Coraggio Consulting
Manassas City Council 2/24/2025

Date: Monday, February 24, 2025
Place: Manassas City Council, Virginia
Length: 2h 55m (video)
Official meeting video (Wistia / RegionalWebTV): https://fast.wistia.net/embed/iframe/6z0l73u19p

Machine transcript (speech-to-text) produced by Coraggio Consulting. Not an official county record. Names and numbers may be misspelled; check the video at the timestamp before quoting.
Speech-to-text: whisper.cpp, model large-v3-turbo. Produced 2026-10-17. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:02:21] are joining us via social media. We welcome you to the meeting as well. I'll start with our council time and Councilwoman Ellis is first tonight. Thank you, Mayor. A couple announcements. The regional jail board meeting is regional with Prince William County, Manassas City, and Manassas Park. If you're interested in attending one of their meetings it will be held March 17th at 6 p.m. and that will be over at the courthouse area, you would want to go onto the website and see exactly where

[00:02:58] that is. I think it's in the detention area. But if you are interested in going, please send an email to adccomment at pwcgov.org. Email if you're attending or if you have any comments. Restaurant week is starting on the 26th until March 4th, and our restaurants in Historic Manassas are ready for that.

[00:03:23] It is an annual event, and they have discounts and special meals, so please visit Historic Manassas and support our local restaurants. And if you haven't been to the train station in Historic Manassas, there are some bronze statues now that are depicting a historic train conductor and two passengers on the bench.

[00:03:44] They're a beautiful piece of art, and they do give credit to Manassas as being a train city. That's what put us on the map, besides the battle bull run. I want to give a shout out to our fire and rescue police, our city staff, and our Red Cross chapter, who came to the aid of a house fire on Valentine's Day, which was actually in my neighborhood.

[00:04:11] It was very devastating. I have to commend you for your bravery and your spirit and your careness for our residents. And that family lost almost everything. So support local Red Cross efforts, as well as if you want to go on my Facebook page, there is a link there to help the family.

[00:04:34] Thank you. Councilman Smith. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Welcome to everyone. I look forward to the reports from the agenda tonight. There are reports we always find very successful stories and very entertaining and very interesting information from our school's reports.

[00:04:59] look forward to that but tonight we're hearing from three departments that provide much valuable very valuable service to our residents and to the area they're impacted by basically everything that happens they address those residents that are impacted and will be impacted by by various policies and changes so my hats off to them and just encourage them to continue to ignore

[00:05:32] the selective outrage that that you're here thank you thank you councilman osina mayor thank you um so again i wanted to reiterate what councilwoman ellis said uh fire uh and rescue response to the fire last week over at the corner of waterford and glover hill was exceptional and uh i think that's the sort of thing that we not only want to see but we are delighted to see in terms of when one of our neighbors is in need, that we get that kind of response.

[00:06:11] And that shows the investment we've made in our fire department and the training and the caliber of the men and women who are in our fire service to do that. And so, Chief Mills, I hope you'll extend that to the entire department there.

[00:06:27] I certainly appreciate those things as sad as it is to have to see that sort of thing happen, but nonetheless to run to the emergency and not away from it. I had the opportunity last week to, I believe it was last week, attend my first Utility Commission meeting as the liaison.

[00:06:54] And we have a fine group of folks there on the commission. They're working diligently on your behalf to take care of our water and our electric and our sewer and even our recycling and refuge needs along the way here.

[00:07:11] And I was very impressed with their dedication and their involvement and the types of questions they have to guide staff along the way here. So as an advisory commission, they're most helpful in that regard. And I look forward over the next two years to be sitting down and listening with them and helping where I might.

[00:07:33] A reminder that the 12th Annual Osborne High School Art Exhibit will take place on Friday, March the 7th, 6 p.m. at the Manassas Museum. So I hope if you have a moment, you'll go over there and see some of the nice artwork that our students do.

[00:07:51] Every year I'm always impressed and shamed into how uncreative I am, but how creative our students are in that regard here. And then lastly, I had the pleasure this past Saturday to visit the opening day of the midwinter art exhibit and sale over at Creative Brush.

[00:08:14] I got a chance to meet many of the artists there that had works on display. And again, I'm humbled by their creativity and their ability to make things look as realistic as they do in that regard. I also had the chance to meet a new author, a lady named Catherine Pfeiffer.

[00:08:34] She had just published a book, and I don't mean self-published. She actually had a company publish it. She had an agent that worked with her and an editor and published it. So she lives with her husband in Bristow Station neighborhood.

[00:08:53] So that makes two authors we have now in Bristow Station that I'm aware of, and there may be more, but those are the two I know. So it was nice to see the creativity in that event along the way here. And with that, Mayor, I thank you. Thank you.

[00:09:08] Councilwoman Vasquez-Luna. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Good evening, everyone. It's always great to see our room full with so many residents. I'm looking forward to hear from you when the time comes for resident time.

[00:09:26] But I will try to keep my highlights short. I believe council members already talked about the restaurant week. It starts on February 26th and goes all the way to March the 4th. There will be different specials or discounts, so you can try new things or your regular thing.

[00:09:49] They call it We Love Food, and I think I'm part of that. I can say I love food, too, so please stop by and support. Remember, the business have a hard time during the winter time because we don't like to go out too much when it's cold.

[00:10:06] But now that we have a better weather, you know, please come out and support our small businesses and enjoy, you know, the restaurant week. Again, you know, this is a great time and a way to support the restaurants and the small businesses.

[00:10:24] I want to congratulate the police department for those who participated in the cold, cold, it's called the Polar Plunge. And they raised almost $1,500, and this benefits the Special Olympics. So for the brave men and women that were in the cold water, you know, thank you for what you do.

[00:10:47] And you were special. I appreciate it. For last weekend, I attended the Black History Month gallery talk at the museum. If you haven't been to the museum, they have a lot of different gallery talks, so you can just visit on your own.

[00:11:07] It is very, I would say, innovative, and it's beautiful. I hope you get a chance to, you can read it on your own. You can even learn a little bit about our own mayor, who's the first African-American woman to serve in our city.

[00:11:25] So look at the timeline and the different galleries, and the talk was really interesting. The next event they have at the museum will be February 27th at 5 p.m., and they will have a happy hour. So I will try to be there, and I hope to see you there.

[00:11:44] Not too long ago, we had the Random Acts of Kindness Week, And we were informed that the fish window, the owner, Lana Bryan, and a crew of volunteers showed up to the Boys and Girls Club, and they cleaned all the windows.

[00:12:00] So that was the Random Act of Kindness Week, and it is greatly appreciated as in making it better for our youth here in Manassas. On over Valentine's Day, we had 19 couples. They showed up to a very special day.

[00:12:17] They got married through a clerk of court, Jacqueline Smith, and her staff at the Art Factory and over a dozen of business. They helped to help them have a beautiful ceremony, and I believe they had an extra special day.

[00:12:35] So if that sounds something that you're interested, you know, next year, more than likely, she'll be doing it again. She has done it for about seven years, I believe. So congratulations to everybody that was there. I believe it was 19 couples. I want to speak a little bit about the BRE.

[00:12:55] For the BRE, the operations were made on Friday, and they approved a total not to exceed $986,920. And just to give you an idea what this is for, it's aiming to improve the connectivity through new sidewalks, enhanced accessibility with the addition of American with disability as compliance routes and parking spaces.

[00:13:24] This is expected to expand our platform, I believe for about 300 feet. So it will take a long time before everything happens, but this is pretty much the beginning of something great.

[00:13:42] So you have an extended platform for the long trains. So to me, I heard it's been expected for a long time, so we're really happy to see that those new changes will come, even though it takes a little bit long to see the projects actually happening.

[00:14:02] But if you see something there, you know, that is improvements. I want to say, you know, thought and prayers for the Virginia Beach Police Department as they are suffering the loss.

[00:14:19] I believe for me and for all Virginians, it will be another eye-opening and how, you know, our first line, they're serving, they're protecting us, how important it is.

[00:14:36] We have heard from council members about the fire. It is, you know, during a tragedy, it still is good to hear there was no, you know, nobody at the house. But at the same time, you know, time is important. Where the station is located is important.

[00:14:53] So I want to say, you know, thank you for being ready. There were many crews there. I know, you know, one of the members, you know, was hurt. I really appreciate to see everybody supporting that crew member. I don't know if it was at the hospital or in another place.

[00:15:10] But it's, you know, another way to show not only, you know, they go through these emergencies together and they support each other. So, again, let's think of our Virginia Beach Police Department and make sure that you thank our own first responders.

[00:15:30] And we're going to have a great report tonight from each head of the department and our chief. We will hear the Irish-American Heritage Month. My ask is that you support on March the 8th.

[00:15:46] The Old Town will be having a parade. It's a special moment to continue to see how blessed we are that we have diversity, and diversity makes us better. So, you know, I'm happy that we get to celebrate our Irish-American Heritage Month.

[00:16:08] And, again, you know, just please don't forget to support the businesses. And I'm looking forward to get our budget and to work on the priorities, which is making sure, you know, the well-being of all the residents and thinking of the business, too.

[00:16:30] Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman. Councilwoman Hudson is on the phone, so I don't know if she, if you want to, like, hold it up. I think the phone is she is she able to thank you madam mayor I just wanted to take a moment hoping to be back Wednesday with all of you and thank you again for the opportunity right at the end thank you thank you thank you all

[00:17:07] again want to welcome everyone to the council meeting for mayor time I think all of the events were covered for me this week we do have budget work session on Wednesday. I'm going to be in the schools a lot this week with Jenny Dean. There's a panel that I've been invited to speak on. Then we have the Black History Appy Hour at the museum. I think Councilwoman Luna talked about that at 5 o'clock.

[00:17:31] We have the Chamber of Business Awards this Thursday, the 27th at 5 or 6. I think it's 5. Anyway, it's this week. I'll be at Mayfield for their Black History Program on 228. And then Project Minda House is having a business mixer at 6. And I've been asked to be a guest speaker for that. And then the art exhibit opening, I think Councilman Osina had talked about that being on the 7th. And then of course the parade. And then we have the Women's Empowerment Conference coming back for the second year. And that's on 313 at the got it in the city this year at the Virginia Portuguese Center. And that's from 9

[00:18:08] to 6. And so if you have not purchased your tickets for that, I have a flyer here. It's the We Conference. I'm the chair of the host committee. and we would love to see the room packed out there for that. I want to take a moment to also echo the council members in saying thank you to our fire police, everyone who was involved in that house fire on Waterford.

[00:18:31] I understand, if I'm not mistaken, Ms. Ellis might have mentioned this, but the family wasn't home. I don't believe they were at home when that happened, and so to come back and have nothing, I mean, you can only imagine. So, again, Manassas does what it does best, and it shows up for the community, and we're so thankful for all of those who came to the rescue and got that under control, but that's what we do.

[00:18:55] And, Councilmembers, I thank you for consistently showing up for our residents and being in the community and responding to the needs of our constituents. I appreciate all of you and the work that you do. And with that, I will turn it over to Mr. Burke, City Manager.

[00:19:11] I have to get used to saying City Manager for your report. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Some of our residents encountered some cloudy water this weekend due to some waterline repairs that our crews conducted. If you ever experience sputtering when you turn your faucet on or you have cloudy water, go ahead and leave the cold water of your faucet on for a brief period.

[00:19:35] It should clear up. If it doesn't, give a call to our operations center. Their phone number is 703-257-8353. We'd also like to thank the individual that provided a tip that allowed our police department to identify the individual that dumped illegally some petroleum products underneath the Route 28 overpass at Wellington Road.

[00:20:00] And we encourage all of our residents, if you see something that doesn't look right, please let us know and let us investigate it. And then finally, now that we have some wonderful spring-like weather, we'll be shutting down some of the playgrounds at our park this week in case you had planned to go so that we can put in some new safety mulch.

[00:20:19] February 26th, Bird Park, Calvary Run Park, and Oakenshaw Park will be closed while they put in the new mulch. And then February 27th, Stonewall Park and Walter Delisle Park will be closed. So please bear with us as we improve the parks and make them safer.

[00:20:37] That's all I have, Madam Mayor. And that's online, the listing of the parks and when they're closing and all that. Okay, so thank you for that. Any questions for Mr. Burke, council members? Okay, if not, I will call on Mr. Fitzpatrick to join me down front for the Irish Heritage Month proclamation.

[00:21:04] Hello, hello. My best wicked dress, but I did it for you all in the green. So thank you so much for being here. We'll probably stand over here so Kelly can get a good photo of us all.

[00:21:19] So, all right, I'm going to go ahead and read the proclamation, and then when I'm done, you can have some comments, the three of you, one of you, all three of you, however you want to do it. So, proclamation, whereas Irish Heritage Month is observed in March of each year in the city of Manassas, providing an opportunity for all residents to celebrate and appreciate the significant impact of Irish culture, traditions, and accomplishments, And whereas Americans of Irish heritage have made invaluable contributions to various aspects of society, including but not limited to arts, sciences, politics, business, and sports, enriching the diverse tapestry of our city.

[00:21:57] And whereas Americans of Irish descent have played and continue to play a critical economic, cultural, and social role in every sphere of American life. And whereas the spirit of the Irish community is marked by resilience, determination, and a commitment to fostering a sense of unity and inclusivity among all citizens, and whereas celebrating Irish Heritage Month gives us an opportunity to honor and recognize individuals who have contributed to the history, society, and culture of the United States of America,

[00:22:28] And whereas today, more than 39 million Americans who claim Irish heritage, a number almost seven times greater than the entire population of Ireland today, can look back with pride on the many achievements and contributions of their ancestors.

