Working in municipal government can be a difficult and thankless job. The pay is minimal, the hours are long, and no matter how little power or control you actually have over things like housing, transportation, or crime, your constituents will always assume you have more.
But with some amount of power still comes great responsibility, and our seven city council members, along with city staff, have an obligation to steward our community through the votes they take and the ideology they espouse. We look to the council for guidance, for inspiration, and for answers when it comes to the future of our city.
So ’tis the season, city council. I come bearing gifts. No coal this year. Just a few New Year’s resolutions for you all to share as you think about how to be your best selves in 2025. I’m not suggesting Durham needs its own department of government efficiency. Just a few tweaks on the margins. Remember, it’s because I care.
You have to shorten the meeting times
I’m not a gambling man, but let’s make a wager. If I set the over/under on how long the average city council meeting lasts at three and a half hours, what’s your bet?
My friend and INDY contributor Saleem Reshamwala said he would “optimistically take the under, with a tiny prayer.” We’ve slogged through too many grueling meetings together, so I know just asking the question touched a nerve.
The answer is under, barely. The average city council meeting in 2024 took three hours and 22 minutes. That means you aren’t getting home until after 10:30 p.m. if you want to attend the meeting in person, which the city staff are obligated to do. The longest meeting this year, a full six hours, was on May 20, where the city manager presented her 2024–25 fiscal year budget proposal. Second place, at just under six hours, goes to the February 19 meeting where hundreds of protesters packed city hall and the surrounding block to convince the council to pass a Gaza and Israel ceasefire resolution. The fallout from that meeting led the city council to revisit its meeting decorum protocols.
It’s a catch-22. Civic participation is vital to the democratic process, but it is also the source of our meeting duration problem. Thirty residents will go up to the podium, one after another, and spend two to three minutes saying practically the same thing. There’s power in numbers, yes, but if your group has more than four people, maybe designate a team captain to speak on your behalf? Maybe the council could make some helpful suggestions around that? The issue is exacerbated by city council members who pontificate for twice as long as public speakers, sometimes longer. Should we have a shot clock?
Let’s liven up the meetings
America doesn’t need anymore reality TV in its politics. I’m not advocating for city council meetings to operate like Real Housewives or WWE wrestling.
Government is serious business, but it’s not always that serious. If you’re going to hold us captive for four hours, at least have some fun with it.
Since Duke University appropriated the “Bull City” hand sign, city council should negotiate borrowing a few ideas from Cameron Indoor Stadium as part of the PILOT agreement. Let’s get a sound board with all the NBA Jam effects. The city clerk can yell “He’s on fire!” any time you vote unanimously.
Twice a year, treat every speaker like they’re part of the 1990s Chicago Bulls player introductions: Turn on the city council hype music, dim the lights. “At 5’8”, from Morningstar Law Group, making his 30th appearance at city council this year, it’s everyone’s favorite land use and zoning attorney, Nil ‘The Thrill’ Ghooooooooosh!”
Expand the city/county Neighborhood College program
Durham residents offer passionate civil discourse. It’s one of the Bull City’s greatest qualities. People here give a damn. But the conversations at city hall, or on Reddit, don’t always scream “I did my homework.” Durham can do better. To solve the systematic issues facing our community, we first need folks, myself included, to understand how that system works.
The city council, in collaboration with the county commissioners, offers a little-known program called Neighborhood College. The seven-week program recruits Durham residents to learn the ins and outs of municipal government and become stewards of the information for their own neighborhood. Currently, the program is limited to 25 people at a time and costs $35 to participate.
The program runs infrequently (maybe once a year), per the county website. Neighborhood College is tailor-made to create camaraderie among residents and build a well-informed electorate that’s properly equipped to tackle the challenges ahead.
High school curriculums ought to prioritize this information. For a majority of students, understanding the mechanics of local government will be much more important to their future than Shakespeare or calculus. I love a good liberal arts education, but let’s be realistic, those kids are barely reading as is, let alone 17th-century English literature.
City council: Work with your friends at the county and Durham Public Schools to expand Neighborhood College by increasing promotion of the program and class frequency and canceling the admission fee. Offer it to schools. If our taxes are going to anything, it should be to teaching us about how those dollars are being spent.
Finish the unified development ordinance
The last level. The final boss. Durham’s development procedures are the core concern at almost every city council meeting, and updating those procedures through a new unified development ordinance (UDO) could unlock new possibilities for Durham’s urban environment.
Fixing the UDO is also one of the few areas where private developers and residents align after the SCAD amendment debacle. Both sides have scrutinized the planning department recently for its handling of inner-city development, which has disrupted small businesses and the permitting of large-scale housing developments on the outskirts of Durham, which council member Nate Baker and others refer to as “urban sprawl.”
The City of Durham does not build housing, as mayor pro tem Mark-Anthony Middleton is quick to remind the community (though it does contribute money to housing projects). The UDO is the tool that the city council has the most influence over. Make completing the UDO your signature piece of legislation for 2025.
Honorable mentions
We also have some suggestions that didn’t make our Top Four but deserve recognition nonetheless.
Mayor Williams: We see you zipping through downtown on your scooter and your e-bike. We appreciate your being a proponent of alternative transit. But please, coming from someone who learned the hard way, you never know what dangers the Durham streets might throw your way. Set a good example and wear your helmet.
Can we speed up fulfillment of the public records requests?
Join the X-odus, city council. It’s time to leave Twitter behind. Threads and Bluesky are fine alternatives.
One meeting a quarter should be “casual Friday” vibes. Wear your favorite Hawaiian floral tee, bring a straw hat and roll in the bar cart for mojitos and piña coladas.
Don’t drop the ball on the city manager search.
Follow Reporter Justin Laidlaw on X or send an email to [email protected]. Comment on this story at [email protected].