Rights Commission to serve an expiring three-year term until October 1st, 2028.

Excellent.

Do we have a second?

Councilmember Jackson Seconds.

All those in favor, please raise your hand and say aye.

Aye.

Excellent.

And next we have the recreation and parks.

Emily, stand up.

Hey.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next we have the recreation and parks advisory board.

Councilman Van Gregg.

Madam Mayor, I move to appoint Marsha Doma to the Recreation and Parks Advisory Board to serve an expiring three-year term until July 1st, 2027.

Thank you.

Do we have a second?

Councilman Shaw Seconds.

All those in favor, please raise your hand and say aye.

Aye.

Thank you to all those who stepped up to serve, and we look forward to your work.

Okay.

All right, now we'll move over to community forum.

This is the time to share your ideas and concerns with the mayor and council.

Please address the mayor and council in a civil and courteous manner.

Let's be respectful to the audience members who are with you.

If you have anything to provide to the mayor and council, please pass it on to the city clerk represented by Miss Judy Penny.

Each person will be allowed three minutes, and we ask that you stick to that time.

There is a time clock in front of you, and you'll hear an audible beep.

When you come up, please state whether you are living in the city of Rockville or working in the city of Rockwell.

Okay.

So we have several comments.

We've received a lot of comments that are in writing.

I'm gonna move first to the ones that are here and signed up in person, and then we'll go to anyone else who signed up after.

First, Alex Belita.

Please join us at the podium.

Thank you very much, Madam Mayor and members of the council.

Uh I'm Alex Bellita, and I'm a resident of Newmark Commons.

And if you're like me, um, there are all too many days when you probably wake up in a state of rage over what you've read in the news.

And it's unhealthy, as I'm sure you'll agree.

So where do you find some sense of relief?

Well, fortunately for us, we live in Rockville.

And here we have diversity, we have amenities, we have friendliness.

The community of Newmark Commons.

It's a nationally recognized historic property, cited for its architecture, and importantly as a symbol of community planning and development.

So let me ask you this.

Unless you have some personal animus towards Newmark and its residents, why would you allow anyone to take a 9.75-acre wooded plot of land marked by wetlands that is next to us?

And throw up incompatible high rises and flood our streets with more cars and destroy a peaceful oasis.

Let me recall some of the observations that were made from Newmark's historic designation.

It was promoted as a 20th century village that's one foot in the future and a step back to a better time.

Edmund Bennett, the developer said Newmark avoided both the sterile planning and visual pollution of suburbia and the growing pains of the big new towns.

Today we have a diverse group of residents, young and old, a mix of freestanding homes and townhouses, a lake that collects city stormwater, communal spaces, cul-de-sacks, and a renowned tree canopy.

My house, known for some reason as the Nantucket model, doesn't look out over the ocean, but over a terrain of trees and greenery, and it gives me much needed peace in these troubled times.

Newmark has been recognized by the American Institute of Architects and the Urban Land Institute.

It was supported for its historic designation by the Maryland Historic Trust and by the city's own historic district commission.

This is a neighborhood that should be preserved and protected as part of Rockville's heritage.

So let me ask you again, why would you allow any developer to threaten it?

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Next we have Susan Knowles.

Hi, I'm Susan Knowles, a resident of Newmark Commons.

And I'd like to follow on Alex's comments because it seems the Planning Commission is sensitive to the threats by potential development on the Tower Dawson plot next to Newmark.

First of all, let me note that the planning staff did not once mention to the Commission that you expressly directed them to consider RMD infill and other options to replace the original recommendation of RMD 25 for the plot.

We are, however, pleased the commissioners heard our concerns during their work sessions and insisted on replacing some of the concepts staff left out of their recommendations.

Critically, these include the reference to compatibility as a consideration for any new development vis-a-vis an adjacent existing residential neighborhood.

Yet another restored passage notes that despite what staff repeatedly suggested, there is no legal obligation to approve the RMD 25 recommendation in the comprehensive plan.

Finally, the Commission's report reflects testimony from our community that we were not engaged in the comprehensive plan process about this plot until last year, while the developer has been able to work with planning staff since 2015.

An attempt was made by the commissioners to alleviate our extreme concern about a huge increase in traffic through our neighborhood if high rises are built.

This is contained in their footnote about RMD 25 that would lower density on the plot to 10 units an acre if there is any vehicular access through cul-de-sacks like Don Mills Court.

However, that could still open the door to a massive surge in traffic, not just from the 10 acres, but also from towers connected 20 plus acres to the south, and its plan for building hundreds of new townhomes there.

Visualize this.

Any access through Newmark for hundreds of new vehicles would create a parallel route to I-270 from Tower Oaks Boulevard through Newmark and Markwood to the already overburdened and arguably dangerous Falls Road interchange.

As we have said before, we do not oppose the city's desire to create more housing, but we are asking you for two things: no access to Newmark streets from this parcel, and if you cannot preserve the current R90 zoning, then compatible development at most at the RMD infill level.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Welcome, Steve Plotkin, followed by Patricia Rieber.

I'm Steve Plotkin, and like the preceding speakers, I live in Newmark Commons.

I've actually lived there for 52 years.

And I'd like to offer a flashback as a follow-up to Susan Knowles' assessment of our concerns as they stand today.

And no, I won't ask you what you were doing back then.

But I do want to refer to a city document from that year, which also dealt with that pesky 9.75 acre plot of land next to Newmark, whose future you're now tasked with deciding.

In 1984, the city was considering whether to annex it for use as a park and recreation site.

After a careful study by representatives of the planning department, public works, recreation and parks, and community development and housing assistant, the city decided against it.

Their evaluation made these points, and I quote development of the site for residential purposes may be difficult, may be a difficult undertaking, considering its close proximity to I 270 and potential unsacked unsatisfactory living environment.

And I'd add also, it's nowhere near any transit access whatsoever.

Under no circumstances, here's another one.

Under no circumstances should vehicle vehicular access be permitted from this site via the residential neighborhoods to the north.

That is Newmark Commons and Markwood.

And finally, one section contains an unrecorded number of unmarked graves, which must be relocated by any developer.

Mayor and council members, the city didn't want it then as a park.

But maybe you ought to consider this option now, particularly when Tower Dawson puts close to 400 new townhouses on this site on the site, just to the south of this plot.

Surely the residents, residents of that new development deserve some additional green space.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Pat Reber.

Patricia Reber, followed by Michelle Ware Allen.

Hi, thank you.

I'm Pat Reeber.

I am also a resident of Newmark Commons since 1985.

We have considerable number of people behind us, if you wave your signs that are here tonight to observe the proceedings before council.

I'll keep this short as I know you have a long session ahead of you this evening.

Right now, there is no alternative north-south route through Rockville between I-270 and the Rockville Pike.

There seems to have been a good reason, as the city has, for example, consistently resisted the idea of connecting the two segments of East Jefferson.

If I remember correctly, the reasons varied, but included one, the need to protect commerce on the Rockville Pike, and two, the need to protect neighborhoods.

It is clear that two major residential developments are on the horizon for the 10-acre plot adjacent to Newmark Commons and Markwood, and the connected 20-acre wooded plot to the south.

The number of units could exceed 600, all told, maybe up to 700.

If vehicle access is allowed through these 30 acres, and that is tradition in Rockville planning, that the neighborhoods are seamlessly connected.

If this is allowed through these 30 acres from Tower Oaks Boulevard, that is Montrose, through Newmark Commons and Markwood, the city would have created an alternate north-south route through Rockville.

And you can imagine the amount of traffic that would use it.

We're talking about more than the vehicles that would be connected to the homes on these 30 acres.

In one of the recent options offered by the Planning Commission, we are being asked to accept the density of high-rise apartment buildings, which are incompatible with our neighborhood, in order to protect our neighborhood from destruction by heavy traffic.

This seems to be a trade-off that's being offered in one of the uh four acceptable uh changes.

And we feel this is an unacceptable bargain.

Thank you for listening to me.

And think about that north-south route.

Thank you.

Thank you, Michelle Ware Allen.

Followed by Kathleen Kelly.

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

As I was introduced, my name is Michelle Latrice Michelle or Allen.

I'm a seven-year resident in Rockville, and I've spent a lot of time in the city from running a condo in the town center to my home in King Farm to running up and down the pike, getting my kids to Bell Elementary, then Julius West, and finally Richard Montgomery, where two of my daughters have graduated, and my son is now a freshman.

But one of the most rewarding moments that I spent in Rockville was at 5601, Fisher's Lane, where I worked as a federal contractor with the National Institutes of Health, building bioinformatics infrastructure in training at universities in low and middle income countries.

And today, as I'm making a pivot from 15 years of public service in entering the climate tech space, I'm now proudly a startup and incubator at BW Tech.

And we are now state funded to produce an AI research pilot, which is why I'm here.

On April 24th, as a part of DC Climate Week, we will be working with UNBC students to launch a live building energy audit.

It will be a competition, and the students will be validating our software and using a real life case study.

Students who win this competition will continue that work through a pay fellowship program where they receive training, certifications, and coaching with the goal of creating a workforce pipeline of civically minded tech specialists who can not just support clean energy initiatives but also lead them, helping Maryland not just meet its sustainability goals but exceed it.

So I have three ask.

Thank you very much.

Do we have Kathleen Kelly?

Please come up.

And then we have Anusha D.

Greetings.

Thank you so much.

You're a very kind group, I can say that.

So it's my second time here, and I'm grateful to be here again.

The passion that I have in my heart really comes from King Solomon when he wrote without a vision, the people perish.

It's in Proverbs 29.

And I see the Marlowe building, and when I pass by, I think what an opportunity to convert that to be a rehabilitation center with the goodwill next door to it, the police department not far in case we have problems.

Worked in a rescue mission, I know that can happen.

So just this would be again appealing to us to the to you all about making that a useful place for rehabilitation, not just a place to sleep, but a place to get back on their feet where they can have training.

And so I just see them when I see them in the bus stops, when I see them making tents behind the bus stop.

God bless you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Please join us.

Welcome.

Hiya Bowen.

I'm from Sri Lanka.

My name is Anisha Dharmasena, and I live in the city of this beautiful city created by the mayor.

Thank you.

Every opportunity we get in life is an experience for us to become the light that we are meant to be.

And I enjoy living here.

I live in the city.

And my relationship goal should be to meet folks who motivate us to become better and show us the potential we don't see in ourselves.

I live, I love living here and volunteering because I get the opportunity to do just that.

So we make a living by what we get.

We make a life by what we give, said Winston Churchill.

So I look forward to volunteering in the city of Rockville to make this place shine, in which way I can help.

I'm happy to do it.

And I thank you all for working hard to meet the goals of all these people.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Ms.

Diane Fuchs.

Followed by Anna Astrid Molina.

Mayor Ashton, Council members, city staff.

My name is Diane Fuchs.

I live on Carnegie Court in College Gardens.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you about the villages, the village movement in Rockville.

I am an officer of the West Rockville Connects Village Board of Directors, but I do not come here alone.

I speak on behalf of a collective of Rockville Village Leaders.

You are well acquainted with the village movement and the tremendous progress of developing villages in Rockville.

Thank you for your continued support.

Thank you for attending our events, especially the January 10th Village Forum.

When you hired Trish Evans in 2017 to be the first village facilitator, you found a gem.

She is passionate, motivating, and skilled at leading and connecting us with helpful city resources.

The growth of village activity has been remarkable, due in large part to the addition of a part-time assistant to Trish Evans.

West Rockville Connects Village is one example of a developing village.

We have our own website, board of directors, and bylaws.

We recently received 501c3 nonprofit status.

Our village has initiated or participated in over 40 community activities since our first meeting in late 2021.

Each of the activities we initiated took time to plan, prepare for, carry out, and debrief.

We would not have been able to achieve all this without Trisha's help and her leadership and the help of the part-time assistant.

But we're just one of 10 villages in Rockville.

Imagine how much support they all require, particularly the ones just starting up.

And there are Rockville neighborhoods yet to get started.

Without more support, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to maintain Rockville's progress in growing the village movement.

The amount of work it takes to sustain this momentum is not sustainable.

With one full-time staff person and only 20 hours of a part-time assistance time.

Villages, the Rockville villages provide neighbors with a feeling of being connected, protected, and respected.

Thriving communities attract small businesses and corporations.

Investing in the village movement is an investment in the city's economic development, and the city budget should reflect this.

We ask that you modify the proposed FY 2027 operating budget to create a full-time position for the assistant to the village facilitator.

And please add another part-time assistant.

Thank you.

Do we have Anna?

Astrid Molina.

Welcome.

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

My name is Anna Astrid Molina, and I have lived in Markwood for 30 years.

I'm thankful for your time tonight.

While I appreciate all the extensive work on the 2040 plan, I must voice a little bit of disappointment with the process that I have effectively excluded Markwood because we do not have an HOA.

Our voices are missing from the conversations that are deciding the fate of our doorsteps.

The current recommendation for the parcel SORI D17 in planning area 12 reflect the input of the owner and the developer.

Such plan promises compatibility.

A lower density designation, like RD in field, would allow for growth while maintaining the look and feel of Markwood and Newmark Commons.

Because of the nursing home on Potomac Valley Road, we deal with a steady stream of daily vehicle, such as visitors, three shifts of medical personnel, trash removal, and 18-wheelers and other kinds of trucks delivering food, medical supplies, and more.

Most critically, fire engine and ambulances stop on the road at the nursing home two or three times daily.

On the other end, traffic is also affected by Julius West Middle School.

Adding an estimate of 200 plus private vehicles to this specific bottleneck isn't just a traffic inconvenience.

Every second counts for an emergency vehicle, and we cannot afford a great luck.

This density will create.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Welcome Nancy Picard, followed by JD Kumar.

Good evening, Madam Mayor and Mayors of members of council, sorry.

And I just before I did that, I just I think I haven't sat in on community forum for some time.

And I just want to thank you all for this time you're taking to listen to everyone.

There's been really fabulous testimony here tonight.

And of course, I'm partial to all the New Mark Commons.

Um you guys are doing a great job working to preserve your community, but the other heartfelt things, and it's a great space, and I just wanted to share that kind of positive feedback.

Uh with that, I'm going to pivot.

I'm here tonight just to make an announcement as part of our community grant this year.

Um we have some additional funding to go specifically to activities that will support 250 years of history as it's taken place in Rockville and in the county.

Um, for those of you in the audience who maybe have been under a rock, because I'm sure you all know this by now.

Um, it's not just the 250th anniversary of the nation, it's also that for Montgomery County and being the county seat here in Rockville is rather a special year.

So I just wanted to share for a few words about some upcoming things that we have going on.

Um, we are launching a program to commemorate the 250th anniversary with special programming of Rockville 250, our American story.

And together with the Rockville community, the city of Rockville, and our business partners, Peerless Raffle will explore how national themes in American history have unfolded right here in Rockville over the last two and a half centuries.

Rockville 250 will tell the stories of the people and places in Rockville that trace our nation's history.

Join us as we look back to the founding of Montgomery County in 1776 through time to the vibrant diverse community of the 21st century.

Beginning in spring 2026, the historic Redbrook Courthouse will host an illustrated exhibit showcasing 250 years of Rockville's history with additional lectures, tours, and special programs to follow throughout the year.

These will offer residents and visitors opportunities to engage with our local and national heritage, and we hope that you all will take part um in an upcoming events as well.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Welcome, JD Kumar.

What's the clock on?

All right.

City of Rockland, Maryland government, CRMG, thank you for this opportunity.

This open democracy forum.

My name is JD Kumar, Democrat Canada, U.S.

Congress, House of Representatives, Maryland District 8, a long history of humanity.

So 21st century leader, desportamente, you all know.

My background, two undergraduate degrees, international business finance, Spanish language and literature, Mexico History, Culture, Political Political Science Studies, Graduate MBA Studies, Founder, PhD, Union Relational Linguist, also.

My website, vote JDK.com, Twitter, Twitter X at Vote JDK, and at Make Basics Cheap.

So much policy details, etc.

Now, this info, not necessarily for all of you individually or a CRMG.

Please know me, my family are advanced civilization and ancestry lineage, founder investors, founder emeritus of the original American colonies.

Not arrogant statement, but well researched, 1800 years, another 150 years as a British colony.

Well, now not a failed Spanish crown, Christopher Columbus intention, destination, ignorance calling natives here Indians.

Now I pledge allegiance to British America, USA America everywhere, rule of law, rule of law.

I do not pledge allegiance to already seceded to Latin America, Central America, Montgomery County, Maryland government, MCMG.

All their policies, acts, trust acts, ice out acts for the Latin America, Central American illegals undocumented community only to ignorant abuse more and no protections for legal residents and citizens, diminishing non-existence.

This is a problematic callous group, PCMG, they're emboldened.

New abuses this past week.

So this info today from me.

Warning all again, all of you.

They feel they have built this country.

This is the reason for their abuse and false strangers, manipulative abusive lawfare.

FDMAL, FD Mall.

Not so.

It is the India British European Associations for more than 1,950 plus years direct, also, and again, this tech era huge reason for USA wealth.

When will this affect all of you and how?

When Central Americans started coming here in the 80s, USA already top human development index country.

I remind Home Depot not built in a day.

35,000 products in store over a million online decades ago.

USA top economy, approximately 30% global GDP in 80%, 1980, today 22%.

Huge decline due to an ugly, dirty, skanky society, huge decline coming, believe me.

More info, Manifest Destiny Complete, Ocean to Ocean, Coast to Coast.

Not just Ivy universities, but thousands of colleges, other universities, a modern Renaissance society, and more.

Variety of free speech, including Spanish TV.

We already sent a man to the moon, then women further beyond, African American black men and women on the Supreme Court, advanced country, major highway systems built, courts all built, skyscrapers, coast to coast, north and south, also, Latin America, Central America, you did not build this country, Spanish Crown, yes.

Their empire lasted only one 16th century.

All your centuries countries achieved Bolivarian freedom as colonies by 1825, two centuries ago, India 1947, same as State of Israel establishment African colonies during the 1960s, just a few decades ago.

Thank you.

I'm apologize for that.

Thank you.

I appreciate that.

All right.

Is there anyone else who would like to speak?

I see some other folks have joined.

Okay, thank you.

There will be another chance during our public hearing.

I appreciate everyone uh sticking within time frame.

We would love to hear more, but we do have a long night, and we want to make sure that we can also get to our public hearing.

Um, I also want to acknowledge that there are many people who've sent uh feedback and writing.

We've all had a chance to review that and appreciate all the written commentary as well.

We now move on to our consent agenda.

Sorry, hold on.

Oh, hold on one minute.

We may have some virtual second.

Yes, we do.

Okay, perfect.

Uh one by Jackie Shin.

So we have Jackie Shin.

Yes, hello, I'm here.

Can you hear me?

We can hear you very well.

Can we adjust?

Oh, great.

Uh okay.

Please proceed.

Okay.

Good evening, everyone.

Um, my name is Jackie Shin, and I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself to Mayor Ashton, to the members of the council, and to the residents.

I'm sorry that I can't be there in person tonight.

I'm a consultant hired by Peerless Rockville to work on the project, AAPI in Rockville, Chinese immigrants and Chinese Americans.

As you likely know, uh the current population of Rockville is close to 25% Asian, making up the largest racial minority in the city.

Yet the history of Asian settlement in and around the city and the development of these communities over time has not yet been thoroughly studied or documented.

A recent report has laid the groundwork by exploring the history of Asian American settlement in Montgomery County.

But until now, we haven't had a strong sense of why Rockville has drawn so many Asian immigrants and what places and individuals are most important to the history of its Asian communities.

For the first phase of this important work, Peerless Rockville is focusing on the city's Chinese, Chinese American and Taiwanese communities, which formed the largest segment of the Asian population in the city.

The earliest documented Asian individual in Rockville was a Chinese immigrant who operated a laundry across from the courthouse beginning in 1894.

As part of this project, I'm writing a context statement that ranges from the 1890s to the present.

This report is based on intensive archival research as well as on interviews with members of the community.

I identified business and commercial patterns in Rockville, important cultural organizations, community leaders, and property ownership and settlement patterns.

For this first phase, I'm also compiling an annotated bibliography, writing a few blog posts, and giving public presentations.

Peerless Rockville is fortunate to receive operational funding from the city of Rockville, which they leverage into the grants that fund this kind of work.

The grants that are funding this project come from the Maryland Heritage Area Authority and the Miller History Grant from the Maryland Center for History and Culture.

I'm hopeful that continued support from the city will permit Peerless Rockville to leverage more outside grants to continue future phases of this project so that we can more fully understand AAPI history and culture in Rockville and all of its complexity and richness.

