City Council - Regular Meeting

11:30 – 11:48•JCJanet Cowell

Next, we had the consent agenda. My understanding is there were no items pulled, so do we have a motion? So moved. Second. All in favor of the motion, aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. Great. And then we have public comment. Are you going to play a video, or should we?

You can email them to the city council and hard copies can be placed in the basket in front of the dais.

13:30•JCJanet Cowell

All right, first speaker we have is Kevin Kwong.

15:59•JCJanet Cowell

Thank you for highlighting those concerns. Next we have Mama Kai Sanders.

Octavia, you may need to pull the mic closer too.

22:33•JCJanet Cowell

All right, that concludes our public comment. Next, we have the report and recommendation of the Planning Commission.

Questions counselor I think this one will be for chair out. Well This case the Clark Avenue one. I was curious about the conversation and deliberation When reviewing the conditions it looked like it had many of the types of conditions were familiar with seeing and had tenant relocation assistance and extended notice periods and then it had had some preservation conditions in it, too, that are escaping me at the moment. So I was surprised to see the denial. Can you speak to how the conversation went and what guided people?

So it was more about the existing NOAA and less about the NCOD or preservation side?

Hi, Mr. Atwell. In the Wimbush Lane, can you help me understand, because that was a 6-3 vote. What were the conditions of, I think they said something about the applicant, what would they gain in R-10 that they wouldn't get in R-6?

And that's why they voted, the three voted no?

If you want to make a motion so on the Lewisburg Road one I'd like to pull that out and hold that as a special item to return to our Next meetings with the intention of still achieving the public hearing on November 17th, but to allow the applicant to make changes so if we can pull that out and happy to Move move to adopt the remainder of the hearings

I want to also pull out the Clark case. This is a request from the applicant to have more time to consider changes to it. So that would be also a special item to look at at our next meeting. And also my request would be that when we do have that public hearing, that it's at 7 p.m., given the interest in it. So that would probably be the first meeting in December. Second.

29:03 – 29:17•JCJanet Cowell

Okay. All in favor of the motion, aye. Aye. All opposed? All right. Thank you. All right, next we have special items.

35:14•JCJanet Cowell

All right. I'll start with Councillor Forte.

I guess my first question is what's the thought process about having it presented to us every other month instead of having it presented monthly in terms of the time frame?

Okay, and my second question is, sometimes the organizations will have conversations with several of us. So if one council member makes a request and then other council members also want to support the activity, are they barred? No. Okay.

So you're saying like all together is a max out of five?

I had that same question with the request recommendation of not a previous recipient. That would mean that... On one agenda, an organization could receive an allocation from several council members if it doesn't exceed $5,000. Yes. But then no council member could then subsequently allocate funds. Okay. And then on the must be a reimbursed activity, is that- the funding is not paid until they submit an invoice, or we can't even make the request unless the event has already happened?

So I have some... Well, first of all, general concern is I think we should get rid of council contingency. So I'm going to put that out there first. But if we're going to go with these recommendations, I have a concern about that requirement because some of these... The whole point is to get money to folks that don't have a lot of funds that are nimble. They may not be able to put on an event until they know that the funding is coming. And so I think that you should be allowed to... have the vote from the council table and say, yes, we're going to allocate $5,000 to this organization, get it a

I think my concern is I don't think the requirement should be that they have already completed the activity for the funding request to be approved. I certainly think. that before they get the money, they have to say, here's my invoice, I did the event, please reimburse me. But I think that making the event already happen prior to the funding approval may actually make it to where the event can't happen. And so I just think, I totally agree there needs to be an invoice for reimbursement, money can't be paid on the front end, but I don't think that should be a requirement to make the funding req

Understood. I think that addresses my concern. Okay.

Counselor Patton. Yeah, I had similar questions to what I've already heard. So, yeah, I think... it makes sense to me that some of these organizations might be relying on like their understanding of our willingness to participate in order to move forward. So if they've asked us for an amount of money and we're not even telling them if we might consider it, then they are probably gonna make changes to their event or whatever, right? I think it sounds like you just addressed this, but a willingness for them to hear, yes, the City of Raleigh is committed to doing our part related to your request,

CAN I HAVE A FOLLOW-UP TO THAT? SO IF YOU PUT IT ALL BACK TOGETHER, AND LET'S JUST SAY ONE COUNCIL MEMBER IS EXTREMELY ACTIVE, Like one person could run through the entire bucket before other council members have an opportunity.

