City Council - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon. Welcome to today's Citizens Forum. As I call your name, you'll have the floor for two minutes. Our first speaker is Sandra Jones Mitchell, the legend. I didn't see her. Oh, there she is. One second. Ms. Jones-Mitchell?

Ready? Go ahead. Ms. How you doing today, everybody? Sorry, just got some little sad news. So, here today, I just want to say thank you, but on the behalf of senior housing and the Kingsley Project and the project that we're trying to do called Kingsley Loft on Rainy Road. You know, as an advocate for our seniors, it really sometimes is interesting that We don't have a lot of things in place to protect them. And so, 40 years of advocating for our seniors, I know that we have solutions. So, when SOAT got our name, basically, it was to do just that, SOAT, to act on things that we saw the need to do. And so, over the years, I've just given a lot of energy and time to advocate, to make sure that not only that I advocate, but also help the seniors advocate for themselves. And it really, The city, I know that we had an aging-friendly committee. I would like to see that come back, that we can dress some of the ills. I mean, I watch City Cable. I watch things down here on Wednesday. I see our seniors that are struggling in some of our housing units. But I can truly tell you that we are doing our best through serving older adults through changing times. as we work with Kingsley and Company to do just that, Mayor. And I challenge any of you to come visit Victory Vista. I know that we had some seniors that was here last year talking about some of the issues that they had with the increase in rent. I can tell you all those issues got addressed. I can tell you that many of them were probably paying less than what they were paying. But the condition of that building, I would stand against any other facility in this city to show that we are doing what we do to make sure that we provide wraparound services to meet the needs of those elders. As I continue to age, I want things to be put in place so that I can age gracefully here in this community as well. And I feel the same way about the people that we serve. And I know that Mr. Chen feels the same way. And I just hope that you give him an opportunity to continue to build senior housings here in our city. and to help our seniors. I think that we can all find some solution. I know we can, and working together to make sure that the folks that we serve have the things that they need.

Thank you very much. Melvin Williams, welcome.

Good afternoon, council.

Yeah, I'm here as a resident of Victory Vista. And I was one of the ones who calmed down last year about the situation, but I can honestly say that Chin Ndukwe has risen to the occasion and he's come and spoke with us and he talks with us now and things out there is better than what it was last year when we came. So I just wish that you guys would give him a fair shake because he has straight things up. He's got a new management team in there, the old team that was in there. I think they had a lot to do with some of the things that was going on with the rent and everything. But now that he's got this new management company in there, they're doing a fantastic job. And I'll say again, Chien and Dukwe has come around and he's really talking with us and helping us along the way. So that's what I wanted to come to you guys this afternoon and say that he is and has stepping up to the plate. Okay, thank you.

Thank you, sir. Nate Tubbs, welcome.

How y'all doing today? I'm here today looking for resources again. I've been coming at it for the last couple of years about the Boxing Hall of Fame. It's also becoming a nonprofit organization to help these children. Because, you know, I see now I got nieces, grandkids and everything, everybody having personal problems or mental health problems. And I don't know what kind of weed they got out there nowadays, but Saying like everybody's stuck on that stuff. But I'm just looking for resources and I'd like to thank Mika Owens for the resources she gave me about 30 minutes ago when we spoke. And just trying to get the city on board with what I'm doing. I just had a very successful Boxing Hall of Fame over the weekend. And I am used to coming out and asking for no money. I always had my own money. You know, now I'm learning the process, trying to get collaborations going with the city and very other organizations to make this thing happen, and these kids need help. You know, and they keep giving everybody the money, and you ain't really seeing no real results. All I'm asking is try me, and give me a year to 18 months and watch me show some results. I done did collaborations with all the unions, Kids need resources. They need to be able to get jobs and everything else. Now all they're doing is sitting around just begging, and they're begging so they can get a bag of weed and play video games. That don't make no sense to me. You know, I just want to see and ask them for resources and give me a chance. I got a strong track record. I know I talked to Scotty a couple of years ago. He said, the city want to see you do things first. I've been doing things for the last 35 years on my own, and the stuff I do, I do internationally. I'm not just a local guy. And I will start asking for help now. I would appreciate it if y'all show me some type of direction on getting help for my program. It's Natives Group Home Amateur Program. I've been here since 2000. Now I got the Ohio Boxing Hall of Fame.

Thank you very much. Our next speaker is? What's your name, miss? Welcome, Darasha.

