City Commission - Regular Meeting

The Dayton City Commission meeting will now come to order. Would you all please rise for the invocation and remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. This evening's invocation will be given by Commissioner Shaw.

Dear God, we ask that you bless us and the community with peace and love. Help us to continue to build and strengthen the community. Amen. Amen.

but for the allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

All right, Ms. McClendon, may we please have a roll call this evening? Mayor Turner-Slough? Aye. Commissioners Joseph? Shaw?

Aye.

Bearchild?

Aye.

Beckham?

Aye.

May I please have a motion to excuse the absence of Commissioner Joseph?

So moved. Second the motion, Your Honor.

Thank you. It has been properly moved and seconded to excuse the absence of Commissioner Joseph. All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed say no. May I have a motion to approve the minutes of the May 27, 2026 meeting?

So moved, Your Honor. Second.

It has been properly moved and seconded to approve the minutes of the May 27th, 2026 meeting. All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed say no. Any abstentions? Ms. McClendon, are there any communications or petitions this evening?

There are none, Your Honor.

Thank you, ma'am. And this evening we have a presentation in regards to the Felons with a Future CVG program. I would like to call to the podium Mr. Greg West, CEO of Felons with a Future. To the podium, please.

Good evening.

Good evening.

Good evening. Commissioners, Assistant City Manager and the rest of the staff, thank you for this time. We're really coming to bring awareness for gun violence month this month. June is gun violence awareness month. As you see, we all have on our orange ribbons and we have on our orange shirts because that's the color for gun violence. I've given some ribbons to be distributed up to the staff and the commission so that we can all support gun violence. I wanted to bring my crew up here to, you know, introduce them to him so that we can talk about the 82 days of no gun violence at all in the North Riverdale area. That's been attributed to the hard work of our staff, being out there on the pavement, talking to people, getting to know the community, getting the trust of everything. So I want to start at the left and let him introduce himself and have a couple seconds to say whatever he needs to say about gun violence awareness, Mom.

Come to the podium, sir.

Praise the Lord to all y'all that's up there. It's my honor even to be a privilege to even say anything. But my name is Julius Ruby. It's just an honor to be part of this violence interrupters and just to go 82 days without violence and just be part of the community. I'm part of the community for a long time, but this is something special. And I didn't even like to be called up here first. But it's an honor. And I think we've been doing a great job. So I'm just privileged, man. I'm going to get out the way, man.

Good evening. Darren Byrd, part of the violence, been the community advocate, you know, in the city, whatever. And, you know, the hard work over there, them days or whatever. So it's been a step in the right direction because we haven't had a program like this in a couple of years or whatever. So it's effective, you know, looking forward for it to spread out, go citywide.

That's right. Thank you.

Ron Santos, I'm a violence interrupter. Just looking forward to the program growing into other neighborhoods so we can show the statistic change around the city.

Thank you. First lady.

Hello, everyone. It's a pleasure being here. My name is Terry Sims. I am the outreach for the violence interrupters. I think it's a great program because it's very needed, not just for what's happening around in the area that we are, but throughout the city. A lot of the families are in need, and I know that once we start growing, the city of Dayton will be great again and safe. Thank you.

Great evening, everybody. My name's Chris Lockett, a.k.a. C-Lock. I'm a violence interrupter for Felons for the Future and also the VIP program and BRAVE. We're building resilience against violent encounters in our neighborhoods, and it feels good to give back to the community and, you know, just helping people change their social norms, what they think is normal. We're helping them know, no, that's not normal, you know, to be feeling that way. And, you know, My message is this month and moving forward for every day of every month is focus on the things that you can control and let the universe deal with the uncontrollables.

Thank you.

Hello, everyone. I'm Curtis Peanut Johnson, program director for Fellows with a Future program, BRAVE, Building Resilience Against Violence Encounters. And I want to say, man, like, I want to say salute to my team, man, for them to be out there every day dealing with high-risk individuals. And, again, they don't give us any slack at all. TONY EVERY NOW AND THEN, BUT OTHER THAN THAT, I'M JUST KIDDING. BUT NO, BUT REALLY, EVERYBODY UP HERE IS CREDIBLE AND SUITABLE, AND THAT'S SOMETHING LIKE WE HAVE TO DO, AND MY JOB IS TO MAKE SURE WE'RE DOING FIDELITY TO THE MODEL, AND THAT'S SOMETHING WE'VE EXEMPLARILY DONE EVER SINCE MARCH. BOOTS ON THE GROUND HAVE REALLY PAID OFF, AND AGAIN, LIKE, THE COMMUNITY IS STARTING TO BUY IN. AGAIN, WE'RE AT 82 DAYS, AND WE'RE GOING TO KEEP ROLLING WITH THAT. I UNDERSTAND THE PUBLIC NEED FOR IT TO BE CITYWIDE, AND THAT'S PROBABLY WHY WE'RE HERE TALKING ABOUT THIS TODAY, BECAUSE AGAIN, I MEAN, WE'RE HERE, WE'RE READY, WE'RE FOC And we're ready to roll out in any way and check in a capacity that you guys see for us. So thank you guys as well. And we also have a volunteer we want to bring up. He did join. Yeah.

How's everybody doing today?

My name is Troy Tanner. I'm from a little bit everywhere in Dayton. I'm the guy that never shuts up. I tell everybody, enjoy life and positive vibrations to all of y'all. And, you know, I have to say this in all honesty. At one time in my life, I was opposed to politics. However, what I'm learning is that it's going to take all of us to make this happen. Not one of us, all of us. And we want consciousness. So I tell everybody, enjoy life and positive vibrations to all of you.

Thank you.

As you see, we have people who are volunteering and coming in, and that's one of the calls to action that we're doing to the city, because like he said, it's going to take all of us. Right now, we're just in the North Riverdale area, but if you do want to get involved, please get in touch with us at 937-270-3731, or go to our website, felonswithafuture.org, or our email, felonswithafuture at gmail. We're looking for people who want to step up and learn conflict resolutions. so that they can take it back into their communities. That way we can start hitting this public epidemic as quick as possible. That's all we got.

Thank you, Mr. West. Thank you. And don't forget, 1936 North Main Street. Same as plug, same as plug, same as plug. That's right. 1936 North Main Street.

And use your laundromat.

One second.

I agree.

One second. Yes, please. If you all come back, please, if you don't mind. Thank you. I'm sure my colleagues have some comments and want to acknowledge you all and the work that you're doing. So, Commissioner Beckham, please.

Thank you Mayor. First of all, it's good to see everybody. I'm very glad to be in my orange in solidarity with you all for gun violence prevention month. I am just very, very, very, very excited about what this program has and will continue to accomplish. It's an honor to have been kind of in the early stages of helping it get here. And now that I have the honor of sitting in this seat, my intention and my commitment is to make sure that this program does expand. We obviously need it. And I know you all are doing the work. Some of you were a part of Serve, the earlier original part of this program, Mr. Ruby and Mr. Bird. So I'm thankful that we also have the longevity and the experience built into bringing this program back. And our city needs it, and we're going to continue to support you all. We're going to continue to lift up this work and thank you for what's already been accomplished. Good to see everybody. Thank you for being here. Proud of the program so far. Let's keep going.

Commissioner Fairchild.

I just echo those remarks. Thank you for the work you've done. Congratulations on what you've accomplished so far. I know it was a long time coming. We were very anxious for you all to get up and going and You know, the continued violence outside of the area you're working on reminds us painfully how necessary this work is. And so we look forward to working with you, and hopefully you can teach others. And someone around here says violence is contagious. My hope is that nonviolence is contagious as well.

Thank you.

and you'll help us lead the way in that. And I want to say a special word to, as you call him, C-Lock. I can remember you being here like two years ago. Just begging, begging for something like this to exist and for you to be a part of it. So thank you for your perseverance.

Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Shaw.

Yeah, thank you. I also agree with everything my colleagues have said. You know what did strike, just reach out to me when you said you're the appropriate people on the job. That's right. You are. You're all engaged in this community and you have the bona fides to go out there and do this work. Could be dangerous work. So you all are very brave to do it. But you are committed to this because you love this community like we all do. And now is the time. I mean, I'm just so glad that you all are on the ground now. And it's right. We have to expand this thing. You know, the heartbreaking instances of violence that happen in this community. We can't tolerate this. And the work that you're doing is commendable. 82 days. 82 days.

Thank you for the work that you do.

We're committed to supporting you, and we want to expand this work across the city.

Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner. I, too, want to echo my colleagues' comments. You all are doing remarkable work. 82 days is, again, it is something to celebrate. I also want to thank you all for your enthusiasm, your commitment, your leadership. I have had the opportunity to go out and walk the blocks to talk to various different neighbors with you all. IN THE RAIN. AND ALSO, AGAIN, JUST REALLY WANT TO KNOW THAT WE'RE COMMITTED TO THIS WORK ALONGSIDE WITH YOU. AND AS YOU ALL HAVE MENTIONED, THIS IS A COLLECTIVE EFFORT. WE KNOW THAT. WE'RE CELEBRATING THE 82 DAYS, BUT WE KNOW THAT THERE'S MORE WORK THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE THROUGHOUT ALL 65 OF OUR NEIGHBORHOODS IN THE CITY OF DAYTON. SO I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO WORKING WITH MY COLLEAGUES SO WE CAN FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE THIS A PERMANENT BUDGETED LINE ITEM. And we're going to do that work. That's our commitment, and that is what this community deserves. Everyone should feel safe. Yes, that's true. You know, it is appalling to see some of the comments, some of the concerns that I've unfortunately had to read over the last couple of days. You know, I feel it. And people, they are hurting.

Mm-hmm. Yes.

They're angry, they're sad, there's trauma. There's all the various things that people are feeling at this moment. And it pains me that people don't want to be here anymore. Their answer is, I'm leaving Dayton. That's not who we are. That is not who Dayton is. We are Dayton strong. We are a community that is resilient. We are a community that is full of innovators, creators, and we're going to make Dayton safe. And we're going to do the necessary work. So I commend you all. I thank you. And if you all, please, in the chambers, just join me in a moment of silence for all those who we have lost to gun violence, your loved ones, your friends, strangers, our neighbors. It's time for us to work collectively together. So I thank you all. And let's all just join in a moment of silence, please. Thank you. Thank you all very much. Thank you.

And thank you for the ribbons. Thank you very much.

Ms. McClendon, are there any additions, deletions, or comments to the calendar this evening?

Yes, Your Honor. I would like to request the addition of legislation pertaining to the public hearing.

Thank you. Ms. Loftin, are there any additions, deletions, or comments to the calendar this evening?

Good evening, Mayor, Commissioners. I have no deletions or additions, but I do have a couple of items I'd like to highlight for you. First is an ordinance. authorizing the sale of 40 South Edwin Moses Boulevard or the Zion Baptist Church. What you are doing with this legislation is authorizing a real estate option purchase agreement with Magnus Capital Partners for the historic Zion Baptist Church. And at a sale price of $250,000, Magnus was selected through a competitive RFP process and proposes a mixed-use development with up to 120 housing units centered on the adaptive reuse and historic preservation of the church structure itself. The building is eligible for National Register of Historic Places, which unlocks the ability to access historic tax credit for supporting the project's financial stability. This is coming forward as an emergency because Magnus has to have site control. And in order for that to happen, they have to have proof of that. And their application is due June 8th.

Okay.

The other items that I'd like to highlight are a couple of infrastructure projects that are happening across the city. One is item number 39192-26. This is the first reading where the city is consenting to allow ODOT to resurface State Route 444 from Straight Line Mile 3375 to a stretch that partially runs through Dayton. So this total project cost is estimated at $5.27 million and it's all funded through ODOT. This is just our ability to give them access to do that renovation. And then resolution number 6934-26 is the authority, giving us the authority to apply for a $6 million federal grant that would be used in northwest Dayton for a connection for safer streets and faster response grant. This basically was authorized through the bipartisan infrastructure bill. And the project is a capital construction initiative targeting safety improvements for pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, and transit users in the Northwest Dayton corridor. There is a 20% match. If we receive the $6 million, then the city will need to obligate $1.2 million to complete the project. The application has been submitted and your action is necessary in order to finalize that application process. And that is all I have, Your Honor. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Loftin. Ms. McClendon, are there any citizens that are registered to speak on calendar items this evening?

Your Honor, there are no citizens registered to speak on calendar items.

All right, thank you. Commissioners, are there any comments to the City Manager's recommendations this evening? Commissioner Beckham?

I have none, Your Honor.

Thank you. Commissioner Fairchild?

I have none, Your Honor. Thank you.

Commissioner Shaw? Thank you. May I have a motion to approve the City Manager's recommendations?

I move to approve the City Manager's recommendations. Second the motion, Your Honor.

It has been properly moved and seconded to approve the city manager's recommendations. All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed say no. Any abstentions? Legislation, Ms. McClendon.

First reading emergency ordinance number 32191-26, authorizing the sale of certain real estate located at 40 South Edwin C. Moses Boulevard for economic development purposes and declaring an emergency.

Having been declared an emergency and move for the immediate passage of ordinance number 3 2, 1, 9, 1 dash 2, 6 seconds and has been properly moved and seconded to declare an emergency ordinance number 3, 2, 1, 9, 1 dash 2 suit that's 2, 6, excuse me as an emergency all in favor say aye aye all opposed say no any abstentions.

Second reading emergency ordinance number 32191-26, authorizing the sale of certain real estate located at 40 South Edwin C. Moses Boulevard for economic development purposes. Mayor Turner-Sloss? Aye. Commissioner Shaw?

Aye.

Fairchild?

Aye.

Beckham?

Aye.

Emergency Ordinance Number 32191-26 has passed with four votes in favor. First reading Emergency Resolution Number 6936-26, adopting the City of Dayton's Student Vision Master Plan and establishing the Mayor's Children's Cabinet and declaring an emergency.

Being declared an emergency, I move for the immediate passage of Resolution Number 6936-26. Second the motion, Your Honor.

It has been properly moved and seconded to declare emergency resolution number 6936-26 as an emergency. All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed say no. Any abstentions?

SECOND READING EMERGENCY RESOLUTION NUMBER 6936-26, ADOPTING THE CITY OF DAYTON'S STUDENT VISION MASTER PLAN AND ESTABLISHING THE MAYOR'S CHILDREN'S CABINET. MAYOR TURNER-SLOSS? AYE. COMMISSIONER SHAW? AYE. BEARCHILD?

AYE.

BECKHAM?

AYE.

EMERGENCY RESOLUTION NUMBER 6936-26 HAS BEEN ADOPTED WITH FOUR VOTES IN FAVOR. First reading ordinance number 32192-26 consenting to the roadway resurfacing of State Route 444 from straight line mile SLM 0.3 to 3.375 with the portion being 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 resolution number 6934-26 authorizing the submission of an application for funding consideration by the United States Department of Transportation under the Safe Street and Roads for All SS4A program. FIRST READING RESOLUTION NUMBER 6935-26, AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER OR HER DESIGNEE TO APPLY FOR, ACCEPT, AND EXECUTE WATER SUPPLY REVOLVING LOAN ACCOUNT FUNDING AGREEMENTS ADMINISTERED BY THE STATE OF OHIO ON BEHALF OF THE CITY OF DAYTON, OHIO, FOR ONE, ADVANCED PFAS TREATMENT AT OTTAWA CMAR CONSTRUCTION, Two, Ottawa Water Treatment Plant drain gates replacement construction. Three, Calvary Reservoir inspection and design. Four, Ottawa Water Treatment Plant laboratory renovations design and construction. Five, Dayton Advanced Metering Infrastructure Phase One, Design. Six, Expansion of Miami Wellfield Recharge Lagoon Phase Three, Construction. Seven, Lead Service Line Compliance Phase Three, Planning. And eight, Lead Service Line Replacements Phase One, Construction. And that concludes legislation, Your Honor.

Thank you, Ms. McClendon. I will now open the public hearing. Ms. Loftin, please proceed. Thank you.

Mr. Green is on his way. All right.

