Board of Commissioners · Regular Meeting · June 10, 2024

observed as we convene for the Durham County Commissioner meeting it's crucial to recognize the painful truth of history that we stand on the stolen ancestral lands of the Kataba Eno okichi shakori and Tuscarora peoples whose deep connection to this land predates our arrival we acknowledge with humility the unjust displacement and violence that occurred leading to the dispossession of indigenous peoples from their homelands their resilience in the face of such adversity is a testament to their strength and spirit may we humbly honor the ancestors and Elders of these nations both past and present by committing ourselves to fostering understanding healing and justice for acknowledging the past and embracing a future Guided by compassion respect and unity as a courtesy to others please take a moment to check your cell phones and turn them off the make sure the sound is off so that they don't ring during the meeting and now we will open our regular session with the pled of Allegiance and I'll ask commissioner

Jacobs alliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all are there any adjustments to the agenda okay hearing none uh before I pass it to the clerk for announcements I just want to make one quick one that there are cupcakes in the hallway that I brought uh to celebrate tonight um but also there is a card or maybe two giant large cards that if you guys have a moment take a second to write a comment of appreciation to our Duram County budget staff who made this moment possible through countless hours so there are Sharpies out there and a card um please write a nice note for all of our County budget staff thank you good evening Commissioners and

m. at the heti Heritage Center located at 8:04 fille Street registration is is free and there is a link to register in another episode of What's the 411 from the Durham County Department of Public Health we talk about topics related to diabetes we will

m. m. Duram Refugee day is a CommunityWide event that celebrates the contributions and cultures of our Refugee and immigrant neighbors and

org and lastly find active zoning and

com for additional information that concludes the announcements published in tonight's agenda thank you clerk Wallace that brings us to our minutes from the May 28th 24 regular session are there any adjustments to those minutes or I'll entertain a motion for approval so move second okay mve by commissioner Jacob seconded by Vice chair Burns all in favor say I I any opposed okay minutes are approved 5 to zero now that

brings us to our ceremonial items beginning with the award Deco on thego design contest winners with checks for first second and third place adults and youth artists and we have MO here presenting for us good afternoon um first I would like to um recognize the people that work behind the scenes that often don't get recognized for work that needs to be done I had an excellent team to actually help us through this Art Award and that team consist of Deborah Craig Ray who's sitting right here please stand um Crystal Thomas Dawn Dudley Philipe Gibbs who is our um Fleet and facilities manager um Alicia Watson Briana Khan and Brenda

brigh so I want to thank them personally for all the hard work that they did secondly we had uh a mixed team with regards to our judges and I would ask that each judge uh come up front for us and um two of our judges were not able to attend and that was Margaret deont and Elias Tor but three of the judges are here and that is Dr Brent Lewis Brenda brigh Hayes and Sarah Martin [Applause] we H we have a gift for each one of the these judges they actually um reviewed 21 applications to ensure that the artwork met the criteria that was

necessary for the winners to actually be awarded their their monetary gifts with regards to the bus so Monica we will do the the bus you will be able to see them up on the screen the artwork that was presented uh judges don't go away judges go back to your spot don't you don't don't so this is our youth third place winner this is Dalia Lewis so if Dalia [Applause] so Dalia is in a is an 11th grade she loves drawing and goes to the art an art

Focus school she enjoys Durham stores in admiring nature with her family and friends our second place winner was not able to join us today her name is Aaron Lee and that is the artwork that she [Applause] presented now I'm real partial to our first place winner our first place winner is Jenny I'm Jenny is a young digital artist who enjoys creating art pieces in her spare time and hopes to share my work for others to [Applause] see so you can see why it's so special um it is absolutely gorgeous and will be on the rear of the [Applause] [Music]

[Applause] bus I just think this is absolutely gorgeous it shows the diversity of Durham in a very special way and I want to thank you Jenny for actually contributing so now we have the adult artists one of the things I think we need to mention is there were very crucial criteria and a lot of that had to do with uh the Durham logo the Durham County logo versus the durm city loo this is a durm County bus and so we had some excellent presentations but we had few little challenges with regards to the use of the logo so that's one of the criteria that was very critical in the judges and I appreciate the judges taking all that into consideration our third place winner is Aaron Overton he was born in Durham at the old west Watts hospital now the NC

School of Science and Math and attended Hope Valley Elementary as a child Aaron graduated from UNC Chapel Hill he re he recently retired from a 25y year career as a graphic designer and art director at a large triangle tech company his admission combines two of the greatest loves Durham and the Art and Design [Applause] our second place winner is Brandon Hampton he was born and raised in durm and he graduated from Hillside High School in [Applause] nccu he's he studied English and played football he is currently a middle school art teacher at Roger her middle school

and he enjoys all art forms and spray paint and digital now first place winner this is very very interesting she not only did one side of the bus she did two sides so Janice little and please hold your applause to the very end Janice is an art teacher and maker living in North Carolina with her children husband and extended family at the Corner House in the North Street neighborhood she loves to work with their hands and is an artist in Residence and farmland at Little Sparrow flower farm her work as an educator constantly inspires engagement in various media and a love for experimental and play Within her artist process she currently teaches at

Chrisco Ray Research Triangle High School in downtown [Applause] dur and she has her hands full okay thank this will actually be uh painted on the bus by our uh vendor and the bus will probably be available in probably 2026 [Applause] so we're going to ask the board to take a picture with our our winners I don't no no I'm not photogenic honey I can hold your things

oh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause]

thank you all so much for participating in this program and submitting artwork uh we really appreciate it and thank you to the judges I see folks are stepping out but if there's any comments from the Commissioners to really quick so when we uh had the opportunity to hire our new manager um one of the things that is really important to us right now we are not in the midst of Co but Co kept us from doing some of the really great work we needed to do in the community uh we saw that firsthand especially when we were trying to give out Equity shots for Co and we had to contract with a lot of different companies who were Innovative enough to go out into the community so as soon as Dr soell came to the county she says I have an idea in her first performance evaluation and she says I want to do Deco on the go so there were a bunch of us we were thinking what property can we purchase so that we can take our County offices from being just downtown but she says yeah that's great but how can we really Drive in these neighborhoods something that we all

wanted to do much like a lot of things we want to do but other things take our attention and so you really need somebody to take the seat and drive that and then the fact that we have folks to come forward and say all right how interactive can we make this cu the contest was supposed to be like last year and we had to move the date I think from August to April because we really wanted folks to have a good time and we really wanted not just adults but kids to feel like they were a part of this and think about if this bus is driving through your neighborhood and you had a part in it so I know it seems like a long way off much like ambulances fire trucks and everything Tak a long time to build things but I hope that this is at least a nod in the right direction to let you all know we are coming to you in ways that we have never come to you before and I'm just super duper happy that we can do it and excited about all of the services that we're going to be able to provide outside of this brick and mortar building so thank you to the manager thank you to Mo thank you to our judges thank you anyone else okay thank you all so much that brings us to commisson you have I see you moving your mic just

ditto uh you know I don't need to repeat it uh the manager knows how how I feel about it and um and I think it's incredibly awesome that we will be able to go out to the community and have these conversations so I don't need to do a long conversation just thank you wonderful and now we will move to our resolution for World University games 2029 where the board is requested to issue a resolution showing full support of the world University games being held in Durham County North Carolina in 2029 and our staff member for this will be the county manager I believe yes thank you all so much and I am going to ask um Hil Carol to come up to speak to it um if you want to join this one yeah yes yes yes yes but um some people may may not know but um the chair at the time that the proposal was submitted for

