City Commission - Regular Meeting

All right, good morning. 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 morning, invocation will be given by Commissioner Joseph.

Dear Lord, thank you for your many blessings. Please bless us and protect us as we serve our citizens. Please bless us with the gift of patience and humility. Amen.

Amen.

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

All right, good morning, Ms. McClendon. May we please have a roll call?

Mayor Turner-Sloss? Aye. Commissioners Joseph? Aye. Shaw? Aye. Fairchild? Aye. Beckham?

Aye.

May I please have a motion to approve the minutes of the July 8th, 2026 meeting?

So moved, Your Honor. Seconded, Your Honor.

It has been properly moved and seconded to approve the minutes of the July 8th, 2026 meeting. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed say no. Any abstentions? Ms. McClendon, are there any communications or petitions this morning?

There are none, Your Honor.

Thank you. The Commission would like to take a moment to honor the life of Ms. Pearl Howard. With the reading of a resolution, at this time, I would like to invite Mrs. Howard's family to please join us at the podium. Ms. McClendon, please proceed.

The resolution for Ms. Pearl Ann Howard reads, whereas Pearl Ann Howard, age 83, of Dayton, Ohio, was called to join our Lord and Savior on Friday, October 21, 2022, Howard was a devoted servant of Dayton, faithfully serving as a greeter at Omega Baptist Church, president of the Residence Park Neighborhood Association, and an active member of the Dayton President's Forum and Southwest Priority Board, using her knowledge, compassion, and leadership to strengthen her community. And whereas Howard dedicated more than 54 years of service to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, retiring as a personnel management specialist in human resources before continuing her commitment to others through more than 20 years as a tax preparer with H&R Block. She lived a life rooted in kindness, generosity, and unwavering faith, welcoming all with an open heart and often becoming a mother figure to those in need. And whereas she believed in encouraging others to pursue their dreams without judgment, reflecting the words of Matthew 7, verse 1, "'Judge not that ye be not judged,' and will be remembered for her favorite saying, "'Bless their heart.'" And now, therefore, be it resolved by the Dayton City Commission that we do hereby honor the memory of Pearl Ann Howard." as well as the legacy of love that will forever be cherished by her children, Wayne Howard, Regina Smith, and Alicia Heath, her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, her extended family, countless friends, and all whose lives were touched by her compassion, generosity, and enduring spirit. Though she was preceded in death by her parents, Guy and Pearl Beatty, her stepfather, Alonzo Embry, her sisters, Ella Geneva Beatty and Beulah Rae Bolan, her son Earl A. Howard, and her grandson Jason S. Howard, her life remains a lasting example of service, faith, and unconditional love. And this resolution's for you.

Thank you. If you all wouldn't mind, please, just one moment, please. Could we take a moment, if you wouldn't mind, introducing yourself? And I'm sure my colleagues will have some comments for you all this morning. Good morning.

I'm Regina Smith. I retired from the city of Dayton in 2022.

Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Alicia Heath. Thank you.

Good morning. Beatrice Williams. I was her best friend.

Hello, my name's Wayne Howard. I'm our eldest son. Recently moved back to Dayton a week ago from Tampa, Florida.

All right.

Welcome home.

And I'm Sharon B. Mitchell, the present president of Residence Park Neighborhood Association. And Pearl Howard was my mentor.

Yes. Thank you. Thank you all very much. Our condolences and congratulations. And thank you all for being here this morning. I'll turn it over to my colleagues. Commissioner Beckham.

Thank you, Your Honor. It is, first of all, good morning. Thank you all for being here. This is... a beautiful thing to do. I had the pleasure of actually meeting Ms. Pearl when I was in AmeriCorps, which I did during my last two years at UD, and she was everything that that proclamation says she is. And Sharon Mitchell, obviously I met her during that time as well, and saw just the the grace, the leadership, the legacy that they were creating in that neighborhood. And obviously, Ms. Mitchell is carrying that forward. So I'm just glad you all are honoring her. I honor her as well. And may her memory be blessed. Thank you for all she did for the city of Dayton.

Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Fairchild.

