City Council - Regular Meeting

Welcome to today's Citizens Forum. As I call your name, you'll have two minutes to address council. Our first speaker is Dara, Dara Saha. I apologize for mispronouncing that. Welcome. Oh, one second, Miss, if you could, if are you planning on sitting? Would you like to sit? Please go ahead and sit. And your two minutes will begin when you begin speaking.

All right. You know I've been here before, and I have been taking time from other things I needed to do to get these signatures. Now, based on the signatures I have for this legal cannabis store in Bond Hill, the community wants it. And when I come here, Bond Hill said, you all are the ones holding it up. Then when I go back there, you all, somebody told me here that Bond Hill is the one that doesn't want this cannabis store. So I told, I'm an innocent person that's trying to get those young people off that corner before this cold weather kick in. because I witnessed them out there. They shaking like . Those young people don't want to be on that corner. They get employment. Then when they get employment, people treat them so bad because they got a record. And I'm hoping that we could put the ones who have the clean record running the store. They already have the clientele. I have a young man who can open it up. He's not a seller or anything. He just want to help these young people too. And I'm a retired teacher from Cincinnati. I wouldn't want a child coming to my classroom saying their mother and father, mother do this on the street. I'm not going to say. You already know because they paired. The women on the street and the dealers are paired. We need to help our young people get off these corners from Avondale, Paddock, all around. They have a legal cannabis store now, I'm told, right downtown. One on Montgomery Road, one in Hartwell. Please help me. I'm asking you all to help us get those young people off that corner. There's a building right down on Redding Road across from the Springdale Laundry or something. It's available. It's a government building. I would like to take this six point million that you all got from this railroad thing. I don't know all of the...

Thank you, Miss. Thank you very much. Our next speaker is Amber Kassem. Welcome.

Do I just start?

Your time will begin when you start speaking.

So if I just sit here, it doesn't count?

It would be great if you could use your time.

I was just admiring you. Okay, thank you. I've listened to what came out of this building and chambers yesterday. And I've heard things about my community and this situation that are not true. I've watched your selective outrage about private equity firms and guns. But I can only blame the people who are responsible for operating and overseeing the operations of this city. And that's all of you. Every single one of you. I blame this administration and the police that have allowed the problems that I vocalized for years to persist and get worse. I've done my job. The only job that I don't have authority or clearance to do is your job. I'm willing to do that job. If you guys need me on consult because your talent is so piss poor, because your operations are so shitty, I am happy to leave my job and come get the job done for you with the clearance and immunity that I need to get it done. Because none of you, frankly, can. Some of you don't even know what the difference is between a lost dog or an unleashed dog. And that's what I'm dealing with in front of me. So, Where is the enforcement of the impaction ordinance? Where is the redefinition of transitional housing? Where is the staff at our rec center? Instead, our rec center closes at 7 PM in Price Hill, where 60% of our population is under the age of 18. And you guys want to act like I'm being unfair. And I've heard you guys call me crazy.

Thank you so much. Our next speaker is Stanford Poole.

Has this council been on vacation just like the Republicans over in Washington, D.C.? I don't know why they got a vacation. I don't know why you got a vacation. You haven't done nothing all year. As I look at this council, this council is basically a Republican council all the way across. Not Democrats, because you ain't showed anything that a Democrat may do for their people. You're doing the same thing that Trump doing. You find black and brown people and women abusing them. You let them get spit on outside. You let one get thrown down on the ground for a sword. I'm surprised you don't say, I got a sword. But you people are supposed to be educated. You only respond to the rich. You go out in a high park, make sure they're OK. The Port Authority give them. Four million dollars. Makes sense of buying a church and another building that the 3C gonna buy. They put a million up and you put four million up. Who buying the building? That's the dumbest stuff I ever seen. And that's y'all. You give four million down on the river to a people that came here for two minutes and you gave them four million dollars. They already had their money. You're going to everybody that got money. You don't care nothing about nobody here. None of them, you care nothing about them. All you care about is a white agenda that they pulled in the screens from that wall to y'all. Now you're looking at your stuff, ain't pandering. Here she ain't looking at. You know the truth. We're to talk to him, talk to you to do something, Scotty to do something about this housing stealing black people property. You don't care about them. People came here with hundreds of houses. They ain't been in housing court. Receive a ship and take. Now build them from them. But every black person you get a chance, you take. And that's what you call. Mayor, we thought you going to.

Thank you very much. Our next speaker is Todd Zinsser. Welcome, Todd.

Good afternoon. My name is Todd Zinsser. I'm from West Price Hill. I have big concerns about the way the city is handling the railway money. This issue has been evolving since December of 2025 when it was reported that the city has been unable to spend the railway money in a timely way and instead they are depositing the unspent money, which is millions of dollars, in the city's investment pool. Now, there's nothing necessarily wrong with that, but it should stay in the trust, not in the city's investment pool. And the kicker is that the earnings from the railway money in the investment pool is being put into the general fund. Those are railway funds. It may not be according to the state law. It may not be according to accounting treatment. But those earnings are railway money. And the city is circumventing the restrictions on those funds. And all the city has to do is treat the railway money like a restricted fund. And for whatever reason, good or bad, they're not doing that. and you're circumventing the restrictions on the railway money. The trust, last year the trust earnings were 13.45%. The city's earnings were just about 6%, which is more than twice. You are increasing opportunity costs where those railway monies could be used to work the infrastructure and instead of the general fund, the way it should work. Thank you. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Jonathan Nordman. Welcome.

As the wants and needs of our communities are trampled by the desires of tech oligarchs, people are turning to their officials looking for someone that is willing to take on the fight for them, regardless of how uphill the battle may seem. We have pervasive camera systems littered throughout our communities, invasive data centers thrown in people's backyards, one of the largest in the world set to be just east of us here in Ohio. And the politicians that imagine themselves in seats of higher office have adopted a different approach than fighting for the needs of their constituents. This council has rolled out a $40 million red carpet to welcome in surveillance tech from Axon and Skydio. This tech does not make the job of policing any easier. They make an already inherently flawed system more prone to error and drastically decrease any accountability in our justice system. In our cities where we see black and brown neighborhoods oversaturated with policing, we expect tech that has been built and tested in apartheid and genocide to be fair and just accomplices in how people will be treated. We already have the component of law enforcement misusing and abusing these systems. We've seen an innocent woman misidentified by these cameras, then held for two weeks behind bars. Law enforcement, already granted immunity in many cases, now granted another layer of unaccountability. Because that is the goal. Violence first and then scapegoat the AI. We've seen it in practice overseas when the US bombed the school in Manab, Iran. We swept the lives of 120 children under the rug and shrugged it off as an AI mistake. We see these mistakes replicated on a wedding in Iran. More lives swept away. Now the AI and systems selecting policing targets here in Cincinnati are the same that selected targets of strikes in Gaza. The drones assisting in bringing down entire buildings, where in the neighborhood of Zaytoun, 100 people, 60 children were finally recovered from the rubble of these buildings to be given a mass funeral. That's who we've invited into our city while we watch our Haitian neighbors in Springfield shackled with ankle monitors and abducted, led to suicide from the injustice they face. Police misidentifying innocent people, telling them they can't take a breath without them knowing. Is this the future you envision for this city? I urge you to cancel these contracts. I urge you to fight for the people of Cincinnati.

Sierra Tia. I'm so sorry. Welcome.

Hi, everyone. I don't know really how this works because it's my first time. So I have a question. Do you guys like deliberate on which situations you guys are going to help with or like once everybody speak? How does this work?

Could we pause her time?

So this is public comment where anyone can sign up to address counsel for two minutes on any subject. The only suggested constraints is to not use racial epithets or profanity. This is your opportunity to be heard. It's not a Q&A session. And so you get two minutes to speak. We are silent during that time. And if you have some follow-ups, the various council members have a staff here who can chat with you.

Okay. So, like, I'll deliberate after everyone speak and then, like, no, they don't work on a situation?

Okay.

All right. I guess I'll just speak. Great. All right. Y'all not, do I gotta address you as your honor?

No, no, no, no, please.

All right. I am here today regarding the property of 1801 Faye Miller Street and the situation my grandmother is facing. My grandmother was given approximately 30 days to address the repairs and bring the property into compliance. respectfully ask for you guys to understand that 30 days is not a realistic amount of time for someone living on a fixed income to complete repairs that is estimated approximately two hundred seventy thousand dollars my grandmother does not have that available because she is on a fixed income and she's been reaching out for help. She has reached out to other community resources because she wants to address the problem with her property. but simply has not been able to retrieve any help. On top of the cost of the repairs, approximately $56,000 has been added to the property tax bill, which create an enormous financial burden and put the property in danger of being taken. I'm asking you guys to look at the situation, the circumstances of this case, not simply the condition of the property, but just my grandmother, The problem that she does not have the financial resources to complete the $270,000 worth of repairs in 30 days. I also want you guys to understand that this is a big that this is bigger than my grandmother. There are other longtime homeowners and low income communities, including predominantly black AFRICAN-AMERICAN NEIGHBORHOODS WHO ARE FACING SIMILAR SITUATIONS. PEOPLE HAVE REACHED, PEOPLE HAVE WORKED HARD FOR YEARS TO OWN THEIR PROPERTIES, BUT WHEN MAJOR REPAIRS ARE REQUIRED...