Durham to be a host City for the world University games um commissioner Howton was the chair at the time and she was selected to be part of the delegation that went to was it Brussels Brussels yeah and so um very competitive process and um we were fortunate in that we were selected to um be a host City for the world University games in 202 9 and the world University games is really if you think about the Olympics it's the the next um tier underneath the Olympics where you have University student athletes from universities around the world to come and compete and so we are so excited that Durham will be a host City for these games and um 2029 will be here before you know it so I'll turn it over to um Hill Carol thank you I'm sorry did did you have the resolution to read chair how yes let me read the resolution and then turn over yeah I'm sorry commissioner Howton thank

you uh it is my honor to read this resolution durm County Board of Commissioners resolution 2029 World University games whereas the 2029 World University games will be held in North Carolina's University Hub region in Central North North Carolina including the Durham and Durham County July 11th through the 22nd 2029 in verse at Duke University North Carolina Central University and the Durham Bulls athletic parks in downtown Durham and whereas the world University games are considered the Olympics for college and university athletes from around the world and are the second largest global op op Olympic multiport event behind only the summer open Olympics and whereas the

world University games include 10,000 participants from 150 countries representing 600 universities competing and 275 Sports competitions and 18 Olympic sports supported by as many as 600,000 Spectators and whereas there is a significant public benefit to hosting the games in Durham County through the utilization of area hotels restaurants visitor attractions and sports businesses as well as from the national and international media coverage by over 150 members of the press and the more than 3,000 hours of international broadcast coverage and whereas hosting the world University games which economic impact

Studies have shown to deliver between 150 to 350 M 370 million in economic impacts to the host region supports board goals of building economic strength bringing diverse jobs Talent businesses and visitors to Durham County and whereas the Durham County Board of Commissioners is excited to participate with the other North Carolina World University Games host cities and counties in a Citywide wug 2029 P partnership plan to demonstrate support of the 2029 Universe World University games through a commitment of $300,000 to the North Carolina organizing committee for the games beginning with fiscal year

20126 through 27 and which will be paid in more than one year and whereas the Durham County Board of Commissioners would be pleased to provide other appropriate support to the 2029 World University games such as security and Safety Services as needed now therefore be it resolved that we the Durham County Board of Commissioners enthusiastically support the 2029 World University games 2029 World University games and look forward to hosting the athletes coaches media officials Sports Executives and fans to our community as part of this once in a lifetime event this the 10th day of June 2029 signed by all the

Commissioners thank you commissioner Howton uh County Manager uh Madam chair and the other honorable members of the board I really appreciate the opportunity to speak just a minute uh or so obviously commissioner Howton captured all the key details but you should know that this has been more than a 5year effort uh the state of North Carolina plus five host cities Raleigh Durham chavel Hill CI and greensbor and five host counties wake Durham orange Alamance and Guilford uh all serving as hosts for this event it will involve more than 40 different venues all the major sports facilities you can think of between downtown Raleigh and the Greensboro Coliseum Complex will be involved 13 colleges and universities including every college and university here in the Triangle including our two community colleges as well uh we're

expecting to need about 20,000 volunteers um and so it's not a small undertaking but it truly is as commissioner Howton said in the resolution a once in aik lifetime opportunity it's going to Showcase college and university athletes from around the world and including many right here in our area our area has a great uh history of having been well represented in the world University Gams before uh our local universities Duke North Carolina Central uh Carolina and NC State in particular have sent many many athletes and coaches coach Davis at Carolina uh was a gold medalist in the games coach Troy Williams before him was his coach in the games among others coach seski coach in the Games Etc many great athletes and coaches will be coming from all over the world including current Olympians at that time um so keep in mind that the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028 will be the year

008% actually of the budgets from 2022 not even what it's become since that time in 2024 and in return they will all be sponsors of the games and be able to take advantage of sponsorship benefits as part of our partner program for the games where we'll have corporations and individuals also involved helping contribute financially to make the games a big success so we thank you very much for the resolution it's our honor it was fantastic being with you in Brussels and then in Lake Placid to receive the games and you were a fantastic representative of Durham and Durham County and uh we're not going to let you just retire from the board we're going to put you to work on the world University games afterwards and everybody here hopefully can help us

with that uh because we'll be very involved in the school systems and other locations all around as well thank you [Applause] I'll start off with commissioner Howton thank you I am very psyched and excited about this I have been from day one because it is extraordinary for this to happen in this region and think of the the economic boom that is going to bring uh is Just Amazing Just just think about it um I want the community to know that this $300,000 that we just talked about is not coming out of the budget this year it's going to be next year that we're working on that so just to let you know that but most of all he Carol has been working on this for what over five how

forever is I I can recall a long time long time he has been working on this idea for a long long time so all the Kudos in the world go to him cuz this is an amazing I don't know how he kept going sometimes when it looked like it was never going to happen but he kept going anyway and it's been his commitment we just thank you and honor you for bringing this to our thank you it's a total team effort so and that's what it'll take to be successful with the games thank you thank you you so much come Jacobs Well thank you and and I want to express my gratitude also to you Hill um more than 10 years ago um I worked with you to help start the Durham Sports commissioners and you have always had the vision that sometimes other people don't have and you also really see all of us

as a region um you are always thinking about um how things can benefit all of our communities and it was really hard to get this um we were we were competing against countries all over the world um to have this happen here in Durham and it really took everyone coming together to demonstrate to the international committee that they should come here to our region um and a lot of it is because of the culture that we have the hospitality the collaboration and I'm really excited for how this is going going to benefit our community um the opportunities for our local youth to get to experience um watching competitions and being in some of these competitions also and not having to travel uh but it it it's really going to um be a tremendous opportunity for our local Youth and athletes at the high school and um college level and I look

forward to uh working on how we can leverage this um opportunity and also the sales tax and occupancy tax revenue as we are uh realizing our uh Financial struggles this is one of the ways that we can help create additional Revenue to fund um the things that we need to fund here in our budget so thank you so much for your leadership role in making this happen for for Durham County and our entire region thank you [Applause] thank you so much Mr Carol and thank you so much commissioner howon for your work in bringing this to Durham County uh appreciate you representing us well in Brussels and bringing this forward I know this is going to be a great economic impact uh that you know as we this year are struggling with lower sales tax revenue hopefully in 2029 we have a good year that year um but thank

you all so much for this work and I'm looking forward to coming and watching because I will not be participating in any games thank you that brings us to our next item which is the introduction of the new County food security coordinator Raina Golding buag good evening Commissioners I'm Andre oel um I am generally thrilled to be here tonight to introduce our newest food security coordinator Randa Goldstein bog I'm thrilled for a couple of reasons one um is because of the vision of this board and of our community that we should have a role of food security coordinator in Durham County to really move our community forward um in the area of food access but also in really deep Food Systems and systemic change around how we engage