As an Asian American myself, I can attest to how meaningful and necessary this kind of work is.

Finally, if anyone in the audience now or perhaps watching the recording is part of Rockville's Chinese, Chinese American or Taiwanese communities and would like to reach me.

Um please do reach out to the staff at Peerless Rockville, and they will give you my contact information.

I would love to hear from you.

And I want to thank you all for your time and support.

Have a good evening.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That exhaust the list of those who've signed up in advance for community forum.

We will also have an opportunity for the budget hearing.

Is there anyone else who was intending to speak for community forum?

Is it for community forum or budget hearing?

Please come on up.

Mr.

James Hedrick.

All right.

Good evening, everybody.

My name is James Hedrick.

I'm the interim executive director for Rockville Housing Enterprises, the public housing authority for the city of Rockville.

I just wanted to come up and speak at community forum tonight because on the consent agenda, you'll see item number three, which is a $30,000 reallocation of funding for Rockville Housing Enterprises youth build program.

If any of you are unfamiliar with the youth build program, it is a program for uh students ages 16 to 24 who are not very well served by traditional school systems.

Uh they come into our program.

I think uh Jeff mentioned a little bit of it uh earlier.

They come into our program, they're able to get their GED, they're able to get their certification for various construction uh jobs, and then they're able to go out and get employment in the community.

Uh they're able to do such a good job that I've hired a couple of them myself at Rockville Housing Enterprises.

If you come to our front desk, Kimberly will greet you and welcome you in.

But um, the new administration has delayed a lot of funding, has refused to give extensions on funding as well, which has caused us to have a gap in our funding.

Um, this 30,000 goes a long way to us being able to do a new cohort uh before the next round of funding is available without having to wait for nine months for old core for the for a new cohort.

So I want to say that I appreciate that.

And the six months that I've been on this job, including this 30,000 for youth build, we have raised over 95,000 for the youth build program from different foundations, including the uh including the Alice and Eugene uh Ford Foundation, uh Bazudo, and a couple of other partners that we have as well.

And uh if anyone from the county is uh watching this right now, we'd appreciate y'all uh getting back to us and letting us know about the application we put in for y'all to be as generous as the city of Rockville has been.

But I did want to come up and say thank you.

We appreciate it.

Uh the Youth Bill program for Rockville Housing Enterprise is a real crown jewel for what we uh what we do at Rockville Housing Enterprises, and I think for the city of Rockville and Montgomery County as a whole.

So I wanted to come up and say thank you and say I appreciate it.

And I will now go and sit in the back and await a vote on item C.

I did also want to mention the very beautiful art will be put up very close to David Skull Apartments, which is also part of Rockville Housing Enterprises, our public housing.

It's going to look very nice over there.

And I would like you to uh all keep your calendars clear for the first or second week in May.

We will be doing a ribbon cutting on David Skull for approximately $900,000 in exterior renovations, including siding, repaving, stairs, uh some roofing that you probably won't be able to see from the ground, but it will look very nice.

But I would like you to all uh you should be getting an email or should have gotten an email this afternoon inviting you all.

So thank you very much.

We appreciate it, and we appreciate the youth build program going forward, and we'll let you guys know when we have a new cohort ready to go.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

All right.

We appreciate everyone participating in community forum.

We will now move on to our consent agenda item.

We have several items.

Uh nine A authorize the city manager to execute the City of Rockville cooperative agreement with Montgomery County Roadrunners for the 2026 Suds and Souls 5K Race and Festival.

Next we have B approval of the public proposed artwork to be installed at David Skull Park and granting the city manager authority to approve the final design in alignment with the community engagement process established for the project.

C reallocation of undistributed FY26 community services and enrichment grant program funds to support Rockville Housing Enterprises Foundation's youth build program.

D award and authorize the city manager to execute a contract with LSG Landscape Architecture of Tysons, Virginia for a negotiated value of $775,000 for Redgate Park Improvements, Concept Design and Construction Administration Administration Services.

And then lastly, E, approval of minutes for the dates of March 2nd, 2026 and March 9th, 2026.

I want to first see if my colleagues have any questions.

Councilmember Valeri.

Yes, I'd like to pull item uh B for further discussion.

Uh do you want to just ask your question?

Councilmember?

Um a lot of my questions are about um and item B uh for the public is the uh public artwork for the David Skull uh park and for that community.

So I'm not opposed, and indeed I really support public art.

Um, and I think that this is a beautiful project.

The artist selection process itself looked solid.

Um a lot of my questions and my concerns were around the community engagement process um that preceded it, specifically whether the right community was actually engaged and whether the upcoming engagement process is actually targeted to the people who live closest to the park.

Um, from the staff report, I was concerned to see that both East Rockville Civic Association and the Lincoln Park Civic Association, which are both wonderful neighborhoods.

I used to live in East Rockville.

Um, they were consulted on this, even though it's an amenity for and is uh a wonderful addition to the David Skull Park community.

Um I really wanted to understand more about the decision making that went uh behind that and whether that is going to be um baked into the the future engagement commitment um and how we could maybe um look at engagement going forward.

So that very long-winded way of asking um the question of of Mr.

City Manager around the engagement.

I just want to make sure that the residents of David Skull are engaged in a meaningful way akin to how the East Rockville and Lincoln Park communities were that are not the recipients of this art.

Thank you, Mr.

Mahalik.

Yep, thank you for the question.

We did do a robust engagement process.

It did indeed include East Rockville neighborhood, Lincoln Park neighborhood, and the David Skull community as well.

Um we also have opportunities as we continue final design and moving forward with the installation of the artwork.

If there's an appetite to further engage David Skull's neighborhood in a more robust way, we're more than happy to do that.

So to that point, and I appreciate it if it's okay, Madam Mayor.

Um I think that that should be the standard, frankly, for any of our public art.

There needs to be meaningful engagement of the community that this is going to live within.

This is very intentionally for the David Skull community.

So while I appreciate you know, wide net, um, you know, I and I understand that over 450 postcards were sent out.

That is well above the number of uh of houses, housing in David Skull.

Um, but still we only got three responses out of that.

So maybe this is an opportunity um to kind of take a step back and look at what our engagement strategy is because I appreciate that both East Rockville and Lincoln Park, again, awesome neighborhoods, but this is particularly for the David Skull community, and I don't it seems they may got it may have gotten lost in this round.

So I'm hopeful that um could would you say that this would be part of future engagement specifically for the David Skull community?

Um just to be clear, um engagement with David Skull was not lost in the process at all.

We did reach out to the community in advance of this solicitation.

We did receive some feedback.

Of course, we would expect to have more from that community, but moving forward, we'll try even harder in the community, and we expect there to be some advanced participation.

Thank you.

Okay, I appreciate that.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Thank you, Councilmember Shaw.

Madam Mayor, I wanted to make a motion.

Thank you.

Please proceed.

Oh, Dr.

Miles.

Some very minor.

I just wanted to be mindful of this project.

I was being Women History Month.

I was excited that it'd be a woman actually working on the project.

That's all.

Looks pretty cool.

Thank you, Dr.

Mouse.

And I believe that it might have well one of the options is to have a illumination via solar.

That's correct.

Yes, which is also pretty cool.

Thank you.

And I see Mr.

Hedrick is here and can see that we would love to have more uh feedback from the David Skull community, and we welcome it.

Thank you.

Councilmember Shaw to move to approve consent agenda items A, B, C, D, and E.

Thank you.

Do we have a second?

Thank you.

It's been seconded by uh Councilmember Jackson.

All those in favor, please raise your hand and say aye.

Excellent.

Thank you all very much.

Okay, so we'll be moving on to our budget public hearing, which is item 10-a, FY2027 budget public hearing number three.

I would like to ask our city clerk's office has this hearing been properly noticed.

Mayor, the hearing has been noticed in both Washington Post and Rockville reports.

Thank you very much.

And I'd like to welcome Daniel Chambers as well as Stacey Webster and Kim Francesco to prepare a brief presentation and then we will hear from the public.

Good evening, Madam Mayor and members of the council.

This is our third public hearing scheduled for the FY27 operating budget and capital improvements program.

There will be one final public hearing three weeks from today on April 13th, which will also be the close of the public record for the budget.

In addition to speaking at these hearings, the public may submit written comments directly to the mayor and council via the city clerk, as well as submit responses to our community budget priorities survey at Rockville MD.gov slash budget.

And again, the public record will remain open through April 13th.

Included in your packets this evening is a summary of all public testimony on the FY27 budget as well as an interim report on the survey, which currently has over 450 responses.

This public was here.

This public hearing was advertised in the Washington Post as well as being posted to the City of Rockville's website, social media accounts, the Channel 11 Bulletin Board, and Rockville Reports.

Again, there will be one final public hearing on this budget three weeks from today on April 13th, with the public record remaining open through the same date.

Thank you very much.

We appreciate all the work for on doing on preparing our budget as well as uh doing community outreach.

I will note that again, uh April 13th, you have another opportunity to testify if you haven't signed up today.

Also, we have a budget survey that's still live and online.

Uh you can just look up City of Rockville survey.

We'll now open up the floor for folks who have signed up in advance, and then we'll go to folks who uh have not yet signed up but would like to speak.

The same comments I made uh during community forum apply.

Please watch the clock in front of you.

Please be respectful.

We look forward to your ideas.

First, we welcome Karen He.

Welcome.

Good evening, Mayor Ashton and the council members.

And it's my great um pleasure to be here today.

And uh first of all, I would like to express my gratitude to uh to receive the funding because uh we are very very, very happy that this will be the second year.

I would explain to you what we have done for the first funding we have received because the uh robotics center has expanded it tremendously.

So the funding has support us to rent another unit so students can work there.

So as this season, students have achieved uh a lot of uh they have done a great job.

They have uh we have 13 teams at advanced to the world championship to represent the whole entire Maryland.

So this is the biggest achievement among the Maryland, uh Virginia, the DC area.

So this is a big achievement.

So as a fund receiver, we don't want to just keep the money, we want to give back to the community.

So I would like to take this opportunity to share with our plan.

So we want to give free classes to students in the in this neighborhood to express to let them to experience what is the STEM, what is the robotics?

Because a lot of kids they are scared of the STEM program, and a lot of families are afraid of the budget because they may not afford to do it.

So we want to open uh free classes to the students in this neighborhood.

So uh students there, uh Rockville residents, we welcome, we will open the door to our center for them to you know to experience our robotics program.

And also we would like to organize a robot robotics day for the city of Rockville, because we have the Science Day with a robotic uh uh Rockville Science Center.

In addition to that, we want to organize a robotics day.

So we want to recruit a lot of the you know robotics teams in this area to showcase the robotics because some teams they can add advantage of the world championship, some team do not do not.

However, each everyone's work is very validated.

So we want to give the opportunity to those students to shine and to uh to showcase their work in the community.

This can um uh inspire a lot of uh young kids.

And also uh we would like to uh we have a goal, we have a dream to let a lot of students to consider robot is like the future, robotics, AI is the future.

So we want them to start at a very young age because when we have students in our center, when they are like 10th grader, they came to our robotic center.

This oh, I do not know anything.

They are very scared because they did not start young enough.

So that's why we want to, you know, uh to reach out a lot of young kids in this community to let them to experience robotics, the science technology in young age.

So that's why uh we are receiving the fund, but within all those projects, you know, ahead, we would uh really appreciate if we can you know still receive some additional funding to support those uh ideas, those projects so that can benefit the merit you know, uh residents very much.

I appreciate your testimony.

Thank you.

Diane Fuchs, followed by Sarah Stewart Chapin.

Is Diane Fuchs here?

Yeah, maybe she's she may be in overflow, so um, I will just call the next three names in case folks are in overflow.

So we have Diane Fuchs followed by Sarah Stewart Chapin, then followed by Eric Bernard.

Okay.

I know that um at least Eric Bernard was out there.

Uh Ms.

Fuchs spoke about uh the villages, I believe.

Uh so if we could add that to the public hearing notes just to take her commentary.

I appreciate that.

Yeah, okay, and then do we have Sarah Stewart Chapin?

Welcome.

Please state your name, whether you live in the city of Rockville.

Uh good evening.

My name is Sarah Chapin.

I work in the city of Rockville.

I'm the managing director of Adventure Theatre MTC here in Montgomery County.

We are the longest-running theater for young audiences in the DMV.

Uh, we reach 30,000 people a year, and we have been active in Rockville since 1998.

I'm here today to request much needed financial support for the local arts community to preserve our community art space in Wintergreen Plaza.

I also represent the Greater Rockville Arts Collective, or Grace, which adventure formed with a dozen other arts groups to share our studio space in Wintergreen Plaza at reasonable rates.

Members include the three resident theater companies, some who are represented here tonight, and other arts and cultural groups, Best Medicine Rep, Vessel Inc., Matuva Dance, Zhangrong Dance, among others.

Our studios at Winter Green are completely booked and busy, as we actors like to say, with classes, camps, and rehearsals.

While the city has dedicated resources to performing venues like the beautiful new Fitzgerald Theater, spaces like our studios and arts community center doesn't exist anywhere else in Montgomery County.

We have been able to fill a need we see from our fellow nonprofits and have also brought new artists and groups to Rockville, making the city a destination for new and diverse arts groups across Maryland, as well as a vital resource for the established resident companies.

It is well documented that access to the arts benefits a community socially, emotionally, and culturally.

Our Adventure Theater Academy Director, Lisa Carrier Baker will tell you more about that in a little bit.

However, investment and arts groups is also immensely financially beneficial to the community.

In a financial impact report created by Theater Washington, the data shows suburban Maryland theaters inject nearly 32 million into the local economy.

And while most of our GRACE members have budgets under 100,000, those nonprofits have a whopping 350% return on investment for every dollar received from government sources.

If GRACE left Rockville, our absence would drain the city's economy of hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, which is a level of magnitude higher than the amount we are requesting tonight.

I was pleased to hear the mayor's state that supporting arts and culture in the city is a priority this evening.

However, leadership at Adventure has been meeting with leaders from the city and across Montgomery County for the last 18 months and have been told time and again that elected officials can't help us.

We've been directed to other nonprofits and have taken that partnership as far as we can, but all of our members are in a similar financial position.

We have a fantastic relationship with the city of Rockville's parks and recreation and have been asked to add programming each year due to demand.

Our summer camps sell out in under 12 hours every year, and we were thrilled to learn from the mayor that her daughter was a camper at one of our camps.

We are clearly valuable to the Rockville community, and to continue this important work, we need your help.

Thank you.

Thank you.

President Bernard.

Welcome.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

I appreciate it.

Um we're thankful to be here before you tonight.

I am Eric Bernard and the president of the Rockville Volunteer Fire Department, and I'm an almost 40-year member.

With me, I have our fire chief Craig Lazar, our Vice President Ian Weston, General Counsel Stan Sawyer, Deputy Chiefs, and board members, Tom Kavanaugh, Tyler March, Nick Pangmeth, Tom Musgrove, Chris Halleck, and Paul Quigley.

And on behalf of our department, we thank you.

Our department represents the both of what Rockville and the County has to offer.

We are here tonight to say simply, thank you.

We thank you for supporting the Rockville Volunteer Fire Department in previous years' budgets, and we ask for your help this year.

Now we're not here to argue that we are any more deserving than anybody else.

Our ROI, I don't think I can show is uh 345%.

I will argue, though, that we are in an industry crisis, not just here in Rockville, but in the country.

Since COVID, um, the uh rapid use of funding in emergency services has caused a consolidation of manufacturers, people make our fire trucks and our ambulances.

The entire U.S.

fire service is struggling to buy fire trucks, fire engines, and ambulance.

Indeed, the New York Times did a huge expose last year, and the research has shown that in the last four years, the cost of a fire truck has increased 68%.

Let me repeat that.

In four years, the cost to buy a fire truck has increased by 68%.

It's the same with ambulances.

Not only is the cost increased, but the time to get a fire truck has gone from a year, 14 months to four and five years.

So the fire engine that we are asking for assistance today, the ambulances that we came to you last year, are going to take two and a half times longer to be received here in Rockville.

A private equity group has taken ownership of a majority of the manufacturers of fire service and equipment.

They reported last year having a $4 billion backload in manufacturing.

Most of our trucks are custom-made by hand.

They are not mass produced.

We're competing with the city of New York, LA, Metro Dade.

We're buying one engine, two aimuses at a time.

They're putting contracts in for 10, 12, 15, and more.

This has gotten the attention of the federal government.

Senators Elizabeth Warren and Jim Banks have recently held hearings on this.

We don't expect the problem to change.

If we just included inflation, the cost of this apparatus is going to exceed our ability to purchase it.

So what are we asking for you is a guaranteed or a regular regular annual revenue to help us to purchase a piece of equipment.

We have other revenue sources.

We're not asking you to buy one entire piece in a single year.

I give you an example.

The previously previous one we bought 10 years ago was half that cost.

So this is where we're at.

That is our need.

We will accept whatever you can do.

We will thankfully take the support that you can give us this year.

If you understand our ask, that's where our numbers come from.

And that's where our need is.

I said their names.

You you know me, you've seen me.

Um my story is not compelling.

The people to my right and my left, their story is compelling.

So I'm gonna ask each one to please briefly introduce yourself and give us something about you that mayor and council may not know.

And I'm just gonna move, we're gonna shuffle down.

Yeah, we have 40 feet back.

I'm Stan Sawyer.

I am the general counsel, Roth the Volunteer Firefox.

Thank you.

I'm a life member joined in 74 group here in the rock.

Right down on Lunch Street.

I'm semi-retired from practice.

I'm still the general counsel for defense contractor.

This is my application for continuing to support the market.

Thank you.

Um nine years, and I live in West End.

Tom Musgrew, uh 59 year member of the department, and um a life member at the department and born, raised, grew up in Rockville.

What a change.

If I can, I know I know our time is up, but I do want to take a moment to A, thank all of you guys for all your continued support uh throughout the years and in many years to come and be remiss if I didn't at least say congratulations, Councilman Van Grack on your recent nuptials.

Please proceed.

It's okay.

Don't worry.

Uh good evening, Ian Weston, vice president, uh member of the department for 10 years and almost 30 in the fire service.

Mark Deputy, I'm the board secretary, life member, uh 45 years.

Uh I'm Tom Cavanall.

I've lived here in the city of Rockville for the last 75 years, been a member for the last 57 years.

So this is our department.

We thank you.

I'm going to call our members to attention.

Hand salute.

Two.

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much for all of your work in your service.

We appreciate you.

Okay.

Next we have Michelle Joseph.

Michelle Joseph.

Followed by Wendy Whitaker.

Okay.

Wendy, I see you're here.

We'll proceed, and then if we can find Michelle, Joseph will allow her to speak after.

Great.

Well, that one's a tough one to follow.

Thank you to all of us.

Amazing group.

Um, but good evening, Mayor and Council members.

My name is Wendy Whitaker.

I'm here representing the Rockville Education Commission.

Uh, as Mayor Ashton uh mentioned earlier last week, our commission hosted a principal's roundtable here in the building.

Um, it was a really great event.

And uh we couldn't have done it without the support from you all.

Many of you attended.

Thank you for that and really made connections with some of our school leaders.

Um, we also couldn't have done it without the city staff that support us on the commission.

Not easy to put on events, but really made it possible and made it a great event.

But most of all, the principals um, I hope it's not a secret, but we have like the best principals in the county.

So being able to spend an evening with both private and public principal uh school principals was amazing.

They are incredibly um engaging and committed to the lives and success of our children.

Very thankful to them.

So the least I can do is highlight for you all some of the important things that they're raising up.

I submitted a full summary of findings to you, but tonight I wanted to come and just highlight a few of the on the ground, on the ground insights from our front lines.

Our principals are seeing significant academic growth and staff stability, but they are sounding an alarm on a widening gap between student needs and city resources.

So let's talk about what's working.

Excuse me.

We heard powerful evidence that peer-to-peer mentoring and the Latino Youth Development Program are transforming the school cultures.

We also heard from school leadership about the value of revitalized safety and prevention models like restorative justice, which are showing promise in building early connections between students and law enforcement.

To support this in your budget considerations, we recommend that you scale proven safety and mentoring.

Ensure the budget allows for expansion of the youth mentoring as well as the Latino Youth Development Program and evidence-based safety and restorative justice programs.

So these resources are accessible in more schools.

Importantly, we heard a call to start the mentoring efforts earlier at the elementary level to build foundations of support before the middle school transition.

And train for relationships.

We appreciate the proposed increase in Rockville City Police Department personnel for a new community engagement officer at Rockville High School.

We recommend earmarking funds to ensure that all school-based officers and roles are trained in restorative justice and relationship building models, scaling the successes we are already seeing at Lakewood and Frost.