Nice to meet you. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to bring forth my request. I'm new at this, but I'm on the corner of California and Redding Road, and we have dealers on that corner. They don't disrespect me, and they're very kind young men and women, but I'm asking that some of that $6.6 million that's allocated to Bond Hill, We take that and help these young people get a legal cannabis store. They can't get it themselves. But whoever I'm asking some of the businesses in that area to help them get this store to get them off that corner they get arrested and they're back out there the next day. And I know that I've been praying very hard about this solution. Doctors can write prescriptions for this now and they already have clients. They don't need advertisement. They just need to do this legally to get them off that corner because that's bad for business. Does that mean my two minutes is up? No, no. Okay, I heard a beep. So I'm asking you all to consider this. I've already presented this to Bonne Hill Council because I'm a member of that council also, but I couldn't attend the meeting on the Sabbath. But I'm asking you all to please consider this, and I'd like some help writing the proposal for it if it's okay with you all. It will help. It takes a whole village to raise a child, right? But these are children to me compared to my age. So that's all I have to say. Thank you very much for this time.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Robert, and then it looks like the last name might be Schumach. Welcome, Robert.

Hello. My name is Robert Schumank. I'm a resident of Victory Vistas, and I just wanted to express to you guys, City Council, how well I'm impressed with the collaboration between Beacon, SOAC, CMHA, and Kingsley. They came together in a difficult time, strategize how to solve solutions or problems at Victor Viscous and they were successful. So I appreciate everything that these three different entities did for the residents of Victor Viscous. And thank you for allowing me to speak today.

Thank you. Thank you, Robert. Next speaker is Harriet Gamble. Welcome.

Hello, all. I'm here today. This is my first time being here. So thank you for having me. I came today because over the weekend, my grandson works in Clifton. And while he was at work doing an 18 hour shift, working with one of the MRDD patients, people, his car was broken into and His car wind up getting found by the police, but they didn't find the criminals that broke into his vehicle and stole his vehicle. Now they wind up impounding his vehicle. They tried to reach him. They couldn't reach him when they caught him one time to let him know that his car was found. When his car was found, they went on and impounded. So my daughter went live because she had to go to the impound and get his car out. And when she went to get the car out, she had to pay a toll. And my question is, and concern is, but before I say that, my daughter was told by the police stem that in Coryville, they're getting calls every night because cars are being broken into and stolen. When is the crime going to stop, okay? Point I'm trying to make here is that The police got the car. They heard it was four people in the car. A lady, a citizen seen them in the car. Why did not the police take fingerprints? And if it's that many people, it don't have to be that many, just one person. But if it's that many people that's getting their cars broken into and stolen, why they're not taking fingerprints and arresting these criminals and also why people have.

Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thanks for coming in. Joseph Philpott, welcome.

I just want to say thank you to the council for having me here to be able to speak. I'm here basically on Indian Dukeway situation, the Victory Vistas, all of that. First off, all I ever hear is bad things. People talking bad things about this man. This man is trying to do more for the city than I think a lot of people are because I'm a senior citizen and a veteran, and I'm on disability. When I came back to Cincinnati from Kentucky, Mr. Ndukwe gave me an apartment at a senior citizen rate because it was in the building with a bunch of UC students that he owns and where I live. I noticed that he has a lot of problems over there with the police, with people breaking in cars in his property, the hotel, and everything. Seems like nobody wants to help him out in any kind of way. It's like y'all blackballed the man. That's the way I feel. I think the city's starting to turn into another little cult. The orange pumpkin's cold. That's all I want to say. I feel that the man's giving a really bad injustice because he is trying to help the community. Some things may go wrong in his little clique where he's trying to do things, take care of all his business and everything, but still in all, the man's young in the situation of building these buildings and doing the situation with senior citizen housing and all this and everything, but he's trying. He's trying the best he can. I've known this man because I've lived in this building for five years and I've never had any problems out of him or anything with him. Because the man, I mean, I really consider he thinks he really loves the community. That's all I have to say. It's just that, you know, I wanted to come and speak my little part because I do feel the man's being blackballed. for no reason that I know of, but then I don't know everything.

Thank you. Thank you. I do feel compelled to respond. I don't know if there was a coordinated effort to bring voices in. You know, I can assure folks that this issue with Victory Vistas has nothing to do with any individual developer. but it has everything to do with this council chambers being filled with senior citizens who are at risk of losing their home, at which point the city intervened. So I'm not here to assign blame to anyone, but I will say that that was a very, very big problem for everyone on this dais, and we worked very hard in collaboration with various partners to fix it, and I'm very glad that it's been fixed, but it was a significant problem that required intervention. And that's not to suggest that any one person was at fault, but what is true is that this entire chambers was filled with senior citizens who were crying out because they were about to be priced out of a home that they had just moved into and left other stable housing in order to be there. Stanford Poole, welcome.

