Harrisburg City Council Work Session 4-21-2026

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thank you good evening everyone 3rd time's a charm

I'd like to be mindful of our time and our agenda this evening the time is 531 pm so I'd like to call our

our work session to order

Mr. Humphrey could you please call the roll

Miss Davis present

Miss Green

Mr. Jones

Mr. Lawson here

Miss Rawls

Present

Mr. Rodriguez

Present

thank you

we will begin with the work of the administration committee this evening the

administration committee has three resolutions for discussion the first

resolution 25 of 2026 and resolution 26 of 2026

I would like Mr. Humphrey if you could please read both into the record that way we can discuss them at the same time

resolution 25 of 2026 a resolution appointing Miss Ronda e-mays to serve on the redevelopment authority board of the city of Harrisburg

and resolution 26 of 2026 a resolution appointing Miss Salima each Chapman to serve on the redevelopment authority board of the city of Harrisburg

thank you miss maize and miss Chapman if you wouldn't mind joining us

thank you

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good evening

just a reminder you can move the microphones and we ask that you move them

close to you so that those online and on channel 20 are able to hear you

so good evening

thank you for your interest in serving on the redevelopment authority board of the city of Harrisburg

I'll just note and remind everyone what it is it's been a while since we've had some interest in service

so resolution number 57 of 1948 through 1949 passed by the Harrisburg City Council on September 6th

1949 it established the redevelopment authority in conformance with the urban redevelopment law of 1945

the redevelopment authority board shall be comprised of five voting members to be appointed by council

pursuant to section 1705 of the urban redevelopment law

the term of each appointee is five years and shall be staggered with appointees serving until their successor is appointed

the majority of the appointees must reside in the city of Harrisburg and must retain residents within the city for the duration of the term

with the remainder of the appointees owning and operating businesses within the city

so I'd like Miss Mays if you wouldn't mind taking a few minutes to introduce yourself

good evening as you know I'm Ron Dumayes I am a lifelong resident of the of Harrisburg

and except for the time that I went out of town to be educated and then to work as a federal employee

except for that time I've been a resident of Harrisburg City

during that time as a resident of the city I have worked in state government as a budget analyst

within the department of welfare and part of my role there was to work with all of the administrative side of all of the county offices

that are providing services and supports financial support to some of the most vulnerable residents of the state

for about six years now I've been the executive director of the Fair Housing Council of the Capitol region

and of course there our focus is on community development housing stabilization in particular

and also you know ensuring that all persons have access to affordable stable and dignified affordable housing

so my interest has always been in service to the community you know

except for a small portion of time when I worked as a small contractor within the area of nonprofit grants management

my service and my experience has always been in the nonprofit area or the not-for-profit area

so that's just a brief overview of my interests and my background

thank you very much I would like to note that Miss Mays is duly qualified to serve on the board as she is a resident of the city

and otherwise meets the requirements of section 1705 of the urban development law

Miss Chapman thank you for joining us if you wouldn't mind I'm taking a few minutes to introduce yourself as well we would appreciate it

yes thank you for having me my name is Selima Chapman I have a background in community service and community advocacy for home ownership

I have been a resident of Hairsburg for over 30 years now my family's from here and I've been here ever since that

but with home ownership the background that I have in that being a transaction coordinator, real estate agent, mortgage loan originator, HUD certified counselor

all of that gave me insight on the process of community redevelopment, home ownership, the impact it has on residents, how to do it the right way, how to do it

where you leave the residents out which is not the right way so I feel like I have a balance insight with my experience I come with a balance with the experience that I have

excellent thank you I would also like to note for the meeting record that Miss Chapman is also duly qualified to serve on the board as she is a resident of the city and otherwise meets the requirements of section 1705 of the urban redevelopment law

I just have one more question for both of you what impact do you believe that you will be able to make as a member of the redevelopment authority board?

My hope is that we always do our jobs as assigned with the community of mind we have a opportunity now to be part of the redevelopment so to speak of this community

we have done some work with certain sections of the community over the years and I lived in DC I would come back home over the bridge and I would say wow look at that this guideline is changing

I was not a member of the community but I saw a lot of our neighborhoods were not progressing as I thought that maybe they should

so I think now that we have an opportunity particularly with the HRA that does work primarily in the area of land, land acquisition bundling this land making sure that it is being utilized to the highest level possible for those who want to create a business here and who want to also purchase the land

and purchase a home here or even a rental property here we want to make our community attractive for everyone we want to have a community that is engaging and place making for everyone no matter what your income level or your socio economic status

and your housing council that has always been my goal is to make sure that everyone knows that they are wanted and needed here and so at the HRA of course they have a great amount of power

when you are talking about acquiring land bundling land negotiating with developers acquiring bonds and making loans that takes a lot of work and the HRA has been around for as you noted Mrs. Hill for a very long time

and our resource as a community as the city of Harrisburg we want that authority to work well and work on behalf so it is important that whoever is on that board knows how serious the job is, how important it is for the continued development of our community

and that we need to support the executive director because the executive director does not have an easy job no one that works for the authority has an easy job I am sure it is a very complicated job so that is pretty much I don't know if I answered your question but that is just some of the thoughts that I have about serving on the authority

no you did thank you I would also like to note that the portrait of a former council member the first black woman to serve as a Harrisburg City Council member Mrs. Judith C. Hill is Ms. May's aunt so to support her good woman

yes I wanted to note that for the meeting record Ms. Chapman the same question for you would impact do you believe that you will be able to make in service on the redevelopment authority board?

the impact that I think I would be able to make while serving on the redevelopment board is making sure similar to what you said just making sure that the focus stays on the residents as the city grows making sure the current residents benefit from the growth and are given opportunities like employment housing

so they are not left out even though we are looking to get more residents we are looking to bring in more businesses we have to sustain what we have and make sure they are benefiting from it so that would be my goal coming to the board.

thank you I just want to review your terms Ms. May's your term shall expire on September 30th of 2030 and Ms. Chapman your term shall expire on September 30th 2028.

I don't have any other questions I'm going to open up the floor to my colleagues who may have some additional questions for you I'd like to begin with our community and economic development committee chairman councilman Lawson do you have any questions.

thank you president deal yes I do and first I want to thank you both for your willingness to serve affordable housing is something that is close to the heart of pretty much everyone sitting up here and working with the redevelopment authority in figuring ways to help us get homes out there for people to live in and a rate that that's affordable is very important.

our city has a large percentage of residents who are renters and not owners I guess I asked this question for both of you I guess do you see the importance or do you know the probably even a path to help people take that first step from renting a home to becoming homeowners.

so to answer your question the path to get residents from renting to owning homes is opportunity in the past most of the mortgage loan companies there was a couple of

pinderances that they had just as a whole but definitely as individuals start to pay their bills and they get swallowed up with life it can be come overwhelming financially so making sure that as a city you're looking into different opportunities where maybe you get a mortgage lender that does not look at the credit score for example there's a couple of organizations and I know the city's working on some things and I'm going to

work on some things in that realm as well so that is important putting more attention to that making sure that they can get the lending to get the house also starting young giving education on the importance of home ownership understanding the rent that you're paying you could be paying that on a mortgage so by the time someone gets 50 they didn't rent all their life and they don't have anything to show for so just making sure

we get the youth in the city young and get them understanding home ownership is an option a and then be it's attainable for them and I'm just investing in more programs that helps with that.

Thank you and miss maize.

I agree what stands out to me is education my mantra is always that knowledge is power what we have a lot of times with individuals and households particularly in the low to moderate income community is that they don't see them.

So I don't see themselves as having a path towards home ownership so at the Fair Housing Council which I was pleased to be on the board first from 2008 until 2020 and now as an employee from 2020 to now I've been able to see more and more and more how much that education that we've been doing since 1990 I think we were the first in the area.

To provide that home buyer first time home buyer education so far we have educated 15,000 residents and in Doffin County alone we have qualified through our educational efforts about a million dollars worth of loans per year and Doffin County alone.