THANK YOU VERY MUCH. DOES ANY COUNCIL MEMBERS HAVE STAFF HERE TO HELP OUT? IF YOU COULD SHARE YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION WITH THE GENTLEMAN OVER THERE, HE'LL BE ABLE TO HELP YOU OUT. THANK YOU. NEXT SPEAKER IS HELENA JONES.

Good afternoon. My name is Helena Jones. I come down here to vote my opinion. This city is not right. This summer I went to hell because my landlord didn't even pay the mortgage last year. So I was without a landlord for a couple months. So they said a new owner is supposed to come and buy your property. Well, a lady came in May, put the note on our door, And I went to my case manager. I said, there ain't no real property owner. I said, she a scam. So they gave me a business note in June and gave my friend a business note. So she scammed me out $1,200. And then she turned around and gave me another business note in July. I went to court. She didn't have no paperwork that showed that she was the property owner. So after a pill ball, you coming over there taking bribe money for the resident. And my friend, she said she seen you. Two people seen you taking money for the resident, and they not no problem on them. You is a scam, and y'all gave me a bitching notice. Gave me a fire bitching notice. It ain't working. I'm still there. So God, see me fit for me to find something. You wrong, Aftell Peeleball. You is a scam. Taking bribe money. You ought to be shaming yourself. Coming in my neighborhood, taking bribe money for the resident. You ought to be shaming yourself. You not right. I'll be glad when you get up out of there. I'm not scared of you. You ain't right, Aftell Peeleball. If the shoe fit, I'm about to quit. If the shoe did not fit, I don't care about you, Aftell Peeleball. You are the dead, and you know what? You know what? I hate you. I hate you. You're not right. You don't care for black people. A lot of people out here on the street because of you lying and stuff. None of y'all ain't worth two dead flies. Y'all need to go to hell and rot.

Thank you. Jonathan A.D., welcome.

Thank you everybody for allowing me the time. I want to thank all of you who have shared your appreciation for the nature of KCB's work, serving Cincinnati taxpayers neighborhood by neighborhood. KCB is not a typical leverage support partner. Much of the work we do, if not done by KCB, would have to be performed by city employees. The items the city stands to lose include Don't Dump the Natty, taking 1.5 million pounds of waste from city spaces, Tree the CRC, providing tree canopy for city youth, Future Blooms, reducing blight and crime and increasing economic development by many city-owned buildings, and Green Spaces, creating urban pocket parks and high crime areas to reduce violent crime. KCB is a nimble and cost-effective workforce with thousands of volunteer hours, improving DPS, CRC, OSG, CPD, and others. Thank you to all of you who support KCB with the 98,000 leverage support allocation. Although we do appreciate council coming to our aid, KCB cannot operate these programs without some assurance of full funding. We will absorb $177,000 in personnel costs, eliminating our ability to operate vital programs. Our board of trustees will not allow us to continue down a path providing these basic city services without a path for funding these positions. Thank you council members James and Jeffries for authoring a motion to provide a pathway to KCB funding as a city partner. I understand the administrative burden this places on the city's budget department to find funding in the current fiscal year. It's like the burden placed on KCB to continue to operate these programs into this year without knowing if we would be funded. We continue to provide value to the city. Every day we continue to provide these programs without knowing if they will be funded or not jeopardizes our ability to positively impact the lives of our neighbors. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Stefan Pryor, welcome.

Good afternoon, council. Let's get to business. The Cincinnati police contact card, I give it a F-, a F-. CPD, they do search a lot of black people. On August 31st, Officer Fennec Johnson, Mr. Johnson, law and public safety chair, got some crack off the ground, got the suspect out the car, and put the crack in his hand. We need to see the body cam on that. Y'all need to study that and see why that officer did that. Why did he put the crack in his hand? He's supposed to put it in his car for evidence. The Crossroad Health Center on Liberty Street. Y'all purchased that. 3CDC got that. That should be no parking lot. It should be a help center to help people, especially the homeless. That's what there should be. Parking don't help people. That building can help people build something, help a soul. That's what it's all about. There's $50 million-plus and over to rhyme in different communities. Black people ain't got no jobs. They're sitting on corners. You have Mexicans come in, get money. They ain't in no union. They come in, take the money out the neighborhood. That's why you're dealing with poverty. And it's sad about that, y'all. Y'all got to do y'all jobs. Come on now. Y'all paying $4 million for a damn church. I thought the church was supposed to save lives, St. Francis Church. And all of a sudden, y'all putting in money. Y'all can be helping people. They're probably getting taken up on their receivership. Y'all can be helping that. But no, y'all don't. So that's why I thank God that I got this P.E. position to hope I get this CDC position to actually... scan the different council members and politicians and see if we can endorse them. But how can we keep endorsing the same trash that we keep getting dealt with over and over? It's trash, y'all. Help people. Quit helping me out damn self. Eugene Brown, welcome.

Yes, my name is Eugene Brown. I was down here a month ago, basically about a partial land that I have down on Republican and Elder. It's on Republic Street. No, yes, Republic. It's 1734 Republic Street. It's a lot, and somebody put a fence across it. I come down here a month ago and ask, Who do y'all know who done it? Blah, blah, blah. I've been dealing with this for a while. I called different council members and asked them, what's the problem? I can't get no answers from no one to say whose answer was or anything like that. You had me to call city council members. I called about three or four of them. Didn't receive nothing about it. So I'm coming down here and asking the same question. at 1734 Republic Street. Who put the fence? Who owned it? I own the property, but I don't get no respect for it. They dig on it, put a fence up it, but I can't get on it. But no one seems to tell me this. And I've been doing it, coming down. City Hall area since 2006, 2007. About the same thing. And no one can give me no answers. That's what I'm down here for. Second time I done came and asked about the slot that I own on Republic Street. So, again, who should I go to? Who should I ask? I gave all my information last time I was down here. No one contacted me, got in touch with me. I contacted Three or four city council members, no one got back with me. What am I supposed to do? I'm finished? Yes, I'm finished. But I still get no answer.

Just a quick clarifying question. Did you say this fence, when did this fence go up?

Did you say 2006? No. One went up 2006, and they put up a fence to stop people from going into the building that my property sit behind.

So what did they tell you in 2006?

They put it up because they didn't want nobody to go in the building that they was trying to fix up. I said, yes, but you informed me, didn't let me know nothing about it. Eventually, they took it down.

So is it the same person putting up the fence again?

I don't know. Well, I keep trying to find out. No, it's not the same person. Then I'm fixed up the buildings, trying to fix up the buildings on Vine Street side. I'm on Republic side. Okay. At 1734.

Sir, we should be able to very clearly answer for you. I don't know that we can tell you who put the fence up, but we can very clearly answer where the property lines are.

Oh, I can, too. I know where the property line is.

I'm just trying to clarify how we can help. Noah, can you meet with this gentleman and get specific information? Thank you, sir. I appreciate it. Thank you. Chuck Lorre, welcome.

Hello, I'm Chuck Laurie, resident of Clifton. I'm here to support the downtown energy benchmarking legislation. I got involved with this because I was asked in 2019 to be on the board of the Contemporary Arts Center to help them reach their 2030 district goals. and that's the reduction of energy use by 50% by 2030. And that 2030 district was very helpful. I attended many webinars on paths forward, and I learned that you needed to first enter your energy data into the Department of Energy portfolio manager, and it's a very easy process, and that's what this legislation is going to require medium and large buildings in downtown to do is to initially enter that data into the Energy Start portfolio website. Also, I've learned from Ollie Kroner that the city may work with Duke Energy to make this to be very easy to do. Duke used to be able to push a button and that data would go into the energy store portfolio manager. That would make it very easy for the buildings to comply. And you can't change what you can't measure, but the CAC over the last years, we got a grant for a level three audit. It indicated we needed new building controls. We got a grant from the state of Ohio to install those controls last year, and now we've shown a 32% reduction in our energy use. And we're still not done with all of it, but that offset the 20% increase of energy. So I encourage you to pass that legislation. It'll be easy, and it will reap benefits.

Thank you very much. Clifford Rucker, welcome.

How you doing? Good day to your mayor, vice mayor and the members of council. I previously reached out to the vice mayor regarding Cincinnati homeless crisis, but I have not received a response. I'm here today to pose a simple question. Why does homelessness remain a crisis in our city when millions of public tax dollars are flowing to homeless service providers? I was a participant in the shelter house program on February 19, 2024, and I was unlawfully exiting and not provided the services on January of 2026. I hold evidence regarding the shelter house program that shows unlawful exits from the program, inaccurate or potentially falsified paperwork, inaccurate case management, abandonment of participants on the street without the housing report promised to them. When vulnerable people enter a city-funded program seeking stability, they should not be cast back into the streets in a worse position than they was when they entered. This is bigger than my individual experience. I'm asking the city council to launch an investigation into the shelter house and other publicly funded providers to verify that they are fulfilling their contracts and following program requirements. I have a civil case against the shelter house, and I could provide physical documentation to support this directly to the clerk of council for the official record and for distribution to each council member. I've been left by myself with this problem. I'm not homeless no more. But the whole situation was just so bad, all these people using city council, city inspector, siding with the building. I got proof of everything. So they didn't know who they was dealing with. But I was made homeless, and I was so sad from this. But now I'm better, and I done reached out to you people who supposed to be here to help us. Homeless, y'all getting money for this. HUD getting money for this. It's called CO.

