Sometimes setting up a public meeting is more difficult than at other times; mayor wants night meeting for convenience of residents; council members want daytime for convenience of staff; 10:00 a.m. Monday is special meeting time
Graham’s city council is scheduled to hold a special meeting at 10:00 a.m. on Monday morning to approve a contract for the construction of a new park on a city-owned parking lot at 129 West Elm Street in downtown Graham (see related stories, on the park in this edition).
Graham city manager Megan Garner confirmed the date and time for the special meeting to The Alamance News Wednesday evening.
The purpose of the special city council meeting on Monday morning will be to award a contract so construction of the park can begin before the clock runs out on a state-funded grant that’s set to expire on June 30. Council members have previously stated that construction will be funded by the remaining $483,000 from a $600,000 grant that Graham received through the biennial budget that the General Assembly passed in September 2023.
There has been little discussion about how the city will pay for the new park if the bids exceed the remaining $483,000 in grant funds.
The city had received only two bids for the project last week and had to issue a new request for proposals, which are scheduled to be opened at city hall at 2:00 p.m. today.
Meanwhile, Graham’s city council has been noticeably divided over the park, along with a host of other issues, since then-mayor Jennifer Talley lost her bid for reelection in the November general election.
Scheduling Monday’s meeting also proved contentious, based on text messages that city officials furnished Wednesday evening in response to a public records request by the newspaper.
For instance, the new park has been supported 3-2 by mayor pro tem Ricky Hall and council members Bobby Chin and Bonnie Whitaker but opposed by mayor Chelsea Dickey and councilman Jim Young.
Assistant city manager Aaron Holland polled the council members about their availability to hold a special meeting in a group text he sent at 1:22 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.
Holland’s overture set off a subsequent exchange of 38 text messages – via a group chat – in which several council members skewered Dickey’s request to meet in the evening when she said more people would be able to attend.
A majority of the council – Chin, Hall,and Whitaker – said they could meet at the time that Holland had proposed, at 10:00 a.m.
Young asked, “Will there be donuts?”
After Hall texted, “I hope so (the ones from jelly donuts in Mebane)” with two “smiley-face” emojis, Holland said he could make that happen.
“OK, I can be there at 10,” Young texted.
“By doing it during the normal duty day, we will have the full availability of the department heads and their staff to answer any questions we may have.”
– Councilman Bobby Chin
For his part, Chin noted in a text response, “By doing it during the normal duty day, we will have the full availability of the department heads and their staff to answer any questions we may have.”
Dickey unsuccessfully pressed her fellow council members to hold the meeting at 7:00 p.m. Monday, April 27, or at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 28, saying an evening meeting would enable more community members to attend and hear the discussion. Later in the back-and-forth text exchange, Dickey asked her fellow council members if they’d be available to meet after 6:00 p.m. next Friday, May 1.
Hall and Whitaker said they aren’t available on weekends.
‘You are being deliberately obtuse’
“Chelsea, I get the feeling you are trying to stall this meeting,” Whitaker told Dickey in the group chat. “Please stop it. I know you are at City Hall almost daily. Just stop it already. It’s not a public hearing…You are being deliberately obtuse.”
“Chelsea, I get the feeling you are trying to stall this meeting. Please stop it. I know you are at City Hall almost daily. Just stop it already. It’s not a public hearing. . . You are being deliberately obtuse. . .
“This is clear grandstanding.”
– Council member Bonnie Whitaker to mayor Chelsea Dickey
Young asked in a subsequent text message if the meeting would be in the council chambers, which Whitaker confirmed, writing, “Yes. You tube.”
“WHAT’S THE PROBLEM? The community will be able to hear what we are discussing via the livestream. WHAT IS THE PROBLEM? Asking you Chelsea.”
– Council member Jim Young
“WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?” Young wrote in a series of three texts directed at Dickey, to which he attached a “GIF,” an animated stock image of a young girl throwing a tantrum. “The community will be able to hear what we are discussing via the livestream. WHAT IS THE PROBLEM? Asking you Chelsea.”
Young concluded his text exchanges later Tuesday by writing, “I’m not wasting my evening. I will check back in the morning.”
Whitaker concurred, texting, “Me either. This is clear grandstanding.”
“Holding a special meeting during work hours, when a majority of our community cannot attend, sends the wrong message.”
– Graham mayor Chelsea Dickey
Dickey responded that everything the council does is in service to the city, “and that means earning and maintaining [the community’s] trust. Holding a special meeting during work hours, when a majority of our community cannot attend, sends the wrong message.”
Whitaker texted back, “Everyone works sometime.”
The council appeared to resume its discussion about a possible date and time to hold the special meeting later Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning; the remaining texts aren’t time-stamped or dated.
Garner suggested later in the exchange that perhaps the council could “piggyback” the special meeting with a “City/County Association meeting” already scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 30.