So the education is key and not only that the other part about the education is we don't just want folks to become home owners we want them to be successful homeowners and I think through the efforts and we don't just provide education and say okay good luck.

If you're not qualified at a particular time after you finish we also have pre purchased counseling that is one to one and financial management so if your credit score is rather weak we will work with you until you build that credit score up because this is my belief and this is my predecessors belief who is my mentor no Johnson there is no short cut to home owners.

To getting a home of your dreams and the neighborhood of your choice that you are going to maintain for as long as you and your family want there's no short cut to that so I'm very happy to know that I did an analysis of those who finished our class and went on to become home owners.

How many of them from 2008 until 2023 and that includes some like the 2018 mortgage crisis and collapse not one lost their home they're all still there so that shows you how much knowledge is a leg up it's critical.

There's no substitute for it so when we're talking about home ownership that's the education part is really where I place a lot of focus we just came out of national fair housing month this month we're still in April is fair housing month so we had a special workshop home buyer education workshop and like to thank senator patty cam.

I'm sent to representative I invited some of you know the council but most of you I know it's a Saturday and the things to do you couldn't make it that's great stop by at the counseling time and meet with us and talk to staff and see what we're doing down there but yeah fair housing month is this month and we are also I don't want to do commercials or anything but we're also going to have a lot of work to do with the community.

We have in collaboration with Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission a fair housing seminar based on disability rights folks that that you know need accessibility it's an accessibility but I'm kind of wondering but I'm kind of wondering but I'm not going to do that.

Yeah those are kind of my focus here the main thing is making sure that people are knowledgeable making sure that no matter they they have a great program for folks that are in section eight to pay their mortgage you know so income is not a barrier the only barrier is your knowledge that your lack of knowledge about how to get a homeowner if that is your goal.

Thank you very much I appreciate your answers I'm impressed by you both and throughout the city are willing to serve thank you.

Thank you councilwoman green do you have any questions.

I'm very much first sorry for my target is I was running a little behind so if I missed this answer please excuse me do you have any conflicts of interest that you might see with this position.

Whoever wants to go first.

I'll go first so I don't have any conflicts of interest but if anything comes up I don't mind setting aside but there's nothing that comes to mind.

Thank you. You're welcome.

I looked at the board members that are serving currently and not related to anyone and nor anyone that I know of that is at employee the HR.

Okay so you don't see any conflicts potentially coming up.

Thank you both for your willingness to serve miss maize I've worked with you when I've had residents that had issues I've brought them down to you and I appreciate your passion and the work that you do.

I don't know you very well what I've heard about you and I hear good things so I just think both of you for being willing to serve the city of Harrisburg and this capacity and I look forward to working with you.

That's all I have. Thank you.

Thank you councilwoman Ross any questions.

Thank you president Hill I don't have any questions just wanted to say most of my questions have been asked and answered.

You all gave very insightful answers to the questions very knowledgeable about housing and the needs and I just think you both.

I don't know you both extremely well but we've had a few conversations I see the work you do in the community and it is you can tell that you have a vision and a site for what Harrisburg could be.

And I think that's step one with being on the Harrisburg redevelopment board because that's what we need we need some type of vision of where Harrisburg can go and how to use our housing in a different way.

We have so many beautiful homes that are currently condemned and I think that you both would see that in a different way because I from hearing your answers my thoughts were just going I really enjoy both of you.

Speaking about especially Miss maize when you were speaking about acquisition of property and bundling and developers and you miss Chapman about housing and I think with both of those thoughts and visions then we see our landscape in a different way.

I know for myself what I would love to see is the properties that are within our land bank that you will also see even though there are two different entities I do know that but we do acquire that land and that is the land that we speak of seeing it differently than just bundling for developers but how do residents get a hand on that right how do they use it to build homes on the land that's there how do they use it to acquire those condemned homes and repurpose them and revive.

I know that is something that we need in the city and I know we need not just affordable housing but market value housing so I think that you both see that and you understand that and I just want to thank you for stepping up to bring your thoughts and your vision to this board because I know you're going to do a lot of good so thank you.

That's it for me.

Thank you.

Councilman Rattery yes.

Thank you Madam President thank you both for joining us this evening my questions are asked here towards education and what you may feel like you can bring to the board but I definitely feel like the redevelopment authority would be you know blessed to have you both so I definitely see the purpose see the passion and definitely the qualifications are there so I have nothing further but thank you both.

Thank you.

Councilwoman Davis any questions.

Thank you President Hill thank you both for being here this evening I don't have any questions because I believe you're both qualified to qualify this president Hill mentioned.

Yes one question were you aware of the five year term prior to coming here both either one.

I don't plan on going anywhere so okay that's fine.

People aren't aware of the term and if you both are okay and accept that because five years is a long time.

I want to thank you Miss Mays and also your relative what's your your aunt or your.

Oh do this.

I actually went through that first time home bios program under male Johnson at the time back in 2000 so to your sediments yes I still have that house here it's my first house in this area and I want to also just thank you for the service that you perform here in the city.

Miss Mays and I have walked these streets going to different senior facilities to meet with residents personally and to make sure that their living quarters were up to standards or to address any of the residents concerns concerns and we have gone to two or three sites together so I know her not that she's very.

Knowledgeable her passion for the people the residents of the city of Harrisburg and that they are treated fairly land acquisition is something that I would like to see become more available I guess my colleague mentioned for the residents.

I like to see the information out there so everyone can see what's going on with the land and then in terms of the ADA that's what you were trying to get to the ADA education for land lords that's coming up on April 28 with the Fair House Council so thank you for offering that as well I will be attending that but thank you for all that you do miss me and miss chat.

Thank you and it's an alarm so sorry thank you both for being willing to serve.

Thank you. Vice President Jones any questions.

No questions are distinct both of you for your willingness to serve a very aware of both of your extensive background not only are you qualified but the passion you both have.

In this regard you know I also want to thank you again for your willingness to serve and I have no questions for you.

Okay thank you if there are no further questions I moved to add resolution 25 of 2026 and resolution 26 of 2026 to our next legislative session agenda for formal vote thank you both for joining us this evening.

Next we have resolution 34 of 2026 Mr. Humphrey could you please read it into the record.

Resolution 34 of 2026 a resolution ratifying an adoption agreement amendment for the non-uniformed municipal employees retirement system with the Pennsylvania municipal retirement system to extend the superannuation retirement known as the rule of 80 effective January 1st 2026.

Thank you.

Who from the administration is present to discuss resolution 34 of 2026.

Good evening council and tell you a bagna business administrator.

So take you into the resolution here it's pretty simple since 2017 we've been offering the rule of 80 the superannuation retirement eligibility to everyone that's involved in the PMRS or the ASME contracts pension plan effectively that means that if someone's someone becomes eligible for early retirement if they're years their age and their years of service add up to 80.

Or greater they can be eligible for early retirement without any penalties so this is effectively extending that through 2028 as part of the contract for non-uniform employees.

Okay thank you.

I was just reading it to myself I guess but I'll read it out loud just for everyone's reference the city of hair spec has established its non-uniformed municipal employees retirement system by ordinance number 20 of 2013 which was most recently updated by ordinance number five of 2017.

codified in chapter two dash 709 of the codified ordinances of hair spurred the local 521 American Federation of State County and municipal employees council 13 or ASME and the city entered into a new basic labor agreement for 2026 through 2028 which was ratified by city council by resolution 15 of 2026.

The city is vested with the authority to ratify the adoption agreement amendment by ordinance or by resolution the adoption agreement amendment is attached to this resolution as exhibit a the amendment elects the plan options that the city has agreed to provide to its non-uniformed municipal employees through the collective bargaining process with ASME.

The amendment does not change the benefits that will be received by beneficiaries of the plan but solely extends the rule of 80 until December 31 of 2028.