43:53 – 45:16•JCJanet Cowell

I guess my comment is... I understand there's a lot of risk in these grants, right? We've got a state auditor that's got a laser focus on these kind of things, and you're trying to put some risk management around it. I guess my concern is that we're creating so many rules and so many just intricacies. And if they've ever gotten money from the city of Raleigh, they're now disqualified. I mean, that list, trying to keep that list, understanding who hasn't received it. the coordination of everybody and the timing. I mean, I'm kind of with Councilor Lambert-Milton. I would prefer, because I just f

46:20•JCJanet Cowell

Go back to Councilor Ford and then Councilor Silver.

I think Council Member Branch and Silver were ahead of me, so I'll come after them.

Well, first, I'm glad you have this up because I do struggle each year with my contingency fund. So this is very helpful. But I do agree with my colleagues. I'm struggling with having someone completed something. I do agree that some of these events would not have happened but for. And so I don't know how to bridge that. communicating that this is potentially yours, you will get these funds if, check, check, check. I just don't know what vulnerability that puts them in. But I do support this website, and I also have bigger concerns about count contingency funds in general that is a whole separ

Well, mine is kind of similar to this. So my question is how similar or dissimilar is this to our overall grant process in which, you know, they get a larger amount but they go through the entire process, but they receive their funding at what point?

Okay. And my last question is, I agree with the point about previous recipient, but how far back does that go? The reason I ask, because I know with our human relations grant, it's a three-year cycle. You wait a year, then you can submit again. So does this keep any of that into consideration?

49:52•JCJanet Cowell

I'll go back to Ford and then Lambert Milton.

I think my concern about wrapping this up with the Human Relations Commission and through their grant process is, As I indicated at the retreat, I know for me personally, Councilmember Branch, we just get a lot of folks who approach us about a variety of activities and things that they want to do. I don't know that those folks are going to capture the attention of a committee and go through the process. the purpose of the council contingency funds is to be able to assist some of these smaller organizations that have a need, desire, whatever, to do some work in the community And they just kind

Yeah, I'm going to add that was what I was trying to weigh in on. At the retreat, I took the position we should get rid of council contingency. What swayed me to let's just find a better way to do it was that comment right there by Councilmember Fort. And so I just think we're at a fundamental, like, maybe not disagreement, but we're out of alignment with the intent. And so if we're keeping council contingency to get quick, nimble funding to truly small boots on the ground, doing good work in the community, then some of these recommendations I think are out of alignment with that intent. If th

So would it be prudent to just hold this until y'all bring us back the grant proposal and then we just have the larger conversation around all of it at the same time? Because then we can at least see what you're going to propose about...

Well, and two of them can't qualify under the new rules because it's 10,000 cumulative. So, I mean, that's got to be a conversation too.

57:21 – 57:34•JCJanet Cowell

I mean, I guess what I would do is try to work with the existing pending, you know, under these new rules. That is exactly what we would do. And then... Moving forward. We can also have this larger conversation too.

And I was going to say in the piece about... Approval and the invoice in that part. I think that's an operational piece that you because the what it reads here it says Must cover a reimburse activity funding not disbursed without an invoice. Yes, so that's what it reads so the part of Us approving and the invoice and all of that, that's not what we're voting on. We're voting on this verbiage here. So I think that's an operational thing. And I think the direction we're giving is if they know they're going to get the funding, then they can kind of, I think, figure out what they can do with their

58:48•JCJanet Cowell

I mean, my thought would be, because I'm thinking about our terms, that we would go to four years, since that is the term of a council. I'm just trying to think of alignment there.

Since it's transitioning, this is maybe two. I know. I know.

I will say I'm having a little trouble making all these decisions right now. I feel like we have many, many things that I'm factoring in, and so I'm going to struggle. I don't know how much I'm voting at this moment.

Can I make a record? I don't want to make misplaced. Why don't we just vote on the pending funding requests and have this come back to you all at your retreat in June? the next term or the next term. I just think everyone needs to process. We just got these. I think we all need to process this more. I don't want to hold up the requests that are pending. I would be fine voting with the ones that are in the pipeline or under the current rules. And then having more time to process and in some setting bring this back to the next, I will not be here. Don't bring it back next month.

