City Commission - Regular Meeting

The Dayton 10 city commission meeting will now come to order. Would you all please rise for the invocation and remain standing for the pledge of allegiance which we will be given by uh Commissioner Shaw for the invitation. Do you want to do the silence? Yes. Thank you. But first will be would you all please join me in a moment of silence for Mr. Russell Reese, Mr. Mark Dwit, Bishop Richard Ecox, and Reverend Man. Please join me in a moment of silence.

Thank you. Dear Lord, give us clarity and purpose today. Yes, Lord. Help us focus on what matters and may our decisions be guided by your wisdom. Amen. Amen. Amen. I aliance 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. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Shaw. Thank you, Miss McClendon. May we please have a roll call. Mayor Turner Sloths. I. Commissioners Joseph I Shaw I

Fairchild Beckham I Miss McClendon may I please excuse me may I please have a motion to exclude excuse the absence of Commissioner Fairchild so moved your honor second properly moved and seconded to excuse the absence of Commissioner Fairchild. All in favor say I. I. All oppose say no. May I have a motion to approve the minutes of the April 22nd meeting, 2026 meeting, please? So moved, your honor. I second the motion. It's been properly moved and seconded to approve the minutes of the April 22nd, 2026 meeting. All in favor say I. I. All oppose say no.

Miss McClendon, are there any communications or petitions this evening? There are none, your honor. Thank you. And this evening, we have two proclamations. First, I would like to call to the podium Lieutenant Colonel Eric Henderson. Miss McClendon, please proceed when you're ready. Good evening. Good evening, sir.

From the commission office of the city of Dayton, Ohio, whereas the Congress and President of the United States have designated May 15th as Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week in which it falls as National Police Week. This observance honors law enforcement officers who have given their lives in the line of duty. And whereas the members of the Dayton Police Department play a critical role in safeguarding the rights, safety, and freedoms of all residents and visitors. Their daily service helps maintain order and protect the quality of life in the city of Dayton. And whereas the Dayton Police Department is committed to fostering a safer and more connected community through proactive, collaborative, and innovative policing, this work is grounded in professionalism, accountability, and ethical leadership. And whereas the men and women of Dayton Police Department provide an essential public service through their dedication, courage, and integrity. Their efforts strengthen trust and partnership between law enforcement and the community. And whereas the city of Dayton honors the 31 Dayton police officers who made the ultimate sacrifice along with fallen officers nationwide and supports their families and colleagues. The city calls upon all community members to observe National Police Week through ceremonies recognizing the service and sacrifice of law enforcement of officers past and present. Now therefore, we the commission of the city of Dayton do hereby recognize the week of May 11th to 17th, 2026 as the recognition of Police Week. Congratulations.

Thank you. Congratulations. I would also like to note too that this is in fact uh public service week. So we also want to uh not steal your thunder and not take away any of the shine of police week, but we also want to recognize public works as well and public service week. So again, it's all encompassing. So congratulations, sir. And I'll turn it over to my colleagues, Commissioner Becko. Uh no comments from me, mayor, except congratulations, Chief. All right. Thank you. Same here. Yep. Same. Congratulations, Chief. Thank you. Congratulations, sir. All right. Thanks.

Next, we would like to call to the podium Captain Steven Post. Miss McClendon, please proceed when you're ready. from the commission office of the city of Dayton, Ohio. Whereas National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend is observed each year to honor firefighters who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their communities and to recognize their courage, dedication, and selflessness. And whereas this year holds special significance for the city of Dayton as firefighter Rodrik W. Long Pre known as Rock and Rod will be formerly honored at the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial. And whereas firefighter Long Prely served his country in the United States Army and went on to serve the Dayton community as a firefighter and EMT with the Dayton Fire Department from 1985 until his retirement in 2008. And whereas throughout his career, he demonstrated exceptional commitment to public service, mentoring fellow firefighters, supporting his department, and contributing to the broader fire service community. And whereas he played a key role in founding the Dayton firefighters local 136 Honor Guard and was instrumental in establishing the Miami Valley Firefighter EMS Memorial, ensuring that the service and sacrifice of others would always be remembered. And whereas remembered for his positivity, kindness, and unwavering dedication, firefighter Long Prey touched the lives of many and leaves behind a legacy within the Dayton Fire

Department and the community he served. Now therefore, we the commission of the city of Dayton do hereby proclaim the weekend of May 2nd and 3rd, 2026 as National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend. Congratulations,

M. Mayor. This is uh Rod Long Prey's son, Joey. If I could have a few words to say,

please. Mayor, commissioners, city manager, thank you. Thank you for taking the time to recognize one of our own. A man who didn't just wear this uniform. He honored it. The truth is when we say firefighter, it sounds simple. But there's nothing simple about this life. This is not a 9 to5 that you leave behind when you turn off the lights and go home. Because the danger doesn't always come from the flames anymore. It comes from what we breathe, what we absorb, what we carry home without ever seeing it. Occupational cancer is the deadliest threat to firefighters today. Wow.

It doesn't arrive with flames or smoke showing. There isn't a flashover or collapse. Yet, it takes firefighters just the same. And that's why we're here. Because Rod Long Prey, Rock and Rod ultimately gave everything that this job asked of him. Not in one singular moment, but over a career of answering the call again and again and again. Rod wasn't just a good firefighter. Ask around to anyone that would have known him. He was the one you wanted next to you when things went bad. The one you could trust without hesitation. The one who made everyone around him better without ever asking for credit. No ego, no shortcuts, no hesitation, just work, just consistency and just presence. He didn't chase recognition. He earned respect. And that matters in this job because respect is the only currency that counts when it's 3 in the morning and everything else is on the line. Rod was the very best of us. And now his name has been placed on the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial. Not because of how he died, but because of what the job demanded from him over time. Because he showed up. Even when the cost wasn't obvious yet, even when the danger wasn't visible yet. But that's the reality of this profession. And today through this proclamation, you've acknowledged that reality and you've honored it. So on behalf of the firefighters and EMS professionals of the city of Dayton, thank you. Thank you, mayor. Thank you, commissioners. Thank you, city manager. Thank you for recognizing the weight of our work and the cost that sometimes comes with it. I said earlier that the danger doesn't come just from the flames

anymore. All good firemen know that. We know the risks. We know the cost. And we show up anyways. And that's who Rod was. The fire didn't take him, but this job did, and he showed up anyways. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Thank you very much. And congratulations, Mr. post on your recent appointment as uh the president of the local 136. Congratulations, sir.

This evening, we have a presentation on our monthly demolition update, and I would like to call to the podium Mr. Steve Gond. Good evening, mayor, commissioners, city manager, Miss McClendon, Steve Gondell, director for the department of planning, neighborhoods, and development. Um, I'm here with our date and recovery plan demolition monthly update. It is for March of 26. Uh, we usually we do this at the end of April, but uh with last week's cancellation. So bear in mind these are all for the numbers uh of March and through March. So for the month of March, we saw 21 demolitions. Uh 12 of those were through our ARPA funds. Uh nine of those were through our Ohio Department of Development funds, our ODOD. Uh to date, that gets us up to 54 demolitions um for the year. Uh where I look at it is to see what our goal is and our progress. So we are at 16% of planned demolitions and we're at 25% through the year. So kind of watching that. I feel like, you know, we do have months where we kind of get ahead, months we get behind. We're slightly behind. Again, if you're trying to keep up with that, like that pace of uh matching our the rate through the year, but I'm confident that we'll we'll get back on track there. Uh for our piles, we ended February uh with 22. We um did not remove any again, and I'll talk a little bit about that contract. In March, we had two added uh in March, which ended the month at 24. So, as I mentioned before, uh this is a whole new uh piles contract that we're drafting and working on selection of those properties. So, as that comes out, then this work will resume in earnest. Just to give you an idea, uh those two uh pile those emergency uh demolitions 144 South Gettysburg and 159 Risinger

were the uh two locations where those occurred. For the routine demolitions, um we had uh the following. Birkhart neighborhood one, Edgemont 2, Five Oaks 2, High View Hills 2, Huffman 1, Lake View 1, Madden Hills 1, Miami Chapel 1, Roosevelt 2, Santa Clara 4, and Southern Dayton View 4. So that was uh for those uh 21 demolitions in March. Visually, that's where they occurred. And then that was the count per neighborhood. As we look year to date, uh I'm not going to read every single one, but I'm going to highlight the kind of the high ones. So, um so far again, Five Oaks has had four, Roosevelt has had five. Uh the bulk of our work though has been in Santa Clara, 11 uh year to date, and Southern Day View 23 demolitions year to date. So, that is kind of where the bulk of the work has had uh while picking up some of these additional sites throughout um the city. looking at uh the number of structures added to our structural nuisance list in March, we had five added. Of that, three of those were houses, two of those were garages. Um and so to date, we and I should clarify. And on those five, two of those were for blight and three were for fire. So that was the what put them in structural nuisance. To date, we're at 42 structures. Um 38 of those are either house or a single house or duplex, and four are garages. our pipeline uh last month uh for February we had a really robust pipeline uh a lot of that work that prep work the title report asbesus survey is kind of has we you know we didn't have anything for March but we did have 53 asbesus remediations which is again that final step before we do the demolition so that is all aligning with um getting properties ready for the demolition phase

in our before and afters a sample of some of those 21 demolitions 27 Santa Clara 101-103 Marathon 133 Marathon 1135 Wilson 1204 I'm getting ahead of you all 1204 Windsor and 142 North or Orchard. So, um, again, as I always mentioned, in addition to the house, the structure is clearing away that brush as well, right? So, we want to really leave, um, as little as possible other than trees that are 6 in in diameter or greater, unless they're going to cause an issue to adjacent property, then we will contract those to be removed as well. So, uh, leaving these sites ready and again that below picture there, you can see, um, just the the difference that that makes in terms of opening up that site for the adjacent properties. And lastly, uh 1258 Allwy and 822 Five Oaks, um rounding out some of that work. So really robust work back in the neighborhoods of of of uh both the structures and the uh overgrown brush. So where are we at? Um, so our tally, so we have 44, I'm sorry, 45 of the 120 ARPA funded demos completed. Nine of the 70 to 75 OD demos completed. And then um an item on the uh calendar tonight uh will be some of our first CDBG funded demos, which is what's being presented to you tonight. And then I I added from our conversation last month um just our general fund demo so that we also have a track of that. We don't have a set number. Our general fund is typically the where we step in when it needs to be. So we don't that is just kind of a I try to do a zero of zero. That didn't make any sense. So we'll just it's uh it'll be a count of demolitions done through general fund when we needed to do that. And so um as I continue to say we are about 99% of our ARPA project

budget is expensed andor encumbered. So we are on track. We have 49 months down and we have nine months to go for the ARPA work to be completed in time to meet those federal guidelines. On that, I will stop comments and uh take any questions you all might have. Thank you, Commissioner Beckham. Thank you, Mayor. Um, none actually except uh thank you, Mr. Gondo, for the comprehensive update. Always look forward to seeing uh the progress. So, I appreciate it. Thank you, Commissioner Shaw. Yeah, I I want to thank you, too. It's really uh what what is the interval that you're doing these reports? Is it It's more than quarterly. Feels like it's been more than these updates monthly. Monthly, you all. Yeah,

I thought. Well, thank you for that. That's important to do as we track this. But yeah, thank you for your work. Appreciate it. Thank you, Commissioner and Joseph. Thank you, Mayor. Uh Steve, this is interesting stuff and you you all are doing great work. If I could uh put in request the city manager and you all for the next month, if you could give a look at uh if not maybe next month and one of these regular reports coming up, a look at next year because I know that we're all pretty concerned about what's going to happen. Our money is done. uh are we what level are we going to be able to sustain? Uh what does the need look like? So uh I know that maybe a lot for the the regular reports, but I think in some format I'd like to know a little more about what the future looks like.