Yeah, no, you being here and her coming to mind just brings a smile to my face. I can feel her presence with us in this moment, and you live that legacy. You know, I will never forget the chili cook-offs. Yeah. from Residence Park during the campaign season. And, you know, her good friend Ethel Jenkins would be, I'll have to call Ethel today and tell her that we honored Pearl so that she knows. And, yeah, just so grateful for Pearl. And we add our voices with the angelic chorus and the great cloud of witness saying, well done, good and faithful servant.

Amen. Thank you, Commissioner Shaw.

Yes, I just want to offer my condolences to you and the rest of your family. She had a great legacy of service to this community, and we really appreciate it. And it's appropriate that we honor her in this way this morning. So thank you for being here.

Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Joseph.

Yeah, your mom and friend was one of the many people who we rely upon most, the neighborhood leaders who reach out, who do things without being paid, without being asked, just do the right thing. And part of a long line of great leaders come from Residence Park, too. So she was part of a great tradition. We're in her debt, and we really appreciate the service that she did, that she gave the city. So thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner. I, too, would just like to take a moment to give my condolences to you all and to echo my colleagues' comments and their sentiments. Ms. Pearl was, in fact, Ms. Pearl, a true servant to the Dayton community. I had a pleasure of knowing her, again, being a product raised in Residence Park, so it was home, along with the leadership of Mr. Heflin and all of those who who really, truly were, in fact, the foundation of what community service and really, truly being citizen participation, being those idols, if you will, of citizen participation. So, again, thank you, Ms. Howard, for carrying on the legacy. And, son, Mr. Wayne, you have big shoes to fill now that you're back in the Dayton area. We hope that we can get you involved. Oh, you in residence? Are we coming to see you? Yes, sir. Thank you. But again, thank you all for being here. And one of the memories that I do have with Ms. Pearl is, in fact, what Commissioner Fairchild mentioned, is the chili cook-off. Oh, yes. Some great memories. So, again, congratulations to you all. And this is just a small token of us to acknowledge the leadership of Ms. Pearl. So, thank you. God bless.

Thank you.

Next, we would like to call Mr. Kevin Lighty, the chair of the Dayton City Sister, Sister, excuse me, City Committee, say that five times, right, to the podium to recognize three exchange students from Japan.

Yeah, story of my life, isn't it? Yes. So if we can go ahead and have the students and host families. So my name is Kevin Lighty, your honor, city commissioner, city manager, and staff. We have three students. They haven't been in Dayton yet for 48 hours, so they're probably still a little jet lagged. But we have three students. We have June Yamanaka. We have... Tsubasa Akamatsu and Mizuki Yoshida. And the host families are back here. They are all high school students in our sister city of Oiso. They'll be here for about 12 days. They leave on August 2nd. We've got a full itinerary for them. Tonight we're going to the Dragons game. We're going to be kayaking the Great Miami with the River Stewards at UD. And then we've got Trip to Carillon Historical Park. We're going to go over to Eastwood Metro Park for a picnic. But I don't know. Did you want to say something? Did you have something?

I... Hello, my name is . I'm 15 years old in high school student and first grade. Thank you. Thank you.

Hello, I'm Tsubasa Kamatsu, and I'm very glad to come here. I'm in the second grade at the high school. Thank you for inviting me to Dayton. Thank you.

Hello, I'm Mizuki Yoshida. I am a first grade in high school. This is my first time to go to America, so I'm very excited. I'm glad to meet you. Thank you. Thank you.

So what they're wearing today, they asked specifically if they could wear the outfits to the city commission meeting. These are summer festival outfits. So if you go to Japan in the summer and they go to a festival, it's kind of like a kimono, but it's lightweight, cooler. It's more of a cotton thing, but it takes a long time to put on. So we appreciate the time it took for them to get ready this morning. And then I had a paper that I put in your packets today. I wanted to let you know, just regards to the Sister City Committee, we're part of a larger organization called Sister Cities International, and they have awards every year. And as you'll notice, like in the fourth paragraph, we're supposed to kind of keep this confidential, but I got permission to make this announcement at the City Commission meeting because I knew we would be here. But we've been awarded the best overall Where is it? The best overall program for the population of 100,000 to 300,000 in the United States. So that's going to be officially announced on Friday in Washington, D.C. They're celebrating Sister Cities International's 17th anniversary in D.C., they're gonna make the formal announcement and our Ohio rep who is from Cincinnati sister cities will be accepting the award on our behalf because we couldn't be there in person simply because we've got three students from Japan here so I just wanted to make that and bring that to your attention and let you know that the award will be coming in the next week or so

Thank you and congratulations. Thank you all. We hope that you all enjoy your visit. And from my understanding, too, what was it, about a week ago, the Japan consulate, he was here with us as well, visiting the Dayton area.

