Remarks by Leonardo Williams
124 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 1 of 5
- Play at 0:33
“Good evening, everyone. It's great to have you all here. Welcome to the People's House. And tonight we are calling this meeting to order at 7 p.m. Please join me in a moment of silence. Thank you.”
City Council · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 1:32
“Thank you so much. Madam Clerk, please call the roll.”
City Council · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 1:46
“Here. Thank you so much. We're going to start with our ceremonial items. And our first reading is with Council Member Cook. We'll get these celebratory items out of the way, which tonight is gonna be a little different, I'm really excited about. And then we'll get on with the meeting and we'll be out of here in 35, 40 minutes. Plus about three hours, no, we'll see.”
City Council · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 9:25
“All right. Thank you for that proclamation. And the very young lady who was reading her comments is also a former Marine. So thank you for your service. All right. I have the distinct honor here of recognizing Harper's home. So Heather Hendon and Harper, will you please join me up? So just briefly, he's a good friend of mine. And we recently, there were some community members who live in a local housing establishment and they came together and they said, we want to have impact on our community, not just a big old building downtown, but we wanna come together and truly support our community in…”
City Council · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 34:16
“Thank you all so much. All right, Vivian, I think we're ready.”
City Council · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 37:28
“Thank you all so much. And that is our meeting tonight. We can all go home now. Should have held you guys to the end of the meeting. Thank you all so much. All right, I will now start with council comments. And I'll start to my left with council member Kopach.”
City Council · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 40:32
“Thank you. And Councilmember Kobach did not leave any announcements for anyone else. Just ran the gamut on everything. Council Member Baker.”
City Council · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 49:11
“Thank you. Council Member McCoy, Mayor Pro Tem.”
City Council · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 51:03
“Thank you so much. In regards to those, you all are hearing us talk about these Constitution amendments and saying, vote no. Some people may not know what the heck we're talking about. I will be holding a press conference about some of these things, just providing general information to the public. But basically, it's about some things that are already in place as a law or a practice, but the General Assembly is moving to cement some things into the Constitution, which will make it really hard to manipulate or adjust if needed. Prime example, if we run into a natural disaster, we'll need to,…”
City Council · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 1:01:44
“Thank you so much. I'll now read the consent agenda. Item number two, Citizens Advisory Committee appointment. Number three, Durham Board of Adjustment appointments. Number four, renewal contract for state and federal lobbying services.”
City Council · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 1:02:00
“I should probably review that list. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Matter of fact, Mayor Pro Tem, can you just?”
City Council · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 1:02:11
“Yeah, it is. 4-23-24-16, in person 16. Item number four, renewal contract for state and federal lobbying services, which was placed on GB, it's been pulled. And there's a resource person.”
City Council · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 1:03:14
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
City Council · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 1:06:16
“I don't know why it froze. All right, item number four, renewal contract for state and local federal lobbying services.”
City Council · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 1:17:06
“ANY OTHER COMMENTS? OKAY. COUNCILMEMBER BAKER, YOU ALL GOOD? ALL RIGHT. GO AHEAD.”
City Council · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 1:24:39
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
City Council · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 1:25:40
“So sometimes I ask the question that I know the answer to, but I wanted to come from you. But they were ranked the number one lobbying firm in the state of North Carolina. And the organizations that work alongside of us to get actual things done or protect us from being damaged even further, considering the city votes nearly 85 percent Democrat with the supermajority in the General Assembly of Republican, If you have the number one law firm that has all of these partners that are represented along with you, where you can get more things in than just what you're asking for, sometimes it's best…”
City Council · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 1:29:48
“So moved and properly seconded. Quick discussion, colleagues feel free to vote. This doesn't determine anything. Our quick question one more time for you. Do we know about the average that people are paying for cities our size? I'm sorry, would you? Do you know about the average of what people are paying around our size cities?”
City Council · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 1:31:08
“I'll also entertain a motion to authorize the city manager to negotiate and execute the contract for federal lobbying services with the Ferguson Group, LLC, Washington, DC, in an amount not to exceed $346,000. So moved. Second. Moved and properly seconded. Madam Clerk, please open the vote. Please close the vote.”
City Council · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 1:31:28
“Thank you. All right, we're ready for our first public hearing. Consolidated annexation, MIS Durham Headquarters 2.”
City Council · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 1:33:25
“Thank you, you've heard the staff report. Are there any questions, technical questions or comments for staff? Council Member Cook.”
City Council · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 1:34:11
“Yeah, if you could just talk right into it, that'll help.”
City Council · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 1:38:11
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
City Council · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 1:38:28
“Oh, I see, Larry Barker. Madam Clerk, we're gonna sit down on this sheet. We're gonna figure it out.”
City Council · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 1:38:43
“How much time do you think you need, sir? How much time do you think you need?”
City Council · Oct 5, 2026