with food and our residents um and so I'm really excited about this role and I'm excited about Raina being in it I'm also excited because we um are promoting somebody from within um Raina comes to us from I should say down the street um she uh was part of the public health uh Dy team for several years and she comes to us with over 10 years of experience nutrition food security and public health she's a registered dietician she has a MERS in public Health um and she is about to earn her Ms in food and agriculture law and policy which we will find very useful I think um her enthusiasm has um been uh amazing at two weeks into to her role she actually helped to to run the world hunger Day event um so we are really excited about how she's jumped in with uh both feet both hands and everything else um so I'm going to let her share a couple of words uh with you

thank you Donna and thank you so much to the board um I am um just very grateful to be here in this position um I just wanted to Echo what Donna said I know um not everywhere has a food security coordinator positions so um thank you again to the board um for supporting food security and Durham and I know that the community also had a lot of input and making it a position here so that that feels really important to me um I'm so grate ful to be um able to do this work and continue to serve Durham County and work here um I loved my time in public health um I was in the dine program teaching nutrition and gardening and cooking um in our TI mostly our title won um elementary schools so I got to see firsthand um that we unfortunately do have um a significant amount of food insecurities here in Durham um and I got to work with a lot of community members um and DPS um staff

and admin um and County um internal County Partners um to solve some of those problems or at least help contribute so honestly just so happy I can continue that work um in this in this role which is um super aligned with my food policy and systems Um passion and education how Donna mentioned um it's also personal to me I grew up um when I was young my family was food insecure um so I know um just the impact that had on me and my mom that that was our family um the the stress um that it caused us and also the people and the programs that really helped us um to be able to um get in a better situation and for me to thrive um even living among um um living with food insecurity and poverty so um I bring that to this role as well um I'm looking forward to

continuing the amazing work that's being done here in Durham um well I did as Donna mentioned uh got thrown right into world hunger day um which was amazing I know many people in this room were there but it's such a testament to um our community's dedication to um improving food security strengthening our local food system um creating a more Equitable um nutritious um and accessible food system for every person in durum so um that was a great way to start to see um to see our community come together um so again just wanted to say thank you to the board and community and thrilled to be [Applause] here thank you so much and I don't want to say welcome since you've been part of the team but congratulations on this new role um and we're really excited to have this position filled because this is

something that our entire board is very very dedicated to um and it's something that comes up when we talk about housing when we talk about our schools uh when we talk about Public Health social services we always talk about food in security so we're really glad that we're able to have this position filled and we know I'm sure since you've been here you know Mary oxendine um and she is going to be also always available as a resource I'm volunteering her but I know she said that to us too before she left um I said to colleagu Vice chair Burns I'll be really quick she did jump in head first um I was there I know commissioner Carter was there for war hunger day some my other colleagues might have come throughout the rest of the day uh I told this story there but I'm going to tell it again here um she knew she had some really big shoes to fill uh when Co hit I had a a parent well a family to call who wanted to get their Co shots and they I said well go over to this location at Lakewood and they said commissioner Burns they call back you know they mad they said it's the line is too long it's just too long

I called Rod Jenkins on the phone called Joanne on the phone it's like there's no line there there's absolutely no line there and I said well wait a minute like so I get my car cuz that's how I roll um and I drive up there and there are hundreds of cars in Lake Wood parking lot they are there for food they are there to get boxes of food and you could not even see the co Shot line and I think for so many people we take for granted you know everybody gain wait in the pandemic my grandma used to have something in her kitchen wall that said I thank God for dirty dishes for they have a tail to tell my waistline during Co had a TA to tell and so we we assumed that you know we're all fine and that was not it so I got a chance to meet with Donna got a chance to meet with um Mary and we found out just how deep it was like some of y'all don't know but we got moms getting on buses is going across town to get food and they don't even know that it's a food bank or right around the corner this position has helped us develop a social networking map so people I would love if

we didn't even have to have any of them and that is of course always the goal but we we don't want to do is make it harder on people who are just trying to feed their families like that is never what we Endeavor to do and so I'm really proud of that we reduced the percentage of children who are hungry and Duram and gotten so highlighted I'll never forget today I called the manager I caught that point uh Brenda was chair Commission Howton was chair and I get a call from the governor's mansion and they say Janet Yellen is flying in and she wants to talk about food insecurity because of what durm has done and if you you know it's like 18 tahos wrapped around the building because she was so excited about how we use our arod dollars to feed the most vulnerable so I do personally feel like you know you are coming in at a really good time cuz this is a community that cares about it I'm happy that we were able to look cuz the budget was cut at first cuz we were making sacrifices for everybody but I'm so happy that you came in here the last week if nobody watched it cuz people have been tuned in one thing this woman came in here advocated for the most

hungry in our community and we had to make a decision to make sure that we supported her budget and the way that it needed to be supported so thank you thank you thank you Donna thank you for becoming our new food and security coordinator and I I look forward to sharing your work all over the county thank you Vice chair Burns [Music] thank you so much Donna and Rea that brings us to our next Proclamation for pride month and I've passed this one on to commissioner Carter to read yes thank you madam chair Durham Board of County Commissioners Proclamation pride month 2024 whereas The Stonewall riots a period of protests and violent clashes with law enforcement in June 1969 is commonly viewed as the origin of the modern gay rights movement in the

United States and whereas the LG lgbtqia plus movement in Durham is rooted in an April 17th 1981 protest in response to the hate motivated assault of four men at the Little River on April 12th 1981 and result ing death of Ronald Sunny antonovich Durham's first NC Pride March in 1986 was organized by the triangle lesbian and gay Alliance and mayor web goly's proclamation of Durham's first anti-discrimination week in 1986 resulted in him being challenged by an unsuccessful recall campaign and whereas celebrating pride month raises awareness and provides support and advocacy for the lgbtqia plus community and is an opportunity to become educated engage in dialogue strengthen alliances and build understanding and whereas

lgbtqia people in the United States continue to face discrimination simply for being who they are and Durham County stands with this community in the struggle to ensure equal treatment for all and whereas while much progress has been Advanced we know that there is still work to be done to ensure that everyone enjoys the full promise of dignity protection safety equity and freedom and whereas hundreds of anti- lgbtqia plus bills have been introduced in state legislatures all across the United States and Progressive officials and citizens must speak up to protect lgbtqia plus rights and whereas Durham County government continuously advocates for protections for all lgbtqia plus individuals in order to make it clear that there is no place in this Progressive Community State or Nation for denial of Human Rights regardless of anyone's sexual

orientation gender identity or gender expression and whereas Durham County's non-discrimination ordinance approved in 2022 by the board of County Commissioners provides freedom from discrimination on the basis of race ethnicity Creed color sex pregnancy marital status or familial status sexual orientation gender identity or expression national origin or ancestry marital or familial status pregnancy military status religious belief or non-belief age or disability in employment and access to all places of public accommodation now therefore I ne the Alam chair and on behalf of the Durham Board of County Commissioners do hereby Proclaim June 2024 as pride month in Durham County we call upon Durham County residents to recognize the achievements of the members of the lgbtqia plus community and to celebrate

and support a culture of inclusiveness and acceptance during this month and every month this the 10th day of June 2024 places for all of our signatures thank you commissioner Carter [Applause] thank you commissioner Carter for reading the proclamation and I'll pass it to Dr Brent Lewis our director of Equitable well-being for the county I'll be brief because you have another resolution that you're going to re right after this for me um and for Equitable well-being so good evening to the Commissioners and to everyone else thank you for the proclamation for pride month 2024 um we the office of eing has a training tomorrow uh in partnership with the lgbtq center of Durham in relation to pride month we will also partner with them in September uh for Pride Durham that happens in the city of Durham um