Commissioner, that may come when we come forward with our condition report update because then we will have fresh data with regards to the conditions particularly four and five which are what we place on our nuisance list. That sounds good. Thank you. That's all. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you. U Mr. Gondo, I just wanted to thank you for the detailed uh report out, especially highlighting where those demolitions took place. So, I I appreciate you adding that additional context. That is extremely helpful. Great work. Uh want to while you standing here at the podium, I have to personally thank you for yesterday. Yesterday, we had the uh the first mayor's walk. I want to thank you, your staff, uh PD of the police department, the fire department, housing inspection, um the city manager's office, Miss Loftton joined us, as well as the the city commission office, they joined us, the North Riverdale neighborhood association president Victoria McNeel, Felons with the Future, our brave orange and men and women women who are leading our CBG efforts. So again, I just wanted to personally thank you and everyone that came out yesterday. We we brave the uh the inclement weather. Nonetheless, we got it done. And so again, just kudos to you and the staff and all of the residents that came out despite the weather. Um I think it was it went over well. Nonetheless,

we have we have some work to we have work to do. We have some work to do. It was a good walk. So yes, and and our hope is that we will reschedu another a walk in the North Riverdale area where there is more um clear clearer skies and and sunshine. So again, thank you very much. Thank you. All right, Miss McClendon, are there any additions, deletions, or comments to the calendar? There are none, your honor. All right, Miss Dixon, are there any additions, deletions, or comments to the calendar this evening?

Your honor, I have no additions or deletions to this evening's calendar. I do have several items to highlight. The first are um three service agreements. Uh item number two, a grant agreement with County Corp for 300,000. Item number three, a grant agreement with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Dayton for 1.5 million. And uh item number five, a grant agreement with build rebuilding together Dayton for $ 1.5 million. This uh collective $3.3 million investment in is in home repair and energy efficiency across Dayton for the next two years. This is what Meg referenced in our work session earlier today. These trusted partners estimate they will serve more than 400 low-income households over the next two years. Uh this funding comes from AES Ohio's disadvantaged communities grant. is specifically targeted towards residents living in HUD qualified census tracks with a focus on reducing energy burden. It is geographically target targeted as well as uh area and median income requirements so that we are certain to hit the um the the uh regulations or the the scope of the of the agreement and the funding. Uh all three organizations are part of DUR, the Dayton Home Repair Network. Uh and um enables coordinated service delivery through a universal application that leverages additional funding sources and maximizes our impact to the overall community. Uh we are will utilize the existing DUR weight list to streamline implementation and prioritize residents who have already expressed need allowing us to deploy funding

quickly and accelerate assistance to those most in need. And then um to reduce administrative burden and make the process more accessible for our partners, we aligned the notice of funding opportunity, this notice of funding opportunity with the CDBG funding uh process to create more efficiency and coordination uh for a deployed approach for our partners. So, we're excited about bringing this $3.3 million investment to you this evening. B6 is a construction contract with Archon Builders. It's an award of contract for uh a water lab expansion. Uh it will renovate our current 16,000 square foot lab and add another 3200 square foot addition. This is an 11.4 million project and it received two bids. The lowest and best was selected with a completion date of March 31st, 2028. And this has with it the negotiated PLA because of the threshold for the city funding.

That's great.

B8 is an award of contract with FCS Construction Services. This is the demolition contract that Mr. Gondell just referenced. It will it has identified 16 structures in the Westwood neighborhoods uh to remove uh blighted structures. It is CDBG residential. There will be two more CDBG contracts coming before you later this year. Item 13 is uh an emergency ordinance number 32185-26. This is a a approval for a grant agreement and loan agreement of $78,750,000 that will um it is uh all Ohio future funds from the state of Ohio that will support our aerospace aviation strategy at the Dayton International Airport. It authorizes us to accept the $78.7 million from the Ohio Department of Development. Uh in November of 2024, we submitted a letter of intent to ODOD outlining the airport's vision for the defense and aerospace campus, a 150 plus acre development ready zone designed uh to attract aerospace and defense tenants requiring large format MRO hangers and direct airside access. The letter of intent highlighted significant existing growth including Sierra Nevada Corporation's new hangers uh Premier Aviation's proposed Gulfream support facility active industrial aviation operations by Joi Aviation uh Pratt paper crocs and innovative

plastic molders od responded favorably and awarded us 78.7 million This was the largest economic development in infrastructure investment at Dayton International Airport in modern times. Um the the uh there is a $1.2 million loan portion which is 2% that's at a zero rate percent uh 5-year payment deferral and a 25 repay 25 year repayment term. Uh it is leveraged the 78 mill78 million grant is leveraged with 9.6 million from the international airport 7.6 million from Montgomery County transportation improvement district uh for the ring road development that will serve this campus and for a total project cost of $96 million. This is a great opportunity. I want to take time to thank Miss Lache Loftton, deputy city manager, who worked feverishly with ODOD staff, our lobbyist Kevin DeWine, Gil Turner, and our partners at DDC to bring this forward in a in a structure and a fashion that um is uh beneficial to both private public partners.

That's great. And that is all I have this evening, your honor.

Lot of great news. Thank you, Miss Dixon. Miss McClendon, are there any citizens that are registered to speak this evening on calendar items? Your honor, there are two citizens registered to speak on calendar items. I would like to state there is a threeminut time limit. As you address the commission, we ask that you state your name and address for the record. At that time, I will turn on the green light. When the green light comes on, you will have 3 minutes to speak. After you have spoken 2 and 1/2 minutes, a yellow light will come on. You will have 30 seconds remaining to speak. When the red light comes on, you will be asked to cease your comments and to take your seat. To the audience in attendance, please be mindful that this is a business meeting and we kindly request that during this portion of the meeting you refrain from any hand clapping, finger snapping, and conversation that would prevent the city commission from hearing the speaker's comments. I call to the podium Zakiya Sankara Jabar. Good afternoon, mayor, commissioners. I'm Zakiya Sancar Jabar 2426 Jerome and I have a question about number 12. It says revenue to the city institute for the study of conflict transformation contract modification. Exactly what does that mean? Are they paying the city that or is the city paying them that for services? That's a question.

Yes, we'll be happy to answer that question. We can't make any Okay. Well, let me just say this. Yes. Because I didn't want to speak out of term. That's why I wanted to ask first. Yes.

This uh city commission uh runs in a way that is not conducive to a full democracy. Um the city manager talks in code. She doesn't spell out words. MDG, BDG. What? What is that? Most of the citizens have no clue what she's talking about. So, let me say this. If the city is paying the Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation $29,166.50, then I'd like to know Planning Neighborhoods Development and Mediation Center since there is a crisis of community violence in the community. What exactly are they doing? Are they involved in trying to help what's happening particularly with gun violence, out of control community violence? How are they supporting the citizens of Dayton if again this is a payment to them? That's that's a huge concern for many of us uh you know in the community and certainly in this audience today. And then finally, I'll say that I'm really disappointed that there is not anything uh in this agenda that is firing the city manager. Okay? because we need a proclamation immediately either for administrative leave or firing. The community has seen enough. Okay. People have been coming down here for years complaining about all kinds of issues from community violence, policing, housing, everything. She's been here for 10 years. Everything that we see happening in the community, she's the CEO. She's been running the city for 10 years. This is a result of poor leadership in this community. It's a result of leadership that has not had enough power to check what she's doing. And so I want to just finally say to you, mayor specifically, I have seen you in the community twice since I've been back. I saw you at your very first mayor's town hall and I saw you

yesterday. I wasn't there, but I saw you yesterday in the North Riverdale neighborhood. I want to just commend you and thank you because the citizens of Dayton recognize that. They appreciate that. And that is actually one of the reasons why many of us have over 200 of us have signed a petition to fire this city manager to free up the vision that you and Commissioner Fairchild have for this city. And so I again am very disappointed that there's not a proclamation on it to fire the city manager.

Thank you, Mr. Gor Jabar. I call to the podium Tara Campbell. Tara Campbell, 2224 Chamberlain Avenue, Dayton, Ohio 45406. It's been a long time since I came to this podium and I'm coming coming because there's a lot of things going on in this community and I am their voice and I come down here because I stopped coming because it was nothing being done but now I come back pleading. So we talk about the institute for the study of conflict transformation. What I'm going to ask today is there be a contract with conflict transformation to help community work with the city commissioners, the city manager and all other departments. Cuz the problem is is we ain't addressing a conflict that we already been having for a very long time. So, we keep coming down here, coming down here, coming down here, but we're not really addressing the real conflict that community is bringing to this podium. I've came so many times. I've said so many things. I've been angry. I've been sad. And I've been many other things. But what I'm asking you today is have a clear plan of how you all in this body have built the back the trust with us to really have some resolution as it relates to the conflict that's between you and us all of us. You see what's in

this out here? This is because of conflict. This is because of problems. This is because of the consistent thing that you not listening to us and not creating a pathway to communicate with community. Come on.

Okay. What I'm saying to you is all you have to do is establish a pathway for us to work together. There is no community without us. There is no way to move faster or move forward without us. So what I'm asking you today is to come into a room with us. Allow us to invite you into the room so you can hear from us. Not on three minutes, not on us not hand snapping and clapping, but you really be intentional on wanting to hear the voices of who elected you.

That's what I'm asking. That's as simple as to listen to us. To hear our pain, to hear what's problems with everyone that lives here, to hear the problems of our immigrant coalitions and families, our community, to hear the problems of our African-American communities, of all our communities, to not sit here and act like we don't exist, like our we are not important to this process. All I can say right now to everyone is that if you don't do something, the same way that you came in is the same way you will not come back in because the people are documenting. They are listening. We are making sure that every time that you decide on something that does not benefit us as community.

We are going to document and ensure that you don't come back. Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Campbell. Second speakers. Thank you. If we could make sure that we just practice orderly conduct, please this evening. I I know that everyone is passionate. There are a number of things that are we are all are facing challenges. So let's please try to be mindful and respectful. I briefly like to say this, Miss Zakar uh Jabar as well as Miss Campbell to answer your question in regards to calendar item number uh 12 that is in fact revenue to the city. So those are dollars that come to the city and we are in fact having conversation about how we can utilize the best practices of not only our mediation center but as well as our human relations council. We just had this conversation. So we're steadily moving. We're having conversations as mentioned. Um I held our first mayor's town hall which was well attended. Over 50 plus residents came out. We heard your voices. We heard your concerns. In addition to that, uh, note that Commissioner Fairchild is not here this evening, but he has also made a commitment to hold a town hall to hear the voices, to hear the concerns on a separate matter and in a separate issue. So, know that your concerns are not fallen on deaf ears, and I I apologize for deviating, but I just wanted to make sure that that was known and noted. So, thank you for your comments.

Commissioners, are there any comments to the city manager's recommendations? Commissioner Beckham. Uh, I have none, your honor. Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Shaw, I am good tonight. Thank you, Commissioner Joseph. I just want to say I'm a thrilled for the the uh two things, especially the contributions to the Dayton Home Repair Network and our partners that are going to let a bunch of homes get fixed up with people uh who wouldn't be able to afford it themselves. So, that's great. And also, I also want to mention the the Source Water Protection Program, which is going forward. uh every time there's something on the calendar, I just want to remind folks that it's important that we're working not only within the city but with our partners to protect our most valuable resources. So, thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Joseph. Very briefly, I just wanted to uh foot your comments, Miss Dixon, in terms of the the work that's being done. Our sustainability department or division, whatever have you, doing great work, $3.3 million across the city for the next two years. And please, please, please allow the contract to uh run its course in terms of the approval process and then the work that it will be done. But note, if you have an interest, if you meet the parameters, please contact the Dayton uh Universal Home Repair Network and their number is 9373690654. But again, brace yourself, allow them to to get sped up. uh utilize the universal uh contract or agreement, the universal application rather that is in place that speaks to a number of the partners that have been highlighted on this evening's calendar. So again, just kudos to the work that is being done by our sustainability department. I'm very excited about that. And I also uh want to make mention again the work that was done with uh Miss Loftton and the city manager leadership team as well as Mr. Gil Turner and working with the Ohio Department of Development. That is huge. $78 million. That is just remarkable. So again, I want to applaud you all for your your leadership and your work on that. Uh kudos to the staff on that. Um and with no further comments, may I have a motion to approve the city manager's recommendations this evening?