Yeah, yeah. With Alice and the Peace Museum, I believe.

Yes, exactly. Exactly, yes. And I'm sure that they will have an opportunity to visit the Peace Museum. For sure. Now, will they also be here for the ringing of the bell?

Unfortunately, they leave like two days before that happens. But we're doing it simultaneously with our sister city in Oiso. So we're going to be commemorating 81 years of peace between U.S. and Japan at the Peace Museum. Step into the mic, please. Oh, I'm sorry. Sorry, we'll be doing it simultaneously with our sister city in Japan. They'll be doing it in the morning. We'll be doing it in the evening here to commemorate that. It's on the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima.

Yes, and you invite all of the members to attend. Hopefully we will be able to make it, understanding it is an evening commission.

Yeah, the date conflicts a little bit, but hopefully we can make something work out.

Yes. Thank you very much. You're very welcome. We hope that you all enjoy your stay. And may we please, the host families, take a second if you wouldn't mind. Do you want to introduce? Yes, please, please.

My name is Nason McElhargy. I live in Yellow Springs, and I'm a potter with Miami Valley Pottery. And I was lucky enough last year to go to Japan with the sister cities as one of two potters as an exchange. The other is from Dayton. Excellent. Thank you. Yeah.

Good morning, Mayor, Commissioners. I'm Leila Klein. I work here with all of you. We are excited to be hosting Tsubasa, and this is my son, Beau, and my daughter, Dorothy.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Laura Truitt. We are excited to host Mizuki. I'm sorry, speak into the mic. We're so thrilled to host Mizuki for the next couple weeks. My son goes to Stivers, and I live in Yellow Springs and work for the city of Kettering at Rosewood Arts Center.

Excellent. Thank you. Thank you all very much. Thank you, Mr. Lighty. Absolutely, yes, please. WE WANT TO TAKE ANOTHER PICTURE.

Yes, please.

Thank you all very much. Ms. McClendon, are there any additions, deletions, or comments to the calendar this morning?

There are none, Your Honor.

Thank you. Ms. Dickstein, good morning. Are there any additions, deletions, or comments to the calendar this morning?

Your Honor, I have no additions or deletions to this morning's calendar. I do have several items to highlight. The first item is a service agreement, item number two, with environmental service systems. This was on the calendar previously. pulled off and I am happy to say that there was a framework developed with city leadership and DPSU asked me, local 101, to address workforce priorities at Dayton International Airport. The priorities within that framework are to protect current staffing levels continue temp agency as our permanent entry point as we do hiring and evaluation for hiring, converting temps into full-time city employees and also establishes a joint retention task force between the city of Dayton leadership and local 101 and also includes a transparent sequenced path to growing the custodial staffing as employments are grown and sustained. We are not anywhere near our levels from pre-COVID, but as we do grow those and we do anticipate that this is a great opportunity to do so, that we will evaluate with Labor management is leadership as well. We will evaluate how to add staff going forward as those employments grow and are sustained. So really excited about this work and thankful to Lucas Sullivan and Airport leadership. Sorry, Smith. Lucas Smith. Sorry, there's another Lucas Sullivan in my life, Lucas. Lucas Smith and the airport leadership. Items three and five are a continuation of, we had an item a week or two ago. This is the new funding for weatherization from Centerpoint Energy. And we are adding $125,000 to each of the successful bidders from the previous RFP that we had. with our Dayton Home Energy Efficiency Program to provide additional critical home repair services. So we're excited to be bringing forward contracts with Habitat for Humanity as well as rebuilding together Dayton. Item D9 is a development agreement that supports a new manufacturing facility located at 1960 Troy Street within Old North Dayton neighborhood. The total project cost is about $1.7 million. The estimated payroll is about $4.7 million and it will create 50 new manufacturing jobs. So we're excited about this participation of $60,000 into that project. And finally, item number 10 is a development agreement being funded with West Dayton Development funding with Wesley Community Center. This is a total project of $350,000 of a variety of facility upgrades. As you all know, Wesley Community Center has been an anchor for five decades in West Dayton, focusing on workforce development, youth services, food access, senior programming. They have 1,300 unique service hours annually that support over 200 families. So we are excited to bring this $100,000 grant forward. from West State Development Fund to support their mission and their activities. And that is all I have, Your Honor.