NEW SPEAKER Thank you, sir. Thank you. Our next speaker is on Zoom, Mike Yulhorn. Welcome.

MIKE YULHORN Hello. Can you hear me?

NEW SPEAKER We can. Go ahead.

MIKE YULHORN Great. Thank you. I hope you guys enjoyed your long break here from all these meetings. And I wonder, I want to pose this question actually not only to the City Council but to everybody in this room. Do you believe it is ethical for a company or corporation to invoice people just for being ready to provide something and people having access to it? Not actually providing anything of value, but just being ready to provide something. Who here thinks that that's an ethical thing to do? Well, that's exactly what Greater Cincinnati Water Works does. Interestingly enough, everybody points fingers when I bring up this point. I contacted city council members and had a conversation this morning with one of Ryan Johnson's, or James, Ryan James, one of his assistants about the issue, and he said that it's a Cincinnati Water Works issue. Cincinnati Water Works says it's the city council issue because the city council after all is the entity that passed the laws that allows them to analyze people for providing nothing when they have the water turned off with the meter and they're not providing anything other than just being ready to provide something i tried to contact the public utility commission they said they have no jurisdiction because greater cincinnati waterworks is owned by A city government. That I needed to contact the Ohio Attorney General's office or the city of Cincinnati Council. Talk to the Attorney General's office. They say that they have no jurisdiction because of the utility that's regulated by public utility.

Commission of Ohio so nobody wants to take on.

Help. Sorry, I didn't see the light there. Are we there? Thank you, sir. That's for two minutes. Our next speaker is Derek Blazenkame. Welcome, sir.

Oh, okay, it's my turn to talk. Derrick Blassingame, the people's champ, the biggest, the baddest to ever do it. So folks are contemplating that Derrick Blasking, the honorable Derrick D'Amico Blasking, born in the city of Cincinnati, 1986 to Yvonne Blassingame and Ricky Gaines, they think that I'm coming back to Cincinnati. So the question is, after all the work that I've done, the biggest, the baddest, the boldest to ever do it, what does Cincinnati have for me? homelessness, unemployment, depression, morbid, super morbidly obese. The city of Cincinnati made me 501 pounds. Now, the great city of Los Angeles had a path for me. The great city of Los Angeles has a program for me. The great city of Oakland, California has a plan for guys like me. The great city of Sacramento, California has a plan for guys like me. What does the city of Cincinnati have that will attract me back? Don't try to use my sisters or brothers. I love them, but they're doing their thing and I'm doing mine. IN THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES. GOD BLESS THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES. I HOLLOW.

NEW SPEAKER COOL. THAT ENDS THIS PORTION OF OUR CITIZENS FORUM. IT IS NOW 2.06 AND WE WILL IMMEDIATELY BEGIN THE BUSINESS PORTION OF CINCINNATI CITY COUNCIL AND THE CLERK WILL PLEASE CALL THE ROLL.

NEW SPEAKER COUNCIL MEMBER CRAMERDING. NEW SPEAKER COUNCIL MEMBER JAMES.

Here.

Councilmember Jeffries?

Here.

Councilmember Johnson?

Here.

Vice Mayor Kearney? Here. Councilmember Nolan? Here. Councilmember Owens?

Here.

Councilmember Walsh?

Here.

Councilmember Albee?

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. First things first, welcome back, everyone. I hope it was a great Labor Day weekend, and I am thrilled that we're all back and ready to get back to work. We have some important items in front of us today, so let's get to it. Moving to our agenda, we have a handful of appointments. Item one is the appointment of Brian Muthing to the Cincinnati Recreation Commission. Roll call on confirmation of the appointment, please.

Councilmember Kramerding?

Yes.

Councilmember James?

Yes.

Councilmember Jeffries?

Yes.

Councilmember Johnson?

Yes.

Vice Mayor Kearney? Yes. Councilmember Nolan?

Yes.

Councilmember Owens? Yes. Councilmember Walsh?

Yes.

Councilmember Albee?

Yes. Item two is the appointment of Jacqueline Nzinga-Byrd to the Over the Rhine South Special Improvement District. Roll call on confirmation of the appointment, please.

Councilmember Kramerding?

Yes.

Councilmember James? Yes. Councilmember Jeffries? Yes. Councilmember Johnson? Yes. Vice Mayor Kearney? Yes. Councilmember Nolan?

Yes.

Councilmember Owens? Yes. Councilmember Walsh?

Yes.

Councilmember Albee?

Yes.

Item 3 is the appointment of Gus Reichseeker to the Over the Rhine South Special Improvement District. Roll call on confirmation of the appointment, please.

Councilmember Kramerding?

Yes.

Councilmember James? Yes. Councilmember Jeffries? Yes. Councilmember Johnson? Yes. Vice Mayor Kearney? Yes. Councilmember Nolan?

Yes.

Councilmember Owens? Yes. Councilmember Walsh? Yes. Councilmember Albee?

Yes. Items 4 through 14 are as indicated. Item 15, we will now recognize Councilmember Albee and Owens who are recognizing the Cardinal Land Conservancy and expressing the support of the Mayor and Council for the Cardinal Land Conservancy's application for a grant from the 2026 NRAC District 2 Clean Ohio Greenspace Conservation Program to create a permanent green space within the City of Cincinnati. Council Members?

Thank you. No formal presentation. So it's exactly what you read off there, Mr. Mayor. Cardinal Land Conservancy is putting an application to turn a 4.33-acre property at McMicken and Marshall into a permanent green space. So excited to support this. They reached out and asked for the city's support on their application. Fingers crossed they get it, and we get more green space in Cincinnati.

Thank you. Ms. Owens?

Thank you. Absolutely. Whatever we can do to support our partners who are conserving land, it's certainly a critical portion of the Green Cincinnati Plan when we think about expanding. and protecting access to green space. So we are fully supportive of your work, and thank you so much for being a partner.

Further comments? Roll call on passage of the resolution, please.

Councilmember Kramerding?

Yes.

Councilmember James?

Yes.

Councilmember Jeffries?

Yes.

Councilmember Johnson?

Yes.

Vice Mayor Kearney? Yes. Councilmember Nolan?

Yes.

Councilmember Owens? Yes. Councilmember Walsh?

Yes.

Councilmember Albee? Yes. Passes.

Item 16 through 66 are as indicated. Item 67, before we proceed, just as a reminder, this item was before council at the last meeting, the vote on the suspension of the three readings failed. And so as a result, we are required to do three readings. This is the second of the three. So item 67, second reading, please.

An ordinance modifying the provisions of Chapter 761 chronic nuisance premises of the Cincinnati Municipal Code.

President Johnson, do you have a motion?

Yes, I do. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'd like to make a motion that we refer this back to committee, please. Thank you, sir. Is there a second?

Second.

Vice Mayor, thank you. Roll call on Councilmember Johnson's motion to refer this item back to Public Safety and Quality of Life Committee.

Council Member Kramerding?

Yes.

Council Member James?

Yes.

Council Member Jeffries?

Yes.

Council Member Johnson?

Yes.

Vice Mayor Kearney?

Yes.

Council Member Nolan?

Yes.

Council Member Owens? Yes. Council Member Walsh?

Yes.

Council Member Albee? Yes.

Thank you. Item 68 is a motion from Council Members Kramerding, James, Jeffries, Johnson, Nolan, and the Vice Mayor that 300,000 of the fiscal year 2024 impact award parenthetically previously allocated to strategies to end homelessness be moved to the Leverage Support Supplement. We further move that the City Manager's recommended leverage support allocation of $66,000 $667 TO THE CHILDREN'S CHOIR OF GREATER CINCINNATI BE AMENDED TO $50,000 AND THE $16,667 REMAINING BE MOVED TO THE LEVERAGE SUPPORT SUPPLEMENT. WE FURTHER MOVE THAT THE FOLLOWING ALLOCATIONS BE MADE USING THE LEVERAGE SUPPORT SUPPLEMENT. COUNCILMEMBER KRAMERDING, THIS IS A MOTION WITH YOUR NAME AT THE TOP. WOULD YOU LIKE TO INTRODUCE THIS ITEM FURTHER?