[00:22:44] Now, therefore, I, Michelle Davis-Younger, and on behalf of Manassas City Council, hereby proclaim the month of March 2025 as Irish Heritage Month in the city of Manassas and urge all residents of the city of Manassas to celebrate the contributions made by individuals of Irish descent and to observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities that honor and celebrate the enduring legacy of the Irish-American community.

[00:23:10] Thank you very much. Applause is appropriate. I tried to do this at the county without a script the other day.

[00:23:40] It didn't work so well. So now I got a script. Anyhow, Mayor Younger and city council members, on behalf of Innisfail, Inc., the Holding Corporation for the Greater Manassas St. Patrick's Day Parade and the Father Kelly Division of the Ancient Order of Hibernians from Manassas, We would like to express our sincere appreciation to the City of Manassas City Council for proclaiming March's Irish Heritage Month.

[00:24:10] The City of Manassas, the Irish played a significant part in the Civil War here in Virginia with the Irish Brigade at Antietam and have been the core of many police departments and fire departments and municipalities throughout the country for decades.

[00:24:28] I failed to mention who my partners are here. We have Greg Gibbon. He's the president of Father Kelly Division, Ancient Order of Hibernians here in Manassas. And then we have Mr. Jack Southard. This is the man, the day of the parade.

[00:24:47] He is it. He's chairman of our parade operations, and he takes care of everything. By the way, he does a wonderful job. Anyhow, I got more. I never have enough words.

[00:25:04] Anyhow, Innisfail started the Greater Manassas-St. Patrick's Day Parade 25 years ago. We're here 25 years, folks. It's great. Since our beginning of entertaining hundreds of residents from the city of Manassas and the surrounding area, we now entertain thousands.

[00:25:22] We have several pipe bands, Irish dams groups, heritage organizations, and local civic organizations represented. Each of your grand marshals has been an individual of Irish heritage that has made significant contributions to the community.

[00:25:41] In our 25th year, we are privileged to have a father, Joseph Farrell, an Irish priest serving the chaplain of George Mason University and the director of St. Robert Bellarmine Chapel at George Mason University as our grand marshal.

[00:25:59] Once again, we look forward to having St. Patrick's Day Parade here in the city of Manassas on Saturday, March 8th. 11 a.m. And I've been St. Patrick for probably 20 of the 25 years, and I really enjoyed it.

[00:26:19] We have a good time here in the city of Manassas. We appreciate your support and look forward to doing it again. Thank you for that.

[00:26:50] Next on the agenda, we have item 1.2, Manassas City Public Schools presentation, Jenny Dean Elementary School. Call on Mr. Jill Spall is going to come up, and then Mr. Coleman, I guess. Are you all together? How are you going to do it? Welcome. Thank you for being here.

[00:27:06] Good evening, Mayor, Council, and Mr. City Manager. My name is Jill Spall. I'm here to introduce Jenny Dean, home of the Dolphins. I would like to just give a brief introduction that Jenny Dean is a thriving educational institution dedicated to fostering academic excellence, creativity, and personal growth.

[00:27:30] Known for its strong community support and innovative teaching methods, the school provides a nurturing environment where students excel. We boast a dedicated staff. The school is committed to the principle of by name and by need. And this means that in order for each student to reach their full potential, the staff must understand and address each child's academic needs.

[00:27:53] The commitment is reflected in their practice of working with students in small groups, which is made possible by an all-hands-on-deck approach. Even the administration actively participates in supporting students academically by working with them in these small groups. You will not find a more dedicated staff at MCPS.

[00:28:11] We also boast a welcoming environment with a culturally rich student body and improving academic rate for students absent 10% or more of the time. This number is down from almost 19% in 23-24 to just above 16% in January.

[00:28:26] We do have work to do, but we are most certainly moving in the right direction. Jenny Dean is committed to preparing students for future success while fostering a love for learning in a safe and supportive setting. I'd like to introduce Mr. Brian Coleman, principal of Jenny Dean Elementary, and acknowledge Ms. Kelly Huntley, who is always just a step away while diligently attending to her assistant principal duties.

[00:28:49] Mr. Coleman. We're just going to start off with a quick video.

[00:29:46] Do that move now, you know, we saw it.

[00:30:39] I've got to ice my knees for three weeks. I'm not doing that anymore. Anything for the kids. First of all, I want to thank Mayor Davis, city manager Burke and council members. Thank you guys very much. As I think about our staff, I always think about the reflection that it takes if you're going to be successful in leading anything that you do in life, whether it's a school company or whatever. And reflection allows you to grow. My reflection on improvement for Jenny Dean started last March while we were

[00:31:15] winding down our school year. Over a two-month period, me and my support staff worked on a retreat agenda because we wanted to make sure that when the summer started, we got to work on what needed to be for the following school year. School ended May 31st. We began our two-day retreat June 4th, and we took a break, looked over all the notes, and then came back for June 6th. And we assigned everybody a role in what we were going to do to move this school forward. Day one focused on logistics and how we can run our building more effectively. We put an emphasis on communication,

[00:31:54] meeting with all of our stakeholders monthly from grade levels with our touch base meetings to our encore touch base meetings to our monthly front office meetings to our support means that in which i we meet weekly with our reading support our math support our instructional facilitator my itts as well as my assistant principal i wanted to have conversations with as many people as possible because I wanted to hear their voice.

[00:32:22] As Ms. Ball said, it takes a village. Our day two focused on instructional practices and how we can identify every name and every need of every student. And that talks about how we have to dig very deeply into our student data, which we do on a weekly basis.

[00:32:43] When I think about the staff at Jenny Dean, I'm very proud as to where we have come. I'm very proud of the support that they give me and how hard they work. We celebrate our teachers every month with a quick meeting where we feed them, whether it's donuts, bagels.

[00:33:01] Ms. Huntley, my assistant principal, continually wants to cook for them, and she does not know that I can't cook. However, we have cooked them omelets, breakfast, eggs, sausage. So we try to reward our staff with the little things because we do understand how hard it is and how hard they work.

[00:33:20] And we remind them consistently that this job is not easy, this job is never ending, and at the end of the day we're going to be exhausted. But it's for the kids, and it doesn't matter what kid walks into our school, they're going to get the very best that we can offer them.

[00:33:38] Before I do leave, I do want to acknowledge my assistant principal, Ms. Huntley. Please stand. No, you don't be shy.

[00:34:01] I'll get it together. Ms. Huntley has been an amazing assistant principal. What she does for our school, what she does for our kids, and what she does for our staff could never be measured.

[00:34:27] She has one of the most amazing personalities and calmness in her that you just can't teach. From day one, we started and we just started running. And we work so well together.

[00:34:43] Every morning when I wake up and I go into school, I look forward to it because I know that I'm running with someone who is on the same path as me. She is such a dedicated individual, but I also want everyone to know that she is an amazing person.

[00:35:01] She is just one of the nicest, most compelling, and heartfelt people that I've ever met in my life. Jenny Dean is so much better with her in our lives, and I cannot give her enough thanks for what she's done for our school.

[00:35:22] Thank you, Ms. Huntley. I also want to thank, even though two of the three aren't here, and I want to acknowledge Ms. Betty Winnum, our Director of Principles and my supervisor, for her unwavering support, her understanding, her kindness, and always bringing a smile to every room that she steps into.

[00:35:54] I want to thank Mr. Caffella, our deputy superintendent, for your support, your knowledge, and your calmness that you show in every day in which you interact not only with the principals, but with the staff, with the parents, with the students.

[00:36:12] And to our superintendent, Dr. Newman, who is not here, your support, understanding knowledge, and caring attitude is a pillar of what Manassas Public Schools is all about. I am beyond blessed and grateful that in 26 years of my being in education, I have three of the most amazing supervisors in the world, not just Manassas City.

[00:36:37] I cannot ask for three better people who make me so proud to be part of Manassas City Public Schools, and the job that they do is the right work. As Mr. Gofella says, we're going to identify every name of need, and the right work is working for the kids.

[00:36:56] I am so grateful to all three of them and everybody in Monassau City Public Schools. Thank you guys very much, and I hope you have a good rest of your evening. Thank you, Mr. Coleman. Thank you so much for that.

[00:37:13] Council members, any comments or questions for Mr. Coleman? Mr. Smith. Clearly, you are doing a wonderful job. You and staff are doing a wonderful job at Genadine Elementary School. Congratulations on your successes so far.

[00:37:30] And it's very clear that your methodology and your leadership style is paying off. I encourage you and your staff, keep going. Thank you. Anyone else?

[00:37:46] Okay. Thank you so much for being here. I'm sorry, Mr. Ossina, I didn't see you. Thank you, Mayor. I just didn't always want to be the first here. I wanted to make sure others had a chance. Thank you, Mayor. So, Mr. Coleman, I feel like I know your school maybe a little bit better than some of the others because I spent a year and a half or so coming to your building once a week on Mondays here when we were having our council meetings in your auditorium.

[00:38:18] And thank you for putting up with us along the way. But it gave me a chance to see some of the things that go on in your school, from the artwork, the posters, and different things going on just in the short distance that I would go of what's happening at the school here.

[00:38:36] Do you serve breakfast at Jenny Dean for all the students? Absolutely. And every morning after I do Kiss and Ride, we're playing music outside, we're jamming, we're bringing them in, I walk in and I have all of my preschool students sitting at the table eating breakfast, and I high-five every single one of them every single day.

[00:38:56] That is my routine. Excellent here. So how important would you place having breakfast for all the students? I came from a low-income family, a single-parent family, breakfast was my meal, lunch was my meal, and dinner every now and then.

[00:39:14] So it's beyond important. It's essential. Very good. I do like this concept of by name and by need for each of the students here along the way here.

[00:39:29] I think in a lot of ways, Manassas City Public Schools are perfect for not only the concept but the implementation because we are a smaller school district as compared to some that have a lot of schools.

[00:39:47] We only have nine, and to see that practiced along the way, that ensures, I would take it, that each of the students gets some individual attention above and beyond what they might expect in the classroom.

[00:40:02] Is that correct? Absolutely. When we talk about name and need, we're talking about when we give assessments, the data is entered into a spreadsheet. I work with my ITTS so that the moment that the scores go in, it populates where those students are in terms of passing, close to passing, and below.

[00:40:21] And what we do from there is our teachers then put them in small groups. Those small groups are then designed to meet the needs of those kids. So we know every week we look at data, we know where our students are and where they need to go. What we do as an administration and support staff with myself and Ms. Huntley, we actually have paired up with teachers and we meet with them and they send us their schedules and we go in and we teach small groups.

[00:40:49] So I taught two small groups today for third grade in one of my teacher's classes on division. And it's amazing to see a kid that can struggle with division but also teach you something while you're sitting there working with them. So that's how we identify name and need. We have to do everything in our power to make sure that these kids get as much as they can.

[00:41:09] It doesn't mean that they're going to go from here to here, but if they go from here to here, that's a step. That's a starting point, and that confidence is going to gain, and it's just going to grow. That's what we mean by name and need. There you go. There you go. Well, I learned something new tonight here, that you and your assistant principal are in the classroom here.

[00:41:34] And our support staff, our mass support, and our instructional facilitator. Which is incredible to be in there, and I want our residents to hear that because I don't want them to think that our educators, especially those who are classified as administrators, don't get in the classroom on a regular basis.

[00:41:56] The fact that you folks are doing that every day in some fashion, I think, is very important. And recognizing that our student body needs and gets far more individualized attention, which makes, I think, our school system very unique when it comes to recruiting and retaining its employees.

[00:42:17] Because if you love teaching, this is the place to be, it sounds like, along the way. Lastly, I ask this question of all of your predecessors, principals who come in, and I don't want to leave you out here, and don't worry about there being a right or wrong answer, but I'm always curious.

[00:42:37] So what keeps you awake at night in this job? Name and need. Excuse me? Name and need. Name and need. Where our students are and where we need to get them. That's what keeps me up every single night. Thank you for your candor, and I appreciate everything that you and your staff do.

[00:42:53] Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Anyone else? Any other comments? Brian, thank you. I know when I show up, it's always great to see you involved and going here and there and running around. And it's obvious, your passion. And thank you for sharing.

[00:43:10] And thank you for allowing yourself to be vulnerable and show that you can give praise to people who support. Because it takes all of us. Absolutely. And you have to believe that, you know, that all of us are in it for the right reasons and that we all want to see our students succeed. I want them to grow up, go to college, and come back here.

[00:43:28] And we've got to have a city for them to come back to. So you're building, you know, the one word you used was confidence. And that is so lacking nowadays. And us pouring in, all of us pouring into them, it's going to work. You're going to see the fruits of the labor.

[00:43:44] So thank you so much for your dedication. We see your passion. We feel it coming from you. And just thank you for saying yes to us and choosing Manassas all those years ago. So thank you so much for being here. being here we appreciate it all right all right next on the agenda next on the agenda we have our department annual report for annual report for social services and nicole kirvin will come up and take care of that for us we're so excited to see you thank you for being here definitely thank

[00:44:20] you hopefully you can hear me um madam mayor city council members city manager burke um i am actually very very pleased hard act to follow you know definitely in being here because I enjoy being in the city of Manassas and I think the big thing that we had to kind of come up with was this was the first time for me presenting in chambers taking that moment and taking a pause when I talk about taking a moment and taking a pause it was figuring out what is it that's needed

[00:44:59] for folks to better understand social services and what we do. We work throughout the entire year, and we come one time, and we present, and we try to give you the kind of snapshot of this is what we do. But we hope that you see us throughout the days as we toil, and we answer questions, and we show up, and we're there.

[00:45:21] So what I thought about specifically, you know, you always try to find that kind of catch. When we think about the city of Manassas, we think about Northern Virginia, You know, there tends to be that term ASAP as soon as possible. You know, you got to get it done.

