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🥱 The College Park City Council is aiming to wrap up its meetings by 9:30 p.m., responding to concerns about sessions that have frequently stretched late into the night.
More than a quarter of the council’s regular meetings this year, which begin at 6 p.m., have run past midnight—often starting late to begin with, sometimes by as much as an hour. Earlier this month, one meeting that began 25 minutes behind schedule didn’t adjourn until around 1 a.m. That was only the second-latest session of the year, though: One meeting in June went on until 1:45 a.m.
At the council’s most recent meeting, Councilmember Tracie Arnold—who was absent—introduced a proposal to make 9:30 p.m. the official cutoff for regular sessions. Under her plan, any unfinished work would carry over to the next meeting as “old business.”
Councilmember Joe Carn offered a counterproposal to make the cutoff a goal rather than a requirement. The council rejected the mandate and adopted Carn’s version instead.
They seem to be off to a rocky start. The meeting ended at 10:18 p.m.
Also discussed at this meeting:
🔇 Mayor Bianca Motley Broom spoke about losing her lawsuit against the City (and losing her ability to participate in deliberations during council meetings). “We have reached a point where questions that should be easy to answer are being ignored, delayed, or dismissed outright,” she said. “That’s not governance. That’s avoidance.”
🧱 Jason Shoates, a business owner on Old National Highway, expressed concern about a concrete median newly installed by the Georgia Department of Transportation. He said the barrier has created hardships for businesses along the corridor, as it limits motorists’ ability to easily access them.
(Documented by Dominique Huff; additional reporting by J.P. Irie)
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