and I am very excited to see that experience happen because it got canceled last year due to the Rain um so I'm got my fingers crossed that there will be no rain uh in September uh but PR month is important to our community and it is it's a wonderful time for acceptance um and a time to engage and learn um as always with every heritage month that we recognize in durm county for learning you can visit our website to find things that are happening in the community as well as the training and development that is happening from the office of Equitable well-being uh related to pride month but the one active program that we're having is a training and development opportunity that is happening this week so on behalf of the team thank you for the resolution thank you thank you so much Dr Lewis and I mentioned this at our last meeting where Dr Lewis brought resolutions um but if there are events and Community opportunities that you guys want to engage with the county for Equitable well-being Dr Lewis is very eager to

engage with folks so reach out to him have conversations with him about how ways how we want to celebrate pride in the community how our next resolution for juneth different ways to celebrate he is here to make sure that the county is engaged within the community for these projects um and I know that our pride is until our pride parade is until September but I think Raley's is it's this weekend or next weekend let me double check Raleigh is celebrating events for Pride pretty much all of June so if you follow Raleigh's website or Raleigh's Instagram you can find a lot of their events throughout the month yeah their big parade is June 22nd and then I think ours is in September so I look forward to hopefully seeing folks at the September one Commissioners I'll start with commissioner Jacobs then Vice chair Burns thank you Brent for bringing this to us and for your leadership of making Durham an inclusive welcoming place to work and also a place to live I thank you for the all staff training that you

did last year bringing in the lgbtq center and in case folks in the community don't know this is a Time that the lgbtq center really needs help and support um there is an online fundraiser uh for them right now um they have been facing some economic challenges and um so this is I think also a time that we can um during pride month look inward as what institutions need help in in our community Durham has always been leading the way I actually participated and 1986 uh in in the first gay pride march here in Durham um uh but we know we have it's something that we have to keep fighting for uh especially for our Educators here we know um the attacks uh against uh transgender youth um and so it's a fight that we we all have to keep

fighting that I know Durham will keep leading thank you really really quick [Applause] I just want to Echo my colleague sentiments only to reiterate that we really do not do this by ourself like my first year on the board we were in Co during uh during pride month and I said oh my gosh we haven't done anything and I typed something up really quick and got everybody to kind of sign off on it but you know I did it on my own which you shouldn't do stuff on your own right you always need to ask folks for help and bring more folks in so I remember like the next year we did it I asked you know could we put Mr uh antonovich his name and I think we might have added it that night because people always thinks this is just slurs people died the end of this and I don't know how much of y'all know the history they did not even know if this young man was in the community or not they just stoned him to death at a lake in dur and so we didn't so that's like really if you Google it kind of

sort of look up the story so we we out here punishing people with no facts not that if we had facts they needed to be punished and then the next year each year I think we had somebody from the lgbtq center to come in but it's like okay she would get up there and she would do um the proclamation okay well we still not in community with her until we bring her in here and she can do some training like my colleague so please know that every year this board has tried to Endeavor and do a little bit more and I we we sought to demystify what all y'all really means when we say all y'all you know and our some of our most apprehensive uh employ employees walked out of that train and said okay this is not as bad as I thought it was it wasn't bad at all so if there are things that you think that we should be doing because thank God we have brand but if there are things that we're not doing because we're not being culturally competent About It by all means give those to us because we're trying to get better every year but that's all I want to throw out thank

you thank you so much Dr Lewis and we'll see you at the next next Proclamation I'll just stay here cuz juneth is next on your list yes commission Vice chair Burns you want to read the next one during Board of County Commissioners Proclamation juneth 2024 whereas juneth commemorat the events of June 19th 1865 when Major General Gordon Granger LED Union Soldiers into galvon Texas bringing news that the Civil W had ended and that the Emancipation Proclamation had declared all enslaved people free nearly two and a half years earlier and whereas the Emancipation Proclamation changed the legal status under federal law of nearly three and a half million enslaved black and African-Americans and the subsequent 13th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America abolished slavery and involuntary sub servitude and whereas Jun te acknowledges the considerable lapse of a 2-year period from 1863 to 1865 when enslaved black and Africans remained in bondage and unaware of the

Emancipation Proclamation issued by president Abraham Lincoln that recognize and maintain the freedom of slaves in the United States whereas the celebration of juneth is believed to be the oldest black and African-American holiday observed in our nation and takes place annually throughout Durham North Carolina and the nation often consisting of readings of the Emancipation Proclamation prayer and worship family gatherings cultural performances educational activities Community Service events ceremon observances and more and whereas in 1997 during the 105th United States Congress house joint resolution 56 and Senate joint resolution 11 were passed officially recognizing juneth Independence Day on August 23rd 2007 juneth National Freedom day was recognized by the state of North Carolina and juneth has been has been celebrated in durm North Carolina since 1933 and whereas as of June July 4th 1776 represents the birth of the United States of America and commemorates the United States independence from British

rule it did not offer Independence and freedom to enslave people and whereas juneth is a stark reminder of the promises of Liberation for black and African Americans in the 21st century currently our nation and indeed Duram county is experienced racial Injustice and inequalities at a record Pace demonstrating that despite great successes and Achievement Black and African-Americans continue to Bear the pain and burden of systemic racism and the desperate treatment at every term whereas juneth is also known as emancipation day Freedom Day Jubilation jubile Jubilee Day C y'all this is not me cell Liberation and juneth Independence Day and juneth augments the nation's promise of life liberty and the pursuit of happiness and whereas juneth commemorates the strength and resolve of black and African-Americans throughout our history and serves as an opportunity to celebrate the rich and numerous contributions of black and African-Americans to the Derm community and the United States and juneth teaches our youth the importance of honoring

black and African-American history and the impact of the institution of chatt slavery and whereas an official juneth holiday signals that Durham County is committed to doing the work to identify and improve policies and processes that will improve access to opportunity for all employees and work to eliminate any vestages of unequal treatment that exist in this organization now therefore it be ietta Alam chair and on behalf of the board of Durham County Commissioners do hereby Proclaim June 19th 2024 as June in Durham North Carolina this the 10th day of June [Applause] 2024 thank you Vice chair burs back to you Dr Lewis again thank you to the Commissioners for not only the resolution and recognition of juneth but the holiday of the county being closed

next Wednesday in recognition of juneth because it's about [Applause] action and that action that action matters it matters to our Workforce it matters to our community um the flag raising ceremony last week was about action and it was touching um that was my first time seeing that ceremony since I joined the Durham County community because I wasn't physically here on staff when that um program happened last year um it was very moving to hear the songs um that the hillside alumni choir sang during the program and to hear the songs as the flag was being uh raised at the time um and to think about the history of my ancestors in that moment uh was very moving so I was appreciative to be in this space um and to work for

m. m. um in honor of juneth so if you're available on Saturday it's a free event for the community members uh please join us at nccu thank you [Applause] thank you so much Dr Lewis I know commissioner Howton was waiting with comments thank you madam chair um I just Dr Lewis I just want to say thank you first of all for the proclamation uh for um pride month thank you so much for that and as far as uh juneth you know I I I really appreciate appreciate you um acknowledging this and