Thank you. Good evening, Commission. Coming before you, and it's always a pleasure to see you all again on such short notice. I like bringing development projects before you all for review. This is a new plan development request along with a rezoning request. The rezoning piece is for the whole 28.77 acres, and that is to rezone it from I-1 Light Industrial and SGC Suburban General Commercial to SR-2 Suburban Residential. So... The overall intent here is to take this site and transform it into housing, a housing development for 73 new homes. The applicant is D.R. Horton. Again, the current zoning is both that I-1 Light Industrial and SGC Suburban General Commercial. The overall intent is to rezone it to SR2. This is in the Kitty Hawk Planning District and Northeast Land Use Area. So the colored map before you all, that is the zoning map. You'll note that this property and the property to the north is all I-1. Interpoint Drive is where it fronts. And there's a few industrial businesses back there, but they're more light industrial uses, primarily indoors. Further to the west, you have SR1. That is the Willow Hills development. This was approved by this commission back in 2020, and I'm pleased to report that they're actually going through their final phase, Phase 5, to fully plat out the development and complete that construction. It was about 194 homes, I believe, so that is fully coming online here. To the east, you have that SGC, and this is Right at the edge of the city here, going up Brant Pike to Needmore. And that's where things get far more commercial with gas stations. You've got a Kroger's further out there and several restaurants and shops. But primarily, this area to the south of Interpoint is far more residential in nature. Those areas that do not have a zoning cover overlay, that's the city of Riverside. So everything to the south and southwest, that's all the city of Riverside. Here's the vicinity map, just with the colors removed, just to give you all a good indication of what currently is there now. It's a mix of some farmland along with some overgrowth. What you'll see here shortly is there is various wetlands that make this site somewhat difficult to develop. So here is the overall site plan. Key details here is this is only to establish the plan development standards. This is not for final plan approval. This will need to come back before plan board at a later date. But the general concept is, again, to construct 73 single family homes with access off of both Interpoint Drive and Brandt Pike there. 40 of these lots are what's called lifestyle. And per the applicant, this is for lifestylers or folks, empty nesters, age in place. It's more age-friendly targeted. But it is not restricted to age-friendly. It's just that certain building criteria can be met. Wider door frames, smaller lot sizes, too. to incentivize folks at a certain stage of life if they want to stay in a single family house to have that option. While those to the south, those 33 lots, that's more of your traditional two-story suburban single family. 52% of this lot would remain open space, and that's a lot. Our code requires at least 20, so we are more than doubling that. Again, part of this is simply the result of the geography of the site, the wetlands. Care was spent by the applicant to not really disrupt the wetlands and the creek that moves through it as that gets, one, economically difficult, but two, can cause stormwater issues further on. So the general idea is to not really affect that too much and leave it as is. So in terms of buffering, landscaping, and signage, 215 trees are proposed to be planted in addition to what remains. That's a pretty significant amount. So that not only includes those street trees that we require, but also enhanced landscaping along the north of the site, abutting that industrial use to provide some buffer space and some screening towards any new resident or resident that would abut that. And then along from Brant Pike, obviously, you want more screening and a little bit of a buffer from a far more commercial corridor that becomes Brant Pike. So you want a little bit of a noise reduction there. Stormwater, the City of Dayton Water Division has, of course, seen this plan, has no issues, but final approval will always need to come from them. And those plans would, of course, come at a later date. Up to two monument signs are proposed. That's just your typical neighborhood hey this is it's going to be called brant farms this is brant farms welcome there are two existing billboards on the site both on both along brant pike on the far south and the far northeast those would be removed and in the pd language THERE WOULD BE NO FURTHER BILLBOARDS ALLOWED ON THE SITE. SO THOSE WOULD HAVE TO BE REMOVED AND YOU CAN'T PUT NEW BILLBOARDS ON THERE. SO THAT WAS ONE OF THE MODIFICATIONS THAT PLAN BOARD ACTUALLY REQUESTED AND IS REFLECTED IN THE UPDATED PLAN DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS. The applicant gave several examples of the types of homes and elevations. I just chose two from each type. Again, your lifestyle, that's your single-story ranch, ranging in size from 1,200 square feet all the way up to a little bit under 1,800 square feet. And then the bottom are the typical two stories, ranging from 1,700 to 2,400 square feet, roughly speaking. WENT OVER THIS A LITTLE BIT. FINAL PLAN IS REQUIRED. THIS IS JUST FOR THE PRELIMINARY STANDARDS AND TO SAY IS THIS ZONING CHANGE APPROPRIATE HERE? A FEW OF THE OTHER PD STANDARDS IN THE SR2 ZONING DISTRICT, IT IMAGINES 60-FOOT WIDE LOTS, LARGER LOTS FOUND MORE PREVENTLY IN OUR SUBURBAN AREAS. THIS WOULD BE A LITTLE BIT OF A DEVIATION. FROM A STAFF PERSPECTIVE, Density is not something we should be afraid of. And on top of that, there's quite a bit of open space. So in terms of context for the area, this would not be a huge change compared to what is there. Rear yard setback would be altered by five feet. But again, that's partially for those smaller lot sizes for those lifestyler homes. Mature and existing trees would be preserved if possible. That is a big thing we always encourage. We don't want you to clear cut areas. We want to retain those existing mature trees and wildlife areas as they provide ecological benefits. And then again, I mentioned those billboards. Public process-wise, every time I come up here, I always like to highlight that when an applicant comes to the neighborhood before going through any of our land use boards or plan boards. That happened on January 15, 2026. There was a general neighborhood meeting. There was folks curious, but no one really opposed to this overall proposal. And that's reflected in the next comment, which no comments were received for or against. Of course, this went through our land use board on April 8th, which vote unanimously to recommend approval of the zoning map amendment. Plan board saw this at April 14th, 2026. UNAMS recommended approval with the modification. Remove the billboards and keep them out of the site, please. Again, that is reflected in the updated PD standards. And from a staff perspective, we would, of course, recommend approval. Looking at this contextually to the west, to the east, to the south, it is far more residential. It has not quite reached that commercial standpoint. In addition, this property has been zoned for industrial for a number of years without any form of development occurring. And staff believes that an industrial use, you know, especially on Schwinn, closer to the south there, would probably be fairly impactful to those existing residences. So this is a far less intensive use intensive overall land use and development pattern that could be compared to today. So that is why staff is recommending support here. Of course, this commission has the ability to approve, remand, or offer denial. I am, of course, here to answer any questions, and the applicant team is here as well if you wish to answer questions from them.

Thank you, Mr. Green. I'll turn it over to my colleagues. Commissioner Beckham, do you have any questions?

Thank you, Your Honor. No questions, just some quick comments. First, I mean, I certainly agree. Obviously, it's been zoned industrial, and the lack of development there, I think, makes calls for some housing. So glad to see this come forward. That's really all I have. Thank you, Your Honor.

Thank you. Commissioner Fairchild?

No.

Thank you, Commissioner Shaw.

You may have said this. Of the neighborhoods around it, has there been any outreach or any conversation with them? I know there was a question about the density and the widening of Grant Pike.

Yeah, so we reached out directly to the city of Riverside. They're not as, let's say, organized in terms of specific neighborhoods and neighborhood leadership. We did reach out directly to the city of Riverside, who had several comments. which those were dressed and they themselves had a little bit of power here to influence that. The original vehicular access point was along Schwinn Drive, not Brant Pike. And Riverside blocked that. That's their street. That's their right. And that was a lot of where their residents were coming from. Willow Hills being developed the way it is, that's where our residents would come from. It's not close enough to where a lot of those homes would be. There's a lot of buffer area and stormwater retention. So we really didn't get too much from that. In terms of Brant Pike widening, again, this has been seen by our engineers and our stormwater folks. There were really not large concerns that haven't already been addressed in this revised site plan. compared to that early January meeting and the meeting in March for the land use board. Okay, that's all.

Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner. I appreciate those questions. I had a couple of questions myself in the same vein. So you mentioned the city of Riverside. What were some of those concerns or questions that they raised that you said that they were in fact addressed?

Yeah, so originally the city of Riverside, the residents along Schwinn specifically, and those are those folks to the southwest, had concerns about stormwater and having placement of any development too close to them. I'm going to briefly go back to the aerial here. So if we're just looking at the southwest of the site, you see that vegetative area. Those concerns were addressed once they realized that all that existing vegetation is to remain. And the closest... private lot would be between 800 and 1,000 feet away from that westernmost property line. So that partially addressed their concern. Their concerns about stormwater, those were addressed simply because of the distance involved and the fact that the existing wetlands and the natural path of the water is going to largely be respected and remained. The final piece of information that I briefly spoke on was the city of Riverside and their residents felt that having 73 new homes onto Schwinn Drive was going to overwhelm the road. So What they ended up doing was saying, okay, we don't believe Schwinn Drive can handle this. We're going to restrict vehicular access from it. So the applicant revised the site to have all the secondary access come off of Grant Pike. And then that addressed that final concern.

Okay, thank you. You also stated that it wouldn't affect it too much. What did you mean by it wouldn't affect it too much? The development in terms of any disturbance to the wetlands?

Yes. So you can kind of see it here if you just imagine the subject property box in the middle of the screen. You'll see a line of trees. That is the existing drainage path and water path that goes through the site. So if I'm going back here, you'll note a lot of that is to remain. A lot of that blue, that's the existing path of the water. So a minimal impact here means we're not bulldozing the entire site and completely altering the natural flow of the water as is currently existing.