Thank you, Ms. Dickstein. Ms. McClendon, are there any citizens who are registered to speak on calendar items this morning?

Your Honor, there are six citizens registered to speak on calendar items. 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'll 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 Alec Johnson.

Good morning. Good morning, Mayor and Councilmembers. I'm Alec Johnson, living at 3206 Linden Avenue in Dayton. Greetings, Honorable Mayor and Councilmembers. Regarding the NCA, I want to lay out how I think it might best work before sharing concerns and questions voters might have regarding its implementation. Under the best circumstances, it may create a dedicated revenue stream for infrastructure and services without immediately raising general citywide taxes. If the charges are truly limited to benefiting properties and or visitors inside the district, the burden may fall less directly on ordinary Dayton residents than a general tax increase. If legally restricted and audited, NCA revenues could fund public facing improvements. If it frees general fund dollars for neighborhood investment, it could have redistributed potential But only if that promise is made explicit, measurable, and enforceable. The main equity and austerity risks include special charges may pre-commit future revenue to a development district rather than leaving those choices in the ordinary budget process. Even if imposed on property owners or businesses, charges can be shifted to tenants, workers, consumers, or future occupants. There is a clear downtown first geographic emphasis. The NCA board can become a technocratic intermediary between elected officials and revenue decisions. The district is described as subject to expansion from time to time, so early adoption may create a platform for wider use before the public understands the charge structure. The tool may be framed to free general fund dollars, but without binding guarantees it may normalize the idea that basic public investment requires special charges and development deals. Here are nine questions Dayton residents should ask before adoption. What exact community development charge will be imposed? Rate, base, duration, exemptions, and who formally pays? Will the NCA issue bonds or notes? If so, what amount, maturity, debt service schedule, and revenue pledge? What projects are eligible for NCA revenue, and what projects are explicitly prohibited? What enforceable public benefits are included? Who appoints the board of trustees? How long do they serve? When are residents or affected workers able to elect representatives? And can developer appointed members block decisions? Will all meetings, budgets, audits, contracts, debt documents, and charge collections be posted publicly in one place? What is the mechanism proving that general funds dollars are freed for neighborhood investment rather than simply being absorbed elsewhere? What happens if the hotel or convention center projects underperform? What is the sunset date, and what conditions terminate the charge? I computed MASI scores for Delco, Arcade, and Short North NCAAs on the 10-point Massey scale, where 10 is extremely austere and pro-capitalist, and one is anti-austere and favors the working class. Delco scored at 6.8, the NCAA you're considering scored 6.6, the Arcade scored 6.4, and Short North, 6.0. The best of the four, but all still leaning in the wrong direction. While this is but a small sample, it is a relevant one and raises questions about whether NCAAs amount to good policy for most citizens. The current NCAA is a work in progress and there remains many opportunities for improvement. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Johnson. Please note, and we can speak afterwards, that there will be, we can speak afterwards, but there will be a public hearing that will take place on July 29th, Wednesday, July 29th at 6 p.m. in the chambers. So if you could send those questions over to us prior to so that we can make sure that they are addressed during that time. All right, we can talk afterwards. Thank you, Mr. Johnson. I appreciate it. Excuse me, Ms. McClendon.

I call to the podium Lucas Smith.

Good morning, Lucas Smith.

Good morning, sir.