Just to know again that this is effective January 1st 2026.

I don't have any questions for you but I'm going to open the floor to my colleagues who may have some questions for you.

I'd like to begin with councilwoman Davis do you have any questions related to resolution 34.

Thank you president Hill no I don't have any questions good evening Mr. Magna.

Okay thank you.

Councilman Rodriguez any questions.

Thank you Madam President thank you Mr. Magna for joining us this evening so that means a newborn by the time they're 40 they can retire right now.

I'm just joking pretty straightforward no questions for me but thank you for being here this evening.

Thank you councilwoman Ross any questions.

Good evening Mr. Magna I don't have any questions.

Thank you Vice President Jones any questions.

No questions I think they were answered in our session so no questions.

Thank you councilwoman Green any questions.

Thank you very much I don't have any questions.

Okay councilman Lawson any questions.

Thank you President Hill I'm going to make it easy no questions.

Okay thank you with no further discussion.

I moved to add resolution 34 of 2026 to our next legislative session agenda for a formal vote.

This concludes the business of the administration committee.

Next we have public works.

We have a different to our public works committee chairman councilman Rodriguez to lead discussion.

Thank you Madam President Mr. Humphies would you mind reading resolution 24 of 2026 into the record please.

Resolution 24 of 2026 a resolution of the city council of the city of Harrisburg reestablishing hot spot Saturdays a community beautification and public safety initiative.

That's a good suggestion.

The council is designed to encourage city residents and community partners to participate in five community cleanup events throughout the summer of 2026.

Thank you for that and I'll be leading discussion.

It's just something hot spot Saturdays is a program that I know council is a whole but many of us serve really passionate about the cleanliness of our community.

without the city having to put the bill.

So through our partnership with La Shwama, CEO,

public works, love the hill, friends of Midtown,

the YMCA, capital region water,

and Dolphin County recycling.

I'm really excited to announce this year's initiative.

So we'll start the year off May 16th

in collaboration with Wild Heart Ministries

with the Allison Hill cleanup.

Then following June 27th in collaboration

with Dolphin County Recycling and CEO,

we'll partake in the South Allison Hill cleanup.

Following after that July 25th

and partnership with CRW,

we'll take place in the Shypoke cleanup.

Followed after that, August 29th

in collaboration with friends of Midtown.

We'll be on Midtown cleanup.

And then finally September 19th

with the YMCA camp curtain.

We'll be on Uptown cleanup.

Really excited for this year

because it's one thing for us to kind of take the lead

and spearhead it, but I wanted to really empower

the groups in their respected areas of the city

and say, hey, are you guys willing to, you know,

kind of take the charge?

And think about it moving forward in the legacy

leaving behind because one day I will no longer sit

in public works and hopefully the new chair

would like to take those reins and continue

the great work.

Also proud we ended off last season

over 200 tons of illegal waste removed throughout the city.

So hopefully to the tail end around September, October,

when we get the Tileese, hopefully we'll be in about 250 tons

moving towards 300 tons of illegal waste removed.

I'd like to invite my colleagues here on Council

to our press release May 11th right here in the 4 a.m.

about 11 a.m.

in collaboration with all four mentioned,

La Shwarma, Dauphin County, CEO, friends of Midtown,

Love the Hill, YMCA, and of course Capital Region Water.

And of course, anyone watching, anyone in the room

and of course my colleagues will love to see everyone out there,

sleeves rolled up ready to go, looking at partake

and all these cleanups throughout the summer.

Just a great way to give back.

We're usually joined by many other elected officials,

students, local business owners.

Just anyone that wants to partake,

but if anyone would like to join me

about a week before we go to the respective areas

in the community, just kind of be hitting doors,

trying to incite different residents to come out

and local business owners in those areas.

So once again, May 16th, June 27th, July 25th,

August 29th and September 19th will be the cleanup dates.

All cleanup dates will be from 10 to 12

and all the supplies and utensils that we need

as far as grabbers, bags, wheelbarrows,

brooms, you know, you name it,

everything we need to clean up safely will be provided.

So we're looking for anyone that wants to partake

and fight light together with City Council.

So looking for anyone to join and with that said,

I didn't want to prolong it.

I'll put it up if anyone has questions starting

on my far right with Councilman Lawson.

All right, thanks, Chair Rodriguez.

And I don't have any questions for say,

except I was in a meeting earlier discussing

revitalizing the city and trying to get things going.

And someone made a statement that in other cities,

the way that they got by and is by putting out an invitation

to the residents to just clean up some.

So that just says that when we put our own hands into it,

we can buy into it a little bit more.

So this hotspot Saturday initiative is something that's great

for not just keeping our city beautiful

but keeping our residents directly involved in our city.

So thank you for leading this initiative

and it's definitely appreciate.

Absolutely, absolutely.

Thank you for that.

Our Councilwoman Green.

Thank you very much.

I don't have any questions.

Just thank you again for spearheading this

and continuing these efforts.

This is several years in a row.

You see the excitement from the residents as well as employees

from the city who are excited to be out there

just working hand in hand with the residents.

So expect me to see me out there and appreciate you doing it.

Absolutely.

A great point.

Our consistency, I think, goes along the way.

Vice President Jones, no questions.

Madam President.

Thank you.

I don't have any questions.

Thank you for your leadership on this effort

and I look forward to crashing the new goal.

Thanks, Masha and Dr. Pire.

Thank you.

Tell to one of the laws, no problem.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chair Rodriguez.

I don't have any questions.

Just same sentiments.

So thank you for spearheading this.

This has definitely been a passion of yours

since you have been on council.

One of your big goals was to always help

beautify the city and keep it clean.

And I think you put words to action

with starting and consistently keeping up

with hot spots Saturday.

So just thank you.

And I hope to get to one.

I know I haven't.

I'll put my own self out there.

So I do want to get to one and help.

So thank you for continuing this.

Absolutely.

And Councilwoman Davis.

Thank you, Chair Rodriguez.

And thank you for all the work that you're doing

in our community to beautify it.

Thank you for your service.

Absolutely.

And I just wanted to leave off there

as a flyer made in both English and Spanish.

Once this gets through community,

we will make this document public for the public.

And this will have all the logistics as far as meet-up

locations and all the respective communities times

and even where the containers will be dropped in our area.

So I really like to thank Council,

my colleagues on Council for their long time support.

And all of the partners that jumped in this year

and just wanted to give it a heave-ho.

It's one thing to just kind of get nine to 10 people

together on a dream, but to get other businesses.

And now we're looking towards the couple dozen.

So to get everyone in on the same time

and manner for the same reason is huge.

So thank you all.

And I look forward to it.

And that's all.

And I'd like to move to add that to our next legislative session.

Thank you, Mr. Humphrey.

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you.

Next, we have the Parks Recreation and Enrichment Committee.

I would defer to our Parks Recreation and Enrichment

Committee Chairman, Councilwoman Rawls to lead discussion.

Thank you, President Hill.

Sorry.

This might get a phone.

OK.

Can you please read Resolution 31 of 2026 in Mr. Humphrey's?

Resolution 31 of 2026.

A resolution authorizing the City of Harrisburg

to negotiate and enter into a lease agreement

with the Harrisburg School District for a certain tract

of land with the parcel ID of 09-063-005,

commonly known as the Vernon Street Park.

Thank you.

I'm sorry.

Said tract of land being improved

with the playground, pavilion, and recreation area

in order to allow the city to make certain improvements

and continue the operation thereof.

Thank you.

Jumped to the moon.

My bad.

Who is here to speak on this resolution

from the administration?

Sasha Ross.

Sasha Ross, Deputy Director.

Thank you.

Yes.

Thank you for naming which you do.

Kevin Sanders, Parks and Rec Manager.

Thank you very much.

OK.

Go ahead.

Take it away.

The floor is yours.

I think it's kind of simple.

We're applying for a grant, but at 15th of Vernon,

we need the lease agreement to be renewed.