Dickey said she could meet at that time; Whitaker said she couldn’t.
“We have only one person holding out on us,” Whitaker wrote, which she followed up with a “face with rolling eyes” emoji.
“Holding a meeting at 10 AM doesn’t send the wrong message – it sends the message that we’re doing our jobs.
“City business is handled during work hours. This is a working meeting to review bids and move a project forward, not a public hearing. The public is still welcome to attend, and it will be live-streamed so everyone has access.”
– City councilman Jim Young
‘Skip the show’
Young chimed in, “I’m kicking myself for checking back. Holding a meeting at 10 AM doesn’t send the wrong message – it sends the message that we’re doing our jobs.
“City business is handled during work hours,” Young texted. “This is a working meeting to review bids and move a project forward, not a public hearing. The public is still welcome to attend, and it will be live-streamed so everyone has access.
“What would send the wrong message is delaying important work just to make it more convenient or to create the appearance of inclusion. Do the work. Skip the show,” he wrote in his final text, to which Young also attached another GIF, with a short clip of the titular character from Forrest Gump saying, “That’s all I have to say about that.”
On Wednesday morning, Dickey asked in the group chat whether the council could look at scheduling the meeting on Monday, May 4, after a regularly-scheduled meeting of the city’s appearance commission.
Chin responded that he would like to propose scheduling a daytime meeting to discuss the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. “If Chelsea’s schedule precludes her from meeting, then the four of us council members are a quorum and should meet with Ricky presiding as the mayor pro tem. That way the department heads have access to their full staff to answer any questions or concerns we may have.”
Young said he’d have time for a budget meeting during the week of April 27; Hall indicated that the work session had already been set for May 20.
‘Hate to jump in when grown folks are talking’
“Good morning all,” Holland interjected Wednesday morning. “I hate to jump in when grown folks are talking, but I believe I can clear this up. The statute that references that all members of [the] Council must consent to a Special Meeting has not been correctly interpreted recently.
“I’ve sent a link to a UNC School of Government article on this, and it’s a majority that’s only needed to have a Special Meeting as long as it’s been called by either the Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, or [two] council members,” Holland wrote. “So if the original Monday date at 10 a.m. is called accurately and the majority can meet, staff can proceed as directed to schedule accordingly.”
“Yes, I call for a special [called] meeting on Monday April 27th at 10:00 a.m.”
– Mayor pro tem Ricky Hall
After Whitaker confirmed her availability to meet on Monday morning at 10:00 a.m., Hall texted, “Yes, I call for a special [called] meeting on Monday April 27th at 10:00 a.m.”
Whitaker and Young texted that they would be there.
“I count at least three, so that’s a quorum,” Holland texted in the group chat Wednesday. “We’ll get with [city clerk Renee Ward] to properly notice the meeting and send a calendar invite so it’s on everyone’s calendar. Thanks.”
Hall responded with a thumbs-up emoji. Chin responded, “I am available so that makes 4,” attaching a heart emoji to his text.
‘Reel in the dangerous rhetoric’
Whitaker concluded the discussion Wednesday afternoon with a text stating, “The city council remains committed to conducting the city’s business responsibly, transparently, and efficiently. Meeting during daytime hours is a practical decision made so the council can work directly with the city staff who are available during the workday. That access is essential to obtaining information, answering questions, and making informed decisions without unnecessary delay or expense to taxpayers.
“Assertions that the council is attempting to keep the public from attending meetings are false and do not reflect reality. I respectfully, but firmly, ask that these inaccurate and harmful accusations cease, Chelsea. Repeating claims that are unsupported by facts only creates confusion, erodes public trust, and divides the community. Unless that is your goal, I respectfully ask that you reel in the dangerous rhetoric and be a part of a team that wants to do the best job for the city of Graham sans the virtue signaling.”
– Council member Bonnie Whitaker to mayor Chelsea Dickey
“Assertions that the council is attempting to keep the public from attending meetings are false and do not reflect reality,” Whitaker wrote. “I respectfully, but firmly, ask that these inaccurate and harmful accusations cease, Chelsea. Repeating claims that are unsupported by facts only creates confusion, erodes public trust, and divides the community. Unless that is your goal, I respectfully ask that you reel in the dangerous rhetoric and be a part of a team that wants to do the best job for the city of Graham sans the virtue signaling.”
Construction of the “Elm Street Park,” as it is currently termed, will result in the loss of approximately 25 out of 44 parking spaces (57 percent), which have a two-hour time limit.
The latest iteration of the concept plan developed by Stewart, Inc. features a “green” space, made of artificial turf, several seating areas, “native” plantings, and a covered pavilion with a flat roof that could also double as a performance venue, based on the newest design that the council voted 3-2 to approve in March.
Engineers from Terracon closed the parking for three days earlier this month to test soil for potential contamination and perform site boring to determine whether anything is buried underneath the parking lot, Holland told the newspaper at the time.
