Each of which brings changes and challenges to our world. Winter with its darker nights and shorter days in colder temperatures has given us the time to plan for the next season.
We all look forward to anticipation to spring's arrival with its continual renewal, refreshing, refreshing and restoration.
Creator, we ask that you guide us with wisdom and good teaching.
If there are differences of opinion, please help us act in the mood, in the most courteous and respectful way.
Please help to restore peace around the world so that our children will have the promise of a future.
Please watch over those that put themselves in harm's way in order to protect and serve our city.
All this we ask in your
name.
Burton.
Separately.
Cook.
Fagre.
Farrell.
Excuse.
Gianola.
Hoss.
Hoover.
Jenkins.
Jones.
Curves.
Keane.
Monardi.
Moore.
Overstreet.
Pepper.
Far.
Robinson.
Rubio.
Selango.
It's not grass, Solomon, steel hammer, Taylor, Mayor Goodwin.
President, the clerk will please read the journal, Madam President.
I just mentioned on four respects with reading of journal hearing,
the same note of Jackson's read and journal sounds spent with.
We have several public speakers this evening, our first public speaker.
She had Alessad.
I don't know what was worse.
The false dangerous and flammatory and divisive
saliliquies that were spoken against a Charleston community
on February 5th, or the silence they were met with
from the rest of Council.
For example, when Mr. Moore asked where we are,
Mr. Taylor and Mayor Goodwin, why didn't you answer his question?
You were in our houses during your campaign years.
On February 4th, Mr. Moore, you stated,
they never came with any plan, they never came and talked to us.
Mr. Moore, we asked you to meet with us in our remarks
of the December 18th and again at the January 3rd meeting, we have also emailed you numerous
times to discuss with no reply. Mr. Moore also stated, I wish these same people would
come and help us with the city issues of Charleston. We are not for what aboutisms. That
is a circular argument and of course we don't care only about Resa. All lives matter all the
time. And to member Fagerie, keep those same remarks about how you are not a U.N. member
the next time mayor good when meets with a delicate from Israel about a global issue. The issue
If humanity does not have a city limit, and the mayor's meeting with the Israeli delicate shows
she is aligned with that when she met with him about anti-Semitism, you also said our efforts
were a campaign for Hamas, yet the resolution condemns Hamas, and calls for a ceasefire,
which by the words definition is a two-way stop sign for Israel and Hamas.
Council members, you do not get to be frustrated or scared when you do not respond to our
emails, do not take our meeting request, and do not respond when we say we're willing to edit
the proposed resolution.
You do not get to present us with zero opportunities,
unless we attend these meetings,
then rant about how this forum is inappropriate,
or that we've not made any effort.
Your frustrations are caused by your own actions,
not for our lack of trying and not for our lack of good faith.
Lastly, Mr. Moore, you stated they are numerous occasions.
I'll paraphrase what is on this sign.
They do not participate in anything we do.
Their kids don't play our sports.
Who is they?
I'll answer that for you.
They are us. They are your constituents. They are the people you serve and the people who put you in the seat using their voices for a humanitarian play
Where are they? They are working in Charleston hospitals?
They are government state employees for us Virginia. They are Charleston teachers. I would I would be
Remest to not gift I will end this and I would not I would be Remest to not give thanks to member steel hammer
Solomon over street current
It's not grad Berke and Feral.
We really appreciate you seven lending and air to humanity.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Our next, thank you.
Our next public speaker, Morgan Feller.
I'm sure a lot of you are glad I'm not here to talk about a ceasefire resolution tonight.
But don't breathe your sigh of relief just yet because I am here to talk about the absurdity that happened on this floor two weeks ago.
I think we can all agree.
house due to the words that she had just quoted to you sound when you say them out loud.
Elected officials are the people that we trusted to represent our diverse and loving community.
When we're tossing around phrases like they and those people as if we've regressed to a
century into the Jim Crow era, it's really divisive and hurtful. It's 2024 and this body took us
on a backward journey with racially charged bigoted language that was so insanely inappropriate
that I can't even believe the mayor of Charlottesville had it to go on on this floor.
For anyone, especially elected representatives, to spew such nonsense in a downright insane way,
referring to a group of people as they and those people is not only absurd, it's intolerant and appropriate,
and given the context wildly as long a phobic.
We're not living in a time where we tolerate hate-filled language within our civic government or anywhere for that matter.
We know better.
Well, at least I hope we do.
My parents taught me at a very young age that basic decency is not optional,
And so I'm looking at some of you right now wondering who raised you and how you've
made it this far into this level of government with this mindset.
Yet here we are, forced to spend another Tuesday night at Cindy Hall, defending our community
against the lives and disrespect propagated by those elected to represent us in this
body.
And I'm not just standing up here defending myself for the Muslim community, but also for
my child who sits in the gallery behind me who should not have to witness her community being
demeaned by the very people that are meant to lead and protect it.
To weeks ago, this body sat silent as members made a mockery of an entire community of people,
scouting idiotic and insensitive language without reprimand by anybody in the leadership of this body.
Members of this body claim that we don't live among them that we don't participate in their communities.
They aligned us with a radical terrorist group and simulated that we are a dangerous national campaign.
Reduce us today and those people. This is honestly the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard to sit
up here and say that we don't live. We don't participate and we aren't a part of your communities.
We don't care about kids going hungry. Are we honestly being serious right now?
Imagine the fallout of this language if it was used against any other group, this is not a political indifference.
This is a failure of basic decency and racial intolerant language.
But here we are teaching a lesson of basic respect and D.I. and 90 seconds to our elected officials that are in this city.
Before I came here tonight, I attempted to make a list of all the daily efforts that people in this community do every day to make this community a better place.
But I didn't feel like as a humble group of people that I should stand here and list them.
you all have them when you're desk. The things that about the people in this chamber are ridiculous
and it seems like it almost could be funny. It's not. I love my city. I love this place
I've called home for 28 years. Thank you. But tonight I'm truly disgusted. Thank you.
Thank you so much. Our next public speaker, Howard Swing.
So I wanted to thank you Madam Mayor and Council for the opportunity to speak. I wanted to thank
you Madam Mayor and your administration for responding to the FOIA request in a timely fashion.
I hope everyone on council got my email where it showed the Charleston Building Commission
minutes. We're the bondholder trustee saying that either cure or the Charleston building
commission or the taxpayers will be responsible for the parking garages over there.
So that's their position, not mine. It shouldn't be yours either, so please be mine
for that before we go to the auction. Secondly, I want to follow up on the other email
that I said about my case before the West Virginia American Water Company in front of the
see with the West Virginia American Water Company. There are two different types of water
customers in the system.
Those who are being swindled, and those who are being swindled worse than the other class.
And that's true. Why? Because everyone in here has a washing machine, dishwasher, hot water tank.
The useful life of your equipment is being accelerated very rapidly because of the high pressures that are going into your home.
Most people, as I didn't know, have no idea what the water pressure is on the lateral coming into their home.
It wasn't until we had two leaks in front of our house flooding our lawn that I filed this complaint.
Only to find out that I did not fall under water rule 784.
Okay, so that's what.
Oh, oh, that means your pressure is only 135 psi.
Or three times higher than what it should be for your appliances.
By the way, if you had a washing machine or dishwasher, everyone in here.
go bad? Guess what? The warranty from the manufacturer will not apply because they want to know what the water pressure is coming into your home.
Oh, if you want to follow an insurance claim, forget that too because they're going to want to know the same thing.
We all, everybody in here is being cheated by the West Virginia American Water Company who has the audacity to blame the public service commission for not regulating them.
And then to go and have a 50th Anniversary Celebration at their plant and say they're setting
standards for the whole nation, Bull Crap.
Thank you so much.
Our next public speaker, Sophia Wigale.
Hello Mayor Goodwin and Charleston City Council members.
My name is Sophia Wigel.