[00:45:36] It's got to be fast. It's got to be quick. However, I think where we tend to struggle is that we forget to take that pause in life. We forget to reflect back as to what it looked like and where we are now and how far we have come.

[00:45:53] So I took a particular excerpt from an unknown author this time. And basically, he or she decided, we need to re-term ASAP. ASAP needs to kind of help a person sit in the moment and be present.

[00:46:10] And that's what we're doing today, sitting in the moment and being present. So the author kind of took it as giving a lot of different terms, as slow as possible, as soft as possible, as sustainable as possible.

[00:46:26] The list goes on. However, I chose to stop and focus on ASAP as steadfast as possible. Steadfast to be firm in belief, determination, and or allegiance. To be unwavering in support and loyalty.

[00:46:46] That is what we do within social services for the department with the city of Manassas. Our goal is to ensure that we are meeting the needs of the residents of the city of Manassas whenever however we are there so basically as we're looking at this you'll see many pictures the first picture that you see right now our doors are open throughout the presentation you'll see our people our staff our people are present they are there they're ensuring that we make a difference

[00:47:23] in the city of Manasseh and I get a little I take a moment in thinking about things because we have come a lot further. We have had the opportunity to build in looking at our positions. Currently we have 46 positions within the city for Department of Social Services. We started out with 44. We were able to obtain two additional positions to be 100% funded without city dollars. That's going

[00:47:59] above and beyond for us. We were able to also add a new, I can't say new, I can't, I'll call it reinstitute our internship program. We have ongoing and minimal of two interns that come and provide services and learn through our Department of Social Services as well. Without them, we wouldn't learn some of the new cutting-edge techniques that's out there, but we're providing them a service as well as giving them the social work hours that they need.

[00:48:31] With our team of 46, needless to say, we band together, we make it happen. We know that there's many things that need to get done in the city. So what we do is that we have our assistant directors as we have Latonya Buckhalter and we have Trevor Hensley, which are both smiling happily. They lead the charge on many of the work that we do from family services side of the house to day-to-day operations in making things happen. We also move forward in serving a population

[00:49:10] which you'll see the data is a little bit stagnant at the beginning, meaning from last year, 2023, and last year, 2020, previous year, 2022, of having 42,696 for population, and that's based off of DSS, Department of Social Services numbers, Virginia Department of Social Services numbers, having 9.1 living in poverty, which is what we talked about before, and having 13.9% of those children that also live in poverty.

[00:49:36] But what you'll see down at the bottom is that you will actually see as to where there's 41% that's Alice in poverty. There has been a reduction. It was 47 last year. So that's a 6% reduction in poverty in Alice. And Alice is looking at the asset-limited, income-constrained employees.

[00:49:54] Those are our working poor. So being able to combine that population and say, hey, we've had a significant reduction means a lot here for the city. That also, if you're looking at it, you will have that 37.1. That has remained the same.

[00:50:10] So you're actually having a reduction of those that need additional supports. But you are actually seeing as to where they're continuously to receive some benefits, and that benefit is Medicaid, okay? So just wanted to put that out there as to the level of success and how we're making those gains.

[00:50:30] We were able to assist 11,119 families. last year. Out of that, which we talked about, there was 15,449, which is 97% of the type of public assistance that received, of individuals that received public assistance, okay? So that's like 97% of all public assistance for the city of Manassas is Medicaid. It's only roughly 3% that fall underneath the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, the TANF, which is the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Program. And then from there you have what is considered our

[00:51:08] energy assistance in child care, which we serve as for energy assistance, 216 families which received either assistance on their electric bill or their gas bill. And then from there you had child care where there was actually an increase on the children that were served there. 412 children were served, which was an increase of $700,000 that actually came into the city for child care services. So that was another kind of win that we've had throughout the year. Again, as we manage

[00:51:44] each individual, you'll then see as to how it comes out into the community. Our programs remain pretty steadfast. We have benefit programs, which as we talked about, long-term care, the Medicaid, the temporary assistance to needy families, SNAP, which is a supplemental assistance program, and then you have the energy assistance, which is crisis cooling.

[00:52:08] From there, you go down to what's considered self-sufficiency, which is that employment side of the house. We're trying to ensure that folks have the opportunity to get educated as well as go to school or to increase with the type of work that they're doing. If you want to go back for a certification, that would help increase your salaries.

[00:52:26] And then we move into what's considered the family services, the child protective services, the adult protective services, foster care. And from there, looking at it as a whole, you can kind of see as to where children in CPS investigations with 604, that is actually a reduction from last year.

[00:52:46] What we were looking at was roughly around about, I'd say, about 15 to 20 in reduction. We had, in the last three years, an incline of investigations. And that came from awareness in the community as to what needed to be reported.

[00:53:01] I think we're finally getting to that point as to where we're plateauing off, which will give us a good number as to what it looks like for the city. But the biggest piece was providing that level of awareness, when to report, how to report, and who to report to. You will also see for children in foster care, that remained pretty stable.

[00:53:19] Children receiving adoptions assistance remained stable as well. For adult protective services investigations, that was also a reduction. meaning at the end of the day, we also feel that the amount of information out there is now at that plateau.

[00:53:36] We have folks that know how and when. So we were able to get that information, and that's on an ongoing basis. For housing, the average number of residents that were served monthly was 328. That's a significant increase. That's roughly 240 residents per year increase in looking at and providing services.

[00:53:59] And that's coming from the reduction of our wait list. From there, you will also see revenue through the city. We went from $4.3 million to $4.5 million, and that's the revenue that's provided from funding to landlords. So you will see that money going back into the city.

[00:54:17] For us, as you can tell, we added a new program, which is Opioid Abatement, where we have a great opportunity. We continue to remain with great relationships with the Manassas City Police Department and Manassas City Fire and Rescue.

[00:54:34] Fire and Rescue has been very, very gracious in giving us wonderful numbers and stats to let us know what's happening out there in our community. We have been able to move that into the juvenile justice system and address needs with community services and the health department as well.

[00:54:51] And we do that through a couple of programs. Our VJCCCA, which is the Virginia Juvenile Community Crime Control Act, it helps us get to the needs of the youth early on. So if there's a substance abuse or there's a concern, a potential substance abuse, we have the opportunity to reach that youth before that happens.

[00:55:11] We also have the E3 series that we partner with the police department on as well. And I know that the police department will probably give a little bit more information, so I definitely won't steal their thunder on that one. We have National Night Out. We also do an evaluation between CPS as well as APS under information and interventions, if that's necessary.

[00:55:33] And then we also partner with the City of Manassas Library for pop-ups regarding substance abuse concerns, specifically regarding the opioid abatement. And then we just added an additional committee, which is Manassas City Public Schools Health and Safe School Committee.

[00:55:53] And this particularly meets around about, I believe, three times a year in kind of going through, having the hard discussions as to what needs to be implemented to ensure that the schools are safe. And definitely when the levels of prevention and being able to have that in the community and in the schools is important.

[00:56:12] From there, we do the campaign awareness and messaging. We also, again, have worked with Fire and Rescue regarding some of the Narcan trainings, as well as working with Fire and Rescue on leave-behind bags. Ultimately, we added an additional program, which is the continuum of care, which works with the homelessness population and also for those that are in need and being able to kind of address early on if there's substance abuse concerns.

[00:56:43] So what does our thermostat look like? For us, it does break down into dollars and cents, okay? So I'm not going to go down every line. I just want to highlight a couple of items for you to kind of look at. If you could see for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program that there is a reduction.

[00:57:01] That reduction in funding that went out in the community is based off of the emergency SNAP allotments that were removed after COVID-19. You also will see as to where there was a reduction in TANF. That is back to pre-COVID numbers, which is where we would normally be.

[00:57:20] So that has not been a significant change, even though there's a large reduction in funding that's located there. And then as you're kind of going down, you will probably see, let's see, there was an employment program increase of around about 50%.

[00:57:37] And then you will also see as to where the housing voucher program, there was a $50,000 increase for wait list reduction. Our wait list went from 736 down to 375. So we are continuing to move right now.

[00:57:54] The direction that we have received from HUD is that we are a little bit on pause. So hopefully we will be able, as a state, be able to move out of that pause. From there, the big thing that we would look at is the overall accomplishments that we've had.

[00:58:12] The Department of Social Services saw 14,207 walk-ins last year. That was increased by 4,000. That goes in tandem with our Medicaid unwinding. As we moved out of COVID and moved out of extra funding and the freeze that we had, it was being able to meet with these clients, find out what needed to occur, what changes had happened on their caseload and their cases specifically, and then from there being able to let them know what the level of eligibility was at that time.

[00:58:48] You will also see that we actually were able to maximize the use of alternative community funding, which is roughly $205,931, and being able to find other ways instead of using federal dollars and city dollars.

[00:59:08] We were able to kind of partner together. We participated in the PIT count in moving forward as well, and that was raising awareness about homelessness in the community. As we moved forward, we talked about the VJCCA, The 0.5 FTE that we have, which is for the harm reduction specialists, that was able to provide the ongoing support and sustainment of that program as well.

[00:59:33] And then from there, as we looked at it, we were able to do 100% in moving forward to fill our vacancy rate. We started out with 44. We filled all 44 positions. We were then able to ask for the additional two positions, which we are in the process.

[00:59:51] We've filled one, and we're in the process of moving forward with the other. So thus far, you can kind of see that we have been meeting those needs as discussed. And then from there, sustaining excellence. We were able, as we always do, we're out in the community. You will see us from B Festivals to Team Quest to City Manassas Police Department, such as E3 Series.

[01:00:13] We're out there. And that is also supported by our advisory board. We also have our program, the SNAP ENT, which is also regarding the education and training of individuals that are on SNAP. We actually had some really great success stories there.

[01:00:30] We had one SNAP ENT client who we assisted with receiving training that we purchased. They were able to find employment and provided an income of $72.93 an hour.

[01:00:46] So that is significant in being able to help that individual move forward. We were able to help individuals with CNA certifications as well as CCMA certifications. So you name it, if there is a need and if there is a desire, we are there supporting our residents, helping them make that change and being able to move forward in the jobs that they would like to.

[01:01:11] Again, we've already talked about the Medicaid unwinding. And then for us personally, looking at for educational attainment, we not only look at individuals outside our residence, we also look inside for our staff. Our physical assistant successfully completed her intensive 11-week VDSS Data Academy.

[01:01:30] That helps give back to us in kind of doing all this wonderful data mining that we're talking about right now. So that overall helps us along the way. As you can see, these are just a couple of snapshots of what we do. Here's my shameless plug.

[01:01:46] I'm going to put it in there. If you see that nice little happy face in that QR code, if there's anyone that's interested in becoming a foster care parent, please take a picture of the code. We are more than wanting that opportunity to train as many foster care parents for the city of Manassas.

[01:02:04] So you can see all the resources. You see elder care. You see E3. You see the Bee Festival. You have that moment. There's another picture up there as to where one of our advisory board members actually won for our Volunteer of the Year last year.

[01:02:22] So that lets you know the level of commitment that we have in the city of Manassas in being able to provide those services. So in these challenging times, we are implementing programs ASAP, as steadfast as possible, so that we can assist residents of the city of Manassas who are experiencing times of despair to ASAP. Allow space and pause. Any questions? Great. Thank you so much, Ms. Curvin. Council members, any questions? We're all looking at Tom. Hi, Mr. Ocino. Do you have a

[01:03:01] question? I defer to you. Well, I do. You are the liaison, so if you wish to go. All right. Well, thank you. I always find your reports very, very helpful. I think social services is one of the important things that any local government can do. And so first of all, thank you to your staff and everybody in your department. I hope you'll pass that along. I'm very appreciative of the work,

[01:03:34] especially as I found out when I met with you about a year ago and that you guys work weekends and evenings when the need arises there and calls come in along the way so this isn't a just a nine to five Monday through Friday position for for any of you in that regard so just starting kind of in a little bit of the order that they were presented these interns that you have too where do they come from and what do they do specifically They are George Mason at master's degree level.

[01:04:11] These individuals have already completed their bachelor's degree, and they're usually at either year one or year two of their master's. So they're coming with a good background of working knowledge of what social work is. So we have the opportunity to take them out into the field, and they can actually apply.

[01:04:32] We monitor. They do have a caseload. even though the caseload, it has two individuals. It has that individual and it has their supervisor. And so what we try to do is make certain that we're monitoring on an ongoing basis as to how we're doing with that caseload.

[01:04:48] And from there, there's additional training as to where they meet with their proctor on a weekly basis through George Mason. Okay. Well, that's good to hear, and I'm glad they get some real-life experience, and I'm sure you can use the extra assistance there along the way that they're able to provide in a different perspective as younger people along the way.

[01:05:12] On the page that was entitled Program Implementation, you talked about housing, and it said revenue to the city through funding provided to landlords, $4.5 million. Yes, sir. Would you elaborate what this means, revenue to the city through funding?

[01:05:31] So what's provided to landlords? Rent. And so it's based off the individual. If they're eligible to receive housing, what we do is that we provide a portion of their rent based off of their level of income. That's paid directly to the landlord?

[01:05:46] That's paid directly to the landlord, yes, sir. And so in the last fiscal year, it was over $4.5 million to these landlords there. Okay. And then on the slide just before that where you talked about public assistance recipients, It showed that the number of people being assisted for SNAP benefits has increased over time here.

[01:06:10] 2021, it was 46-17. In 2024, it's 57-20. What do you attribute the increase to? For the SNAP as to the increase? Actually, you're looking at the cost of living.

[01:06:27] You're also looking at, there was a, let me kind of back up a little bit. Pre-COVID, you had as to where it was a specific allotment. And then when COVID came, there was an additional allotment that was added, which was an emergency SNAP allotment.