Your honor, I move we approve the city manager's recommendations. Second, your honor. All right. It has been properly moved and seconded to approve the city manager's recommendations. All in favor say I. I. All oppose say no.

Miss McClendon. Legislation. First reading, emergency ordinance number 32185-26, approving a grant agreement and loan agreement from the state of Ohio Department of Development for combined funding in an amount not to exceed $78,750,000 on behalf of the city of Dayton and declaring an emergency. Your honor, ordinance uh emergency ordinance number 32185-26 being declared an emergency. I move for its immediate passage. Second, your honor.

It has been properly moved and seconded to declare emergency ordinance number 32185-26 as an emergency. All in favor say I. I. All oppose say no. I need to abstain. Mayor, yes. Thank you. Sure. Uh Miss McClendon, would you please note the record of the vote? after the the second calling. Excuse me.

Second reading emergency ordinance number 32185-26 approving a grant agreement and loan agreement from the state of Ohio Department of Development for a combined funding in an amount not to exceed $78,750,000 on behalf of the city of Dayton. Mayor Turner. I Commissioners Joseph abstain. Shaw. I Beckham. I uh your honor, point of order, please.

This is emergency resol emergency legislation, it can't pass without four. That's exactly right. So, if there is a need for abstension, um Commissioner Joseph, then I think we need to pull this. Let me just check one thing real quick. the deadline and any dates of execution that we Yeah,

I didn't even think about that. There's no way for us.

Thank you, Miss Dixine. So please note that we will be pulling calendar legislation rather um from the the calendar and please just for everyone's edification and understanding. Thank you. Uh emergency ordinance Thank you Commissioner Shaw. Emergency ordinance number 32185-26 will be pulled from this evening's meeting due to the uh requirement to have a number of four members who will vote in favor. And with the noted um recusal of Commissioner Joseph, we need to make sure that we pull this for another uh date for approval. Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you. First reading, ordinance number 32186-26, consenting to the roadway restoration along mainline of State Route 4 from mile marker 17.11 to 20.38 and from mile marker 21.98 to 22.98 in the city of Dayton and agreeing to cooperate in matters incidental thereto, including the execution of agreement necessary to implement this ordinance. First reading ordinance number 32187-26 authorizing the grant of a non-exclusive easement to Veteran Energy Delivery Ohio LLC doing business as Centerpoint for a gas pipeline on land at the James M. Cox Dayton International Airport. First reading, ordinance number 32188-26, authorizing the grant of a non-exclusive roadway access easement to Airore SNC2 LLC on land at the James M. Cox Dayton International Airport. Second reading ordinance number 32183-26 to vacate the alley south of Zenaia Avenue from Filillmore Street to Steel Avenue and the alley east of Filillmore Street from the alley south of Zenaia Avenue to the vacated Noel Court. Mayor Turner Sloths

I. Commissioners Joseph I. Shaw I. Beckham I. Ordinance number 32183-26 has passed with four votes in favor. Second reading ordinance number 32184-26 repealing portions of ordinance number 30421-05 and establishing and describing the boundaries of the inner east community reinvestment area in the city of Dayton. Mayor Turner Slo I. Commissioners Joseph I Shaw I Beckham I.

Ordinance number 32184-26 has passed with four votes in favor. Second reading resolution number 6928-26 declaring the intention of the commission to vacate the alley east of South Main Street from the alley south of East 6th Street to 106.54 ft south of the alley south of East 6th Street. Mayor Turner Sloths I. Commissioners Joseph I. Shaw I. Beckham

I. Resolution number 6928-26 has been adopted with four votes in favor. That concludes legislation, your honor. Thank you, Miss McClendon. Are there any register uh citizens, excuse me, who are registered to speak this evening?

Yes, your honor. There are 29 citizens registered to speak. I would like to state there is a 3minut time limit. As you address the commission, we ask that you state your name and address for the record. At that time, I will turn on the green light. When the green light comes on, you will have three minutes to speak. After you have spoken 2 and 1/2 minutes, a yellow light will come on. You will have 30 seconds remaining to speak. When the red light comes on, you will be asked to cease your comments and to take your seat. To the audience in attendance, please be mindful this is a business meeting and we kindly request that during this portion of the meeting you refrain from any hand clapping, finger snapping, and conversation that would prevent the city commission from hearing the speaker's comments. I call to the podium Julio Mateo. Julio Mateo, 215 Ice Avenue, Unit 400. I'm speaking today as a Dayton resident, a member of the Coalition on Public Protection, and an advocate for open government, participatory democracy, and human rights. I'm not speaking on behalf of any other group or organization I'm affiliated with. All of you expressed disappointment in your responses to the news that the Dayton Police Department has been lying to this commission and to the Dayton community members about how our data is actually being used, hiding public information from this commission and Dayton community members, refusing to implement safeguards to protect our civil rights and preventing any form of independent oversight. All of you express disappointment despite the fact that this commission has been accepting the same pattern of behavior from DPD for several years. And not only that, but also rewarding it

with repeated expansions to DPD's AI powered mass surveillance technology capabilities. In the last 5 years, you have all experienced this police department blatantly lying to this commission, including in 2022 when they lied about the results of the their ALPR pilot study. And even though you knew they had lied to you and to all of us, you rewarded them with ALPR approval. You have all experienced this police department actively hiding information from this commission, including in 2023 when you requested critical data to understand how LPRs had been operating in Dayton during their first year of use. When DPD refused to share, you rewarded them with a two-fold expansion and a five-fold extension of their their AOPR contract. You have all experienced the police department refusing to comply with legislation you yourselves enacted to enable oversight of surveillance technologies in Dayton, including when they refused to report critical data about false alarms, adverse impact impact on crime on their annual surveillance reports in 2023 and 2024. You didn't require compliance and they continue deploying their AI powered mass surveillance technologies on all of us with no oversight. I'm here to ask you to not treat this last egregious violation as an isolated or disappointing incident, but to treat it as the logical continuation of a long pattern of behavior from DPD toward this commission and and and the and the community members and that this commission has reinforced for years. A pattern that that should have ne should have prevented you from approving, expanding or extending this contract in the first place. And I'm here to ask you to break that pattern today. cancel the contract with Flock, remove all the cameras, release all the audits, fulfill all the other demands that you're going to be hearing this evening. What you do today won't undo the harm that is already done, but it may lay the foundation for a healthier pattern of behavior moving forward. A pattern that perhaps can prevent something like this from ever happen again happening again

in the future. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Julio Mateo. I call to the podium Joseph Abrams. Hi. Uh, Joseph Abrams, 168 Avenue, apartment one. Thanks. Uh, okay. Good evening.

I'm glad to hear heard Julio start off with that because that's what I wanted to talk about. these liars in this room and behind me that apparently is part of their job description because uh I was here in January when they stood here and we all know as of this most recent incident that they knew what was happening as far back as October, members of the city manager's office, members of the law department, members of DPD command stood right here and lied to your faces. Now, Mr. Beckham, I saw your comments about firing the person the person responsible for implementation was a good start. How is there one person responsible for implementation of a program that big in literally any field if only one person was tasked with that entire task? A lot of people need to get fired because there's supposed to be lots of eyes on any project of that size. Beyond that, let's talk about who's really responsible for implementation. Again, we have city manager's office. We have all of DPD command. We have the law department and frankly it comes down to you. It could not have been implemented without five votes which we had from this commission while people stood here and lied to your face as Mr. Mateo pointed out as part of a pattern of lying to your faces. Now I at least had two commissioners. One commissioner the mayor, excuse me, asking a reasonable amount of serious questions. You should in due diligence of your jobs. The other three sounded the way I'm used to hearing this commission sound, which is as if you worked for the flock company. Uh this is coming from grant funding. Oh, that's good. And I understand neighborhoods ask for it. Oh, that's good to know. Those were your comments, uh, Mr. Beckham. Uh, let me tell you, just because you get grant money for a project doesn't mean it's good, like you have to take it. Why are we funding militarization of all of our neighborhoods while people are sleeping on the streets? Kids can't have grocery stores or access to medicine. Uh, there's fires burning all over and we don't have enough firemen to deal with it. like just how does it look good to just fund

this militarization?

Now listen, with everything that's happened here, I shouldn't just see one job opening. I should see a lot of job openings around this city. And also on that note, I just saw where Henderson said to Weisso that he serves at this uh pleasure of this of the city manager. Where is my accountability? Where is it? And here's another thing we all voted for this campaign stunt of Mike Turner with the new police station downtown. Listen, we know that the purpose of that station, other than a campaign stunt for Turner, is to protect Turner voters from black children who want to come downtown and who can't even have fair uh transportation to school. Now, I've seen in in in a couple years ago, they shot a black teenager in the back, and we still haven't seen the report on that. Shot a black man downtown for uh for being on a bicycle without a light. What's with this picture with the deer heads on the wall in the new office? Are they portraying themselves as hunters? because it's accurate but it's not appropriate.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Abrams. May I please just remind the chambers, let's make sure that we practice courtesy. This is a business meeting. Thank you all very much. I know we all are passionate. We are all very frustrated, myself included, but please, I want to make sure that we hear everyone's comments and their frustration this evening. Thank you all. Excuse me, Miss Mclendon. I call to the podium Ebony Hastings.

Something for the commission. Did I need to give that to you? Thank you.

Ebony Hastings, 1238 W Bash Avenue. Good evening, mayor and commissioners. I am asking this commission to stop delaying and do its job. The city manager should be fired, not placed on administrative leave, and not allowed to remain in office while this public is told to wait and hope for better. This is no longer just about one report, one controversy, or one mistake. This is whether this commission is willing to enforce accountability when trust has clearly been broken. This city commission is willing to enforce accountability when trust has clear clearly been broken. The city commission appoints the city manager. The city manager serves at the pleasure of this body. That means responsibility does not stop with the city manager. It also rests with the commissioners who know there is a problem and still refuses to act. March 4th, 2026 contract presentation is a clear example. The public was told that there were 223 contracts totaling $3.4 million over 15 months involving 179 vendors across 16 departments. But that presentation did not show real transparency. It was a summary. It did not give residents a it did not give residents a simple public line by line record showing who received the money, when they received it, and what each contract was for and how those decisions were made. Even the mayor asked whether the information would be posted publicly and Commissioner Fairchild asked that the detailed contract list also be posted. That means the presentation itself was not thorough. The minutes also state that this report was prepared only because Commissioner Fairchild asked for it and that it required significant manual effort. But the record still does not tell the public when that request was made. Why not? Why should residents accept vague timing, broad summaries, and after the fact explanations as accountability? Departments are not trans departments

are not transparency. Totals are not transparency. A presentation is not transparency if the public still cannot clearly see the full record, which is what I asked for. The minutes also stated that the report was prepared. And then the issue not only stands alone. There were years without annual performance reviews even while salary increases. There were public concerns about the policy chief selection process. There was also flock data sharing violations where Mayor Turner Sllos and Commissioner Felchild said that it was not an isolated failure. If it is not isolated, then why is this commission still acting like time alone will fix it? It won't. So tonight, my questions are simple. If you know trust has been damaged, if you know public record is incomplete, and if you know residents have been asking for real transparency, then why are you still protecting this administration instead of protecting the people of Dayton?

Administrative leave is a delay. Termination is accountability. And what I provided you is what the residents of Dayton have been passing around so you have a clear picture. Beck, I'm bringing you up to speed as to why we need to fire the city manager. Thank you, Miss Hastings.