Second, we must address the barriers that keep families from accessing existing city resources.

Principals reported that families are doubling up in housing but are too afraid to fill out city forms due to documentation fears.

To bridge the trust gap, we recommend presence to partnership outreach.

So transition city outreach for Rockville Emergency Assistance Program, recreation vouchers to a pop-up model at school events like back to school night and PTA meetings.

We need to meet families where they feel safe to hear the information and resources available to them.

Also consider a navigator, a type of city human services, human services liaison.

Someone who can shake things loose with housing or utility crises in real time, a confidential liaison who can bypass bureaucracy without triggering fears that keep vulnerable families in the shadows.

And close the language and therapy gap.

So we have a critical unmet need for PASH2 language navigators and bilingual therapeutic services.

Our Afghan families in particular need targeted support navigating their transition and learning to utilize city facilities.

Finally, we cannot ignore basic safety.

Principals are requesting the city address cell phone tower and Wi-Fi gaps on campuses to ensure that emergency communication is reliable.

And they are also asking for mobile health clinics and the integration of virtual telehealth visits to bring vision, dental, and diagnostic care directly to families without requiring them to miss a day of work or school.

Mayor and counselor, our principals are asking for a shift from crisis management to sustainable support.

Let's ensure the fiscal year 2027 budget reflects the reality of the hallways our children walk every day.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

I will just note, given the uh importance of this topic that Rockville does not collect information on immigration status.

We do not collect information on immigration status.

You are safe to receive services and support from the city.

Next, welcome Michelle Joseph.

Do we find Michelle?

Okay.

All right.

Rebecca Murphy.

I believe she's uh said that you all are going to represent her from the Human Rights Commission.

Thank you very much.

Um, Rebecca Murphy is uh ill tonight, uh, but the rest of us are here.

Uh, honorable mayor and members of the city council.

The Rockville Human Rights Commission respectfully submits the following budget recommendations for your consideration.

The commission's mandate to advise the mayor and council in matters of human rights, foster mutual understanding among all community members, and work towards the elimination of discrimination requires sustained and strategic investment.

The recommendations outlined below reflect pressing community needs identified through the commission's direct engagement with Rockville residents, and each request is grounded in measurable indicators of demand, documented gaps in existing services, and alignment with the city's stated commitments to equity and inclusion.

We ask that you consider these requests not as isolated line items, but as an integrated framework for strengthening Rockville's capacity to serve all of its residents.

Honorable Madam Major and members of the City Council.

Good evening.

I'm Magda Brown, and uh it is an honor to be here.

So we recommend funding the Latino Council Youth Development Program to support students qualifying for the free and reduced price meals.

Um, something that we know as farms.

So in Rockville, schools, uh schools represent about 30 to 45 percent of students who qualify for this program.

And these are key indicators of systemic barriers to academic and professional success.

Uh targeted support, it's absolutely needed for access, long-term opportunities, and early intervention in these programs, such as this one represents an investment in the city of Rockville's future workforce and housing.

So we really need to tackle this at an early age.

Um, and so while Hispanic individuals make up of 19% of the United States labor force, they remain, they remain underrepresented in higher uh wages, uh occupations, leadership roles, and including in the federal service.

So, according to the civilian labor workforce uh data, it actually shows that Hispanics in general are very underrepresented, and actually, data shows that Hispanic males are even that much more underrepresented.

So it just again tackling this and supporting these youth programs at an early age are an investment for the city of Rockville.

Uh, also recent challenges at Winton High School highlights the need for fortifying these youth support systems.

So thank you so much for your support.

That's number one out of four items.

Thank you.

Nice to see everyone.

I'm Dominic Rosili, the vice chairman of the uh human rights commission.

We are seeking additional funding for Rockville Pride because of several notable changes.

There has been a significant decline in sponsorship this year, which is likely attached to our current political environment.

The reduction is external support, the reduction in external support has created a financial gap that threatens the scale and quality of our event.

Yet the reduction does not change the number of residents we expect to see at this event.

At the same time, operational costs have risen with inflation.

Despite these challenges, community attendance continues to grow, and we aim not only to sustain the event, but to expand and reach inclusivity and impact.

Your additional support will help ensure Rockville Pride remains a vibrant, safe, and acceptable accessible celebration for all.

We have recently heard uh Gabrielle's week third item.

We have recently heard concerns from students in Rockville who are seeking channels for meaningful conversation around the issues they face.

The Rockville HRC used to hold a high school leadership training event every year, typically running from 9 a.m.

to 3 p.m.

on a Saturday.

Um I had the honor of leading some workshops at these events on my first few years in the commission.

Um, and we would like to bring that back kind of, uh, but as an annual two to three hour Rockville Youth Forum with a short advocacy training component at the beginning.

We want to use the council chambers and provide snacks for the students, so very low cost but potentially high impact.

Emily Stevenson, I don't know if I can do this in 37 seconds.

Uh HRC outreach table supplies.

We are requesting funds for outreach table supplies to enhance visibility and engagement at key community gatherings, including Rockville Pride.

These materials are essential to maintaining a high quality professional presence aimed at sustaining and growing the events reach despite reduced sponsorship.

These supplies will also support the relaunch of the Rockville Youth Forum, facilitating meaningful advocacy and training for students.

By investing in these materials, the HRC can provide the resources and environments students need to address critical issues within the community and to enhance pride and sense of belonging.

Thank you to the Human Rights Commission.

Well done.

Appreciate you.

We appreciate both of our commission speaking for today.

Thank you very much.

Okay.

James Hedrick spoke earlier.

I just wanted to see if there was something else.

Okay.

If we could please include the comments of Mr.

James Hedrick and Community Forum for public hearing.

Thank you very much.

Elaine Quebec.

Welcome.

Representing the Rockville Commission on Aging.

Yes.

Good evening, everyone.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, members of the Rockville City Council and Rockville staff.

My name is Elaine Kubek, and I am honored to speak to you as chair of the Rockville Commission on Aging.

Village networks in Rockville are truly beginning to thrive.

What started as grassroots volunteer-led initiatives has grown into a meaningful and impactful system of support for our aging residents.

I need my classes.

That's why.

With that growth, however, comes an increasing need for coordination, structure, and sustainability.

The success we are seeing today makes clear that additional support is no longer optional.

It's really necessary.

Villages are at their core powered by volunteers.

That is one of their greatest strengths.

They reflect neighbors helping neighbors, building trust, and strengthening community bonds.

But volunteer leadership alone cannot keep pace with the administrative and organizational demands of a program that is expanding both in size and impact.

As a commission, we view village programs as essential to our mission.

As a commission, they provide a vital channel to reach residents directly, helping us better understand and respond to the evolving needs of older adults in our city.

Through villages, we are able to enhance communication, deepen engagement, address isolation and loneliness, and ensure that the voices of our aging population are heard and supported.

Rockville is an outstanding city, one that prides itself on connection, support, and engagement.

The village model reflects these values in action.

But to sustain and build on this success, we must invest in the infrastructure behind it.

An additional support person would play a critical role in several areas.

Strengthening communication between villages, the city, and its residents, supporting volunteer coordination and reducing burnout, expanding opportunities for socialization and community engagement, helping address key needs such as transportation, safety, health, isolation, and housing, as well as assisting with the launch and development of new village networks.

This is about more than administration.

It's about enabling connection, ensuring access, and improving the quality of life for our residents.

The Commission on Aging strongly advocates for this very unique investment because we see firsthand the difference these programs make.

We also see the strain that comes with growth without adequate support.

Providing additional staffing would ensure that Rockville Village Networks can continue to expand thoughtfully, serve effectively, and remain sustainable for years to come.

We respectfully ask you consider our position and our strong support for this request.

Together, we can continue to build a Rockville that is rich in community involvement, connection, and care for residents of all ages.

Thank you for your time and for your commitment to our community and to the commission.

Thank you very much.

Next, welcome Kathleen Kelly, followed by Lynn Harris.

I thank the Lord for you.

Just one more scripture to share about my vision that I have for the people that are out on the streets that don't have homes that are not associated with anything.

Is that we're reminded that what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

That's what I'm concerned about.

I'm concerned about the souls that are out there that don't have anybody to care for them.

And a building, as I say, that I know that's vacant at this time, I see as an ideal opportunity to once again take those scriptures, that scripture I just mentioned that was mentioned in the Gospel of Mark.

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

So we have to be concerned about the souls of people that are not attached, that they've somehow gotten detached from society to help them to come back.

So that is a deep concern on the Lord's heart, but on my heart, and many of you I think feel the same way.

So I just want to put that again for you.

This is my third and my last time to appeal to see what you could do for the uh the Marlowe building.

Again, they would have job opportunities next door at the Goodwill.

And again, if there was any difficulties, we'd have the police department not far.

So I make this final last appeal.

Thank you so much.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Welcome, Lynn Harris.

Good evening, Mayor Ashton and members of the Rockville City Council.

My name is Lynn Harris.

I use she, her pronouns, and I am here tonight representing the Interfaith Works Board of Directors to express our deep gratitude for your committed support for Interfaith Works programs and partnership in helping us to serve some of our community's most vulnerable residents.

You know Interfaith Works.

We are a Rockville-based nonprofit who, for the past half century, has served a mission to support our neighbors by providing vital services and a pathway to greater stability.

We serve over 35,000 Montgomery County residents each year, and thousands of Rockville residents who are dealing with homelessness, food insecurity, the threat of eviction, un and underemployment, and other challenges that affect their ability to thrive.

$60,000 for the Interfaith Works Clothing Center, which is a large-scale distribution center for free clothing, co-located with our food pantry and our connections program at the Essential Needs Center located on Twinbrook Parkway.

And $65,000 for the Interfaith Works Women's Center, which is the only year-round shelter for women in Montgomery County.

My colleague Terry Blandon is going to discuss with you some of the specific impacts these programs have, but I wanted to highlight the fact that these programs located here in Rockville are pivotal components of the interconnected web of services that help Interfaith Works serve our overall mission.

Our approach is multifaceted, meeting people where they are as they get what they need.

For example, our clothing center, co-located in the Essential Needs Center with our Food Pantry and Connections program, is often an entry point for residents who have a need, they come to the center to shop for clothing, and in talking with staff and looking around and talking with other residents, they learn about our food pantry.

And perhaps they are also experiencing food insecurity and can take advantage of that resource at that time.

Maybe they are in arrears on rent or utility payments, something that our connections program can help them with with some emergency financial support.

Similarly, our women's program, our women's center, the residents there are working to identify and address the root causes of their housing instability, working with our case managers, our vocational services programs, and others to help them become financially stable through gainful employment.

You will receive a very good return on that investment.

And I strongly and encourage you to include to include that funding in the final version of the budget when you get to that point.

And on a separate note, I wanted to once again express Interfaith Works deep, deep appreciation to this council and Mayor Ashton for your advocacy last fall when our Essential Needs Center was threatened by a potential loss of county grant funding, a loss which would have caused that center to close, and required residents of the city of Rockville who need those services to go to only.

And your effective advocacy ensured that Rockvilleans can continue to receive clothing food essential services in an accessible location.

And I thank you.

Thank you.

Welcome, Terry Blandon.

Followed by Lisa Farhey.

Good evening, Mayor Ashton, City Council members.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify today.

I want to thank you for your steadfast partnership over the years.

Your support helps our organization provide essential programs to assist our neighbors experiencing homelessness and poverty, including many Rockville residents.

We are very grateful for the funding that's included in the City of Rockville's FY27 proposed budget, which we ask you to support.

The proposed funding will provide resources to two important Interfaith Works programs, as Lynn Harris mentioned.

$60,000 for the Interfaith Works Clothing Center, a large scale distribution center, free clothing, and $65,000 for the IW Women's Center, Montgomery County's only year-round emergency shelter program serving all women.

I would like to describe the impact these programs have had on our neighbors, particularly Rockville residents.

The IW Clothing Center, located in Twinbrook, served more than 15,000 people last fiscal year, including nearly 1,200 Rockville residents.

Our support for the Rockville residents, however, goes beyond individuals and families who come into the center to select free clothing and home goods.

Last year, the center distributed new filled backpacks to more than 5,000 young students.

This total includes students attending community schools like Meadow Hall and Twinbrook Elementary.

The IW Clothing Center brought backpacks and winter coats directly to these schools to get them in the hands of students who needed them.

We also provide help to those served at the Avery Road Treatment Center in Rockville.

Avery Road staff come to the center once or twice a month to select clothing for their clients.

And in addition, the pre-release center on Nebel Street sends their clients weekly to select free clothing items and hygiene products.

The IW Women's Center with sites at Taft Court and Krebs Branch serves women experiencing homelessness.

Now these programs served 304 women last fiscal year, including 30 from the city of Rockville.

The Women's Center program provides clients with shelter, meals, and case management services.

Supportive services include vocational training, mental health, physical and legal services to ensure that they can pursue a positive transition to secure housing.

We thank you for the consistent support of programs serving our neighbors, including our neighbors in Rockville.

And working together, we can ensure our neighbors connect with the vital services they need as they seek their pathway to stability.

Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you.

Welcome, Lisa Farhe.

Followed by Lisa Baker.

Hello, Madam Mayor and City Council.

I actually am the co-chair of the Education Commission, and I was very proud and happy about the principal's roundtable because of our attendance and the help that we got, and we kind of upped our game from the first time, which was last year around this time.

I really am here to second everything that Wendy Whitaker said to you very eloquently.

And I wanted to let you know that one of the challenges that we have is that we are not in charge of Montgomery County Public Schools.

We work with them.

And so anything you can do to fund some of what you heard Wendy Whitaker say today would be help us with our bridge from city services to those in charge of Montgomery County Public Schools, and the additional wonderful aspect of this year's principals roundtable is that we had many more private and parochial schools join our group.

So if I just wanted to take my own perspective, and I'll just leave you with this, it's a short moment here, is that mental health was the largest concern across all schools, the pressure that children felt.

So you know, I have to say private and parochial schools use different programs than the Montgomery County public schools use, but the Rockville City Police are trained in a lot of those, and I believe continue to be trained and uh fit themselves in to both of those sort of arenas very well, and we're grateful for that.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Welcome, Lisa Baker.

Hello, my name is Lisa Carrier Baker, and I am the Academy Director for Adventure Theater MTC in Wintergreen Plaza here in Rockville.

In 2019, the Academy was listed in your arts and culture study as an organization that has a quote, long-standing tradition, a valued community member, and is an integral part of the quality and character of life in Rockville.

While we are pleased and proud of that statement made, unfortunately, our time in Rockville may be limited to due to our funding.

2026 is our 75th anniversary, and I could tell you about our countless alumni and teaching artists that have gone on to Broadway and local professional DMV theater careers and all of our Helen Hayes Award winners and nominees.

But I would like to start by telling you about the children we are teaching now and how they benefit from theater arts education.

As a lifelong educator, I can tell you that children today are not like they were pre-2020.

As our teachers can see due to lack of socialization and isolation at that time, we can clearly see children struggling with ADD, ADHD, and anxiety at a much greater rate.

In the current loneliness epidemic, arts education and engagement is linked to reduce that loneliness and form stronger social connections.

Studies show that exposure to the arts at a young age can set children up for success with higher test scores, better soft skill development, and lower dropout rates.

Adults who attend live arts events are nearly twice as likely to report feeling lonely, only rarely compared to non-attendees.

And these habits and benefits begin in childhood.

So many of the issues we currently face can be mitigated by early exposure to the arts and humanities, which is exactly what adventure theater and grace are doing in Rockville.

Investing in local arts groups and helping fund the places we meet and build community is treating the source of issues that persists in our society rather than just treat the damaging symptoms later in life.

We are proud to employ several of our alumni as teaching artists, directors, music directors, choreographers, and administrators.

We are a small business, yes, but our summer camps alone employ 35 staff members, a feat almost unheard of in today's economy.

A venture theater and the art sector at large are an economic driving force for Rockville and the entire region.

And yet, like so many other arts organizations, this supports our programming, but as nonprofits in the current economy, we find it nearly impossible to keep up with rising expenses.

We are here to ask for 75,000 in fiscal year 2027 to save our studios in Wintergreen Plaza.

Thank you for your time, and I appreciate the chance to speak with you this evening.

Thank you.

Welcome Nancy Picard, followed by Jim Gilcrest.

Good evening once again, Mayor Ashton, Council members, Nancy Picard for Peerless Rockville.

I'm here tonight to make an appeal to all of you for increased funding for our community grant.

I'd like to begin first by thanking all of you for your past support and also to recognize the long-standing mutually beneficial partnership between our organization and the city of Rockville.

The relationship has allowed us to serve as a steward and the storyteller for of the city's memories for over 50 years.

And we would like very much to be able to continue to do that.

The current proposed grant of 50,000 is a dramatic funding loss that came as a surprise to the organization, and simply put, is unsustainable for our operations.

I'm looking to you tonight to be a champion for peerless, for history, for diverse voices, for art, for culture, and for the humanities, which are all stated city values.

Please voice your support for the value of our work because each dollar that is invested in Peerless Rockville is a dollar invested in the past, present, and the future of Rockville.

To better enhance your understanding and a value for our work and what we do, we have a lineup of speakers tonight to speak more directly to our work and our achievements.

We know some have questions about why the city invests in Peerless Rockville, and we hope to address some of those questions this evening.

You already heard from Jackie Shin, who is working working to uncover and share Asian American Pacific Islander stories.

Following me this evening and on April 13th, additional board members, staff, and volunteers will share how they are a part of the Peerless Umbrella, and what about our work they most value.

We are prepared to show you how every dollar of this grant is maximized to protect Rockville's heritage, and we are confident you will see that our services are not just beneficial, but irreplaceable.

We not only amplify 50 years of research, collections, and community relationships to deliver place-based heritage services that celebrate Rockville's journey to today's diverse modern city.

But we do it with a very lean staff and conservative fiscal management that keeps overhead very low and multiplies the city's dollars.

Peerless Rockville is navigating a national landscape where federal support for accurate, inclusive history has almost disappeared and has led to steep increased competition for private funding.

Without operational funds that can pay staff, cover rent, printing, and special program development.

We fear we will must trim or even eliminate essential services.

Please consider funding us at 2026 levels.

And that will be a vital investment in Rockville's cultural infrastructure.

We seek a champion tonight who understands that inclusive history is more than a phrase.

It's not a phrase.

It's our all of our shared and collective reality.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Welcome, Jim Gullcrest, followed by Kathy Rogers.

Welcome.

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

Jim Gilchrist who walked over from the Americana Center, resident of Rockville.

I appreciate being here tonight, and I appreciate you holding this hearing on the budget.

And as a new member of the board of Peerless Rockville, I want to thank you for your longstanding support of Peerless Rockville.

You know, in my own tenure here, I have gardened with Peerless Rockville.

I have done house tours, I have moved refrigerators around offices, and uh I'm very impressed and always have been with the relationship between the city of Rockville and Peerless.

I want to thank you all for your long-standing support.

Your longstanding support.

When you look at the website, you'll see a long list of events around the city that between you and Peerless were able to do around the city.

I just want to be very thankful for everything you've done.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

We welcome Kathy Rogers, followed by Rob Margaret Magner.

Good evening, Mayor Ashton and Council members.

My name is Catherine Rogers, and I'm the collections manager at Peerless Rockville.

I'm speaking to you tonight to acquaint you with our collections and the services we provide to the community.

Peerless Rockville has over 15,000 items in our collection.

I'm going to admit that's a rough estimate because collections require a lot of record keeping.

I will speak more on that shortly.

About 10,000 of the items are photographs.

We also have archival documents ranging from the records of local businesses, personal papers from city officials, blueprints of homes and buildings, oral histories of residents, and the archives of some of our little local theater companies.

We have a smaller number of objects related to events and locations in Rockville, such as signs, advertising, housing developments, a voting machine, and models of buildings.

Collections like those of Peerless Rockville serve multiple purposes.

They preserve items and make them available for anyone who wants to learn from them.

We respond to inquiries from people who are writing books, students researching history, city staff, and people researching their family or their home.

The material from the archives are frequently used by our staff to provide our free guided walking tours, self-guided tours, exhibits, and other programming we offer.

Maintaining the archive requires time and materials.

The materials include special folders and boxes to protect the items from deterioration.

Anyone who has ever looked at an old family photo album knows how they fall apart as adhesives fail and pages crumble, and that's how many of our items arrive.

Handling these items requires training to understand the best method for stabilizing and storing the objects.

More significant is the time spent cataloging.

If we don't know what something is, what it represents, and where it is stored, it's not a useful part of the collection.