But there will be some disturbance, right?

Any development's going to somewhat disturb. With that, I would say, again, that's all the way up to the Dayton Water Division in terms of stormwater infrastructure and impact. They're going to have to conduct and give several studies to show it will not impact surrounding properties. Okay. And that is typical of any development that comes forward.

May we have the... The applicant, please. Because my concern is around the wetlands. And when we use language like not too much or that it won't be any large disturbance, I want us to be clear as to what those perimeters are and what provisions do we have in place to protect the wetlands. Understanding that, again, we want to be... good stewards, and we want to make sure that we are in fact protecting those lands overall. To your point, right, there will be some disturbance with development, but I want to know and I want to hear what provisions will be placed to make sure that there won't be any huge manipulation, if you will, to the site itself, or disturbance, I should say.

Yeah, so I'll call up the applicant team, which includes Choice One Engineering, so Erin, Ryan, Rob.

Thank you, Mr. Green.

Hello, Mayor, City Commissioners. Thank you for having us here this evening. Rob Smith and Aaron Horn, we are both with D.R. Horton. We are the hopeful home builder, developer and home builder for this site. So again, thank you for having us. Ryan Liefeld is our civil engineer with Choice One Engineering. He can help us answer any of the technical questions. Happy to answer any questions you have. Just want to address what you said about the wetlands. There's a large stream that runs through this site, which we will not be disturbing the stream. There are some surrounding wetlands. We anticipate impacting potentially up to a half an acre of wetlands. We will have to mitigate for those with the Ohio EPA. Aaron, if you want to add any more details to that. There will be minimal impacts, but I get your point. You want to know what minimal really means. So that's really what we're seeing. But we are going to stay out of the stream. We even tweaked the site plan slightly just to make sure we stayed out of that stream.

What type of safeguards do you put in place on the site while you're moving dirt, while you're developing? Is there any screening that takes place? Could you walk me through that process itself?

Stormwater plans.

So anytime we have a development this size, anything that's over an acre, the OEPA requires a stormwater pollution prevention plan. So specifically in cases like this with this wetland, typically we'll do a federal fabric fence and we'll even double row that to protect that so it has a double form. So if that first one is breached for whatever reason, there's a second barrier to prevent that from being impacted substantially.

Thank you. Appreciate it. You said 52% will be open lot. Is that correct?

YES.

AND THAT WILL REMAIN SO? SO IT WON'T BE A SECOND OR THIRD PHASE? THIS WILL REMAIN AS OPEN LOT?

THAT'S CORRECT.

OKAY. LAST QUESTION. ACTUALLY, I HAVE TWO, SORRY. I APOLOGIZE. THE PRICE POINT, AND I KNOW THIS IS PRELIMINARY, BUT DO WE HAVE AN IDEAL OF THE PRICE POINT FOR THE, I BELIEVE IT'S FOUR DIFFERENT STYLES OR MODELS THAT YOU ALL HAVE IN PLACE? YEAH.

Yeah, that's a great question. Obviously, things can change. So I always like to preface that. We have to go with economic forces. But ultimately, we really want this to be attainable for residents of the city. So we hope to be able to start in that mid-200s price point. going up to the mid-300s. So things have gotten very expensive lately. We are trying, most communities, it's hard for us to offer things below $300,000 anymore, which is really crazy to say, but it's the truth. So when it comes to single-family detached housing, if we can achieve that mid-200s price point, I know that seems high, but it would be great by comparison to what we're seeing in the marketplace today. So that's where we hope to be able to start in the mid-200s.

Thank you. I appreciate that. And there were no concerns that were raised, Mr. Green, from outside of the neighboring areas, outside of what you mentioned with Riverside? What I'm speaking of more specifically are the neighbors that abut this future development. You haven't received anything? I just want to make sure.

The existing residents are pleased that the existing vegetation site, their existing buffer will remain.

Will remain. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, gentlemen. I appreciate it. Thank you. All right, I will now close the public hearing. What is the pleasure of the commission?

I'd like to move forward.

All right, thank you.

Legislation, Ms. McClendon. FIRST READING ORDINANCE NUMBER 32193-26, AMENDING THE OFFICIAL ZONING MAP TO ESTABLISH PLAN DEVELOPMENT 196 AND CHANGE THE UNDERLYING ZONING FROM LIGHT INDUSTRIAL I1 AND SUBURBAN GENERAL COMMERCIAL SGC TO SUBURBAN SINGLE FAMILY SR2 FOR 28.77 ACRES AT THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF BRANT PIKE AND SCHWINN DRIVE. That concludes legislation.

Thank you, Ms. McClendon. Are there any citizens that are registered to speak this evening?

Your Honor, there are 10 citizens registered to speak. I would like to state there is a three-minute 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 two and a half minutes, a yellow light will come on and 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 Hillary Lerman.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon. My name is Hilary Orman. Good evening. I live at 249 Wyoming Street, Dayton, Ohio for the past 40 years. I'm a Jew and I was taught by my grandfather to oppose oppression and oppose especially fascism. He was born in the shittles of Russia. And he got together armed groups to fight the Tsarist police. But in any place, there's informers. And the Tsarist police came and arrested him. And he was fortunate he wasn't shot, and he was sent to Siberia. And he made it to here. But he taught us, you fight oppression. And he was around for World War II. And he saw, excuse me, the Nazis coming and they took over. They sent their forces to Spain that had a democratic revolution. He saw the Italian fascists take over Ethiopia. And nobody stopped them. and he saw that Hitler kept advancing. They took over the Rhineland, they took over Austria, they took over Czechoslovakia, until finally they had what I'm calling for now is a united front against fascism. And in my mind, people could disagree, the activities of the United States and Israel are fascist. Thank you. They're taking over. They're murdering people. The International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court has accused them of that. There is genocide. And each time we think we can relax a little bit, it gets worse. They took over Venezuela. They're talking about going to Cuba. We have to make a stop. I realize people could say, well, that's not the business of Dayton, but it's the business of every citizen to stop this stuff. I thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Lerman. I call to the podium Barbara Bauer. Commission, chamber members, please, let's be respectful and be mindful. This is a business meeting, so please, thank you. Thank you. Excuse me, Ms. McClendon. Barbara Bauer.

That was fast. I'm not complaining. Hi, everybody. My name is Barbara Bauer. I live at 400 Zena Avenue, and I've been there for about 15 years. I've been in Dayton since 73. I love Dayton. Big supporter, great government, great police. Anyway, the problem I have is I need a little help here. I have... A neighbor who doesn't take care of their property very well. And I've addressed those issues for the last 15 years. But recently, in March, the situation got much worse. I took out an equity line, got a lot of things done to my property, and I had my two big houses painted So my painter told me that next door, the house next door, which is only like maybe four feet away, really close, that they had a raccoon nest going in and out of the property. Well, I reported that to the manager of the property as I've done other problems. That was in March. Nothing has been done. The situation got worse. The raccoons began raiding the baby squirrel's nest. So my back gutter was clogged up with squirrel bones. So it sounded like something in Africa there. With all these chattering sounds. It was impossible to stay in my backyard. So I hired... Jeff, the critter guy, I don't know if you've ever heard of him, but he actually came to the property, set traps on both of the roofs all around the property, and for three weeks, I didn't want to see the critters because I really don't believe in killing, but I didn't want to live with them either. So anyway, it took him about three weeks. I paid him over $400. I've reported the problem to the city inspector, who is Ronnie Evans. He has done nothing. I just spoke with him Monday and he said he's just too busy. I've spoken with the manager of the place and he's too busy. I think we all know busy people get things done. So anyway, I need some help here. The critters are gone now, but how long is that gonna last?

That's it. Thank you, Ms. Bowers. If you wouldn't mind staying after the meeting so we can make sure, Ms. Lofton, if Ms. Bowers can receive support from Mr. Gondel. You want me to see somebody? If you just want to stay back after the meeting, we'll make sure that the staff can meet you. It's good seeing you. I know you served for a number of years on the priority board.

Yes, I was on the priority board for 12 years. Yes, ma'am. I've been doing neighborhood work for 45 years. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Good seeing you.

Thank you. I CALL TO THE PODIUM SHARON SCREECH.