When we look at this country, you see Donald Trump do not like black, brown people or women. And we see the Supreme Court don't like black men, women, or women. And this city of Cincinnati got the same kind of history. You're doing the same thing as Trump. Everything he doing, y'all doing. You're getting rid of certain people that you don't like. This city don't like him. He's a black man, got a lot of money and that. They don't want that. But the Port Authority, DC3C, hands up. Again and again, you get a woman that gets spit on, which is assault, that your law says somebody spit on her, you didn't have the police come in here and arrest him. You had a white man come in here and say, F you. Iris, and you did nothing. She did nothing. Then he went to white people, got to write the call, black people, the N word for 15 minutes. I only get two minutes. But you sit there and let that happen. You didn't arrest him. Then you turn around and let him have a second chance. The mayor met with him in a couple of days, and he's still doing the same thing. Now, this guy was on the citizen complaint board, and I guess he on the park board, getting two checks. And you let this man, you got $400 or $500 to citizen complaint board, and he was on there for six months. And where do you think all the complaints coming from? With officers doing bad things and that. The lady come in here, asked for help. Somebody assaulted her just like that. private parts and that. Now, now woman stand up, said, let's see if it's true now. Now, man, but when she gets arrested, y'all stood up like a bunch of squirrels and swivel out to the side like snakes. You're about to help people. And you ain't doing that.

Stefan Pryor, welcome.

Mr. Chair.

Yes, Mr. Johnson.

For the record, and sometimes things just need to be corrected for the record. First and foremost, the gentleman that came in here and continuously used the N word was fired immediately. Was he not mayor? Yes. Second of all, the lady that came in here with a weapon and if she would have caused bodily harm to any of you, not us, any of you, the finger would have been pointed at us as a city. She was arrested. She deserved to be arrested. She threw herself on, she threw herself, if you would please, sir, would you please, sir? We'll please, sir.

Order, order. Sir, if you, sir, if you cannot allow, if you cannot allow these proceedings to continue, then you will be removed, sir. Sir, another outburst. I'm going to unfortunately have to ask you to leave, so please do not continue to yell at the dais. President Johnson, please continue.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Things just need to be straightened out and corrected. We are not going to allow people to bring weapons into City Hall The lady should have been arrested. She was not thrown on the floor. She fell on the floor twice. For the record, we got to make sure if you're going to speak in these chambers, please speak the truth and not a bunch of wild allegations. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, President Johnson.

Any any further comments from council? Seeing none. Our next speaker is Bishop Sonny James. Welcome. Oh, I'm sorry, Stefan. My bad. You're next.

I was wondering what's going on. The young lady I recorded on my Facebook page about her son's car being stolen. If I'm not mistaken, they do stolen in recovery when a person's car gets stolen and they take it to the impound. When she picked the car up, she shouldn't have to pay. She suffered already. Her son already suffered from stolen vehicle, busted windows, and then she suffer again by paying to get her car out. So it's called Stolen Recovery 311. Actually, you know, handle that situation when you ask them about stolen cars. So she shouldn't have to pay the impound to get her car out, the impound. So y'all should reimburse her for that. Uh, the potholes, y'all need to do a pothole blitz. These potholes out here are bad. They so bad, I almost fell out my car. I almost fell out my car. That's how bad these potholes is. Y'all need to get them fixed with a pothole blitz. Chee in the due way, y'all need to give him a chance because if I own a building, a property building, I'm going to let somebody else manage it. It's not my fault if the management is not treating the people right. If you get rid of them, everything went smoothly. So give him a chance, y'all, once again, because he deserves a chance. He's the only one in this city, a black developer, actually helping the community for real. You know, you give Port Authority chances, and 3CDC, like Mr. Stamppu, say y'all give them chances and money on top of that. I mean, they need help, y'all. If y'all going to help, help people, you know? Y'all do everything else, you know? Mark Mallory, Mayor Aptav, you shouldn't have put him on the trustee board. Uh-uh. That's a conflict of interest, man. Heck, he not. And Liz Keating. They shouldn't be on that trustee board. Conflict of interest. Thank you. G.I. Johnson.

I'm sorry, no. I'm completely out of order. One second, Mr. Johnson. Bishop, you're next. Thank you for your patience. I'm back in order now. I apologize.

Let me first of all say to God be the glory. I want to acknowledge, I don't speak on behalf of any of the Evanston residents, but I want to give credit where credit is due. Mr. Johnson, you gave the folks your word that things were being looked into. Mika Owens, anytime the community calls, you're there. Mark Jeffries, You respond, and I honor you for that. Jan Michelle, out front in many areas. Ryan James, the new kid on the block. When the community calls, you answer. Anna Albuquerque, what can I say? And the residents at the Evanston apartment first reach out to Stephon Pryor, and he was Johnny on the spot. And then they called me. And I want to say thank you to every advocate that stood up. Thank you for every council member that stood up. Thank you for the residents having faith that justice will be served. Because when I got the call from the media and said, Bishop, the indictment has just come down. I couldn't have been any happier. When you all show folks that you're listening and everyone listening, I'm not a sellout, but I've got to learn to come to the table and bring people to the table that we can hear every perspective. And that's why tonight I'll be there at Community Action Agency with Channel 9 to do more follow up about what we're going to do. And the called into action will be having another come together. And I need all of you there so we can show the residents that when they do come, they don't always get the whole story. But when they do come, they deserve to know that their voices are prioritized. So let's continue to come together. God bless you.