THANK YOU, MAYOR, I WILL. THIS IS THE FIRST OF MANY LEVERAGE SUPPORT ITEMS. I WILL SAY AT THE OUTSET AS I DID IN COMMITTEE THAT THERE WAS CHANGES TO THE LEVERAGE SUPPORT PROCESS BOTH IN PRIOR YEARS AND THIS YEAR. THE PROCESS TURNED OUT TO HAVE SOME PROBLEMS, AND I TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THAT AS CHAIR OF THE BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE. I SAID THAT IN AN E-MAIL TO ALL THE APPLICANTS, AND I SAID IT AND SAID IT AND WILL SAY IT AGAIN TO MY COLLEAGUES. AS WE WENT THROUGH THE PROCESS, I CAN SAY THAT WE HAD A LOT OF DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS, SOME FRUSTRATING CONVERSATIONS. I CAN SAY THAT NONE OF THE NINE OF US ARE, I THINK, HAPPY WITH THE RESULT. TOO MUCH NEED, TOO LITTLE RESOURCES. PERHAPS SOME OF US ARE MORE UNHAPPY THAN OTHERS, AND THEY'LL HAVE THE JOINT CHANCE TO EXPRESS THAT LATER. I'M GOING TO LEAVE THE SPECIFICS TO MY COLLEAGUES AS FAR AS WHAT THIS DOES. I DO THINK IT WAS A GOOD COMPROMISE, ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. BUT I'M MOST EXCITED, I THINK THERE'S CONSENSUS AMONG THE NINE OF US THAT WE DO NEED TO COMPLETELY REFORM HOW WE DO LEVERAGE SUPPORT, REALLY BREAK IT DOWN AND TALK ABOUT OUR AIMS AS A CITY. I think I've heard that from most of my nine colleagues, so I look forward to continuing that conversation, starting with council and then moving on and having that conversation between council and the administration.

Thank you. As is our custom, I'll call on the other co-sponsors. Any other co-sponsors like to make some comments? Mr. James?

Yes, just building off Councilman McCormick's point here, the leverage report efforts is in deep need of reformation, but I think that one thing I'll disagree with you on is I don't think you squarely need to shoulder this responsibility. As a council, it's exciting to go to each one of your offices and understand that we have a shared appetite to get this right, and we have not in the past. So I just wanted to... Commend you for your effort. Thank you as well to Vice Chair Evan Nolan. Thank you to all the folks who co-signed. And hopefully we can have a brighter tomorrow here. I think one instance of urgency that I'll add to this is we need to get started now. I don't think it's – we shouldn't let the stove get hot before we start talking about layering process. I think we need to work with the administration immediately. I know that I've already started a few conversations that have happened pretty warmly. So I'm excited to be a part of the process. So I want to further your commitment and add on that we have got to get this right, but we all shoulder this responsibility. Thank you. Thank you. Further comments?

Thank you. So we did a lot of things wrong, for sure. Mr. Chair, that's no shade on you. It's everybody was trying to find a better way of doing it. We put it on the administration, which we really shouldn't have, you know, it was really, we're the ones who really asked for the change in timing. Council asked for that change. And so that was on us. I totally agree with Councilmember James about that. That said, we did some things right. We set aside some funding. for leverage support organizations that either didn't get as much as they needed or didn't get anything. We didn't quite set aside enough, and so the good thing about this motion is it puts more into that so that we can help more leverage support organizations that are really helping the people of Cincinnati. just to say that there are a lot of things that are really good in this motion, and I really appreciate your leadership on this, Chair Kramer-Dink.

Thank you. Comments on this side? Seeing none, any non-cosponsors like to make any comments?

Mayor?

Ms. Owens.

Thank you. I want to thank, again, Chair Crammerning for guiding us through this year's leverage support broken process. While I may not agree with the outcome in its entirety, I appreciate the work in getting to this point. So today's motion comes after $17 million in requests and only $1.5 million available to allocate. No organization recommended through these adjustments is receiving their full request. And we are effectively spreading the peanut butter thin yet again. That's the reality that we are facing. And so this proposal uses $300,000 from fiscal year 24 Human Services Impact Award. Notice I said human services and that funding was specifically established to address housing instability and eviction prevention and redirects those dollars to support nonprofit operations through a broken leverage support process. I abstain from this motion and committee and I will be abstaining again today. I support the use of the $500,000 that the council intentionally set aside during the June budget process for leverage support. That's what those dollars were designed for. Where I fundamentally disagree is taking an additional $300,000 from funding meant to help residents when they are struggling to remain housed. Homelessness prevention, eviction prevention is homelessness prevention. The need has not gone away. In fact, it continues to grow. Compared to this time last year, eviction filings were up more than 6%. More than 1,1100 eviction cases are being filed every single month. Rents have continued to rise. And last year alone, 211 connected approximately 25,000, I will repeat, 25,000 Cincinnati residents with housing stabilization services. To put that number in perspective, that's roughly equivalent to every resident in Sailor Park, North Avondale, Avondale, East Walnut Hills, Kennedy Heights, Mount Auburn, Mount Lookout combined seeking help to remain in stable housing. And those are not statistics. Those are our neighbors. As we consider this motion and the legislation that follows, I hope we continue to keep those residents in mind. Because every dollar we redirect from housing stability is a dollar no longer available for those services that this council has consistently prioritized and supported. And so for that reason, I cannot fully support this approach. And therefore, I will be abstaining. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Ms. Owens. Any further comments? Seeing none, roll call on adoption of the motion, please.

Councilmember Kramerding?

Yes.

Councilmember James?

Yes.

Councilmember Jeffries?

Yes.

Councilmember Johnson?

Yes.

Vice Mayor Kearney? Yes. Councilmember Nolan?

Yes.

Councilmember Owens?

Abstain.

Councilmember Walsh?

No.

Councilmember Albee? Yes.

Thank you. Item 69 is also a motion from Councilmembers Albee, Walsh, and Kramerding that the administration present to committee within 30 days an overview of the city's use of surveillance technology including cameras, drones, and license plate readers, covering current deployment, data retention, and any data sharing agreements. We further move that the administration draft an ordinance for Council's consideration, including limits on data sharing and storage, a state of surveillance annual impact report, surveillance use policy, and Council approval of related contracts. Mr. Kramerding, may I have Ms. Albee introduce this item?

Yes. Thank you, Mayor.

Ms. Albee.

Thank you. And thank you to council members Kramerding and Walsh for co-sponsoring this. This is a hot topic right now, talking about surveillance. And frankly, it's an area where we need to strike a delicate balance. Because on one hand, we know that these tools, cameras, license plate readers, drones, body worn cameras are really important tools when it comes to solving crimes and hopefully preventing crimes. And I want to make that really clear. We have far too many instances of deaths, shootings, where having footage would have really helped put killers behind bars. But because we don't have the camera footage, we still have so many unsolved murders. And so that's why earlier this year, I was really proud of this council, we moved to allocate a million dollars specifically to put better cameras and lighting up in parks where kids have been shot. Because we know these tools are important to the safety of our community. But we need to balance that need with ensuring we're protecting our citizens, frankly, from government overreach and abuse of these very powerful technologies. We've heard horrifying stories, some of them told during public comment from across the nation, not in Cincinnati, around gross misuse of these surveillance technologies. We've heard stories about officers who are tracking women using their license plates, including stalking women when they're seeking constitutionally protected health care. And I want to be really clear about that point, because in 2023, Ohioans went to the ballot box and enshrined reproductive rights into our state constitution. And since then, we've become a safe haven for abortion access. And I want to make sure we can continue to do everything we can to protect women who are coming to Ohio, to Cincinnati specifically, to seek abortion care from other states and other law enforcement tracking them down as they seek their constitutionally protected health care. So this is the balancing act we need to strike to make sure that we are protecting all people on both ends of this discussion. So today's motion is a first step in that direction. Thank you again to my co-sponsors and everyone who voted this out of committee. Part one is really to start the discussion. Let's talk publicly about what type of surveillance technologies the city is using, what it looks like for data sharing, how long we're retaining that data, all of that information. Let's have a public transparent conversation. Because honestly, from everything I've heard from CPD and law, Cincinnati is doing it right. We have great oversight from our law department when it comes to these contracts. The data sharing is just for ourselves. Outside law enforcement and entities do not have access to our surveillance. Those are all good things, but let's talk about it. Let's answer questions publicly and have that discussion. And then part two of this is really looking at legislation. How can we enshrine these best practices that we're already doing into law to make sure that when we're not all here, that we have these laws protecting our people for years to come. So, again, I want to thank everyone for their support of this. I want to thank our law department and Cincinnati Police. This is an area I know we all take very seriously, and it's been a big topic of discussion and debate, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to have this motion move forward and continue this conversation so we can all do our jobs and provide oversight in this important area. Thank you. Thank you.

Mr. Kramer?

YEAH, THANK YOU TO COUNCILMEMBER ALBIE FOR LEADING ON THIS. IT IS APPRECIATED. I WANT TO POINT OUT AT THE OUTSET I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO KEEP REPEATING THAT CINCINNATI DOES NOT USE THE FLOCK CAMERAS THAT HAVE SEEM TO HAVE CAUSED MOST OF THE CONTROVERSY, AND IT'S MY HOPE THAT THIS MOTION WILL AVOID SOME OF THE CONTROVERSY AND OTHER ISSUES THAT HAVE AFFECTED OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE NOW THEY'RE PUTTING bags over cameras. I want it to be clear what Cincinnati is doing, and it is also my understanding that the Cincinnati Police Department is using best practice. And moving forward, I want to make sure that we continue to use technology to deter crime and interact down shooters and do whatever is necessary, including license plate readers, drones, and cameras. All are important tools And I, you know, will not support anything that in any way handcuffs our police or prevents them from doing their jobs.