HELLO, COMMISSIONERS. GOOD EVENING. MY NAME IS SHARON SCREECH. I LIVE AT 515 WEST GRAND AVENUE, DAYTON, OHIO. I JUST CAME TO PROVIDE SOME STATISTICS OF DAYTON, OHIO. I'VE BEEN IN DAYTON MY WHOLE LIFE. Number one, we're number five on the murder capital list. Number five. Think of that. All the cities in America, we're number five. And, you know, it's just amazing how we're number five. And all these people are talking about they want to leave Dayton. Crime is everywhere. But I just would like to thank the mayor for her public hearing this weekend. We had a lot of good information this weekend. But I just want to know when are we going to stop talking and taking some actions? When are we going to start doing that? You know, sometimes I come here, the commission is divided. I hardly ever see any of those others at any of the things you're doing, Mayor. Right. I mean, I see Mr. Fairchild. I see Mr. Beckham. Mr. Beckham left before me at the public hearing, so I don't know how much engagement he was doing. But what I'm saying is we have to be united for something. When I don't see Joseph and Shaw at anything, anything, I see the same folks engaged in this community. Mr. Shaw has a cleaners that has been in this community for years. That's the first person that should be there. It's just bothering me. We have a young man that got murdered over the weekend. We have several shootings. It's getting old. I'm just going to say it's getting old. And my thing is this. All these dollars are going to things that don't matter. This development that we're about to get. Who has $250,000 or $350,000 when you've got people out here struggling to pay rent to buy a home that's closer to Huber Heights than it is today? So I just want to see more united fronts. We need the chief. The chief should have been here to come up with some plans to tell us what we need to do. We need to do to assist you all with cleaning up this city. And I would just like to say this before I end. We need to fire that city manager and we need to get somebody else. Y'all have a good evening.

Thank you, Ms. Greach. I call to the podium Lynn LaMance.

Your hair looks very lovely tonight. Thank you, Ms. Lamance. Lynn Lamance, I lived just a few houses down from a shooting in a demolished, a perfectly working demolished hospital. I am here to talk about the northwest, actually Fairview neighborhood in particular, compared to the care and concern of downtown Dayton. I've been up here before regarding the Phoenix police, community policing that is supposed to be in the area. That Henderson, your new Chief Henderson, is on that contract as well as Citywide and Premier Health. I just wanted to let you know, despite having community policing in my neighborhood, I had to be the one to reach out to Henderson, who is not here tonight at this meeting. I had to reach out to him. He did not reach out to me. Phoenix police did not reach out to me. Despite living so close to the shooting, no Phoenix officer visited my house. No detective has visited my house. I do have cameras on my house. I guess that's not important. I also wanted to notate that there's still residents' concerns that the Phoenix Police are not in the neighborhood. However, I did see them on my camera after the balloon release, 7.20 p.m. They were in my neighborhood around the balloon release. I also wanted to ask why Henderson did not do any type of a press release. This many shootings, where is he? Where the hell is he? Also, I wanted to point out, I pulled a police report regarding an incident, 2139 Salem Avenue. And I wanna read to you what the police report says. However, without the use of Flock, it is not possible to search for a potential suspect vehicle. Flock would have been the best investigative tool to help the victim pursue justice in this case. There is no Flock cameras in Fairview. I just want to remind people of that, nor do we want them. However, there are supposed to be these Phoenix officers that... You know, I don't see them. Why aren't they used to pursue justice in this case? Also, I want to remind everybody, despite having the Phoenix Project, it appears a lot of work that these people supposedly did is not done. The AMPM Market, 2317 Salem Avenue, that previously sold gun lighters, they do not have a certificate of occupancy. That's a loss of money. That's a safety concern. Again, the shooting happened right across the street from a perfectly good hospital. So I'm going to be asking that the Phoenix police money actually be turned into, again, youth programming, community gardening that once existed in the Fairview neighborhood. Also, there is a Good Samaritan Foundation as well as Premier Health Foundation. Those are two foundations, pots of money. Time is up. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lamance.

I call to the podium Talis Gage.

Talis, 1921 Gettysburg. I want to start this off by just saying, fire Shelly Dickstein.

Very good.

Very good.

Fire Shelly Dickstein.

Very good.

I should say that for three minutes.

Yes.

But my focus ain't just on Shelly Dixon. I also have an interest in speaking on, like I said before, rec centers. I'm going to constantly say that. I'm going to constantly say that. I'm going to constantly say that. It's not in the budget. Well, we need to figure out a way to put it in the budget. It's as simple as that. I mean, we got enough bandos. We got enough handymen. The Felons with a Future, they got this area secure. I'm pretty sure it's like a vacant building, bandeau, something over there in that area that we can utilize and put some kind of community center or something in there for the people. My focus is the babies, man, like I always say. To fix the future, we must work on the future, which is the babies, you know? And I actually, I left my phone back there. I got a... A message from one of the youngsters in the community that he couldn't be here today, but he had left me a note. And if he can't come next week, then I'll read what he sent because, I mean, that's him reaching out. It's just serious, man. It's serious to me. It's serious to me. Darius, I'm happy that you did come out to that meeting. You didn't stay long, but, I mean, you did make a step forward, so I am appreciative of that for sure. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Shaw, whenever you're ready, we're waiting on you to either get from behind that desk or be involved with us, man. Do something. Instead of looking at me like you're doing now with this stupid look on your face. Shanice, I appreciate you. Fairchild, I appreciate you. Fire Shanice. Not fire Shanice. We love Shanice. Forgive me. Forgive me. Get rid of Shelly Dickstein. We love you. We love you. We appreciate you. My bad for saying that. And I also want to address this, too. Last time when I was here, I said something about Marlon Shackleford's group, man. And I actually thought that they did something else. And they don't do what I thought they did. So I spoke wrong on them, and I wanted to put that on record too, man. They do good work out here. I appreciate what Shaq does for me personally in my life and also what he does for other people out here as well. So I just want to end with that and saying again, my bad for saying that. I appreciate you. You're awesome. Fairchild, you know, you're awesome. You're my guy out there. Whenever you're ready, Shaw, you're anyway. And I'm glad you showed up. And fire Shelly Dickstein.

Thank you, Mr. Gage. I call to the podium Amaya Mikler.

Hi, I'm Amaya Mickler. Good evening. I live on Edison Street off of James H. McGee, and I go to Deca Middle. I'm here to talk about the gun violence within poverty communities. First, to be honest, we need a better plan for gun violence and poverty to end because the current plans or actions are not beneficial. We truly need... We truly need this, and this isn't doing anything but making a bigger problem for our community. For example, just like situations with Jamichael Carver on Monday, March 30th, federal charges were filed against Jamichael for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Terrence Gay, he was charged with a deadly weapon, attempted murder. of federal agents. This isn't productive for anything going forward in our communities due to most of the kids in the so-called hood having challenges with right from wrong. You see kids going along with the crowd thinking Thinking is going to get them somewhere in life when really it's not. This isn't always the council's fault. It's the people in the family that they are around because they are not getting taught the same way as people with common sense. However, if we get rid of gerrymandering, we can have more people that actually know what's right from wrong and knows the right thing to do so we can have... kids who are becoming lawyers, doctors, and et cetera. This is why all the gun violence is getting out of hand. Kids, teenagers, and even young adults think it's cool to be quote unquote gang bangers. Also, did you know almost 20% of youth reside within 600 miles of a gun homicide occurring in the past year? This is unacceptable towards the youth and communities of West Dayton. We need a plan to get this out of our community and out of society. The things we are doing aren't right. But City Hall, I was asking, would you help us to establish and set a rule to get all of this gun violence and poverty out of here? Let's try to make this world a better place instead of trying to go in on everybody like city council about what they aren't doing. We need to humble ourselves and look at what we aren't doing. We are not going to let y'all off the hook for this. You are all in control of the money. Why isn't everybody getting their fair share? This doesn't make sense to me in my opinion. Why isn't anything being done to benefit my people and community? To be honest, what I also feel like is a disgrace. by this is that now there's a policy that you can't even get a fair loan from a bank to black homeowners or business owners and this is personally very heartbreaking for me. I would like to be a business owner. I would like to have my own house and I would like to do things for myself. I do not want to be able I don't want to not be able to get any loans for my business, home, my home. That's unacceptable, nor is it fair at all. We need to make this fair for us, fair for all. Thank you. Thank you, Amaya. Thank you.

I call to the podium Noah McAllister. Thank you.