I'm actually the Charleston Circle Brigada Queen, but I am also the tunnel to towers, Ripley
five K volunteer race director and so I am here just to spread a little bit of awareness about the foundation.
The foundation was started to honor first responders and military members and to remember 911.
Basically what they do is if a first responder military member would die and leave behind a spouse and young children,
they will pay off their mortgage and the same if they are catastrophically injured,
they will build them a smart home that is to all of their needs that they are needing and they try to make their life as normal as possible for them.
So, and they just started this new organization where they are trying to eradicate better in homelessness.
They believe that veterans in homelessness should never be in the same sentence.
So, not only are they building hotels to where people can come in and get help with PTSD and have a community around them to support them.
They also give them skills to send the background to the community and to build a new life for them.
And also, on top of that, they're trying to work with communities so that if they don't want to be re-glocated, they can go into their community and help them get a home.
So, basically, R5K raises money for this foundation, and as we are a fundraiser, we need people to donate money, so I am here asking,
I know I left a fact sheet on all of your all's desks with about the foundation they actually give,
95 cents on the dollar goes to all of their programs.
And I just wanted to see if you all be willing to support our run this year,
actually a little bit about what they do in our community.
I don't know if you'll remember the state trooper who died last June, but they actually contacted his family and he fell into their in the line of duty program
And they are currently in the works of paying off his mortgage and they have done many things
They obviously have guidelines for their programs
But they have done other things for firefighters here actually from the Charleston fire department where they might not have fallen into the category
But they have paid money to help their families
So I just hope you all will consider donating and supporting this great cause
Thank you. Thank you so much to Pam.
Our final public speakers, they're coming up together as a group.
I had the opportunity to meet with them before Council, Tanner, Caleb, and Hattie.
John Adams students, there are student council. Please come on up to the microphone.
Hello, City Council members. The John Adams student council has an
multitude of things in our school this year. One of those being sphere week.
We all the sphere week for our homecoming football game with many activities.
We had just of days in a spirit wall.
We all depending on wars, which raised $628.93 for the canal,
humane, canal, humane society.
We also gave a spirit to the great with the most spirit
which was presented to the seventh grade.
Here at John Adams, we have held fundraisers selling
boograms during Halloween and candy cane grams during December.
These were delivered to students one morning
and it replenished our funds for further activities.
During spirit week, our student council had an entire
for fall sports. We had competitions among classes and we brought out the coaches to introduce all of our fall sport athletes.
In March, we have an upcoming kindness week. During kindness week, we will have many activities to spread kindness among our staff and students.
Our John Adams Student Council is going to the City Council, meaning to get a better understanding of how Council serves as people.
My name is Heidi Ever. I'm the Secretary of John Outers Middle School student council. Our role, our role goes beyond the school walls. As Tanner said, we have done a lot this year.
We have had a fabulous year so far. We are planning more. We also have discussed plans to buy a new student or a new school mascot costume. After more fundraising activities, we with the spring coming up.
We also have a lot planned trying to work something in with Easter and before spring break.
It's a lot of fun getting to help out with and be a part of student council.
One of my favorite things was when we got to the pep rally run by officers.
My name is Caleb Thomas and I'm the treacher of Jayce doing council.
I'm mainly in charge of fundraising and making sure those funds work to support our school and things in our community.
As I said before, previous fundraisers helped raise over $600 for the Humane Society and
what I've once today, I hope to use to benefit more in our school and our community.
Our public speakers tonight, all are important messages we all needed to hear.
Thank you.
The clerk will now please read the claims against the city.
A claim of James A. Fraley, Charleston once Virginia legislature's
damage to property.
A claim of Robin G. Hickman, Charleston once Virginia,
legislature's damage to property.
A claim of Amber McAlister, Charleston once Virginia
legislature's damage to property.
Thank you so much.
We have a lot of wonderful proclamations.
We've got two proclamations, a certificate of appreciation,
but if Council will permit me.
Today is the birthday of a very, very, very special friend of mine.
who's been a friend of mine for about six or seven years right now.
He's here in the audience.
Marcus, where are you, honey?
That's my guy.
Come on up here, Marcus. Come on up here, Marcus.
Best kid, one of the nicest kids in the entire city of Charleston.
He's good to everybody.
Thank you, Marcus, for being such a good young man.
Mr. Clerk, would you please read the first Proclamation?
Proclamation, whereas the father of Black History Month, Dr. Carter G. Woodson, founded the organization now known as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History in 1915.
And whereas Dr. Woodson's scholarship writings, while serving as an academic dean at Washington State University, advocated for National Black History Month.
And since 1976, every U.S. president has officially designated the month of February as Black
History Month and called upon Americans to celebrate the observance and whereas Black
History Month is celebrated annually in February and recognizes the monumental contributions
of Black Americans throughout our nation's history and whereas Black History Month
across the country's cultural awareness and understanding serves as a platform to educate people about the struggles and contributions of black Americans provides greater visibility to the people and groups helping to create change and promotes understanding unity and the importance of diversity.
And whereas this year Black History Month celebrates African Americans and the arts elevating the use of art for preserving history, maintaining the collective knowledge of community.
and for empowerment, and we're as the contributions of black Americans to the visual and performing arts, literature, music, architecture, culinary, and other forms of artistic expression have been vital to the growth and development of communities, including our capital city.
And now, therefore, I, Amy Schuler-Goodwin, Mayor of the City of Charleston, do here
by recognize February 2024 as Black History Month in Charleston, West Virginia, and
urge all citizens to recognize and celebrate the contributions of African Americans in
the greater Charleston area.
In witness where I have set my hand and caused the seal of the Executive Department to be
There are so many unbelievable people here tonight and organizations.
I'm going to ask Shantai Ellis, bring everyone up and let's recognize each and every organization that's here tonight.
Please come forward. Everyone, everyone, come forward.
Thank you, everyone, for being here tonight.
We do have an awesome group of individuals here with us celebrating Black History Month in its form of the arts.
It's still coming, so I'm giving them some time to get here.
So we have Mr. Woody Woods, our radio DJ personality,
Laquisha Baron Brown, who's an author, Michelle Foster, an author, Hollis Lewis, Pam Valentine,
Renee Eccles Hardy, Rachel Saundersar, Jamila Brown, or all authors, Theresa Gallaway, poet,
The Zenos Espelon chapter is a speech choir.
Shaloh children's choir and we have 17 representatives from the Shaloh church, Baptist
Church, Jihari Beren, a musician at South Charleston High School, Lisha Lee, who's a photographer
for an owner of a shot of leave photography.
Natasha Harris, then Tyson of photographer as well.
Natasha of Natasha to Ray photography.
Chef Kee, gourmet chef, girl scout troupe 104 65.
Dweedy, Miss Black West Virginia, USA, 20, sorry.
20, 20, 24, Veronica Clay Bunch, Ms. Black West Virginia, USA, 20, 24, and I am your host Shantay
Ellis.
Okay, we're going to get a picture one second.
Let me get up there.
Thank you.
So very much.
So many wonderful organizations and people with us this evening.
Okay, you know what?
We're going to take a 30 second to 60 second break.
It folks, I understand it's
It's school nights and everything. Council would be okay just to pause for about 60 seconds, everybody cool with that.
We're going to pause for 60 seconds, 90 seconds, anybody who wants to leave? No problem.
Except John Adams. Except John Adams. I have one thing for you. Except you. Except my six separate students.
Thank
you so very much.
Many special people tonight, many special organizations, including one family.
We'll also honor tonight as well.
The clerk will now please read the next proclamation.