bringing it forth um Durham honored juneth for the employees of Durham County before the state did that's right cuz we took that on um I know that there are members on this board now that when we push for juneth to be acknowledged and honored in Durham County we were the leaders to make that happen happened the state came on behind us but Durham County said this is happening now and it did so I want to thank you again for honoring that and lifting that up because this is history that we need to continue to lift up so thank you so much thank [Applause] you thanks chair Burns this is not for me to be a ham and keep talking but Commissioner Howton kind of said it but I really I I really want to just impress upon people especially with this

historic budget tonight you need people who are sitting in these seats who recognize that these things are important um so it was under this is not to negate it from anybody it was under the leadership of chair Howton and saying Hey I want to make this a paid holiday and the fact that you had four women up here who understood the assignment and knew how important it was for us to be recognized so it's it's one thing to to be before the state but you got to have the people in position to want to do a pride Proclamation every time we do a pride Proclamation on uh social media they call us Marxist every time the manager the night that the manager decided she wanted to uh raise taxes they call her all kinds of names the other day when we raised the juneth flag so we Lord have mercy what I was called I put up we put up 600 American flags for flags for Our Heroes I put up one juneth flag here come to death threats so I really need y'all to know to sit in these seats it takes courage this is the same Board of women that backed us up when we wanted to go after

the crown act even though that's not the day there were five women who leaned in and we didn't say uh we don't want to get arrested we like no we trying to get in trouble Mr attorney like what can we do how can we find people for discriminating against hair for discriminating against hair coverings so I I do think uh that this board when it comes to discrimination is stepped up and I would have been remissed if I didn't mention that tonight on these two really historic uh proclamations and I thank y'all for you know standing by us when we want to stand up for these issues when so many people didn't want us to so thank you thank you thank you [Applause] ladies thank you Vice sherbs I don't know how anyone could top commissioner Howton via Burns comments I'll say ditto ditto to everything and also add in that you know she mentioned the crown act and this juneth but also the non-discrimination ordinance that we

passed um was another that was also tied into the pride month Proclamation that was something that uh attorney Massie always jokes that he had a little bit more hair before he began working with us uh in writing and getting that uh non-discrimination ordinance put together to make sure that we stand T and firm in our values and beliefs that Durham count is a welcoming place and Durham County should be a place that's safe for all uh individuals and if anyone has anything to say with that then they can take it up with the county thank you all so much um that concludes that concludes our ceremonial items for today um I'll say raise your hand if you have signed the cards outside for the budget staff yet I want those cards filled to show appreciation for the budget staff CU y'all they worked hard so make sure we have our our consent agenda so if you have a minute run out and sign it if you run out of

space I have more giant cards that you can fill out for them um so please do that because they really they were working late and tirelessly now that I'll pass it to the manager well for the consent agenda I'll just see if there's any items that need to be pulled or anything then I'll entertain a motion to approve the consent so move second move by Vice chair burn second by commissioner Carter all in favor say I I okay uh consent agenda passes 5 to zero oh any opposed no okay consent agenda passes 5 to zero that moves us over to I think that's it I think we didn't know you were in drum core y'all Let us laugh we we we let us laugh we we ain't slip that brings us to our Durham County

adoption of the FY 20242 budget ordinance and we have the county manager as well as our budget director Keith Lane um budget or budget director of budget yeah budget director but anyways uh we have these items I know we have three public comments on this would you manage or like us to do that before or after okay then we'll go to our first comment from Doren Langley who's joining us virtually and then uh Waldo Fenner and Heidi Joe hetland if you want to go stand um by this Podium on the left your right side this this Podium on this one yeah you can unmute de Warren you can hear us thank you good evening Madam chair Vice

chair members of the board of County Commissioners as well as Dr soare first I would like to start by taking a moment of silence for the father and three-year-old that was shot on fa Street which is not far from where you all are meeting thank you I wanted to share with you all a comment and and I know I've been coming before you all since the January Proclamation for National mentoring month around support for the work that the Charles Hamilton Houston Foundation does and during the budget hearings um for the city council there was a question before our our police chief regarding what can be done to help intervene with our young people and she said we recognize that our kids are in some of the most affected are not exposed to the world that shows them that they can be better and be in a better place than they currently are they will turn around and potentially be our next victims or grow up to offend in

our society Frederick Douglas as we celebrate Liberation uh once said that it is easier to build strong children to rep than to repair broken men and so with that I'm asking you all again before you all pass this budget ordinance to invest $25 ,000 and partner with us in providing vital career expiration and skill development for boys and youngen of color our work is critical in helping young boys see a future for themselves and all the growing opportunities that exist in our community it requires investment Beyond commentary at meetings and when shootings occur in our community you all have the authority the ability and the resources to make this investment and so I implore to you all before passing the budget ordinance this evening to please make this investment to continue to support the work that we do in our community thank

you thank you Mr lingley now I'll pass it to Waldo Fenner good evening ladies and gentlemen uh you B up by a budget and I want to speak on the uh the school has asked for funding of $27 million for the incompetence of the school board's Behavior who was able to get a $500 million Bond and give raises but couldn't figure out how to pay for those raises but got the $500 million Bond and then you have Lincoln Community Center and then you have solar panels all these things affect the elderly lowincome disabled population who can afford you keep going up on property tax to cover cover up for incompetence you haven't done anything to offset for the property tax I agree you should get the property tax I mean I mean they up U they increase they should but not without giving up

something in return they've got two or three schools that they're not going to be using like Northern High School why they not turn that over to the county to offset for the extra $13 million they want and let the county use those that land for low-income housing or housing for the schools uh employees that need housing there's a lot of things you can do before you give out that money and raise our property tax you have a solar program that you're supposed to be funding $100,000 to have any of you all been to that organization and asked them how much of that money has gone actually come from the Durham residence to have solar panels cuz I went to the meeting I only saw one person that was black that was me and I don't know any of them that was from Durham County so you giving money and doing all these things and you're not following through on as it really benefiting us and in the budget form second of all you have Lincoln have you any of you stand out in the line in

Lincoln at 3 or 4:00 in the morning for dental care but you talking about you care so I'm trying to figure out who's the incompetent ones is it us or is it you all because you don't want to hear or listen to The Grieving folks out here who's going to ask to pay for this property tax increase and you sit here and you do these things without a a care in the world you say you care but you don't there's no way you can care about the elderly disabled or fixed income or the poor people and you do what you just did here there's nothing in this budget whatsoever and whatever names you were called about property tax oh well the problem is is that you want to go up on property tax whether you realize it or not you're going to pay for it because if you can't pay your rent you're getting put out you can't pay that mortgage you're getting put out do

you realize that your home value of 300 or $400,000 give you a insurance budget of $2,000 a year even you don't if you don't use it don't worry about it God gave me an air thank you you have prop tax you just wait a minute you just wait a minute thank you Mr and then you turn around here and you don't even care you said Lincoln belongs to Duke but Duke never wanted black folks to go to to the hospital years ago thank you Mr fer appreciate you turn around and you give them dur Regional then you will now have we'll move to Miss Heidi Joe hetland thank you for letting me share I good evening my name is Heidi Joe hland and I'm a physical therapist with Duram public schools and I'd like to take the

opportunity tonight to thank you for your work and your time in considering the DPS proposed budget it has been a tumultuous 2024 for the classified staff many of who are here um and approving the full budget requests we'll provide the Bo of Education with the means to begin to restore trust with employees it will allow staff to be paid a living wage and it will support Market competitive compensation to help recruit and retain qualified staff to care for DPS um students especially our most vulnerable students those in special education thank you again for your time and investment in DPS staff and students thank you thank you to all who provided public comment today and even at our public hearings now I'll pass it to the manager and budget director and I'll ask um I know Keith is coming but can we just make sure we clarify on the budget ordinance number

versus versus what is actually going to DPS since there's money that's not in the ordinance through arpa okay I'll I'll ask director Lane um and team to do that but thanks so much Madam chair um our budget staff and we all have had discussions over um a few of our budget work sessions and So based upon those discussions and the input that you all have provided to us um the staff has finalized our budget and so we wanted to bring it to you all for consideration and hopefully for approval this evening so I'll turn it over to director Lane Buton just want to make sure good afternoon good evening everyone Commissioners especially it's a great day for the budget office so we're excited to see the budget ordinance kind finally come in front of you all as it relates to Durham Public Schools this ordinance right now is passing the general funds and a number of other funds the One Fund it is not dealt with in this ordinance tonight is arpa