We also digitize items, both to preserve fragile items so they can be viewed without handling, and increase accessibility as this information can be viewed online.

There is a backlog of items waiting to be fully cataloged and digitized.

We know what we have, but maintaining the archive takes a lot of time.

I do educational programming, design exhibits, give tours, respond to requests for information, do research, help manage our historic properties, and write grants in addition to managing the collections.

We have some wonderful volunteers who assist with this.

And they give us hours every week.

And some have been coming for years.

But honestly, that's a drop in the bucket.

We were once able to have a trained archival assistant for 100 hours as part of a digitization grant.

And that was one of the most productive times I have ever had working at Peerless.

Our volunteers are smart and dedicated, but they are not trained to do everything an archive needs.

You hear from one of our volunteers involved in a special project about how her work is progressing.

The archives of Peerless Rockville are created from donations of Rockville residents who care about the community they live in and want to share their family history, whether the family owned a business, taught school, or just lived here.

Donors will often tell us how special Rockville is and how glad they are that Peerless Rockville is here to help preserve the memories of their community.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Welcome, Margaret Magnet.

Good evening.

Thank you, Mary and Council, for the chance to talk to you briefly.

My name is Margaret Magner, and I live in Rockville.

And I'm here tonight to talk about work I'm currently doing as a volunteer to Peerless for Peerless Rockville.

Digitizing, transcribing, and cataloging oral histories about Rockville in the time immediately following the Brown versus Board of Education decision in 1954.

The Peerless Rockville collection includes dozens of oral history interviews of Rockville residents through the years.

Within that collection is a set of interviews that were taped in 2004 to honor the 50th anniversary of the Brown decision.

In these tapes, African American residents who were young students or teachers, or a school administrator in the 1950s, recall their lived experiences as some of the first people to integrate schools in Rockville in that interim period following the Brown decision.

Hearing these stories teaches the listener about important experience in the history of this area that many of us didn't know about and we didn't learn in school.

As these brave individuals share their oral histories, the listener hears about a time, for example, when the courthouse in Rockville had water fountains and bathrooms labeled whites only, when the buzz was all over town about a new restaurant called the High Boy that opened on North Washington Street, but a black child and his family who went there to try it were told they couldn't come in.

It took sit-ins at the restaurant to change this.

And you can hear the courage that it must have taken in your ear as someone speaks.

It must have taken in 1957 for a young child to leave the school friends and teachers they knew to become one of the few people who looked like them in a sea of white students and teachers at Broom or Julius West or Richard Montgomery.

These voices deserve to be preserved, to be heard and to be made accessible to the public, to scholars, and to Rockville residents.

Peerless Rockville small staff makes this possible by providing the archival materials, the coordination, and the framework for this effort, and making use of volunteers like me to stretch every dollar that they receive.

I volunteer because I feel passionate about preserving these tangible first-person stories that let you experience and feel the resilience of the people who changed our community for the better.

This work is done out of love for our community, and I'm grateful that Peerless provides an umbrella to house and make these important stories available to everyone.

Please fund Peerless to the greatest extent possible in the FY27 budget.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Welcome, Ralph Buckless, followed by Dick Stoner.

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

I'm Ralph Buglis, uh Rockville resident, uh longtime volunteer for uh Peerless Rockville.

I give a number of talks for the organization.

I give uh walking tours of Rockville, and I authored uh this book.

Uh it's uh part of a series that you see all across the country, pictorial histories of various localities.

I first got interested simply by attending Peerless programs.

I think the first one was on uh coincidentally enough, Newmark Commons, part of a series on Rockville's neighborhoods.

I driven by that modern totem pole on Maryland Avenue many times, but confess until attending that program, I had no idea of the uniqueness of that neighborhood.

Same with Lincoln Park through a Peerless program.

I got to know Sharon Duffin, the late unofficial historian of that neighborhood.

You might say it was ultimately a transformative experience working with her to highlight Rockville's Black history in this book.

Of course, Black History, all of a piece of our collective history.

And so I think that shows how Rockville helps to build community and partnerships, and reflective of Peerless in another way being inclusive.

And working on the book, I spent a lot of time in Peerless's office and saw firsthand all that the organization accomplishes with a bare bones staff.

In my career, I actually worked in a number of nonprofits, and I know that people in nonprofits do a lot, certainly for not a lot of money, but I was truly impressed how much the Peerless staff does.

One other thing about the book, I was first approached to do one on our neighbor to the south, Potomac.

But I soon realized that I would much rather do one on Rockville because Peerless has such a vast photo archive.

Potomac doesn't at all.

In this case, and in fact, many others, Peerless and Rockville had it all over the vaunted Potomac.

So in my mind, Peerless Rockville is one of those things that make Rockville what it is, a special place.

You might even say a Peerless place, truly unequaled.

And that, in fact, is how the then town of Rockville was originally marketed and how Peerless got its name.

And now Peerless keeping that history and so much more of the city's history alive.

Thanks very much.

Thank you.

Welcome.

Okay to submit written testimony.

Paraphrase and be a little bit quicker.

I'm Dick Stoner.

I'm a 40-plus-year resident of uh Rockville.

And as you might guess, I'm here to testify on behalf of Peerless and explain more about the volunteer experience here.

I volunteered within the city in my 40 years here in economic development with what's now called Rockville Ready.

And I've spent uh uh a lot of the last 20 years uh volunteering with with Peerless.

Um to summarize it and keep my story short.

In 2008, I was fortunate in retrospect to have been laid off from a corporate position and found myself able to volunteer with Peerless, which at that time was in the throes of trying to save the Chestnut Lodge property.

I assume everyone here knows about the Chestnut Lodge and it being an 1880s hotel that later became uh mental hospital.

Um and of course, it's been lost to fire since that time in 2008.

But um but it was during that period that Peerless worked with the developer to be sure that at least two of the buildings, two of the homes that were built in the earliest early 20th century were preserved.

The prominent Cape Cod that you all see from West Montgomery Avenue, and in fact, every resident driving down West Montgomery sees it, um, was empty and it was unused, but it was intact with most of its 1937 components when we started in 2008.

Peerless was able to convince the developer to donate the cottage on its land and the first hundred thousand dollars to restore it rather than have it torn down.

Another hundred thousand was negotiated by Peerless through the Maryland Historical Trust, and under under Peerless's leadership, a wide group of community volunteers helped with cleaning, exterior clearing, painting, and as part of the restoration, Frieda's Cottage, as you probably know, is now a national historic landmark.

Um, because of its connection to Dr.

Frieda from Reichmann, a woman who came to Chestnut Lodge to escape Nazi Germany and became a world-recognized leader and innovator in the treatment of people with mental disorders.

The home is now rented at an affordable price and can be enjoyed on the outside by all residents of Rockville who visit what's now Chestnut Lodge Park.

Um at least once a year, it's open for the interior tours as well.

Um grants secured by Peerless and Rental Income provide the resources required to preserve the property.

And without Peerless, that property would have fallen into disrepair and probably abandonment and may have become a burden to the city.

So I'm here tonight to bring attention to the good work that Peerless Rockville does.

Which is Peerless, which is a restored, renovated and preserved buildings like Fritas for all residents to enjoy at very little cost to the city, other than the annual grant, which is what I'm asking you to support tonight.

So I ask you to consider maintaining the previous funding levels for Peerless and not accept the budget proposals, a large cut in this year's proposed budget.

As you know, Peerless runs programs at Glenview Mansion in Town Center and online for residents to learn more about Rockville's expansive history going back to the 1800s and before when it was simply known as Hungerford's Tavern and then Montgomery Courthouse.

Peerless provides important services for all residents and works closely with the city's preservation planner to be sure that our city's historic resources are recognized and respected as we move forward.

Thanks for your time.

Welcome, Eileen McGuckian, followed by Paul Hillstrom.

My foot went to sleep.

Good evening.

I'm Eileen McGucky and a longtime supporter and member of Peerless Rockville.

I moved to Rockville in 1966.

I absolutely fell in love with the city.

I worked and volunteered here for more than 50 years, and my heart remains here, even though my address is just south of Montrose Road.

I still keep asking you all to uh annex, yeah.

All right.

Previous mayors and councils have understood the value of Peerless Rockville.

In the 1970s, they cheered when Peerless led the fight to save the Rockville Railroad Station.

In the 1980s, they arranged for Peerless to take off the city's hands.

A little farmhouse they arranged, a little farmhouse once owned by the Dawson family.

Peerless found new owners who were willing to repair and restore it, and everyone rejoiced when all loans were repaid and the house was lived in again.

In the 1990s, Peerless again stepped forward to purchase and save a beloved Rockville landmark, wire hardware store near the Metro station.

At that time of high interest rates and economic uncertainty, a deadbeat Montrose school tenant drained all peerless resources, and the city offered a loan to keep Peerless afloat.

That loan was converted into the initial grant in recognition of Peerless Rockville's great value to the city.

Today we're at a similar juncture of Peerless needing adequate support from the city.

Only in 2026, Peerless Rockville's value to Rockville has been proven over a span of more than 50 years.

So why should the city invest in Peerless Rockville?

Well, Peerless is a resource for Rockville citizens, nonprofits, students, businesses, and city staff.

Peerless Rockville maintains a Rockville Visitor Center in the handsome Red Brick Courthouse.

This service is free and open to the public with maps, brochures, information, exhibits, and more.

Peerless maintains a Rockville history museum, a reference library, and archives, also at no charge.

In addition to the finest staff one can imagine, these two large rooms have files upon files of information about Rockville neighborhoods, events, buildings, churches and synagogues, families, cemeteries, and any Rockville-related topic you can imagine.

Thousands of photographs and documents round out the collections that are used by all ages.

Peerless Rockville provides exemplary programming virtually and in person.

This includes the popular Glenview series, where a huge crowd, including myself, recently enjoyed a Rockville Citizen speak about baseball in Rockville.

Programming for this semi-quin centennial year features features themes that relate to 1776 when we became known as Montgomery Courthouse through the next 250 years.

And of course, they give great tours.

Peerless Rockville maintains three historic properties in Rockville, a 19th-century cemetery, the only historic elementary school still standing, and Rockville's only national historic landmark, Fritos Cottage.

Peerless is also a guardian of Montgomery County's 1891 Red Brick Courthouse.

To drastically cut funding now in the middle of both special programming and a construction project during an uncertain economic time, and to deprive Rockville of using the past to understand the present and help to guide our future would cause major damage all around.

Our history and the physical evidence of that history are major elements of Rockville's arts and culture.

The benefits of today must be allowed sufficient city support to continue into the future.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Welcome.

Paul Hilstrom, followed by J.D.

Kumar.

Hello, good evening.

My name is Paul Hillstrom on behalf of Peerless Rockville.

In my 67 years, I have not ventured far from Rockville.

Currently live in Potomac.

And I know that Rockville is a great place to live, and it's been home to our family real estate business since it opened in 1978 at 15 West Montgomery Avenue.

Currently I serve as a treasurer for Peerless.

I do this because I believe that Peerless brings a wonderful cultural value to Rockville that makes it a recognizable place, not just another example of suburban growth.

So often with growth and expansion, there's a loss of the heart and soul of a city.

Peerless is there to remind us and share why Rockville is special.

As Treasurer, I am keenly aware that this is a very lean organization with a small and amazing administrative staff that serves as a glue that holds together an organization sustained by grants and volunteers.

Everyone is very appreciative that the city of Rockville has helped the organization fund this key administration, administrative function.

But with surprise, but was surprised by the drastic cut in funding proposed for 2027.

In recent years, cuts in the city's grant have already impaired the organization.

And do not come close to meeting the increased cost of professional staffing.

You've heard from other board members and speakers tonight about the scope of work and services offered by Peerless.

And we hope that you will consider revising the proposed funding.

If helpful, I'll be glad to provide financial records that show how we leverage this very small administrative staff into an organization that offers and returns so much to the city.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Welcome, J.D.

Kumara.

Well, this is only three minutes.

Okay.

City of Rockville Maryland Maryland government.

Thank you, J.D.

Kumar, U.S.

Congress Maryland District 8 candidate, vote JDK.com, now budget issues.

Social Democrats want to defund the police.

I agree with many of their policies, but not discrimination, religious, ethnic, and jealous hate methods.

My proposals balance for safety and against new minority majority minority reverse discrimination.

I have a concept called ZCPC, Zero Confinement Policy, College, Policy Coll concept.

I will seek $50 billion from Congress to start with nationwide use to reduce, eliminate confinement over the next many years and decades.

How?

An example.

I want to expend to a plain clothes, diverse by age, background, no weapons, society safety and decency guard.

That will be their specific mission.

Please consider a budget for this, along with Montgomery County, Maryland government and the state of Maryland, a society decency guard, behavior guard, investigate discrimination, other problem behaviors at source, instead of allowing this to fester for years, whereby we have a problematic criminal, false lawfare society requiring military or aggressive traditional weaponized methods.

Research this at source and solve with programs like this.

I built a multibillion dollar industry model, awesome 21st century diversity company from six employees to almost a thousand from a small Montgomery County, Maryland, Rockville, then Potomac office to over 20 countries globally.

My direct and indirect mentor tree of employees are leaders and part of innovative advanced economies, several multi billions of dollars to trillions of dollars valuation companies.

So why do you allow FD Mall, FDMAO, false dangerous manipulative abuse of lawfare against me?

Montgomery County, Maryland government council makes almost 200,000 based on many factors.

Their pay package is over two and a half million dollars.

You can set up a meeting with me and I can explain.

I have been complaining for a while now, a victim of discrimination.

Consider a budget with Montgomery County, Maryland and State of Maryland for a society decency guard.

Investigate businesses and their rogue hate employees, produce and install non-discrimination rights, information poster boards, like employee poster boards at businesses that talk about minimum wage rights.

I have been victimized again by problem Calus Groups, Latin American Central American Illegalism Documented last week.

They should not enter our private areas without credentials during late hours, and also you should have this at local retail locations.

Also now, um you gotta know about TUNS visas of Montgomery County just passed the Trust Act.

Uh look into that, really seriously look into that.

Now let me expand Office of Human Rights here, racial equity and social justice with fees from this.

Now Jurassic Raskin.

If we built a 500 50 people lawyer company, 7.5 million dollars.

Thank you very much.

500 nationwide million dollars for Jurassic Russia.

Thank you to everyone who testified.

We have some virtual testimony as well who I want to honor that time.

Uh, we have Tara Owens and Deborah Moore.

Uh Tara Owens, if you're on the line.

Hi, good evening.

Can you hear me?

Yes, we can hear you.

Good!

Um good evening, Mayor.

I'm honored to speak in strong support of our FY27 funding requests through the community service and enrichment grant program.

Main Street is an inclusive community model that was launched in 2020 in response to lack of housing and social opportunities for community members, which has since become a vibrant hub in Rockville.

As many of you may know, Main Street is three things.

We're an accessible apartment building with 70 units, 75% is affordable, 25% are reserved for adults with disabilities.

We're also a community of over 280 members of people of all abilities and an inclusive employer.

The grant request before you supports one of the most essential aspects of our mission, which is our social mainstays, a series of weekly staff and community facilitated programs that offer safe, affordable, and inclusive social opportunities for adults of all abilities.

These programs help participants build relationships, engage with the community, and grow in confidence and independence.

The social mainstays include community partnerships with many local RAF organizations, um, facilitated discussions on civic engagement, health, and community issues.

We have structured engagements, focused on relationship building and guided conversation, theme community engagement, incorporating arts, culture, music, and collaborative activities.

Providing consistent businesses to the restaurants in the city of Rockville, and also bringing in members of the community who might not otherwise visit the area, are now dining and shopping locally and frequently.

These programs fill a major gap for adults with disabilities.

After leaving the school system, many lose access to their regular social opportunities.

And you know, the best way to understand the impact of this funding is to directly hear from some of the people that it serves.

One of our members, Jesse, recently was capturing the spirit of what we have built at Main Street and stated that there's no judgment here.

Everyone is welcomed, and it helped me feel more open to being myself.

A father of a new member commented that after his son joined as a member this past year, Main Street has been the foundation of his son's community engagement in Rockville Town Center.

Many community members often refer to us and mentioned as the hub, and that is what we are all about, bringing the community together.

And we are so grateful for your time, your support, and your commitment to RACO.

Thank you all.

Thank you.

Would like to welcome Deborah Moore, who's also on the line.

Good evening.

Can you hear me?

Yes, we can.

Good evening, everyone.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak this evening.

Um I my name is Deborah Moore.

I am a proud citizen of the Twin Brook area of Rockville.

And even though I am honored to serve as one of two consumer representatives on the city's Human Services Advisory Commission, uh tonight I'm speaking as a citizen of Rockville who is a person who is advocating for continued robust funding for the caregiving organizations of Rockville.

And um I have to be quite honest and transparent.

It's a little interesting to me that someone who has been a recipient and a blessed one at that of these services is one of the last to speak, but be that as it may, I'm happy to speak.

And I basically uh just want to continue to advocate for the funding of these services.

Usually, when I testify in front of you all, I have prepared written remarks, but I decided tonight to just speak for my heart.

And the first of all, thank you for your history of being fierce and forward in your funding of these caregiving and uh agencies and looking forward to that fierceness and that forwardness to continue.

Um we're living in a climate now where the support of those that are often referred to as the most vulnerable need support more now than ever.

And I chose not to specify any specific area of that support because it is all needed as a beneficiary of these services.

I have benefited from medical services.

I have benefited from services that have given me food security.

I have benefited from services that provide me housing.

And these services need the most robust, the most courageous funding that Rockville is able to give.

Those who know what I'm talking about, you know what I'm talking about.

Uh if you don't, I'll be glad in some other forum to educate you.

But I am very happy to see that as a city that funding is getting closer and closer to that one percent.

Thank you very much.

We appreciate your testimony.

All right, that exhausts the list of those who have signed up in advance.

Uh, is there anyone else who would like to speak from the room?

Okay.

I also want to acknowledge again the written comments that folks have sent forward.

Uh, thank you to our commission, commission uh testimonies, our uh many nonprofit organizations for the work that you're doing, and all the residents who have spoken today.

We appreciate all of your feedback.

And we will be having a dedicated work session to discuss them.

Uh again, this is not the last public hearing.

We'll have another one on April 13th.

I want to turn it back to our finance team to see if you have any additional remarks.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you very much.

You can always fill out that budget survey as well.

Come join us on April 13th in person.

Uh, we look forward to hearing from you.

We're gonna take a very brief break.

Uh

Good evening, Rockville, welcome back.

Today is still March 23rd, 2026, and we're reconvening meeting 7-26.

We just completed our public hearing, and we'll now be moving into our work session number two.

I'd like to welcome Kim Francisco and Stacey Webster.

We'll be focusing on operating expenditures and grants.

Welcome.

Thank you.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, members of the council.

This is the mayor and council's second budget work session related to the FY 2027 proposed operating budget and capital improvements program.

During this work session, we will review the revised fee schedule based on the discussion during the first work session and cover operating expenditures, including proposed allocations for the community service and enrichment grants.

Many of the items we will discuss tonight might seem familiar from the last work session, but tonight they're organized by department rather than by guiding principle.

The objectives of the work session are to finalize the fee schedule, discuss the proposed funding allocations, and obtain direction from the mayor and council on any requested adjustments to the operating budget.

At the final work session on April 13th, we will review the capital improvements program budget along with final balancing of operating changes between the proposed and adopted budgets.

The more specific direction you can give us tonight on the operating items, the more efficient we can be with that final balancing activity on April 13th.

Before Ms.

Francisco gets into the bulk of the work session with the operating budget, I'd like to address the development and regulatory fee revisions as a follow-up from the last work session.

The revised fee schedule was prepared in response to concerns raised during the first work session on March 9th.

The modifications maintain progress toward aligning fees with actual service delivery costs while providing a more grant gradual transition for stakeholders.

On March 13th, the mayor and council received additional fee details, including percentage increases and jurisdictional comparisons.

A full listing of fees recommended for revision is also included with this report as attachment two, which starts on packet page 387.

As a reminder, the city has established financial management policies related to regulatory fee compliance.

These policies state that despite having a cost recovery goal of 100%, fees could be established below this policy goal for reasons such as benchmarking surrounding communities, the ability of the community to pay, and the level of compliance with regulations.

Based on recent permit activity levels, we estimate that the revised fee schedule will generate approximately 685,000 less annually than the cost recovery model originally proposed on March 9th.

Meaning that the revenues in the proposed budget exceeded the expenditures, and the fact that we are recognizing additional tax duplication revenue of approximately 318,000 that was made known only after the proposed budget was prepared.