Good morning. First, I want to start by saying that- Excuse me. Name and address for the- I apologize. Lucas Smith, 9515 Greenville Falls Road. I want to start by saying, first and foremost, that I want to thank everybody in front of me today for the hard work and the dedication that all of you have shown me to labor in the last few weeks. It did not go unnoticed. The members did not not notice. It was a big deal for us. So thank you to everybody in front of me. You guys were all wonderful. When this item was postponed, you asked the city and the union to continue talking, and we did. We met again yesterday, and while neither side got everything they wanted, the union did accept the city's proposal because we believe it is important to demonstrate our willingness to work together. We did so because we believed in compromise and we believed in recognizing that progress sometimes comes one step at a time. We believe the city put forth a very sincere plan to work with the union, to grow jobs within the city organization, and to address future concerns regarding situations like this. I do want to talk to a little bit of a larger picture though and get away from this particular. The question before you today is, in my opinion, larger than this agreement that we had reached today. For us, it's about the city that we want to build. Do we believe in city services should be performed by city employees whenever possible? By people who know this community, who pay taxes here, who raise families here, and who have chosen to have careers in public service? Or do we believe these jobs should be gradually be replaced by private contractors whose primary responsibility is to their own bottom line? Once the city job disappears, they rarely come back. Every position outsourced today makes it easier to outsource another position tomorrow. Eventually, we stop asking whether outsourcing is necessary and begin accepting it as the norm. You each took an oath to act in the best interest of the citizens of Dayton. Sometimes that means looking beyond the recommendations before you and asking the hard questions. Do we want to continue building a workforce made up of the dedicated public servants who live here? Invest here and build careers here? Or do we want to continue moving work away from the people who have committed themselves to serving this community? What legacy does this decision leave for the next generation of workers? And again, I just want to thank everybody here. I want to thank Shelly and her administration and the airport for everybody working together to get this resolved. But I just... want to make sure that when we move forward in the future, that these are some of the thoughts that we put forth. So thank you very much for everything.

Thank you, Mr. Smith.

Thank you.

I call to the podium Zakiya Sankara-Jabbar.

Grand Rising, good morning.

Grand Rising, good morning, ma'am.

Mayor, commissioners, I'm Zakiya Sankara-Jabar, 2426 Jerome. I wanted to speak briefly about the city manager's recommendations also around the NCA. I had the opportunity to observe the previous meeting where there was a lot of discussion. We stayed for hours, I believe, around that. And, you know, my question again, or some of the thoughts and questions that I'm really struggling with around this, and Mayor, you have to believe you referenced a neighborhood in Cincinnati over the Rhine that had participated in this. And I'm wondering if any of you have actually researched where these NCAAs have been done and the changes that have happened in those neighborhoods. I know for Cincinnati, particularly the Over-Boran neighborhood, has been pretty much cleansed of its indigenous African-American population. So I'm wondering, having that in mind, is there any reservations at all in adopting a model that is evidenced? Whether it was intentional or not, it happened. That's something that this community, I believe, has already been through enough. We've privileged billionaires and now trillionaires and developers enough. Downtown Dayton has been privileged enough. But the larger question is why are we still taking any recommendations from this city manager? You all have information about flock cameras. You all know that first responder department has been sued in the past while she was assistant city manager. Since she's come in, the fire department, the Dayton Police Department has pretty much been cleansed of almost any color at all. The Dayton Police and Fire Facebook page proudly posted a picture of recently graduated firefighters, and there was not one person of color. Not one. So I'm wondering, are we following our local civil rights ordinances? Are we following state civil rights laws and federal civil rights laws? Or do you guys care at all about following any laws? Because it does not seem you all have the courage to put a check on the city manager that you all employ. Now, I know there's been an announcement of a retirement, but the question is, why is you all allowing her to wait until March? If she already has her 30 years in, what are we doing? It don't take that long. You all have heard from this community over and over again, from the citizens, east and west alike, white people, black people, all people. Ain't nobody came down here in all the months that people have been saying, fire Shelly Dickstein, to say don't fire her. Where they at? There's not been one citizen, regular citizen, to say they want to keep her. I'll be back.

Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Sankara Jabbar. I call to the podium Rodney Stark.

Good morning, Rodney Stark, 4526 Alfred Drive, Dayton, Ohio. 45417. Good morning, Commissioners. Good morning, Mayor. Good morning, Madam Clerk. Good morning, City Manager. First of all, I want to say thank you to the City Manager for offering to meet with me later on today. I appreciate that. Reach out. I'm still waiting for... Mayor, to your office to reach out to me because we decided that you guys were going to give me some information on the NCA. I haven't received that information from anyone yet. Not any one of your offices. Not even a sticky note to prove that this NCA is legitimate.

Come on.