Proclamation, whereas a native of Cleveland, Ohio,
of Steenstra graduated from Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with a history degree,
worked in the field of social work, working for drug abuse agencies in New York, and New
Jersey for several years before moving to West Virginia at the age of 26 to run a coal mining
operation. And whereas Steenstra would become a grassroots environmental organizer and lobby for
the betterment of the lives and health of his fellow West Virginians, and we're asked with
no previous experience working with an environmental group, Stinchdrup pursued a position
as an environmental justice organizer with the West Virginia Citizen Action Group, where
he would later serve as Executive Director from 1996 to 2007, and we're asked Stinchdrup
was the first paid environmental organizer in the state of West Virginia, and in the late 1980s he played a pivotal role in the creation of the West Virginia Environmental Council, a statewide coalition of environmental groups, and whereas establishing a network of recycling centers and hoping past legislation in the 90s that limited the dumping of out-of-state trash in West Virginia and protected our groundwork.
water, where among steam stress achievements, and whereas,
steam stress, after retiring from the West Virginia
citizen action group, became the director of the
Kanoa County Solid Waste Authority with a focus
on management of the county's recycling program.
And whereas, steam stress innovative approach
to utilizing recycled materials allowed the Kanoa County
facility to operate at a profit during an economic
down turn in 2006 to 2008, and now therefore I am a cooler good one, Mayor of the City of
Charleston, to hear by recognize Norm Steenstra for his leadership on environmental issues,
his ability to gather folks together and being able to foster collaboration amid diverse
perspectives. In witnessware of, I have set my hand and caused the seal of the executive
Department to be a sixth is 20th day of February 20, 24.
Norm Caret about West Virginia, our land, and her people.
He committed his entire life to doing that.
And when Emmett Pepper called to say, we need to memorialize what he's done and celebrate
his life.
It was very easy to say yes.
I know Norm's wife and son and daughter and I've Gary's here and many friends and family
You'll please come forward and let us say thank you for sharing norms gifts with all of us.
Thank you so much.
Mr. Clerk would you please read the certificate of appreciation.
City of Charleston Executive Office of the Mayor, certificate of appreciation,
presented on the 20th day of February 2024 to John Adams Middle School student council.
In recognition of your attendance at and participation in tonight's Charleston City Council meeting and
in celebration of your hard work promoting student engagement and representing your peers and
in honor of your collective commitment to making a positive impact in your school and in our community.
In witness where up, I have set my hand and caused the seal of the executive department
to be a fix this 20th day of February 2024.
Before the council meeting started, I met with them privately in the office.
They told me about the work that they're doing and things they want to see, the changes
they want to see, which includes bullying, stopping fighting, connecting with students, improving
their park and wrecks at their facility and also my very very favorite including kids on their
worst day and connecting with kids who are having a hard time and they all made a commitment
by the end of the month they are each going to spend 10 minutes searching out that one student
that one kid in the cafeteria in the hall who needs an extra helping hand who needs somebody
just to stand with them. So in recognition of all that you're doing and you're going to do
Please come forward.
It's very important.
Thank you so much.
Look, Kirk will now please read the committee report and bill number 8028.
A bill to amend the municipal code of the city of Charleston relating to updating the
Regulation of Vinders and reports to say in the council with the recommendation that the
committee report be adopted.
Yes, Madam Robinson.
Thank you, Madam Mayor.
bill number 8028 is amended simply cleans up regulations in the city collector's office regarding
vendor licenses and permits within the city removes the internet vendor clarifications
adds clarifications for street event and private property vendors and streamlines vendor
relations and permitting requirements for the city committee on ordinance and rules moves for your approval.
Thank you for the discussion on this bill.
Question is councilmember Jeanola.
You have a question, sir?
That's okay.
No worries.
There's a second, I think.
Yes?
No worries.
Floor is now a discussion on the bill.
Councilmember Jeanola.
Thank you, Mayor.
I just want to make sure this regulation will make it easier for small business owners
and street vendors to, I guess, apply their wares and make a living if they can.
on street vending, right?
Councilman, my understanding of the bill,
it will definitely streamline the process
and provide a better process for our small businesses.
And, Council, our city attorneys here
for technical questions, if you need those.
My main concern, and I don't know if the city,
if Kevin was to answer this, is I had some concerns
about the insurance requirement,
but I think it's actually, I've been informed
it's actually a little bit lower or easier to obtain than it was before I guess my question
is directed to that.
Yes, so insurance currently, before this bill is passed, any vendor in the city would
have to provide insurance showing that they have a million dollars worth of coverage, essentially.
And this will require that only of those who are going to be actively in the public right
way.
So if you're at an event, that's a city event, like a festival, regardless of those types
things you would not have that requirement through the city collector's office anymore if you just operating on private property thinking of like a coffee truck on the parking lot of a grocery store kind of thing you would not need to show that proof here so it does ease those requirements.
Thank you.
Thank you so much. I thought I saw another hand up. Councilmember Pepper.
Thank you, Madam Mayor. I just want to briefly speak in favor of the bill. This is the the hard work of our.
And this does make it easier as the city attorney, so well stated, so this is the good thing
to make it easier for people to sell things on the street and not have to go through as much
regular roll.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Councilwoman Kerns.
Thank you, Madam Mayor.
I want to speak in favor of this as well.
A number of my friends of the Charleston area art group dropped out of participating in the art
walk because of the requirements for them to have a city business license, a street vendors
permit, the insurance that they were speaking of, paying B&O tax.
I mean, it went on and on and on.
And these are folks that do this as a hobby.
We had to pay the city service fee if we're retired and not working.
We had to pay the city service fee as well.
These are folks that often do crafts, part-time in their homes.
They don't make a lot of money on art walk, so a lot of them dropped out.
But I will be happy to let them know upon passing of this
that they're once more welcome to do art walk again in Charleston.
Thank you.
Thank you so much. Just for just so folks now, Audrey. I think most folks know you.
Our small business liaison who literally went door to door. There's Audrey. If you don't know Audrey, she's happy to meet with you.
After Council next week, next month. If you have any questions or concern, Audrey's done an amazing job.
Going door to door talking with our small business owners this reason why we created this position to hear directly from our small business owners.
what their challenges are and that really came to fruition this ordinance change.
So thank you so much for all of your hard work and director bird.
Christina Bird is here somewhere as well.
Thank you director bird for all of your hard work as well.
Of course the question is on the passage of the bill.
The clerk will please call the roll.
Annie, Bertha, Bertha,
And separately, Cook, Fagre, Farrell, Gianola, Haas, Hoover, Jenkins, Jones, Kerns, King,
Minority, Moore, Overstreet, Pepper, Far, Robinson, Rubio, Salango, Snodgrass, Solomon, Steel Hammer,
Taylor, Mayor Goodwin.
Yes.
I'm being a majority of declare bill number 8028 as pass.
The Clerk will help his read the committee report in Resolution 930-24.
Resolution number 930-24.
Authorised in the mayor or city manager to purchase two new 2024 Ford Super Duty F250 trucks
for Spring Hill Cemetery from National Auto Fleet Group in the total amount of $97,000,
$636 in 20 cents to replace Spring Hill Cemetery Trucks as part of a budgeted replacement
cycle and reports the same to Council with the recommendation.
The committee report be adopted.
Thank you, Madam Mayor. This is pretty straightforward. It's a budgeted regular replacement cycle
for these two trucks and their finance committee recommends the approval of the resolution.
Thank you so much for the discussion. On the resolution, question is the adoption of the
resolution on fear of vote. All opposed, nay, a declared resolution 904 is adopted. I'll just
make a quick comment that thank you so much to our superintendent up at Spring Hill. Larry does a great job.
It's never looked better. So thanks for being here tonight and to our entire group up there who does diligently work every day.
Clerk will now please read the committee report and resolution 931-24.
Resolution number 931-24. Authorised in the mayor city manager to purchase an interactive use of force training simulator from
safeware in the total amount of $616,220 dollars. The purchase is made through a competitive grant fund
and reports it's in the council with recommendation that the committee report be adopted.
That's right. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Through the efforts of our
senders, a mansion in capital, they've worked to secure a direct grant of $750,000 a
from DOJ. For the purchase of this training simulator, it is a good simulator. I've actually
experienced the one that her complete department has and this is an updated version and will
be a useful training tool for a police department. Therefore, the findings for many recommends it's approval.