The lease agreement has run out.

And we need to renew this for another 25 years.

This agreement was similar to the Jackson-Luxlemi pool.

So they were kind of attached together.

OK.

I don't think anybody even knew that the school district

on Vernon Street Park.

That was news to me.

I knew about Jackson-Luxlemi, but not Vernon Street Park.

So that was learning something new every day.

I don't have any questions.

I do understand you're renewing it to renovate and update

the park.

I went to the community meeting for it.

I think they have a great idea for such a,

and it's not really a small space, but it's a space

with a lot of open land where it needs to like every space,

every niche needs to have something.

And I feel like the design that they had,

I think it was Kiefer.

I believe the company's name was.

Portal teeter.

Thank you.

They had a great idea because they've

worked with so many smaller area playgrounds that just

have a unique space to it.

So I don't have any questions.

A lot of mine were answered at that meeting and speaking

with you all.

So I will start to my far right.

Councilman Lawson, do you have any questions?

Thank you, Chair Ross.

I also was at that community meeting,

and I saw the designs.

They looked great.

The only I didn't realize that Vernon and Jackson-Luxlemi

were really linked together in the same lease,

or the separate leases that are just.

The leases were very similar, but they were in the same timeline.

Same time.

OK.

That was the only question.

I was just somewhat confused there if we had to approve

both based on them being together in one lease.

But that's OK.

That's really everything that I just

want to see that park move forward.

So thank you for bringing this to us.

Do you have any questions?

Councilwoman Green.

No, I don't have any questions.

It seems pretty simple.

Vice President, sorry.

Make-ups.

Yeah.

No, I don't have any questions.

I will say though, I'm glad that, you know,

I think this park, I want to say the last time,

maybe under Linda Thompson, Mayor Thompson,

when it was actually touched.

But I think it's time to upgrade.

And I hope that surrounding area, no streets,

will be fixed up.

John Watson told me to tell you that is on the list.

All right.

That's all I have.

You're welcome, Vice President Jones.

I do know your name.

President Hill.

Thank you.

I just had a question about the community meeting.

How was attendance and what feedback did you receive from residents?

The first meeting, we had marginal attendance,

the second meeting, not so much.

But we did have surveys filled out in English and Spanish,

which was sort of a little bit better than obviously

what the attendance was.

But we also had Tri-County.

It's been helping us out.

So they were doing booster ground as well.

So we got some feedback that way, too.

Great.

Thank you.

I don't have any other questions.

Thank you.

Can you go over one more time?

How was the attendance at the meeting?

I know the second.

The first meeting was marginal.

The second meeting, we didn't really get a whole lot of attendees.

But we did utilize the surveys.

They were in English and Spanish.

And we had them out for about three and a half weeks.

We've got about 51 or 52 responses, which is actually really good.

Thank you very much.

Councilman Rarillas.

No questions from me.

Thank you.

It's OK.

It's the testing week.

I'm sorry.

It's always telling you.

Councilwoman Davis.

Thank you, Councilwoman Ross.

And thank you for being here in the work

that you're doing for the city and for the children and for the parks.

But my sentiments are with Council Vice President Jones.

I always started.

About the alley there and the safety,

that there's something there to prevent the kids from running out.

That's my only concern, though.

And you mentioned John Watson's going to make sure that all that's secured, correct?

That is paved.

That is paved.

The streets are paved.

OK.

No, I just meant like a boundary for the park.

Yeah, that will be in a project that won't be John Watson.

OK, but it will be done.

Yes.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

All right.

Well, that's it for resolution 31 of 2026.

And I would recommend that this is placed on the next legislative agenda.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Mr. Humphries, can you please read Resolution 32 of 2026 in?

Resolution 32 of 2026.

A resolution ratifying the submission of a grant application

to the National Environmental Health Association

in the amount of $16,500 for the purpose of attending training opportunities

and initiating a risk factor study to determine trends in the occurrence of food-borne illness

and certain facilities within Harrisburg within the city of Harrisburg.

Thank you, Mr. Humphries.

Who is here to speak on Resolution 32 of 2026 from the administration?

I need the Council.

We're to speak on the resolution.

Resolution 32 of 2026 reflects an ongoing grant application and award program that at the

The health office has been participating in and getting the benefits of since 2020.

This year the focus of the grant, what the grant is basically administered and paid through

and provided to municipalities to help them pursue the national retail standards of food

safety here in the United States.

The partnership between the National Environmental Health Association and the FDA makes these funds

available to municipalities throughout the country.

The application this year was put in, the request was for $18,500 which we received last

year.

This year there was a slight reduction since the changes in the administration.

There had been consistently some reductions in the awards across the country.

So fortunately for us, I've been able to kind of stabilize things and I've continued to

get the funding every single year.

So I'm very thankful to any EHA and their partners for their confidence and their consideration

to continue to fund our projects.

My theme this year for the funding is tech and basically that's an acronym for trending

and training education compliance and health.

So one of the major components of the grant award this year will be to begin the process

of something called risk factor study.

So when we go out and do inspections of retail facilities here in the municipality, we have

a scoring system or rating system that kind of monitors the most prevalent violations if

you will or non-compliant issues that may come up during inspections.

So part of the risk factor study, it is, I think it's an eight part kind of approach with

different segments and progressive things that you acquire to get the actual compliance or

the actual award of the factor nine.

It's called number nine which is the completion.

So basically the beginning is to assess and the dollars awarded will be assessed.

You look at some of the prior inspections, you know, develop a strategy as far as how to

stratify the results to identify the most prevalent areas of concern and to come up with ways

of addressing and educating the retail facilities on how to avoid these most common occurrences

within their facilities.

That comes in with education.

So the education a part of that would be to provide materials, you know, in person consultation,

materials, online information and general training for the staff as well to be able to take the

retail standards and implement them within the retail, you know, establishments here in

the city to work with the owners and operators to work with the staff and also support staff

that would be running some of the food establishments to work with new and emerging food establishment

types such as food trucks and food stands and all kinds of things that are coming up, you

know, as we get more into innovative ways of providing food to the community.

The third aspect of tech is see for compliance.

So once the areas of concern are identified, we try to encourage compliance with the organizations

with the food establishments who may be struggling, be it, you know, be the language barrier,

be it financial, we try to identify exactly why the occurrence is continuous if that is

the case and to come up with an area and a strategy as far as how to get that establishment

on board and back on track so that they wouldn't have, you know, non-compliant reports just

consistently being online about their establishment that not only helps us as far as getting

our numbers together as far as how we're being effective in education but also helps the owners

and operators to be more successful because no one likes to look at the, you know, food safe

website and see that their organization or their, you know, establishment is being deemed

continuously for some of the same infractions.

The last part of tech is health.

We've had a lot of conversation here tonight about the community and the growth that is expected

and wanted here in the city of Harrisburg.

So looking at food safety is a big thing across the board.

So not only are we looking at the professional aspects of food safety, those folks who are

professionally preparing our food but also looking at our community, you know, when you're looking

at things like fair housing and, you know, access and these kinds of things, you have to have

a healthy community and you have to have a community that's really connected with resources

and opportunities to improve their health.

That's by, you know, healthy food, you know, healthy homes, you know, all these things tied together

to make these conversations about housing, about, you know, job placement, all these other things

correlate and coincide with each other so that our residents will have an opportunity to grow,

succeed and be productive citizens here in Harrisburg and make Harrisburg the place that we'd

like it to be.

So with all that being said, we want to go ahead and accept these funds.

I will continually apply for the funds as long as they are available and we've had a great

relationship with Niha who is the actual administrator of the FDA funds and I've been very pleased

with their work and they've been pleased with our work so we would like to continue that partnership

and do the best we can for the city of Harrisburg.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Miss Wright.

Unless I missed it in here in the resolution, how much funds did we get this year?