Maybe. I'm also okay to remove my ship requests and just have the one $5,000.

So with that, I would move to approve these.

Yes, I think we're clear. The ones we're about to approve will be under the existing rules that we have in place right now. Those requests came in.

Council Member Harrison just withdrew her $5,000.

1:00:41 – 1:00:52•JCJanet Cowell

All opposed, nay. All right, so we have just voted on those current sort of pending requests, sticking with these rules, but with the anticipation that we're going to have a bigger package in January. In January.

We'll have a question. What about... Anyone that may request funding between today.

I think it needs to be paused. So is that the motion from? I move that we pause or suspend additional funding requests until the council can approve new rules.

1:01:14•JCJanet Cowell

Okay, all in favor of that request, aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. All right.

website or form that you showed us, is that existing now?

I don't know what exists today. So that is a new form that does not exist as of today.

1:01:43 – 1:02:00•JCJanet Cowell

All right. All right. Well, that was neat and quick and clean. We appreciate all the work. Okay. Next, we've got report and recommendation of the city manager.

1:02:07•JCJanet Cowell

Oh, I just had the council contingency. There's the Yigbee later. It's G2.

1:04:18 – 1:04:44•JCJanet Cowell

Can I do a counselor patent and ask for an example? So is this like, you've got a kid and they're not making enough money and so the parents come in and say, you know, they can put down $10,000 for this townhome they're gonna buy and the parents are putting in an additional 20,000 so that the payment comes down to, I mean, could you just use that analogy in your gap financing capital stack example?

1:05:08•JCJanet Cowell

I think I would use the apartment, because I'm curious, are they actually paying interest to their parents, or is this gap financing 0%?

1:11:34•JCJanet Cowell

OK, thank you. Questions? I see none. Do we have ?

A few things. In any of these projects, how does the relationship with the county funding work? Do any of them have county funding as well?

And then my other question is around the Blue Ridge loophole because that had to do with affordable housing projects. Would these all qualify for that if it stays in?

These are, okay, okay, never mind. It's for legacy, okay.

So some of them may and some of them may not. Okay.

1:13:11•JCJanet Cowell

Okay. Do we have a motion? Move to approve. Second.

1:13:17•JCJanet Cowell

All right. All in favor of the motion, aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. That is unanimous. Thank you.

Just one question. You had church-owned land. Does it expand to faith-based institutions? It does. So it will have temples and mosques? Okay. It just said church. I think faith-based-owned land.

Well, Mayor and everyone else, it is a great idea. And I know we had conversations with One Wake when we were talking about more opportunities for affordable housing and how we can partner. So just love the idea and would like to see how this evolves. Can you go to the next to last slide? Because I was going to ask a question about entitlement. that one. So Ken and Bynum, it's refreshing to see this 75% of the institutions are in residential districts, which means they have a current entitlement, but to get the additional density, they'll have to apply for rezoning to change, to get more inten

If they want additional entitlement, just want to know, was that conversation with the faith-based institutions shared with them that if they want to go more dense, it's very likely they would have to go through a rezoning application?

And my second question is, I don't know if it's required, but where there need to be an associated comp plan amendment. So when this application does come through through rezoning, there is a policy that supports shifting to God in my backyard. Just want some clarification whether our current policies are sufficient for us to determine comp plan consistency. Particularly, we have conversations with surrounding neighborhoods that now here is a faith-based institution that had a parking lot or some open field that are now going vertical. So just trying to find out, is it necessary to do a compre

Bynum, I can have questions too. I have a variety, but since you're close, I'll start with code questions. One is around FTDO. There's like a Scribner's error in it, right? That if you're going to use the affordable housing piece, you actually have a bigger lot size than if not.

Okay, do we have any sense that that, without resolve, is gonna impact this? What if the property owner wants to build town homes?

Okay, got it. And then also code related. In a webinar I attended once on this topic, one of the speakers noted that a code change they had pursued in their jurisdiction was unlimited ADUs. I'm glad to see we have a lot of entitlement available to these folks already, but were there any code changes that were considered or that could even sort of up the ante?

Got it. Okay. I have a couple more, but I can pass and come back.

Yeah, just two questions. One, for the second convening, is it just for the 74 identified churches, or is it open to all?