Thank you. Further comments? Mr. Johnson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the effort here. I do respect the makers of the motion. We do have to make sure that we are participating in the best practices in Cincinnati, and we are. as I stated earlier, and I've stated before, officers that have misused this authority. I know two of them that went to the penitentiary as a result of that. So Cincinnati is participating in the best practices. The reality is is that we must stay 10 steps ahead of the bad guys, and the bad guys have surveillance, the bad guys have technology. As Mr. Kremerding stated, I will not support anything that eliminates tools in the tool belt for the Cincinnati police to continue to do the outstanding job that they've done. In addition to that, the reality is that there are things, there are surveillances, there are investigations that the citizens of Cincinnati do not need to know about, this body doesn't need to know about, because of the sensitive nature in which the Cincinnati police operate. I understand that's a little disturbing to some people, but crime is solved as a direct result of the investigations that Cincinnati police take part in. As a member of the Cincinnati police SWAT team for almost 25 years, there were things that we did that the other members outside of the SWAT team had no knowledge of. So to believe that the Cincinnati police have to show everything that they do, excuse me, they do in solving crime, that's not a reality. It's not something we need to expect, and it's not something that citizens of Cincinnati need to expect to believe that they need to know everything. So anything that handcuffs the Cincinnati police, I will not participate in, nor will I support. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Further comments?

So I just want to say I'm really, you know, thankful that this is only 30 days. That means not at the next public safety meeting, but the one after that. This report should be ready. I think we need to move quickly on this. Cameras are important. Yes, we don't want to overreach. Let's see if we're using best practices, and let's do it quickly so that we can move forward.

Thank you. Anything else? Seeing none, roll call on adoption of the motion, please.

Councilmember Cramerding?

Yes.

Councilmember James?

Yes.

Councilmember Jeffries?

Yes.

Councilmember Johnson?

Yes.

Vice Mayor Kearney?

Yes.

Councilmember Nolan?

Yes.

Councilmember Owens?

Yes.

Councilmember Walsh? Yes. Councilmember Albee? Yes.

Item 70 is a motion from Councilmembers Albee, Walsh, Cramerding, Owens, and Nolan that the administration provide a report within 90 days regarding all city-owned buildings and properties currently subject to third-party lease agreements. Mr. Kramerding, may I have Ms. Albee introduce this item? Yes, please. Thank you. Ms. Albee.

Thank you. This one's pretty straightforward. The city owns a bunch of properties across town, and many of them are being used by some of these arts, cultural, civic purposes, and third parties are running them. So really just asking the administration for a rundown of what those buildings are, what are kind of the unique terms in those lease agreements, WE'VE HAD SITUATIONS IN THE PAST WHERE SOME OF THESE STAKEHOLDERS HAVE COME TO COUNCIL AND ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THESE AGREEMENTS, AND WE DIDN'T NECESSARILY HAVE A LINE OF SIGHT INTO SOME OF THE DETAILS, SO THIS IS REALLY MEANT TO JUST HELP EDUCATE US COUNCILMEMBERS AND PROVIDE A LITTLE BIT MORE INFORMATION ABOUT HOW WE'RE WORKING WITH THESE THIRD PARTIES IN OUR CITY-OWNED BUILDINGS.

THANK YOU. FURTHER COMMENTS? ROLL CALL ON ADOPTION OF THE MOTION, PLEASE.

COUNCILMEMBER KRAMERDING?

YES.

COUNCILMEMBER JAMES? YES. COUNCILMEMBER JEFFRIES?

Yes.

Councilmember Johnson? Yes. Vice Mayor Kearney? Yes. Councilmember Nolan?

Yes.

Councilmember Owens? Yes. Councilmember Walsh? Yes. Councilmember Albee? Yes.

Item 71 is an amended motion from Councilmembers James, Crammerding, Jeffries, President Johnson, and Vice Mayor Kearney that $840,000 of the available unspent balance of the fiscal year 2024 Human Services Fund impact award previously allocated to strategies to end homelessness be redirected to support the following organizations, services, and initiatives. Mr. Kramerding, may I have Mr. James introduce this item? Thank you. Mr. James.

All right. Thank you so much to my colleagues who supported this package. This took real work, collaboration, compromise, and consensus building. This is my second time leading the omnibus here as a member of city council. Each one has added gray to my hair and lines to my face here. So excited to get another one out of the chamber. There's a misconception, as Council Member Crammerty mentioned on committee, that because we're all Democrats, we are automatically going to agree here. That is simply not the truth. Many of us are miles apart when it comes to our priorities and how we believe public dollars should be spent. But in my time in council, two things have been undeniably clear. Cincinnati residents need greater economic stability and our neighborhoods need greater public safety. This package is us executing on both those priorities. We established one rule in building this team of consensus or this train of support is that if these dollars were going to be redirected from the impact award, They had to be solely focused on protecting our most underserved residents who are trying to survive and thrive during this cost of living crisis. We supported a few programs that were up and downstream of support for those facing houselessness. Another titanic stressor here is we are in a $30 million deficit. If we had unlimited dollars to hand out, we would certainly do so. But just please, to the public, understand that there is an amount of scarcity here. So we just can't fund every project that we're so, so passionate about. This marks another investment to the affordability fund through home repair services. No home in our neighborhood should be allowed to fall into visible disrepair or unsafe conditions simply because the family living there cannot afford a critical repair. Here's a crazy idea. What if the most affordable home is the one that your family is already living in, the home that is not foreclosed on, not lost because of unaffordable repair, and not purchased in bulk by developers or institutional investors? Sometimes the most effective housing policy is helping people remain safely and affordably in their homes. So I'm so excited here to support the Home Repair Services Fund here at City of Cincinnati. We are bringing back CCY, which is just so exciting, under the umbrella of our used-to-work initiatives owned and operated here at the City of Cincinnati. It is inexcusable that teenagers in neighborhoods like Roselawn, West End, my home neighborhood, Bond Hill, and Avondale are in the backyards of billion-dollar companies but have no clear path to opportunities in working with these agencies. This is not only about summer jobs or keeping young people off the streets. It's about connecting them to careers, skills, relationships, and possibilities. I'm so excited to support this. We are also supporting City Gospel Mission's Job Van Initiative because it offers more than one-time intervention. It connects people with case management, job skills, employment, dignity, and purpose. We are also protecting the YWCA program. that is currently facing a cut and was currently facing a layoff before this injection of funds supporting survivors of domestic violence who also live with disabilities. As someone with a disability, this is something that is deeply personal to me. People with disabilities are too often overlooked, ignored, disparaged. Cincinnati must remain as a pillar of care for women confronting these dual systems of marginalization. We are also supporting Cat House. You know, I won't belabor the point too much. We're also supporting Free Store Food Bank. There's too many residents in Cincinnati that don't know where their next meal is going to be coming from. We are investing in youth savings accounts, which I'm so, so, so excited about as an ex-employee here of the United Way. It's a very powerful and exciting economic mobility initiative here to make sure our young people are connected to economic mobility at that young, vulnerable age. This omnibus all supports residents that are facing economic harm. to everyone knocked off their feet due to the affordability crisis or wondering why, where there is room in the economy in a city we all love. Our message is simple. You belong here. You deserve dignity. You deserve stability. And your city has not forgotten about you. Thank you so much to my co-sponsors. And thank you so much for everyone who contributed to this forward progress for our city. Thank you, Mr. James.

Further comments?

Yes.

Vice Mayor, then Ms. Albee.

So first of all, thank you, Councilmember James. He's amazing at pulling omnibus bills together. We're going to make this your job at every juncture. It really helps a lot to see what everybody's interested in, compassionate about, and how we can all work together. So thank you. Excellent leadership. Just got to hand it to you for that. It takes a lot of patience and work. I want to mention Free Store Food Bank because I have to recuse myself from anything that has to do with that, only because my husband's on the board, not because I don't love that organization. And so that's the reason that we had to take Free Store Food Bank out of this omnibus, because it wasn't there, but then I would not be able to vote for it. So thank you for all you said. Not much needs to be added. I'll say the drum I usually beat is that we've got two sides, two different areas that we have to support. We have to support people in emergency situations, people who are experiencing homelessness, violence, who are hungry. All of those human services are vitally important. On the other side, we also have to move our families forward. Our poverty rate here in Cincinnati is unacceptable. It's more than 25%. Since we've been on council, it's actually risen. And so we are going in the wrong direction. We know that in the black community, the poverty rate is more than 33%. That means more than one in three people are experiencing poverty in the city. And so we know that we have to attack poverty. There are many discussions about workforce development, which I really appreciate. And this particular motion, Youth to Work, getting our young people involved, in jobs and learning about world of work and getting those soft skills that they need to be successful in the world of work, to have mentors to help them make good choices, and to have life skills workshops, which are our Youth to Work program involved. So expanding that to CCY, which our community all across the city has called for us to bring back, like Councilmember James, Councilmember Johnson are helping with that. I know Councilmember Jeffries is looking for ways of funding coming up. And so that kind of support is very important. And this is, you know, working with our young people is just vitally important as we move people forward, get folks out of poverty. We've got to do that. We've got to make that, you know, one of the things we focus on. So thank you. Thank you for this motion, for this omnibus motion. Thank you.