Second. Thank you for the discussion on the resolution.
Question is of course the adoption of the resolution. I'll infer a vote aye.
All powers of vote aye. I declare resolution. I'm 31-24 as adopted.
Clerk will now please read a committee report in Resolution 9-3-2-2-4.
Resolution 9-3-2-4, authorizing settlement of pending disputed claims against the city
in the matter known as Mary Maddox, V. City of Charleston, and the Circuit Court of
Cannell County, West Virginia, as recommended by the city solicitor, and reports to the
same account. So with the recommendation at the committee report, be adopted.
That's remember Jenkins.
Thank you, Madam Mayor. This appears to be a pretty good settlement in terms of the potential
liabilities to the city and as explained by the city solicitor and therefore the Finance Committee recommends you approval of the summer.
Thank you.
Thank you for the question on the resolution.
Question is the subduction on per vote.
Opposed.
May declare resolution 932-24 is adopted.
Clerk will now please read the committee report and resolution 933-24.
Resolution number 933-24.
That the mayor or city manager is authorized to renew its contract with Incovia Insurance
for workers compensation insurance coverage for a premium of 269,847 dollars and authorizing, leaving
the West Virginia self-insurance system to renew its contract with the U.S.I. Insurance Services
LLC for insurance broker, risk management, and laws control services related to the city's
property liability and workers compensation insurance coverage is for a cost of $75,000
and to renew its contract with the West Virginia County's group self insurance risk pool for third-party
administration services related to legacy claims incurred while the city was self-insured for
workers compensation at a fee not to exceed $20,000 all to be effective from March 31st of
of 2025, and reports have seen the council with the recommendation that the committee report
be adopted.
Thank you, Madam Mayor.
If folks will recall, we had switched over to in COVID last year, instead of being self-insured
for workers compensation, this is a renewal of that policy that we had switched over.
It doesn't tell a 2% premium increase, which is fair in our point, and from our perspective
given that payroll had increased by 7% over the same period as well as generally with the
inflation and the economy. And so they've kept down the premium charges. The insurance
broker fee remains the same. And then the fee for the third party administrator legacy workers
complaint is dropping from 35,000 to 20,000 because some of those active legacy
claims have been cleared up and were down to about nine legacy claims right now, and so that also saves the city some money and therefore the finance committee recommends approval of this resolution.
Thank you for the discussion on the resolution.
Of course question is the adoption of the resolution on forever vote.
All pose.
Madam Mayor for the record.
I abstain from voting as a work with both insurance carriers.
Thank you so much.
member burden. I still being a majority of declare a resolution 933-24 is adopted. The
corporate now please read the committee report and resolution 934-24.
Resolution 934-24 authorizing the mayor or the city manager to renew its contracts with
the West Virginia County's group self-instrance risk pool at a price of 1,799,948 dollars for
the city's risk management and property casually in cyber insurance coverage and including
all third party administrative services for the period of March 31st of 2024 through March 31st of 2025 and
reports the same in the council with the recommendation that the committee report be adopted.
That's from Jenkins.
Thank you, Madam Mayor.
Our coverage is what we're making the same.
This represents approximately a 2.8% increase from last year.
Most of, well, majority of the increase would be attributed mostly to the
an auto liability increase in the coverage of premium price, and therefore your finance
can be recommended as approval of this resolution.
Thank you.
If there's a discussion on this resolution, the question is the adoption.
Councilwoman Snagrash, you have your hand up, ma'am?
I have two questions.
Yes, ma'am.
I want to ask the city manager after I went to finance, because I was curious about this
contract, and maybe I'm mistaken.
and maybe it was a year contract, but I thought when we voted this through, when we had the
insurance select committee, it was a multi year contract. So maybe it was an annual contract,
but I thought it was a, they were awarded a multi year contract. That's why we went through
the effort. That's first question. I have another one, but go ahead.
Yeah, and we discussed briefly after finance, and I confirmed what I had told you then. It was
three-year agreement, but each year it is revisited in terms of what the premiums are, because
the city has liabilities that change assets that grow. So for example, the automobile insurance
are fleet groups, so we can certainly expect the premiums to grow with it. So it is a three-year agreement,
but the cost of the premium is revisited each year. Is this the second year of that three-year agreement
the third. The third. The third. Okay, I've got lost.
And was this put out for bid or it wasn't
because they have a three-year contract? It was not put out for bid this year. It was put out for bid.
The procurement was done three years ago, two years ago, I suppose. Okay. This was just they
provided us with the premiums we analyzed and reviewed them. Thought it was a fair increase in the
cost. We've been happy with the coverage and the service we've received over the last two years.
And didn't think it was worthwhile to go through any sort of procurement, considering we had the ability to conclude the third year of that initial agreement.
And because this is contractual and city spending, should we not do a roll call about?
Kevin?
The state code only requires roll call votes on ordinances.
And we do roll calls on budget amendments and the budget just out of prior practice.
It's not required by state code, but any member can request a roll call on any vote at any time.
Okay, I'd like a roll call on this one.
You bet you.
If we're still in good discussion,
force question being the adoption of their surresolution.
It's been requested.
There's a roll call that.
Work will please call the roll.
Annie.
Berkha.
I've seen from voting for as I do work for this insurance company that's in the resolution.
Separately, Cook, Fagre, Fero, Gianola, Haas, Hoover, Jenkins, Jones, Curves, King, Monardi,
More. Over Street. Pepper. Far. Robinson. Rubio. Salango. Snodgrass. Solomon. Still hammer. Taylor.
Mayor Goodwin. Yes, I was being a majority of care resolution, 934-2 for as adopted.
Clerk will now please read the committee report and resolution 935-24.
Resolution number 935-24, that the City Council of Charleston, West Virginia, strongly
backs the Charleston Capital Connector Project and authorizes the mayor or city manager
to submit an application for the U.S. Department Construction Funding for the initiative
And reports the same to Council with recommendation to committee report be adopted.
Yes, Madam Jenkins.
Thank you, Madam Mayor.
Your findings committee recommends the approval.
This resolution because it shows the full Council support for the capital connector project and the DOT construction grant funding.
If Council were called, we have received a raise planning grant that is still waiting for final sign off approval.
This seems to be getting the court before the court, the court before the court, but given the timing of how these things are rolled through, applying now for the construction funding from that planning grant initially will be a good idea and therefore if I ask many recommends it.
Second.
Thank you so much.
For discussion on this resolution, of course, the question is, is it up to the resolution
on Fairbred Off?
Oh, I'll pose, nay.
Declare Resolution 935-24 as a top, did.
Discussion on something else.
I won't make note.
Thank you so much for passing that resolution.
I spoke with Senator Capito last week.
Late last week, and she is not only the super supportive of this federal grant, this
project is also doing outreach for us and a support of a letter.
So I wanted to also publicly thank her.
The clerk will now please read the report of officers.
Municipal court report to City Council,
month ending January 2024.
Received in file.
Thank you so much.
A couple of quick announcements tonight before we wrap up Council.
I wanted to take this opportunity.
Many of you were there and so I appreciate it.
We have a new chief and a new deputy chief Scott Demsey and Jason Webb, who are here with us this evening.
Congratulations to both of them.
I asked deputy chief how many city council meetings have you been to, and your current
he said three, maybe four, I said welcome to the show.
Welcome and I will remind him, bring us snack.
Also did want to mention, thank you so much to our public art office.
We are hosting for the second time, something I think is incredibly important with it, which is
youth art month.
We do a lot of celebration of sports that go on in our community.
The youth art exhibit was amazing last year.
The amount of kids that showed up from all of our schools, it was just absolutely beautiful.
We'll make sure that everybody gets an invitation if you can.
Please show up to that as well.
It'll be on display the entire month of March.
So, thanks so much to everybody who also posted online about it as well.