And my second question, is there some point or time in which there's a list of who those 74 are? Sure, we can share. We can, thank you.

1:40:31 – 1:42:34•JCJanet Cowell

Well, and then I'll just, first off, thank you to Michelle Millett and the city manager and all the staff who worked on this. It was a lot of work. I felt the same way, so I felt bad for, but on the other hand, lots of benefits too for all the connections and other city managers and staff and mayors that we got to interact with. And very grateful to the Bloomberg Organization for the resources they invest in cities overall. I mean, they're one of the few people right globally that recognize the power of cities and the opportunity. And then also, I know we get a lot of pressure to build on city

I can probably ask offline. I was interested in the second convening and who's like the most appropriate audience. I work with some faith-based institutions in North Raleigh who have expressed interest in this and I just want to get them plugged in at the right part of the stream so they can be most best served.

1:43:47•JCJanet Cowell

Can you just post the date again? It's Pullen Park, 6 p.m., October 29th.

1:44:07 – 1:44:20•JCJanet Cowell

All right. Next we have Report and Recommendation of Design Review Commission and we have Daniel Stegall from Planning and Development and Dylan Davis from the Design Review Commission.

I think we're all extremely eager to have this put in place and done. So move to set the public hearing on November 17th. Second.

1:46:09•JCJanet Cowell

All in favor, aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. Thank you. It's unanimous. Thank you.

And actually, to clarify, is that? Day. Yeah, it's day. Sorry, we don't have an evening meeting. That's right. Never mind. Go ahead.

1:46:21•JCJanet Cowell

Okay. Appreciate that. And then report and recommendation of Environmental Advisory Board.

1:52:13•JCJanet Cowell

Thank you Mr. Greenman. Do we have questions or comments? Yes.

Yeah, I just want to thank you all for your work on the PFAS webinar. I'm going to watch it. I can't wait. I appreciate you all putting the recording online. And I was just looking through the FAQ page now that's on our city website. So for anyone who's trying to reduce PFAS in the food we eat, for example, you guys mentioned how we can reduce our fast food takeout options just because of the wrappers can have sometimes that. So Lots of very practical steps we can take to reduce exposure.

Thank you guys Yeah, I was also going to ask about the PFAS webinar I'll definitely watch it But I was curious if you could in in two sentences for someone who might only be watching right this right now and not go watch that what what are like the takeaways the board would like folks to hear and

1:53:37 – 1:54:13•JCJanet Cowell

Well, I'll just also thank you, and I appreciate the solid waste integration and supporting. I know we've got several pilots going on, and the fact that y'all are working on that, as well as all the other work, so appreciate. And I will also just say, with all the advisory boards, I really appreciate the awards and recognizing people in the community. I was at the Medal of Arts Award last night with, of course, Mary Silver was there, but really amazing work. folks in our community doing work that needs to be, you know, lifted up and just appreciate that y'all are also doing that award ceremony

1:54:15 – 1:54:36•JCJanet Cowell

Okay. So we need a motion. Motion to approve. All in favor, aye. All opposed. Really appreciate it. All right, and then we have the Substance Use Advisory Commission Annual Report and Work Plan, Brianna Scurry and Saul Parada.

2:00:07•JCJanet Cowell

Great. Thank you. We'll start with Councillor Jones. She's the liaison and then Councillor Brandt.

Awesome. Saul, thank you. Awesome job. I just want to go over a few things that we have talked about in our meetings that I know that will hopefully wrap into our work plan for next year. But really, I think it's going to be really important for us to talk about overdose data, because I think counsel would be really beneficial for us to see what does it look like in Raleigh? What do the overdoses look like? Is it fentanyl? There are other drugs that we discuss in our meetings that I had never even heard of. I think it was kratom. Yeah, kratom. Kratom. Yeah. that I think would be very beneficia

Thank you guys. So definitely thank you for the presentation. And we definitely did not talk because my questions were around the data. And is there a way that you, first of all, are there tools that you need that could help you all as far as tracking the data? And then in providing that so we can tell from year to year, are we seeing what upticks, where are the upticks? If it's dropping, where is it dropping? to try to help figure out what partners we need in the community that we don't currently have. Because to the naked eyes, people say it's getting worse. But in order to fix a problem, yo

2:02:16 – 2:02:37•JCJanet Cowell

I'm just really impressed by the, well, your t-shirt too, Dreamville. But the fact that you're working with other advisory boards or at least contemplating that, the level of outreach and just the strategic nature of what you're doing. So just really appreciate it. Great job. Okay, so we need a motion.