Because you said it was decreased, I think last year it was like 18,000 plus but what are we

receiving this year? I thought it was 16,5, I want to just be able to.

Just be able to.

Okay.

16,500.

Okay.

Thank you.

Sorry.

I felt like I saw that but then I couldn't find it again and I did not want to be incorrect.

Okay.

Thank you very much.

Also, I had seen in the resolution it was saying that you were going to be focusing on five

fundamental foodborne illness risks.

I didn't hear you exactly say them but you did say what your nine was and what the training was

and the acronym that you gave to us but also I did see that instead that you were going

to be focusing on fundamental foodborne illness risk factors such as supplying food from unsafe

sources, poor personal hygiene, and adequate cooking and proper food holding time or temperatures

and contaminated equipment, also protection from contamination.

So, okay.

I just wanted to let the public know that as well if they don't have that in hand that those are things

that you were also going to be focusing on.

I think that is great.

I always say that our restaurant should have a grade on them.

That was something big when I lived in New York and for me it pushed establishments to keep

a certain standard because I'm not going to go to an establishment that has a C.

I'm barely going to one that has a B but the ones that pushed that standard, they had that A plus

and they got more customers but they pushed yourself to keep that and I feel like yes people

can go online and look and see if these places had any infractions but who really many people do not

do that before they go out to eat.

Let's be honest.

Some people don't even know the website exists.

So, I think that I always say we just need a quicker way of people to be able to say okay,

I'm going to go to that establishment but also to make those owners say I need to keep

and compliance and make sure I am serving healthy food to the residents.

So, I will keep pushing and keep saying that this evening we can never have that but other than that,

I don't have any questions it was pretty straightforward and understood what it was you were looking to do

and I thank you for continuing to apply for this money.

I'm going to start to my far left this time.

Councilwoman Davis, do you have any questions?

Thank you, Councilwoman Rawls.

Good evening.

Thank you for being here and for the work that you continue to do here.

With the reduction in funds this year,

how will that affect the service that you're going to provide with this project?

I think that the $2,000 reduction is kind of, you know,

minimal at this point given the magnitude of reductions that have happened quite frankly.

There's been municipalities who have lost money in the hundreds of thousands.

So, I actually feel that this continued support has been there for our municipality which is great.

So, I mean, we'll make do and, you know, I think we're, we've made out better

than some others, so I'm kind of grateful for that.

Are you able to visit every restaurant in the city with the funding that you get

and every food truck to do your inspections or how do you decide

who facilities you're going to address?

Well, the National, the retail standards actually has a guideline for each full-time employee.

There should be, excuse me, between 280 and 300, excuse me, 180 and 250,

I guess, numbers are established.

So, that's the standard, you know, and most municipalities, unless they have a pretty large,

staff will not make that standard.

And that's part of why they're continuing to try to push towards people meeting the standard.

Basically, what the risk factor, study will assist with, is the ranking.

So, if you have a restaurant, for example, that has, what we call a level four, there's a level

one, two, three, four. So, your level four would be a restaurant that's doing sous-v and doing very

intricate food preparation practices. So, maybe a hotel, for example, might have four or five restaurants

doing three or four different types of menus with different types of applications,

raw foods, you know, those kinds of things. Then you would go down to a level one where it's just a store

with packages of chips and soda. So, the stratification of that, and you have everything in between,

right? So, one of the things we looked at is the progression of some of the corner stores

from being chips and soda to having a full-fledged buffet. And all of a sudden,

they've got major equipment in these kinds of things. And part of some of the funding will be to try

to reevaluate those types of establishments, even look at funding, and look at how they're being

charged for their licensing fees. So, that's a whole different aspect of some of the things we'll be

doing within the office. But these particular funds are very dedicated to what the earmarks are.

So, these would be again for more like education and again, the risk factor groundwork to do the

risk factor study, because the risk factor study is a really big deal. And you have to start with

the metrics and all the things, just get that going. So, that's where we are. We're at the point where

they're just funding us to start the process. And as we move forward in the process,

then more money will come because it has to be funded to get to the next level. So, it's like several

levels that you'd, you know, to really make a risk factor study hit it. And Councilman Rawls,

just for your point, I really appreciate what you're saying about the letter system. I'm a big

advocate of the grading system, but apparently, here in Pennsylvania, there were some legal challenges

to that. So, I don't know if that'll ever happen here. I'll throw that out there. Thank you.

But I'm a fan too. Yes, it should happen. Well, there's always a one-po to something, but thank you.

Sorry. Sorry. I just have one more question. And this may not fall up underneath your line of work

with this project. But when you go into the facilities, are you checking to see if the people who

are working with the food products for qualifications like immunizations or whatever qualifications they

have to have to serve food? Or would that fall under the business privilege license that every

business has to have? And if there, if it's a restaurant, I'm not sure. I'm just asking if there's

other documentation that they have to provide. And they should know that the people who are working with

the food are qualified to work with the food. And that's an excellent point because the legislation

is that, and actually, they just, they re-revised the legislation right before COVID. So, prior to the

legislation, you could have a service-safe or food safety training. You have a management level

or a supervisor or someone who has a higher level of training. And then all the subordinates under

that person is supposed to have a different type of certification. Right before COVID, the guidelines

changed. And so, every, they also were allowing like a floater, like Burger, I'm not going to say any

particular restaurant. I'm just saying that before example, a fast food restaurant would have a

supervisor that would go to three different locations. Okay. And that person's serve-safe

management would be at each location. That is no longer the case. There has to be someone with

supervisory level food safety training on site all day, every day. And then subordinates underneath

would only need what they call food handlers certification. So, but even with that, you know, one of my

co-workers, we were out together and we're looking at the serve-safe. And it has name, it has the date,

it has all that information. But there's no photograph. And I think that is something that, you know,

on a higher level serve-safe and food safety, you know, organizations need to look at when they give

these certificates because we have caught people sharing the certificates amongst each other. So,

because of COVID, you know, kind of fell by the wayside. But now I think it's much more important

as you're saying that we matched the name with the individual. Thank you very much for your work,

a very important work as well. Thank you. And I don't have any other questions. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman, Robert, you guys. Thank you. Always a pleasure to see this evening.

That's directly my language, you know, working in schools, being able to just serve food as a

former chef, serve-safe, food handling, even if you're behind the bar, which is a ramp certification.

It's important to know the food and even in that danger zone, once again, out that 41 degree mark,

you're in danger, right? So, if you struggle in the establishment and that food is at a temp, it's a huge

fine. And I think that's a big part of mitigating the risk, the work you're doing is hyper-important.

I just don't think a lot of individuals or entities know that there's a lot of overlying

variants as that come with serving food. I'm where to place the beef cooked food, as opposed to

uncooked food, et cetera, and even having these storage units by way of refrigerant or non-refrigerant

to even keep the food safe. So, it's huge. The education with it goes a long way and I know with

my former catering experience, you just see a lot of people dropping pans and like, hey, I'm catering,

but is that food staying in temp? How long is that food in temp? Four, who's responsible for shifting

those pans out? So, the work you do is super-super-important. And I just know the way of the commonwealth,

the grading system can take place through some discrimination laws, but I too agree that there should be

some level of acknowledging how cleanliness or non-cleanliness of the establishment is. So,

I really support the work you're doing here in the health department for the city. So,

Kudos to you and just keep it up. Thank you. Yep.

President Hill.

Good evening. I don't have any questions. Thank you. Vice President Jones.

No, I don't have any questions. Again, thank you for your service. Like everyone else, this is a

very important job, especially with some of these stores that we got around here now. Make sure that

they got dry sugar on the counter and all that type of stuff. But thank you for your service.

Councilwoman Green. Thank you very much. I don't have any questions for you. The work that you do is

important. Food safety is an integral part of safety in the city of Harrisburg. And it's the

public safety chair, obviously. That's something that kind of falls under my purview, but just as a

resident of Harrisburg, it falls under my purview. And I'd like to say thank you for what you do.