Ms. Albee?

Yeah, thank you. I appreciate everyone's hard work on these last few dollars they get out to initially finish the budget cycle this year. So thank you for that. I'm excited to see and hear Women Helping Women and YWCA be included. I think you all have heard me many, many times over the past year highlight that domestic violence and intimate partner violence is on the rise. here in Cincinnati and across Ohio, so investing in these programs is vitally important at this moment. Just one other thought I wanted to share on this is there's at least three, I think, city-run programs, Youth to Work, the Home Repairs and Child Savings Accounts, I think it would be great to get either a presentation to council or a report on the status of all those various programs so we actually know are the dollars moving out the door, are the dollars still to be spent, how it's being spent, what the oversight looks like. I'm thrilled to hear, you know, more investment into youth employment, but I also think a critical partner at the table is to have, you know, the business community, where are they, how are they supporting that. There's other groups like the Workforce Council of Southwest Ohio We've been lucky enough to attend a few of their breakfasts in this area they're interested in helping in. So in the hopes of making the most out of the resources we have, I think we really owe it to ourselves and to our residents to have kind of public discussions and really be bringing all the vital stakeholders to the table to make these programs the best that they can be. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Jeffries.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and thank you, Councilmember James, for pulling this together. Never easy. I just wanted to touch on one item here, the jobs ban, a little bit more for context for people. There has been a jobs ban downtown, Generosity 513, which has been mostly over the Rhine and downtown. This would be separate. It's a partnership with City Gospel and Keep Cincinnati Beautiful to bring that jobs ban to the neighborhoods. And essentially how it works, is they go around and they offer to folks who are panhandling opportunity to clean up trash, they get cash for the day, they get a lunch, they also get access to services. So if they need to have referrals to things like drug programs or job programs or anything else, then they have access to it. So it's a win for our neighborhoods, which means cleaner streets in our neighborhood, and it's a win for those who need services and opportunity.

Thank you so much. Further comments? Seeing none, roll call.

Mayor.

Yes, Ms. Owens. Sorry about that. Thank you.

Thank you. So let me first start in saying that 60% of our renters, our residents in Cincinnati are renters. And so keeping them in their home is actually about affordability. Let me also say that housing stability determines everything else in terms of mobility. Economic mobility is a part of that. So let's break that down. That means if you're going to eviction court, for example, you're probably missing work as a result of being in courtroom B. And if you're fully evicted, you're probably also not able to show up at work, and you're going down a path that probably leads to impoverishment. So this motion would actually redirect $840,000 that is currently dedicated to preventing housing instability and eviction toward a variety of other purposes that have not been clearly communicated to counsel, have not been demonstrated as urgent needs before this body, and in several cases did not come through the leverage support process. And let me remind everyone, eviction happens every single day in courtroom B. And so that should give us, all of us, pause. So we're talking about funding intended to support families who are choosing between diapers and rent, families stretching every dollar in their SNAP budget, families who are one unexpected car repair away, one medical bill, or one missed paycheck away from losing their housing. We're talking about those who are facing the affordability crisis head on. And so we're defunding the most vulnerable residents in our community. And again, let's be reminded that the data is clear that most people showing up in eviction court, and Mayor, you and I come from the clerk of courts and we remember this, that they're black women, they're single moms, and they're also trying to get their kids to school. So taking $840,000 from that purpose is not a minor budget adjustment. I believe it's a major policy failure. And making that choice without a clear understanding of where much of this funding is ultimately going is fiscally undisciplined, in my estimation, and potentially harmful to the residents who rely on those services. And it may be those same residents who are showing up in eviction court. Nearly all of the funding in this proposal would fund programs that either fall outside the purpose of preventing housing instability and have not been requested by the administration through the normal budget process, or would be administered by outside entities without counsel having a clear understanding of the final use of those dollars. And so let me be clear, I have no issues supporting organizations like Center for Addiction Treatment, Women Helping Women, and the YWCA. Those organizations participated in the leverage support application process, demonstrated a need, and were included in the alternative approach sponsored by Councilmember Walsh and myself. And so my concern is broader than any one organization. This is about the cost impact that comes with this motion. And again, here we are picking and choosing. And so my concern is that this council is increasingly being asked to approve funding allocations without a full understanding of how those dollars will be used, what outcomes they are expected to achieve, and how success will be measured. This is not effective budgeting, nor is it clear policy decisions. And it is especially troubling when the source of that funding is money specifically reserved to keep families housed. And again, we're talking about the most vulnerable. We're talking about people that show up in courtroom B at the most traumatic time of their lives. And so what are we doing here? This money did not revert to the general fund, as some might think. It remained in the Human Services Fund because this council recognized that housing instability and eviction prevention continues to be significant challenges in our community. And so this motion actually goes back on that promise. And that is beyond disappointing. And before we cast this vote I want to remind my colleagues of something that we did less than four months ago. Every member of this council voted in favor of a resolution affirming our commitment to protecting this funding and providing a backstop for the service providers within our regional continuum of care which is pivotal to supporting housing insecure populations. Every member of this council and again Eviction prevention is homelessness prevention. And today we are being asked to do the opposite. Today we are being asked to redirect funding away from the very purpose we unanimously agree it should serve. If we approve this motion, we are not just moving dollars, we are undermining a commitment that this council made publicly and unanimously one month ago. And so I believe our votes should mean something. I believe our commitments should mean something. And I believe funding that was set aside to prevent homelessness should remain focused on just that, preventing homelessness. And our priorities, our policies and priorities should always be clear. And so for those reasons, I cannot support this motion.

Thank you, Ms. Owens.

Mr. Nolan. Thank you, Mayor. Councilmember Owens' comments are compelling to me as someone who's been to courtroom B to see what happens down there and have volunteered myself a few times. The need is clear and present. The investment of those dollars creates an incredible return for the residents of Cincinnati who really need our support the most. That said, I do see the omnibus motion before us as a good investment of city dollars. While I prefer to see more dollars put into rental assistance and access to council, I am excited about the partnerships that are before us. I'm particularly excited about the additional dollars that can be invested into children's savings accounts as we continue to build that program with a goal of setting money aside for every child in the city of Cincinnati. So my support for this and the support of this council does not absolve the city and council from the responsibility that we have to our citizens who are facing housing stability. And we need to continue to find the dollars to invest in those programs that provide the best returns among any of the dollars that we spend in this city. Thank you.

Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Vice Mayor.

So thank you for the comments. Let me just say, so the money that has been reallocated or proposed in this motion, what was money that was not used in 2024 for the purpose that it was allocated for and so what we have to do on council is to say what is the need at this point and let's look to the future at future needs and then create decisions based on that. So we know that these funds are needed now. They're needed now for the YWCA. They're needed now for Women Helping Women. We know for the YWCA, for example, there's a domestic violence program specifically for people with disabilities that is at risk. We know this is needed to expand youth to work to year-round jobs. You know, school has started. The jobs are needed now. The funding is needed now, not later. We have our young people who are struggling, really need direction, need jobs, need mentors, need help. And so we have to do that. The City Gospel Mission partners with Keep Cincinnati Beautiful with a jobs fan to help people who are experiencing homelessness. You know, we have so many city home repair services that Councilmember James mentioned to keep people in their homes are very important. The Children's Savings Account will definitely help our young people going forward. And so what are we going to do about rental assistance? First of all, is a need right now? No, it's not right now. We have the funds now. We checked. We have the funds through January for rental assistance. Then what are we going to do? At the end of this month or sometime next month we're going to hear about the carryover. I say we decide today to allocate some of that carryover money for rental assistance so to make sure that when January comes we do have that money for rental assistance which is vitally important. We don't need it today, we will need it in the future and we have to make sure that we have it in the future. But today, we're voting on what's needed now, what's vitally important and needed right now. And so that is what this motion is for.

Thank you. Further comments?

Mayor, this will be my last comment, but let me just say, you know, we voted to put this money back into the intended purpose. That's what we did. Very clear. And I will also say that everyone People are showing up in courtroom B every single day. And I doubt a family who, if we had rental assistance to support their housing stabilization, which supports everything else in their life, would really care to hear that argument. So, for me, again, this becomes very clear about policy decisions, about being disciplined with our budget, and about understanding the needs right now. The data is very clear. Look it up, United Way, 25,000 people. The number one reason people are calling 211 is for housing resources. I don't think you can refute that.