2:02:42 – 2:02:57•JCJanet Cowell

Second. All in favor of that motion, aye. Aye. All opposed, and that is unanimous. Thank you, guys. Okay. Matters scheduled for public hearing. The first is demolition of unfit buildings. Bryce Abernathy. Thank you.

2:04:08 – 2:04:21•JCJanet Cowell

It's on the back side by the prison. Okay, any questions? I will open the public hearing. There is no one signed up in support or opposition and close. Do we have a motion?

2:04:34•JCJanet Cowell

Yeah, I think that's kind of, I wouldn't take it seriously when I was kind of mentioning it. I mean, this has been sitting in the neighborhood for years.

I'm also going to point out he's probably going to have to demo it anyway on sale, so I'm just going to move to approve. Yeah. Second.

Not a question, but I did receive an email from the owner. They asked for more time, I think 120 days.

2:06:27•JCJanet Cowell

Yes, we do have two people signed up in support and one in opposition.

Three years ago is a long time. Can you help me understand why it's taken so long or what's happened in the intervening time?

We might be able to find out when they, you've got people speaking, right?

2:07:23 – 2:07:51•JCJanet Cowell

So I Will open the hearing we have Lewis cherry and Chris crew here signed up to speak Well, we have eight minutes total per side, right Okay, I mean It's on the clock, so we'll let him go.

2:11:19•JCJanet Cowell

Thank you. All right. We now have Ben Kuhn signed up.

I have a question. So the person who's going to buy it, what are they planning on doing with it? Do you know?

2:14:17•JCJanet Cowell

Okay. Do you want me to keep this? You can close it. Okay. I'm going to close the hearing.

So I have a question. Before you, Ben. Yes, Council Member. You're saying you want 120 days for us to hold it, or 120 days for you all to act upon?

All right, so, okay, thank you. My question's now for staff. At the time we give permission for a home to be demolished, How long does that take?

Okay. So two to three months. So that puts us, it's a holiday season coming up as well. So you're probably at fastest mid-January? I would say January, yes. January. And you're asking for us not to act until February?

I would be open for counsel to approve demolition and give them until February, probably, 1st. to give you time to work through everything that you need to work through. That would be my motion.

2:16:00•JCJanet Cowell

All right. Is there a response from council?

I wonder if that introduces complications. Like if they're going to square things up privately, then we wouldn't pursue asbestos testing. We wouldn't spend our staff resources on like asbestos testing if we thought they were going to also be doing the same.

So here's my concern. The request in which I hear is they don't want us to act until February 16th, which means if we hold this until February 16th, we come back and then it's another two-and-a-half months for staff before they act and do all the testing.

I'm not suggesting we hold it until February. I'm saying this has been with code enforcement for three years now. So I'm certainly not suggesting we hold the hearing open. I'm saying I don't think we should give cursory approval with some kind of delayed effective date or anything. I think we should either approve it or... deny it today.

I'm going to agree with Council Member Patton.

Yeah. we've got this has been sitting for years we've got neighbors here that are talking about rats and other problems well i can appreciate that now there's a sale on the 11th hour they're going to demo it anyway i i'm prepared to just make the motion to do it right now i don't want to hold it i don't want to give them grace period it just needs to get done like it's too late too little too late So that's, I mean, you've got a moat. Did you make a moat?

Yeah, well, the reasoning behind what I'm saying is to give them time. If we think about the case that we just had before it, we don't even know if we really got someone that's for sale that's looking to buy it. We approved that case. And we approved it because we don't know if we have the information. We have the owner. They didn't even talk to the owner on the other one about if it even is mapped out. We have someone with their attorney. They're paid attorney saying, hey, we're looking to sell this property, move forward to counselor. on Patton's point, for us to go in and do all of that tes

But don't we charge the property owner for all the work we do? So it's gonna be a lien that they'll have to clean up on sale. I move to approve.

2:19:05 – 2:19:32•JCJanet Cowell

Second. Okay, is there any other conversation about this? All right, all in favor of the motion, aye. All opposed, nay. Nay. Okay, so we have one, two, three nos. Okay, so the motion passes five, three. Thank you. Next we have, well, Bryce with a number of other.