7 million that will be going to DPS but that will not show up in this budget ordinance this budget ordinance will show an increase for DPS of 20 m6497 you add to that the arpa funding for 6 million for current capital and the 716 76,000 for prek and you get a total funding for DPS between those two funds the general fund and arpa fund for 27 M366 329 that is the total amount DPS is getting for the upcoming fiscal year

9% of the funding requested from the Board of Education [Applause]

yes yeah can [Applause] we stand up Claudia can we have can we [Music] actually can we have the full stand up Claudia stand up that's right hey can we one second y'all can we actually have the full County budget staff just stand up at the podium with Keith including our Deputy County Manager [Applause] Hager Claudia [Applause]

you you all have every right to be excited I I will say that this has never happened in 25 years I've always thought the budget office needed this level of approval but thank you but honestly this is this is dorham County residents supporting this if you're clapping it's for every citizen in the county that's going to be paying these tax [Applause] bills with that I will entertain a motion to approve this budget ordinance so moved Madam chair so moved one second Heidi Heidi you second second second I move by Vice chair Burn seconded by commissioner Carter all in favor say I I

I for the official vote so I can make sure we have unanimous all in favor say I I I any opposed I the budget passes four to one thank you and I [Applause] have ch yes one second we will now we have the uh commissioner comments which will be the period for it I just want to make a note that we have 12 minutes allocated for this item to just to keep us flowing and on track three minutes for each commissioner um starting from the left side with commissioner Howton moving this way thank you so Madam chair today I stand with my colleagues and members of Durham's Board of Education in gratitude for the men and women who teach counsel coach clean

cook Drive protect and nourish out children who receive public education I honor and respect the commitment of our teachers durm is a community with escalating housing cost and other needs impacting the cost of living it is my desire that every person schooled employed by DPS receive compensation and benefits in line with their work and our education system my responsibility as a member of the Board of Commissioners is to weigh the cost related to managing the entirety of our County budget each year since I took office 16 years ago I diligently consider all matters regarding durs Human Services needs we as members of this board

consider the compensation of our counties employees while measuring the needs of Public Safety health and mental health our community college proposals for from nonprofit organization our library systems and other items reflected in our budget as a county commissioner it's been my pleasure to listen to all our citizens I hear increased concerns regarding the impact of property tax increases while we continue to grow beyond our ability to keep Pace with population growth I hear immersed con concerns from residents regarding the proposed budget increase for Durham Public Schools I hear the perception of mismanagement of funds dueing the most recent budget cycle as a commissioner I've learned to

for tough conversations regarding systems accountability this proposed increase on top of the increase during the previous years deserves more reasonable discussion related to accountability the honoring and support of teachers administrators and classified workers is worthy of that kind of consideration it is also worth noting the impact of tax increases on the most most vulnerable citizens it is my in contention that property tax increases by both the city and the county during the same period it's too much to ask our citizens that given the potential impact of our most vulnerable citizens I suggest an

extensive external internal audit of PPS spending there are significant questions still lingering after crisis created to Mis continuation related to raising DPS employees the county has given DPS funding every year and there needs to be this kind of accountability accountability accountability our role in supporting DPS should never involve repair and perceived what is perceived as far as how the money was spent I've learned I've heard the fear that teachers may leave Durham due to no increase in Pay I heard those concerns before I also hear the concerns of parents who have chosen to consider

alternative to Durham public school education system we Commissioners are forced to consider The Plea of parents while honoring the contribution of the people doing their best to improve Durham's education system significant progress has been made toward reducing the achievement gaps plans are underway for Capital Improvements this board press the bond pass B pass bonds to help repair and build schools to offset Decay schools yes there is good work done in our school system and we continue to support our Public Schools I'm voting against this budget it's increase after weighing the impact on senior citizens disabled citizens lowincome citizens County government employees are

and I've always been a most hardworking citizens and our residents deserve the very best our children deserve the very best and this budget concerns me after 16 years I have never voted voted against a budget but this budget concerns me greatly thank you thank you commissioner Howton commissioner Carter I told cheram I hoped I could get it all in in three minutes I'm not typically the most loquacious speaker but okay here here we go um I do want to start by thanking the county staff manager soell and Keith and

Claudia and David ad's and Justin and Shannon and Jonathan and Heather um I want to thank all of our departments in the county who have really listened to the community listened to us grappled with us I want to thank the teachers the Educators the workers the parents the Dae leaders and members I want to thank the DPS interim superintendent and staff and I want thank our colleagues on the board of education I also want to thank each of my commissioner colleagues for the hard work that we have done together to get to this to get to this point to and to try to reach consensus within the challenging budget constraints and I want to acknowledge the very real and pressing um concern that commissioner Howton has expressed about the potential impact of this tax increase on our residents who have fixed and limited incomes it it is a that is a sincere and a legitimate worry that we have all grappled

65 tax increase that's significant and I hope that we have reached an appropriate balance in our attempt to meet the pressure of rising costs in the face of reduced rates of increase in our natural Revenue growth continued underfunding by the state and increased demands for services as our population grow Rose I'm focusing my comments really on the funding for our schools because I have limited time and this is the area of the largest funding increase I think that we are making this unprecedented momentous investment in DPS because when our community comes together inside and around our schools and when our schools have the resources they need our schools will be strong and when our schools are strong our children will flourish socially and academically more economic opportunities will be available to our well educated

and talented Workforce our communities will be healthier and safer our quality of life will be better the general we welfare of us all will be enhanced whether we have children in the system or not and that's the kind of thing that I think we should consider tax increases for [Applause] [Music] so that that is why I support what is essentially full funding for the board of education's requested budget goals we are slightly shy of the requested amount but through working with the Board of Education and superintendent Moore we've learned the amount needed from the county for the part that had not been included for the difficult to fill EC and elll positions has dropped about 50% and this budget includes the remaining full amount we expect and we trust that

this increase in local funding from the county for current expenses and capital um that with this increase that DPS will move forward with full implementation of all requested salary supplements and increases in order to in order to recruit retain and respect to the very best Educators and support staff for our Durham children and huray is right to that our Public Schools must have our support in these most trying times for North Carolina education policy and at a point of local crisis Crescendo the American public educ education system is our best hope I think and have fought for it for the past 30 years I think it's our best hope for shared prosperity for social mobility and social cohesion in our

