On December 9, Greenbelt City Council addressed “unbecoming conduct of a councilmember” following a staff complaint of allegedly abusive language directed at city staff by Councilmember Rodney Roberts. Councilmember Kristen Weaver had placed the item on the agenda, an item postponed from previous meetings at the request of Roberts and some residents (see the November 7 News Review).
A number of individuals wished to comment on the complaint submitted weeks ago by the Justice, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Action Team, the city’s internal advisory group on JEDI issues, and Weaver’s move to publicly rebuke Roberts. This was not a trial or formal procedure, Mayor Emmett Jordan and Weaver explained, but an agenda item to be discussed and voted on by council as authorized in the city charter.
Residents Weigh In
Resident Mary Ann Canter had listened to the city’s recording of Roberts’ exchanges with others on the date in question, August 12, 2024, and, while recognizing that this was only part of a larger history of council’s alleged problems with Roberts, she had found nothing egregious or worthy of censure on the date in question. Canter felt that enforcing the rule limiting any individual to three minutes in commenting during council meetings would largely solve problems of misconduct.
Resident Clara Kuehn expressed her appreciation that, on August 12, Roberts had used his considerable expertise with vehicle maintenance to question the cost of a proposed repair and stated, “I watched the video and didn’t hear anything abusive, disrespectful or demeaning directed at [city] employees.”
Councilmember Silke Pope read a letter by resident Scott Legendre who questioned the present proceeding in part because the names of members of the JEDI group have not been shared publicly and the complaint is based to some extent on implied allegations of a history of abusive language directed toward city staff by Roberts.
Resident Bob Rand expressed his support for the JEDI team but did not support a censure, arguing that the best way to deal with misconduct by a member is for council to respond in the moment..
Roberts, recognized by Jordan, claimed he was being held to a different standard by other members and being falsely accused. He requested that council complete the discussion since he was being injured physically, mentally and monetarily by the accusations. Council voted to move item #14 to the top of its agenda.
The Complaint
In a memorandum addressed to City Manager Josué Salmerón and dated August 29, 2024, the JEDI Action Team complained that:
“Councilmember Roberts spoke in a disrespectful, demeaning and abusive manner to Deputy [Police] Chief [Tim] White and about the City’s Public Works Department. He made statements that disparaged the skills of the Public Works Department and implied that our colleagues were “dumb” for accepting the vendor’s quote. While the recent incidents have drawn attention, it is important to note this is not an isolated incident; similar behavior amongst councilmembers has been ongoing for some time and employees have previously been instructed to simply tolerate it rather than address it directly.”
Among its recommendations, JEDI requested that: “The City Council should censure Councilmember Roberts for his ongoing inappropriate conduct. Additionally, moving for-ward the council should censure any councilmember or meeting attendee for inappropriate conduct such as the behavior described.” Jordan had already stated the discussion and vote would not be a trial, and later Weaver would reject the word “censure” in favor of “reprimand” and “rebuke” in describing how council might respond to the complaint against Roberts.
The crux of the issue is that at the August 12 council meeting, Roberts told Deputy Chief White, “My problem is, is the Sports Chevrolet [dealership] will tell you anything and they’ll charge you anything. And if you’re dumb enough to take that, then you are … You can buy a new engine, complete engine for this.” Later during that meeting Roberts stated, “You can buy a brand new engine for $4,000. And if we have mechanics at Public Works, they can put an engine in. If they can’t put an engine in, then you know, get a book and teach yourself as you do and let them expand their knowledge a little bit. If [your mechanics] are not willing to learn then get someone who is willing to learn.” Later, Weaver stated that she could understand how someone could see that last statement as a threat to their job.
Council proceeded to a motion made by Weaver that Roberts be publicly rebuked for this and his allegedly long history of verbal abuse directed at city employees. Weaver expressed satisfaction that the JEDI team felt empowered to come forward with the complaint that they presented to Salmerón and he conveyed to council. Weaver and Jordan both called on council to codify procedures for dealing with misconduct by its members.