2:20:49 – 2:21:15•JCJanet Cowell

Okay, I can open the hearings on these. I have no one signed up in support or opposition. I'm going to close the hearing. Move to approve. All right. We have a motion and a second. All in favor, aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. And that is unanimous. Next, we have the rezoning Z5625 of Carrier Drive, Matthew Clem.

2:23:10 – 2:23:27•JCJanet Cowell

OKAY. We kept this open, or did we? Okay. Yeah. Okay. So we have Ross Massey here as well to answer questions to you all. If you'd like to say anything.

2:24:06 – 2:24:17•JCJanet Cowell

Thank you. Other questions? Is there a motion? Did you close the hearing? Hearing is closed.

First of all, thank you, and also thank you to the county manager that also reached out to me as well. With that, I move to adopt the proposed consistency statement dated October 20th, 2026, containing the agenda materials and to approve the zoning amendment with the adoption and effective dates described in the agenda under recommended action. Second.

2:24:40 – 2:24:53•JCJanet Cowell

All in favor of the motion, aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. That is unanimous. Thank you. Next we have rezoning Z1526, Falls of the Neuse Road.

So when I look just at the conditions, it has some things that would typically not be aligned with my priorities, like closing off the grid or prohibiting multi-unit living on Falls of the Neuse Road. But then when I read more in the staff report, it sounds like the intent of the applicant is to update their signs, which they cannot do under their current zoning, and I know the applicant will speak and I wouldn't ask you to opine on their intentions, but this wouldn't be the first time we've heard of churches needing to seek rezoning to update their signage. Can you speak to the broad policy c

You're saying this case doesn't seem to be similar to the trend?

2:28:30•JCJanet Cowell

Okay, I'll wait to hear from the applicant.

2:28:34•JCJanet Cowell

Any others? I will open the hearing and we have Preston Mitchell.

Thank you. Councillor Patton. Yeah. Hi. Thanks for all that. So I'm still trying to wrap my head around what is a specific policy constraint that's preventing you all from doing what you want to do or, like, I guess how much larger is the sign going to be or what's preventing you from doing this by right today?

2:35:38•JCJanet Cowell

Okay. I'm going to go ahead and close the hearing. Is there a motion?

I move to adopt the proposed consistency statement dated October 20, 2026 contained in the agenda materials and to approve the zoning amendment with the adoption of the effective dates described in the agenda item under recommended action.

2:36:00 – 2:36:13•JCJanet Cowell

Second. All in favor of that motion, aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. That is unanimous. Thank you. And then rezoning TCZ 1926 Edwards Mill Road, Matthew Clem.

2:39:49•JCJanet Cowell

Questions? open the hearing and we have Matt Kirkpatrick here.

You might want to start, the clock's running.

2:42:54•JCJanet Cowell

Questions for Mr. Kirkpatrick? Okay, I will close the hearing.

and I'd like to make a motion. I move to adopt the proposed consistency statement dated October 20th, 2026 contained in the agenda materials and to approve the zoning amendment with the adoption and effective dates described in the agenda item under recommended action. Second.

2:43:15 – 2:43:31•JCJanet Cowell

All in favor of that motion, aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. That is unanimous. And that concludes our items. We are moving on to committee reports. We have none pending. And so we have the report of the mayor.

I do have one proposed. committee meeting for housing and environment so this would be for a presentation about the USGS stream bank erosion study that has been completed I've talked with stormwater and we've also got a USGS rep that can attend our next meeting so this would be a meeting on next Tuesday October 27th at 4 p.m. if we delay it we won't be able to meet till January so that's why I would like to have it next week are there any members of housing environment that have a conflict Thank you.

Mayor Wal. Councilor Schiffer is looking. I also just want to acknowledge that at public comment last week, Ms. Rainey asked if we could have an HBCU discussion in economic development innovation. That item was referred out at the conclusion of last term. There are no items pending in EDI. So functionally, I don't believe we could organize that before I leave council. However, what I promised to you, Ms. Rainey, is that I will work with the incoming chair of economic development innovation catch them up on the work we've done in the committee, and then help make that introduction to you so tha

Okay, great. Any concerns, schedules of the committee? Okay, so that's my motion for us to have a committee meeting next Tuesday, October 27th.