society our public schools are the place where we build community and shared understanding across our many differences as people I believe in public education I believe in our DPS Educators and our DPS families our teachers and staff I believe in our elected colleagues on the board of education and it is for these reasons and more that I support this budget all right it's my turn I promise some of the majority of this will be positive I can tell you right now 30% of it ain't cuz sometimes you just got to tell the truth I'm so thankful um that we had someone to get up early on to say you know restore trust in the school board I don't want y'all to Ever Rest restore

trust in those five people again in your lives um because they've mismanaged money for the better part of the decade and I need y'all to do what y'all did to me to them and put their asses out of office and I mean it um and I it I that ass is in the Bible um so I want to be very clear um it is um I I do want to recognize one thing and I want to I I really want y'all to think and just hear me out because I heard you out so that moment of silence that Dew waren did there was a three-year-old shot at Walgreens on May on April 30th Kevin guy was 17 and he was shot in Durham on March 5th a 5-year-old was shot in Oxford Manor a three-year-old was shot in Oxford Manor on April 23rd a team was shot in the face on May 13th a 14-year-old was shot at

11:26 on April 12th at least five people were shot resulting in at least one teenager's death and on May 12th uh between the cycle of May 12th and the 10th there was this 26-h hour period where eight people were shot there are no red t-shirts for those dead kids there are no purple t-shirts and whistles for those kids so when you see me up here I don't talk about race I talk about racism it's a difference when you hear me up here fighting for dead black kids I ain't fighting you I'm fighting for them because they dead and they can't fight for themselves and as an elected official I probably could have done a better job of that but I have had to deal with a school board that for four years straight no matter what email I sent them about a child dealing with racial slurs and epithets about a child being abused I got zero responses saved those from board member uh Alexandria valadares who you all put out and board

member javanna Lewis those things mean a lot to black parents a lot and you all do enough public records request on my emails you can see I never got anything from natly berer never got anything from uh batina Umstead and actually I don't even want to continue to say their names because they have not worked on this budget I'm thanking my colleagues Netta hold on I have worked tirelessly and not slept to make sure that we could rob Peter and pay paaul and Rob pamesa so that we could get this money together because I recognize how important the work you all do is but I also know that there are people in this community who are voiceless and I need y'all to take this same energy and stick up for them I do not know who is going to do that on this board when I leave I didn't have a problem voting for this budget because my mom who is watching and told me to be nice she wanted to be here but my sister had a heart attack today and they're at Duke hospital but I'm here with y'all so

she told me to be nice my mom's a teacher and all three of my sisters are teachers my sisters used to be members of Dae they're not members of Dae not because they don't care they're over in Orange County now because that was the only place that they could get our master's pay and so that is a reason why I stuck to that promise and why I don't have a problem voting for this budget along with many other reasons I support this budget but those were things that were important to me because I do know that if we improve uh that status for teachers we improve outcomes for kids [Applause] right now the general assembly has decided that they want to put more money into these private school vouchers now I don't like to compare States but when we sit here and we look at New Jersey who did something similar the only thing that we have seen is that it has subsidized wealthy families here

in North Carolina they have looked at it and about $200 million of that money is going to go to high wealth families we are doing the same thing here that is reason number two that I'm going to vote for this budget because I recognize that the folks in Raleigh do not care I just want to impress upon you all you all had time to send letters to the black women who have helped you for four years I am asking you to send letters to the white men who have hurt you for 10 I don't think that is an unfair request I also want to throw out there there's a lot that you don't know about some of us before I was a county commissioner I was out there with my sisters every year ready to get arrested for red for Ed y'all wouldn't notice about commissioner Howton unless you Googled it but before she was a county commissioner you can actually Google and find photos with her standing there at Duke with housekeepers fighting for the fight for 15 before she was ever in office so there are people here who have

been steadfast but we also recognize that this is disproportionately hurting our our residents 4. 8 cents at the city so the only thing I want to encourage you all to do is to go back and look at our budgets I beg you I implore you look at our budgets and look at the fact that we have the highest paid principles in the state we have the third highest supplemental pay in the state we about to have some of the newest build buildings in the state but we also have the most black children dead in this state I am not okay with that statistic and I don't think you all are either so I'm asking you all to for once I'm not saying look past yourselves but you saw how much work we do in this room we don't ignore y'all and I know I have to go but I do want to throw out because commissioner uh Carter made a good point we we focused a lot on what this budget was about but I also want you to know that in this budget some of y'all saw the other day it was the first

time I broke down crying in this in this meeting it had a lot to do with the fact that while I was trying to fight for y'all money and y'all were in here there were folks in the community that are that have camps and have after school programs for black boys and I was sitting here thinking how am I going to get money for them when I'm trying to get money for y'all and I remember I stayed after this meeting talked to the manager talked to high talked to commissioner Carter got to good gracious commissioner Jacobs and we got to work on some things but I I really need y'all to understand when I am pushing back it is because I want better outcomes for our kids a couple of years ago go white students in dur and and Durham were ranked nationally black students were not ranked at all and they were in the same classroom that's not an indictment of you all that's us having to do wraparound services for parents and also give you all what y'all need but we can't do that if the school board doesn't tell us so I'm going to end it up here and just highlight a couple of other things so that you all know we are doing some additional work this budget reflects the resilience and the

commitment of DM's presidents despite facing numerous challenges we have shown unw you all have shown on Raven support and a shared vision for a thriving Community your sacrifice and this is to the dur residents has not gone unnoticed and this budget aims to honor that commitment by investing in critical areas that will benefit all of us we've made substantial Investments to address food insecurity in our County this budget includes increased funding to expand support for those who struggle to access nutritious food ensuring that no one in Duram goes hungry we have also committed to Bringing to hiring new employees to provide the necessary coverage and support for our residents in response to the recent expansion of Medicaid we hired 35 people who have now made sure that we have 177,000 11,000 more individuals who have access to health care this will significantly improve health care outcomes access and uh for thousands of individuals in uh in in Durham North Carolina Early Education remains a top priority and we have allocated increased funding for Durham prek by investing in our youngest

Learners we are laying the foundation for long-term educational success and creating opportunities for all children and DM to thrive additionally we're expanding Master's paay for teachers to improve student outcomes and retain our best Educators ensuring that our students receive the highest quality education we're also dedicated to supporting our local farms and promoting sustainable agriculture this budget includes programmatic expansions that will provide resources and support to our Farmers helping them to grow and prosper while ensuring that fresh local produce is a available to all residents in addition to those critical Investments we're also advancing hatti the hati reborn Justice movement honoring the rich history and culture of our folks by making sure that our boys have access to Opportunities we're expanding project Bild to support boys age 10 to 13 providing them with the mentorship and the resources to help them succeed furthermore we're committed to our revolving Housing Trust Fund to ensure that affordable housing and stable housing is a reality for all dur residents this historic budget represents a collective achievement and

a shared vision for for a better Derm together we are building in a community where everyone has access to the resources and opportunities that they need thank you for your continued support uh and I hope that we can all move forward past this and we can have better outcomes for all our kids whether they in the classroom at home or on the street thank [Applause] [Applause] you tonight is an historic moment for our community this budget represents a big win for our children our teachers and school workers our parents and our entire Community we have demonstrated how we can work together in the face of challenges often outside of our control and find solutions that put our children and families

first I want to first thank our incedible Durham County staff County Manager Kimberly soel budget director Keith Lane Deputy County Manager Claudia Hagar and each of their [Applause] teams it is due to their knowledge expertise hard work and Innovative approach to Pro problem solving that we have found a way to meet the current critical needs of Durham Public Schools while minimizing the impact to the property tax rate in this budget we are providing full funding to increase salaries for classified and certified [Applause]

staff reimplementing M's [Applause] pay and half of the requested ecell [Applause] supplement we are going beyond what was requested for Urgent Capital needs this budget [Applause] provides more than 74 mil 360,000 367 million in new funding on top of $244 million in ongoing current expense Debt Service and indirect funding to Durham Public Schools [Applause]