Good evening. Good evening. Good evening, you all. Mayor Sloss. My name is Noma Callister. I stay on what's called Ellesmere off of Otterbein. And I just wanted to talk about gun violence within that specific part of Dayton. See... There's a big issue in Dayton is the gun violence. Within the last week or so, there has been at least three gun shootings that I've heard of and three gun-related deaths. And so basically, not too long ago, Mayor Sloss had hosted a town hall meeting asking the question, what does public safety look to us, the people? And not a single soul said more police. But somehow... City Manager Ms. Shelly Dickstein found a way to fund two more police stations in the Dayton area when that money could have been used to reopen the pool place over there on 3rd Street or host block meetings for the black youth and so for us to come together and unite. So, My point is, in black neighborhoods, when a police officer gets called, versus a white neighborhood, from things I've noticed from when I was over at my friend's house in the suburbans, I found out when you call the police that when you're in a blacker neighborhood, the police takes a smaller time, takes a little longer time to get out to your residency than to get, versus when you're in a suburb, when you're in a gentrified neighborhood and they get out there as quickly as they can and I see that as a problem. Now, gun violence. Over the course of 2013 up to 2020, from what I know so far, black youth has experienced a 108% increase in gun-related deaths. So that's a problem because if the black youth is getting shot and dying because of gang violence and guns, that's a problem. Nobody should even be having a gun except for city officials or police officers because if there's going to be genocide within the Dayton area, we shouldn't have nothing going on. And when you look to the Bible, it says in 2 Corinthians 10 and 4 that for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to pulling down of strongholds. Or in Proverbs 17 and 10 which says an evil man sees key. See, it's key, only rebellion. Therefore, a cruel messenger shall be sent against him. And so if you pray, prayer works. And so when you're praying, change can happen. See, God may not come when you want him, but he's there on time. So I just want to say before I'm gone that prayer works, and the start of change is with us, the community. So pray, and instead of talking, get in there. Thank you, Mr. Callister. Thank you.

Please, no clapping. This is a business meeting. Thank you. Thank you. I call to the podium Yousef Elzain.

Good evening. Yousef Elzain, 4906 Amberwood Drive, Dayton, Ohio. 13 weeks and counting. This past weekend, violence came to Dayton, and I want to begin by saying this plainly. Flock cameras never did and never will prevent gun violence that came to Dayton in the past weekend. A man is dead, the community is traumatized again. Cameras do not stop bullets. Data does not stop hatred. An illusion of security purchased through surveillance grants is not protection. Yet, this is what we are being offered. And while the city purchased cameras to surveil neighborhoods, the weapons that kill domestically and internationally flow without restrictions, without accountability, without pause. This is our problem. The cycle repeats. If you're a programmer, you know what a do loop is. We're in a do loop. False safety at home, real violence everywhere else. Until this commission refused to participate in that cycle, Dayton remains in this trap, a do loop. We have spent months looking away from crimes against humanity in Gaza and South Lebanon. We have watched, documented, chosen silence, and we did nothing. We funded it. We sanitized it. We normalized it. We taught the world that violence, overwhelming and uncountable violence, is permissible. That might makes right that there are no consequences for crimes against humanity. So when violence comes to Dayton, why should anyone be surprised? We glorify killing. When adults in government justify the eraser of entire population as necessary when American weapons carry out what amounts to genocide, we are teaching lessons. The lesson is impunity works. That is the culture we are building, not just in Gaza, but here in Dayton. When we sanitize crimes against humanity abroad, we create the conditions where violence at home becomes inevitable. Just something that happens, something we cannot prevent, but we can. We choose not to. The Commission can choose to join the majority and say, not in our name, not with our tax dollars. I ask you three things. Speak publicly about the crimes against humanity in Gaza and South Lebanon. Name them. Second, commit that Dayton will not fund, support, or remain silent about destruction of civilian population. Third, recognize that Dayton violence and global violence are connected through culture and impunity.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Al-Zain. I call to the podium Zakiya Jabbar.

Zakiya Sankara-Jabbar, 2426. You're on. Good afternoon, good evening. Good evening. Mayor, commissioners. First, I want to thank you, Mayor, for the public safety town hall this past weekend. That was a very good town hall. I thought the community was very engaged. You heard a lot and I appreciate the young person reflecting on the fact that when you asked the question about what public safety looks like for the community, not one person responded that they wanted more police. I want to speak to a couple things tonight. The gun violence certainly is a huge issue, and it has been an issue, particularly in our community. There's a disproportionality between gun violence, that of the police, and then also gun violence that just happens in the community. The other thing that I think that's really important to say is that we should be waiting for the facts in these cases and not making assumptions. I've seen a lot of talk about quote unquote black on black crime and blaming the victims and blaming the communities themselves and absolving responsibility of the people who are in elected office from the federal, state, and local level. The community led by me held a press conference a couple days ago on Monday to respond to the gun violence. And I just want to know, why is the community doing y'all job? Because, see, where was any of y'all at? All of you. Where was y'all press conference? Do y'all not give a damn about the black folks that's dying, dropping left and right? I mean, that's for everybody. Where was the police chief? Y'all sending a message that it don't even matter. Would that have been the same response if it happened on East Dayton? I don't know. I'm asking. That's a problem. The other problem that I'm noticing since I've been back home looking at a lot of construction, I ain't seen a black worker yet. What all this construction y'all got going on. Y'all running a criminal enterprise down here. Dayton, Montgomery County Public Health. Gun violence is a public health issue. Period. Stop blaming the community that y'all done disinvested from, closed hospitals, closed mental health facilities, and divested in damn recreation centers for kids. Ridiculous. That's going to stop. This is going to be one of my last meetings, too, to keep coming in person because this is going to be my last time asking y'all nicely. asking for a remedy to the criminal activity that's going on. And what I mean by criminal activity and illegal activity is number one, the racial disparate impact of black people in Dayton. You got a Dayton and Montgomery County Public Health where y'all appoint most of the people on there and the city manager appoints them all? Are y'all crazy? What is going on down here? Why does this person have so much power? Y'all need to fire that city manager. And the final thing before this cuts off, if you don't fire the city manager, you're going to be sued. That's a warning. And I'm not playing with you. And you're going to be embarrassed nationally on national TV. Keep playing.

Thank you, Ms. Sankara Jabbar. A call to the podium, Kenya Akbar.

Kenya Akbar, 147 East Hillcrest, Dayton, Ohio, 45405. And I'm just going to follow my sister up with saying, Quit playing. And I know you can. It's time for us to get very serious about the lives of the residents in West Dayton. Where is our moral compass? We need a moral compass to produce the redlining results and knowing that banks intentionally redline black communities, large geographies where black residents were concentrated is a disgrace. Because nothing was done about it. Money was concentrated in the downtown Dayton area and Westside was ignored. It took Shanice and Fairchild to come and beg you all to amend a budget that disregarded youth programming. That is disgraceful and disgusting. And as human beings, not coons, Not, yes men, as human beings, we must adjust our moral compass so it also reads for the West. In this case, because that is where there is a large concentration of black population. Let's not disregard the fact that 500 years of slavery, took place in this country in which we reside. Dayton, Ohio has the ability to turn on a fuse in this country, the United States of America, that has not been seen. Let us use our power to empower those individuals in this city to do what has not been done in major cities across this country. Let us stand up and be different. If we need to invent something, let us invent humanity, because this country has been inhumane for far too long. And we hold a power, a power like none other. Fairchild and Shanice, I applaud you, I love you. You came in not on a Democratic or Republic engine, but on the engine of the people. Show the people that you are who we believed you were when we voted for you. We are declaring a black code. We will honor, respect, and stand with the black code. We will love and respect one another. We will not kill children. We will protect the youth consciously, emotionally and physically. We will honor and protect our elders. Elders will teach our youth. We will build foundational strong family structures. Fathers will be highly present. We will educate our own, beyond the system. We will act with integrity and justice. We will exercise control over our emotions. We will support and spend money with our own because integration did not save the black community, it enabled us. We will keep our streets clean because we are a product of our environment. It is a blessing to live in this dispensation and I believe we are currently encountering portal and the vampires will die.

Thank you, Ms. Agbar. That concludes speakers, Your Honor. Thank you, Ms. McClendon. Excuse me. If you did not register within the timely time frame, then you will not be permitted to speak. So we just encourage you to make sure that you're here by 545 so that you can register. Now, if you stay after the meeting, we will make sure that someone will come and address your concerns. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. McClendon. Ms. Lofton, do you have any closing comments? I have none, Your Honor. Thank you, Ms. Lofton. Ms. McClendon, do you have any closing comments? I have none, Your Honor. Thank you. Commissioners, do you have any closing comments? Commissioner Beckham?