Roberts, in response, complained about “a secret group of employees that have slandered my name in the News Review” and charged that council’s action “was intended to shut me up.” Roberts claimed that his civil and constitutional rights were being violated, such as his right to face his accusers. Pope explained that she would not vote for censure since the complaint had not been handled properly, even though she did feel that Roberts’ words had been offensive. Weaver reminded everyone that any action taken by council would not be a censure but more like a reprimand. Jordan assured everyone that in executive sessions members do sometimes sharply criticize each other. Councilmember Jenni Pompi also praised JEDI for coming forward; she distinguished between Roberts’ intentions, however positive, and the hurtful impact of his words and agreed that council needs to codify its responses when members violate standing rules. Councilmember Danielle McKinney emphasized the need to hear individual as well as collective voices and also the need for council to model the behavior it wished Greenbelt’s citizens would practice with each other.
Roberts answered by calling for the dismantling of JEDI, calling it a “monster” and “out of control.” Councilmember Amy Knesel pointed out that Roberts was once again vilifying city employees, to which Roberts replied that he was only exercising his right to speak. To his assertion that he comes from a different world where people speak more directly to each other, McKinney replied that they live in the same world, in 2024 and in Greenbelt, and the issue here was the manner in which people speak to each other so that they all feel respected.
Pope asserted that members need to take responsibility for the language that they use and that while JEDI’s role and authority need to be defined better, it is unfair to blame everything on its members.
Weaver reiterated that she hopes council will show that it does not condone such language as that used by Roberts on the occasion under discussion.
Resident Bob Rudd stated that while he had not voted for Roberts in 25 years, he now finds himself defending Roberts’ right to speak since, in Rudd’s view, Roberts was not out of line or abusive, but saying what he truly felt. Suggesting a faceless committee without official sanction from the city was accusing Roberts, Rudd claimed that what was at work here was a “woke-ism” or “cancel culture” that recently the American public had strongly repudiated at the national level.
Largely agreeing with Rudd, resident Robert Snyder asserted that diversity is more than just gender, race or ethnicity; it’s also diversity of thought, expression and mannerism, which is what Roberts represents to him. Roberts shouldn’t be reprimanded or scolded because he sometimes speaks harshly, he said.
Resident Kathy Legendre, participating online, noted that the present controversy has a long history and warned what was happening to Roberts could happen in the future to any councilmember. She agreed with previous speakers that complaints against Roberts had gotten out of control and proposed that council hire a facilitator to help Jordan move meetings along and minimize misconduct by all participants.
Finally, pointing out that JEDI still remained anonymous and the public didn’t know if one or all of its members agreed with the complaint, resident Bill Orleans stated that Roberts was criticizing city policy, not individuals.
Jordan responded by emphasizing that council’s action would result not just from the proceedings at present but also from the closed executive session devoted to discussing the complaint.
Several attendees questioned the authority of the JEDI Action Team in relation to members of council. This was raised by Scott Legendre, who wrote, “It is unclear how and when members of the JEDI committee received authorization to dictate how members of council should conduct themselves.” Keith Jahoda questioned if this is the right governance model for JEDI and was concerned that it is not. Pope stated that the complaint should not have come from JEDI. Jordan stated that council has not delegated any authority to JEDI.
Salmerón Weighs In
Responding to a request by Jordan, Salmerón explained that JEDI had tried to follow proper channels in sending their complaint to him as city manager and that he then passed it on to council. He had also identified the members of JEDI to council. Salmerón described JEDI as a “pillar” in the “bottom up” approach where staff contribute ideas for making city government’s delivery of services the best organization possible. Weaver answered Orleans’ assertion that questions of misconduct by councilmembers should be handled publicly by reading the standing rule that stipulates councilmembers should not express criticism of staff in public but rather submit it to the city manager and to Human Resources. Weaver felt that efforts in private executive sessions to warn Roberts about his abusive language had failed and so there was no other recourse at present than to make it part of this regular meeting.
Weaver made the motion seconded by Pompi that council issue a “public rebuke” of Roberts for making disparaging remarks about city staff in “a public meeting” – meaning specifically the worksession on August 12 – and council voted 5-2, with Roberts and Pope opposed, to support the motion and issue the rebuke.