I call to the podium Joyce Propes McAlpine. Joyce Propes, McAlpine, 326 Park Drive, Dayton, Ohio 45410. Um, thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak, commissioners and mayor.

Good evening. I was one of the people who provided testimony raising concerns about flot cameras on January 7th, 2026. That day, all four commissioners and the mayor voted to approve the amendment to the existing contract that a that added 27 new um uh APLR cameras in Dayton. That day, speakers raised questions about the vi possibility of violation of privacy and the potential that the data collected by the cameras would be used for purposes prohibited by the contract and city policy. We requested an audit of the flock cameras and database to understand how the information had been used. The mayor and commissioner supported the request for an audit. Follow-up requests for the audit happened several times without any result. But now we know why. That day, the speakers raised questions about violation of privacy and oop, sorry. On January 7th, Chief Azul and the Ma and Major Hall assured the mayor, commissioners, and residents of the meeting at the meeting that the policy preventing use of the data collected by the cameras for immigration purposes was being followed. They also repeatedly reassured everyone that the data was very secure and was not being shared with federal agencies. But now we know that there were 7100 searches of the data for immigration purposes during the summer of 2025. The Dayton Police Department has not said who initiated the searches, but whether it was ICE itself or another federal agency or an Ohio law enforcement agency working with ICE, these searches put our immigrant neighbors in jeopardy. This information directly contradicts the statements made by the police at the January 7th meeting and reinforces the concerns that Dayton residents have expressed since 2020. Dayton residents need to know what

happened and who may have been impacted by the data release. We need the release of all audit logs back to 2020 to see how the data has been used. A more complete accounting of what happened presented in a public hearing so public officials can be questioned. We request that ICE be asked to provide information about immigration enforcement in that period that may have and that may have been occur of occurred as a result of the data sharing. And we want communication with impacted community members about what occurred and what consequences there might have been. The flock cameras pose an ongoing risk to the privacy of everyone in Dayton. The cameras must be removed during the external investigation. In addition, the flock contra contract should be cancelled. 63 communities have already done that because the risk to their residents privacy was too great. Thank you.

Thank you, Miss McGall. I call to the podium Blanca Weinberg.

Good afternoon. Good evening. Name and address. Oh, my name is Blanca Emily Wayneber. I'm leader the Hispanic community and I'm here because May you please state your address. Oh, excuse me. My address is 298 Marimmon Drive. Thank you. 45410.

Okay. I'm here for you commissioner and um because I is the face for my Hispanic community uh and leader I saw a different mistake. I'm sorry for my accent but our community the this problem with the cameras create one big big mistake in the community about the mental health. So h divide families and I want to know how you can uh solution this problem because now for the yes all people talking about the cameras the big mistake in the past but what happen in the future and what what is the solution for this problem because the our community not only Hispanic all our community and our previousity and uh is is it now here? I want to know what what is this solution for us. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Miss Weinberg. I call to the podium Sharon Screech.

Good evening, commissioners. Good evening.

My name is Sharon Screech. I live at 515 West Grand Avenue, apartment 3L, Dayton, Ohio 45405. Good evening. I would like to address the salary issue regarding our current city manager, Miss Shelley Dix. When Miss Dix was hired in 2016, her annual salary was 172,500. From 2016 through 2022, she received a total of over $92,000 in raises. Then despite reporting not having performance evaluations in 2022, 2023, and 2024, she still received additional raises, approximately $6,784 in 2023 and another $12,560 in 2024. Today, her salary stands at over $284,000 a year. That is an increase of more than $111,000 over a 10year period. I only get 3% raises every year on my job. As residents and taxpayers, I believe we deserve transparency and accountability. If these raises are based on exemplary performance, then the public should be able to see a clear breakdown explaining the accomplishments and measurable improvements that justify such substantial increases.

At the same time, the mayor makes around $89,000 a year. The assistant city manager reportedly earns around 63,000 a year. and city commissioners average around 66,000 annually. While those figures may not be exact, they paint a picture of the wage structure among city leadership. I find it concerning that the city manager earns significantly more than the officials she answers to. Over time, that kind of imbalance can create a sense of entitlement and disconnect from the everyday struggles of residents and city employees and a sense of entitlement over the people that she answers to. When someone makes more money than you, they feel like they have more power than you. I've experienced that myself. Meanwhile, many entry- level city employees make around $42,000 a year. With inflation and rising cost of living, many hardworking people are barely getting by. What makes this even more troubling is that our city continues to struggle in so many areas outside of downtown Dayton development. We have vacant lots, trash issues, deteriorating streets, underfunded parks and recreation programs, ordinance concerns, and neighborhoods that continue to be neglected. Yet, raises continue to be approved without visible improvements that residents can clearly point to. As a lifelong resident of Dayton, I am disappointed and discouraged by how parts of our city look and feel on a daily basis. Some neighborhoods where disadvantaged residents live are not being cared for the way they deserve. It pains me to watch a city that was once thriving struggle in so many ways. I simply wanted to share my concerns as a lifelong resident and make my voice heard about some of the issues affecting our community and the fact that we need to fire our city manager.

Thank you, Miss Screech. I call to the podium Kelvin Hovet.

All right. Good evening. Name and address for the record. Uh, my name is Kelvin Hovatter. I live at 1637 Beaver Ridge Drive in Ketaring, Ohio. may begin.

All right. Uh, I came here today because I wanted to talk to the commission about the uh, recent news about the flot cameras and the fact that we just learned that the uh, the flot cameras have been sharing data with ICE and other federal officials this entire time, in spite of the fact that we were directly assured multiple times and you all were directly assured multiple times that that was not the case. the um the setting that enabled this to happen was visible inside of the software from what the police have said. If any person at any point in this process had actually cared to have somebody look and confirm, we could have found this out months ago. Instead, it took months to do an investigation and after the investigation was concluded, it took months to do a press conference to confirm that. I think this shows a gross negligence on the part of every single person at every single part of that process involved. So today I wanted to make three demands to see if we could to see if we can go at least a little bit towards rectifying the situation. I think that pe the people here deserve to see the audit data that was investigated and uh so that people can see how their data was used and what data was seen. Uh we need to physically remove the cameras. After all, if we can't guarantee that that data isn't being collected by federal agencies, we also can't guarantee those cameras are actually turned off and we should cancel the and we should cancel the contract. That'd be

Thank you, Mr. Mr. Hodder. Thank you. I call to the podium Kenya Akbar. Good evening, Commissioner. Good evening. I am an eyewitness. Oh, excuse me. Kenya Akbar. Thank you.

147 East Hillrest. I am an eyewitness. This city government has an issue with corruption. And I am an eyewitness. When my schoolage friend was killed, a Dayton police officer took to social media and called him a thug. At the time, myself and several other organization leaders went to the HRC and filed a complaint against the officer. We were told that was the first time citizens had filed a complaint against a police officer. Shortly afterwards, the officer was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation. The day before his hearing, he resigned from the force. Del Rio was placed on Riverscape and it was renamed after him. Confusingly, Del Rio entered a home with a no knock warrant and two rookie police officers and was killed. Over the course of 30 years, I've heard countless stories of police officers taking drugs and money from drug dealers and letting them go. I am an eyewitness. I have two degrees. I spend my entire life giving back to my community by giving to the homeless, making food at my home, passing it out under the bridge, working a soup kitchen for seven years. In 2023, one of my heart's pleasures was picking up trash on the streets. And while I was out working with two youth, one of the youth shoplifted and I arrived on the scene and the police officers immediately started cussing me out. Stay the back. Excuse my French. I said, "Officers, can you please just tell me what's going on?" "Stay the f back," they repeated. All of which were redacted from the body cam. The officers went on to take my arm up behind my back because I continued to ask what was

going on and karate chopped it, breaking my arm and leaving me with a piece of floating bone in my arm. A recent MRI showed that that bone is still floating in my arm. During these rainy days, I've been in a lot of pain. And the city never apologized. The city never paid any of my medical bills. There was nothing given to me for pain and suffering. And there was no payment for miss work. But I watched a $2 million memorial go up for the police at the end of my block. And I also watched the street be renamed. And then most recently, I talked to a 16-year-old pregnant girl, 7 months pregnant, who said she was repeatedly punched in the stomach by police officers. A week ago, I saw Reginald Thomas die because he didn't have a light on the front of his bike. The police brutality has to stop and we need to fire the city manager.

Thank you, Miss Abbar. I call to the podium Yousef Elzane.

Good evening. Good evening. I hope you've been reading my emails. I'm sorry I couldn't appear in in person for the last few weeks. My name is Yousef Alzain, 4906 Amberwood Drive. Mayor, commissioner, city managers. City manager. I'm here tonight about two issues that are at their core the same issue. Trust.

What happens when governments surveil, control, and silence communities and call it security? One is happening abroad, one is happening here in Dayton. and local, state, and national officials are implicated in both. This is my ninth consecutive week speaking about the unspeakable, the war in South Lebanon and Gaza. A war waged with American weapons funded by American taxpayers and shielded by American veos at the United Nations. Israeli military funded by our taxes detonated thousands of tons of explosives in Gaza and Lebanon, desecrated tens of churches, mosques and other religious sites with no journalists, no UN inspectors and no independent witnesses present. Villages erased. Communities told you do not belong belong here. Much of the surveillance technologies used to track and target Palestinians and Lebanese civilians population has been developed, refined and exported, including to American law enforcement agencies by Israeli war industry. The logic traveled with it. It's monitored the population dismiss the alarm. That same logic arrived in Dayton through flock safety. Approximately 7,100 access requests to Dayton's license plate data were tied to immigration enforcement. Not the black community, not the white community. It was specific immigration enforcement from agencies explicitly prohibited from that access. The department discovered this in October 2025 and in January at this very podium told this community and the

commission that their their data is safe. They knew and they said it anyway. Immigrant families in Dayton, many of them fleeing the exact wars this country has been unwilling to name, were being tracked. This movement logged their safety promised and betrayed Mayor Turner's loss in her response to the breach last week. This is not an isolated failure. Our community member raised alarms. They were not heard. We must be heard and I am here to hold this commission body to them. Oversight is your responsibility. And obviously and the rest of the citizens were deceived. I ask three things. Release the full audit logs including the non-immigrant searches such as the officers, exes, lovers, and enemies. Hold a sworn hearing. And this appointment is not accountability. Sworn testimony is.

Thank you, Mr. Alzain. I call to the podium Dory Chaml. Hello everyone. Good evening.

Hey, my name is Dory Traml. Address PO Box 40256, um, Dayton, Ohio 45405. It's been a while since I've been before this um down here because it's been like speaking to a brick wall. So that's why I haven't been back.

Um, but I'm a 70s baby. So, um, you know, I enjoyed the arcade back when they had McCroy's. I can't pronounce it. McCroy's. So, I enjoyed the arcade and I'm I'm just a little concerned about who's allowed downtown now. Um, there's the it's like a police state downtown and I'm concerned about my um brothers and sisters that's downtown. Thankfully, my children are are grown. Um, however, I don't I'm not liking what I'm seeing. Who is allowed downtown? Because I'm seeing police um accosting young black males as they're walking. Um, and how is RTA allowed to pay for a police station? I am so confused. How is RTA able to use dollars to pay for a police station? That's that's a problem. I'm also concerned about u police response times when there is um when there are incidents that happens and the um some of these police are out of control when they're speaking with citizens. So you guys got a lot of work to do. You you really do. Um that's why I'm here today. I'm hoping it can get fixed. Thank you.

Thank you, Miss. I call to the podium Venita Kelly. Good evening, commissioners. Uh good evening.