[01:06:44] Okay. So what ended up happening was that that was in effect for roughly two years. So when that went away, you also had individuals that were trying to move back into employment. So we had to go back and evaluate as to where they were. Were they still eligible or not?

[01:07:03] Some of this was also getting information out there for us, specifically for the city of Manassas. Our elderly did not have enough information about SNAP. Even though the money is a little bit lower as to what it would be for the average person that's receiving SNAP, they're still eligible.

[01:07:22] And so that was some of the other pieces that happened as well, was providing that notification. And then also helping them in understanding that there was a two-to-one ratio if they used the farmer's market. So you had more buy-in of individuals, actually, that were willing to take on and use SNAP, which was a little bit different than in the past because, you know, a lot of times it's like, well, why would I want SNAP when it's just this little amount?

[01:07:45] And we were able to get out there and educate as to how that dollar could be stretched. And so related to that, but on a different slide later on, the thermostat, You showed that in fiscal year 2023, the city received $10 million plus for SNAP assistance program, but in 24, it was $8.1 million, correct?

[01:08:11] Yes. And the reason was? That was the emergency SNAP allotment removal. Taken away. Yes. All right. Yes, sir. And we're beginning to hear out of Washington that there may be a reduction in SNAP benefits. At least it's being proposed by some along the way.

[01:08:27] What would be the impact if the SNAP allotment, if that's the right term, the amount of money we received in the city of Manassas for SNAP benefits was reduced? Would that mean fewer people helped?

[01:08:44] Would it mean smaller allotments or smaller amounts of money that would be available for families or individuals or children? That's a little bit challenging question because it remains in discussion right now.

[01:09:02] What I can say is this. Literally, there is an eligibility limit, meaning this is the amount of money that you must be underneath. You can't exceed in making this amount of money to be eligible for SNAP. What we're in the process of doing is we're working with the Interfaith Coalition because the idea that's out there is being able to kind of take the funding out of the federal and state hands and move it more into the locality's hands.

[01:09:33] So it may not be as to where there's funding that is available that's coming directly into the social services. It may be a reduction there, but you may actually see as the money may be moving into a different area. So we're trying to make certain we keep our finger on the pulse in knowing and having partnerships with everyone to know how to ensure that our residents still can be served.

[01:09:55] Because that's what we do in social services. We're just going to bound together and we're going to collaborate and make certain that if it's SERVE that's getting the funding, then we're going to work with SERVE. It's the churches that's getting the funding, we're going to work with the churches. We'll be able to have those residents go into the directions that they need.

[01:10:10] We just need to educate and let folks know what the next step is. Well, that's good to know, and I appreciate that along the way. No one knows what the immediate future will hold, but it's good to know that you're already thinking about that along the way. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Ms. Evans.

[01:10:27] Thank you, Nicole. I do want to thank you and your staff for really all that. You're really active in the community. You attend our community events. You're out there sharing resources and really showing that you care.

[01:10:43] And I do appreciate that. And I know our residents, our families appreciate that. I can't get your report up on my iPad for some reason. But the $4.5 million paid to landlords for rent, how many households did that amount serve?

[01:11:00] Do you know? I think you might have had it on a slide. I just can't. Hold on a second. For households served, actually, let's go back for a minute. That was 328.

[01:11:19] 328 households, okay. But that was monthly. So that's 328 households that were served monthly. So you have to take that, meaning that they may come in more than one time. Okay. I'm assuming there is a waiting list for housing assistance for rent.

[01:11:41] Do you have a number of families that are on that list, and what's the average wait time? 375 is on the wait list right now. Okay. And when I first started, I think it was a little over 2,000. So we were able to reduce.

[01:11:56] And I want to make certain that I clearly kind of explain what reduce looks like because I want folks to understand. Reduce could be attrition on the wait list. Reduce could be an individual may have found housing in another locality. And then reduce may be that they remain eligible, and we get a voucher, and we're like, hey, you're the next one up.

[01:12:17] Let's go ahead and get it done. Okay. That's all I needed. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Smith. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Actually, as is his want, Councilman Ossina had you explain really the three areas that I thought would be important to this time in anticipation of potential policy changes.

[01:12:42] I do encourage you, and I'm reassured that we're in the best position we can be in anticipation to face any challenges that may come. particularly your dedication to the acronym ASAP, the new definition of ASAP.

[01:13:02] Thank you, sir. Steadfastness, that's what it's going to take. Thank you. Thank you for an excellent report. And, excuse me for a second, thank you staff that's here to support her for your wonderful work. Thank you.

[01:13:17] Councilwoman Luna. Thank you, Madam Mayor. My question is more about the difference when it comes to the child care, Because I see the big jump on page 4, and you also see it on 7.

[01:13:33] Is that because of more funding, or is that because of the change in... I'm thinking after COVID, it went up, you got more people asking, or...? I think it's a little bit of both. During COVID, there were many folks that did not have employment, okay?

[01:13:53] Or those that were able to telework. And, you know, telework and having my children at home... that was an opportunity. There are many that are now having to go back into the offices. As they're moving back into the offices, we have to make certain that our children are being taken care of. So that's where you see the increase that's occurring. Our goal is not just to help the individual to get a job because that's what's happening now. The next step is also helping them to be able to, at the end of the day, take care of their family based off of their income. So we're taking them through the steps. So you'll see an increase on the child care

[01:14:30] And hopefully over time you'll also see that reduction will go up and then we'll plateau for a minute and then we'll begin to pull down as more individuals are able to live and work in the city of Manassas. Thank you. The next one is more about the, I would like to highlight the elder care resource.

[01:14:53] I think some of us that are, what they call it, the sandwich era where we're taking care of the kids and also our parents. But I wanted to say, you know, I remember I attended with former Vice Mayor Sebaski, and it was so informational and, you know, so helpful.

[01:15:12] I believe it's going to be on May the 10th, and it's a new location. Yes, I don't want to steal the thunder. It moves over to the police department. I love linking. I'll be honest. We collaborate. And so that one is housed usually with police department. We do have a table there.

[01:15:28] We provide as much services as possible for them to learn about social services and what they're eligible for. Yes, but I wanted to ask, the 129, is that a decrease? Because I didn't see, I know you spoke about the changes between one and the other one.

[01:15:46] Is there a decrease or a change? Like you did say the CPS, it was a decrease? For, I'm sorry, the 129 for Adult Protective Services investigation was a decrease. It was actually a decrease. And so basically what ends up happening, like I said, we wanted to get as much messaging.

[01:16:05] So about the last three years, we have been out there as much as possible in helping folks understand the difference between child protective services, adult protective services, and adult services. Adult services, literally at the end of the day, doesn't have to be as to where there's neglect or abuse cases happening on an elderly individual.

[01:16:27] We can actually provide some supports. It may just be that there's a gap in us being able to help along the way. And that was really where there was a struggle in folks thinking, oh, my gosh, you're getting ready to take all my rights away. I want to live in my home, and you're going to come in here and tell me that I've got to leave.

[01:16:43] No, that's not our goal. Our goal is to help you live the way you would like to live. That is the goal. We work in tandem. And so that's a little bit different than going in and evaluating the needs of a child.

[01:16:59] An adult is fully functioning. They can make their own decisions. That is ultimately. So what we do is that we work and we roll in a direction that they would like us to. What is it that you need? How can we help you? You know, if it's only a short bit that we're able to do, you know, getting you connected to say Meals on Wheels or letting you know that we're going to be out there to support if you need something, then we'll do that.

[01:17:23] If you need more intervention as to, okay, you're looking, you know, you need a place to stay or there are different things that's in place that, you know, you need supports for, then we'll be there as well. Thank you. And the last one. I know there's been a lot of change when it came to, like, the support that was there for, you know, free food or for the food banks.

[01:17:44] have you seen any increase because i know there's some funding was cut off i know the community has some support has helped but my ask i i didn't see it from the numbers i just wanted to ask if you have seen a shift or a change because of what we try to do is that we try to keep in touch with our community partners because the funding and how that food comes in it's very very different it's different from where the mobile home park is as to how they receive their food versus how a serve receives their food. I just ask at the end of the day when we have clients who can serve

[01:18:23] them and so we match or if the churches can serve as well because there are a couple of banks that are actually in the food, I'm sorry, that are actually in the city as well in churches. So we have a resource guide. We kind of go down that resource guide with the client and kind of helping them along the way if they're not eligible for SNAP.

[01:18:44] So, and if they are eligible for SNAP and they just still need that additional little support, then they know that there are opportunities that they can reach out to as well. So we try to find a balance between it all. Thank you. And I believe that SNAP can also be used at the farmer's market. Yes, SNAP. It's a two-to-one ratio. Yes, yes.

[01:19:05] So as one SNAP dollar you use at the farmer's market, you're able to get $2 worth of food. So that, like I said, was also very helpful in getting that messaging out to individuals out there. Plus there's a $50 additional allotment for those that are over 65.

[01:19:22] I think everybody hit you. So thank you so much for all that you do and staff. Again, thank you for all your support and being in the community and keeping us updated. I know I text you constantly when people call me for needs and you're always so willing. Weekends, whatever, I'm like can you help this family you know so and and you're always just so willing and I really appreciate it because when it that need is there you have we have to try at least try to help the folks where we can so I appreciate that personally for that and and especially the elder resource

[01:19:58] fair so I know they're going to talk about that but that was a big help to me personally with helping my dad get his life alert which I didn't even know what they could do and they come in the house and set it all up. It was great. So again, thank you. Thank you all for what you do and keeping us informed about how the dollars are being spent because it is important that we know that it is getting where it needs to go and need it the most. So definitely appreciate it. Thank you for being here. All right. Thank you so much. Thank you. Okay. Next on the agenda, The item 1.4, Department Air Report for Fire and Rescue.

[01:20:36] Chief Mills. Good evening, Madam Mayor, members of the council, city manager.

[01:20:56] I'm truly honored to be standing here for the third time. As I told you, when I was selected for this position, it was an honor to be able to come back where I started. And this is the third time, so this is truly remarkable.

[01:21:16] So as we've talked about in the past, staffing is always a challenge. We had a high number of vacancies. Attempting to get volunteers nationwide is becoming harder and harder. And we've worked diligently in 2024 to reduce our vacancy rate.

[01:21:36] As of this morning, we are down to four. And we had two job offer letters that went out yesterday. So we're making strides. As you see by this slide, we hired 12 people this year, but we lost seven.

[01:21:55] With the help of the adjustments to the public safety pay scale, with your support last year, the introduction of our lateral hiring process, and looking at other creative ways to attract candidates has been an amazing help to the number of applicants that we're getting.

[01:22:22] We looked earlier today, even with the remaining vacancies we have, we have about seven or eight applicants that are ready to be tested now. So we're continuing to make strides. We've talked about how difficult it is to get volunteers.

[01:22:43] We spoke last year about the high number of days that the engine was not staffed. So by utilization of cost savings from vacancies throughout the year and the support of the volunteers being there when they could with the limited number of members they have, we were able to decrease the days that Engine 501 was unstaffed by 18.9% in 2024.

[01:23:18] We continue to work diligently with our volunteers to assist them in getting their members trained. They currently have members in training. It's a lengthy process, but we also are supporting them When they're not in class, they come in and ride.

[01:23:37] We support them through the educational process to try to set them up for success, to give them every opportunity to graduate the program. So last year, when I stood before you, we talked about goals we were going to set for the department.

[01:23:58] We talked about increasing the safety surveys that we're doing in our buildings across the city. We talked about reducing the number of accidents, increasing school safety visits, increasing training hours, and looking at our response times constantly to make sure that we're getting to those who call for our service.

[01:24:21] So we didn't meet our goal of 50% increase with safety surveys, but we were able to increase by 26%, which means we got in 26% more of the buildings than we did the previous year. A lot of times that's challenging because when we show up to do it, the occupants can say, can you come back another time?

[01:24:45] or some of the addresses that we have are vacant buildings, so we don't get those done. We didn't meet our goal of reducing accidents by 80%. We still had six. We didn't get worse, but we didn't get better.

[01:25:02] But we have taken a look at our policies. We've taken a look at our corrective action processes as well as our response policy for speed, and we've made adjustments to those.

[01:25:19] The number of school safety visits, generally, we anticipate this number going up when springtime comes is when we start getting the requests. So we haven't hit our busy time of year for those yet, so we're expecting that to go up. We increased our training hours by 4%.

[01:25:37] The previous year, we had went from, I think it was 2,800 to over 8,000 hours, and we've increased that 8,000 by 4%. Our response time goal was to be anywhere in the city within five minutes.

[01:25:53] We were at five minutes and four seconds. I think that's pretty good when we look at some of the challenges we face with that. Street closures, road projects that are going on, increased traffic, being able to navigate that.

[01:26:10] Our accidents, we had a total of six for the year, and we had over 12,000 individual responses each time we put a unit on the road. So that comes out to an accident in about every 2,100 responses.

[01:26:26] So that's a very small percentage, but we need that to be zero. We also introduced our key performance indicators for our EMS for our time-sensitive illnesses. We set a goal of 90%.

[01:26:44] We want to make sure that we meet every standard within our protocol 90% of the time. We'll never get to 100 because of protocol items where somebody may have an allergy to the medication that's prescribed in there.

[01:27:04] Our chest pains, you see we got 79%. Some of those were because the person refused the aspirin or the medication we were giving them, so we didn't get to meet that. Some of them are not cardiac in nature. Some of them are muscular in nature.

[01:27:21] So what's in our chest pain protocol identifies medications and things like that, so they don't get given in those cases. So out of the chest pains called that were cardiac in nature, which was 79%, we met a protocol. Respiratory, everything that's identified there, we met 96% of the time.