Also, I wanted to give a shout out and thanks to our CLRA roundtables and public input sessions
are this week, developer roundtable tomorrow, three o'clock city service center.
We hope to have a good crowd.
There's also going to be a public input session on February 28th at 530 at Roosevelt.
Lots of good things are happening with the CLR A.
Thanks to so many members of our team, including Kevin Baker, who's been a lot of time developing that
and John Butterworth and Dan Verent and way too many people to thank.
A lot of good things going on with the CLR A.
Is there any other unfinished or miscellaneous business to come report council?
I see one, I see two, I see three, I see four, I see five, I see six hands.
How about that?
Councilwoman's Congress, you go ahead and lead us off.
And I ask that council members, if we can during our comments speak about everything that
you want to speak about when you're called upon and then let's let everybody else finish.
We've been pretty loose about letting people go back and forth, but if you have something to say,
let's say it during this one public session time and we'll allow other council members to speak.
And if you have something to speak about in response, we'll save it to the next council.
Well, thank you so much. Council on the Syngress.
I want to publicly thank you, Mayor Goodwin.
You probably made one of the best and most important decisions during your administration
in the selection of Chief Scott Dempsey.
You and your staff, I think, I knew took a long time and it was a long and arduous process.
And I'm very glad that Chief Dempsey stayed in the process and didn't bail on us.
But I wanted to say publicly, I thank you for that.
You got this one right, and I appreciate it.
Chief Dempsey, I thought you'd be shocked.
Chief Dempsey, you have the integrity, the experience,
and the respect of the other office.
Officers to lead CPD. I am so glad that you stuck with this lengthy and arduous process, and I look forward to great things from you as our new chief.
The community and all the uniform officers at CPD deserve your great leadership. Jason Webb is deputy chief, great selection.
I'm glad that you are going to serve in that role.
I thank you both for your service as well as the other uniform officers.
May God provide you with all the safety as you protect our citizens of Charleston.
Thank you.
Council Member Pepper.
Did you have your hand up, sir?
Thank you, sir.
Thank you, Madam Mayor.
I wanted to second what you said about the later use agency is one of the things I'm proud
about that I've been able to do on city council and second the two meetings coming up tomorrow
at three and next Wednesday at 530 p.m. And just to highlight the two things that are the
most prominent new things that have been in the news a little bit, one is the sidelot program,
so there's some lots owned by the land reuse agency that for owner occupants, you can get your
lot next door for 200 bucks and you look at the list and see which ones if there's one near you
or one of your constituents, and if for non-owner occupants,
I guess landlords, $500.
So that's a really great program that's been in the works
for some time.
The second is a new construction in the Senate.
This has been in the news of Fairmount lately.
This is for single-family homes, with a cost of construction,
under $300,000, built before November of this year.
Anywhere in the city gets a $35,000 reimbursement in the Senate.
And if it's on one of our last delay in res agency owns, it's an additional 15,000, so we really, and so all you have to do is, well, get it built, that's all.
And also, get your medicine by July 1st. So this is something I think is really important for our city, and I'm just proud to get to, to tag along to the really great work that's being done.
I do want to speak on one other thing and that is the role of our of this body and the
requests recently for us to take action and to debate and vote on topics outside of our
jurisdiction and I believe that we need to have a bright and clear line between what
topics we introduce, debate and pass resolutions on, and those topics that we do not.
As members of Council know, we have sent letters to the Public Service Commission to the
state legislature to our congressional representatives whenever we have asked when we have
had positions that we have taken in a broad-based way.
And we have not, since I've been on Council, had resolutions on those topics, or on the
those bodies.
There's two reasons I think that we should be sticking to topics that we have
power over. For one, we do not have a mandate from voters to work to weigh in on those topics
and to debate them and use our precious time here together on those. I couldn't find anything in
the city charter or the oath that we swore when we join, or anywhere else that says that we
I'm not aware of anybody in this chamber or even opponents who ran on the platform of international of any international affairs,
much less or even external affairs state-level issues, even those who ran on very large platforms.
And I felt confident saying those of us who went door to door during the campaign did not hear from if anybody, you know, less than one or two or five people that actually asked one of us to weigh in on things outside of our powers.
We received about 80 some emails on this on the international, the Gaza Resolution, and only
a handful, all but a handful were from emails, and more than a third were from people
from outside the city.
So about 55 of the 47,000 residents here expressed support for us taking action on the resolution.
I put a survey online about this topic.
The survey said, let's assume that this council could come up with a resolution that you agreed with.
And do you think that we should debate and pass a resolution on that topic even if you agreed with it?
And 180 respondents, 90% of them said no.
So to the extent we have a mandate from voters, I think it's the other way.
Secondly, debating external issues like this
has actually makes it harder for us to do
the things that we're elected to do.
I think that what we have here in this room
in this body is really special.
We have one of the largest, most accountable
city councils in the country.
There's one of us for about every 2,000 people in the city
and our residents have put us here to work on things
like addressing dilapidated structures,
bringing more people here, diversifying and broadening
our economic base, and increasing population,
making the city better.
So for us to spend the precious time we have together,
which is only a couple dozen times every year,
on something that we weren't elected to do,
it makes it harder for us to accomplish our goals.
It takes time for democracy to work
and for this impressive body to think through
and how to best improve our city so I just wanted to just state that as the
records I think that it's easy I know these are really emotional issues and
really important issues we should weigh in our on issues that are important but I
don't think we should spend time debating them and I do think we should be careful
about the way we spend our time together so I appreciate the long-winded
opportunity to talk. Thanks. Thank you. We had a couple of other hands up. I apologize.
Council member, I'm working my way this way, everybody. Sorry. Council member,
every street. Yes, sir. Thank you.
I want to thank the Charles and Land Reviews Agency.
I saw the spoken with Dan Verenze office the other day and I had a property next
door to mine at 1910 fourth and they had already been working on it within three days they
it down. And so it's, I do, and they do a lot of the building commission does a lot of work around
here. They've taken down a number of buildings in my area. I also needed, I wanted to quickly
just to bring up one of my constituents had brought up, I was just going to bring up a property
1050 Washington Street West. It's a lot going on. The gentleman said there's raw sewage coming out of the property.
there's people in and out, he believes there's some things going on, he's been dealing
with the 4x4 or 5 years. So if you could just put that on your radar and I had to speak
from my parents to live in 702 Hall Street, they have cats over there, and I've spoken
with Jackie, I've spoken with several of the people I've called the Humane. The officers
here didn't get a, like we were saying before, I think we need more, some kind of way,
I never got to call back the rescue folks haven't called they have they don't know what to do and in the meantime
My 80 year old well should should be 90 actually coming up year old mom has gotten a few letters. It aren't so good to read over there
So if we can get back and get some help with these cats
Some might please tell me what to do. Thanks
Council member every street. I don't want your mother man. It may
Thank you so much, and as you well know, Andrew is writing copious notes as well.
So if there are other notes that you want to give to them as well, and at any time, as just
a reminder, Council members don't have to wait to bring these up on the floor.
You can call us at any time, because I'm not sure about that we had 10, 50 in our office.
But if we do my apologies and we'll circle back.
I'm going this way.
Councillor interjecting.
Yes, sir.
Thank you.
If I want to apologize to anybody, I saw me on my phone, looking at text, I got a text
back from Janine's family. She had a procedure at five o'clock today at Thomas Memorial
and everything came through good and she just wanted everybody to know that.
Thank you so much. You're always keeping an eye out and we thank you for that.
Council member, I see your hand up, sir. Yes, sir. Thank you.
I want to say, we lost a very great man on the 10th, Stephen Starks, so mainly I don't know who Stephen Starks is.
He started to multi-fest. His family was very intimate, like his mom, I think, might have been the first black measured in Charleston, my right chuck.
Mrs. Starks, she might have been the first, the black measured black Zoja Charleston. He started to multi-fest.
He was the reason we have the multi-fist today and his blood sweat interiors, you know, was reason we had he seen it was an E-4.