Thank you, Bishop. G.I. Johnson, welcome.

Greetings to the panel here today. I'm G.I. Johnson for G.I. Johnson Productions, Los Angeles. I'm from Cincinnati, born and raised Madisonville, Evanston, Avondale. I'm coming to the city to work on the Ohio champion for the Timmy Austin project. He's a champion. He got nominated and inducted to the Ohio Hall of Fame this weekend. We're shooting a documentary right now. I want to bring some jobs here to the city. I want to bring some projects here to the city and work with these youngsters here. I'm in LA right now working with the mayor there in LA. And I want to be here in Cincinnati. It's my hometown. My family's here, my niece and nephew, my children and my grandchildren are here. I want to be able to reach out to the communities. We've got people here that's willing to do things in the communities and give these youngsters some jobs and some work here. That's all they need. They need a chance, man. I'm one of the guys that grew up here. I got a chance. I'm coming to give back to the city. I got numerous projects we're gonna work on. I'm just gonna let the city know. I'm working with the film commissions here. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. Kiki Sweeting. Ricky, sorry. Welcome, Ricky.

First of all, thank you guys.

We got more to do, you guys. I'm here representing Kingsley Construction or whatever, and I want to give you guys thanks. I know we got a lot more to do, but affordable housing in this city is very, very, very important. I want to give y'all credit because y'all did help us get Victory Fest up and going. I appreciate seeing I'm the maintenance guy over there, so I make sure I nurture these people, because I'm going to be their age one day. But with Kingsley, we actually have a lot of things that we need to accomplish. We helped get young guys off the streets and stuff, giving them second chances that just came home from prison and stuff like that. But y'all got his hands kind of tied with zoning and injunctions and stuff like that. But we could do a lot more because there's a lot more people that's not going to be in the way everything's going up. People really is not going to be able to afford regular housing with fixed incomes. So we done came a long way as a city. But we need to unleash Kingsley and let his dream and his vision for this city also rise also. Because he really, really is trying to help all of these young guys out and everything here. Can we all agree on that? Because I get to vote again. Y'all know that, right? That's what's up. Y'all have a blessing.

Paul Bean, welcome.

So now you're going to give me the project back that I've been discussing with you for two years, right? The one you made a performance with, running down here like the puppet you are, right? Right? I come down here for accident and ain't got no respect. You ain't even got time. The way you lie, you just stole this program. You could have been stopped all these killings. You could have been stopped it. Am I lying, Scotty? It cost that much money, right? It cost that much money that you could have been stopped all this. But you sit here and you ignore the fact. You make me look like I need a straitjacket. I'm a taxpayer. I paid my child support. I put my kid through college. I worked here as a citizen. And you sit there like ducks? You steal and lie? And you under oath and you got education? I have to start all over. From this accident, you say I jumped the curve. And I deal with heavy equipment. I've been in construction working for 25 years plus. Some of you know me. I fed you alcohol probably over at the Smith's house. You might be one of them. You too. Remember the parties you went to? Yeah, I'm 62 too, remember?

Where is justice? Ain't none. Thank you. Our next speaker is on Zoom, Amber Kasim. Can you hear me? Amber? Okay, if Amber logs back on, please let me know. Our next speaker is also on Zoom, Mike Yulehorn. Oh, I'm sorry. Mike, could you give me one second? Mike, can you hear me? I'm sorry. Could you give me one second and let Amber go first? Okay. Thank you, sir. I appreciate it. Amber, can you hear me?

Yes. Can you hear me?

Yeah, go ahead.

Thank you. Mayor, you're exactly correct. There is a concerted effort. Victoria Parks is now registered as a lobbyist for Ndukwe, so your spider senses were correct. You guys held a safety and quality of life meeting that lasted about 18 minutes. You giggled about how short it was at the beginning. The only joke that I saw was that you guys pretending to be busy, to be working. But what you're working on is perpetuating the harm that is cutting deeper every day that the community and the neighbors have to respond to. Half of your 18 minutes were spent on a person who already surrendered an aluminum cane sword while you neglect to remedy the real dangers that we have begged you to fix for years. You are not afraid of an aluminum cane. What you are afraid is real data, honesty, and looking your failures in the face and have them documented. But I will continue to help you with that. The biggest threat to public safety in Cincinnati is not that cane. It is you, your negligence, your inaction. You are the threat. You're not doing anything to help. People with choices are voting with their feet. They are leaving because of you. We hear about the gaps in years, but the only gaps that you fill is for your corporate interests, while we watch that fail with continued crime and vacancy. You continue to segregate not only in life and years, literacy, earnings, TIF funds being raised, and people be able to participate in the economy. Reparations don't have to be a check. They can look like a black child from Price Hill becoming a doctor or a dentist or a police officer and living until 65. Someone who comes back and stays in this neighborhood, the neighborhood and community that raised them. Black neighborhoods don't have to look like the tot lot on Warsaw.