The jurisdictions used in the fee analysis included Montgomery County, Frederick County, Frederick City, and the city of Gaithersburg.

It's also important to note that not all the fees can be compared on an apple to apple basis.

Future studies could include other geographical areas, and staff will consider developing a pure cities list that could be used for benchmarking comparisons for things like fee surveys, ordinance updates, and salary and benefits research.

Moving forward into future fiscal years, we'll evaluate the need for fee adjustments as part of the annual budget development process.

This analysis will include a review of inflationary trends, cost of service considerations, market comparisons, and cost recovery goals.

We'll also consider policy objectives, including maintaining affordability, supporting economic development, and ensuring that fees remain predictable and reasonable for residents and businesses.

Rather than establishing an escalation schedule that's fixed, we recommend we might recommend phased or capped increases to avoid significant year over year impacts.

This approach allows for us to respond to changing economic conditions, aligned fees with actual service costs over time, and balance revenue needs with community impact.

Now, before I end the fee section, I'd like to thank the budget team and the departments of public works and CPDS for their timely analysis and revisions of the fee schedule from March 9th.

Their teamwork and collaboration was outstanding on this project.

Now I will turn the presentation over to my colleague for a review of the operating budget highlights.

Thank you.

Can I just check with you?

Um are you going to do the whole presentation or would you like to get some feedback throughout?

We would like to get through the operating departments, and then we'll we'll pause before we transition into grants.

Okay.

Please note we'll request you to go back to the slides just so you have a heads up.

Thank you.

Okay.

So we will transition into taking a focused look at operating expenditures.

Okay, there are nine categories of expenditures that make up our budget.

These total 185.3 million for FY 2027, an increase of 7.1% from FY 2026.

Personnel is the largest expenditure category category citywide, totaling 90.3 million or 48.7% of the operating budget.

Operating expenditures total 34.3 million or 18.5% of the operating budget.

Commodities and contract services make up this category of expenditures.

Other expenditures is the third largest expenditure type citywide, totaling 23.5 million or 12.7% of the budget.

This is the category that includes depreciation within the enterprise funds and grant expenditures within the city within the general fund.

The CIP transfer is made solely from the general fund and represents the pay goal portion of taxpayer supported capital projects.

This expenditure is budgeted to increase by 2.5 million up to 12.3 million for fiscal year 2027, a demonstration of the city's commitment to maintaining and enhancing its capital assets and infrastructure.

Capital outlay, administrative fees, principal and interest categories collectively comprise 19.1 million or 10.3% of the citywide operating budget.

The city's total regular staffing level show an increase of 6.8 regular full-time equivalent positions from the FY 2026 budget to the FY2027 budget.

The table on this slide details the added regular FTEs by fund and by department.

In addition to the new positions shown, the emergency manager moved to the police department from the city manager's office.

Citywide expenditures by department are shown in this graphic.

Internal service departments are grouped together and include the city attorney's office, communications and community engagement, finance, human resources, information technology, and procurement departments.

I will take us through each department slide.

We have 13 departments to get through, and we have a discussion on grant allocations.

These slides present highlights and are not intended to be an all-encompassing narrative of every activity underway or every service performed.

Many of these highlights were also noted in our first work session on strategic initiatives.

Major changes to the expenditure budget include increases for one-time costs associated with the November 2027 election, the majority of which is postage.

The mayor and council will continue to evaluate annexation opportunities in the coming year, and we'll review Chapter 18 of the city code on rental facilities and landlord tenant relations.

The city clerk and director of council operations office will be implementing approved changes to the city's election code, and we'll be making preparations for the next election.

The Office of the City Attorney has a proposed FY27 expenditure budget of $2 million.

Major changes to the expenditure budget include increases for an additional $1.0 FTE assistant city attorney and for software associated with MPIA and legal file management.

The department will continue to provide legal support to help advance city priorities, support revisions to the city code, and execute contracts and agreements.

The city manager's office has a proposed FY27 expenditure budget of $4.4 million.

Major changes to the expenditure budget include decreases associated with the relocation of the emergency management functions to the police department and decreases for MPIA management software that move to the city attorney's office.

These decreases are offset by an increase in funding for Rockville Economic Development Inc.

Looking ahead into FY2027, the department anticipates finalizing the Jedi Strategic Plan and the Economic Development Strategic Plan.

The department will continue to advocate for mayor and council legislative priorities, support the Rockville Volunteer Fire Department and their planned relocation, and implement the pilot private mural development incentive grant program.

The department will also work collaboratively with IT, recreation and parks, and public works on the deployment of the asset management and customer relations management software.

The communications and community engagement department has a proposed FY27 expenditure budget of $2.9 million.

The only significant change to the expenditure budget is for copy releases.

Highlights for the department include efforts around community engagement, wayfinding signage using the city's new brand, development of the city's mobile app, and neighborhood connect events.

Community Planning and Development Services has a proposed FY27 budget of $8.9 million.

The significant changes to the expenditure budget include funding for the new senior enhancement codes inspector and increased for planning and permitting software.

Highlights for the department include continued efforts around annexation opportunities, updates to two neighborhood plans, launching a next day residential inspection program, and implementation of the new zoning ordinance.

The finance department has a proposed FY27 budget of $4.1 million.

The significant changes to the budget include funding for software that supports AMI deployment and budget and financial reporting software.

Looking ahead to FY2027, the finance department will collaborate with public works and engage a consultant on the next water and sewer cost of service study.

In addition, the department will assist in performing financial analysis for any potential annexations, lend support with the AMI deployment, and with housing strategies.

The department also looks forward to launching the city's first financial transparency portal.

The Department of Housing and Community Development has a proposed FY27 expenditure budget of $5.4 million.

The significant changes include increases for community services and enrichment grant awards and increases for REAP.

Rockville Emergency Assistance.

Expanded use of the OPO8 settlement funds are also included in the HCD budget.

FY27 highlights for the department include code revisions on MPDUs, implementation of housing strategies that previously came before the elected body, continued provision of human services, financial empowerment, and emergency services for those in need.

Significant changes include increases for AED replacements, organizational development, and employee benefits management software.

Highlights for the department include efforts around employee training, plan process modifications for onboarding and performance evaluations, employee wellness and recognition events, and collaborating on public claim features within the new customer relations management system.

The information technology department has a proposed budget of $8.8 million.

Major changes include added costs for year two of the planned CCTV upgrades, and increases for software contractual services, including additional cloud storage.

These increases are partially offset by decreases for telecommunications software maintenance.

Looking ahead to FY27, the department plans to complete the CCTV upgrades, implement the asset management and customer relations management solutions, and collaborate with departments on opportunities for AI pilots and process automation.

The police department has a proposed FY27 budget of $18.6 million.

The significant changes to the expenditure budget include increases for three new FTE positions, the transferred emergency management costs from the city manager's office, increases for revenue supported overtime, coupled with decreases for mental health contract services.

FY2027 highlights for the department include deploying a new street crime special unit, providing a community engagement officer to Rockville High School, and efforts aligned around community engagement and public education.

The procurement department has a proposed budget of 1.8 million.

The only significant changes for temporary personnel funding to help the department accelerate key projects.

Procurement looks to continue implementation of their strategic plan, enhance the MFDV program, and implement a vendor self-service solution to help streamline processes for vendors who work with the city.

The Department of Public Works has a proposed FY27 expenditure budget of 42.9 million.

The significant changes associated are associated, I'm sorry, with uh vehicle and equipment replacements.

This is a schedule that varies by year, and projected increases for electricity costs and vehicle leases.

The department will manage a range of construction projects in fiscal year 2027, continue implementation of multiple plans, and install new signage within town center as part of the wayfinding initiative.

The recreation and parks department has a proposed budget of 32.8 million.

The significant changes include an additional 0.8 FTE preschool teacher, costs associated with the new $18 per hour minimum wage, operating and personnel costs for expanded programming and one-time funding of a school pathway lighting feasibility study and expanded community gardens.

The department will manage a range of construction projects in fiscal year 2027, begin a parks recycling program, install security features for park pavilions and bathrooms, and coordinate a range of special events, including activities to commemorate the nation's 250th anniversary.

The non-departmental expenditures represent a significant portion of the budget and includes items that are not tied to a specific department.

This includes debt service, transfers between funds, depreciation, and citywide insurance policies.

Now, before we move on to grants, I wanted to pause to take any questions on the operating items we've covered so far.

Thank you.

Can we go back to the top on the slides and then we can move through?

I know that my colleagues have several comments on fees, so can we we can go there?

Dr.

Miles.

I will go down the line.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Thank you, uh staff uh for the presentation so far.

Thanks also for answering the litany of questions I and my colleagues sent that are posted online.

So I won't belabor the point, but with uh regard to fee well uh first off, I just want to also thank y'all for including a summary of the oral testimony.

I think this package page 114 of the budget or from the previous uh public hearing that was super helpful to consolidate and remind me of things that I may have missed in real time at the time.

Uh, thank you for also um taking feedback with regard to the fees.

I'm I I think this is a reasonable start, and um I I'm hopeful that the concerns raised by um me and some of the colleagues with regard to the impact that the increase in fees may have on stifling development.

Hopefully, hopefully those will be addressed.

Uh and I'm I'm also thankful or am happy to understand or realize that you all figure out ways to make it work financially.

Um that's all I have.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Councilmember Fulton.

Um I agree with my colleague.

Thank you for hearing us and uh some of the testimony last time around, making adjustments and making it work financially.

I'm comfortable with where we landed.

I mean, I will say it is true that this this body really wants to not stifle development and and that's a priority we have.

Um I also don't think I've ever heard from residents that they want to subsidize developers, right?

Like that that's a that's a that's a step too far.

So I don't want to be overcompensating because that is what ends up happening here if we're not paying like cost recovery fees.

Uh so I I appreciate your thoughtfulness and trying to walk that line, and I think you landed in a good place.

Thanks.

Thank you, Councilmember Larry.

Yeah, I have a couple of questions.

Um, ditto to everything that my colleagues said, as well as thank you for my extensive litany of questions.

Um, I know it was a lot, but um, I appreciate uh the the intel.

So my first question is around the water and sewer authorization application fee.

It represents in the proposed the new, the revised proposed uh increase of over 1,000 percent, and was wondering what would the cost recovery basis was for that application fee.

It seems to still be an outlier.

Anybody?

Okay.

Thank you.

I'm I'm happy and I'm happy to follow up too with just my quick one based on the revised that was put out.

Similar to that is the stormwater alternative in lieu fees.

It's an increase of 132%.

And I'm again I'm curious about the cost recovery basis on that as well.

I think these are just a few that like that specific analysis wasn't included in the revised um agenda packet.

So I just want to put a we need to just put a pin in that one as well.

I'm I'm cool with that.

Um I'll just go down the line.

Two more, and I'll be brief.

Um preliminary sediment control plan review, um, an increase of 871%.

Um it went down a a bit, but it's still nearly 10 uh times the current fee, and it's something that um more likely home builders will feel that that impact um and did not see uh cost recovery analysis on that.

And then the last one I think which will I think really impact uh homeowners in particular um and still puts us ahead of um more expensive than uh Montgomery County is the fence slash small accessory structure fee.

Uh it was proposed for an increase from 40 to 100, so an increase of 150 percent rather.

Um, and Montgomery County currently charges 78 dollars for this.

And I know that you mentioned that you don't like a phased in approach, but I would be um I would just be curious if that's something that we could consider seeing as that's a significant jump for something that people um uh single family home owners or or people that rent out those homes would be bearing the brunt of.

So those are my my top ones.

I can email those as well.

Um, but honestly, my concerns really just it might just be an oversight.

It doesn't really matter how we got there, but I just didn't see the cost recovery basis like I saw for other things.

So we'll we'll add that to the um question and answer portal if that's okay with everybody.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Um I just want to say thank you for uh taking I I know I raised this whole issue about how much we're increasing fees, and I did so in the sense that we have established two priority goals among others, but economic development opportunity and housing.

And I just feel in the landscape of where we are with increasing tariffs and affordability concerns as well as um you know a lot of uncertainty.

I didn't feel like some of the increases, this was the the year to do it.

Also recognizing that we increased fees in 2023 and in 2025.

Last year, we increased we added five new positions and increased fees and our budget uh with the idea that that would support permitting and licensing.

So I I just I have I'm cautious on this one because I think it could send the wrong signal.

Um I do appreciate the adjustments that have been made.

Um however, in general, um I also recognize that every fee that's increased, there's an additional automation fee on top of that, which is over 10 percent.

Umgomery County got rid of that fee.

Gaitersburg still has it.

Um, but I just that is as we increase these fees, we also still have that.

And so that that does increase the overall cost, and I'm concerned about the signal that it sends.

In general, I'm supportive of increasing the fees with CPI to keep up with inflation or phasing them in, but I'm not comfortable with double digit increases for generally any of them.

Uh so that is a general comment.

I know I've made it last time we met, and I I stick with that.

Um, there are some fees that you know, 800, you know, going from 100 to over 1000.

Um, that's just a big big time increase.

Uh, and then others that have 150% increases.

Uh so I in general, um, I would like to see them below double digits and when possible to align with CPI so that we're not sending the wrong signal.

Um I know that we're getting some additional tax duplication money this year.

Hopefully that can help, but I I just generally think this is still a concern.

So we're getting closer, but for me, still need to look at the message that we're sending to the public.

That's my general commentary.

Thank you.

Oh, and I also appreciate keeping the green fleas almost flat.

Councilmember Jackson.

Thank you, Mayor.

I'll be brief.

I associate myself basically with the comments my colleagues have made, but especially with uh uh cons council member uh Fulton, uh, you know, we don't need to be uh subsidizing uh developers.

And I think this represents a good um uh attempt to uh do cost recovery, but with an eye towards you know how much we uh end up charging.

So I uh I thank you all for taking all our comments into uh account coming back with um this uh fee schedule.

I think it represents a good fair um uh fair fair effort uh by uh staff to take this into account and recognize in the time that we're in um where you know yes cost recovery is important, but I mean we're going through a time where developers and other people have uh increased tariffs and uh inflation and everything else.

So I think that's a is a good compromise.

The one thing uh that I just have a question on, and uh you guys kind of um uh touched on it before, but um will you be phasing this in over time?

Because I mean the original um uh fee estimates that I saw were what you had anticipated and what your uh consultant said was um uh a a cost recovery uh effort.

So will you be phasing this in over time?

You can come back to the council, or um this is um uh the baseline going forward.

I I think we are we are now facing it in based on the feedback we received from council.

Um every time we uh will make a recommendation on any of these fees, we'll we will show you the cost recovery number.

That's what council member was asking.

We'll always try to get you there, but we also understand if we have to phase into that like this year, we'll continue to do that.

We understand the philosophy.

Just just to add to that answer, we'll look at things like the inflationary trends, the cost of service consideration, how much it costs on our ends, any other market comparison changes, and um like the city manager mentioned the cost recovery goals.

All that goes into it.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Shaw.

Um I want to echo my colleagues.

I greatly appreciate a very thorough review.

Um and what you came up with, and it's it's a compromise approach.

Um, I did want to ask for the zoning ordinance waiver requests.

This is under miscellaneous.

Is this a common request that you get?

I'm just curious.

It's very rare actually that we get that zoning ordinance waiver request.

Okay.

All right, thank you.

Councilman Van Greck.

Um much like uh what some of my colleagues have said, thank you so much.

Uh, this is really what we look for.

And I know that when I was talking to some of the organizations, developer organizations who had concerns, one of the major concerns they had was not necessarily about the spot individual fees, but some of those broad fees like the per square footage fees, which could combound compound dramatically.

When looking through what you put together, that's where you focus most of the reductions.

So that that wouldn't necessarily be a massive increase to someone looking to do a large development.

But instead, it seems like some of the ones they didn't reduce as much would be spot fees that would be individualized that seems, and I know that some of the data wasn't there that probably was cost recovery because it's a one-time necessarily fee, but when you have these scales that could dramatically increase, we see that uh uh even some of the first two items that were close to a hundred percent increase, we've reduced it down to twenty-five.

And some of those large-scale development problems that I know I heard immediately when this came out was problematic.

You addressed it.

I think what you the staff has done looking at this as a whole was tremendous.

I think it was a really good compromise to say where can we reduce the fees so it wouldn't be as problematic while also knowing that there's some type of cost recovery that the city needs to address.

So I don't really have any questions, it's more complimentary about um appreciative of the staff, and I know the work and the detail that came into it because you got um a lot of feedback from the mayor and council.

So it's more just thank you so much for working on it.

Thank you.

Can I ask a couple quick questions?

Because my colleagues may think of something, and I'll just see if anyone else has a follow-up.

Um do you have a sense of I I saw you lowered some of the fees, but um are we doing things that will help support small businesses?

So are any of the fees that as you look at this will impact small because we small businesses do generate jobs and we need more jobs.

So I just wanted to have them look at that.

And um I I also had a specific question about um the water uh and sewer application authorization fee.

That one was an increase of a thousand percent still.

So I just want to better understand some of these larger increases.

So Cameron, let us so add those to the same list with Councilmember Valeria, and we'll provide you with a more detailed answer to those two questions.

Okay, thank you.

And um Montgomery County got rid of their automation fee, which is most people assume that you are doing things in a more automated fashion.

Um is there a philosophy that staff has on that going forward?

Is it a particular time to pay for a software?

Are you gonna phase it out over time?

If you could just give us a sense of your philosophy.

The philosophy around the automation fee is that it's intended to help the city um provide more online uh self-service type of opportunities for permitting and licensing.

Um, in addition, it also covers things like credit card fees, and oftentimes there are other organizations organizations or jurisdictions that will apply a credit card surcharge or a processing fee.

This is this is covering that as well.

So that's not something that we're charging anyone who is choosing to like pay by credit card or transact online for added efficiencies.

So it's dealing with the software and that that platform, but also those credit card processing fees.

Okay, so credit card fees are about three percent, our fee is 10.25%.

So just assuming that the technology that we're using is costing us about seven percent.

That would be that would be the gap.

Okay.

Thank you.

Any other final questions on this?

Okay.

And I will just note I know there was a comment by about uh housing and development.

It gets passed on to whoever's buying or renting in the future, probably you know, more than likely.

So it does also impact the resident.

Thank you.

Are there any particular departments that the mayor and council wants to ask questions about?

I could just go directly to those.

Let's just flash through and I'll say does anyone have questions, and then we'll start with Councilmember Fulton.

Oh, yeah, okay.

But let's I think this overall slide is good.

Let's move on from that one.

Mayor and council.

I'll give you the first opportunity if you have any questions about mayor and council.

Sorry.

Oh, do you want to was Mayor and Council before this?

Oh, sorry, it's okay, no worries.

Yeah, we'll get rid of it.

He says defund it.

I don't have any questions on this.

All make sense to me.

Thank you.

Nothing on this one.

Okay, I have just a few quick questions.

Um boards and commissions.

We received commentary from boards and commissions.

Would that go under DCO or uh mayor and council?

Each board and commission um is managed by a different department within the city, and so those departments provide that respective board or commission with the resources that they need.

Okay.

I will note that um, since I don't I don't know which department each one is in, but um, I have a sense what the staff liaison is on, but that would be a lot of parsing out.

But I'll just say in general, we've heard some feedback from HRC uh and the education commission.

So I just I wanted to flag those and and listening to the testimony from them.

Uh, some commissions have a little bit of a budget and some don't.

So um, but I will say that um the education commission is you know, use funds from the city clerk's office this year to get things done.

Uh, and just want to make sure that we're being fair with commission.

So that's just a broad comment um for me.

And um some of the the HRC one, I guess I can address that one during Wreck and Parks.

Um the other thing that comes from our strategic priorities, and you may have this under planning is the Rockville Pike Plan and the East Rockville Pike Plan that will be under planning.

Excellent.

Okay, because you have um landlord tenant here, so I just wanted to make sure that we're considering the difference.

All right.

Next questions on city attorney.

Councilman Roller, you have the first opportunity.

Okay, okay, next city manager's office.

Uh mine are very brief.

Uh the arts plan is something that has come up on the Culture Arts Commission.

Uh, I know that we did a 2019 study and called for an arts plan.

I know that there may not be a consultant budget for it, but I'm assuming that you will be working on that this year.

That's correct.

Okay, thank you.

And then we last budget talked about the CRM for customer relations when people are emailing us or things that are coming in through the report of concern.

Is there additional funding needed there?

Are you implementing that this year?

What is the status?

Um no additional funding is needed that's being um handled on the CIP side, and that is um in the works.

Okay, thank you.

Anyone else?

Councilman Van Greg.

Uh thank you.

Uh I guess this question is for the city manager.