Thank you, Ms. Ellens. Any final comments? Mr. Mayor. Mr. Johnson, then Mr. James. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It's a little disingenuous to give the perception that we have completely done away with rental assistance. It's completely disingenuous to act as if we do not have resources available to assist those in need. All of us on this dais would love to be in a position to make sure everybody in the city of Cincinnati that's in need gets what they need. I believe that's the heart of everybody on this dais. But we need to not act like we don't make adjustments all the time in city government when adjustments are necessary. As the vice mayor stated, there are resources available through January. We will make decisions about that. This here, when we talk about homelessness and things of that nature, when people are gainfully employed and people have skills and we prayerfully CCY and other programs will develop those skills of people to where they are able to make a livable wage. So, you know, I think it's a little disingenuous to give the perception that we are completely bankrupting rental assistance. That's not the case in January when it's necessary to address that again. I believe this council will do what's right and make sure that we are assisting as much as we can. So I would like to thank Mr. James for his creativity, his collaboration, in bringing this to where it is. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, President Johnson. Mr. James.

Yeah, I just, I just, I do want to just, you know, I want to expand a comment that I found disingenuous in Council Member Irwin's statement. You know, access to council is not a good program, it is a great program. You know, there's no one on this council to challenge that. Last time we led an omnibus, we gave that organization or that movement a quarter million dollars, which it frankly deserved. But I will say that focusing on other priorities in these upstream systemic needs that our residents are, frankly, are in so many crises happening at one time, to think that every time we focus on another priority that we are defunding, the word defunding access to council, especially when this money was never committed or restricted to that particular program, It is disingenuous, and I understand emotions are high, and I understand that not everyone was able to be made whole, but we're at a $30 million deficit, and circumstances are tough. I'm excited to have supported the priorities that we were able to, individuals with disabilities matter in our community. Feeding our residents matters, making sure that we have not just prevention in the face of crisis, but upstream economic mobility initiatives and connecting our young people to jobs they don't ever think they'd be able to have matters in our community. So no, supporting these priorities is not a defunding a particular program, and frankly one that we're all passionate about with Access to Counsel.

Mayor.

One moment. Who else would like to make a comment? I'm going to ask now, and then ask for folks to forever hold your peace on this item. So I see Mr. Walsh, I heard from Ms. Ellens. Does anyone else want to make a comment? This is your final call. I no longer believe our comments are pushing this issue forward. I believe that we have all made our decision already, and so I'm not seeing a lot of value from these conversations. I'm going to call on Ms. Owens and Mr. Walsh, unless someone else wants to say something. Seeing none, Mr. Walsh and then Ms. Owens. Well, thank you, Mr.

Chair, for calling this. I mean, we had this debate on Tuesday. I don't appreciate the closing comments here challenging the genuineness of Councilmember Owens and what her statement is. So I'm not going to rehash where we've already been, but let's be clear. We do not need to reallocate this money. All these programs can be funded through many other sources. The implication that this money has to be reallocated today is disingenuous. The good use of it, et cetera, et cetera, that's wonderful, but this money doesn't have to get reused. And so we are choosing to defund what has already been, by ordinance, set aside for homeless prevention. I don't think we need to get into the point of saying that's not true. You've heard the rest of my commentary. I'm going to be quiet from here, but I just don't appreciate those comments there.

Thank you. I would just call on everyone on the dais to remember the importance of disagreeing without being disagreeable. I will now allow Ms. Owens her time, but I would very much encourage all of us to move on past item 72, or 71, excuse me. Ms. Owens?

Thank you, Mayor. Yeah, this is a philosophical and principle debate here. But I do take pause with saying it's disingenuous to fight for our residents who have critical needs right now in an ecosystem that we decided to support that is relevant to the same services. So I do take pause with that, and it is taking money away from that. So...

Thank you. Okay, roll call on adoption of the motion in item 71.

Councilmember Kerr-Meading?

Yes.

Councilmember James?

Yes.

Councilmember Jeffries?

Yes.

Councilmember Johnson?

Yes.

Vice Mayor Kearney?

Yes.

Councilmember Nolan?

Yes.

Councilmember Owens?

No.

Councilmember Walsh? No. Councilmember Albee.

Thank you. Item 72, Vice Mayor, you are recused, please. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Item 72 is a motion from Councilmember Albee that $50,000 of the fiscal year 2024 impact award previously allocated to strategies to end homelessness or an alternative source advised by the city administration be used as a leverage support supplement to the Free Store Food Bank in support of food access and homelessness prevention? Mr. Kramerding, may I have Ms. Albee introduce this item?

Yes, please.

Ms. Albee.

Thank you. This was teed up already by Councilmember James. Free Store Food Bank obviously is one of our biggest and strongest partners when it comes to providing emergency food access. their application for leverage support was under the inclusion category specifically because one of their key programs is providing culturally relevant food for our immigrant neighbors, which when we host roundtables and discussions, and thank you, Mr. Mayor, for being part of those, we hear oftentimes food access is a major need. for these neighbors. And beyond even our immigrant neighbors, we know that food pantry visits have been up over the past 12 months. Unfortunately, there are decisions and budget cuts being made at the federal level that have had devastating impacts here locally. Add to that the increased costs at the grocery store, increased costs when you go to pay your rent and utility bills. It's really put pressure. And so helping put food on the table for families is incredibly important right now. So glad. I know there was a little bit of, you know, in that Omnibus, now this. I'm glad this is going to get over the finish line here because it's critically important.

Thank you. Further comments? Seeing none. May I? Ms. Owens, please. Ms. Owens, I think part of the challenge is I can't see your lights because of Mr. Jeffrey's monitors. No worries, I'll do like this. There we go. I'm just kidding.

Go ahead, Ms. Owens. The only reason I'm going to support this, again, we love the Free Start Food Bank, but again, the previous motion gutted everything that was supposed to go back into housing stabilization, and so this is what's left. And so, therefore, I will be consistent with my vote from committee.

Thank you. Any further comments? Seeing none, roll call on adoption of the motion, item 72.

Councilmember Kermiting?

Yes.

Councilmember James?

Yes.

Councilmember Jeffries?

Yes.

Councilmember Johnson? Yes. Councilmember Nolan?

Yes.

Councilmember Owens?

Yes.

Councilmember Walsh?

No.

Councilmember Albee?

Yes. Could someone retrieve, oh, there she comes. Welcome back, Vice Mayor. Item 73 is a motion from Councilmembers James and Jeffries that the administration identify a funding source for Keep Cincinnati Beautiful to ensure the continuation of their citywide programs for fiscal year 27. We further move that the administration prepare a report to explore funding mechanisms outside of the leverage support process for this organization moving forward. Mr. Kramerding, may I have Mr. James introduce this item? Yes. Mr. James.

Absolutely. Keep Cincinnati Beautiful at this point is not an organization that needs to get funded or defunded on the shuffling of the cards. It is an organization that is delivering a promise, keeping Cincinnati Beautiful to our residents, particularly the initiative Don't Dump the Natty. This organization has become a quasi-governmental service. It's one that we're marketing. It's not just one that we're proud of. It's one that we're collaboratively marketing on our website and things like that. I think this steps over a boundary that makes it a quasi-governmental surface. I think that we should explore opportunities just for clarity for the public. This motion doesn't necessarily strong-arm money out of the city. What it does is it challenges us and the administration to take a look in the mirror and see if we can find permanent funding for this organization and these initiatives. So I just want to drive clarity there, and I'll defer to my co-signer here.

Thank you. Mr. Jeffries. I think Councilmember James said it all.

Thank you.

Great. Any further comments? Mr. Walsh.

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. When I joined council, we had a pretty hard and fast rule that you had to identify sources before we voted on these, and we've gotten more lax on that in the last year or so, so I've just decided that I will be voting against anything that doesn't have a source identified. I don't think that's fair to the administration, and I think it makes a free-for-all here, so I will be a no, but that is not any sign of opinions about KCB.

Thank you. Further comments? Mr. Cramer.

Yeah, I think this is an example of when we're talking about moving forward, reforming leverage support. Because if there are partners out there that are truly providing a quasi-government function year in and year out, they should not be in the leverage support process coming down lobbying council every year. They should be part of our regular budget. COUNCIL SHOULD IDENTIFY THOSE IN THE PRIORITY BUDGET. THE MANAGER WILL OR WILL NOT PUT THEM IN THE BUDGET, AND THE COUNCIL CAN REACT. SO WITH AN ORGANIZATION LIKE KEEP CINCINNATI BEAUTIFUL, I BELIEVE THAT'S A MUCH BETTER PROCESS.

THANK YOU, MR. KRAMERDING. FURTHER COMMENTS? SEEING NONE, ROLL CALL ON ADOPTION OF THE MOTION, PLEASE.

COUNCIL MEMBER KRAMERDING?

YES.

Councilmember James? Yes. Councilmember Jeffries?

Yes.

Councilmember Johnson? Yes. Vice Mayor Kearney? Yes. Councilmember Nolan?

Yes.

Councilmember Owens? Yes. Councilmember Walsh?

No.

Councilmember Albee?

Yes. Item 74 and 75 are as indicated. Item 76, first reading.

An emergency ordinance authorizing the city manager to apply for and accept a grant of in-kind services from public allies AmeriCorps valued at up to $130,000 to provide two full-time contracted positions TO CARRY OUT KEY PORTIONS OF THE 2023 GREEN CINCINNATI PLAN.

ROLL CALL AND SUSPENSION.

COUNCILMEMBER CRAMERDING.

YES.

COUNCILMEMBER JAMES.

YES.