Thank you, Amber. Our next speaker is Mike Uelhorn. Welcome.

Hello, can you hear me?

Yes, go ahead, Mike.

Great. So I have an opportunity for you all today and that is for you all to do the right thing. As you know, many, many years ago, probably decades ago, there was a city council much like yourself But they passed a law that allows the water department to steal money from people when they have the water turned off at the meter. They're providing nothing. I've talked many times how this is a violation of Ohio Revised Code 2913. Now, Scotty Johnson, you said only speak the truth. This is the truth. The city of Cincinnati steals money every time that they charge people and collect money for providing nothing when the water's turned off. No other company does this. Actually, out of all the phone calls I have made, emails I have sent, the only people who are pleasant to talk to are Scotty Johnson's age, so I commend you on that. However, not one person has contacted me back. Not one person has done anything to repeal those laws and those rules that is allowing this city to steal money from people when the water's turned off at the meter. Nobody knows. Nobody believes that that's ethical. Nobody believes that's moral. I can't believe any of you think that that's actually ethical to do that, but you continue to do it and have done nothing. It's been a year now I've been contacting you, or I've been on these meetings, I've been contacting all of you for much longer than that, but nobody does anything. What is being done about this? I'd love to hear what is being done about this. All I can assume is absolutely nothing. You're just gonna keep stealing from people every day. by sending these invoices out for providing nothing. I'd love to hear a response at some point from somebody, anybody there. I've talked to the water department, the law department. Thank you, Mike.

Our next speaker is in person, Jennifer Foster. Welcome.

Hello, and thank you for the invitation. I'm here for one reason. I've been living in affordable housing for 17 years. If it wasn't for affordable housing, I would have been homeless. I'm a retired construction worker, and I'm a victim of gun violence. If it weren't for affordable housing, I wouldn't be in this seat right now, or in the positions that I am right now. I think it's very important that we look at the deficit in this city. We have a housing problem, a very bad housing problem. There's a count of couch hoppers that's not even existed in the data that you all have. That's why it's so important to have affordable housing. I'm here to support affordable housing in Chattanooga. The reason that I'm supporting him because he's established a place to live in for those that don't have a voice. That's including me too. I think it's a big problem in Ohio. We need to have a trust fund that's negotiable for the residents. We see with the voting that happened this past last week or a couple of weeks ago, there's a low turnout because people feel they're not heard. They're voiceless. And I want to say we have to do something about the issue. It's not getting any smaller. We know there are issues that exist. The issue is we don't have enough affordable housing. And I'm here to support him and say, yes, we do need a more affordable housing, and we need good quality affordable housing. A lot of other developers has put up housing, but they haven't put it on up at the standards that he has. I could compare some of his properties, some of Hyde Park properties. It's not too many of them that could say that. But I think the materials and the style that he choose to use at Hyde Park, he choose to use in other areas too. That's why I support this project. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Our next speaker is on Zoom, Inez Durden. Can you hear me, Inez?

Yes, I can. Can you hear me?

Yes, go ahead.

In your absence last week, Mayor, and I was also on Public Safety and Quality in Life Committee on yesterday. Scotty Johnson, I see you have no problem going after the elderly, so let me give you some reasons as to why I'm so disgusted with you. You've been knowing my situation for quite a long time. As a matter of fact, you was firsthand witness when you and Nedra Ward met me at my first cousin's funeral and just stared me down when I was falsely locked up and got out. I was on public safety yesterday, and I made you very aware that I have an active protective order that Merlin issued here, because Cincinnati wouldn't help me, on firefighter Steve Durden Sr. because of the death threats he had given me. threatened to harm law enforcement if they come to his home. The county sheriff told him on February the 5th, he had 24 hours to turn in his AR-15, in which I have not got any notice that he have turned that in as of yet. In addition to that, he had five attorneys that he's paying. He filed for divorce. I gave it to him. They still coming after me. This divorce should have been wrapped up on March the 23rd, 2026. There's two attorneys, including mine, Leslie Thomas, Rachel Giddensburg, that done dragged this out, will not finalize this divorce in an attempt to steal what I am entitled to. Tell me why Cincinnati kicked me out of Cincinnati and refused to help me. Y'all start giving me some answers, because Anna Abbey, when I was on yesterday, it looked like you ran back in your chair and you went to sleep. So somebody now needs to start giving me some answers, because I'm going to go to the media if y'all don't. Whoever that bishop was, I'm going to find out who he is, because Cincinnati really needs to be exposed for what y'all have done is put my life in jeopardy of being killed. Scotty, go to 3639, get that AR-15 away from dirt, OK?