But also thank you for going after different funding methods, because it's important for us to have a

variety of income coming into the city. And I know that we might not put enough money in your

department in my opinion so that you can do even more and get the help that you need. So thank you

for going after different funding methods so that it's not just like an excuse of well, we don't have

the money to do this. It's like it needs to be done and find a way to do it. So thank you for that

passionate that ambition. That's all. Councilman Lawson. Thank you, Chair Rawls. And I want to echo that

sentiment. It's important that we find the path, even when we don't see a path in front of us.

And I love that you're taking initiative to do that. The only real question I have is really

not miss right for this, but do we have training available for some of these restaurant owners,

some of these small stores that are looking to get open that may not have like the backbone of that

non-named restaurant that you put out there where they don't have like the funds to go

to a different training or bring in a trainer. Is there anything that we offer within the city that

could give them at least the knowledge of the certifications? You know, that is the one painful

point with these cuts. At one time I was able to fund serve safe classes and I did classes for the

Y and you know, Salvation. I mean different organizations that we would get people certified.

But they took that away across the board. We no longer can sponsor people. So I would like to do

that more. I mean it was really it was really popular because the cost of the course can be

prohibited. I mean they offered online and you can then we pay the proctor and pay the fees

and also offering it in Spanish. So there it's there but sometimes it is cost-prohibitive.

Like I said for someone with quite a few employees or maybe just a hand, maybe it's just them or whatever.

So that was one of the pain points is that I can't pay for anybody anymore. So maybe that's something

that maybe we can figure out out a way to run these classes even if we're just paying the proctor

you know or something to help out to you know get more people certified because I'm sure that

is a barrier. I have no doubt because people were really taking advantage of it when it was free

to us. So. Thank you. I thought I remembered seeing that. So just though another thing on your

plate to figure out how to pay for that. You can figure out a way to run some courses that would be

helpful. I have no doubt you know because even HACC was you know doing some things you know they

were they have a program when they had their food program the kids would be there they would get it

as being students at HACC right. So a lot of the people who have been trained over the years were

trained at HACC or you know that legacy is you know with the newer arrivals it's hard because now

they're paying out of out of pocket. Thank you that's everything. We have one more question. Councilman

Robby yes. Yes thank you. Councilwoman Rawls I just wanted to add to Councilmember Lawson's

question. The Central Pennsylvania Food Bank does offer the food handler serve safe training on a

slider scale between 15 and 30 dollars but also anyone interested in the full management system they

can go to servesafe.com and its ranges between 100 and 165 dollars and that can actually give you

that permissions to oversee staff members. So until we can get some inner they could always look

forward to those resources as well. Thank you. I wanted to add something to that too because I know

the city used to offer it as you said and with the cuts so I know Mr. Magna he spoke last week and he

said one thing he would like to do is start budgeting speed talks early so maybe it's something that

could go into our budget yearly to sponsor a certain amount of people so maybe that's a conversation

you can have with him when he starts those talks. The key component of the economic development. I agree.

I agree and as we said everyone can't afford it and be able to take those classes but the more

individuals who are educating it the better for our city so I would love to see how that will work out

in our budget and also thank you Councilman Rodriguez for saying about dolphin county offering

those services as well so maybe we can partner with them I don't know but I think these are great

options. Soobing I'm so sorry to partner with them. Thank you. You're welcome I would like to add

resolution 32 of 2026 to our next legislative agenda and that is the end of the business for the

Parks Recreation and Richmond Committee. Thank you all pass it back to President Hill.

Thank you. Our final committee business this evening lies with the Public Safety Committee.

I will defer to our Public Safety Committee Chairman Councilwoman green to lead discussion.

Thank you very much Mr. Humphrey which read it into the record please.

Resolution 35 of 2026 a resolution of the Council of the City of Harrisburg ratifying and

approving the 2026 through 2028 collective bargaining agreement between the City of Harrisburg

and the fraternal order of police capital city lodge number 12.

Thank you very much. Thank you for being here tonight if you wouldn't mind introducing yourself

giving us a little overview and then we'll open up for questions. Thank you Councilwoman.

My name is Jack Dean I met all of you many times. I've been labor counsel for the City of Harrisburg

for over 10 years now unbelievably. It's always a pleasure to be here before you because that means

that after negotiations some longer than others it means that we have met a tentative agreement with

a certain union in this particular case the fraternal fraternal order police. The fraternal order

police we started the negotiations a year ago this month April of 2025 is their contract expired

December 31st. I the stated goal by and by the way the police I don't come here until the

union ratifies the contract so the union did ratify their contract and now we're going to bring it

to City Council. The negotiations started a year ago as I stated we had multiple meetings over the

course of the summer into the fall and into early winter. We actually had an act 111 arbitration

scheduled for this month but fortunately we came to a tentative agreement which

I had to be able to go to an arbitration. During the course of the negotiations we realized

both sides. They're very collegial the police were professional. Our administration was professional.

I always try to think I'm professional in our presentation and our offers. Every offer that went

back and forth from the city's perspective was run by the business office. I don't make an offer

without making sure that the business office at least gives its tentative blessing.

The stated goals during these negotiations were to attract new officers and to retain our current

officers. The City of Harrisburg that's a challenge not because of this work at the City of Harris

burg and not because of the quality of officers we have but rather because of the pay scale

of surrounding municipalities. Almost impossible to compete but we made an effort and we went back

and forth both the Union and the City administration that was their goal to retain and attract

current and attract new officers. We went back and forth with many offers. Again the Union ratified

this one. The final offer that we came up with and I want to give you a little background on some

of the neighboring municipalities and the one we're competing with most has a base salary for this year

for new officers of $118,000. We know we can't get there but our base salary for 2025 was $60,000.

So our first offer, our final tentative agreement came down to what can we do

we know we can never match this surrounding municipalities but we can make an attractive for our

current officers and attract new officers and that came to a three-year deal and the three-year

deal includes raises of 7% a year in 2026, 2027 and 2028. What will that will do? First the race

for 2026 were already at a quarter of the way into the year because we had an act 111 arbitration

we agreed to make it retroactive if it's ratified only for officers who are employed on the date

that City Council ratifies the contract. So if someone are retired in January they retire at the

old salary or someone left in January and this year so far this year since January 1st we have eight

officers who have resigned for other departments and five retirements there's two pending retirements

so we're down to 103 officers on the force as we sit here well as that's as of April 14th I didn't

update that today and I apologize for that but nevertheless what will that will do to our salary schedule

to hopefully make us competitive or try to make us competitive at the end of this contract which is

December 31st 2028 our starting salary will be $74,000 a five-year officer which is an important

officer for the city and because if they stay five years usually they're staying that's our experience

that five-year officer at the end of this contract will be making $92,000 compared to 135

in neighboring municipalities so that's it's quite a difference but it is a good significant

increase again I did not make this offer without vetting it through the business office

so that's the salary portion of it there are other small items that we also

tentatively agree to the first one is article eight section 8M5 this is for retired officers

retired officers who receive our health care and remember since 2013 officers don't receive

full retirement health care so this is for officers who are already retired and who are eligible for it

we increased our Medicare reimbursement up to $370 per month that's been traditionally increased