Thank you, Your Honor. Just a few. I want to thank you for the town hall you held Saturday. I was glad to be there. I did have to head out during, I think, the Q&A with Chief Henderson. I had another obligation that I had to attend to. But I thank you for organizing that event and bringing more awareness to the Public health crisis, I agree, that is gun violence in our city. And I think the violence intervention program, the BRAVE program that we have started, we have to continue to measure it. We have to continue to lift up their work and absolutely expand it. I think it deserves to be expanded. And I think as we continue to deal with these types of issues that That is going to be the program that is necessary to target the type of situations that we're having in our city. And of course, creating more opportunity for our young people. So I'm very glad to see the City of Dayton's Children's Cabinet in tonight's agenda as well. That will be an investment in our young people. That will be decision making with our young people at the helm and the priority. So I think that work is going to hopefully move the needle, but we have of course so much more to do to make sure that one, we're reducing gun violence, but two, that we are giving more opportunity to our youth. And to the young people that spoke tonight, Thank you for being here. It takes some courage to get up here and speak. So to, I believe, Mr. McAllister and Ms. Amaya, thank you for being here. Thank you for speaking out as a young person in our city. I truly appreciate you. And those are all my comments. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Fairchild.

Yeah, thank you. There's some upcoming events that I want to share. And also, I want to thank the Fifth Street Brew Pub. I had asked them to open up on Sunday. United States men's national team was doing one of their tune-ups before the World Cup. And they opened it up. And about 30 folks came out to cheer on the men's team. And the men's team will be playing Germany on Saturday. And the Fifth Street Brew Pub will be open again if you want to come out. I think there's a real opportunity in our city to re-knit it together through athletic clubs. And it could be soccer, it can be football, flag football, basketball. But I think there's an opportunity to really try to get in our neighborhoods, collection of people, investing in our young people. And so the path to the more rec center is a long one. But a path to investing in our young people could be a shorter one if we really focus on getting more adults invested in the lives of young people. And so part of pulling people together to watch soccer is to also start building relationships to talk about how we use athletics to create a space to be in the lives of young people. This Saturday, June 6th, the whole weekend is Pride weekend, but at 11 a.m. the parade kicks off. And so I invite you to come down and be part of the parade or watch the parade. It begins at Jefferson Street and ends at 2nd Street, travels down Main Street. And I encourage everyone to come out and join the vibrant celebration of pride, unity, and the values that make Dayton a welcoming city. Mark your calendar now. The air show is June 13th and 14th. So that's coming up. And that's one, you know, not many communities have air shows, quite frankly. And Dayton's fortunate to have that asset and encourage you to come out and enjoy that time. And then, you know, I do want to echo your comments to the young people for coming and speaking and, you know, it takes a little gumption to get up there and speak and I appreciate you doing that and I appreciate the words that you shared and the concerns that you raised. I was pleased to see some of the young people who came out to the town hall on Saturday. One group that we've met with some time ago, and talking about these issues back in December, we met with them, is the YLAGR. Some of you know those young ladies achieving greatness. On June 20th, June 27th, July 11th, and July 18th, they're having both cleanup and beautification opportunities. And the thing about it is we want to get young people out. And so help spread the word around young people. And what I committed to them is that an adult shouldn't be allowed to come and help unless they're bringing three young people with them. So as an adult, be thinking about the young people in your life. If you don't know three young people in your life, then start helping. working so you can build those relationships, fill your car up with young people, come out and support the YLAGers as they're doing this work. And it really dovetails into this question around violence. The solution to violence is going to be comprehensive. It's going to take all of us. The mayor has talked about reimagining public safety. In that work, you know, it's part of its police, but part of its neighborhood development, creating housing, it's reduction of poverty, it's investing in young people, it's helping people get connected to jobs and employment, being job ready. So there's a wide comprehensive work that we need to do if we're really going to be serious. But I believe now's the time. This has been too long. The time's passed to really do this work. And so we've gotta create an urgency from this commission. We need to lead on this and create and sustain urgency. I'm mindful that when the downtown safety work group came together, they gave us questions and asked us to respond in 20 days and we did. I think we hear from the community right now that there's the same sense of urgency, that there are questions in the community around public safety and the reduction of violence, and we need to respond to that. In the midst of that, I hope we're data-driven. You know, one of the things that I'm still trying to get a sense of, and I sent some questions over to city manager back at the beginning of April, Next Wednesday, we have a work group with the police, and I've been promised that the questions I send over, that those questions will be answered on next Wednesday. But one of the things that I've still been trying to understand and the questions go to is we redeployed officers out of our neighborhoods into downtown, even though we were saying that the downtown was relatively safe by the data. And so I'm trying to understand why there was a redeployment of officers from the neighborhoods in the downtown. I'm also asking about what strategies we're employing. with the Dayton Police. I'm curious what role pretextual stops and stop and frisks strategies play within our broader strategies. We also changed our staffing. And we had been on four shifts that allowed some overlap. And that overlap occurred at the highest call volume. And so I'm curious to see, going back to three shifts, how that impacts the number of officers who are on the street at the time when the most calls are made. And then one of the statistics or one of the measures of our police officers is the time they're occupied. And I'm really curious around how that has shifted as we've made these changes. And particularly the time occupied for our officers down in downtown versus our officers in West Pod and East Pod. So those are some of the questions that I'm anticipating being answered next Wednesday. We all need to do this work together. Policing is one part, but the community is another. I appreciate some of the people standing up and talking about the responsibilities we have as citizens and community members to also be invested in creating a city where there's not violence. So... I look forward to doing that work with you and I encourage my colleagues to renew our conversation because we talked about really there are some things we're doing and they're not obvious and they're not aligned and I think being able to put everything we're doing in alignment and also evaluating whether the things we are doing and where we're spending the money are as effective and strategic as they can be. So I look forward to doing that work with my colleagues here.

Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Shaw.

Yeah, thank you. Thank you for those great comments, both of you. I, too, want to thank the young, especially the young people that have come down tonight, showing leadership and civic engagement. And I think that's just critically important to how we change the trajectory of this community. into the future. And also, the violence interrupters, I just really am excited about the opportunity for that. And I should have said to you, Commissioner Beckham, thanks for your leadership in standing that up and leading on behalf of this commission. Also, thank you, Mayor, for your continued engagement. We can't always make I had an opportunity to spend time with the pillars of the community with the Urban League yesterday and that was some really important work to do also. But thank you for continuing to engage in those spaces. keep my comments pretty brief, but as the 43rd cohort of the City of Dayton's Neighborhood Leadership Institute graduates on June 4th, I'm proud to recognize their accomplishments and the commitment they have shown to becoming stronger advocates in their communities. I'm grateful for the time and effort these graduates have invested and I look forward to seeing the many ways they will continue to strengthen our neighborhoods and contribute to the success of our community. I know that some of our of our staff are going through that process now. So we're really excited for them. These are different ways that we can engage the community and folks learn about where the levers of power work in this government. So I would encourage everyone to kind of get involved in LI and take part in that. So thank you, Mayor.

Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner. A couple comments this evening. I would like to thank all my colleagues for their comments and the questions that you all posed this evening. Thank you to all of the residents. Pause for a second. I recognize that we have a group of members that are in blue shirts. So I just want to offer the opportunity, if we could deviate just a tad bit, if you all wouldn't mind coming to the podium, introducing yourselves as well as your organization, if that's fair. Please. Yeah, thank you.

We've nominated.

OK. Thank you.

Hello. Good evening. Mayor and commissioners, everyone in attendance. We are the Family and Youth Advocacy Council. We're an offshoot of Omega CDC. Okay. We're just getting started. Actually wanted to come and kind of see how this process goes. And for some, it's our first time. So hopefully we'll be coming in front of you to talk about some issues going on in our community. Everyone want to introduce yourselves?

Did you tell us your name again?

Yes, my name is Chris Raines. I'm sorry if I did. My name is Chris Raines. I'm sorry. 102 Cambridge Avenue, Dayton, Ohio.

All right. Thank you.

Hello, everyone. Good evening. Everybody knows me up here. My name is Portia Dennis. I live at 33 Dayton Avenue. I'm president of the Jane Rees Neighborhood Association. And just a plug, come out this weekend from 1 to 4 in the McIntosh Park. Wreck your hood. Old Dayton View and Jane Rees is being represented. And Debbie Blunden Diggs will be there. Thank you. Kiara Hutchison, West Grand.

Thank you. Sharon Hutchinson, 1709 West Grand. Thank you.

Kelsey Harmer. I'm the organizing and advocacy coordinator at Omega CDC.