Um I know that when we were talking about economic development um when the pre presentation was here there, and addressing some of the questions, one of the things we were talking about was infrastructure development, kind of beautifying the city.

I know the mayor, um, councilman Valerie, councilmember Jackson have really been great about talking about the wayfinding and really focusing on.

I know we've got that in the budget, but when hearing from Ms.

Vivardi um Rivardi and talking about what really would be good, there's really an expansive need for it.

I know that the city obviously can't afford just to do everything in beautify Rockville.

Piggy pigging back to what you had said when we had that conversation with regard to how we might start the process of integrating some of the wayfinding that I know um the mayor has talked about and we've got in the budget.

Is there something within the city manager's budget?

Because I know that we're increasing some of the funds to the city manager's office with regard to economic development.

Is there some way that we can integrate kind of the start of that process through some type of either plan, process, or support that might be able to be funded for the city manager's office?

And if we did, how would that look in what we could do within the budget?

So let me back up just a little bit.

It is a little surprising to me how much our community really has um share with how much they really appreciate all the um placemaking was what I would call it categorically in around the city, whether it's the murals or the signage on the bridge, etc.

etc.

Some of our art projects.

Um to your point though, I think we need to take a more long-range citywide look at it, whether it's entrance corridors, underutilized pieces of property, things of that nature to really create not only a theme, but also what is the right piece of um placemaking given the location.

That could be art, it could be signage, it could be lighting, it could be landscaping, could include monumentation, all those things put together.

So that's a long way of saying we need a master plan.

And I would call it a beautification plan more than anything else.

Um I would we would I would use a team like I do with a lot of things to manage that whole initiative.

It does make sense to have it in my office just so I can kind of oversee it broadly, but I also think we need consultant studies because it needs a lot of graphics with it.

If you're gonna do something in this space, I would add money to the budget this year.

It's not being contemplated right now, and I think it's probably along the lines of a hundred thousand dollars to develop that plan over the next year.

So then I've got two follow-ups.

Number one, is this the same type of plan that I know that you, me and uh ready was talking about when we were talking about economic development?

That's correct.

Okay, and number two, if we were to do that, is that gonna have a significant impact?

Is that something that we could afford?

Are we gonna lose money otherwise?

I just want to make sure that we're not making an impact, and this is something that you foresee is affordability within the current budget within your office.

It's it's a it's a go ahead.

As part of the next work session, we will go through a balancing just like we did last year.

Um right now we are have some general fund capacity of about 275,000.

We still need to do uh a final personnel balancing and take into consideration any other feedback received here this evening.

Well, I mean, uh to that extent, Madam Mayor, to the extent we could have even just a straw poll to see if this is something that we could at least see as part of the balancing effort um through the city manager's office.

I I think I have under city manager.

Okay.

Uh thank you.

Yes, can I ask a question?

We did fund some signage and wayfinding uh in the FY26 budget.

Can you just for the listening public describe what you have done with that money?

I think we had something in the in the QA on that.

Um all of all of the wayfinding um is funded.

The installation is expected to happen in FY27.

I'll I'll also add I would include neighborhood signage as part of the that um as well.

Um phase one, we're doing right now, phase two is part of this budget.

Thank you.

And then the art plan that you have, an economic development plan, will they also include sections on placemaking as a way for art and economic development?

I would say they're all interrelated here.

I'm not trying to avoid the question.

Okay, they should all be connected.

Thank you.

I'm just trying to understand to what extent we're paying a consultant and then another consultant.

No, the consultant main would be for the graphics portion of it.

Okay, thank you.

I will also note that the city did a wayfinding study before.

I know some people have a long history with that, and then uh it didn't quite produce exactly what we were looking for, uh, and there was a pause.

Um so I just wanted to make sure that as we if we go forward with this, that we look at that history uh and designs so that we get something that everyone is happy with.

But uh but also just to clarify, I don't think this is just wayfinding.

This is about kind of the infrastructure area.

Sorry, I oh just I wanted to just see if um if you had a comment from finance I saw.

No.

Okay, all right, thank you.

Go ahead.

So I just want to clarify we're not this isn't a wayfinding study, right?

This is a global kind of entrance area, shared use area around the city that kind of I mean, potentially in the future we're talking like massive like kind of review, but we have to start somewhere to understand the areas, whether it's wayfinding, whether it's entrance areas that could be improved for kind of just general economic development, kind of like what uh Mr.

Vardy was talking about with um the what in the ready presentation.

That's an accurate description.

Thank you.

Does anyone have comments on this?

No, not on this.

Okay.

I will uh just do uh finish the city managers and then we can straw poll on the wayfinding.

Okay, and placemaking.

Go ahead and know.

Councilmember Valerie.

But again, it's not wayfinding and placemaking.

Understood.

Okay, we will get to that.

We'll we'll straw poll on the name of it.

Um I'm I'm a fan.

So I've been thinking a lot, and and thank you to Mr.

City Manager on um kind of your thought process around the uh cultural arts strategic plan and how we're going in that direction.

And so I've been kind of pondering through, you know, um, that the cultural arts are so much more than art in public places, then you know, murals and so forth.

So I I would love to um to see I think I believe our history is part of our cultural arts.

I believe that capturing um for the city, um, getting a sense of you know, uh working with it similar to how we were talking about um to a certain extent economic development.

Um I think that there is a portion of it that can be a bridge between um the city and perhaps another entity.

However, you know, we have a uh uh uh staff person um that kind of oversees this, but I think very tellingly resides within uh community planning and development as opposed to cultural arts, and I think that that's a little bit of a uh a difference with an important distinction.

So I would be really interested, also as well, um, in addition to the the role of uh history in our cultural arts strategic plan and how what we can do um as a city to take um that sort of ownership on the issue of capturing history.

So I just wanted to flag that.

Um I presume that and I could be wrong, um, Mr.

City Manager.

I had that Wreck and Parks was the point on the neighborhood signage.

Am I wrong on that?

Or was it DPW?

I'm sorry, it's public.

It's public works.

Okay, it is public arcs.

Okay, cool.

I just wanted to um make sure because I think that that is you're right, they're intertwined, but if we are gonna look at um uh uh a strategic plan around the cultural arts, I think it needs to be expansive beyond the fine arts and and art in public places.

So I would be interested in exploring that.

Are you looking for a straw poll on that as well?

Yes, please.

I would uh madam mayor, I would like straw polling on this to see if we can explore um shifting staff to the cultural arts office um to oversee and work on Rockville history.

Can you city manager?

Go ahead, because I see you have some questions.

Yeah, can you repeat that again?

I'll make sure I understand.

Shifting staff resources.

So right now there is a staff person who's pointing who's also um works really closely with the historic district commission, and that person lives under community planning and development services.

And while I think that preserving buildings is is a part of history, it's much more expansive than that.

Um so to me, it would make sense since we have uh a wealth of that knowledge, but is existing in community planning space.

Why would we not shift that that individual to within the cultural arts umbrella as opposed to hanging out and in planning and development?

Yeah, we're we're starting it into the the why and the how piece.

Um I what here's the three big initiatives that we have to undertake.

I I sorry, I didn't understand the first part.

I apologize.

So there's three big initiatives that we have to undertake, and I sent this note to the Cultural Arts Commission and I copied the body.

Um an arts and culture strategic plan citywide, an updated art in public places master plan, and there was also a request for an arts district plan.

All three of those initiatives are um somewhat mutually exclusive, but they're all yet they're all latched together.

It's all a big body of work.

Um I think we can get through that with the resources that we have.

I would not move any staff from one department to another to support that.

I think that all belongs in the city manager's office with the arts and culture manager, and then she can make recommendations to me on how she thinks she needs to sort of resource that out.

And I uh it's okay, Madam Mayor.

And I I appreciate that completely.

What I'm looking at is actually it's a bit of a uh a shift in what we consider when we talk about cultural arts up until this I mean I've been watching for a little while now.

Cultural arts has always been shorthand for the Cultural Arts Commission who does phenomenal work, right?

But we're talking about fine arts and murals and art in public places when cultural arts also includes the definition of uh history and historical uh representation and and programming.

Um we're we're missing that.

And we have some of that expertise in-house, which that was my point to we have an expert, very you know, and we've had a dedicated person looking at historic preservation of buildings, but this person also has the ability to look at history as a whole.

So why why wouldn't we consider the history of the city?

Because that is part of our cultural heritage here, as part of our cultural arts um strategic plan.

We'll consider um staffing resources if you go through these initiatives, council member.

Thank you.

Okay, I'm happy to also follow up on this because I think it also does dovetail into a uh discussion that we will be having later this evening if it's not midnight.

I appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I just wanted to note uh I'm wondering if you're looking from the past.

In the past, the word history was included as part of arts and culture of that position.

So I think it's just as we look at the arts plan that we'll be weaving in the history part of it again.

I agree with that 100%.

Okay, all right.

And then Mr.

Mahillick, uh, just before we go to straw polls, um, will you automatically include the arts plan in the FY27 piece?

I don't think that it's in the narrative, or do you need us to straw poll whether that's something to put in?

Don't need to straw poll that.

Um, I talked to our staff about that today.

We're gonna try to do everything we can over the next year with existing resources, and if we need additional resources, we'll either come back or we'll come back next year to talk about additional funding, but not this current, not this budget that we're building right now.

Okay, if we could at least note that work in the re the next budget narrative that comes out that we're marking that that's something that we're working on this year.

That would be helpful.

Okay.

Um any other questions all right.

So uh next we have to straw poll.

Uh, I think this is something our body discussed during our strategic planning session.

We heard it from ready.

We've uh many of us have talked about uh just the overarching looking at entryway uh beautification wayfinding, it's a mixture of placemaking.

Uh so Mr.

McHale, I guess you have a thought.

Yeah, I was just gonna I I saw some of the faces.

I would recommend that you call this initiative a citywide placemaking plan.

I'm fine with that.

A colleagues, are you good with that?

Okay, thank you.

All right, so all those in favor and supporting this, please raise your hand.

Okay, perfect.

Uh and then Mr.

Mahalic, as you guys do the arts plan, uh, I I know that we can't do the arts district this year, uh, because it takes a lot of resources and funding, which you've noted.

The comprehensive plan does call for looking at in the future over this year.

Yes, we will.

Okay, thank you.

Okay, next one.

Communications and community engagement.

Mr.

Jack, Councilmember Jackson, you have the first opportunity to ask questions if you would like.

Um, I'm fine.

Okay.

Does anyone else have questions?

Councilmember Shaw.

Um, this is this is something that um I'm particularly interested in.

Um, and wanting to know how we are measuring our community engagement.

Are there metrics?

Um, who are we reaching?

Demographics.

Um we talk about being inclusive, but we have to actually measure that um going back to our Jedi plan.

Um, and so is there data being collected to evaluate this investment?

So those are all excellent questions.

We've done a lot of changes in communications and community engagement over the past couple years for sure.

I think it is time for us now to test um how we've done in that space.

I don't want to just wing it right now and give you some of those answers, but let us um meet with the team, talk about what we can do for um measuring for success and see if we hit it.

Okay, one more thank you, Councilman Shaw.

Please continue.

Thank you.

Um, and then I know we also had that community engagement spectrum that we talked about and moving towards community ownership, community agency.

Um, so when we're collecting information on the metrics, uh, could you share also where we would be on that spectrum and more of a plan on how we can get to community agency?

We can do that.

Okay.

Thank you.

Councilmember Valeri.

Yes.

Okay.

So I had two questions on this particular slide.

Um, one is, and I appreciate um my colleague um uh bringing up uh kind of the metrics, but I'm interested in um the current staffing levels on the community engagement um staff.

I know that we had authorized a single position.

Was it two budgets ago thereabouts?

I cannot remember.

Anyway, at the time, I know that we were um talking about because I think we want to have this kind of investment in it, um, that let's see how you know, bringing on one FTE, how that works, and then if we're getting, you know, good good results, or I can't imagine that it wouldn't be good results, um, that we could look at expanding it.

Because at one point the city had four community engagement staff.

So I think I'd like us to get up to that point because to my to my colleagues' point, you know, efficacy, are are we just dooming ourselves to to not being efficient because we don't have enough people because we have a city of 70,000 people.

So long-winded way of saying one, do we have um timing on you know um the the recruitment of new staff and if there's somebody coming on board for the existing position, and then two, um what sort of uh pathway forward to scale that back up to where it was historically council member Valeri, um there is a new uh community engagement manager who just came and started with the city just this week.

Oh wow, and they will be working closely with the director of communications and community engagement to begin the recruitment on that second position.

Okay.

Um I think once we have that um group fully staffed, then the mayor and council will have an opportunity to see what impact they make.

That's that's fantastic, and I swear I didn't tee that one up.

Um I really didn't know, so I appreciate that's extremely exciting.

Um I do want to also flag too that I don't know if it's a fiscal year 2027 outlook to establish neighborhood connect events because we kind of started that already.

So maybe the continuation of neighborhood connect events, um, but extremely excited to hear that about community engagement.

Thank you so much.

I appreciate it.

Thank you, Councilmember Jackson.

Yes, thank you, Mayor.

And uh uh thought of my question uh uh a little bit late, uh so thank you for indulging.

Um what do we mean by uh community engagement strategy?

I think we talked a lot about it in a work session a little over a year ago.

It's really how do we want to engage the community?

How deeply using what forms?

Is it in person?

Is it via survey?

Is it small group discussions, is a focused group, etc.

I mean, that's really the whole spectrum that council member Shaw mentioned before.

That really is our approach and our strategy.

I've heard others say go to where people are for that quite a bit.

So that's really the strategy.

What is it?

So that's hopefully I helps you.

Yeah, and that that's what it was getting at because you know, I think that maybe we've gotten away from the in person strategy, um, you know, go into HOAs, going to civic associations, being there being present uh as a city staff.

I mean, I know me and my colleagues are out um at uh associated uh events and others, um, but it seems like we have uh put our eggs maybe uh too much into the digital uh uh engagement uh the the surveys and the like.

And so you know, I'm just putting in a plug that you know when we're talking about community engagement strategy, we actually have the uh staff get out to civic associations, um HOAs and the like and really start re-engaging on the ground because I think that's important as well.

It isn't a substitute for everything else we're doing digitally, but I think it's really crucial that we have that uh personal presence as we go forward.

Thank you.

Uh thank you for the uh work on getting a new staff person.

That's gonna be a critical key role.

Uh I know we that's been a strong point in the past, and uh really appreciate the work, the team's work on that.

Um I also want to echo the and support the colleagues, the comments of my colleagues, Councilman Jackson Shaw and Valeri.

Um I do have uh small questions.

One is uh some dedicated work to supporting uh the enhancement uh updating of our outreach list.

Um we used to be able to send uh kind of a quick summary for uh HOA and community association meeting, so they had uh a push communication on what was going on with the city.

Uh on occasion, I will get messages or calls or uh saying what's the city update.

So I I try to do that, but I just would like to see how we can support that systemically, and I imagine that the new hire will help us in that regard.

Um the other ones are uh uh very minor, but I and I apologize I didn't send these in advance.

Um some jurisdictions put their mayor and council meetings on YouTube, uh, and we do have a YouTube channel.

Um I I know there is a resident who takes time to put out meetings on YouTube, but the benefit is that you can uh those can be translated in other languages.

Um and so I just I wanted to I wanted to just see not it's not a direct request, but just see if there is a benefit to doing that uh for the city of Rockville.

Um we do have nice incredible videos that the city has done on our events and some of the interviews.

I I really support that work, but you have channels for uh RCPD and events and a couple other things, but I was just thinking might be one category for mayor and council meetings.

Um the other thing is minor, because I know the buttons.

Uh we've talked about trying to support uh ADA access.

Uh and so I just wanted to see if my colleagues support just updating these chambers to be more ADA friendly.

We have a podium that is for standing.

Some jurisdictions have a podium that can rise up and down.

Uh, just a very simple thing.

But I think we've seen some folks come in and you know they're holding their paper, someone's trying to hold a mic.

It just I just want to make sure everyone can uh testify with integrity and the support they need.

I think we actually have money in the current budget to be able to do that, so we'll push forward on that.

Okay, thank you.

That was all councilman Fulton, you good?

Okay.

All right.

Thank you.

Looking around?

Looks like we're good on this.

Oh, Councilmember Shaw.

Um, and I I guess I would just add to the accessibility.

Um just thinking about several different uh populations we have around the city, and um getting more feedback on how it can be more accessible from the community and um which can help to inform the gro the greater plan.

Councilmember Larry.

It's uh super quick to this point.

Um I did hear from some members of the community that they would like other options, um, perhaps uh uh more Bluetooth-enabled options for um those with uh any sort of hearing loss um that need amplification, and that many of those systems also um allow for live translation.

So that it's real time and not kind of after the fact, and doesn't, you know, and just generally makes it more accessible.

So I think that there's that, and I uh absolutely appreciate and I would like to see the change in the podium as well.

I think these are some easy things that we should be able to do.

Thank you.

I think MCPS has been um rolling out to schools.

They they're just like little, they look like cell phones almost, but it just says auto-translation without a large cost.

But I appreciate you raising that.

Mr.

City Band, are you good with our feedback?

Do you have any questions?

Absolutely.

No, I'm good.

Okay.

Community planning and development services.

Uh first option for questions.

Councilmember Shaw.

Uh thank you, Madam Mayor.

Um, I don't I don't have much here.

This looks this looks great.

Um, I did just want to uplift an um uh the update to the Rockville Pike neighborhood plan and the East Rockville neighborhood plan.

I'm glad that we are moving forward with that.

And just a question.

Um so we have received the uh the delegation of the transit-oriented delegation.

Um, and I just wanted to see if this was included in this plan as well.

Is this the TOD announcement?

So, yes, please said I should have said something today.

We did receive TOD designation from the state um last week.

We're excited about it.

What that does more than anything else is it tease us up one for the East Rockville neighborhood plan for sure, and the second thing it does open us up for additional grant funding in the future.

Those are the two main things.

But in terms of the impact on the budget this year, it really doesn't have any impact on the budget other than we could receive additional revenues in the near future.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman Van Greg.

I don't necessarily have any questions, but just to note to the extent you need more money for the annexation opportunities, let us know.

It will pay for itself over time, right?

That's the plan.

Dr.

Maus, anyone just checking down the line here?

Anything on CPDS?

Councilman Valeri.

Super quickly on this.

Um, I just want to make sure I know that doing um two neighborhood plans simultaneously is that is a huge lift on the best of days.

Um, in addition to all the other stuff we're doing, I want to just make sure that we have enough staffing to be able to do that uh simultaneously.

And are there any I see the two major changes?

Um, but and I and thank you to um staff for the answering my questions on kind of what that uh additional code inspector will do.

Do we need are there any other um uh gaps that you know would would set us up for success on these two neighborhood plans that were missing?

We added 150,000 of consulting funds on the last budget amendment, and staff believe that that's adequate um to get these processes underway.

Okay, cool.

I just wanted to check in on that.

I'm very excited.

I just know they're super heavy lifts, so thanks.

Thank you.

Uh I will echo my colleague, Councilman Van Grack on annexation.

I will also say another economic development drivers, the Pike Plan.

Uh, and I I obviously we all supported the East Rockville plan.

I just wanted to say those are really critical for supporting our goals.

Um, I was also wanting to check and see.

We made some changes this past year on enhanced code inspections and adding five staff.

So just want to get a general sense of how is that working over, you know, as we look into this next fiscal year.

Uh, are there any lessons learned?

Do you need any more support?

Um I think for the enhanced inspection program, we had a good work session about that a little while ago.

We're launching that enhanced inspection program right now, like currently.

So we're excited about that.

I promise an annual review of that, and we'll we'll provide that to you.

I do have a long list of all the things that we've accomplished with new staffing and CPDS.

I'll just go really fast.

As you know, we relaunched the quick start program.

We um now have an express permitting program, which allows online same-day processing for certain smaller permits like fences, HVAC, furnaces, things of that nature.

We have the new solar app plus program, which is one-day turnaround for solar projects.

We have small accessory structures.

We used to take 28 days to get those done.

Now we can do it in three days.

Um we are benchmarking our permitting process, and that was very important to this council.

Please to tell you that our intake staff are processing 95% of the applications at or better than our published time frames and our plan review staff are completing 90% of all the reviews at or better than the published timeline.

So those of you are doing the math, yes, that's an A grade on those things.

We're excited about it.

And we are going to be launching this next year, so shouldn't say that within the next six months or so, our next day inspection program.

So all of that are examples of how we've used previous staffing resources approved by council to improve and stream on our process, and I owe you a more robust review of all the FAST initiatives, which we'll put on your sixth month at some point in the not too distant future.