[01:27:46] Some of those that we don't get is because of what's identified there, they may be having an anxiety attack or a panic attack to where you calm them down and the problem resolves itself. Sepsis alerts, identifying and starting treatment for sepsis, we met our goal of identifying that and notifying the hospital for a sepsis alert 100% of the time.

[01:28:15] Same thing with stroke, recognizing, doing the stroke scale that's required and getting the person to the hospital in a timely manner, notifying of the stroke alert 100% of the time. The diabetic emergencies, the ones that we don't meet there is if the person's already eaten when we get there and now their blood sugar's starting to come up.

[01:28:40] So at that point, we would just monitor them, take them to the hospital, Our trauma is very difficult because we don't have a trauma center to really track. The goal is to be en route to a hospital within 10 minutes.

[01:28:59] Well, because we fly out patients, and if we do transport, we have to transport to Fairfax for a level one trauma center. So meeting that 10 minute is hard for us to track because we may be waiting for a helicopter, or we may be transporting the patient to Manassas Airport where the medevac helicopter is housed.

[01:29:21] So that one's difficult for us. Our cardiac arrest, out of our total number, we terminated 45% of them in the field based on what our protocol is. And then out of the remaining number of the 45, about 80.5% of them do not resuscitate orders.

[01:29:47] So we're just there to provide support for the family, and we wait for law enforcement to come to make sure that they're notified of whatever they need. So taking a look at our on-scene time for our time-sensitive illnesses, generally to do our complete patient assessment, which includes EKG, any medications, oxygen, history of the illness, 17 minutes and 28 seconds from the time of dispatch

[01:30:26] until we're en route to the hospital. CPR, 23 minutes, 14 seconds. We are required by our protocol, if we are doing CPR on the scene, is a minimum of 20 minutes before we contact the hospital.

[01:30:42] If we don't get any change within 20 minutes with the medication and the EKG is still a flat line, then we notify the hospital for additional orders and they give us the okay to terminate. Stroke patient, 17 minutes and 28 seconds, that's doing the assessment, the stroke scale, and making a notification for stroke alert and getting to the hospital or leaving for the hospital.

[01:31:14] So that's all well within the standard. One of the big challenges we had this year was for many, many years, we exchanged all of our medications and IV supplies and everything that we used on a call with the hospital, where the hospital decided that they weren't going to do that anymore.

[01:31:36] So we were put in the position, if we were going to continue to provide advanced life support, we had to obtain, working with our medical director, a DEA license and a license to be able to have our own medications that come with very strict requirements, DEA requirements, state requirements, compliance for accountability from cradle to grave on our part, complete documentation of all usage, any disposal of the medications or what we call waste.

[01:32:16] We have to document every bit of it, and it's all got to add up, and all that has to be submitted to the DEA. So it's time-consuming, but you have to dot your I's and cross your T's or you get a visit from the DEA.

[01:32:40] So our EMS supervisors have done a lot since we put them in in 2023. They oversaw the whole licensing process for the DEA regulations to allow us to go live.

[01:32:57] We were the first department in the Northern Virginia region that was able to get our pharmacy up and running. And that's because they were so diligent in staying on top of it and calling the DEA.

[01:33:13] And, you know, they're not real responsive. So we had to stay on them to make sure we stayed on track. Our EMS supervisors were awarded, well, they did most of the work, but the City of Manassas Fire and Rescue was awarded the 2024 EMS Agency of the Year.

[01:33:37] And a lot of that was attributed to a lot of the hard work that our supervisors put in, the daily accountability, the tracking of all of our KPIs, everything that they do to put us where we are now. We also received an award through the Virginia Fire Chiefs Association for a health and safety program where we initiated a hood exchange program as part of our cancer reduction program for our members to where when they go out on a fire and it's a working fire, the hood that they put to protect their neck and ears,

[01:34:14] that's some of the most exposed area when you're in those types of environments. So when they come out, we use the grant, the award money for that, to purchase additional hoods, so they exchange them.

[01:34:29] So at the end of that incident, they get put in a different tub, they get a clean one to go back in service with, and the other ones go back and get washed and then redistributed. So that's some of the most vulnerable areas we're trying to protect and get them out of that as quickly as we can.

[01:34:53] So when we take a look at some of our other data for our calls, as I mentioned, you see down at the bottom our response time in the city, five minutes and four seconds. Our unit hour utilization for calls where we respond and there's no transport is 29 minutes and 21 seconds.

[01:35:16] On calls where we do transport, it's one hour, 30 minutes and 16 seconds. Now, that's from the time of dispatch, arrival on the scene, patient assessment, treatment of the patient, transport of the patient, transferring care at the hospital, disinfecting the transport unit, completing all the paperwork required, and going back in service.

[01:35:43] Our call volume did go down this year, and I think a lot of that is, if you remember in years past, I've talked about how we were working with the county to take a look at how we code calls and the amount of times that we had our ALS units transporting BLS patients.

[01:36:08] So working with the county, we were able to redo some of that, and they also took some of their medic units and downgraded them based on what their data was telling them, and they have basic life support units in service now. So since we have the automatic aid agreement, if a call is coded BLS and there is a BLS unit within nine minutes of that call, and it's a county unit but the call is in the city, they will send that BLS unit from the county by themselves.

[01:36:43] So that's a call that we wouldn't run even though it's in the city, but it's getting the right resource to the patient. Because I can tell you numerous times a week I hear a BLS unit respond to a BLS call in the city. And within minutes, I hear more critical call dispatch in the city that our unit was available to respond to because it wasn't on that previous call.

[01:37:09] So that's the way the system should work. Taking a look at our fire marshals, they again had a busy year. When you look at the amount of permits that they issued, their permits went from 667 in 2023 to 705 in 2024.

[01:37:38] Now, the code permits are permits where there's a hazard. It could be a cooking establishment. It could be a garage where they do welding or have anything like that. So they have to have that hazardous use code permit.

[01:37:57] The fire protection permits are generally for hood systems, sprinkler systems, fire alarm systems that are installed and inspected. Overall plans review reduced from the previous year.

[01:38:13] FOIA requests were down, but services from the fire marshals was up from 65 in 2023 to 151 in 2024. Now, those are various calls to come out and look at things, provide information for someone opening a business to guide them ahead of time so that there are some of the complaints that we were getting over the summer for the data center where they were doing blasting.

[01:38:54] Criminal charges in 2024 handled by the fire marshal's office did decrease, which is good. And the total number of investigations actually increased in 2024, which a lot of the complaints that they get there are for illegal dumping, for excessive trash buildup, people in parking and fire lanes, those kind of things.

[01:39:29] So our emergency management division, Amelia is always busy. She's very creative in what she does. She comes up with ways to engage people, and this year has been no different.

[01:39:47] She is a very special employee that we have that does just so much for the city. I don't know how she keeps up with everything that she does. The zombie apocalypse was something that she came up with, and people could fill goodie bags at Halloween, but it was all geared around emergency preparedness.

[01:40:11] The items that she put out were things that you need during disasters and emergencies. We were also notified by Prince William County that because there was a grant that funded the WebEOC that we used for the EOC, the Emergency Operations Center.

[01:40:32] Well, that grant is going to sunset in December of 2025. So Prince William County went to a different program other than WebEOC, and they wanted us off of their server. So we looked at some other reporting softwares, and we're upgrading our WebEOC because when we looked at everything, there was a smaller learning curve.

[01:41:01] It's very similar. It's upgraded, but it's good. And Amelia has taken the ball and ran with that and has already started training, and we're going to continue to move forward with that program. And because we were able to work with other agencies in the region that have this, we were able to continue working off the grant funding up through 2026.

[01:41:28] So we have that taken care of until then. Everyone knows we had quite a few significant incidents in 2024 that challenged our members. But as they always do, they did a fantastic job.

[01:41:46] They display that each and every time they go out the door. they continue to train hard I can't I can't really describe the you know how much effort they put into completing the things that I asked them to do and that's across the board from my whole staff my administrative staff everything that they do poor Melissa gets numbers thrown at her and I have her break them down into things she didn't even know numbers could break down into

[01:42:18] but she sticks with it and data has made us a lot more accountable for what we do but it's also making us better at what we do because we're using that data to provide information to help us drive our training needs identify trends to where we get better and our goal is to be better every day these are all this is a slide that we put together just to show a lot of the different things that that we've done throughout the year.

[01:42:53] And this is just a collage of everything from patient care, paramedic training, fire stats, MCI, May Day training, NFPA training. It just never stops, but we can't stop either.

[01:43:13] A lot of the support that we get on a lot of our incidents as well as our events is from our volunteer partners, from the Manassas Rescue Squad and Manassas Volunteer Fire Company. This is a collage of just some of the things that they do where they've supported us.

[01:43:33] They were very instrumental after we did our return to the neighborhood fire program for the smoke detectors from Weems Road. We installed a little over 300 smoke detectors in that community, and the American Red Cross, the members of the Volunteer Fire Company and volunteer rescue squad came out and helped us fan out through that neighborhood and do that and we will be doing another one march 22nd i confirmed that with the red cross today so we're

[01:44:12] going to be hitting another neighborhood within our community our goal is uh 200 to 250 smoke detectors that day and that concludes my presentation and i'm available for questions

[01:44:29] you may have. Thank you Chief Mills. Council members, any questions? Mr. Osino. I might just have a comment and that would be I'm very impressed in the data that you collect. I would hate to see if you really dumped all of it on us here to see and recognizing that in addition to everyone's duties that they have to collect all this data so you can actually see how performance is going along the way

[01:45:04] way here and it's to me it's great to set those goals but more importantly to have them everybody working along the way here do you think that the response time that we're seeing right now what five minutes and one second was I five minutes four seconds four seconds to me with the new fire station station one being moved to the location over there on Sudley sometime in the future there?

[01:45:39] Do you imagine that the response time will reduce? What our data showed us when we did the analysis of where the station is now and where our call volume, utilizing heat maps where a lot of our call volume is, by having that station there, some of the areas that are farthest away from Station 1, Where we do have a lot of calls, our data shows that we should be able to reach every point in the city in five minutes or less.

[01:46:15] So I anticipated going down the area that we had spoke about the night at Marsteller across the street. There was actually a fire in that community not too long ago.

[01:46:34] And they were out coming from another call that put them closer to there. And they had a, I think it was two minutes and 44 second response time. And even the response time to Waterford the other day was a little under three minutes.

[01:46:52] Very good. Very good. Well, I see many of the department is here and we have volunteers as well. And I certainly appreciate you coming and listening. But more importantly, seeing you out and about is always a good thing.

[01:47:11] You've been very good about not running me over on my bicycle or whatever it is when you see me in your big trucks going back to the station. So I appreciate that very much. That is the face of the city of Manassas Fire and Rescue Department. They're the ones that are out there every single day. Along the way.

[01:47:29] Along the way here. So very much appreciate the data collection. I'm looking forward to seeing more when you deem it appropriate. But this is certainly, over your three years, an improvement over what we're seeing so we can have a better understanding of where we're strong and where we need work.

[01:47:53] So thank you for doing that. Anyone else? Any other comment? Ms. Luna, Vasquez Luna. Thank you, Madam Mayor. More of comment, I echo council member comments. It is, you know, great to see everyone here.

[01:48:09] I will say we don't get to see you because, you know, thank God there is not that many incidents. But, you know, it's a reminder, you know, of, you know, how much all the staff, you know, put, you know, manassas first. So thank you for what you do, and the same goes for the police as you work together.

[01:48:29] So thank you. Thank you, Chief Mills, and also thank you to the fire staff as well. I think you all have in the last year visited my home more than any home for rescue of my parents.

[01:48:47] But absolutely appreciate every single one of you and your efforts in making sure that we get what we need in the city. So thank you all for being here tonight. Hi. Hello. Next on the agenda, we have the Department Annual Report for Police.

[01:49:07] And Chief Keene is here to help us with that. If that air conditioner doesn't kick on, you're going to need all of them to help us out a little bit. Before I begin, I want to thank each of you for the comments. And the condolences for Virginia Beach.

[01:49:22] As you know, they're going through a tragedy, but it does bring to light the hazards. Every traffic stop can turn deadly. Those officers had no idea what they were stopping the car for. Unfortunately, they lost their lives. So thank you for acknowledging that here tonight.

[01:49:40] With me tonight, I want to publicly recognize Captain Lawler. As you know, during calendar year 2024, he filled in as chief of police. Also, I want to thank the men and women in the police department that are here to support us. Without all of them, our police services would have been in a little bit of shambles the past year.

[01:49:59] But they made sure the light stayed on, the air conditioner and the heat stayed on, and kept everything running smoothly, engaged with our community. So I want to thank all of them for their efforts. Tonight's going to be a little bit of a combination. We have a, before I turn it over to Captain Lawler, we have a video.

[01:50:19] So, quick time, both of us, between the two of us, will be ready to answer any questions you may have. Captain Lawler, do you have any words you want to share? So, I figured that on February 3rd when Mr. Burt took over and the chief came back that I wouldn't be up here in front of you, but obviously he's got some work he still needs me to do, and I'm happy to do it.

[01:50:42] I was interim chief for 2024, so a lot of what happened happened under my watch. But we did in the interest of thoroughness, but brevity. We prepared a video. It doesn't go into as much detail as some of the reports you've heard tonight. But you have hard copies of that.

[01:50:59] And if we don't answer questions for you tonight, we can certainly follow up with you later. But this is Chief's idea when he makes a recommendation on how to handle this thing. We did it last year, and it worked out really well. And I think this one came out pretty well, too. So we're ready. Thank you. Thank you.

[01:51:22] Hello, Manassas. Doug Keene, Chief of Police here.

[01:51:38] Calendar year 2024 was very unique for us. As many of you know, our backfield is the interim city manager during the entire calendar year. During that time, Trey Lawyer came out of retirement as a captain and backfield as the interim chief of police.