He also ran the beacon digest, which was the black newspaper in West Virginia.
So, and I was going to say, he was a great man.
I knew Mr. Stark's name as we were always a wonderful person.
And then I also want to talk about, we, like in the city, we enforce the entity that we have no control over as in the D&V.
And the DNV sometimes put us in bad situations because they are lackluster on give now stickers
or whatnot.
And they, as in me sometimes get, be it situations because of DNV.
So I want to maybe come up with a some type of way of fixing that.
You want me to fix the DNV?
Councilman?
No, no, no, no.
What all would I want to say is that?
I love your confidence in me.
Well, I want to say as in the city of Charleston, like sometimes when we get
like we're stickers or not, so like we get, like I got followed just because of DMV issue but my
plate was good but I got followed and I guess they because of me you know so but this we need to get
that kind of maybe because it, it with the lessons interactions between, it makes it you know it
makes best situations that's so bad so we can kind of fix that and then the one more thing
still on a youth sports and those still a bunch of kids they live on the west side they live on the
More Charleston can also say they still don't have an order to play football at or cheer these were boys and girls and I want to say thank you to City of South Charleston
There are kids in South Charleston. They are going to do the same thing in South Charleston too
So they are trying to help us so hopefully we can't you know get to something to come because I know even at legislation
I know the delegates are working on it too because I mean this is going to be said because they or a bunch of boys girls
You know that won't get to participate this year because it's looking bad
because the league won't let us in, the league.
So hopefully we can get that fixed, but they are really working hard.
There are some people that are working hard to get these kids in,
and I want to appreciate everybody who's efforts that help in this,
but hopefully we can get some more people at the corner to help our kids in the city of Charleston.
You know, we want to live on the west side, East End, Hill Cress, west side,
some even living, make sure to go to Conal County Schools, help them out, help us,
because they would appreciate and only would. Thank you.
Thank you, Councilmember Moore. I'm working my way this way and I see just two more hands up.
I see three hands up. Councilmember Solomon.
Thank you.
I'd like to talk about some local issues some issues that hold our community together.
Once again for the fifth city council meeting in a row, community members from across different
faiths are here helping in praying we may get amplify their calls for ceasefire.
It's been three months of our neighbors asking and pleading with us.
We've so far tabled their request twice.
We haven't even yet granted their request a discussion.
But the thing I want to talk about tonight is why.
The most popular rebuttal to the simple call for peace,
for an ending to the bombings in Gaza, for the end of turning kids into charcoal.
The most popular argument in this chamber for tabling is we should pay attention
to the issues that bear on Charleston, we should focus on our city's neighbors.
We should get local.
I agree with you.
We should.
Though I also agree that the atrocities taking place in Gaza are local for many in our community.
This is not simply a moral request being made of us.
These people, our neighbors, your constituents, have loved ones and family and roots in Palestine and Israel.
When a hospital is turned to rubble, it breaks us not just morally in Charleston, it breaks
our neighbors' hearts, same as if your homeland was wrought with bombs and shrapnel.
I agree, we should focus on Charleston's local heartbreaks, and I want to make absolutely
clear before it again, that what is happening in Gaza is a Charleston heartbreak.
What is happening and being allowed to happen in Gaza is highly local to the well-being
of our neighbors, if it wasn't, they wouldn't be here. So it's that simple.
And yet, when
you say we should focus on those issues that bear on Charleston, that occur within our
city limits, I am with you too. Let's talk about the issues that bear on us here in Charleston.
You want to get local? Let's get local. Let's talk about the issues that mean life or death
for the people of our city. Let's talk about the overdose crisis. Let's talk about gun violence.
Let's talk about the climate crisis.
Let's talk about the democracy that's hanging
by fewer threads than when we were last sworn in.
Let's begin again.
Many of you know why I ran in 2022.
It was a very simple reason.
I didn't think that Charleston ought to be on the map anymore
as the overdose capital of America.
That seemed like maybe something we could shock, you know?
It didn't seem like a title worth keeping.
First, we must reckon with a question.
how to chop
Welcome to the House and the West Virginia.
We are ready to know that West Virginia leads the nation with its overdose rate by
wide, which is to say harrowing margins. So West Virginia for many years now has been the epicenter of the nation's overdose crisis.
But Charleston, along with our surrounding county, we took a special route to lead the state of West Virginia.
It's something that we shouldn't let get lost to history.
It's not something we should be resigned to.
It's not something we should let get covered in the fog of,
it's always been that way.
It has not always been that way.
Up until 2018, Charleston and Kenna
did not lead West Virginia with its overdose fatalities.
Kenna was not the overdose capital.
The capital of the capital as a word.
We made it that way.
To folks know who was the overdose capital before 2018, I'll tell you, Huntington and Cabo were.
What happened?
How did Charleston and Canna eclipse Huntington and Cabo?
It was not by chance.
It wasn't a thing that always was.
Something changed.
Something very simple happened that put Charleston on the map.
In March 2018, just as Winter was truly thawing,
Just as the green nubs of spring we're showing themselves, a political showdown led to the shutdown of the very successful syringe program, which was run by the Cannot Charleston Health Department.
In March 2018, that program, which serves sometimes up to 440 people a week, was forced into shutting its doors.
No more syringes, no more evidence-based harm reduction program, and all the life-saving
benefits it brings.
It was shuttered.
And by the end of 2018, by the end of that very year, low and behold, Charleston
cannot overtook Huntington and Cabot.
We led in deaths.
We led in Carvedow families.
We led in GoFundMe funerals.
We led the state in GoFs.
And we've led, we've held that distinct lead every year since, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021,
2022, and the provisional data is in for 2023.
We're coming up on six years next month.
That's wild to me, six years since we lost our most valuable tool in confronting the overdose crisis,
six years with leading the state and fatal overdoses.
And we've never reckoned with this.
We generally don't hear about it on the Council floor,
though I can't blame any given speech.
We barely hear about us being the overdose capital
from our local health bodies or many elected
across our city and our county.
Too many people who we rely on for clarity
find it difficult to express this simple bit
of public health cartography.
In a national map, our little city
is the capital of the capital of the capital
of America's overdose crisis.
We are the heart.
Will this be the year we reckoned with that?
This past year, we had a chance to reckoned.
We had a chance when the women's health center said they would run
an accessible syringe program in the part of the city
with the highest overdose calls that go to 911.
They said they followed all the rules.
This body managed to come up with late in the night back in 2021.
They said the women's health center said,
they do their best, balancing rules made by politicians, not healthcare experts, and the pursuit
of saving the most lives through this crisis. This wasn't so long ago. That was August.
So we all remember what happened. We said no thanks. We said not this time. Nine of us voted
to let the women's health center help Charleston, our city, shruck its title as the overdose
capital of America, the rest of us, the majority of us as it were, said no thanks.
We had a chance to leave the brightest legacy of our council term to get to work, shucking
in the mantle of being the nation's overdose capital, and we passed on it.
If we want to get local about saving the most lives, I'm happy to get local.
But 2023 was not our year of getting local.
It was not our year of reckoning, and therefore it was not our year of atonement.
Though we did do something kind of neat in early 2023.
In February 2023, just one day under one year ago,
we passed a bill to create a health advisory board.
This board was originally focused on health equity,
though the word equity was carved out.
Still, this bill calls for this community advisory board
to create a community health action plan.
This health advisory board would in turn make reports and recommendations to council based
on that plan.
It got enough votes just six days.
It passed.
This body said, go for it.
Yet a day shy of a year later, the task force has yet to be assembled.
That said, I fully expect this advisory board will be assembled soon.
And I invite all of us to take part in it.
All of us in this room.
Surely this board will include an action plan that includes evidence-based steps to address the overdose crisis.
We will have much to learn and much to embrace.
When I learned in my first year of City Council, my first year being the year of 2023,
was harm reduction was not the only life in death issue we had yet to reckon with on a local level.