Dr. Venita Kelly, 233 Waterle Avenue, Dayton, Ohio, 45420. I'm speaking to you all tonight and I want to give you three resources because this is where I'm speaking from. I'm here tonight on behalf of my friend and colleague Kenya Bake Kenya Akbar. Uh the resources prison policy initiative report, the Bureau of Justice Statistics and Andrea Richie's Invisible No More Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color. I remember the phone call from Kenya when she uh when she told me what had gone on when she was trying to service with her her young people uh and the police assaulted her. I remember the horror. I remember the shock. I remember the trauma in her voice because of what had happened to her and what she physically was going through. We've had conversations afterwards um about local lawyers who might be brave enough to take on the police force and what was going on and what goes on in Dayton, Ohio. We walked and talked together with the NAACP. I connected her, we talked and connected her to national level lawyers who are on record of seeking justice against police because of what they do to in fact black citizens. To my memory, Dayton and Ohio had too many excessive uses of forced cases under their that firm's docket for them to take on Kenya's case. And eventually the young man who was pulled out of his car, he was compensated by by this city. Uh it is up to you, the city commission, to remember and to put into place um as you are sworn to make it happen, to support Kenya and to resolve and excuse me to address the core problem. And you know what it is and to initiate restitution to Kenya Akbar. She has no idea that I'm going to ask her about that. But I'm

also going to tell you that women make up a growing share of arrests and report much more use of force than they did 20 years ago. In particular, the experiences of women and girls, especially black women and other women of color, are lost in the national conversation about police practices. They are also largely invisible in the data. As Andrea Richie Richie details in invisible no more, police violence against black women and women of color. Women are subject to racial profiling, use of excessive force, and any number of violations of their rights and dignity by police. In fact, women make up an increasing share of arrests and report much more use of force than they did 20 years ago. Black women experience disproportionate rates of police race rates of police violence in the United States, comprising 20% of women killed by police despite being 13% of the female population. Black women are 1.4 4 times more likely to be killed by police than white women with high risks of sexual assault and excessive force during stops, fatal shootings, unarmed victims. Black women represent 28% of unarmed women killed by police. Use of force, excuse me, use of force. Black women are more likely to experience police threats or non or non fatal force compared to white or Latino women. take this in. Please do the job that you have been put in office to do and also include restitution to Kenya Akbar.

Thank you, Dr. Kelly.

I call to the podium Kathleen G. Kathleen G, 5066 Safeway Drive, Dayton 45414. First, I have to ask a question because I come to the meetings early um and sign up to be like the second or third speaker because I can't see at night. So, this is the only time in eight years with second time that the city commission somebody's choosing to mix up the lineup for people speaking. So, some of us come up early for a reason. Anyway, so on um first I want to thank all the voters who voted for the hospital initiative. Thanks for taking it over the goalpost. You were critical. And so on um January 14th, 2026, Attorney Must said as he described very well what the next steps are. I encourage people to go watch that commission meeting on January 14th, 2026. He said, "So what we are proposing is the city conduct a public hearing to allow the citizens to express their views about which choice they want to go forward with to administer this hospital and just as importantly which services are most important to them. so that we can use those limited resources to focus on the services the citizens want. Then commissioner uh Darius Beckham asked him, "So what is the timeline?" And Muso answered, "Late spring." So I'm asking, "When are those public hearings going to take place?" The CCC asked uh Mayor Whe, Mayor Mims, all the commissioners, the city manager to do town halls eight years ago to do a series of town halls

to hear the public that we were hearing from as we collected 600 testimonials about the closing and then the federal investigation. So, we heard from people. They wanted to be heard from you. So, where are those town halls that are going to happen now? And then I want to say um 10,000 people almost 10,000 people voted for that. So what we were saying to you guys for years about people being angry was absolutely so. Um, you know, Miss Dixine, I have none, none of us know what it's like to be a city manager, but I have to say from living in other communities, the pattern of undermining citizens groups, including the CCC, the police committee, DUR are alarming to say the least. The undermining of those citizens groups is is alarming. So the most recent thing was the citizens assembly and uh Mayor Shenish you talked about that on 42226. How did that come about? I would like to see a chronological order of how that came about, how the people were chosen and investigations into all the funding that a a young woman talked about earlier about the decisions Miss 16 makes of under 50,000. I'd like to see all those decisions investigated to see if there's any conflict of interest. Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Gold. I call to the podium Steven Wear. Steven Wear, 3033 Beaver Avenue, Dayton, Ohio 45429. If the city of Dayton really wants to prevent crime, its contract with Flat Group Incorporated must be cancelled and its cameras removed. The funds that are currently being wasted on suspended cameras from the company Flock, a private company, can then be invested into the public good. Investing in our neighborhoods would be far more effective at preventing crime than Flock's cameras and databases ever could be. The savings from cancelling the contract with Flock could be further invested cleaning up the many nuisance properties across our city. Those cleared lots could then be given to our neighbors for extra yard space, repurposed for community gardens, turned into new developments, or any other purpose that would make the neighborhood a more welcoming place. The savings could also be used to combat the accumulation of trash in Dayton's neighborhoods. The city could set up programs to pick up and properly dispose of litter. More public locations for trash disposal could be created and regularly maintained so that people are less inclined to litter. Dayton's alleyways could be revitalized to make trash and recycling pickup more consistent so that residents aren't left with overflowing bins. Sure, we could keep the contract and the cameras going, but everyone already knows Dayton suffers from urban decay. We don't need Condor cameras to document that. If the city of Dayton invests in its communities, crime will naturally decline in response. Thriving neighborhoods demonstrate that its residents care for it and that crim criminal behavior won't be tolerated. In conclusion, the best way to prevent crime is to support our neighborhoods, not to surveil them. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Wear.

I call to the podium Mary Suga Miner. Mary Sue Giner, 1418 Arbor Avenue. Madame Mayor, commissioners, I want to begin by remembering Bishop Richard Cox. He spoke at this podium many times speaking truth to power. He was an inspiration. What stood out to me about Bishop was his unwillingness to accept the unacceptable. Tonight, I am urging you to not accept the unacceptable. It's been six weeks since Regginal Thomas was killed. You promised accountability and transparency. Transparency would suggest that the public is told what is going on. We haven't heard a thing. Is the BCI investigation on schedule? Has the independent accountability auditor started to look at the circumstances? You should be asking these questions. Getting no information is unacceptable. This commission is overdue in creating a governing board for the proposed hospital. The law took effect in November. 6 months later, there have been no appointments to the board. This is unacceptable. On January 7th, after a request for an informal resolution condemning military action in Venezuela, commissioners Fairchild and Joseph kicked the can down the road by promising to discuss potential further resolutions. Since then, our government has added an unauthorized and irresponsible attack on Iran. Commissioner Joseph's verbal assurance that you are all on the side of peace needs to be backed up by an informal resolution that is shared with the community and with our state and

federal elected officials. Recently, some citizens have highlighted the presence of presence of lighters that look like guns being sold in area convenience stores. One shop owner removed them while another has refused. If it's legally possible, please outlaw gun lookalike objects from being sold in Dayton. If you don't have that power, please intervene with the store owner and ask him to stop selling them. Maybe he'll listen to the mayor and commissioners. On April 17th, I emailed a report to all of you on racial disparities in traffic stops in Dayton.

Have you investigated this yet? What remedies does the next police chief propose to end this practice? You're hearing a lot tonight about the automated license plate readers. It's important not to miss the point that ALPRs are but one tool being used by our federal government to expand a surveillance state in total disregard for constitutional privacy. Regardless of what vendor you choose, once the data is collected, it can be accessed. And there are no guarantees that the vendor won't allow access to that data, regardless of what a contract says. remove the flock cameras to a warehouse. Cancel the contract. Demand the audit logs and look more seriously at every other surveillance tool that the DPD is using. Anything less is unacceptable.

Thank you, Miss Ga Miner. I call to the podium Cheyenne Mrick. Good evening, mayor. Good evening, commissioners. So, I come to you. Excuse me.

Oh, excuse me. Cheyenne Mrick, 3730 Delus Avenue, Dayton, Ohio, 45417. I come to you be I come to you I come before you today as a member of a committed village to speak about something fundamental to our health and city which is trust. Trust is built through meaningful community inclusion and sustained by transparency in how decisions are made. Right now many residents feel that both are lacking across our neighborhoods. People are showing up, organizing, and clearly voicing their needs. Whether it's around housing, safety, economic opportunity, surveillance, and basic quality of life. Yet, too often, these voices feel unheard. It is deeply frustrating to participate in public processes, offer input, and still feel decisions do not reflect the will and priorities of the very communities that elected you to serve. Equally concerning is the structure of our local local government where an unelected individual holds more decision-making power than those who were chosen by the people. That dynamic raises serious questions about accountability. When residents cast their votes, they are placing trust in you, their elected officials, to lead, to advocate, and to act in alignment with community needs. That responsibility cannot be delegated or overshadowed. Transparency is not optional. It is essential. People deserve to understand how decisions are made, who is influencing them, and how public resources are being allocated. Without clarity, skepticism grows and civic in and civic engagement declines. And when we look at the current investments across our city, the disparities are hard to ignore.

Not all neighborhoods are benefiting equally. Not all residents are seeing the same level of care, attention, or opportunity. Equity is not just a talking point. It requires intentional, measurable action that is not an empty performance with handpicked voices established to represent community needs. This pattern regards disregards the majority of residents that are impacted by these decisions made by this body. I urge you to recommmit to listening, genuinely listening to your constitutes. Ensure transparency in your process and re-examine how power is distributed through our local government. Most importantly, align your decisions with the people you were elected to serve. Our city deserves leadership that responds to the voices of the community that elected them. Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Mrick. I call to the podium Tim Devon.

Good evening, Mayor. Good evening,

Timothy Deon, 10008 Broom Lane. Um there was an incident at Hoover and Lilac where a gentleman got um arrested for jaywalking. Ever since then I have citizens been asking me about jaywalking on Hoover. I don't know if you really know how Hoover is set up. I know a lot of people hear about Summit Square because of the violence but we also have Hoover Place which is a senior place, Kanan Manor and Stratford Place. Now, these is a lot more residents that live there than that lives in Summit Square, but you don't hear about our seniors there. So, the corner store down the street is where everybody walks to. Now, as you go down Summit to in front of uh Summit Square, there's a sidewalk in front of Summit Square. There's no sidewalk in front of the bus hub. There's no more sidewalk that starts until you get to the Trotwood line. Then you in Trotwood. There's sidewalk for two blocks. All of Kanan, there's no sidewalk. Then there's sidewalk again that starts up again. As you get to in front of the old bowling alley at Lilac, there is a storm drain with a bridge there. No one's cut the brush. It's covered the sidewalk. So people step back in the street and then back on the sidewalk. The house was tore down at Lilac and Hoover by the city. They took out 10 feet of sidewalk. No one has put the sidewalk back about a year and a half. So there's a lot of walking on Hoover Avenue. So a lot of my citizens have talked to me and asked me about jaywalking on Hoover Avenue. What is the protocol? Because it's so different than any other part of Hoover. And so they have asked me about that. We got those. We there's there has been many times we

have seen our seniors in their mobility carts going to the corner store and definitely between Lilac where that cement is missing on the hill. They are in the street and which is really a city responsibility because the house was torn down under the plan that they was talking about earlier. I think they did the uh water service that they tore out and but somewhere between the contractor and the city, the sidewalk never got put back. So, you always see somebody in the street in that area. So, I've had quite a few residents want to know what is the city's going to do if there going to be any sidewalks putting in to make it safer on the walkway or what is their responsibility on Hoover Avenue?

Thank you, Mr. Divine. Thank you. I call to the podium Kathleen Kersh.

Good evening, commission. Good evening.