So I haven't seen anything, no evidence. I ask you to show your work, show your work. I cannot believe nothing that comes out of your mouth because I see exactly what you do. Right? Time and time again, this city, and especially the West Side, see exactly what you do. Now, I read in the newspaper there's a $77 million hotel that's getting ready to come up. I said, whoa, that's nice. It looks nice. I'd love for our downtown to improve and look good. I really would love that. But I got a lot of questions about $77 million for a hotel going in downtown. What happened to that Crowne Plaza hotel that was there? Used to be very nice. Next thing you know, they sold it. It looks like a dump. And those slumlords that live, that's occupying that, I guess they call it the Vitality Hotel, you guys need to do something about that. It looks like a dump, but you're going to put a $77 million right next to that. I don't think there is strategic planning happening in our city. I know for a fact it's not. Because when you're spending $77 million and you go out into my neighborhood, I'm talking about where it borders Jefferson Township, where it borders Trotwood, Crown Point, Residence Park, that area over there has been disinvested.

Yep.

I thought at least you would think about the veterans that's out there. I know you had the Ohio leadership that went out to the VA just the other day. Did any of you notice when you go around the VA how the streets are neglected, how the grass is growing out of the street, how trash is up and down 3rd Street? Have anybody thought about that? Those are basic services. It's disgusting that I have to call time and time again about the trash that needs to be picked up. That should be an automatic. Thank you very much. I'll be back.

Thank you, Mrs. Starks. Make sure that we have a conversation after the meeting. From my understanding, we were holding to have that meeting because of the July 29th meeting that is scheduled, the public hearing. But we'll be happy to meet with you. Have no qualms with that. And then as well as to Ms. Sikara. Sikara. Sikara. It's what is today? It's Monday. We're Wednesday, and it's early morning. But nonetheless, yes, we would be happy to answer those questions that you have. That's why it's important, one, that the body itself, this legislative body, have the opportunity to make the recommendations in terms of who will make up the appointed board to oversee the NCA itself. So I understand there are a number of questions. And in comparison to OTR over the Ryan, that is just a model. It does not, again, to your point, Mr. Barr, it does not mean that we're going to, in fact, adopt the ways of which THE OTR AND HOW 3CDC WERE ABLE TO EXECUTE THE VARIOUS DIFFERENT PROJECTS. WE'RE IN TOTALLY DIFFERENT DYNAMICS, BUT WE DO KNOW THAT THE NCA IS IN FACT A FINANCING TOOL. TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION TOO, MR. STARK, THE MILLION DOLLAR ANNOUNCEMENT, $77 MILLION ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE HOTEL IS IN FACT DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS THAT HAVE BEEN UNDERWAY FOR QUITE SOME TIME. THIS ALLOWS US TO HAVE THE NUMBER OF ROOMING, LODGING THAT IS NEEDED FOR US TO to be able to host various different conventions, to bring attraction, to bring revenue to the city of Dayton. I know my colleagues, they have more information that they will be happy to provide. So during the comments, again, we will be gladly able to give some information as to why this particular project was important to the downtown area. And it also supports the work and why that financing tool was deemed as noted through the NCA. So excuse me, Ms. McClendon.

I call to the podium Larry Williams.

Good morning, sir.

Good morning. Good morning. My name is Larry Williams. All right. I live at 515 Cedarhurst. It's right in Westwood, Ohio. I come this morning because I'm just grateful for the city putting Wesley Community Center on the docket for consideration. Wesley Center is on the west side, and it's in the neighborhood of Westwood. We're one of the second largest neighborhoods in Dayton. And I also sit on the Westwood Neighborhood Association. Don't want to get them tongue-tied. And we're meeting here to say that, yes, Wesley is doing a great job on the west side. It's been there right at 60 years. And I've just completed my first year as the board chair. And... It was tough, but I'm thankful for some tutelage that I received when I went through NLI in 2017 when Ms. Berletta Jackson let me in. And I understood the things that a city's doing because I too stood on the outside and said the city should be doing this, the city should be doing that, the city should be doing that. But it takes all of us to make this thing grow. There is no white horse rider coming in to save any of us. We have to all get in and become workers to make this thing successful. I saw Ms. Roletta manage 64 neighborhoods, and those leaders weren't paid, and I too. I too stand to say that through that toolage at Wesley, we have a staff of five people, but we have 13 volunteers that are coming in to make this ship go. We are going to be successful. We've just landed some grants, but we know you don't just lean on grants. We need donors. We have here, this is our board secretary, we have our board member who is also a business owner in Westwood. We're meeting with Westwood Right Project because there are so many components that can work together and we say as a team it makes the operation greater. I just thank you guys for this opportunity and thank you Ms. Dickstein and thank you commissioners. All of you appreciate what you're doing.