There were others.
That said, one issue that came up just a few months before I was sworn in.
many in this chamber will remember. Former Council member Diana McKinney worked with this council
to unanimously pass a bill which called for the creation of a gun violence prevention and
survivors commission. That passed unanimously in September 2022. That commission has never been
assembled. It's been over 500 days. Diana lost her son to gun violence nearly 10 years ago.
And one of the brightest legacies on this council was the passage of this commission, a legacy shared by all of you who served on this body then as well.
Over the past couple weeks, we've been reminded of the stakes that inspired that commission.
There have been a string of more shootings on Charleston's west side and in north Charleston.
More deaths, including more young people, cut down in their prime.
This commission's charter, this commission's charter,
calls for it to present our body,
this council, with the report with recommendations every December.
We've missed two of those December.
Though for a moment,
I want to share what a few of those recommendations could be.
Let's pay to picture of potential local solutions
to gun violence prevention.
I've been studying this issue at Johns Hopkins University
where I am a slow-moving second year doctoral student.
Like with harm reduction, there is deep research into the question of
what programs and policies can prevent the most gun violence.
One such model is called the cure violence model, cure violence.
This model invests in a core group of people who in turn invests in a small network of people
who are the most at risk of gun violence.
This model empowers outreach workers to provide these hot members with services or fast moving
referrals to address other needs, including food, housing, job training, therapy and employment.
Our reach workers are often those with lift experience, people with experience with gun violence
and or those who have been impacted by the criminal justice system.
The credibility of having gone through these life experiences helps to build rapport and trust.
This is a model that could help save lives in our city.
This is a model that is ripe for Charleston.
It's also a model that has been tried all around us in Pittsburgh, Durham, Louisville, Nashville, and so on.
And I'll note, it's a very similar model to how Charleston already leads with the care team.
For those who don't yet know, the CARES team is a nine-person team of mostly people with
lived experience who feelth calls and build relationships every day with people who are
challenged with drug use or mental health or housing issues.
It's an amazing branch of our city.
We have a template for this.
We can do this.
A complimentary model is to do what Minneapolis has done and create a gun violence prevention fund,
a gun violence prevention fund that offers grants to community groups that want to do the work.
This fund also equips community leaders with trainings such as grant writing and program evaluation.
Minneapolis offers $6,000 for pilot projects pilot projects and funded nearly 100 community projects in 2022.
We have to ask ourselves, have we reckoned with gun violence in our community?
will we call this commission together this year?
And when we do, will we give this commission every tool in capital
it means to succeed?
Well, we ourselves, as vital council members, continue to promote the ideas
and back up the healers who are working every day to stem this rise
and violence here in Charleston.
I'd like to talk about a couple other issues.
At the start of 2023, we also knew there would be billions
available in climate funds from the Biden administration and Congress.
These inflation reduction act funds represented and continue to represent a historic opportunity.
The climate crisis isn't playing games with us anymore.
These are times of peril and we are no exception to those dangers or these opportunities.
We have gone after some of the federal governments to store climate funds,
good solar work and good energy efficiency work.
Still, the most efficient way to go after these funds would have been, and remains, creating
a climate office, a climate office in the city of Charleston.
Without a dedicated climate and resiliency team, including a committed grant writer, how
many tens were hundreds and millions of dollars in epic project development work that
can lift up and protect our city will we miss out on.
As many know, we do have a local council committee that has meant to work on this issue,
It's called the Environmental and Recycling Committee.
In March 2023, a blogger from Morgan County noted that Charleston's environmental and recycling
committee was chaired by an elected official who was also registered as a lobbyist at the
time for exon.
I am on that committee.
Quickly after that blog post was published, it was announced that that chair would be
swapped for another committee chair, though that committee has only met once since I've been
on council.
So just to say it again, the city's environmental and recycling committee has only met once since we were all sworn in in January 2023, 13 months ago.
This committee has a responsibility for proactively finding solutions to lower the city's emissions while increasing our resiliency to the climate impacts.
I would like to request once more that we follow the green team's lead and meet monthly.
It's our job and to elevate this again, we have done good work including being a part of the clean energy lift the lift hub in the making on the east end and we're also making remarkable stripes to expand recycling on the city.
So given the stakes we need to ask have we truly reckoned with the climate crisis and the opportunities and the threats it poses for our city.
have we gotten local?
Here's the thing. It's hard to get local in the dark. As
these issues and others compound, we need light. We need more light. We need to rely
on the press and independent journalists to help us be our best-sounds, to help
us reckon, to help us atone. Yet, in 2023, this council did something a little
topsy-turvy, forgive me because I didn't see it coming. We voted to remove access to the
legacy press table that sits in the corner of City Council right over there. As far back as
anyone can remember, that was the table for Charleston Press. They could watch us, all of us,
including the public. It had the best view. Not only that, we voted on removing all press access
beyond the front rail of the public gallery, nor, along with the public, our press allowed
to cross over, 15 minutes before council starts, or 15 minutes after council ends.
This has never been something we've done before.
This vote was fresher, it happened in early October, so you may remember.
Some had their reasons for it.
There was fear of a new media journalist trying to get an answer from an elected official
after council ended.
Some might remember, some intense metaphors were utilized.
And yet here we are, a press table, empty a press.
Here we are.
I don't think it gets more local, really, when your local press cannot fully document
and engage the happenings in their city hall.
Have we reckoned with freedom of the press here in Charleston, West Virginia?
We started this talk, we started this talk with the discussion of Gaza.
It's one of the reasons there are still people in our views.
Since October, our hearts have been heavy with so much loss of life.
Hamas, attacked Israel, and grew some ways.
Israel responded with what's been regarded as genocidal tactics.
We've been asked to lift up calls for a ceasefire.
We've been asked to get a bit global even as it is also rather local.
And we've said, no, we said you can have our thoughts and prayers,
but you cannot have a resolution, not yet anyway.
Yet this community has given us something else.
This community, which called on us to save the most lives in Gaza,
they've helped open our eyes and open our hearts
to ways we can save the most lives here in Charleston.
Even if we can't reach our arms around Gaza,
we can reach them around our own city.
We can see, we can see the stakes here, like never before.
We face our own bombshells and we can...
We can do something about them. We can race to end the overdose capital right here in its heart. We can be a leader in the climate fight. We can finally get a handle on gun violence prevention efforts. We can restore the threads of democracy we've so worn.
These are gifts from the people who asked us to save the lives of their loved ones in their homeland.
may we take them as gifts to save the most lives in our own city.
And may we one day soon return these gifts with a clear call for an urgent, still that's really needed ceasefire.
Thank you. Councilwoman Kerns, your next on the list, and then Councilwoman Verca.
Thank you, Madam Mayor, and fellow council member persons.
There's been a long-garrison avenue I call probably at least monthly about a variety of homes
along that way that desperately need help.
The building commissioners position has been vacant since 1 July 2023 when Tony Harman retired.
So when can we expect that position to be filled?
Billy has been the interim director since that day.
So he is serving in that room.
I understand he's also trying to do his former job as well.
And it's quite frankly not working.
That position is very important as witnessed by the home explosion on
in North Charleston that had been reported repeatedly.
these houses are constantly just an ice sore and something needs to be done with them.
I will call that office again tomorrow. Also, with the new budget coming up, I have a few
concerns. The retirement fund for our uniform employees is over $7,000 or $7 million short.
No, excuse me, yeah, that's right, the uniformed employment employees is over $7 million short.
And the retirement fund for the OPEG is also about $7 million short, both of them are $3 million.
I'm sorry, but they're $3 million.
During the mayor's state of the city address, it was announced that there are plans for increasing city employees' salaries
to at least $15 per hour, which I agree with.
Also, a public safety building was discussed with no estimated cost.
The firefighters training facility with no estimated cost and improvements and renovations
to the municipal auditorium, which was, in fact, closed the morning of the state of the city,
addressed due to threatening life concerns with no estimated cost for improvement.
