The Greenbelt City Council meeting of May 23 had several speakers during the petitions and requests segment of the meeting. Two are discussed in a separate story that will be printed next week. Three of the other speakers were concerned with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) spending, particularly as it related to immediately-needed rental assistance. Bill Orleans stated that he thought more of the ARPA money should be prioritized for helping people, rather than finishing projects that weren’t covered due to the shortfalls in revenues. His slogan was “people not projects.”
Douglas Frein (Franklin Park), accompanied by a CASA de Maryland representative, stated that many were still in need of getting back on their feet with rental assistance. He said it was “hard to get out of the hole” and he and others felt “caught in a trap and you can’t get out.” For him, it was urgent to get help because if he doesn’t have his entire balance next month for a court date, he will be evicted. He pleaded with council to try to help families and children quickly instead of putting money toward anything else.
Gionni Smith also spoke on behalf of rental help. He noted that the need was immediate. He pointed out that there is a waitlist at homeless shelters (and no shelters nearby), so those evicted have nowhere to go. He described his research on the expense of potential long-term effects of eviction on society, including increases in crime and the disruption of children’s education. He noted that rents have gone from $1,600 to $2,300, and that by the time grants are made, three or four months will have elapsed since the application and driven the original balance up. He said council has the potential to rewrite history by allocating more money to rental help.
ARPA Funding
The oddly-named ARPA Immediate Funding agenda item, likely inspiring these several pleas, did not in fact offer funding that was either immediate or additional. It was specifically to allow those who had already received some funding to apply for a second round. It did not apportion additional funds. Council seemed committed to keeping a discussion on additional funding to an upcoming ARPA worksession.
CARES Director Liz Park described the proposal under consideration at this meeting as a revision to the way the rental assistance program was being offered. CARES has already given out $1.5 million in assistance and has about $50,000 left of $200,000 that was redirected from the homeowners’ allocation. This money was originally reserved for new applications. CARES is still receiving inquiries and has a waiting list of 15 to 20 applicants in line for a first grant. They also have 20 to 30 prior grantees who are hoping for additional funds. (NOTE: The city’s website recently has been updated to invite those needing rental assistance to call CARES.)
The proposal would give an additional $4,000 to second round applicants once 90 days had elapsed since their previous grant, but link receipt to participation in other programs to help the applicant improve their financial position longer term.
The county, with whom the city cooperates, is also still working through applications received prior to closing their list in December 2021. The process includes documentation from the landlord, who also directly receives the check. Park said the applications are from a variety of locations in the city. Those applying first go on the waitlist and once they get the application, must submit documentation which includes getting information from the landlord. Assembling documentation takes the majority of the time and once that’s in hand, said Park, it is about two weeks to payment. In a related question in another agenda item, Councilmember Judith Davis asked Acting City Manager Tim George to provide information on how many evictions had taken place at Franklin Park and whether the landlord was sending copies of the notices to the city as promised.
Taxes, Admin Reports
The council meeting also included the second of two public hearings on real estate taxes. The proposal is that the tax rate will remain the same – but as Davis was at pains to point out, the impact is that residents’ tax bills will go up because, although the rate is the same, property assessments have risen. Councilmember Rodney Roberts stated that he will vote against maintaining the current tax rate and instead propose lowering it so that real estate taxes remain the same. Davis challenged the community to say which city programs should be dropped or curtailed to reduce the budget – which would be inevitable if the tax rate were to be lowered.
George reported that the hiring of a new director of Public Works is close but the economic development position surfaced few applicants and will be reposted, recasting the description and extending the advertising to new sources.
George also reported that City Treasurer Bertha Gaymon had begun implementation of the new financial management software. He reported that ongoing security issues in Franklin Park and
Springhill Lake Recreation Center will result in adding or repositioning cameras and lighting. City staff are organizing material from the outreach to the community to present all the ARPA suggestions in an organized format.
Mayor Emmett Jordan moved to change the title of Acting City Manager – and this agenda item was thus brought to a close by new Interim City Manager Tim George.
Jordan and Davis both reminded attendees of the standards of behavior required of both councilmembers and other attendees when speaking. This drew an immediate riposte from Orleans who averred that council was always contravening its own rules and that it does too much talking and “blurts things out.” Orleans’ view was: “That’s not what consumes the lengthy meetings we have had in our recent past, as much as council just endlessly, endlessly, talking.”