I am hopeful that the fiscal and budgetary management controls and policies being implemented by the Board of Education and intern superintendent Moore will provide any remaining funds needed for the ecell supplement [Music] [Applause] I also want to thank every Durham County department head and their staff our assistant County managers and other Deputy County managers for stepping up to do more with less to help us meet the Urgent needs of our schools and I really want to emphasize that our Durham County staff I want to get choked up they sacrifice are making sacrifices for our

community I also want to acknowledge the hard work that we our board have put into this budget [Applause] together I also want to thank our passionate and caring Community I have been inspired during this very difficult budget process by our parents students teachers and School staff who care so deeply about dur public schools and the sacrifice and commitment people in our community are willing to make to ensure our schools Thrive and our children get the education they need and deserve I want to thank Dae the Durham People's Alliance and every person who

sent letters emails made calls or came to a meeting during this [Applause] process we truly have a Beloved Community in Durham budgets are a moral document and reflection of our values I want to lift up other priorities reflected in this budget we are increasing our funding for Derm Tech I want to recognize our president JB buckton [Applause] here we continue to focus on investing in our children expanding our funding for dur prek to now more than $9 million [Applause] incl including for Murray massenberg pre clay classes we are supporting our most

vulnerable residents struggling with increasing rents raising our eviction diversion rental assistance funding from $180,000 to $780,000 [Applause] an increase of $600,000 and we are maintaining our investment of $750,000 for our lowincome homeowner tax relief [Applause] program our public schools are the heart and soul of our community and our democracy all our children deserve Bright Futures our teachers and school workers deserve to be fairly paid for their expertise and hard

work but the reality is that this budget that our board and staff has made possible tonight is not financially and fiscally sustainable for the future we need everyone in our community to focus on the upcoming [Applause] election to vote and get out the vote we need to bring the fight for adequate funding for our schools directly to the North Carolina General Assembly [Applause] tonight is a moment to celebrate what our community can do collectively when we work together I proudly support this

historic budget tomorrow it is time for us to get back to [Applause] work thank you all for sticking around um as my colleagues have said tonight is a historic moment in Durham County you know we're celebrating the passage of this 966 million budget that speaks volumes about our Collective commitment to progress equity and Community welfare before I delve into the specifics of this budget that you've already heard some about I want to extend my deepest gratitude to every single County employee who has played a role in shaping this Monumental decision to our brilliant County Manager Dr Kimberly soel who leads with true Vision thank [Applause] you to our C tireless County staff who have worked day and night under the

guidance of Deputy County Manager Claudia Hagar thank [Applause] you your dedication expertise and unwavering commitment to service have made this achievement possible to our budget staff in particular Keith Lane David ades Heather Walker Shannon Wright Jonathan yens and Justin key we owe you a debt of gratitude for your perseverance and professionalism especially in navigating the challenges of this difficult budget year and us five Commissioners when you have a moment I've said it again and again but please sign that appreciation card for them and also grab a cupcake but I also want to express my appreciation to all the department heads who embrace the charge to tighten their belts and find Creative Solutions in the face of adversity and this shortened uh budget year your leadership and stewardship Have Been instrumental in ensuring that we balance fiscal responsibility with

our duty to meet the needs of our community to all the Durham County Employees your understanding and support during this time of a more modest pay increase are deeply appreciated and changes to benefits your resilience and dedication to Public Service are the Bedrock of our County's success and let me be real for this a moment this budget did not come easily faced with lower than usual Revenue our team got creative when the state failed its residents the county stepped up and [Applause] delivered and because of the hard work and Persistence of every person I just mentioned in addition to the hundreds of community Advocates like Dae and People's Alliance who rais their voices to weigh in this budget is a historic achievement it allocates more than $28 million to Durham public schools and then more funding more funding than any

budget in County History it prioritizes education employee compensations Social Services Community Prosperity Public Safety and infrastructure improvements the pillars upon which a thriving Community stands in the realm of Education we are investing those hundreds of millions of dollars in the future of our children increasing funding for DPS and prek programs we recognize that education is the great equalizer and the foundation of a prosperous Society our commitment to Personnel is evident through compensation support and the careful allocation of new limited new full-time positions and we understand that our employees are our most valuable asset and we are dedicated to ensuring that their well-being in their well-being and professional development in Social Services we're addressing pressing issues such as Medicaid transformation and eviction diversion we refuse to turn a blind eye to the challenges facing our most vulnerable residents and we're allocating a total of $112 million

accordingly Community Prosperity is fostered through support for in initiatives like Cooperative Extension and Durham Tech Community College which make up $15 million of this budget we believe in creating opportunities for all members of our community to thrive and succeed Public Safety remains Paramount with nearly 100 million in funding allocated for the Sheriff's Office and fire departments and other Emergency Services we are committed to keeping our community safe and secure for all residents and last but not least our investment in infrastructure including almost $15 million for transportation projects and Environmental Protection combined lays the groundwork for sustainable growth and development this budget is more than just numbers on a spreadsheet it's a reflection of our shared values and priorities as durit it is a testament to our unwavering commitment to taking care of all of our residents regardless of their backgrounds or circumstances and as the mother of two future Durham public school students one of which is only

three weeks old and I'm here with y'all I take particular and personal pride in what it accomplishes for our children and the county they will inherit and as we look ahead we can all agree this budget is only the beginning it doesn't fund every single thing that we had hoped it would or everything that Durham County needs and deserves In This Moment uh our board is providing as commissioner Jacob mentioned half of the funding for the ecell supplements and we're optimistic about the conversations ahead to secure the funding in partnership with Durham Public Schools to fully fund the increases for our eell hard to fill positions and more broadly we see the budget itself as a first step a promise to do more listen better and act quickly in response to the needs of all of our residents and what better final budget vote for this historic board to take than to act on our values together today and tomorrow let us carry the spirit of collaboration compassion

and progress that Define this board's Legacy together we will continue to build a brighter future for Durham County one that is inclusive resilient and prosperous for generations to come thank you [Applause] [Applause] thank you all there were no items fold from consent agenda so that brings us manager so well would you have any comments no just thank you all so much for your hard work and for your your patience as

we work to find Solutions thank you all so much that brings us to our last item of the night which is close session uh the board is requested to adjourn and to close session to discuss matters relating to the location or expansion of Industries or other businesses in the area served by the public body including agreement on a tentative list of Economic Development incentives that may be offered by the public body in negotiations pursuant to General statute 14331 a11 A4 do I hear a motion to enter into Clos session for so move Madam chair so move second move by Vice chair Burn seconded by commissioner Jacobs all in favor say I hi any opposed we're in close session 5- Z thank you all

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