That sounds like a great Rockville Reports article.

I don't disagree.

I say that only because I have encountered a number of they have these permitting accelerators, and they don't when it says like, do we have does Rockwell have a fast program?

They're not even acknowledging.

So I think we need to get the word out a bit more about it.

But just want to say a huge thank you to staff.

That was uh something that this council came in and really pushed hard on.

And uh you guys are working in that direction.

So I greatly appreciate it.

The one thing I mentioned, I saw it in the a in the IT department.

I don't know if this will cross over, but um, there are some uh city models on uh tracking complaints for building inspections, looking at permitting processes that are using AI to do data analysis on performance and effectiveness and opportunities for improvement.

So I just wanted to flag that again.

And I don't know if that is that is that part of the AI look that you're looking at optimization in the IT department.

The IT department is actively collaborating with different departments on different automation opportunities, and I don't know that that's necessarily on the short list, but um they're they're exploring all kinds of things.

Thank you.

Please keep us posted on that.

Next you guys are doing great.

Any questions, Councilman McGregor?

No specific questions.

Um, as we talked about before with regard to what finance is doing with the data and the income, I think you guys did a great job.

And I have no specific uh questions regarding the expenditures.

Thank you.

I'm excited about the city's first uh financial transparency portal.

So I just wanted to really highlight that.

That's a big we I know we recently did results for awkward and now kind of rolling with our transparency and showing people the opportunities that we are moving forward.

And also thank you for uh moving forward on the AMI, which will also help save us money over time.

Dr.

Miles.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

I got an evil look from my colleague here.

You're free to ask your question.

Yes, ma'am.

Just a quick comment.

I just want to thank you all for the five-year outlook.

Uh looks like we're looking good through uh FY 2031 uh without any significant change in staffing or property tax rates.

I do recognize this is all subject to financial hit wins, but I appreciate putting that out there and being sober.

And if um in the future things need to change, uh we I I want to say I'll speak for myself, perhaps for my colleagues as well.

That um, yeah, just be honest with us, even if even the bad news, uh, it's much easier for us to plan and manage our expectations when we know potentially what's around the corner.

So thank you for that.

Thank you very much.

We appreciate all the work.

Housing and community development.

Dr.

Miles, do you have any questions?

You don't have to.

Anyone else have questions on housing community development?

Councilmember Valerie.

I do, and I hope my colleague doesn't give me the dirty look now that I have teasing, I'm teasing, I promise.

Um, no, so I'm very appreciative to Mr.

City Manager for uh I can't remember what email it was, but I'm giving you um all the all the kudos um for the info that we got around the opioid settlement spending.

Um it's a personal, I think I think y'all know me by now, is a personal um passion of mine that we use those funds um in a way that um is recommended by the state.

I know it is not prescriptive, totally get that.

Like we've got the flexibility, but there's actually some really good ideas, and so um I and I'm happy to send a follow-up email on this to kind of um go over some of the maybe the the gaps um in things.

We hit a lot of the um bullet points, and thank you again for that.

But I think probably the one aspect of this that we could probably um do more is about um increasing opportunities and uh access to resources for the recovery community.

Um from the the place of you know from the city's perspective, how can we be a more welcoming city for those who are in active recovery?

Whether it's a a day or 10 years, I think everybody should feel welcome.

So I'm happy to follow this up with an email that then, of course, would become part of our QA.

But I just wanted to flag that because I know that I I talked to a lot of folks in the city who are part of the recovery community, and I think that that's like one gap area that we might be able to be a little bit more inclusive of.

So but thank you.

I'll echo the comments of my colleague on that one.

Um this is something that I the next two things I want to say is something that I've been thinking a lot about.

Um, and I think it would fall into DHGD, but please feel free to clarify.

So DHED has done a lot of great work, um, and over the years we created this department and really emphasizing uh all the plans we're creating.

So I've just seen such a tremendous uh growth and uh really taking a proactive look and supporting all of our residents' quality affordable housing.

Um, one of the things I'm seeing is a gap, and and it's not anything that staff is doing, it's just the changing nature of you know how the needs of the city.

So I wanted to raise it.

Um projects that we've worked on uh to help support affordable housing.

Um, we are seeing a need for support and wraparound services.

Uh, and it's uh having an impact on school retention on other it's bleeding into other areas beyond the city.

And I just wanted to say that housing is important and we want to continue to support that, but I just how can we do better by the residents that we're trying to support to help uplift them?

Um and I think this may take a more detailed conversation, but I just think that this it's not what's happening now is not enough based on the increasing needs, and this is not unique to Rockville.

I'm seeing it in the county and other places.

Uh, so I want to recognize that, but we can't just provide the the room.

Um, and uh I I will send more information, but it's on on the symptoms and impact.

I know Mrs.

City Manager, we've talked about this a little bit, um, but I just want to see what can we do better here.

Is this a conversation with the county?

Um, is it things that we need to be doing more to provide social services?

Is it really leaning on a nonprofit partner?

But it's it's not quite getting there yet.

And I wanted to see what we can do.

I can only answer it um generically, Mayor.

I think that you know, housing community development, well, we've been giving them a lot of work over the past couple years.

I mean, and they've been producing outstanding products.

And I think the feedback we've been getting from from you all in work sessions has been really good.

Strong team all the way across, you guys, team, et cetera.

I think once we get through a couple more things, landlord tenant act, military price dwelling units, et cetera, then yes, Mayor, I think it would be good to have a work session just to kind of frame that idea to talk to some of the partners and then to your point.

Um, we might need to come back and actually do a gaps analysis on wraparound services to better know what the county is providing, other providers, and then how we might potentially get underneath and catch the rest of it.

I just don't know what it is yet.

Okay.

We can have uh smaller conversations with the specific symptom areas that I'm hearing people need help on, uh, and then maybe look towards a strategy.

I appreciate that.

Thank you.

Uh the other piece here, and it might be a bridge between DHGD, RCPD as well as um wreck in parks is uh potential expansion of programming for at-risk youth.

Where do you see that falling?

Is that wreck in parks or DHD?

So I'll with I'll hold my comments.

Yeah, don't get mad at me on this one.

I'm not trying to hoard everything, but I think that actually needs a lot of leadership.

I think that actually belongs in the city manager's office.

But all the departments who rattled off are exactly the members that would be on that team as we look at it.

Um I think providing additional opportunities for at-risk youth is a really good one.

We talked a little bit about it tonight already with some of the initiatives that RHE are doing.

But much like the topic you guys brought up last year, exactly the same time regarding what can we do, provide additional child care is the same thing with um at-risk students.

I think we need to um get a team together, talk to city departments, also talk to the school district and to the county and find out where there might be gaps, and we also have to figure out a way to do some engagement and talk to the kids and see what they need, and maybe even to some of the parents.

That's a long-winded way of saying I think we need to develop a strategy and come back to you guys in work session and lay that off.

Yeah, okay.

Madam Mayor, something I would also just point out to bring the conversation back to monetary allocations.

Um the opioid settlement funds are being proposed to be used in FY2027 for the expanded Latino Youth Development Program.

So that is something that is in the FY27 budget as a financial enhancement.

Excellent.

Thank you.

And will that serve additional Latina males, or are we looking at also opening it up to other populations?

We would have to get back to you with those programmatic details.

Okay, that's super helpful.

I think we have heard loud and clear from the education commission and the human rights commission that this is an area we've seen the impacts of some things happening.

And as we're investing in public safety, right?

Uh we have done a lot on the enforcement side, and we have done some on the uh programming side.

I want to do a little bit more on the programming side for public safety.

Uh, if we can prevent uh youth from interfacing with the police department, I know they always prefer that, but they also know who some of the kids are who need extra help.

Our principals know or teachers know, and so I definitely want to revisit this conversation.

Do you need any feedback from us to bring this back for work session?

Not at this time, I just plan to do that.

Yeah, well.

Excellent.

Any other comments on housing community development?

I'll just also say thank you for the a lot of the increased work.

We appreciate it.

Dr.

Miles.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

I'll just briefly say associate myself with your comments.

Thank you.

Does everyone else okay with that approach of a workshop and staff coming back to us?

Okay, great.

Thank you.

Okay.

Uh Councilman Bashaw.

Um so I know we have like 43 something new policies under um our hasn't housing strategies.

Um so it would, and we've been doing this for about two years now.

Um so it would be great to just get some data um, just overall, just general baseline data, maybe where we were two years ago and where we are now.

I know we're gonna do the housing needs assessment.

Um, so it may already be rolled into that, um, but it will just be good to figure out um just to evaluate uh how well we've been doing with our housing strategy and these 43 policies.

Thank you.

And we have also landlord tenant coming back in May.

Thank you.

Mr.

Sorry, one question, Ms.

Mahaleck.

You we talked about um some things about rental assistance and is that gonna be worked out through landlord tenant because I don't know if we've budgeted.

Just a small piece of it.

Um we'll share that out with May 18th.

It's just a little piece, and we'll get feedback from council.

Okay, I just I do want to see if we can if there's support if you if you're not already planning to do it to have some uh some pilot funds to look at supporting people pre-eviction notice.

That's exactly what we're talking about, but it's just a little little piece.

Okay, all right, thank you.

Human resources.

Okay, um, one thing that I don't see here, uh, but I think we should update it in the revised draft is the conversation that I raised on FA FAMLI, Family Time to Care Act.

There will be some costs this this budget year on that.

I know you're dealing with that through unspent personnel, but we should at least acknowledge that's something that we are addressing.

Um I think we factored in that piece of legislation will cost the city about 292,000.

Is that just for half the year?

And next you will be almost 600.

The city is in the process of working to secure a third-party administrator.

That would be in lieu of paying into the state plan.

However, the state has to approve your third-party administrator.

So there is a possibility that we would need to pay in for some period of time and then have those monies reimbursed to us.

We believe we can manage that through unspent personnel.

That would just be a timing issue, a timing matter.

And then we would be able to secure that third-party administrator at a cost that would be much less than if everyone was paying into a state plan.

Thank you very much for that.

Appreciate that work.

Okay.

Thank you.

Rockville City Police, uh, thank you.

Uh Dr.

Miles.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

I want to thank staff, um, both city manager's office and police for getting back to us with regard to the funding for the mental health position, whether it's kept in the city or um back with the county.

This is a difficult one for me, but I'll I'll just I'll just be transparent with where I am.

I think in when it was first proposed to have a person that we had a contract with with the county to work in-house to answer calls for service to involve mental health crises, emergencies.

It made sense.

I mean, we were answering a need that exists, existed then and still exists to this day.

We did ask staff to come back with some numbers about what things look like both during the time when we had our in-house person and when that person was on leave.

And I must say I just have to I mean the numbers are the numbers, the data are the data.

And I recognize as well is that we're under some tough budgetary circumstances.

Again, if you feel free to elaborate, either city manager's office andor police, that according to the data that were presented, that despite our in-house mental health person being on leave, they were still able to make and work with the county to address uh those situations where mental health emergency presented itself stated otherwise, um the portion of money that was put aside for or was funding this uh position.

We were per the data as I understand it, we we were able to get coverage from the county.

Um so I can't, you know, I can't argue against the numbers.

I think in theory it makes sense to have an in-person in-person mental health person, mental health specialist.

Um if it is the will of the body, my colleagues to move forward with the recommendation as outlined by staff.

I would only ask that we continue to collect data.

Um if we find that uh there is an increased need um that y'all please let us know.

We don't have to necessarily wait a whole year, but just to you know be a little more agile with it.

Um this is this is gonna be a tough one for me to support, but I I again I just have to follow the data, and I just appreciate y'all being uh open and willing to give us the data and then hopefully to follow up in the future moving forward.

That's all sorry about the long statement.

Thank you, Councilmember Fulton.

I agree with my colleague on this one.

Uh the the data is compelling, right?

Like it and from a fiscal standpoint, I intuitively it feels right to have like someone in house.

And I understand why that decision was made.

But if we're hearing both from the police department itself that that all of the same services are being provided uh with no decrease in like sort of efficacy or the types of service fiscally speaking, it just doesn't make any sense to spend that money just to I'm not asserting that this would be the reason, but it would feel like we're doing it just to make ourselves feel good about having somebody in-house um not on sort of outcomes.

So I'm being long-winded on this one too.

Um thanks for the information on that.

Um I support it based on the thought the really comprehensive follow-up information y'all gave us.

Thanks.

Thank you, Councilman Valeri.

So, shocking no one, I have um I have some some thoughts and feelings on this.

Um this program was initiated.

I don't believe, and I I I do remember when that occurred, even though um I was not um elected at that time.

It should have been an FTE position.

It was not.

There was a decision somewhere along the way to make this a contract position.

And unfortunately, what it seems like is when folks start off as contract, it's much easier to cut them, uh, right, than eliminating an FTE position.

Um, I hope that's that's not the case, but I always felt along the way that by not looking at um uh part-time coverage on non tree uh non-traditional work hours.

We were all never going to set this program up for success.

We did not make the initial investment that was necessary to do that.

Um and so I I don't think that the program in and of itself is a net positive, and I could go on and on about the number of of studies and the number of cities that have actually grown their program over time, and not to mention, you know, the the overall stats and the overall um uh net positive good, you know, reducing the number of involuntary psychiatric detentions, and this is outside of whatever may be occurring with the diversion center.

Um reduced calls for service recorded as mental mental health incidents, the number of police homicides by individuals that may or may not be in the midst of a mental health crisis.

I think that there is benefit to this.

I also think there's a distinct benefit, a societal benefit to having the person embedded.

There's a big difference between somebody from the county, might be the same person, doesn't really know our officers, doesn't know the community, has no connection, versus somebody who can like build that relationship.

Um I feel very, very strongly about this.

I also believe that the numbers show that the calls for mental health crisis are not going down.

That doesn't mean that the position is not needed.

I will not get into the inadequacies of the county response here.

Umadequate from a wraparound services, best practices from the National Uh Association on Mental Illness.

So I really hope that we started something good here.

We started something so good that other municipalities are like, yeah, let's do that as well because it's a really good model.

I want to continue to be proud of Rockville and proud of RCPD that we have this program.

So I would like it reinstated.

The other thing, and just my my last point without this position, we had zero victims' rights advocates on staff.

That position was eliminated.

Um I'm looking at Ms.

Francisco.

And um, I'm like, I can't remember how long that was again before, um, but I know it was eliminated, and the this pos the the mental health specialist position kind of did that double duty because that position had been eliminated.

Um that doesn't mean that that need goes away.

We still have that need.

Um, and I can say from my own experience, the mental health specialist was did an amazing thing in in literally on my street when there was a uh uh a gun discharge slash shooting, and people were very um uh freaked out by it.

So having said all that, I am extremely distressed um that this decision was put forward.

Um I think that the return on investment return on investment is uh significant um and it is a societal good.

So I really hope that we uh keep this and we do not cut it in favor of handing over Rockville Health to the county.

Thank you.

I want to echo the comments of Dr.

Miles, where this feels really hard uh to do.

Uh, but I also know that we try things out and look at data.

So I have a couple of questions for you on that front.

Um who is supporting victim services now and who will be supporting victim services in this new model?

So victim aggravist advocacy is really um provided by the RCPD officers in terms of their train to understand and identify where a victim agvacy needs to be referred.

Um we refer all cases of domestic violence to the Family Justice Center, which is located in Rockville.

We do provide, we do think they provide a really good service, and we're recommending the continuance of that.

So every victim gets a referral.

Every every victim that needs help gets a referral.

Correct.

From somebody having a go.

Okay.

Um and then you're not proposing to get rid of mental health services, but you're going back to using the county for the mental health services versus a dedicated person.

Correct.

And how does that impact the response time?

Um we don't think it um affects the response time at all.

A lot of times it's co-responding.

So sometimes the mental health crisis workers arrive before we do on scene.

So we don't think there's going to be any delay at all in arrival time.

Okay.

Um that that is helpful.

And then when this position was initially recreated, Mayor and Council was informed that it would support the mental health of officers.

You have shared that that is not being that not been included as of late of recent on employee help supports, but that you're looking at other models.

I appreciate you sent us the initiative that you're working on.

It looks like a workshop.

I do think because our police, I mean, we had uh two deaths yesterday.

They see a lot, and I just want to make sure we're supporting the mental health, not just in pop-ups, but checking in on them regularly, more than just call the employee assistance line.

We agree with everything you've said, and that's why we're bringing in a special group from outside the city that specializes in mental health crisis prevention and also response for police officers and also the the adjunct staff of the police department.

So thank you, Mayor.

Okay.

Um, and then we heard from the HR Human Rights Commission on training on restorative justice.

I know the department has also previously done bias training and brought in experts.

Can you just speak to what we're doing or what you're planning to do?

Yeah, thank you for asking that.

Every single one of our officers, um, both in the academy, but also when they start with the city, go through bias-related training.

It's a core foundational training element of the Rockville Police Department.

We're gonna continue to provide that training for all of our men and women along with refresher courses.

Okay.

And I I will support my colleagues on the comments of I'd like to see if you're I'm I'm concerned about this.

I'd like to be able to monitor its impact.

Thank you.

Any other questions?

Councilmember Jackson, do you have any questions?

Are you good?

Uh thank you, Mayor.

No, I I I I would associate it mess up uh with everybody's comments.

I mean, when I first saw this in the budget, I had concerns uh as well.

Um, and I know I talked to the city manager as well as uh read the memo.

Um, and I was um reassured um that whatever happens, the city will take a look and the police uh department will take a look and really evaluate it as needed.

And so, you know, it's not like we're just ending the program and then that's it, because uh I think this is a hard decision.

Um I'm with uh my colleague uh uh Dr.

Councilmember Miles.

I mean it's a tough decision, and so I just uh urge you all to get the data, look at the data, and share the data with us.

Uh and if we need to like reinstate the program, then um you know we need that recommendation.

But um uh I trust you guys, and um I'm gonna take this uh recommendation as it is.

Council Michelle uh I I do want to echo uh the feedback of my colleagues.

Uh I do think it's important to get data and community feedback as well uh to help to inform this decision.

Um, but I I do want to support the proposal as is.

Um for I just and I also just want to share the family justice um the family justice center is like a a model for the country.

Um, so we certainly do want to continue uh uh referring uh victims of or survivors of domestic violence to the family justice center, which is right in the middle of Rockville.

Um they have wraparound services, uh they have they even like take any if you're anywhere in the county, they will send you a voucher to get um to get uh a car ride to them at any time.

We we absolutely want to continue uh uh sharing that resource with everyone in the community.

Um and then for the street crime special unit, you know, it is it is a very tough time for our residents right now, whether it's unemployment, whether it's needing food resources, housing, the cost of housing rent.

Um I I just want to to confirm um with this new unit, will um staff be equipped with resources.

Um, for instance, if people need to know uh where to go for shelters or food or you know, any of the basic services that is such a great need right now.

Yeah, we we do that right now, and we'll absolutely continue to do that.

Okay, thank you.

Councilman Van Grank.

So obviously, I like my colleagues was concerned about it, but I I mean I have to tell you, I don't know if there's a police force around and the leadership of a police force that's more concerned about mental health than this uh police force.

And I know that I've talked to the city manager and seen the um the advice and recommendation from Chief West, and I know that the police department really has a focus on this, and I think the data really shows that the focus hasn't changed at the least.

If anything, I think what the police department and the city manager, what you're looking to do with the city, the police department is to make sure that we're using our resources well.

Um, because just as you know, as my colleague uh council member Shaw said, the street crime unit and the the crime suppression task force has been doing a fantastic jobs.

I mean, uh Officer Thresher just uh has been doing a great job.

Sorry, uh Officer Thrasher has been doing just a great job.

We've really seen um uh the efforts that have been done and using the allocation of resources to best support the city.

That's exactly what we should be doing, taking a second guess.

So um I know and um I'm sure that the police department and under Chief West and with the city manager, your leadership is gonna work to see how we can best support the mental health crisis that exists within our city within our nation.

So I appreciate you looking at this from a broader perspective.

I also want to note, because I think it's important to note with regard to the outlook, um, providing the additional community engagement officer to Rockville High School is huge.

That is a major step.

And I really want to commend um the Chief West and the city manager for suggesting this.

Now, with this, we would have a community engagement officer at each of the high school clusters in Rockville.

Um, I know in talking with our uh um not only the students, but the teachers um at around the Wooten cluster and the Richard Montgomery cluster, they greatly appreciate what we can do.

Um, and to be able to provide that to all of our high schools is is a huge step.

So um I think this um additional um FTE for this is a huge step in the right direction.

Um I also want to note it's something we've done for the past two um budget cycles.