Kathleen Kersh, 6310 Harvest Meadows Drive, Dayton, Ohio 45424. We all know why I'm here. I'm here to talk about the ALPR. uh driver's automated license plate reader issue. Um I am a managing attorney of the immigration practice group at Advocates for Basic Legal Equality or ABLE and we work with uh lowincome immigrant communities in addition to other communities of color and other low-in commu communities across the city. Um last year around the same time we've been reported uh that DPD has noticed an uptick in ALPR data inquiries. I want you all to know that Abel also began noticing an increase in calls from people whose loved ones were arrested by ICE. What was different about these calls is that these individuals were not being transferred to the jail. This was not an arrest by criminal record. This was not an arrest because they had a final order of removal. It was often while they were driving or shortly after they exited their vehicles. Now, I don't know if that was because of the data that was shared, leaked in violation of the policies that existed. Neither does anyone else because none of that data has been revealed. I can remember giving a know your rights presentation at a community center in Dayton by Dayton Children's and meeting a woman, a young Latino woman afterwards. She held her four-year-old daughter's hand while she asked me if she could complete a power of attorney. Her husband and the father of her daughter had been arrested by ICE two weeks earlier in a traffic stop. She was terrified about what would happen to her daughter if ICE came for her. I can remember weeks later my own daughter asking me what would happen if ICE came for her father who is an immigrant and my husband. This is the fear that is ravaging Dayton communities. This does not feel like public safety to me. Under city law, the city commission is responsible for providing oversight on

police surveillance, technology, purchases, and compliance. The actions that you and the city manager take in the coming days and weeks are vital. You will show our community how you value transparency and whose public safety is worth fighting for. And I want to note that I'm disappointed that there is no request to hear from the police tonight. The only thing that we have heard from the police is a 3 pm press conference on Friday, which we all know is not a time you release news when you want people to follow it. Able, in conjunction with other community groups represented here, call on the commission to do the following. Hold a public hearing where public officials should testify under oath under penalty of perjury to what they knew. Produce audit logs. The law department should should request copies of the 213 arrest reports so that the families know what role this this violation played in their separation. You should provide information and conduct outreach to immigrant communities in their first languages. The police department should be doing that to explain the violation of trust that occurred. And you should immediately stop the license plate reader cameras. We when we were talking about this ordinance, you all immediately did not go with vigilant and you went with flock and flock has proven no better.

Thank you. Thank you, Miss Kersh. I call to the podium Ivy Young.

Good afternoon. Ivy Young, 323 West Hillrest Avenue. Good evening.

This week, we lost a holy man, and I appreciate you taking a moment of silence for him. Bishop Cox was a mentor, colleague, and friend. as president of the clergy community coalition. He led us to successful campaign for Dayton public hospital before and basically before he passed in Bishop's last CCC board meeting this Wednesday last this last Wednesday the day before he had collapsed he planned along with all of our board members to be here this evening to terminate the contract with Chel Dix first. I cannot imagine being one of the less focuses for our holy man. Bishop believed you to be corrupt and so compromised that he wanted to give this time of focus to you to be in concert with others in the community on your list of trying to undermine community initiatives. the strategy to underdrying the public hospital by creating a false narrative in the report that cost $15,000 from the discretionary fund taxpayer money that was we feel misappropriated. The same holds true for the citizens assembly. $20,000 in December 2025 for from the discretionary fund. Again, this $20,000 was done before the inauguration of the new mayor in order to undermine the new law for the public hospital. We are grateful that not only was report successful, it was not. and the citizen assembly's advisors has decided to pivot the subject matter that they're covering which they will not resume until the fall of this year. What has been taking place, you know, is a very is vindictiveness

and leads us to the action that I really don't appreciate having to even say the things I'm that are being said, but I'm glad somebody has to say it. Bishop also wanted to focus on another focus. Mr. Beckham, good evening again. He believed you also have made many compromises after working side by side with the former mayor whe along with commissioners Shaw Joseph and of course the city manager. You are four months new in your office. You are no longer beholden. You can make a fresh start. Part of this fresh start is to exercise your legislative power and make a motion to terminate this contract that present exists with your city manager. We in the clergy community coalition are still processing the loss of Bishop Cox, but know that in the last meeting we discussed strategies for a strong future which we will be sharing with the community in the coming weeks. Information about Bishop Memorial is forthcoming and I want to thank you for your time.

Thank you, Mr. Young. I call to the podium Melissa Bertollo.

Good evening. Good evening.

Melissa Bertollo, 1137 Harvard Boulevard, Dayton, Ohio 45406. Good evening, mayor, commissioners, city manager, staff, and the Dayton community. When I learned that the Dayton Police Department had shared information with outside agencies for immigration related purposes, I was not shocked. This is exactly what many of us have been warning you about for years. After the news broke, I went back and rewatched all of the public meetings about ALPRs on the internet archives since they've been taken off of the city website. And I wanted to understand how this comm commission has been persuaded to continue expanding this technology despite the alarms that we've been raing since 2020. We have come here to raise concerns that Dayton's ALPRs do not operate in isolation. These cameras are connected to larger databases which are accessible by outside agencies. We have told you this. We have raised concerns that law enforcement officers are able to use this data to determine where a vehicle has been seen, reconstruct travel patterns, and identify when someone arrived at or left a location, even if that person is not suspected of a crime. Similar to my friend Katie Hersch's testimony about someone who was picked up in Old North Dayton, we have raised the concerns that this data has been used for immigration enforcement, stalking, and to to chill political disscent. We have raised concerns about the contract language itself, which now gives Flock the irrevocable worldwide license to use data for its services, meaning a private surveillance company has permanent and extremely broad rights to use data collected from Dayton residents. We have raised concerns about how this data is integrated with AI, including

its ability to search based on features not related to the license plate itself. Furthermore, Flock now advertises tools that can flag what it considers suspicious driving behavior and identify vehicles that frequently travel together. We have raised these concerns for years and no one did anything. I realized when I rewatched these meetings that there has been a policy placebo effect that you have thought that we can survey ourselves and our community because we have a policy in place an ordinance. It doesn't do enough. It cannot be attributed to one major who didn't uncclick a box. This is a failure across the city commission, the city manager and the police department. The majority of you have chosen to ignore us. I want to say thank you to Mayor Turner Slass and Commissioner Fairchild for listening to us. Although we are disappointed in your vote in January. Our demands are simple. Cancel the flat contract and take down the cameras. Release the audit logs so that we know exactly which agencies this information was shared with, when, and how. hold a public hearing under oath so that we can understand exactly how this information just let her finish.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Bartell. Thank you.

I call to the podium re molar. Good evening, Re Molnar, 361 West Springs Road in Fairborn.

Good evening. Um, so I want to uh finish what um my friend Melissa Bertollo was getting ready to wrap up, but I wanted to start. I'm not an expert on policy like my friend Julio Mateo or my friend Katie Kersh or Melissa who gave testimony just before me. Um, I'm a mental health care provider. And so one of the things that I am an expert in is um noticing abuse. Abuse comes in many forms. One of the forms is through brutality like has been mentioned by many people that spoke before me tonight. The brutality um that ended in the killing of Reginald Thomas. The brutality of a 16-year-old pregnant girl um just la just last week. Um the brutality that is rampant from the police throughout the city of Dayton and beyond. Um, another form of of abuse comes in the form of surveillance. Um, being watched, being tracked everywhere we go. The license plate readers that many people have given um, reports on this evening as well. Um, abuse comes in the form of deceit. the many lies that have been shared to your faces um from the people reporting on these technologies, telling you over and over again that they're not being used for um for mal intent, that they're they're protected, that they're safe. Those were lies. Lying to your face, deceit, that's a form of abuse. Um, another form of abuse is the threat and isolation that these license plate readers have been um ha have been enacting for immigrant communities in the city of Dayton and beyond. The threats the the news reports of what we see the violence of ICE families being separated um these threats and the isolation that that creates that's a form of abuse. People are afraid to leave their homes.

They're afraid. That's because of you all also being complicit in allowing these cameras to go up all over the place. Um, so to bring to light, these are all forms of abuse that I hope now you can recognize as well. Um, so everyone here in the audience that's wearing black is wearing black in solidarity with us who want to see the contract canled. Um, if they want to quietly stand, they could do that. Correct. So, what our demands are are to remove the cameras immediately because like has been previously stated, Flock has access to the this data no matter what. So, the cameras need to come out. That's the only way that we know they're not on and watching and recording data. We want to cancel the contract with Flock immediately. Um, and we also don't want to have any other uh private companies surveilling the residents of Dayton. Um, we want you to release all of the audit logs going back to 2020. Um, we want you to hold a public hearing where public officials testify under oath about what happened. We want you to put a clause back into the ordinance um that holds the police accountable. Uh we want the city law uh department to formally request documentation from ICE to ascertain what immigration enforcement um occurred as a result of the license plate readers.

Okay, wrap up please. We want you to commit to not contracting with any other APL APR APLR ALPR vendors and we want you to communicate directly with communities that are impacted in their first languages about what happened and what you're planning to do to remedy it. Thank you. I call to the podium Miranda Howlet. Good evening. Good evening.

Um, thank you for listening. Um, I'm my name is Miranda Howlet. I'm from 21 Hilltop Avenue, 45419. I'm here to speak on the flock camera scandal and the harms that that negligence has caused. I'm going to say the demands upfront in case I babble on and forget to get to them at the end. Take down the cameras now. Do not sign any more ALPR contracts in the name of our public safety. They do not make us safe. Release the audit logs immediately. Those that are already in the possession of the city or the police. Uh produce others um going back to 2020. Hold a public hearing ensuring that officials um attend and provide answers to the public. Sunshine is the best disinfectant. And tell people what happened, especially the impacted communities. Um, as many of you know, I serve as a teacher and a researcher at the University of Dayton. Uh, my comments here are as a private um private resident and citizen, but my profession informs what I know and how I know it. I'm a scholar of the rule of law and authoritarianism in El Salvador. I have seen its breakdown. I've seen state violence against particular social groups in the midst of it and the conditions where policy and state action become a politics of cruelty dressed up in a uniform inhumity hiding behind a badge raw domination instead of law and order. And I have seen local officials stand by and watch it happen or look away. My experience in El Salvador and in other places has helped me to understand that authoritarianism triumphs when good people do nothing and look away. nothing. And that's exactly what happened here when this body was entrusted and when the police agency was entrusted with our private information and promised us that they would take care of it. Promised us and lied to us. As Chief Abzal said in

his public statement, the policy was clear the regulations were important and they did not follow the very thing that they were asked to do. He used the word disgusting. I share his sentiment. I am disgusted that they found out in October. It took until December to toggle the switch to set it up the right way. When they realized they were still automatically sharing, they stopped sharing with all feds in January. Finally, as of April 7th, that's when all the ALPR data sharing was stopped. Why did it take from October to April while people were being ripped away in front of their children, while people were having agents follow them to their houses? We we don't need to know. We can assume flock cameras are related to this enforcement in Dayton because such APR cameras have been instrumental in surges of immigration enforcement activity in Florida, California, Oregon, and other places. We told you that this would happen. The negligence on the part of the police and on the part of the commission as the oversight body is a betrayal of the most serious and alarming nature. You need accountability and repair and they start in the same place. Clear communication and listening to the victims and survivors. How have you shared this with impacted families and how h how how in what languages and what is your plan for sharing further? How have you made attempts to find out from immigrant community leaders and advocates what the impact was of this callous oversight or how do you plan to do so? Show us you are serious because you have failed so egregiously in the past.

Thank you Dr. Thank you. I call to the podium Kimaru Watenza. My name is Kimaru Wartenza. I live at 1200 West Grand Avenue, Dayton, Ohio 45402. And I came like many of the people here to talk about the flock situation. But uh I'm not one to reinvent the wheel. People have told you. Uh but I do want to share an experience that I had um several years ago when my oldest son returned from Atlanta. He had graduated from Meale High School, had gone to Tennessee State University, graduated, relocated to Atlanta, got a job as an accountant and was doing very well. He visited us in Dayton and he was with a friend of his and um they were moving things out of a house that the friend owned. the police, the Dayton police came up on them and uh pulled their guns and told them to get on the ground face down. My son was dressed and he's kind of vain and didn't want to do it. They threatened to shoot him, so he got on the ground. So, um um after this incident happened, um my wife and I

complained and an an officer from the Dayton Police Department came to our house and discussed this incident. This officer told us that um they're pulling guns on my son, our son, and having him get down on the ground face down was for his own good. Wow.