[01:51:55] I personally want to thank Trey for his commitment to the police department and to you as our residents and businesses. With that, since Captain Lawler was the interim chief of police, he's here with me tonight to present the 2024 annual report.

[01:52:12] Captain Lawler, it's all yours. Thank you, Chief. My time as the interim chief of police here has been very rewarding. We've worked through several challenges, but I've got a renewed respect and appreciation for our staff and the work they do every day. I hope they'll continue to be inspired to come to work to solve crimes and make Manassas a safe place for our community, and I'm certain they will.

[01:52:33] Our citizen-focused approach to solving crimes and making Manassas a safe place continues to be a very solid foundation for our staff. We face some challenges, and we will continue to face challenges, but we're working hard in our schools, our communities, and our businesses, and we'll continue to make sure Manassas stays safe, stays a good place to do business, and a good place for our kids to go to school and learn.

[01:52:58] Again, I'm grateful for the opportunity to serve as your interim chief. Very warning, and I will do it again in a heartbeat. Well, that's an introduction to Captain Lawler, and now he will present the 2024 annual report. Good evening, Madam Mayor, members of the council, Mr. Bork, and residents and business owners of Manassas.

[01:53:19] Thank you for the opportunity to provide a brief overview of the 2024 annual report for the Manassas Police Department. This report reflects our ongoing strategic planning efforts and our commitment to crime prevention and mitigation with the goal of making Manassas a safe and thriving community for residents, workers, and business owners alike.

[01:53:40] Many of our dedicated staff will be here this evening, and they truly deserve recognition for the successes highlighted in this report. I am grateful to each of them for taking the time to attend tonight's meeting. The strategic planning process is a collaborative effort that gathers input from a variety of sources to ensure the interests of all stakeholders are properly considered.

[01:54:02] It serves as a strong example of community policing in action. As evidenced by our mission statement, the department is dedicated to upholding the core values and principles of public safety. This includes preventing crime and alleviating fear, maintaining a high standard of professionalism by embedding integrity, respect, and public service into our organizational culture and fostering proactive relationships with our community while ensuring a positive and supportive work environment for our staff.

[01:54:32] The department's goals and objectives span a broad range of activities and priorities. However, a few key areas serve as the foundation upon which the others are built. These include fostering community engagement through partnerships, programs, and communication, enhancing community safety by reducing crime and the fear of crime, creating a workplace that values cooperation, respect, and attracts a diverse workforce, carefully and efficiently deploying department resources, and maintaining a focus on professionalism and excellence in planning and management.

[01:55:07] In 2024, 25 of our officers, detectives, and supervisory staff were honored by the Prince William Manassas Chamber of Commerce for their dedication to ensuring the safety of our community. The awards recognized their outstanding investigative work, exceptional bravery, and actions that involved personal risk, including saving others from serious harm or death.

[01:55:30] Furthermore, NPO Shauna Moeller and NPO TJ Rodriguez received a prestigious DOJ Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service in Community Policing. This national honor was awarded to only 21 officers across the country and highlights their exceptional contributions to community policing, positioning them as pillars of trust, empathy, and unity in our community.

[01:55:56] The Department also recognized two employees for dedication and outstanding performance of their duties. NPO Cantelli-Games has been awarded the 2024 John D. Conner Memorial Award as our Employee of the Year. This recognition reflects her unwavering dedication to the principles of police service, marked by integrity, respect, and an exemplary professional reputation.

[01:56:22] Her outstanding work over the past year has significantly contributed to both the safety of our community and the improvement of our department. NPO Christopher Daniels has been named the 2024 Field Training Officer of the Year for his exceptional work in preparing new recruits for the challenges of their roles as officers.

[01:56:41] With his extensive experience as both an officer and a detective, he has become a vital part of our training program. His deep knowledge and hands-on expertise has been instrumental in guiding recruits through their transition from academy graduates to confident, capable law enforcement professionals.

[01:57:01] A comparison of crime statistics from 2023 to 2024 reveals an overall decline in offenses by 6%. However, Part 1 offenses saw a 6% increase, mostly driven by a rise in larcenies. DUI arrests continue to decrease, a trend largely attributed to the implementation of more frequent, saturated patrols.

[01:57:23] During these patrols, officers are specifically assigned to focus on identifying behaviors suggested of impaired driving and taking appropriate enforcement action. The 2024 Crime and Incident Analysis reveals a rise in Part 1 crimes per 1,000 individuals from 20 in 2023 to 21 last year.

[01:57:46] While this trend aligns with the national pattern, it is essential for our agency to adapt our strategies accordingly to maintain progress in reducing crime and effectively address emerging challenges. A breakdown of Part 1 offenses clearly illustrates that larcenies account for almost 80% of crimes committed in the city.

[01:58:07] An increase of 89 more incidents over last year has pushed this percentage higher. When examining select quality-of-life offenses, the increase in domestic violence reports can be attributed to improved data collection and efforts to thoroughly review each incident.

[01:58:25] Looking ahead, it's expected that these numbers will decrease as community outreach initiatives progress. Significant declines in mental health-related calls, as well as substance abuse and overdose-related incidents, offer cautious optimism. This trend may reflect the positive impact of our community resource officers who are dedicated to linking individuals and families with vital resources and services.

[01:58:50] A 19% reduction in overdose calls is a trend we hope will persist. Our parking enforcement efforts remain focused on addressing violations that impact the quality of life for our residents. As part of this, enforcement in designated parking zone leads the highest number of issued tickets.

[01:59:10] Additionally, vehicles without current state registrations are a frequent violation. In 2024, there was a 5% overall decrease in total calls for service. Citizen-initiated calls saw a modest decline of 3%, while officer-initiated calls dropped by 11%.

[01:59:29] One key factor contributing to this reduction in call volume was lower staffing levels throughout the year. As staffing returns to normal, we expect officer-initiated calls to rise accordingly. In 2024, total arrests and charges were significantly reduced, with decreases in DUI arrests contributing to the lower totals.

[01:59:52] The availability of diversion programs for drug and mental health consumers may also contribute to lower arrest numbers. The 25% reduction in traffic citations for 2024 can likely be attributed to a combination of factors, such as more proactive enforcement, the use of photo red light and speed zone cameras, and a highly engaging public awareness campaign encouraging safe and courteous driving.

[02:00:20] Regular public announcements on social media addressing various traffic safety issues also contributed. Notably, there were significant drops in reckless driving and driving with a suspended license as part of this overall decline. The number of reportable traffic crashes in 2024 rose by 36% compared to 2023, with the overall crash total citywide increasing by 15%.

[02:00:47] These figures directly reflect community concerns about traffic safety and the flow of traffic across the city. The Liberia Avenue and Centerville Road corridor remains the area with the highest crash frequency in the city. Our animal control section remains an essential resource for both the city and its residents.

[02:01:08] Requests for animal-related services remain consistently high each year, and our efforts to educate the community on animal-related matters have proven successful. The department's community engagement activities have been highly effective in fostering meaningful and productive relationships across the city.

[02:01:27] Each year, the number of community events supported and attended by our staff continues to grow. Through our social media presence, we are able to educate, inform, and raise awareness on a broad range of safety-related topics. As highlighted throughout this report, our department acknowledges the evolving landscape of policing in the 21st century.

[02:01:49] Building trust and legitimacy is rooted in transparency, and the following pages outline our ongoing efforts to achieve this goal. Traffic enforcement and use of force incidents are two key areas of data analyzed to uphold the principles of fair and impartial policing.

[02:02:06] Along with reporting the use of force statistics, the annual report offers a comprehensive breakdown of the data collected and the methods used to track it. We have made a strong commitment to hiring a more diverse and respective workforce.

[02:02:22] We understand that when our team reflects the demographics of our community, we are better equipped to respond to their needs effectively. A more diverse workforce also fosters trust and enhances communication at every level. A prime example of our department's dedication to excellence and professionalism is our ongoing accreditation by the Commission for Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies.

[02:02:47] Upholding this status highlights our commitment to professionalism and the practice of fair and impartial policing in everything we do. In November 2024, the department proudly received its eighth accreditation award, a remarkable achievement by our dedicated staff.

[02:03:05] In conclusion, I would like to express my gratitude to our staff for their unwavering dedication, hard work, and continued support of Chief Keen's initiatives. I also want to thank the Mayor and City Council for their trust and confidence as we work to meet the high standards we've set for ourselves.

[02:03:21] Every year presents new challenges for our agency, and we embrace the responsibility to face them with enthusiasm, determination, and the professionalism that you and our community have come to expect from us. I hope you have found the annual report information very helpful to you as you think about crime and policing in the City of Manassas.

[02:03:45] One of the things I've learned as my time as interim city manager is looking at the police department services more holistically. Upon my return now as chief full-time, there's a couple of things that I'm going to take a look at during 2025. I'm going to rewrite our mission, our vision, our values, and our leadership statement. I believe these are the foundations of how we will police the city manassas going forward thank you and have a great evening mayor thank you i think between the two of us we'll be able to answer any questions you or council members may have

[02:04:24] thank you so much council members any questions okay ma'am miss vasquez luna have a lot of questions no i will want to say you know during these difficult times uh being up here uh it makes it easier for me to be able to tell the community that, you know, our city police is there for us, and it's community-rooted, living in the community, supporting the community.

[02:05:01] I think many of the events or programs that you do, you know, it shows that, so, and now hearing, you know, what, you know, your goals for 2025, you know, it's a reminder of, you know the leadership having the right people in the leadership it trickles down all the way you have so many uh great uh uh uh policemen and you know forgive me for all the titles but i i truly appreciate it and uh you know i appreciate what you do i do miss you here too but uh i i want to

[02:05:37] make sure that i say that because uh people you know are scared regardless and i you know i'm confident that, you know, any interaction with our police, you know, it will show not only the professionalism, but, you know, the leadership and what has been asked from them. So thank you.

[02:05:56] Well, thank you for the kind words. I think, as you heard earlier tonight from both fire department and the social services, it's all kind of meant to serve our community. We do a lot of work together and that's embedded from the newest officer all the way to the top. We're here to serve all of our community members no matter who they are. Ms. Ellis and then Mr. Osina.

[02:06:26] Very good report. I just always want to go back to the CALEA. Is that how you say it? CALEA. Yes, ma'am. And how important that is for our city that you have that accreditation for eight years in a row.

[02:06:42] I know that that is a really really vigorous auditing program and it does show you know the accountability of our police force and i just want to commend you for that because that is not easy to achieve thank you yeah we again we appreciate the recognition it is not easy it's a lot of hard work but we should not be afraid of doing hard work to make ourselves legitimate and build trust in our community and that is one of the pillars of 21st century policing.

[02:07:17] I think that's one of the reasons us as a city fared well in the police reform eras. We were already doing all those things, and CALEA is a big part of that. Mr. Osina. Thank you, Mayor. So first of all, as I do every year, I like to always look at and acknowledge, whether good or bad, the overdose-related reports.

[02:07:44] And this year, continuing a trend where the number of overdoses went down. Unfortunately, we did have two fatal overdoses, but I do recall when I first came on council that both of those numbers was substantially higher.

[02:08:02] So it's in the right direction. Sometimes we're lucky, but more importantly, I think it's because of the various training and interventions that are certainly taking place, along with social services, for instance, community services, and being able to do those sorts of things.

[02:08:19] Because, again, a loss of life is a loss of life, and I don't think any of us want to see that happen here along the way here in that regard. So to the officers out there in the field, great work, particularly in areas where we know it can be found anywhere, but there are some areas more likely than others where drug usage is a little bit higher than we would normally think it would be.

[02:08:49] And so being able to help folks is an important part of that. And not just arresting, but actually getting them help in that. And which leads me to the second thing, and that is I think any time anyone has an interaction with a member of your department, they're probably not very happy when they get a ticket or others.

[02:09:14] And I've seen my fair share just in my neighborhood here, but it is not a job, as I'm really speaking to the officers behind you, And I hope they share with others on different shifts and along the way that your work, your patience, your training goes a long way to making our citizens feel safe.

[02:09:34] And then when they do have interactions with you to make sure that indeed not only is the law followed, but indeed enforced appropriately in that regard on that matter here. So that is always an important part because they're really, the men and women are out there, really are the folks who protect us, just as our fire department does, and to be appreciated along the way here.

[02:10:04] So it's not that I would ever sign up to be a policeman or a fireman at that point, but I certainly appreciate and have seen firsthand, as I said, just in my community, the work that they have done in that regard. How would you say the amount of training that you would like to see the officers actually have in a, let's say, an annual basis?

[02:10:33] Do you think that's being met? Are there areas, certain types of training that could use mores? I think professional development could always use more with our younger staff. I think our leadership level at the squad level does a good job balancing time away from work to receive that training with maintaining staffing levels.

[02:10:58] I think the area we've improved the most in is getting in-house certified people and the public safety facility that you approved and we built enables us to do some training here instead of traveling all the way to Loudoun County.

[02:11:14] So by the time we did the travel, our day's over with, so now we can do it in-house, and that's enabled us. We've got some very bright people here tonight that are certified to train nationwide, so them doing it in-house has been helpful.

[02:11:32] There's never enough, but it has to be a good balancing act. Very good. Well, you certainly picked the right person to fill in while you were up here on the dais there. Captain Lawler was an exceptional interim police chief.

[02:11:52] I always found him ready to assist when I ran across neighborhood problems that I was aware of and get answers or, you know, get into them along the way. I think, as I said, you made a good choice, and, Captain, thank you for your work.

[02:12:10] I understand why the chief doesn't want to let you go yet, so with that in mind here. But one day, one day, you'll be free. He goes back to free lunch at Mayfield at least once a week, I think, to make sure he keeps his uniform over there.