$10 a year for the last 11 or 12 years article 25 pension investing rights section 4b6

there are two different pension plans officers hired after 2013 don't receive the same

percentage pension as officers hired prior to 2013 so what we agreed to do in the out it was very

important for the officers because right now the majority are new officers 2013 and they want to

consist in pension plan with their older officers so what we did was said we'll agree to look at making

this the same and very important that our pension is fully funded we didn't agree to anything here we

just agreed to continue to negotiate to see if we can get to a point that it can be justified that

post-2013 officers will have pension benefits maximizing at 70% at 27 years which their older

fellow officers have and the final change to this contract was we agreed to continue the $7500

raise this is also on their article 25 section 5b we agreed to continue that $7500 raise to officers

to their salary on their final day of employment and this helps them with their pension the pension

is fully funded so we've been doing this for 11 or 12 years and it does not impact the fully

funded nature of our pension it's very similar to the rule of 80s rule of 80 which you guys just

approved it's just a continuation of what we already have so those are the four major changes there's

a bunch of smaller changes type of graphical things which are contained in the red line changing

dates but those are the substantive changes to this contract and prepare to answer my any questions

the best of my ability thank you very much I appreciate your thorough overview I'm going to open it

up to questions and then I'll come back to mine so I'm going to start to my immediate right here with

counter-melloss and any questions thank you very much I received a message from I believe over

retired officer and he was I guess the question was is there a way to give them the last day

type of increase based on the the raise not asking for back pay but asking to give them the

with the raise would have been further pension purposes and I don't know if that opens up re-negotiations

if what that does but I just wanted to get that question out there to get it to see what that would do

have to I would have to take a look at that but my first quick answer would be you have to reopen

negotiations so this this is what was tenably agreed to and approved by the entire police department

that officer or that person whoever that may be on the date of his retirement assuming it was

after January 1st and prior April 21st I did get the $7,500 bump correct that's what that's what I

that's what I that's my assumption based on what you said but as far as I'm giving him the

retroactive for pension purposes that would open up we'd have to go back to the table on that okay

thank you that that answers enough for me but that's okay thank you thank you that's you got me

I was going to think about that for a while vice president Jones yes thank you same sentiments and

I was thinking was about four officers that was included and I think we all received the same email

separately and that was a concern of theirs and I did see they just retired January of 26 so

it's trying to you know knocked them out of the position so yeah other than that you know I'm

looking at this you know I'm always going to have a question when it comes to fine answers however I know

however I know that this is necessary and I really hope that this does help us with recruiting

and retention so that's all I have thank you president Hill thank you God bless you I don't have

any questions just wanted to clarify that the four officers mentioned retired between January 12th

of 2026 and February 15th of 2026 just for reference but I don't have any other questions thank you thank

you councilman Rawls thank you so much I don't have any questions I had the same concern from the letter

and they also stated that captain did receive funds or a 4% raise and they

retired after January 2nd so I just think there are some concerns and I'm not sure but I think

we sit here and we get when we get information like this we are we it's our duty to ask the questions

and see what's happening as well she sends in the letter they also say they were promised it

by HR so I just think some things need to be looked into because I'm not sure exactly what happened

but I think their concerns are valid thank you no thank you for all the work you're doing it cannot be

easy you are saying for this thank you it's it's actually with the police it's very rewarding because

we know what they do yes if we could keep them here at Harrisburg you know while I live an hour

north of here every so often on my turn channel 16 and I see Commissioner Carter and I think about

what they're doing out here and the great work they do yes thank you very much I would agree the risk

in their lives consistently so you know pay is definitely important but I think you for the work you've

done on this and I don't know how to address these concerns that they raise because I know you

probably would have to open it back up right I would be curious and I'll have to check here is the 4%

issue because I'm not familiar with that yeah it was one of the paragraphs in here and I don't

want to read anything incorrectly but yeah it was it's definitely stated in here and then all

there's the other 4 officers so I don't know what to do next so I guess share it with you and see but

it was definitely a concern I mean I guess I could read the paragraph if I'm allowed but I don't know

okay thank you and I will note it's not just even just the union contract they have a separate

pension board and each of those retirements are calculated and approved in their meeting on every month

so there'd be a number of things we'd have to look at including it's very hard to alter a pension plan

okay I mean that that's reality but you know we can be looked at we can see what's there okay how

keep it up and you know we're to forward it to after that's it for me thank you no worries count

when my drink is thank you chair green thank you for joining us this evening always a pleasure speaking

with you just I know I speak for a council when I just say thank you for over a year of hammering

away and getting here to this collective bargaining agreement it's one step closer to a more

recruitment better retention you know for our officers pie in the sky we get the compliment we need

and deserve where we can have you know adequate patrol men out on the street and career really meet

those needs of our residents so you know if anyone that's young watching or you know a mom or dad

watching and has a you know someone about to graduate at a high school is an amazing career I encourage

you to take the test and come speak to the commissioner and you know we just need more although we

are welcome anyone that want to help police you know our city it's always just a relief in a great

feeling when we see some of our own from Harrisburg coming up through the ranks you know becoming that

captain one day or that future commissioner because it's a different understanding of the area

they're policing right if you grew up with miss Jackson and understand little Ronnie you you make

arrival in the scene and have a bit more compassion for the situation arising so you know our kudos

and hopefully this does play a big role with the retention of our officers so thank you

so reiterate that it wasn't really hammering away it was inching away inching away and and and

again I want to reiterate that it was very cordial with common goals awesome so I compliment the police

negotiating team for that well how patino said it best when he given Sunday the inches we need

all over this field and we claw right so thank you for your work thank you nothing for anyone thank you

very much and count to women Davis thank you councilwoman green thank you for being here can you hear me

I can thank you thank you for being here thank you for the work that you've done on the

negotiating the contracts for the police and their families I did read something about

healthcare for the family or the spouse was there something in the okay then maybe it was something

we did not change any healthcare provisions okay okay well again thank you very much for the work

that you're doing my pleasure thank you thank you very much I don't really have any questions for you

thank you for the work that you've done thank you for the work you continue to do because I

feel like it's a never ending process right up this summer right which is going to be another long one

as as we all know so thank you for your work thank you for continuously being there for the city

and looking out for the residents and the city but also for our employees as well because that's a

hard balancing act to accomplish I think that this isn't the first step in a complex this is only the

first step to accomplish this goal right to recruit and retain and so I think the the increases

in the salary over the years I think that definitely will help with it but I think is a city we have

to look at what's next like this can't be it or else we'll find ourselves in the exact same situation

that we've continued to be in of you know bleeding officers and not figuring out how we can stop it so

thank you for helping us to get past this hurdle and past this step and I think it's a city is a

council as administration we have to look at what we can do to make for sure we're supporting our

officers and all of our employees at the city of Harrisburg to the best of our ability so that they

continue to stay with us and hopefully retire with us and regards to the letter that we did receive

I think it's important for us to look at that because as we talk about people wanting to stay with

the city and retire with the city we have to make sure that we're putting a good faith effort for those

who have recently retired as well so I think that's something to look at to see what we can do if there

is something we can do but also understanding that we have to look at the entire picture as well so

thank you for you do what you do are there any other questions or comments

if not thank you again and I would ask that this is placed on our next legislative agenda

thank you we will move forward with our meeting agenda next we have public comment if you're

interested in offering any public comments please state your name and your address for the meeting

record if you don't feel comfortable sharing your address please share the vicinity in which you live

within the city you will have four minutes to share your comments mr. Humphrey has added a timer

to the screen for your reference I will begin to my right is there anyone that would like to offer

public comment

yes ma'am thank you um I'm Brian Muhammad live on Lewis Street

um Coffin Rodriguez already updated me on the speed bumps that I was asked about the last couple weeks

but now we get ready to go into the constant series up the park I want to know about

highly going to set up as far as the tents because if they have the tents in front of the bayonet

shell if you're not down in there you won't be able to see but now when we used to do the ask

and festival it was allowed only have allowed to have the tents on the road and on the back part of it

in that way because since they took the benches out everyone takes their tents down there so

they can't see unless you go down in there then when you go down in there it's to cluster down there

because of down there rock and roll well I just like to know if we're going to do something different

as far as letting the folks with the tents not down in front thank you thank you is there anyone else

to my right that would like to offer public comment

good evening council my name is Patricia Robinson and I'm the founder I don't live in the city of

Harrisburg but I do have a business a non-profit evil of you've trades academy so I just wanted to make

the public aware that we are gracious enough to be able to partner with Harrisburg High again

for 2026 and 27 school year to allow 15 students to enroll into the program to get their

pre-apprenticeship but more importantly also for the summer we will be partner again with Harrisburg