2:44:54•JCJanet Cowell

All in favor of that motion, aye. Aye. All opposed, nay.

2:45:01•JCJanet Cowell

All right, then we'll move on to report of Mayor and City Council, and we'll start with you, Mayor Parton-Harrison.

Just reminding everybody, it is early voting season, so you can vote early through October 31st, and election day is November 3rd. Let everyone know what your issues are, why you care, and ask them what their voting plan is. Some folks, they don't realize when to vote, how to vote, what kind of ID they might need, and so I ask everyone in our community to help each other, talk to your neighbors, and be part of democracy. Thank you.

Just one quick thing. There was a comment made earlier about the steps at Chavis needing repair. I was out there yesterday. The city's staff is already working on repairing those steps. So I just want to thank the staff for working in addressing those safety issues and concerns. Also a great meeting on October 12th with our youth and youth ambassadors. Thank you all for pulling that together. I look forward to the report out. And the main thing I would say from that is whatever we need to do to help inform the community that we already have youth ambassadors and how more youth can be involved

JUST TWO UPDATES. WE HAVE DISTRICT E'S NEXT MONTHLY COMMUNITY MEETING WILL BE HELD ON WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11TH FROM 6 TO 8 P.M. AT LA CUSINA ITALIAN RESTAURANT AND THEN OUR DECODING DEMOCRACY BOOK CLUB WILL MEET ON SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14TH FROM 930 TO 1130 AND WE WILL CONTINUE WITH CHAPTER 3 OF THE UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE. THANK YOU.

I want to personally thank Tyesha Mosley and her entire team and the city. I truly enjoyed the youth summit, the non-curfew curfew meeting. It was engaging, great questions, well facilitated, amazing conversations at the table. I personally learned a lot just from hearing from the youth, some powerful takeaways. I think the one that struck me the most was the desire for more mentors, and I was surprised when one of the students said that far too often our parents want to be our friends and not always a mentor. That kind of hit hard. I know it's not all teens, but certainly I walked away and th

Yeah, more thanks to staff coming from me. We had tornadoes in Raleigh not too long ago, but staff's response was really amazing, very swift, very thorough. I'm grateful that there were no injuries, but within minutes of the emergency, RPD was on the scene. Obviously, a lot was happening for command staff. behind the scenes where they were out of visibility. But even within hours, I rolled up with my not at all helpful loppers and wheelbarrow. But you all showed up with the heavy equipment that actually started clearing trees out of the roadways and making sure people's lives could get back in

Briefly, I just want to highlight that this past Sunday was the last day of operations for Legends Nightclub in their existing space on Hargett Street, which is about a block away from where we're sitting right now. For those of you who don't know, Legends is one of the most, I guess, historically significant LGBT establishments in the city, certainly in the city, and probably in the Southeast. They opened in the Warehouse District decades ago when it was not a place where folks were wanting to spend their time or invest their money and resources. They've sort of been leading the charge on LGB

Again, congratulations, Taisha, for a wonderful teen summit. I left you early to go to the quarter century banquet to hang out with retirees from the city of Raleigh. And it was fun, and they were ready to dance. And so they've got a lot of youthful exuberance, and maybe we need to figure out how to merge the two groups and get some stuff going. But congratulations to our recent retirees.

2:52:28•JCJanet Cowell

Okay, next we have appointments. Good afternoon.

2:53:27•JCJanet Cowell

All in favor? Aye. Aye. All opposed? Okay, so that's unanimous.

2:54:17•JCJanet Cowell

All in favor, aye. Aye. All opposed. All right. Next we have the report and recommendation of the city attorney.

2:54:58 – 2:55:11•JCJanet Cowell

All right, okay. There was a garbled motion and second, but there was plenty of voices, so we can. Yeah, I know, move this. He's right on time, you're right on time, Lou. All in favor of the motion, aye.

2:55:12 – 4:50:46•JCJanet Cowell

All opposed, nay. And that was a very enthusiastic motion. All right, thank you. So I have a motion in order to enter into closed session pursuant to general statute 143 318 11 a 6 to consider the qualifications competence performance character fitness conditions of appointment or conditions of initial employment of an individual public officer or employees so moved all in favor aye all opposed and that is unanimous and we are Going into closed session Council met in closed session to consider qualifications, competence, performance, character, fitness, or conditions of appointment of an indiv