Thank you, Inez. The person is in speaker, Jonathan Nortman. Welcome, sir.

This week, we were once again reminded of the kind of violence brewed in this nation. At a mosque in San Diego, two teenagers were opened fire, killing three people, all of which innocent, all of which laid down their lives to defend others inside. These shooters were white Christian nationalists parroting fears of the great replacement theory, the far-right belief that white people are under attack and being replaced. These teenagers attained this belief and became murderers because of American politics, a type of politics that has normalized and accepted Islamophobia. The type of politics where just hours after the shooting, members of the media and politicians can blame the mosque itself or suggest the only way to keep Muslims safe is by deporting them all. This administration that has produced a Muslim travel ban, heavily restricted immigration entirely, but more than doubled the number of white South Africans they will bring here with lies of white genocide. This kind of selective empathy, while we arm and fund a literal genocide in Palestine, while we continue mass deportation efforts, divide up families, detain children, and feed this racist fervor, while the people spreading this hatred are using it to profit, selling warehouses to ICE for ten times their price, allocating billions to pay off Trump loyalists. We don't need politicians with selective empathy. Those that saw their voices valuable enough to offer it to Ukraine and Israel shouldn't have to be begged for more than two years to give the same for the mass killing we pay for in Palestine. We don't need more politicians doing business with those facilitating crimes against humanity. But here, you've invited participants of the modern Holocaust into our city. And we still employ the man that spit at a woman for wearing a keffiyeh. Hatred is being spread, and those that should be combating it are instead giving it room to fester. This American political landscape that doesn't allow for Islamophobia to be denounced on its own. It's always packaged with other forms of hatred. to continue to deny this community the focus they deserve or ignore it entirely when under attack sends the message that their lives are worth less. All of this gets worse and grows in every community until we properly act against it. Just yesterday in Nashville, a 19-year-old was sentenced for threatening to commit mass murder at a mosque. Will we wait until it's Cincinnati in the headlines? Divest from every company participating in genocide and apartheid.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Chin Ndukwe. Welcome.

Good afternoon. My name is Chinadum Ndukwe. I'm the principal of Kingsley & Co. We're a real estate development and construction firm. We're based in Mount Auburn. I'm here today because our company recently received a letter from the city stating that it would not proceed with our newest project, Kinsey Lofts, which is a $20 million development bringing 53 units of senior housing to Walnut Hills due to perceived issues at unrelated properties within our portfolio. I want to be clear that all of our projects and buildings either have proper permits or active applications under review, and we continue to work diligently to maintain compliance and address concerns as they arise. Time is crucial in this matter because Kinsey Lofts is tied to a highly competitive 4% low-income housing tax credit allocation. Without timely support and coordination, this project and the 53 affordable housing units cannot proceed. Kingsley's goal has and continues to be to work with the City of Cincinnati and our community partners to bring quality housing to Cincinnati. We remain committed to transparency, collaboration, and finding a productive path forward. I am accessible. I appreciate the opportunity to come down here and speak. Love to have any questions you might, there might be. If not, I think we've shared some additional information about this, so we appreciate your consideration. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Sam B. Welcome. Okay, I don't see Sam B. Oh, there he is.

Sorry, I was just walking around over the corner. That courtyard there, I would really love to put some flowers in those boxes or coordinate with the Lloyd Library and see if they have some original seeds. We need to start treating these rain events, these big rain events, as if they're big snow events, with the same sense of urgency. But instead of salt, we need biochar. Every last bit of it. And instead of plows, we need green infrastructure. And before I continue, I have to say, hands off to 3CDC for how they've planned 6th Street, the construction there. I mean, it's about as enjoyable as going down the lazy river at the Beach Water Park. And with them at the helm, our city will share the same fate as that place. Mr. Mayor, I am petitioning that you please go to the U.S. Conference of Mayors and that you seek out the Minneapolis mayor, who I'm sure will be very popular for other reasons, and to please ask them how they accomplished the biochar, since they have about 12 years on us. And then it would be great if you could come back and keep talking to the children. You seem to be a natural at inspiring that with them. And so much so, I think you should actually start volunteering at Rockdale Elementary with those second graders. Take them to the fire museum. Take them to the zoo. Take them to a Reds game. Take them to Museum Center, the Freedom Center. And then after you're done with that day, you and Anna Albee should go down to Children's Hospital, go to the office of Dr. Cole Brokamp, who is our premier epidemiologist, and they can, with their models, show you how they've mapped the entire city. And you can close that health gap.