I'm in hopes that at least the historic art deco,
staff to saw it on that building can be preserved
and by tying in any new construction into that.
And at last, but not least, the capital city sports complex.
With rising building materials and labor costs,
I estimate that the total increase with the salaries,
the retirement funds, the construction projects,
projects are rapidly approaching about a billion dollars, and I would like to know where this
money is going to come from. Last year, City Council approved to create a committee in conjunction
with the Conal County Commission to do a feasibility study about the sports complex. We gave
the committee $5 million towards the project. We have not been provided any information regarding
the feasibility study. Are they meeting in private? Are they going to hold public listening
sessions? Where is the transparency with this? Before we voted on the $5 million seed money,
I specifically asked about the authorization regarding spending the money, and I was told
But no money would be spent without an additional vote by City Council.
And that City Council would have to vote whether or not to proceed with the project after
the feasibility study.
What are the anticipated expenses for staffing, utilities, cleaning and maintaining the
sports complex?
How much are we going to charge to use the facility?
How will it impact the use of other gyms and the facilities in the area?
Last week, curimette, during an executive session, they discussed the purchase of the Macy's
building.
Additionally, last week and again, today, I can all count the commission, I can all count
a commissioner announced the ground breaking would occur in April of 2024.
I have concerns about investing millions of dollars, immediately beside the former Town
nothing to protect, maintain, or promote the mall, which is highly visible, a highly visible
dinosaur in the center of our city. Why would we put in a state of the art complex beside
a virtually abandoned mall? The destruction of the parking garage to build the complex also has
me confused because when the mall was in its glory, it was hard to find a parking space and
Rogers State Fall. I believe a better plan would be for the city to take back control of the mall
itself. All the businesses could be moved to the first floor and include shops at sports enthusiasts
would need, such as the shoe stores that are going out. The second floor could be the various
courts, locker rooms, jogging trail, and maybe other attractions such as laser tag arcade games,
anti-gravity rooms, bowling alleys, zip lines, or roller rink, the list is limitless as
what could be done there. Leave the food court on the third level and expand it. Keep the current
anchor restaurants and fill the vehicle once. And of course, build back the parking
grudges bigger and better and have over the road access to the local hotels that would be
is a beautiful waterfall. Bring it back. If we're going to do this, at least let it make the attraction
a real attraction for families, team, groups, and visitors can enjoy it. Thank you.
That's woman current, Councilwoman Berke. Thank you. I think that's our last council member,
Councilwoman Far, so Councilwoman Berke and Councilman Far, is there anyone else?
No, okay. Thank you. Councilwoman Berke, please.
I just wanted to say a special thank you to Chief Dempsey. You all may or may not know.
We had a vital business in Canal City that had been operating for a while.
I found out a better October. We started working together and they closed it down a couple of weeks ago.
So thank you very much for that.
Thank you so much. Councilwoman Far.
bad one more thing. Oh, I'm sorry. That's all right. Just real quick. You all remember the
incident where the people got stabbed and McDonald's and then on the Roosevelt Avenue,
which is where I live. A woman was just taking her trash out and got stabbed. Her sister called
me a couple of days ago and the neighbor who lives three doors down from her is also her landlord
and they credit him for saving her life because the police at that point didn't even know that
anybody there had been harmed and she came to him through the yards and got his attention and
he flagged out of policemen and they were able to get her help so she they feel like he
saved her life they asked me was there anything we could do to acknowledge him and I wasn't
sure I was just going to throw it out there I don't know if there's a hometown hero or anything
like that that we could apply for for him. Thank you. It's always a good time to recognize
so yeah absolutely thank you thank you so much for that appreciate that
Councilwoman Farmer. Thank you Madam Mayor and I really didn't think I was
gonna say anything this evening but I've listened and there's some things that I
want to make sure that I reiterate things that are very difficult for me to
discuss but are important because of the folks that I know that elected me
be here. Whenever we have conversation about the syringe programs, I have said this numerous
times that when things are one-sided and agendas are pushed and folks are left out that
suffer because of someone that's in active addiction, I'm not quite sure I would agree that
The syringe program was successful.
When I looked through my mother's bank statements and saw that she spent over $200,000
on her child, that was in active addiction for several years, that would go to the health
fares and would get the 60 needles that were in a bag and use them as bartering tools
and commodities.
And until we start having that conversation, we are going to stay in a vacuum.
I will continue to be a resounding no if there is not something that is listed about the
people that have to deal with folks that are in active addiction and their side of the story.
I also want there to be notice and for other people that are pushing for this type of agenda
to include the domestic violence victims
that arise from someone that's in active addiction.
How successful do you think they would feel
when they have a broken rib?
How successful do they think that a syringe program
would be when they have to live in a home
with someone that beats them in the face
or kicks them in the stomach?
I have yet to hear that conversation
except coming from me.
Have yet to hear that conversation.
When we want to talk about experts,
the experts are the ones that have the lived experience,
The experts are the ones that are not sitting behind a table putting together statistics of what may be or what may not be.
The experts are the ones that I'm speaking about.
So until that conversation starts, I don't hear anything that you're saying.
And until I hear about people that look like me and look like my brother and look like the people that are just dying and dying without having any type of access to coverage.
I hear nothing. I have said this over and over and over and over again and I'm not going to stop saying it because as I've said a number of other times, I am the only black woman that sits on this on this council and every time that something comes up and my words have been skipped over ignored or blatantly just said maybe you don't understand harm reduction. I understand it's so much better than the books that people read.
I understand it's so much better than the stories that are told or the saliliquities that are mentioned.
I understand it because I have lived experience.
And not only do I have that lived experience, the hundreds of not thousands of people that have contacted me,
since I have spoken up about my lived experience, have said, please keep speaking.
So, if we are talking about saving the most lives, I would like for there to be someone that's on an advisory committee that has been a victim,
that has suffered through domestic violence or has had their money stolen or just, you know,
maybe they'd lost their home.
That's not success.
When someone else's success ends up bothering or interfering with another person's life,
we can't call that success.
That's failure.
It's failure over and over and over again and many times that affects people that look like
mean more than anything else.
So you can skip me with the heartthrobs, you can skip me with pulling on the heartstrings because I don't have any more heartstrings to pull, I have none.
Finding, living through three people that I care more about than I can explain to you that died in a 11-month period and walking in and seeing my brother's lifeless body.
And a syringe right beside of him are walking into a home with feces spread all over the walls
And 60, 70 needles sitting on the ground and I'm the one picking them up
You can skip me with the success because it's not successful. It's not successful at all
And I also want to talk about the legacy press table
I don't know if any of you all saw it
But I did on January 8 there was a Nevada judge that was lunge that when there was law enforcement standing right beside of her
she was hurt. We did certain things to protect the mayor and to protect us. I know that most
people in this room saw it because it was on television over and over and over again. We try
to make the best decisions that we possibly can, but when we sit in a room and we're called Heartless,
when we sit in a room and we're called Murderers, when we sit in the room and we are talked to
like we are the scum of the earth and if our words don't matter, I don't understand how that's
productive. I really don't. And I hope that I hope and pray again as the only black woman
that sits on this council that my words are listened to because, quite frankly, this
and the notes that I just recently took, it maybe it wasn't as eloquent as something
that was prepared. None of this. None of this that I have been saying over and over again
since I have been on this council was mentioned. Thank you for your time.
Thank you so much, Council Member Far, the clerk will please now call the roll.
Annie Berke, Burton, separately.
Cook, Fagre, Feral, Giannola, Haas, Hoover, Jenkins, Jones, Perns, King, Monardi, more,
Overstreet, Pepper, Far, Robinson, Rubio, Selango, Snodgrass, Solomon, Steel Hammer, Taylor, Mayor
Good one.
Here.
Madam President.
That Charleston City Council will be adjourned until-
4th at 7 p.m. Thank you. Council adjourned.