Now we're sitting here listening to this officer told us that and said, "That's it. I don't want to talk to you anymore." And um we went on to go to the next step because what that officer was saying to us was ridiculous. Uh so now um what I'm asking here now is do these police officers in Dayton still behave this way in light of the fact that very recently a man was shot for riding a bicycle. Black man. Um, I will say very quickly, I did witness uh recently a uh white male um uh under surveillance by the Dayton police for the same thing, but relative thing. This white male was escorted to Grand View Hospital. I know because I followed him and he went to the hospital. He was treated there. He was not forced to get on the ground. Uh, and he was certainly not killed.

Thank you, Mr. Watenza. I call to the podium Tara Campbell.

Tara.

Oh, Tara. Okay. Tara Campbell 2224 Chamberlain Avenue, Dayton, Ohio 45406. I stand again before you tonight because the people of Dayton deserves transparency, accountability, and leadership rooted in human dignity and human rights. Over the last several months, our community has witnessed a growing pattern of decisions that have weakened public trust. From concerns surrounding the fatal shooting of a man killed on a bike downtown, what is the status of investigation to the lack of transparency in the police chief selection process to concerns surrounding the recent announcement of the civ citizen assembly structure and now the suspension of the automatic license plate reader technology. The public is asking serious questions and the community deserves answers. These are not isolated incidents. Together, they point to a deeper issue regarding transparency, accountability, and communication and the public ability to meaningfully participate in decisions that directly impact their lives. These failures disproportionately impact African-American immigrant communities, lowincome residents, and other marginalized populations who have historically experienced over surveillance, exclusion from decision-m, unequal treatment, and lack of trust in the systems meant to protect them. When transparency is absent and accountability is delayed, these communities often carry the greatest

burden and harm. What steps will the city take to rebuild the trust multiple community concerns regarding transparency and communication? The universal declaration of human right affirms our right to life, liberty, and security. Article 3, justice, the right to rights are not to be violated. Article six, failure public process. Article 10, access to information. Article 19 and meaningful participation in government. Tonight, the community is calling on the commission, the city manager to chiefs of police and the date leadership to uphold these principles. This is what we request in the contract with flock safety. Take down the cameras. We need the all the audit logs from the inception of the contract. We also want to make sure that there's a process that would allow citizens the the ability to be able to to really engage with their government. We also would like to have a police dialogue of all community citizen stops by the police on bikes in downtown Dayton and surrounding areas over the last 5 years. Transparency is not optional. Accountability is not optional. Human rights are not optional. This is the moment for Dayton. Let us understand and know transparency over over secrecy, accountability over avoidance, and community over division. Public trust demands transparency and action because community is the recipe for change.

Thank you, Miss Campbell. I call to the podium Zakiyia Sankara Jabar. Zakia Sincar Jabar 2426 Jerome Mayor Sllo thanks again for recognizing my great uncle Russell Reese who recently passed I'm sorry I'm so angry take

after hearing a black woman have to come up here to relive her trauma from police brutality and listening to black people constantly come up here and tell y'all what's happening to them in their neighborhoods and to continue to see just the benign neglect. This is a city of hate. Okay, antilack hate. That's what we're dealing with policy and practice. the ALR cameras. We should have expected that as you've heard everybody talk about. Look at how you treat the citizens. People have been begging this commission to make changes on behalf of the citizens who put you here. THE CITIZENS WHO PAY TAXES in this city. HAVE SOME DAMN RESPECT for the people. This is wrong. And you all just sit there like everything is okay. Darius, where's Nan? She ain't governor. She is not governor. You're not going anywhere without the people. So, just like this man told you, get off the train of the billionaires, the developers, AND ALL THE WHITE POWER STRUCTURE THAT RUN THIS CITY in collaboration with this woman RIGHT HERE. SINCE YOU DON'T have tonight, you seem to don't have the courage to get rid of somebody who's been here for 10 years listening to all the people come up here after years and years and years. Y'all pulling black people over on Hoover and it ain't even a damn sidewalk. Come on, man. This is ridiculous. This is absolutely unacceptable. I have also lived in other cities. I have never seen anything like this before in my life. Don't get me wrong, racism and antilackness is everywhere, but this is

egregious was what happening in Dayton. You got a business downtown, Miss Dixon. You love downtown. We all know that. You done put the police station right next to a store that's selling black youth lighters that look like guns. And you don't see a problem with that? You don't see a need to do something about that since you run the city. Is that a setup because you want black youth to get killed and shot in the back by somebody that look like that? Because we all know that all they got to do is say, "Oh, I fear for my life." Even though the damn gun ain't even real. And I'm going tell you something. The way people, poor people, black people, marginalized people are being treated in this city is unacceptable. and the people are not going to continue to take it. Let me give a message to the business community since that's all y'all seem to care about. Let me finish this, please. A message to the business community. When the people are unheard, they'll figure out a way to be heard. 25 years ago in Cincinnati, what happened? 20 y'all y'all spent $2.5 million downtown. Y'all want black people come down here and tear it up in three days? Cuz that's what's going to happen if you DON'T TAKE ACTION. FIRE THIS PERSON RIGHT HERE, Shirley Dixon. Fire her tonight.

Thank you, Miss Abuar. Should I be here? I call to the podium. Excuse me. Excuse me. Sorry. Thank you. Yep. A call to the podium. Talis Gage. I don't like you.

Talis gauge 1921 Gettysburg 45417 I think it is. I don't know. But um too many police is a crime. Over policing is a crime. Over policing is a crime. I get on the bus. I see how they walk through there. It's unnecessary. Y'all doing too much. And I want to know which one of y'all going to tell me why y'all taking so long to get rid of Shelley Dixon. What What back dollar are y'all getting?

Is it a dollar that we don't know about? Y'all compromise. Are y'all that weak?

I mean, tighten up. I mean, it's a reason why I wouldn't be up there. I wouldn't last that long, cuz I'mma tell it all. I mean, where's the where's the muscle at, y'all? Where's your back? where I mean if if it's if if if y'all hitting the wall, let us know what wall y'all hitting and where y'all why stuff ain't happening. It shouldn't take this long. Like, let me know cuz like I said, if I was up there, I wouldn't last long cuz I'm going to tell everything. I'm exposing everything. They going to say, "Yeah, he got to go." I'm telling everything. Like, let me know y'all. Why is it taking this long, man? I know I know y'all ain't that weak. Well, hey, you your eyes open today, huh? You awake. You hear me? And yeah, I don't like you. Oh, yeah. Another thing I wanted to address while I'm up here too is rec centers. And I'm from Cleveland. If you got John F. Kennedy High School, you got like Kennedy Rec. You got South High School, you got a rec center. Like I was playing sports since I was like 8 n years old. We had MUN league. I was able to play 8 n 10 all the way up to junior varsity when I was 14 years old. It's like ninjas pee-wise and bannerways. So you can stay I've been boxing since I was I don't know a a very long time and I love fighting and I can't even do it now cuz I got to be a better person. But baseball, basketball, football, they have tutoring, they have uh water aerobics, just etc. teaching. That's where I got some of my ideas with my love day events, like teaching kids how to play chess and different things like that. I took out of Cleveland what I seen them them doing at home and brought it up here to some degree. So like if it was more rec centers and Dayton is small. Dayton ain't nowhere near as big as Cleveland is. So like this could be a great city, a model to show other cities things that could be done that works. Like this is I just don't get it, man. I don't get

it. I don't get it. more rec centers for the kids, man. Then they have something else to do instead of watching their big homies push dope all day. Come on. And uh we need some relationships. Cops have relationships with these people in these neighborhoods that y'all going into. The time is up. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Gage. Fire Shelley Dixon.

Thank you, Mr. Gage. I call to the podium Paula Humphrey. My name is Paula Humphrey. I live at 2011 West Fairview Avenue and I would like to address the audience and the comment that was made that the city is antilack. I live in West Dayton. Please address the commission.

You got to address the commission. I live in West Dayton and the people who live in this neighborhood have chosen to live here to be neighbors to blacks. So, I take issue with that. Uh we are not a racist city, but um I didn't come here to um I don't have the mo emotion and the and the passion that I experience here tonight and I don't have any real strong feelings that Shelley Dickstein should be fired. Um this is emotional for me because I feel like I'm a mis I've misplaced here. Has my time started? Oh, it has. Oh my gosh. Okay. Okay. Well, I came here for a totally different reason, okay?

And I appeal to everyone to be patient with me. I'm a resident of Northwest Dayton. This area is zoned residential and is not commercial. We, as loyal Dayton citizens in Northwest Dayton, are dedicated to keeping our neighborhood streets classified as residential zone. We want a residential zone, our residential zone strengthened, and our housing codes enforced. Unfortunately, for several years now, new people have moved into the neighborhood to set up car repair shops, which is not appropriate where people want to live a quality of life. Do you know what it's like to live in a street where someone is advertising to do cheap repair car work? Well, when people do this commercial repair work uh from their home, the people on this the entire neighborhood is affected. There is pollution in the form of terrible loud noises, clanging, banging, constant power, tools operating. There's dirt and litter and commercial oil spills and constant odor and constant stream of unfamiliar people arguing or causing disruption. Tow trucks come to pick up inoperable cars or to deliver the cars in the middle of the night. They have flashing things and they have all this loud mo motor noises. It just doesn't lend itself to, you know, being a very nice community. When you live in a residential area, you know the people with whom you live, you're familiar with their routines and you have a sense of security. The popup auto repair shops destroy that sense of security. If people desire to to conduct these repair shops, more power to them. they can find a place that can accommodate this kind of activity. This is just one example of how the quality of life in the city of Dayton, the city that I love,

the city that I appeal to be a segregated city of multiculture and pluralism and diversity. It's just another example of how housing codes are not enforced and the quality of your life to tears. Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Humphrey. I call to the podium Steven Muhammad Steve Muhammad 126 Burgess Avenue. Honorable mayor, city commissioners, I wanted to first talk uh to you about a good friend of mine, a sister in the struggle, Sister Kenya Akbar. Um her the issue with Sister Abbar is a lot more than just injustice. It's an issue of where you have servants. You have servants of the city, but then you also have servants of God. You have people who go out of their way with their time, their money, their finances, their resources because they see the plight of the least of these and they're trying to do the best to lift them up. And so whenever there is an injustice against individuals like that, the city might not recognize it, but there's a higher power that recognizes it. And that higher power is in play today. And that's the second thing that I want to talk about, which is the heatwave that is about to hit Dayton, Ohio. I've reached out to uh Parks and Recreation, and God willing uh my organization, Refuge Depot, will be able to work with uh park and recreations because the issue is this, the summers are getting hotter and they're getting longer. And because of global warming, if that's what we want to call it, you have more humidity in the air, which means that these heat waves that are uh in some cases they call them a heat dome that lays over certain cities. And because

urban areas are made up of concrete, steel, and glass, even when the night comes, there's no relief from the heat. And so I want to just urge not just the city, but I want to urge black people, black churches, black community, uh, black organizations to come together so that we can establish cooling stations, but also so that we can have committees that will look out for the elderly, look out for the handicapped, look out for children, look out for those who can't afford central air. I know a lot of us are going to be happy to turn that on, but unfortunately because of the antiquated grid system, they might not even have uh heat uh when it comes down to this summer. So, I just wanted to put that before the city commission. Uh and thank you for your time.