All right. And I'm Tracy Sibbing, and I live at 62 Horace Street and right down by our neighborhood. And shameless plug, we're doing a beautification project at Fairview Commons on Saturday from 9 to noon, planting trees and bushes and installing benches on the basketball court, repainting the lines. So love to have anybody come out.

join us. We need people to dig holes. If you want to come, please do.

We were there last weekend as well doing a neighborhood cleanup and a mad shout out to the City of Dayton Waste Collection showed up on Norman Avenue. If you haven't been down that alley, you haven't been because you couldn't. But now you can't. So if you'd like to take a drive by it, come on down it because your car can actually fit.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you all very much. Thank you all for being here and thank you for the work you're doing. Excuse me. Mr. Lehman, thank you for your comments and for being here and your continued advocacy and giving voice to the issues that we're dealing with overall globally. Ms. Bowers, thank you as well. I'm glad that you're still here so that we can make sure that someone speaks to you after the meeting. Ms. Creech, thank you for your comments. Thank you for your advocacy. There were a couple of questions that you posed, and I did not jot them all down, but I will make sure that I speak with you after the meeting to address the specific questions that you had this evening. I would say that I want to thank everyone for coming out this past Saturday, as well as the staff. There were a number of staff members. I'd like to thank Chief Henderson for being there, as well as along with his command staff. The conversation was definitely fruitful. It was a lot of engagement. And so I really want to acknowledge our facilitator, Mr. Fred Cox, who did an awesome job. Our panelists, Mr. Sean Walton, Sr., Sean Walton, Jr., Dr. Bushman, Iris Rowley, she was present, as well as Robbie Brantford. Mr. Curtis Peanut Johnson was in attendance. Again, so I believe I named everyone. Well-received. CONVERSATION. WE KNOW THAT THERE'S MORE WORK THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE. AND THAT WAS ONE OF YOUR POINTS. THANK YOU, MS. GREECH. WE HAD THOSE CONVERSATIONS THAT WERE VERY FRUITFUL, BUT NOW THE WORK. AND THOSE ARE THE CONVERSATIONS AND THE NEXT STEPS TO WHAT WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE EXECUTING AND ADDRESSING THE ISSUES OF GUN VIOLENCE. COMMISSIONER BECKHAM AS WELL AS ALL OF THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION HAVE RAISED THE ISSUES IN TERMS OF US DEALING WITH Mr. Gabe, you raised the issue as well in terms of us looking at this public health crisis that we have in our community, the disproportionate effects of the crime that we're seeing in West Dayton, Northwest Dayton. We have the data. It shows that those are areas of concern. I really appreciate Commissioner Fairchild raising those questions. He's absolutely correct. There will be a work session. Understand, too, that we know that given a press conference and not necessarily giving the way forward will be premature in terms of what the next steps are. Understanding too that the police department, the chief and the command staff will in fact be holding a work session on Wednesday, which is the 10th of June, to address the concerns that we're seeing in our community around gun violence. Out of that, what we're also opting to do is to make sure that we have a retreat. Ms. Jackson, we're going to be pulling on you and your support to align our schedules so that we can have a moral, deliberate deep conversation as to what it looks like, understanding that the issues that we're dealing with around gun violence is, in fact, a public health crisis. We have to tackle it from multiple different angles, if you will, and so we're committed to doing that work. CVG, Felons with a Future, the work they're doing is just one intricate part. We know that we must continue that work WITH ALL OF OUR COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS. THAT INCLUDES OUR CHURCHES, ASKING OUR CHURCHES TO OPEN THEIR DOORS, TO RALLY THEIR NETWORKS, TO HOST CONVERSATIONS, CREATING THE SPACES THAT ARE NECESSARY FOR OUR YOUTH. ORGANIZATIONS, I'M GLAD TO SEE YOU ALL STANDING UP A NEW YOUTH COUNCIL, GETTING INVOLVED, MAKING SURE THAT YOU'RE A PART OF THE CONVERSATIONS, OUR NEIGHBORS CHECKING ON ONE ANOTHER, OUR BUSINESSES HELPING US TO REIMAGINE WHAT, IN FACT, HOW DO WE ENVISION PUBLIC SAFETY? reimagining public safety overall, and that is the ask and the charge for the number of sessions that will be held throughout the next couple of months, couple of weeks, I should say, on what the next steps will be in that vein. So I'm calling on every resident Every congregation, every organization, every neighborhood association, businesses, for us all to step up so that we can in fact be peace ambassadors. We know the great work that's being done in partnership with the county and the city with our peace ambassadors. We're hopeful that that work will continue under the leadership of Marlon Shackelford. And again, you have key people in this community that ARE, IN FACT, DOING THE WORK THAT HAVE BEEN DOING THE WORK FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS THAT GOES BACK TO SERVE, RIGHT? FROM TONY RUBY AND BIRD AND MANY OF THE OTHERS THAT ARE DOING THIS WORK ON THE GROUND. SO WE WANT TO MAKE SURE, SEAN WALTON, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT WORK IS COMPREHENSIVE AND THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT IT FROM DIFFERENT ANGLES. KNOWING THAT CITY GOVERNMENT, WE CAN'T LEAD THIS ALONG, THE GOVERNMENT And Ms. Akbar, you touched on it. This is a moral compass issue that we're dealing with. So I really appreciate your comments, and I really want to uplift that and stand true to what the commitments are for us to make sure that we're moving the needle and addressing the concerns in our community from poverty from housing instability. We just had a work session prior to about access to council, reducing the number of families that are in fact impacted by eviction. How do we make sure that we are assisting those individuals with the support that is needed? Ms. Lemans, thank you for your continued advocacy and for being here this evening. I would like to have a conversation with you after the meeting. Amaya, Decker Middle School, thank you. You did a remarkable job. I would encourage you to have a conversation with the blue-shirters over here. to figure out how we can get you, as well as Mr. Callister, signed up to be a part of the Youth Council. And we also want to extend that invitation to you in regards to our youth cabinet that we just passed this evening. So very excited about that work, the work that we're doing there. Thank you for Commissioner Beckham for uplifting that. Mr. Alzain, thank you for your comments. Thank you for your continued advocacy and really encouraging speaking to where we are in terms of the violence that we're seeing throughout the country, throughout the world. And you all know that this is not isolated to Dayton, Ohio. This is literally happening everywhere. And I know that I might be preaching to the choir, so to speak, but this is what happens, too, when you have a federal government who is actively working against those various different programs that we once had in place. and that is continuously chipping away the funding streams that we once were privy to and that we could really work to address the various different issues from the recreation centers, Mr. Gage, from all the various different social services and agencies that are, honestly, they're struggling right now because the funding purse strings are now drawn up, if you will, and they're now tightened. So we're doing more with less. But again, we're resilient. We know that we have to be innovative and creative in doing the necessary work. That is our role as elected members. And so we are asking that you continue to hold us accountable, extend the grace, let us continuously work together to identify what are the best practices. Again, we want to make sure that The CVG model, Felons with a Future, is a permanent line item in the city's budget. But we also need to make sure that we're not negating other issues that we may be faced with throughout the city, whether it is with the number of housing instabilities and other concerns that we have. So more conversation will be had. My hope is that we will find time with our calendars. TO ENTERTAIN A RETREAT SOLELY FOCUSED ON THE GUN VIOLENCE IN OUR COMMUNITY AND TRYING TO FIND AND IDENTIFY BEST PRACTICES AND WHAT WE NEED TO DO TO MOVE THE NEEDLE THERE. BUT AGAIN, LET ME BE CLEAR. THIS IS NOT ALL ON THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT OR PD. THIS IS A COLLECTIVE EFFORT. SO WE NEED ALL HANDS ON DECK. ISN'T THAT RIGHT, SISTER SAKERA JABAR? ALL HANDS ON DECK. WE NEED EVERYBODY INVOLVED. Everyone needs to be involved. I also want to thank Ms. Akbar again. Thank you for your comments. Again, please, please, please, not just for today or this weekend, continue to wear your orange ribbons. Wear orange. June is, in fact, Gun Violence Awareness Month, as mentioned by Felons with a Future. Mr. Greg was. So we want to continue to support that work. And again, noted that there's 82 days. That is just one segment of the city. We want to make sure that is across the entire city. So there's more work that we need to do. And so with no further business that come before the commission this meeting. Oh, I'm sorry. Thank you, Ms. Jackson. Next week's meeting. Thank you very much. Next week's meeting will be held at 8.30 a.m. Again, that is Wednesday,

Six.

Six. Six. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next week's meeting, the 10th of June, next Wednesday, will be held at 6 p.m. Thank you very much. All right. With no further business, come before this commission. The meeting is adjourned.