High to allow 25 students to be in our summer program and this is the ages between 12 and 18

so I employ parents to to enroll their students in the program so it's a four week program

Monday Tuesday and Wednesday from 9 to 3 p.m. for those four weeks it starts July 7 through August 7th

so we want to make sure that we get as many students from the Harrisburg school district involved

in the youth trades program over the summer that's all I have thank you thank you is there anyone

else to my right I would like to offer public comment you see in hearing no one anyone in the middle section

good evening council kiafowler north fifth street I will try really hard to stick with the timer for the

four minutes keri fowler asked me to speak as well on her behalf so I'm going to try and

chop and change both of our statements a number one uh speaking about miss maize and miss chatman

I was very impressed with miss maize resume and experience background I think should be highly

highly qualified uh miss chatman I was very impressed with her work with naka um I actually went to

work with naka tried to get approved with them for a home loan before I purchased my home in January

I ran out of time my house came up for sale I had to go with a conventional loan uh but the work they

do is honestly incredible and I think her background with that organization would prove highly beneficial

to the redevelopment authority when looking at affordable housing for residents um number two

uh several weeks ago you are aware that I was involved in an altercation with mayor Williams and some

other two other city employee members I sent more than one follow up email trying to figure out how to

file a complaint against those specific two city employee members as there's no governing body for

the mayor I have yet to hear back from any organization regarding how to file a complaint or even

an acknowledgement of the complaint I know Carrie Fowler had had another altercation with another city

employee who she told me when I saw her last Friday she also has not heard up this is disgraceful

if they're legitimate complaints they need to be followed up on it needs to be an acknowledgement of

when complaints happen there needs to be a clear resolution process for the investigation of these

complaints um and given the current allegations against uh mr. grover it is seriously concerning to

me that our HR department is not to scratch for enforcing the rules that city employees are meant to follow

I'm gonna try and cut it short to go to Carrie's statement uh she's a much more passionate or

rater than me so I will not do her justice uh but I will I'm gonna have to chop and change some of her

statement Carrie stated my name is Carrie Fowler and I resign in midtown reside in midtown Harrisburg

enough is enough the city is tired of paying the price for your failure to act the recent lawsuit filed

by a former city attorney lays out serious allegations where sir blower retaliation tied to concerns

about how harassment and misconduct were handled inside our own government and yes these are allegations

and yes everyone deserves their day in court but let's stop pretending this came out of nowhere this is

a pattern new grover has been problematic for years years and every time something happens this

council and this administration looked the other way delay deflect and then quietly move on while

the damage piles up and who pays for this damage we do the taxpayers of Harrisburg do we pay for the

lawsuits we pay for the legal defense we pay for the settlements that come from mismanagement and bad

decisions and let's be real it's bad enough that taxpayers have already been on the hook for lawsuits

involving this administration but now we're looking at yet another costly legal battle tied to the same

failures leadership how many times are we expected to put the bill for this how much money has this

already cost us how much more are you willing to gamble with because that's what this is at this

point again both our money and our city's future and let me speak plainly as a woman in this city

I am furious when someone comes forward with concerns about harassment or misconduct the bare minimum

expectation is that it's taken seriously and handled with integrity instead what are we seeing

again is a system that appears to punish the person who speaks up that sends a chilling message to

every woman every worker every city employee stay quiet or else that is not leadership that

is a failure of responsibility and the longer you allow this to continue the more you own it so let's

stop kicking the can down the road let's stop waiting for the next headline the next lawsuit the next

payout because if it's coming if you do nothing it's coming I'm demanding immediate action

neo-grower must be removed from his position now not after an internal review not after months of delay

now because every day he remains is another day this council is choosing to risk more lawsuits

more financial damage and more harm to the people you are supposed to serve you were elected to lead

not to protect insiders not to ignore patterns and not to wait until the situation explodes

the people Harrisberger watching and we are done paying for your interaction do your job thank you

from both Carrie and I thank you is there anyone else in the middle section that would like to offer

public comment

good evening council my name is tyron mic i am the one who sent the email yesterday

and referenced to the police contract sort of changed after I heard outside council a little bit

but i'm gonna stick to my agenda and I'll answer any questions and I would be more than happy to stay

after answering any other questions just to introduce myself my name is tyron mic i am

uh married have four kids two of them adopted that were parents were drug addicts um 27 years of service

and for the city of Harrisburg bureau police um i chose Harrisburg city over lengths or city because

of the fact that one i was born and raised across the river was close to me my parents lived in a city

back in the 60s i wanted to serve this community uh during my time with the city i've been shot at twice

i've had a canine shot in a line of duty back in 2013 um i worked up to sometimes 20 hours a day

just trying to protect the city and the citizens of Harrisburg um i was on call for 20 years because

i was a canine guy uh i've been a dull guy since 2004 so his own call could get calls in time of

the night i worked i came into work hours two hours before shift after shift never put him for

compensation i volunteered for canine demos community events there was times never put him for

compensation uh basically for the last 12 years i've been running the canine unit so i've been

the supervisor i've also been a trainer uh i've also been for the last eight years in charge of the

street crimes unit over the last eight years the small unit that we have we have collected over 700

guns all to city streets seven hundred guns and it is a matter of three or four of us that's it um

we've taken a large amount of narcotics off the street you know what that does to our city uh

is involved in taking people into custody for wanting for wanted from murders rapes robberies and

anything in between um i missed out i missed out on my kids growing up for their school functions

their sports because of my work i worked that shift that i couldn't i couldn't attend their

their items there um i continued to work back in 2018 when my wife uh came down with breast cancer

i didn't take off lengthy amounts of times um i took a little days here to take care of her when she

needed it but uh no extension uh of time also didn't do that when my son contracted cancer in 2023

so which he just took his last treatment last week he is now free and clear um you ask me why

and i thought about this why what i tell you all this the reason why i'm telling you this is not to brag

it's not even to show how special i am because i'm not not a special person at all i'm a human being

that loved my city and loved the work i'm for the city um but i did do it because i'm dedicated

and i wanted to show how much dedication i put to this city unfortunately the city didn't show the

same dedication when it came to this contract um nor did it the rest of my officers that some of

them couldn't be here because they had their other jobs made them they were late so my thing is with

this whole thing is in order for to keep us keep these young officers you're going to have to take

care of the retirees if they don't see that they're not going to do it i can already tell you the

actuary was done i'm being told this this is all i can tell you actuary was done the union said

they could support it throughout 110 percent i have personally talked through text to the mayor

the commissioner has been talked to everybody union mayor commissioner down the line has said

that they approve this and they would do this for us and that's all i have

thank you do you mind staying after the meeting i'm sorry thank you

is there anyone else in the middle section i would like to offer public comment

okay seeing hearing no one anyone to my left

getting in council

my name is maximus desmus marias leader the army to north i'm sorry i've been practicing that

all week i'm a spa then fan okay spa ta um a couple of good things you guys are putting people

in place i saw that mr. night has a deputy that is awesome we have a administrative director

that is awesome i was listening to these ladies they're good good catch um only have one question with

the negotiation with the the cops the union is there any diversity training i mean is the union

putting anything in there cultural interaction and if they are they just virtual or their actual

practical interaction and practical training um so those are the only question i have

and i i just want to commend you for the work that you're doing what i've seen is that you are

willing to work with the mayor putting these individuals in place jeffrey night has in a deputy

um just fill in the position and the administration show that council is not at war with the

mayor this is great the people are looking we are applying and thank you can you please say your name

and your address for the meeting record thank you maximus my name is liby prophet chastinus between

twenty-eighth and twenty-first in harisburg thank you is there anyone else to my left that would

like to offer public comment seeing hearing no one the time is seven fifteen p.m i will entertain a

motion to adjourn so move is there a second second thank you we stand adjourned