Open Letter to the Takoma Park City Council
Speak Up for City Employees
April 23, 2025
We are following up on our previous open letter to voice our strenuous objections to the proposed alternate design plans for the long overdue Police Department renovation that Councilmember Roger Schlegel proposed at a work session just two days before the budget vote at the Council meeting tonight.
These downsized plans aren’t really plans of any sort. Schlegel acknowledged that he isn’t an architect or a construction engineer, and he doesn’t have any experience in this field. He just provided some unverified calculations and unexplained cost estimates that aren’t related to this project. He also didn’t share his proposal with the city manager to gain his insight.
To be clear, this isn’t a genuine effort to reimagine this project. It’s a last-ditch attempt to delay and defund this long overdue renovation, and it displays a startling disregard for the health and safety of city employees who have been waiting for almost a decade for this project to be completed.
In the meantime, several dispatchers and other police employees have been sickened by mold and poor air circulation, including one employee who had to work from home because of the severity of her physical symptoms.
If Schlegel succeeds in gutting this project, the city will have wasted more than $129,000 for design and engineering expenses that have already been spent. The city also would have to spend a similar amount for new design plans, and the city could lose a $200,000 state grant that was awarded based on the current project design. All told, the city could waste about the same amount as the $485,000 in city funds that is already budgeted for the current professionally designed renovation.
Schlegel’s proposal also would cause long delays, increase the costs because of inflation, and not meet the existing needs so a second costly renovation probably would be needed within a few years.
Mayor Searcy noted at the work session that the Council’s actions send a clear message to city employees. There will be several messages that will be sent if the Council approves Schlegel’s budget amendments tonight.
The Council will say your previous votes to fund this project and your commitments to city employees can’t be trusted.
The Council will say the health and safety of city employees isn’t important and should be ignored.
The Council also will say that your expressed commitments for racial equity don’t apply to city employees since most of the employees facing these unhealthy working conditions are people of color.
Our union urges you to not send these messages to city employees and to vote against Schlegel’s fiscally unsound budget amendments.
Brendan Smith
AFSCME Local 3399 President
For more info on these issues, a union budget presentation was held at the City Council meeting on April 9 and begins at 1:22:25 in the Council meeting recording. We also showed a video where dispatchers and other city workers revealed the substandard working conditions they face every day.
Open Letter to the Takoma Park City Council
Protect the Health and Safety of City Employees
April 20, 2025
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3399 represents most city employees in Takoma Park, and we keep this city running every day. We’re raising our voices now to oppose Councilmember Roger Schlegel’s budget proposals that would severely curtail and delay the renovation of the Police Department that is needed to provide safe and healthy working conditions for many city employees, most of whom are people of color.
Schlegel also has proposed freezing one unidentified city position even though he doesn’t know which position he wants to freeze or the resulting detrimental impacts on city operations and employee morale. This arbitrary action would lead to the filing of a grievance from our union if a union position is targeted.
At a Council meeting on April 16, Schlegel proposed eliminating all of the $485,000 in city funding for the Police Department renovation even though more than 70 percent of the cost of the project is covered by $1.2 million in federal and state grants. If the city funding is gutted now, the existing needs won’t be met and the project will suffer years of needless delays, unnecessary design and engineering expenses, and the potential loss of a $200,0000 state grant.
Schlegel’s second budget proposal would delay or derail the renovation by diverting all of the intended funding to the city’s assigned reserve fund, which would place the project back in limbo with no progress.
Most of the civilian staff in the Police Department are members of our union. The dispatchers who answer residents’ 911 calls for help are working 12-hour shifts in a dark claustrophobic room the size of a walk-in closet. There’s no air circulation and mold and poor air quality have sickened several employees.
The renovation would include a new larger dispatch center with improved work centers and better air circulation. The project also would provide a new ADA-compliant restroom, more storage space, offices for a mental health counseling program, and interview rooms where crime victims could privately share their experiences.
The City Council has repeatedly supported this project in recent years, and any efforts to defund or delay it at the last minute would represent a lack of concern for the health and safety of city employees and a tacit approval of substandard working conditions in city facilities.
We are calling on the City Council to reaffirm its support for this long overdue project by opoosing these budget proposals at the Council meeting on April 23.
We also are asking local residents who support city employees to email the City Council at council@takomaparkmd.gov or speak during public comments at the Council meeting on April 23 at 7:30 pm at the Takoma Park Community Center.
At a time when government workers are under attack, Takoma Park should show its appreciation for city workers by treating them with common dignity and respect.
Brendan Smith
AFSCME Local 3399 President
For more info on these issues, a union budget presentation was held at the City Council meeting on April 9 and begins at 1:22:25 in the Council meeting recording. We also showed a video where dispatchers and other city workers revealed the substandard working conditions they face every day.