Um, but city manager, I know that one of the things that's important is a lot of different jurisdictions assess their salaries, especially with regard to the police force in July.

And I know that we have done an amazing job at staffing, and I commend the police department for getting ourselves fully staffed, but I also know that other departments aren't, and they're continually looking to increase salaries.

Um I presume Mr.

City Manager and my colleagues as well will support the idea of us doing a reassessment of July to make sure that we're still at the levels that we are, and making sure that our police officers and our police department is proper pay.

I'm assuming I guess the city manager, is that something we can do again?

Yep, we're happy to do that survey.

Okay, great.

I because I think that's important every year to make sure that we're still funding our police department at the right levels.

So uh staff, police department, Mr.

City Manager, really great job in what you've done uh um in the budget here.

Thank you.

I just want to uh echo that point on uh the past several years that's been a practice.

I don't know if we have to say that every year, but assume that's gonna happen.

Is that uh it's important to stay competitive.

Uh Councilmember Valerie.

Yeah, I appreciate this.

Is probably one of the most important discussions that we can actually have tonight.

Um I want to I I have one question, then a couple commentary um or comments rather, uh, to Mr.

City Manager.

Did we get um consumer input on the and by consumer, I mean it from a uh public health perspective.

Uh did we get consumer input on the decision to end this program?

I'm I apologize, I'm not sure what you mean by consumer input.

I mean somebody with a um somebody from uh NAMI Montgomery County, somebody who identifies as having a mental illness.

Did we hear from anybody who's been impacted or who would be impacted before proposing this change?

We did not go through an analysis of reaching out to people who have stepped into that space.

But when the police chief presented this to me, he shared that with his entire command staff.

And they had a detailed discussion on that.

But what we hear from the people who get the response from a mental health crisis responders is that we respond in the proper way.

And when I say we, I mean the county folks as well.

As the data shows, over 90% of the calls are responded to by our county partner, and we've not had any specific complaints about that.

Having said that, um, I think we can always get better.

And I heard loud and clear from everybody on the diaspora to say, Jeff, let's be really careful with this.

I'm sure Chief West heard it too.

And if we think that we are diminishing service in any way or aren't providing adequate response to our residents in need, we'll certainly come back to you very quickly.

I appreciate thank you for that very um full uh answer.

That's kind of the problem, unfortunately, right?

Is that um especially within um the disability community, there's a phrase nothing for us without us.

And I think that that also applies here, that if we're going to and to one of my colleagues' points, this is the elimination of this position.

This is just straight up.

Like I don't know how anybody can frame it else any other way because we're basically handing it over to the county to say, please show up when we need you.

Um it is it will be the end of this program.

Um, and the reality of it is that we are entering into the elimination of this program without talking to anybody in the city of Rockville who has any had any interaction with the current mental health specialist.

I understand that there has been an absence prior to the absence, which everyone has a right to take that leave.

Um I I am I am distressed to no end that we would do that at a bare minimum engaging with somebody from uh NAMI Montgomery County to determine if this would be a best practice to help folks, right?

Like we're all sitting up here going, there's a mental health crisis.

Then when the times get tough, let's eliminate this position.

The there's a dissonance there that I'm not quite getting.

I also think it sends a message as well.

We've got a great new street crime special unit, but let's no longer have an embedded mental health specialist is a message I'm not comfortable sending to the community.

And frankly, I hope no one is comfortable with that.

It's only going to get worse if we don't invest in it.

So I would hope that we get that feedback from a consumer.

Um I think that that would be a really good next step as opposed to eliminating it, getting the feedback from the mental health community, and getting um perhaps an actual um be really helpful to get the data going back to the beginning of the program.

We don't currently have that, an outcome report.

Um, total number of crisis calls going back to 2023, individuals diverted from arrest or emergency petition, officer hours freed from mental health calls, calls where no clinician was available, the coverage gap.

Um we don't have any sort of deep analysis of that, and I think these are questions that should be answered before the proposal we have before us.

Thank you, Councilmember.

Councilmember Jackson.

I'm gonna just ask my colleagues that note that we are uh coming up on 11 o'clock.

I'll ask a question soon about our timing here, but I just we promised each other that we would check in on time.

So here it is.

And um after we're done with this, I'm just gonna ask some questions about the rest of the evening.

Go ahead.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh so council member uh Van Greg uh jug my memory.

Uh we provide a community engagement officer to Rockefeller High School.

And I hate to bring up uh the situation, but if Wooten is closed, not relocated but closed.

Um what happens to that officer who's uh assigned to um Wooten High School if Wooden High School closes totally sorry for the I'm sure Kathy will come in here soon and tell us to come to the mic.

I apologize.

We don't need to be out.

So we've had those discussions.

If Wooten High School closes uh in its entirety, uh, we would relocate that officer to probably Rockville High School.

He's already in the program, but I know there's a bunch of options on the table, and I don't want to speak for what the Montmontory County public schools may or may not do.

Councilman Van Greck.

First, obviously, I don't think that's gonna happen.

I hope it doesn't, but even if it does, they're talking about a two-year time plan.

Okay, so we would be with outside of even the next year's budget.

Okay.

So that would happen, I think uh 2027 that that fall.

I hope it does not happen.

We'll talk about that under old new business if we if we have a second if we're still awake.

Um, but uh I just want to close this and say thank you to RCPD.

We appreciate the stellar work that you have done.

Uh I love that we're supporting our schools.

I have questions about this mental health specialist concern, and I want to see the Tava data uh transpires to make sure we're providing the victim services and the mental health supports for the community that we need.

Um I will also note I believe in the actual budget packet there was something about increasing the rate for on-call pay.

Is that right?

So we are already making an increase uh to stay competitive.

I know we'll do the review in July, um, but just want to acknowledge finance and city managers' efforts as well as the leadership of RCPD.

Uh I've just I actually have to say that now when I go to uh municipal conferences, I have to kind of duck a little bit because uh the chief has been doing such a good job of recruiting that people from other cities are asking what's going on here.

So um I just want to say thank you uh for that extell of work.

Colleagues, uh we'll go to the next slide, but I just want to know it is 11 o'clock.

Uh we still have a whole another agenda item.

Um can you share how many slides we have left and for budget?

No, we have to approximately three or four more departments and then grants.

Yeah, I am concerned that we have um that's a lot, and I know community grants is gonna take a lot.

So I'm gonna ask some questions here and get the body's feedback.

Um option A, we set a time that we're going to end.

Um option B that we take um some of the budget, but not do community grants tonight in favor of trying to get some ZOR stuff because I know you're trying to get that done.

Um, or that we don't do ZOR.

So I just those are some options I want to throw on the table for my colleagues.

Uh, Mr.

City Manager, I wanted to get your opinion as well, because I know you have staff here and and care a lot about this.

I hadn't thought about the option of not doing grants and instead of doing the ZOR.

I kind of like that idea, and here's why.

Um, we really can't prepare the next draft to put out to the public and to provide with you until we get answers for some of your questions.

I swear the thumbs up, thumbs down could really work for most of the questions that we need feedback from you guys.

That would be my preference, but we'll do whatever the body wants, of course.

Colleagues, Councilman Van Grack.

Uh there's a chance I'm in the majority of uh minority on this one, but I actually would vote for going forward with the budget.

I do have an issue, and I know I brought it up this morning with the fact that we're going forward with a thumbs up, thumbs down on some significant direction to city staff on the zoning ordinance rewrite the zoning text amendment without having any public hearing.

Um I know we heard from numerous people on community forum, and that's one I'm glad we heard from them, but I don't know if the public knew that this was the opportunity to us to give that feedback prior to a significant direction to city staff.

And I I appreciate the idea that this could be thumbs up, thumbs down, but there's some pretty serious discussions.

We heard a lot of people just on one issue on community forum that I think I would rather not be having around midnight.

Um I think they're too important to get to.

I know, and I know I've been one of the people who said we've got to push for zoning goordinary three right, and that's kind of going against it.

But um, there's the old adage that better to do something right than do something fast.

So my suggestion would be to continue with the budget.

I think we're in a good rhythm and have the thumbs up and thumbs down when we have the hearing.

Councilmember Fulton.

I uh I'm in favor.

Actually, I'd like to ask City Manager what it does to the zoning ordinance rewrites schedule if we don't do it tonight.

But before I actually ask question, I I was gonna say skip the grants and do the ZOR, but if we can't do it, thumbs up, thumbs down, if we literally can't.

We're past good decision making time right now.

Yeah.

So I would rather, and I'm so sorry to the people who waited.

Um, but I might be in favor of finishing budget and and delaying ZOR, but what does it do to your schedule?

We would simply just push everything.

Um we have a built-in extra work session if you guys remember in the six-month calendar.

So if you guys want to get through budget tonight, I would go back, work with the team.

We would update the six-month calendar before the end of this week to show you all those dates would fall.

They would just push over.

I can't, I want I don't want to rattle off right now, but it wouldn't be a significant delay because we have that extra work session built in.

And would doing that address the concern, like would that give time to address the concern that Adam had about making sure the public is aware of where we are.

So the next work session, we were supposed to have a public hearing.

Yep.

We would hold that public hearing, people could comment at the public hearing, and then we would just have the discussion tonight where we need feedback from council.

Does that make sense?

No, we I I'm proposing we would not do the you would get no feedback from us tonight.

Yeah.

Oh, I understand.

I apologize.

So we would have the public hearing.

Yeah.

And the um work session, get feedback on the planning and zoning commission's recommendations on the 13th.

Got it.

I'm in favor of that plan.

Uh thank you.

Can I just add a clarifying question on this?

Um, I want to also make sure that you will be able to build in time for an a public hearing where people can comment on the plan that you put together as well.

Because um there's one thing to have general discussions, but when you actually see the ZOR written, we should get feedback on that.

We'll plop another public hearing there, JSC.

Thank you.

And I'll just forewarn you because I hear whispers in my ear.

Or is this no aren't stairs?

We can get through it.

We may need to look at going a little earlier on time.

I have an idea.

Yeah, Councilman Valerie, go ahead.

I'm turning it to uh Horseshak, even though I'm like too young to know that reference.

Um I have an idea.

So, and I'm going to credit my my colleague for it.

If we were to start earlier, significantly earlier in the day, um, that way we could have more build like the earliest right now that we've started is 5 30 p.m.

And that's really in part because we know that proclamations so forth.

If we had a dedicated day where we know we have things like a significant portion of the budget and the ZOR, could we consider like um like a even a mid-afternoon start time uh to start that again given enough time so those of us with day jobs could like put in for the PTO like some of us do anyways, but I'm just gonna throw that out there as a possibility.

There's always the possibility too of holding um uh uh ZOR public hearings or budget public hearings um on the weekends as well.

I'll throw that out there.

And two, I am with my colleague.

I am a night person all day long and twice on Sunday, but I don't think that we will make good decisions regarding the the the community grants, and uh there are some significant um issues that we have to kind of grapple with in that section.

So I'm cool with completing the department rundown, um, but I I don't think we will do any service to either community grants or the ZOR if we just push through to one o'clock in the morning.

I agree on the community grants.

If I I think we should be done here around 11 30 if we can wrap this conversation up quickly.

I just because I know that it's getting late and staff has to go home as well.

I'll make a quick thank you, Madam Mayor.

Yes.

I think it I I'm with uh Councilmember Ful Fulton on making good decisions when we uh have better time to make them.

I I I'm okay with starting early that, but I I mean it's gonna be tricky for me.

Uh we get our schedules like three months in advance, yeah.

But if we had to start at 5 30, I mean we're starting April 13th at 5 30 because of proclamation, but we if we have to do a subsequent meeting at 5 30, I can I can make that uh, but anything other than that, it'd be hard for me to make.

But if you all want to move forward, uh you know press only.

That's all.

Thank you.

We could also do the uh proclamations a little earlier so that you know to the extent that it allows you to get here for the core of the meeting.

Perfect.

Okay, all right.

Councilman Shaw.

Um I'm I'm supporting uh having an earlier meeting.

My only concern is um would that push the uh public hearing earlier?

And my concern are okay, because I I know you know folks have to work and all the things.

Um so as long as the time of the public hearing isn't earlier.

Thank you.

Councilmember Jackson.

Thank you, Mayor.

So I'm supportive of the uh earlier meeting.

Um, and uh I'm also supportive of uh putting uh off the the Zor, but I would be in favor of uh finishing up uh the grants uh tonight.

I think that we that is one thing that we uh should get out of the plate with the budget and then with the grant, and we should finish at least one item that we have on our um uh agenda.

Thank you.

Well, let's get through this next sex and then see where we are.

Um I let's check in at 11 30.

Let's be honest with ourselves.

All right.

Sorry, no, no, no, no.

We we've got people waiting.

Have we can see not doing ZOR?

Yeah, we already consider we're not doing Zorqa's.

Okay, that's sorry to I leave it to the city manager to determine how he manages staff, but we've already had enough people say ZOR is next time, and you'll give us an updated schedule.

Thank you.

Yes, and thank you to our to all the residents who stuck around with us, and apologies as well.

Thank you to staff as well.

And Mr.

City Manager, if there if they're departments that we went through, you are managing your staff.

I just want to know we're not gonna go back through old departments.

Understood, thank you.

Okay.

Councilmember Valerie.

I'm sorry that I have a question at this point.

I think that you stated Ms.

Francisco that the neighborhood signage is under DPW.

Okay.

So does that um I know this is just the the highlights, but that is included in as a 2027 change.

I don't, I guess it wouldn't be a major change.

I don't know how we have to do that.

Because it is actually um continuation of funding that exists in 26, and so it also exists in 27.

Okay.

But it's it is the continuation of the neighborhood signage initiative.

Okay, cool.

That was that was my my one question.

Um the other question was we have not had, and this is for uh maybe Mr.

City Manager, we haven't had an update on the climate action plan and where we are with um, I'm sorry, did I miss something?

It's on six months.

Okay, right on.

Sorry, yes, we're we'll get it done.

It's 1111.

Everyone make a wish.

Um so I just I just noted that, you know, I know that that's really important, and we've been talking about bits and pieces, but as far as like a we get great updates on Vision Zero.

Um, I'm psyched about that.

Um that's that's all I have.

I think I understand, um, but that's CIP, so we'll talk about it next time.

Everybody, thank you.

I have a couple of things, but I'll hold Councilmember Van Greg.

Um, I know that there was some discussion, I think in some of uh either work sessions we were going that there's gonna need to be some replacement and infrastructure of some of our uh city lines and pipes that's all incorporated, even some of the more recent necessities within this current budget, like we don't need to see an emergency or any additions here, all of that additional lines that we saw that was needed that even in the past three months that's all incorporated here.

Is that right?

That's incorporated within the CIP.

Oh okay, okay.

So all of those additional lines are going in the CIP, not within the operation.

Perfect.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I am not going to go through all my CIP questions because I have a a number of them for public works, but um I will just note that we received a lot of most of the feedback that we got in the budget survey related to DPW.

So I'm just prepping you for next week that we just want to understand how we're doing and supporting those requests that we get and triaging them.

Um I also wanted to ask the question about the signage with within town center.

I thought we funded part of that in FY26.

That that is wayfinding phase one, so that it is funded in FY26, but that takes time.

There's a third-party contract in place.

The installation is expected to happen within Town Square, town center in FY27.

Early FY27.

Yeah.

I'm not the project manager.

Please get back to us on that.

I think that's something that we were all pushing for in terms of the discussion that we had earlier.

Um, and the full body was having that um desire.

You talk about expanded electricity cost.

Um, I just also wanted on the flip side, since you're mentioning this, and I'll raise this later, but just that we need to find ways to reduce electricity uh cost to us by looking at some of the climate action pieces.

So I will just want to see if we can accelerate any geothermal or solar, because we had a plan to do a bake bunch, and then that got slowed down.

And I know the team is working very hard to get back on track.

And then um, this is a staff planning question, but uh the Potomac Interceptor has a lot of unknowns.

Uh and so for FY27, this is gonna be a critical thing to look at at how it impacts our budget.

We've heard charges of 40 million to 600 million, and we don't know how much federal funding we're gonna get.

So um Rockville pays 15.8% of WSC's share.

So I just if you could stay close with us on this over the year to see what you're hearing and making sure that we have a voice on the board as well.

Okay, I'm not seeing anything else.

Recreation and parks.

I I'm seeing that this is f fantastic.

Uh recreation and parks is doing a great job.

Councilmember Valeri.

Please don't beat me up.

Um so I have a uh a handful of questions around this, and and kind of more so I'm gonna go to the positive spin, because we I know that you're talking, um, Smith's city manager about a dedicated team for at-risk youth programming.

Um we heard that from everybody.

Could we, and I don't want to um get in front of myself here, but I think even getting a good timeline on kind of what where you're thinking this will go, because we're we might also be conflating two things.

So eight, a timeline in general for at-risk youth programming, but I want to make sure that we're not conflating in general what is uh perceived maybe uh needed expansion of youth programming.

Um, and we're not conflating that with at-risk youth programming because it's very different.

Um there may be some overlap, but um I I think that um we heard really good feedback from the principal's round table, but we got really good feedback from the youth commission as well, who noted um you know, there is a a gap um of programming um for you know, basically after after grade eight, up until you know, maybe you're you're getting social security.

Like we we have some great programs for very young, we have some great programs for older Americans.

Thank you, Councilmember Jackson.

Stuck in my head.

Um, but I think we're kind of missing that it's the missing middle of REC.

So I would be I would be interested in kind of getting that sort of um assessment of things and really focusing, utilizing the youth commission maybe as a focus group.

They had some great ideas, um, and they're a good source for that kind of feedback, but um we do really, really well for older Americans in the city of Rockville.

I don't know that we can necessarily say that for youth yet.

Um, so I think I think we need to think about that as a whole.

Thanks.

Just wanna say thank you.

We actually have discussed some of the things here and previous comments, so I'll just refer back to those.

Were there any questions on the non-departmental budget?

I just uh was also just checking broadly something that I saw in a large increase in where benefits.

We want to make sure we're supporting our employee benefits, but always looking at our health insurance costs to see if we're getting the best plan for employees.

So I raise it every year, I have to say it.

Um, we want to make sure we're not getting 20% increases like we saw one year.

So I just wanted to see how we're doing on that front.

So this year, well, for one, the health benefits are reflected in each department's budget for personnel.

Um, it's not a non-departmental cost.

However, um, as you know, there are many things that influence the health insurance rates and renewals.

Some of those are our experience and and that data.

Um, in addition to other things that are just happening more globally, like the cost of prescriptions, right?

Those things also influence the cost of these plans year over year.

Each year the city does go out and shop different options, and the city is actually currently in the middle of a survey of all employees on health benefits in anticipation for um the renewals that'll happen next year as well.

Thank you.

Okay, so if we're gonna have a conversation on grants, I'll just walk you through really quickly.

Um the 27 proposed budget recommends grant awards for 49 programs, of which 13 are brand new.

Um so that's an expansion of of programming and funding to new organizations.

Uh the allocations proposed totaled 1.8 million in the proposed budget.

That's a 17.4% increase over FY 2026.

Um, this table shows the funding levels by category along with the amounts provided for FY2026 for reference.

Um, the mayor and council have been given access to grant applic application materials for every applicant.

Each application was reviewed by a committee of staff and community volunteers and funding recommendations were brought forward.

If the mayor and council would like to request modifications to any of the grant allocations, this is time to communicate those requests, and we can include those on our balancing schedule for our next work session.

Thank you.

I have a lot of questions, but just want to allow my colleagues to go if they have specific things to call out.

Okay.

Just wanted to confirm.

Did they ask you for the full 75?

And is is it maybe that there's a separate conversation about the support that they need and maybe there's ways to figure out help for them.

Their request was for 100,000.

That included a portion that would support their programmatic activities and a portion that would support um their rent, I think I believe is tenants in Wintergreen.

And so what ultimately came through in the proposed budget was the $22,000, which was for programmatic activities occurring with Adventure Theater Academy.

If the rent is the big portion of the need, it sounds like something's going on there.

My understanding is that they're looking for an additional 75,000 and that that would help them address whatever facility challenges they're experiencing.

Okay.

I would just this may be this is probably an offline conversation to see if we can connect them with Ready or just some relocation support.

I don't think that's a something we can handle here, but just to get more information of what's going on.

Uh Rockville Volunteer Fire Department, uh, they asked for um 250.

We came back with 50 plus 12.

Uh I am hearing that there is just a broader context, an issue with a company that's bought a bunch of of these fire truck.

If anyone wants to create a fire manufacturer, fire truck manufacturing business in Maryland, though it sounds like it would be really good because they're importing them from other states and the prices have gone way up.