[02:12:26] He doesn't want that position filled, does he? That's correct. Mayor, thank you. Councilman Smith. We're in a unique position of being able to thank and congratulate two interims, two of the most important positions in the city. Councilwoman Ellis alluded to it, stated it very well, that winning of the CALEA Award in consecutive years, even more so, saves it all because once one realizes what goes into them issuing that award,

[02:13:04] And the work, but pardon me for saying, more importantly, the fine staff that you put on the street that are representing us. In my years prior to council, I've worked with, in the community, with police liaisons, with the exception of Montgomery County, every county in this DMV area over the years.

[02:13:32] And for a long time, I've been proud to say, in fact, I've even cited sometimes manassas to some of these other counties.

[02:13:41] that we set the model, and thank you to the interim chief and the ICP, ICM, but thank you mostly to our men and women on the staff, and clearly appreciate your ensuring that all opportunities within the department are inclusive, and it reflects in what you put on the street,

[02:14:13] And we can rest assured that our first responders from the fire department, but our first responders in the police department are A-1. I haven't found an acronym yet to describe them, but they deserve full recognition, not an acronym.

[02:14:29] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Again, CALEA doesn't work if those men and women don't believe in it. So I think we get the right people and we explain the why, because the why is very important. And so if they believe in it, it equals out to our community.

[02:14:46] So thank you. Thank you. I'll round it out if nobody else has anything. Thank you all very much for what you do for our city and our residents. I don't know how many actually listen when I do my invocation at the beginning of the meeting, but it always includes protecting our men and women in uniform.

[02:15:04] And that is so important that we understand, try to understand what you do every single day and putting your lives on the line, because at any moment, just like you said with Virginia Beach, it can turn very ugly, and it could be us.

[02:15:21] And so we're just thankful for each one of you that get up every day and make that choice to do what you do. We are grateful for it, so thank you, and your leadership as well. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you. Thank you. We are moving along.

[02:15:42] Item two on the agenda, consent agenda. I'll call on Councilwoman Vasquez Luna for that motion. Thank you, Madam Mayor. I move that the consent agenda be approved and the reading of the ordinance be dispensed. Second. We have the motion by Councilwoman Vasquez Luna, seconded by Councilman Smith to approve our consent agenda.

[02:15:58] Any discussion? Hearing and seeing none, Mr. Smith, please call the roll. Councilmember Vasquez Luna? Yes. Councilmember Smith? Yes. Councilmember Ellis? Yes. Councilmember Osina? Yes. Councilmember Hudson? Yes. The motion carries.

[02:16:14] All right. Thank you so much for that. That moves us forward to item three on the agenda, ordinances and resolutions. Item 3.1, Resolution R-2025-517, the City of Manassas Emergency Operations Plan, and Amelia, you, Steve, Amelia, going to come forward with that.

[02:16:35] Come on down. I figured you had something to say, but I wasn't sure. Good evening. Good evening.

[02:16:52] Thank you. I did survive the zombie apocalypse. I'm sure you're all happy to see. We just asked tonight that you approve our adoption of the emergency operations plan. It's reviewed every four years. All of our city departments that play a part in that were able to review the plan and make sure no updates were needed.

[02:17:07] So there was no significant changes. Okay, thank you. Any questions for Amelia on that emergency operation? You said what? I want an invite for the next one. Invite for the next zombie apocalypse. No questions. I want to take a moment, Amelia.

[02:17:22] I was told you were helpful with that mid-air collision over the Potomac, and I heard you had gone. I don't know who else had gone. I was just aware that you had, and I wanted to publicly thank you for going there and helping out with that.

[02:17:38] I can't even imagine what you saw and what you had to do. But, again, Manassas being there and you representing us, we really appreciate you doing that. Absolutely. And with that, I'll entertain a motion.

[02:17:54] Mr. Osima. Madam Mayor. I move the adoption of Resolution R-2025-517. Second. We have the motion by Councilman Osina, seconded by Councilwoman Vasquez-Luna to approve Resolution R-2025-517.

[02:18:09] Any discussion? Hearing and seeing none, Mr. Smith, please call the roll. Councilmember Osina? Yes. Councilmember Vasquez-Luna? Yes. Councilmember Ellis? Councilmember Smith? Yes. Councilmember Hudson? Yes.

[02:18:25] Motion carries. All right. Thank you so much. Thank you, Movin. Next, we have item 3.2 on the agenda, the Resolution R-2025-581, approving merit increases and compensation for our constitutional officers of the city of Manassas to begin April 1, 2025.

[02:18:43] And Mr. Burke, city manager, is here to help us with that. Yes, ma'am. Tonight is the opportunity to recognize our constitutional officers and reward them for their continued successes within those departments. The majority of the salaries of the constitutional officers is provided through the Commonwealth.

[02:19:03] The city can supplement that and establish some goals and requirements for both of our constitutional officers to meet. They have met those. And as such, the city now would like to pursue the consideration of that increase in salary to both of them.

[02:19:25] It is the merit increase that all of our employees receive. There had been a request for a breakdown of the salary paid from the state and from the city. For our treasurer, the salary is $135,000 plus or minus, with $117,000 coming from the state and $18,000 coming from the city.

[02:19:49] And $126,000 for our commissioner of revenue with $107,000 coming from the state. and 19,000 coming from the city, and I stand ready to answer any questions you might have. Okay, thank you for that. Mr. Smith. Mr. Burke, would you compare that to salaries in place several years ago before the two incumbents?

[02:20:09] Oh, yes, sir. The salaries that we had in place several years ago, and it will take me a second to locate that. I believe that the previous salaries were at $128,000, and I apologize.

[02:20:31] I believe one was at $130,000, $135,000. Yes, sir. So they're fairly consistent. So those in the past would have to hide in what our current people have? Yes, sir. Thank you. You have a question?

[02:20:50] Okay. Motion? Madam Mayor, I move that we approve the resolution R-2025-583, approving the merit increases in compensation for constitutional officers of the City of Manassas to begin April 1, 2025. Second.

[02:21:06] We have a motion by Councilman Vasquez and a second by Councilman Smith to approve resolution R-2025-581 for merit increases for the Commission of Revenue and Treasurer to begin April 1, 2025. Any discussion? Ms. Ellis.

[02:21:22] For the number of full-time employees, I do have the previous with Robin Perkins, seven full-time employees as treasurer.

[02:21:41] What's our current full-time employee? I'll have to defer to Diane with the eight. I think it's eight, including the treasurer. The treasurer. Okay. And then for the Commissioner of the Revenue, it was 11 full-time employees with our previous Commissioner, Doug Waldron.

[02:22:03] Do you know what it is now? It's 12. It's 12. 12? Okay. That's all I needed. Thank you. Okay. Any other discussion? Ms. Vasquez-Luna. It will be more like a comment. You know, one of the reasons why I tried to spearhead this is because I believe, you know, they are head of the departments regardless of, you know, they are our residents and the boat brings them there to that position, but they do head the department and are responsible for the whole department.

[02:22:39] And, you know, I believe that, you know, it is important that people get a wage increase and it hasn't been happening every year because of the cap that we have. So, you know, I thank you. I will support this.

[02:22:55] I will continue to support this, and I hope everybody will join me to do that. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Mr. Smith. Thank you. I'll just add that each incumbent has each office in better position than they were when they encountered the office.

[02:23:13] They've done some positive improvements and saved the city significant amounts of money. Thank you. Any other discussion? Ms. Ellis. Having a hard time getting things up on my iPad, So, when was the last time they did have an increase in their salary?

[02:23:31] I believe it was 2023 was the last time that we had a salary adjustment. It's probably been about three or four years ago. Okay. Four, I think. Four years ago? In that neighborhood, three to four, so 2021, 2022.

[02:23:48] Oh, four, okay. Correct. Only one of the two, okay. Yes, sir. What is the answer? I think I heard a few answers. Well, I'm sorry.

[02:24:05] Commissioner, the revenue is here, and so is Madam Treasurer. The Treasurer has, for the last few years, has been at the max. So she hasn't gotten an increase for three or four years. I've gotten one every year because I started much lower.

[02:24:21] Okay, thank you. Good? Thank you. Any other discussion points? If not, Mr. Smith, please call the roll. Council Member Vasquez Luna? Yes. Council Member Smith? Yes.

[02:24:37] Council Member Ellis? Yes. Council Member Osina? Yes. Council Member Hudson? Yes. The motion carries. All right. Thank you so much for that. And, oh, you're going to stay there. Yes. Item 3.3 on the agenda, resolution number 2025-588 for the Joint Inter-Jurisdictional Ad-Hoc Committee Appointment.

[02:24:57] Brand new committee appointment here. Mr. Burke. Yes, ma'am. Prince William County's Board of Supervisors won an award for the longest title of a group They are requesting that both the cities provide representation to attend and participate in this committee to discuss shared services, health and social services, housing, economic development, and infrastructure and facilities planning as they relate to the county and the cities.

[02:25:30] And council has met and discussed, and the recommendation would be to appoint the mayor and Councilwoman Vasquez-Luna as our primary representatives and then Vice Mayor Wolf as our alternate.

[02:25:48] Thank you. Motion? Any? Second. Thank you. We have the motion by Councilwoman Ellis, seconded by Councilman Smith, to approve Resolution 2025-588, the Joint Inter-Jurisdictional Ad-Hoc Committee Appointments.

[02:26:08] Any discussion? Mr. Osina. Thank you, Mayor. So I will say I'm delighted to see that the county has finally acted on our request of a year ago. We initiated this in the springtime, either March or April of last year.

[02:26:27] And I bring this up because I would hope that our representatives to this would remember why we, at least a year ago, requested this joint committee with Prince William County and Manassas Park.

[02:26:47] And the reason was is that particularly with Prince William County is we were concerned about the information, which included the justification, the financial details that were not as forthcoming as they could be, should be, to assist us and our finance department when it came to shared services.

[02:27:14] We do have a variety of shared services agreements with the county, such as the jail being one, juvenile detention is another, mental health, community services are several that come to mind along the way.

[02:27:31] And we, in the past, had just been getting basically a statement saying how much the increase was going to be with very little data to back it up so we could understand these things.

[02:27:46] And we had increasingly been frustrated over the time that I've been on council of not getting that information along the way. And so this was an attempt to be able to do that. So it is my hope that as our representatives go forth and you do have your first few meetings here that somehow that shared services, particularly understanding and getting that additional data and laying out what would be helpful, is one of the first things that is dealt with in that regard.

[02:28:21] Because for me, that is the primary focus of why we needed this joint committee along the way. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Mr. Osina. Any other points of discussion? If not, Mr. Smith, call the roll, please. I'm sorry, Mayor.

[02:28:39] Could you call those motions again, please? Who made those motions? It was Ellis and Smith. Mr. Smith. Council Member Ellis? Yes. Council Member Smith? Yes. Council Member Osina? Yes. Council Member Vasquez-Luna? Yes.

[02:28:54] Council Member Hudson? Yes. The motion carries. All right. Thank you. For that, Item 4 on the Agenda New Business 4.1 is the proposed fiscal year 2026 operating Budget and Capital Improvement Program, and Chief Keen is here to do that. Thank you, sir.

[02:29:14] I'm going to make sure this works before I begin. It does. Mayor, I have just a quick statement before I begin, just so people don't get confused. I use the words efficient and effective a lot when I speak about management. I've been doing that since grad school. It was embedded in me so you'll hear me once again use the word efficient and effective and no way is that connected to what's going on at the federal level i'm no supportive of that um so no political

[02:29:50] statement there it's it's something that was embedded me in grad school so bear with me because i do use those terms good evening mayor and council tonight i'm presenting the proposed FY26 budget. I do believe our council retreat allowed for a better pre-planning for the budget due to the very effective discussions that provided staff with some direction on what you as the elected body were looking for. We will find this proposed budget a combination of those two of what we believed we needed to move forward and what your vision is moving forward

[02:30:27] to 2026. I do not want to spend a great deal of time on our FY25 review. The mayor did a fine job of that job going over our successes in our state of the city but with a quick review I want to remind you and our viewers that we as a city experienced successes in FY25 with the planning of our future investing in our schools our staff and making utility upgrades as we begin our in-depth discussions about the FY26 budget needs and wants one of the first things we did as staff was review the 2024 community survey

[02:31:05] to determine what our residents thought we should be focused on for the future and what services we should enhance and or reduce. I have at no point in the survey did it show we need to reduce our services and I have not heard a resident ask for less services.

[02:31:23] In fact, I frequently hear them asking for more services. The top four community survey initiatives that were identified in the survey to be addressed were the traffic concerns, school performance improvements, enhanced public safety, and affordable housing.

[02:31:42] As you know, Council does not control concerns of traffic outside the city or the cost of housing in the region, but what we can do is look for opportunities to make changes in all four of those areas. Next in the process is matching the survey to our strategic priorities of economic prosperity, community vitality, transformative mobility, educational attainment, and sustaining excellence.

[02:32:12] Knowing the FY26 budget would be tight, and with my philosophy of ensuring we look at being efficient and effective in everything we do, we immediately identified four areas that we felt we should make top priorities for next year.

[02:32:28] We do want to ensure we're being good stewards of our revenues and using them effectively. Those areas that we identified were employee recruitment and retention, school funding, rising program and supply costs, and ensuring our residents we have an effective capital improvement program and we are planning for the future.

[02:32:51] However, as you know, we have a lot of budget unknowns going on right now. We continue to monitor up until the last minute of adopting the budget that could impact it. The General Assembly just finished up, put a lot of things on the governor's desk that could impact us.

[02:33:08] We have known the federal cuts that are going on, specifically their cuts in schools, social services, would be the two big hits that we predict may impact us. And, of course, the economy and what direction it goes from some of those cuts.