COUNCILMEMBER JEFFRIES.

YES.

COUNCILMEMBER JOHNSON.

YES.

VICE MAYOR KEARNEY.

YES.

COUNCILMEMBER NOLAN.

YES.

COUNCILMEMBER OWENS. YES.

COUNCILMEMBER WALSH.

YES.

COUNCILMEMBER ALBIE.

YES.

MR. CRAMERDING. MAYOR, I'LL DEFER TO MY COLLEAGUE COUNCILMEMBER OWENS IF SHE'S WILLING. MS. OWENS.

What item, please?

Oh, I'm sorry. Item 76.

Oh, wow. OES, AmeriCorps, helping to produce our Green Cincinnati Plan, I'm sure. So, we always support the additional effort from organizations. Again, I think the Green Cincinnati Plan is a true demonstration of what collaboration across sectors looks like, and it is a long-term goal for us to continue to go after reducing our emissions by 50% in 2030 and by 2050 being carbon neutral. So I can certainly appreciate the comments from earlier today and public comment when we think about these larger policy areas that will help us get there as well.

Further comments on item 76? Seeing none, roll call on passage.

Councilmember Kramerding.

Yes.

Councilmember James.

Yes.

Councilmember Jeffries.

Yes.

Councilmember Johnson. Yes. Vice Mayor Kearney. Yes. Councilmember Nolan.

Yes.

Councilmember Owens.

Yes.

Councilmember Walsh.

Yes.

Councilmember Albee.

Yes. Roll call on emergency.

Councilmember Kramerding.

Yes.

Councilmember James?

Yes.

Councilmember Jeffries?

Yes.

Councilmember Johnson? Yes. Vice Mayor Kearney? Yes. Councilmember Nolan?

Yes.

Councilmember Owens? Yes. Councilmember Walsh?

Yes.

Councilmember Albee?

Yes. Item 77, first reading, please.

An emergency ordinance amending ordinance number 76-2026 to increase the grant amount from the Ohio Department of Health Get Vaccinated Ohio Public Health Initiative to $315,000. Roll call on suspension. Councilmember Kramerding.

Yes.

Councilmember James.

Yes.

Councilmember Jeffries.

Yes.

Councilmember Johnson.

Yes.

Vice Mayor Kearney. Yes. Councilmember Nolan.

Yes.

Councilmember Owens. Yes. Councilmember Walsh.

Yes.

Councilmember Albee. Yes.

Mr. Kramerding. Mayor, this takes us to the grant section of our agenda. The next five items will all be grants. This grant is coming out of our Board of Health to the Ohio Department of Health for vaccinations.

Further comments? Roll call on passage, please.

Council Member Cramerding?

Yes.

Council Member James?

Yes.

Council Member Jeffries?

Yes.

Council Member Johnson? Yes. Vice Mayor Kearney?

Yes.

Council Member Nolan?

Yes.

Council Member Owens? Yes. Council Member Walsh?

Yes.

Council Member Albee? Yes.

Roll call on emergency.

Council Member Cramerding?

Yes.

Council Member James?

Yes.

Council Member Jeffries?

Yes.

Council Member Johnson? Vice Mayor Kearney? Yes. Council Member Nolan?

Yes.

Councilmember Owens? Yes. Councilmember Walsh?

Yes.

Councilmember Albee?

Yes. Item 78, first reading, please.

An ordinance authorizing the city manager to apply for, accept, and appropriate a grant of up to $225,406 from the Ohio Department of Health Bureau of Health Preparedness.

Roll call on suspension.

Councilmember Kramerding.

Yes.

Councilmember James.

Yes.

Councilmember Jeffries.

Yes.

Councilmember Johnson.

Yes.

Vice Mayor Kearney. Yes. Councilmember Nolan.

Yes.

Councilmember Owens. Yes. Councilmember Walsh.

Yes.

Councilmember Albee.

Yes. Mr. Kramerding. This is another health grant to provide for emergency preparedness for bioterrorism and infectious disease outbreaks.

Further comments?

Roll call on passage, please.

Councilmember Kramerding.

Yes.

Councilmember James.

Yes.

Councilmember Jeffries.

Yes.

Councilmember Johnson.

Yes.

Vice Mayor Kearney. Yes. Councilmember Nolan.

Yes.

Councilmember Owens. Yes. Councilmember Walsh.

Yes.

Councilmember Albee.

Yes. Item 79, first reading please.

An ordinance authorizing the city manager to apply for, accept, and appropriate a grant of up to $51,840 from the Murray and Agnes Seasongood Good Government Foundation to administer an internship program for temporary placement of up to nine interns.

Roll call on suspension.

Councilmember Kramerding?

Yes.

Councilmember James?

Yes.

Councilmember Jeffries?

Yes.

Councilmember Johnson?

Yes.

Vice Mayor Kearney? Yes. Councilmember Nolan?

Yes.

Councilmember Owens?

Yes.

Councilmember Walsh?

Yes. Councilmember Albee?

Yes.

Mr. Kramerding? Yeah, this grant is one of my favorites every year. This will provide nine new seasoned good interns. We'll have them in chambers from one of the committees at some point to meet them and congratulate them. We hope they stay at the City of Cincinnati and have a long career here and matriculate up and become leaders in the administration.

Further comments? Roll call and passage, please.

Councilmember Cramerding?

Yes.

Councilmember James?

Yes.

Councilmember Jeffries? Yes. Councilmember Johnson? Vice Mayor Kearney? Yes. Councilmember Nolan?

Yes.

Councilmember Owens? Yes. Councilmember Walsh?

Yes.

Councilmember Albee?

Yes. Item 80, first reading, please.

An emergency ordinance authorizing the city manager to accept and appropriate a donation of up to $40,000 from the Cincinnati Fire Foundation to provide resources to purchase a 2021 Polaris Ranger 1000 firefighting all ATV and other necessary equipment and supplies.

Roll call on suspension.

Councilmember Cramerding?

Yes.

Councilmember James?

Yes.

Councilmember Jeffries?

Yes.

Councilmember Johnson? Yes. Vice Mayor Kearney? Yes. Councilmember Nolan?

Yes.

Councilmember Owens? Yes. Councilmember Walsh?

Yes.

Councilmember Albee? Yes.

Mr. Kramerding.

This is an in-kind contribution to fire of a 2021 Polaris Ranger.

Further comments? Roll call on passage.

Councilmember Kramerding.

Yes.

Councilmember James. Yes. Councilmember Jeffries.

Yes.

Councilmember Johnson.

Yes.

Vice Mayor Kearney. Yes. Councilmember Nolan.

Yes.

Councilmember Owens. Yes. Councilmember Walsh.

Yes.

Councilmember Albee. Yes.

Roll call on emergency.

COUNCILMEMBER KRAMERDING?

YES.

COUNCILMEMBER JAMES? YES. COUNCILMEMBER JEFFRIES? YES. COUNCILMEMBER JOHNSON? YES. VICE MAYOR KEARNEY? YES. COUNCILMEMBER NOLAN? YES. COUNCILMEMBER OWENS? YES. COUNCILMEMBER WALSH? YES. COUNCILMEMBER ALBE?

YES. ITEM 81, FIRST READING, PLEASE.

AN EMERGENCY ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO APPLY FOR, ACCEPT, AND APPROPRIATE A GRANT FROM THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY FISCAL YEAR 2026 PORT SECURITY GRANT PROGRAM.

ROLL CALL AND Yes.

Councilmember James. Yes. Councilmember Jeffries. Yes. Councilmember Johnson.

Yes.

Vice Mayor Kearney. Yes. Councilmember Nolan.

Yes.

Councilmember Owens. Yes. Councilmember Walsh. Yes. Councilmember Albee. Yes.

Mr. Kramerding.

This is a grant from Homeland Security. It would go to support CPD's river operations, the fire department's night vision equipment, and an explosive ordnance disposable robot.

WHAT WAS THAT LAST ONE?

AN EXPLOSIVE ORDINANCE DISPOSABLE ROBOT.

COOL. FURTHER COMMENTS? ROLL CALL ON PASSAGE.

COUNCILMEMBER KRAMERDING.

YES.

COUNCILMEMBER JAMES.

YES.

COUNCILMEMBER JEFFRIES. YES. COUNCILMEMBER JOHNSON.

YES.

VICE MAYOR KEARNEY. YES. COUNCILMEMBER NOLAN. YES. COUNCILMEMBER OWENS. YES. COUNCILMEMBER WALSH. YES. COUNCILMEMBER ALBE.

YES.

Councilmember Kermiting?

Yes.

Councilmember James? Yes. Councilmember Jeffries?

Yes.

Councilmember Johnson?

Yes.

Vice Mayor Kearney? Yes. Councilmember Nolan?

Yes.

Councilmember Owens? Yes. Councilmember Walsh?

Yes.

Councilmember Albee?

Yes. Item 82, first reading, please.

An emergency ordinance authorizing a payment of $244,773.29 from the Cincinnati Fire Department General Fund Non-Personnel Operating Budget Account to Digitech Computer LLC.

Roll call on suspension.

Councilmember Kramerding?

Yes.

Councilmember James?