Thanks, Sam. I'm really excited about Biochar, too. Glad you are, as well. Howard Vaughn, welcome.

Good afternoon. As I stand here in front of, sit down in front of all you dignitarians, and I want to thank the mayor wholeheartedly, for he the only one speaking up for me. Now, all of y'all know me. All of you council members down here know me. All of y'all. I worked down here for 16 years in the purchasing department. I worked in every department in the purchasing department. I'm a Vietnam veteran. And I know if we went for City Hall, I wouldn't be able to do the things that I do. But the way things is going, we got to do a lot for these kids, man. We're losing them. And I was the one who did Turnaround America with that building down on Liberty Street across from the soccer stadium. I had the whole building down there. It had like a 23-seat movie theater in there. And that's when the boys club was right next to where I was at. But what I'm saying is, y'all know I work down here. They told me I never did work down here. And I was really surprised. All you nine council members with none of y'all stand up other than the mayor. And y'all all know me. I campaigned for y'all. Me help you out. And I love y'all dearly. I'm like, Stephon, ain't nothing you can do about it. But I've been working with these kids, and every day they talk to me. Master Brown, when you teach my kids karate, they're afraid they're going to go to jail and be dead. We have a great city here, but it's going in the wrong direction. Now, y'all owe me money, and y'all said I never worked out here, and I couldn't believe that. I'll talk to kill. I went there, the other human relations lady said, talk to Kel. I called Kel. They told me, Kel don't work here. What? He's the director of finance. What? So I started giving up. And I called her back. She gave me another number. But what I'm saying is, get in touch with me. Y'all got my number. Especially you. Rodney Calloway, my son. I mean, Rodney, my...

Thank you, sir. Thank you very much, sir. Thank you. That ends this portion of the meeting for

citizens forum and it's now 2 19 and we will immediately begin today's business portion of cincinnati city council and the clerk will please call the roll council member owens here council member walsh here council member albie here council member kramer ding here council member james here council member jeffries here council member johnson here vice mayor kearney here council member nolan here please stand for a moment of silence

And now the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The minutes from the previous meeting will be approved and filed without objection. Hearing none, they'll be approved and filed. Moving to our agenda, we have several presentations. Our first is item 10, and we'll now recognize Councilmember Owens. recognizing Helen and Mike Wong and the entire Wong family as 2026 Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Month honorees, and expressing the appreciation of the mayor and the Council of the City of Cincinnati for celebrating 50 years in business in the tri-state. Ms. Owens.

Thank you, Mayor. All right, we'll have the Wong family come on in. Hi. So honor, come on in, gather around. Who would like the honor?

Oh, okay, all right, we'll wait, we'll wait.

So, we're waiting on a few family members to come on in, so just give us a moment. Hello, welcome, welcome.

Of course. Who would like to hold this, do you think?

Okay. Great, thank you, thank you. Awesome.

So, why did the chicken cross the road? Just kidding. I don't know, isn't this exciting? Yes, thank you all for being here. This is wonderful. Hello.

Councilmember, should we move on to another proclamation or?

No, do we think they're walking in any moment or we should? Okay, here we go.

Great.

Thank you. Come on in. Hi. Hello. Ms. Wong, how are you? Next time we'll have to just check for bathroom breaks, but that's okay.

Councilmember, do we have an ETA? Do you know when we can begin?

I think he's coming. I feel like doors are opening.

I'm sorry, I'm just trying to understand what's happening. So we can't find him?

We can. He's coming from the restroom.

Oh, okay.

Oh, he's in the restroom.

Okay, great.

All right, I see movement that way. All right, well. What else is on the agenda, Mayor?

I'll take a brief recess while we wait for him to return.

Okay, great, thank you, thank you. Oh, no, no, no, it's okay.

Item 11, President Johnson, Councilmember Albee, you guys ready to go? Everybody here? Wonderful.

We'll bring Coach Fee and Coach Severy.

We'll now recognize President Johnson and Councilmember Albee who will be recognizing the Summit Country Day varsity boys and girls soccer teams and expressing the appreciation of the Mayor and the Council of the City of Cincinnati for winning the Ohio State Championship. President Johnson, Miss Albee.

Am I on? Are you on?

I'm on.