[02:33:25] As we build the budget, one of the first things we do is work with our elected Commissioner of the Revenue, Tim DeMere, to determine the assessed value growth. This equates to a 6.87 overall increase for FY26.

[02:33:42] The average residential assessment increases is 8.35%. The average non-residential assessment increase is 3.83. There is a total of $53 million in new construction dollars. The Commission of Revenues Office has determined that the real estate assessments for the 2026 tax year have grown from $7.35 billion to $7.85 billion.

[02:34:11] Again, this shows positive economic growth in our city. One of the things that you are frequently asked about is school funding. Building our strategic priorities, residents want to know what and how we are investing into our education system.

[02:34:29] I've worked with Dr. Newman, the superintendent of our schools. His top priority is employee compensation. With the built-in 3% increase into his budget, which equates to $1.8 million, he will focus on a 5.5% pay increase for all employees, but he would like to get to 7% to compete with Prince William County and Fairfax, which is approximately an additional $1.7 million.

[02:34:59] $3.88 million in local contributions for operational support to our schools, and the $1.8 million or 3% increase over last year, which was also, you gave the additional $1.5 as well, just for teacher salaries.

[02:35:14] Now we'll get into the meat of the budget and compare the FY25 to the proposed FY26 budget based upon each fund. Overall, there's a $1.7 decrease in the proposed FY26 budget.

[02:35:32] This decrease is due to the large use of one-time funds for capital projects in the previous year, prominently the purchase of Marstello and the Manassas Shopping Center. Again, these were investments to provide opportunity for our community in the future for future growth.

[02:35:50] All funds and expenditures by function. So to make it a little easier for you and our residents to understand where the money would go by function, We have built in this pie chart. As you can see, we've invested heavily in public education, utilities, public safety, which includes police, fire, your jail cost, and the court costs, part of your shared services.

[02:36:18] The rest is spread out in other needs. I do want to point out you and I here from our residents and businesses on a regular basis. there are areas that we have heard from our community speak out in investing in our schools infrastructure and ensuring that we have an adequate public safety services again at no time have i heard from any resident asking to cut any of those services now we get into the revenues by the source so where do we get our revenues to build this budget again we believe by showing a simple chart it breaks it down so everyone can understand it of course the majority of our

[02:36:57] revenue comes from property taxes and the growth I showed at the beginning of the presentation. But sales and connection fees contribute heavily as well. The one you and I hear about most often is property taxes. But when I looked to build the budget, I went back to the community survey and looked at what our community wanted to enhance and balance that with our needs and our wants.

[02:37:24] You'll continue to hear from me the words efficient and effective and balancing that with the needs and the cost. With that, I propose a flat tax rate that I believe accomplishes our goals with balanced planning. That would be $1.26 combined. More importantly, what everyone really wants to know is what is the impact to my bill? With a flat rate, the average residential tax bill

[02:37:52] will increase by $406. As you know, our utilities department should be funded by the fees and the rates associated with them. This includes your electric, water, sewer, and stormwater programs.

[02:38:11] As we have experienced over the last year, we know that we need to do a better job at investing into our utilities, maintenance programming, and meeting federal and state water and wastewater guidelines. We are currently in the middle of a rate study, which will be presented at a work session in March.

[02:38:32] The preliminary findings results in the increase on this slide, which are estimated at this time to be a $22 increase to the average monthly utility bill. The entire region is seeing these increases, with some jurisdictions recommending a 9% or higher increase over last year and in future years.

[02:38:54] Again, the rate study is not yet concluded, so these estimates are just an estimate at this time. This slide shows my budget priority highlights in areas that we will be discussing in depth in the next few weeks, along with the connection to the survey.

[02:39:15] Just like schools, employee retention ensures we can maintain the current service levels we have. The initial discussion in the region is a 3% to 7% raise, and we must remain competitive in the market. We worked hard last year to address this, both at the general government level and with schools, but we cannot be stagnant.

[02:39:38] We must remain competitive. The enhanced public safety efforts addressed the concerns in the survey of presence, traffic enforcement, ensuring fire and rescue staffing levels to balance the downturn in volunteerism. We have been visionaries for our community, looking to make Manassas better for the future and not just kicking the can down the road for the next elected body or management to deal with.

[02:40:03] This slide depicts positions added to the budget for enhanced public safety efforts. There are a total of five total new positions. Only three of the five are funded, though. Two of the three are funded with monies not associated with tax dollars, and one new fire rescue position is funded within the current fire and rescue levy rate.

[02:40:27] The remaining two are added to the staffing plan but are unfunded. This is a 10-year history of staffing and includes five new positions for public safety. Again, my stance to all the staff was no new positions unless offset funding could be allocated that was outside of taxing dollars.

[02:40:50] So as an example, the new police officer position is funded out of the photo red light money. And as you know, that is also a discussion at the General Assembly and the governor's office. However, this position would be to manage it and those offset costs would be allowed to by the current bill that's in place.

[02:41:14] With the proposed flat tax rate, we have approximately $2.1 million in projected revenue that I have not assigned. This was strategic so we could discuss the many council initiatives that have been brought up and how we could achieve them.

[02:41:31] What is not on this chart are the list and requests from departments that were not part of this proposed budget. We have many options to discuss, including preparing for the future unknowns. As we have those discussions, staff can provide recommendations to you as well.

[02:41:51] With that, now let the work begin. This is our budget review schedule and how we will move forward with our conversations. It is my goal to be very targeted and to the point with these discussions. getting right into the areas that you want to discuss and determine if we should enhance, make cuts, and what those would do to the budget.

[02:42:15] I want to close with ensuring you and our residents that as we built this budget, my direction was to ensure we are meeting our core value of stewardship. We now have some very critical and hard conversations to take place.

[02:42:30] Staff is expecting those to occur with you, And we know you and we have some hard decisions to make. What we do want to do is thank you for your patience and your guidance as we prepared this budget that we hope prepared you and us for those hard conversations.

[02:42:49] As usual, that's the Doug Kean overdrive version, getting right to the point and presenting you with the facts. because again for our residents that are here that are listening or watching the real work happens in those work sessions so we can make some decisions moving forward with that i'll be ready to answer any questions if i can't find staff i want to commend diane and all of her staff that put the budget together all the meetings that began in the fall they also have your budget

[02:43:23] manuals here tonight they are going to hand those out in the front cover of that is a one-page highlight i think we have found over the last year that having those one-page highlights for almost everything we do is beneficial not only to you but our residents as well thank you yes ma'am thank you so much for that comments or questions for chief keene on this we were given this highlight ahead of time is is this online not yet but it will be in the morning okay okay we

[02:43:59] don't release the budget or that until after the presentation so it will be online and I see on here um you go manassasvirginia.gov budget um is there a place for comments to be made on the budget online when this comes do we know that yet or no I'm just throwing it out place to make comments do we we don't normally do that but it's something we could explore okay i just i didn't know so that was that was a thought i had heard that in another jurisdiction so i'm working i'm looking at the people that do the work she says that we could work toward making

[02:44:34] that happen i've heard that in other jurisdictions and people who don't want to come here or can't get here and want to be heard they can you know put their comments in and you can submit comments to us at any time but if they have a targeted area to go specifically for budget to make comments I think it would be good to do that. So any Mr. Osina. Thank you Mayor and building upon what you just mentioned I think what our residents and business folks have at times they will have comments more importantly at this point they'll have questions and so I think a place where they could basically type in their

[02:45:13] questions so everybody sees it and sees the answer would be kind of an ongoing item, I think, would be very helpful in terms of folks being able to see that and then being able to reference that along the way. What's worked well in the past is we'll try to come up with a FAQ section, maybe preempt their questions, give them some answers.

[02:45:41] And then, as always, for those that are here or listening, Mr. Burke, city manager's office, will take these questions. Any of the assistant city managers, myself, also, they can always hit up the mayor and council as well, which people have done in the past as well.

[02:45:58] So we have multiple ways for them to communicate their desires or questions to us. Thank you. Ms. Ellis. Your presentation that you had tonight, that's not on the agenda. can you send that to us and post that it is on agenda I don't have it something's going with my iPad I have no attachments we can send you a refresh it when I leave okay thank you if you don't get it send me an email I can attach it and give it back to you as well okay any anything else

[02:46:37] any other questions or comments okay thank you thank you get out while you can and the manuals are coming the big thick book thank you i guess i heard the pocket watch guy had to be there nobody signed up oh wow okay thank you so much for that. Next on the agenda is the public comment time and the public comment portion of the agenda

[02:47:15] is set aside for those residents who wish to address the council for less than three minutes each. Residents need not give prior notice to the city to speak during the public comment portion of the agenda. Residents may address the council for longer than three minutes if they ask the city manager for a place on the agenda at least four working days before the meeting. At this time we do welcome residents who wish to speak about services, policies, and affairs of the city of Manassas government because we want to ensure we hear from everyone.

[02:47:42] We provided a timer and ask that comments be limited to three minutes. We appreciate the time you have taken to be here. We treat resident comments as a public hearing. We do not engage in back and forth conversation with speakers. The lack of an immediate response to your comments from the mayor or council members or city manager from the dais should not be taken as a lack of interest or concern.

[02:48:04] We have staff members who are taking notes of your concerns and will address them accordingly. We ask that you please be respectful when presenting your comments. Thank you. I have no one signed up to speak, but if there's anyone present who wishes to address council at this time, feel free to come forward. Give us your name and address. I know you Eric, but thank you for being here. Good evening, everyone. I've come with great news on behalf of Manassas Public Schools. We've already had a great presentation already, also as a resident of the city of Manassas. First of all, I thank Mr. Osinia. I stopped him on the way in and got him

[02:48:42] a couple sheets of paper to pass out to you guys tonight. First and foremost, I want to talk about our elementary STEM night. It's the third annual event. It's going to be at Jenny Dean who presented tonight. Come out and see Jenny Dean. This is a division-wide event where all elementary schools participate. If you know any businesses that would be interested in sharing anything math or STEM related to our students please come out that night and support our families in that event it's usually well attended four to five hundred families plus and we do this in collaboration with our math department as well with CTE so

[02:49:19] that's gonna be on April 1st our next event is April 28th that is our Osborne High School job fair so if you know any businesses that are hiring anyone over to age of 16 in the area. This event is an annual event. We usually have 30-plus businesses in our library at the high school eager to hire our kids right out of high school as well as students who are transitioning into that senior year looking for summer employment as well.

[02:49:47] Looking forward to having you guys stop by and see us at these two events as council members and looking forward to continued partnerships across not only just the city, the school, but our community as well. Thank you. thank you anyone else who wishes to address council yes sir come on down give us your name please yes i'm jacob green um i just wanted uh when i came here i didn't originally plan to say anything but i wanted to personally vouch for the work that's being done at jenny dean um after seeing

[02:50:23] the presentation from mr coleman the principal um my kids they were at jenny dean um they uh did Did speech therapy there for about two years. I saw Mr. Coleman there every morning. He's opening doors, greeting all the kids, giving high fives, you know, interacting with the staff.

[02:50:45] He does the, you know, the breakfast and passes out lunch and makes omelets, dresses up in costumes and whatnot. So, you know, I see the effect that it's having on the students.

[02:51:02] High fives the kids in the hallways and definitely it was, you know, it was definitely comforting to see. So I just wanted to give that. Thank you. Thank you so much. Anyone else wishes to address council in public comment time?

[02:51:19] Okay, if not, I will, item number six on the agenda, authorizing a closed meeting. I'll call Mr. Brown for that. Madam Mayor, members of the council, you have one item scheduled for a closed meeting tonight.

[02:51:34] And that's a discussion of the purchase of real property located on Sudley Road and the terms and conditions for that proposed purchase. That is an item which is eligible for discussion in closed session under state law.

[02:51:50] To convene into closed session, I would recommend adoption of Resolution No. R-2025-605, resolution authorizing a closed meeting of city council. Thank you, Ms. Luna. Thank you, Madam Mayor. I move to approve the resolution R-2025-605, authorizing a closed meeting.

[02:52:13] Second. We have the motion by Councilwoman Vasquez-Luna, seconded by Councilman Osina to approve resolution number R-2025-605, authorizing a closed meeting. Any discussion? Hearing and seeing none, Mr. Smith, please call the roll. Councilmember Vasquez-Luna?

[02:52:29] Yes. Councilmember Osina? Yes. Councilmember Ellis? Yes. Councilmember Smith? Yes. Council Member Hudson? Yes. The motion carries. Okay, thank you so much, and what are you telling me?

[02:52:45] And we're going to have the chair and vice chair from the EDA also in the closed session with us, along with the attorney. Thank you. We'll be back.

[02:53:09] Am I full of water?

[02:53:31] Immediately following the closed session, state law requires you to certify that the only matters discussed in the closed session were those that were identified in the motion convening the closed meeting and those which were exempt from open public meeting requirements under state law.

[02:54:04] That certification is contained in Resolution No. R-2025-604, Resolution Certifying a Closed Meeting of City Council, which I recommend for Council's adoption. Thank you, Mr. Brown. Ms. Luna. Madam Mayor, I move to approve Resolution R-2025-604, certifying a closed meeting.

[02:54:26] Second. We have a motion by Councilwoman Vasquez-Luna, seconded by Councilman Osina, approving resolution number R-2025-604. Any discussion? Hearing and seeing none, Mr. Smith, please call the roll. Councilmember Vasquez-Luna? Yes. Councilmember Osina? Yes.

[02:54:43] Councilmember Ellis? Councilmember Smith? Yes. Councilmember Hudson? Yes. The motion carries. All right, thank you so much. Anything else to come before the council for the good of the residents? If not, we are adjourned.

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