Thank you, brother Muhammad. Thank you. That concludes speakers, your honor. Thank you. Thank you, Miss McClendon. Miss Dixon, do you have any closing comments this evening?

Uh, I have just a few, your honor. Thank you. As as um was discussed in the briefings last week with regards to the flock cameras, the of course the um the administration will look toward the commission with regards to direction on the audit and um we are working on um pulling together all of the records that were reviewed. I I want to make sure that be there were over 7,000 emails and hundreds of thousands of records that were reviewed as a result of those 7,000 accesses to our data. Right? So it is a huge huge amount of data that our folks were looking at and the investigation that the U police department was doing is not complete yet but I will work towards some of that release as been um discussed this this evening. Uh also the um police department is already putting together the um variety of community meetings that need to take place. uh beginning with Abel who was the partner and originally as we sat through to put this technology ordinance in place as well as welcome Dayton and then um certainly making sure we're going out to the neighborhood um meetings particularly where there were flock cameras so that we're engaging and talking about that. We're not done yet talking about what that outreach looks like, but that uh and we will report on that as we get a little bit more finalized, but I wanted to let you know that that's the work that's in place right now. And um and that's all I have this even.

Thank you, Miss Dixine. Miss McClendon, do you have any closing comments? Yes, your honor. Next week's commission meeting on Wednesday, May 13th, is cancelled due to a lack of quorum. The next commission meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 20th at 6 PM. Thank you, Miss McClendon. Commissioners, do you have any closing comments this evening? Commissioner Beckham.

Thank you, your honor. Um, appreciate all the uh attendees tonight uh and making your voices heard. Um, I just briefly say that the um block camera situation, the ALPR um circumstance is extremely disappointing. Um, I obviously um am am the newest member up here, but I am uh committed along with my colleagues to rectifying uh this situation as best we can. Uh we have of course spoke about uh the needed investigation to really understand where the breakdown happened um and who all obviously was involved in in that breakdown. So, um I look forward to the results of that investigation and working with my colleagues to uh make sure that uh we take the steps we need to rebuild some trust. Uh because uh uh this situation uh it is it is equally uh unfortunate uh but it is also um hard to understand in terms of uh how we could allow this to happen. uh it is a disappointment to me and and my colleagues. So I look forward to uh ensuring that the investigation is thorough uh and complete and that we take the necessary actions from here.

Thank you, Commissioner Beckham. Commissioner Shaw,

I totally agree with my colleague and and for the most part u the folks that have come down here tonight to speak to us understandable that u um there's major disappointment and distrust in this community now uh after this um has happened. Uh I I thought we had some good processes in place and we were uh made assured that uh everyone was on the same page and that this would kind of move forward in the way that it was intended to do so. Clearly that did not happen and that is unacceptable and I'm glad that all of my colleagues agree that we should have a very thorough and open process about how we move forward with this. I do want a thorough process to understand uh where the gaps were. Um, it's I'm thankful that someone did catch the the error and brought it forward, but we've just got to do better because we cannot um we cannot move forward without trust in this community. And I I am committing to do just that and I know that all of my colleagues are on the same page and and that's important uh an important start uh to to healing. So, I agree with you. do agree with uh with everyone that's spoken so far and that uh we have just got to do a lot of hard work to rebuild trust in this community and it's going to be important to do so and we're committed to doing that work.

Thank you, Commissioner Shaw. Commissioner Joseph.

Thank you, Mayor. I'm not sure that I've never ever been as angry as I was Friday when I found this out. Uh I know that folks here They're correct that uh this is a failure of all levels. Uh and we need to work to make sure like commissioner said we rectify it as best we can. Specifically uh I and we are calling for immediate shutdown of software and the system all the readers. I'm also calling for an independent review just like my colleagues have said and specifically I want the results of investigation to be reported directly to the commission. I want the investigator to find out what data was shared with other law enforcement agencies, other agencies, what those agencies purposes were as best they can determine, where there were gaps in our oversight process, and as a result, recommendations as to what additional safeguards are necessary to preserve regular order, regular policy following by by staff. In the meantime, I call upon our city manager and chief to re-examine all of our data sharing policies, whatever department, uh, and the processes that ensure compliance with commission direction and policy to make absolutely sure this breakdown is not repeated. It doesn't fix what happened before, like commissioner said, but we at least have to close the door so it doesn't happen again. Thank you, mayor.

Thank you. Thank you. I have a couple comments this evening. Um, I do want to thank all of those who are in attendance this evening. I want to thank the the staff members for the presentations this this evening. Also, um, and please forgive me, I'm only going to pronounce your first name. I do not want to butcher your last name. So, Zakiya, Tara, Julio, Joseph, Ebony, Joyce, Blanca, Sharon, Kevin, Kenya, Yousef, Dory, Bonita, Kathleen, Steven, Mary, Sue, Cheyenne, Tim, Kathleen, Ivory, Melissa, Re, Miranda, Kamaru, Tara, Talis, Paula, and Steven. Thank you all for coming before this body this evening. Um I know there were a few that didn't necessarily speak in regards to the ALPRs. Um this particular incident I believe is a test to our leadership. It is a test to what we campaigned on only being in office for four months now. Let me add that. But I raised the point in running for office, running to be the next mayor. And I take great honor in that. I take great privilege in that. And I am not shortsighted in terms of who put me in this position.

Amen.

I hold true to that. And what we have experienced is exactly what my brother said and he said that this was a gross act of negligence. Not only were the commission we were misled, there is acts of deception and frankly I have shared on a number of occasions where we are and how we need to move the needle. This feels even though it is prior to my time on the commission and being on the outside, this feels like a another episode of what we saw that was the dark cloud of the city

and what we are experiencing here this evening. What we have experienced the last couple of weeks and months in the city of Dayton. And it gives me great pause. It gives me great concern. I know that my colleagues, again, this was before my time, you all did amazing work with the police reform. Many of you in this room were a part of those conversations. Many of you in this room led those initiatives being on the number of of committees. You gave your time, your talents, and you volunteered to be a part of a process that you believed where there was reciprocated trust and transparency and accountability. I am all in awe right now because sitting in this seat as the mayor of the city of Dayton, as a black woman, as a mother, as a wife,

it is deeply, deeply troubling and concerning. And so I am so glad and I am appreciative that all of you that came this evening and I charge you to continue to hold each and every one of us accountable, myself included, to hold us accountable. So there are a number of questions that I have. I do want to raise this point as well before I go into my questions. Thank you to my colleagues. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for agreeing to make sure that we move forward with an audit a full investigation as to what the next steps will be. That will in fact preside in the hands of this commission of this legislative body. And that is in fact accordance to the ordinance in section 46. So I hold true to that and I am so glad and appreciative that we are all on the same page on that regards. There are a number of questions that I have the and I know this is dear to you because this is something that you're very passionate about, Commissioner Joseph, and I thank you for your leadership on that and thank you for your commitment. And I know this is a very devastating incident to many of us in this room. But I'm asking my colleagues, we got to do the right thing. The one that fell, that's not enough. There are more that are accountable for this negligence. There are more that are accountable for these acts and we got to do the next best thing. We have to do the next best thing. We have to make sure that we are preparing the lack of trust in this community. And I know we have had some conversations and thank you Miss Dixine for your commitment for the various different um reviews that will take place the police department and their

commitment to work with ABLE. My question to you is who in particular are they working with AEL? We have an AEL attorney here this evening. I hope that there will be an exchange where we can tap into the leadership and the advocacy and the work of Miss Katie Kersh. I will also encourage us to make sure that we're having the conversations with those who have been a part of the police reform who those who have been a part of the the surveillance technology coalition, those who have been a part of all of the various different works and and advocacy that has taken place in this community. I hope that we tap into them and it will be the direction of this body to make sure that we do so. I also want to make note again in conversation the well-attended town hall that took place this past Saturday. There were over 50 plus residents and in conversations that I have had with Miss Dixine as a city manager. We are going to find ways and means to utilize the 30th of May town hall to have a public safety conversation. There is some much needed work we have to do in this community and we cannot do it alone. So I invite you all to stay tuned to make sure that you are engaged in that process. We have to make sure and again I don't know what this looks like but we got to make sure that there is mutual respect in this community. Mutual respect and so I am calling on all of you to be a part of that process and to hold us accountable. I am also asking that the number of demands that have been communicated this evening that they are in fact recorded and they are deployed and executed in its fullest extent. I am also asking again as mentioned uh that there is in in fact a full independent audit

that all of the logs starting from the pilot of the program dating back to 2020 I believe a direct explanation and again I pose this question during the time why are we just now finding out this was discovered in October November we received information in the end of April. Where's the gap? And to say that someone didn't know, if you did know, if you didn't know, it's a problem each either way it goes. It is a problem. And so I'm asking that again, we put the number of provisions in place. And I too agree with the public. The cameras need to be removed. We need to remove those cameras. We have to remove those cameras. There is much work that needs to be done. I'm committed to that work. Again, you already heard that Commissioner Fairchild, he is not here due to another obligation from his uh full-time employer. Um, but he has committed to holding a town hall specifically to this issue, the ALP arts. So, more information that will come from him on that regard. But again, note that the five of us will be working collectively together to make sure that you all and that we we all have answers as to where there was in fact um a disconnect and where those gaps lie in this process. So continue to hold us accountable. We got much work we need to do and we're going to hold the city manager and all of the staff accountable as well. So, thank you all for being here this evening. The last thing that I want to mention as well is that in regards to um

the recreation services, there are a number of programs. Our youth and recreation services department, they do a phenomenal job. We currently only have to your point Mr. Gage, we only have three recreation centers in the city of Dayton. And that is due to which is a very unfortunate make no qualms about it. I agree with you. I wholeheartedly agree with you. But you also got to understand the population that we have. You also have to understand the dollars in which that provides us the the the means to have those services in operation, the overhead costs, the staffing, all of those various different things. And that is near not an excuse. I'm not saying that to to give an excuse. What I'm saying is we have to do better to make sure that we one we're providing the level of information to the public because of the great work that is being done with the recreation and youth services. There are a number of free events and and and activities, sports events, whatever have you that are readily available to the members in our community. And so we have to do a better part in making sure that people know about it. The other point that I want to make to that is there are many partners that we have in this community. Commissioner Shaw works very intimately. He sits on the board with the Boys and Girls Club. Boys and Girls Club. They're doing phenomenal work. There is great work that is being done by the hub hope zone. We want to continue on that path. Big Brothers Big Sisters is another organization that does great work. And these are all various different organizations, mechanisms that are in place to make sure in fact that our kids do have something to do. So again, there's more work that needs to be done and we need to do a better part in educating the community about those various different services that are are in fact provided. Last point, and I said this and I apologize, but Miss Humphre, thank you for being here. Note that your concern

does not fall on deaf ears because all of this is encompassing. When you talk about trust, when you talk about upholding zoning, when you talk about housing standards, all of this is all-encompassing. So, we have to do a better job in making sure that one, we are enforcing our ordinances, two, that we have housing inspectors that are actively working on the ground to address those various different issues that you have mentioned this evening. So, Miss Dixine, I would ask that if you could, which I know we've already been in conversation about this before, but if we can have a followup as to where we are for those particular concerns in the the Fairview neighborhood. Um, and I know that they have been brought to your attention. Thank you all very much. Again, transparency and accountability is not optional. You have our full commitment and we are more than willing to work with each and every one of you that are here and those that are actually viewing online. Please if you have those four or five recommendations that you have eloquently communicated so succinctly and clearly please make sure that you share them with us. Uh many of us will be here after the meeting. We look forward to having those conversations not only this evening but continuing those conversations. So provide that information to us. I know we received a number of concerns via email this evening as well as phone calls, but again, we want to make sure that we're doing um the work to continue on this path to repair the damage that has been done in this community and and to restore trust in our community. So, with no further business that come before this commission, this meeting is now adjourned. Thank you.