Thank you. Thank you very much, Mayor. I'm going to call Summit Country Day the School of Champions, because honestly, the last couple of years, I think they've been in these chambers being recognized for the amazing accomplishments that you have achieved on the basketball court and on the soccer field. This is incredible. And to the alumnus here, Miss Albee that played soccer for a year and was a superstar, allow us to recognize you with this resolution. I'll start it off and I'll allow the alumnus to close us out here. Recognizing the Summit Country Day varsity boys and girls soccer team, and expressing the appreciation of the mayor and the council of the city of Cincinnati for winning the Ohio State Championship, whereas the Summit Country Boys Soccer 2025 season ended with the Division V State Championship, which is the program's, now get this, ninth state championship and second consecutive championship. And whereas this year, the boys soccer team outscored their opponents 39 to two. That's some serious defense right there that you guys play. And whereas the Summit Country Day girls soccer season ended with a division four state championship, which is the program's sixth state championship and third consecutive championship, earning them a six and O record

the state finals and and whereas okay the girls soccer team finished 22 0 and 2 and is on a 42 game unbeaten streak that's really hard everyone and and whereas the boys soccer team won 14 consecutive tournament games with one player named All-American in and whereas the girls soccer team won 22 consecutive tournament games with two players named All-American. Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Council of the City of Cincinnati, the State of Ohio, and the Mayor and this Council hereby recognize the Summit Country Day boys and girls soccer teams for winning the Ohio State Championship. So I'm super excited. So for all my colleagues, Coach Feehee was my coach. So he can do some fact correction on how good or bad I was, especially when it came to fitness tests. But no, it's so crazy for me to see how the program has evolved. So my brother was on the very first boys team championship back in 2001. And at the time, there was only one other team that had one state before that, a baseball team in the 80s. And to go from only, in Summit they have got pictures on the wall, two pictures on the wall for a bunch of years, for decades, to now you all are bursting at the seams with how many teams have won state, including the soccer programs, is truly remarkable. They did it all after I graduated, just to be clear. The girls won their first championship as soon as I was out the door. Sure, yeah, very generous of you. But it's just really remarkable. I believe so much in the power of sport. I believe in the power of summit and helping cultivate the next generation of leaders and really instilling into all of us what it looks like to be a leader someone who serves as well to be a servant leader. I think what the players are doing on the sports fields, whether soccer, tennis, cross-country, whatever, really upholds those values. What you all do as coaches is so important. Mike here was at my wedding and he has been an integral part of my life and being a lifelong friend and mentor. That is the roles you all play in the players lives. Unfortunately, the players are all taking exams right now, otherwise we'd be celebrating with them. So thank you and congratulations. We're absolutely thrilled that you all keep winning. So thank you.

And very briefly, thank you, Ms. Albee. I have a special place in my heart for Summit because my nephew, Xavier Johnson, did remarkable things there. He's now representing Summit as a Cincinnati Bengal. So this place has a special place in our heart, the Johnson family, my brother and everybody else. And we just thank you for what you do and continue to be the school of champions inside the city of Cincinnati. Greatly appreciate it. Thank you very much.

Do you want to say any?

No, I just thank everybody for including us. So thank you.

Thank you. Yeah, thank you. Congratulations. Comments from council? Vice mayor?

I'm always happy to talk about Summit Country Day. My daughter started there in preschool. We loved it. My husband actually went there as a child. And so and actually the one of the one of the mayor staff people, Lizzie, her her dad was my husband's best friend at Summit Country Day. So we have a lot of Summit Country Day connections here. But congratulations. Honor well deserved. It's such a fantastic school. and we're just really proud of you, so thank you.

Further comments? Congratulations. The state championship is extraordinary. That record is very, very hard to do, and we're just so proud that you continue to shine a light on the student success at Summit and across the region. Congratulations. Roll call on passage of the resolution, please.

Council Member Owens? Yes. Council Member Walsh? Yes. Council Member Albee? Yes. Council Member Kramerding? Yes. Council Member James? Yes. Council Member Jeffries? Yes. Council Member Johnson? Yes. Vice Mayor Kearney? Yes. Council Member Nolan?

Yes. Congratulations. Okay, is the Wong family all accounted for? Yes. Yes? Okay, come on up. Ms. Owens.

Thank you.

Oh, right. This is great. The OG is now in the building. Hello, Mr. Wong. How are you? Great to see you and the entire Wong family. So it gives me great pleasure and honor on this day during the month of Pacific Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Month to recognize a locally owned small business who has roots in China. And I will say that Oriental Walk is not only one of my favorite places to dine because the food is so delicious and excellent, which, by the way, we have samples today, but it's really the atmosphere that you all have provided. It is a space not only of service and quality, but it's one where when you walk in the door, you can feel the love and the joy and the happiness and respect for anyone who walks in, and you feel welcomed. And so I thank you for that. I will also say my personal story during the pandemic where so many restaurants had to pivot and think about how to newly operationalize and survive. It was through your drive-through, contactless drive-through that I came through and the food was always good. There was always excellent service and it was always with a smile. And so I think it is a testament to the foundation that you have built, the contributions you made in this city, and your resilience. So we thank you for being here in Cincinnati and they have another location in Kentucky, which I've also dined it as well. So it, uh, I will go ahead and read this resolution, uh, recognizing Mike and Helen Wong and the Wong family, uh, as 2026 Asian American native Hawaiian and Pacific.