Thank you, Mr. Williams. Thank you very much. 65 neighborhoods. Give her that extra one. That's okay.

Was it 65 then? Yeah. I apologize for that one. Because she did it, and she did it well.

All right. Thank you, sir. I call to the podium Ebony Hastings.

Good morning. Good morning, ma'am. Ebony Hastings, 1238 Wabash Avenue. Do y'all realize that the item number number two over five years will be $800,000 to a company out of North Carolina? No. Excuse me. Go ahead. Finish. So you're winking at her, but once again, that's an insult to injury, right? Because I was up last night going through the 276 or 36 pages of that docket, but then this is what we get when we come in here. And then y'all winking, she violating the sunshine law on her cell phone. So let's scratch what we got to say. Dignity and respect, have I drawn you near?

Come on.

Love and kindness. It doesn't take much. Y'all having this HRC session afterwards, but we're always behind the eight ball. We gotta review anywhere from 200 to 500 pages in your agenda to become a forum. We are not lawyers. WE ARE COMMUNITY RESIDENTS. IF THERE'S AN NLI, MAKE IT PLAIN, BECAUSE THE CITY OF DAYTON'S WEBSITE IS SO CONVOLUTED FOR ME BEING AN EDUCATED BLACK WOMAN IN THE CITY OF DAYTON. DON'T CONTINUE TO SIT ON THE DIAS and correct us but won't take the time to have community meetings to fully inform us as to what's coming out on the agenda, the upcoming agendas. We elected you because we believe in you, because we trust you, because we were hopeful that things would change. I am so disheartened and disgusted this morning. A weakening woman cannot be trusted. That's biblical. We open in prayer. That's biblical. Treat people with dignity and respect. Inform us. That's your due diligence.

Thank you, Ms. Hastings. calendar item that is on the agenda that you noted, that is for one year. And that is a proposal for one year. So that is why I'm trying to provide you that level of clarification as to what is presented in front of us. As noted, we can talk afterwards, yes. But as noted, that is only for one year. And that is, again, a recommendation. And then in terms of the THE INFORMATION THAT IS PROVIDED ON THE AGENDA. THAT IS THE AGENDA THAT IS RECEIVED ON A WEEKLY BASIS. THE BACKUP DOCUMENTATION IS THE SAME DOCUMENTATION THAT WE HAVE TO REVIEW AS WELL IN PREPARATION FOR THE MEETINGS. THAT INFORMATION IS PROVIDED, GENERALLY THAT INFORMATION IS PROVIDED AND UPLOADED TO THE CITY SITE ON MONDAY MORNINGS. True enough, we do all need more time to review because the same amount of documentation that the public has to review, we also have to review as well as other documentations that we receive. Thank you, Ms. Hastings. We can have a meeting afterwards. We're asking that you be mindful and be respectful. We're going to all be respectful in this meeting this morning. This is a business meeting, so I ask if you have any other questions or comments. You and I can happily have a conversation after the meeting, and I'll be glad to sit down with you in terms of community engagement. I, one, have been committed to full transparency and engagement. I have held a number of town halls. I will continue to do so. I will be happy to meet with any and every one. We have constituency days coming out. I will literally walk your block and come to your meetings, come to your neighborhoods, whatever it is that we need to do to make sure that the public has all of the information that is necessary. Excuse me, Ms. McClendon. Please proceed.

That concludes the speakers on calendar items, Your Honor.

May I have a motion to approve the city manager's recommendations?

I move to approve the city manager's recommendations.

Commissioner's comments.

Commissioner hadn't had opportunity for questions.

Yes, excuse me. Thank you. Commissioners, are there any comments or questions to the city manager's recommendations this morning? Thank you, Commissioner.

Thank you, Your Honor. Very few, just more so comments. I am... Definitely happy to see this grant to the Wesley Center. Mr. Williams and your board, thank you for being here. Looking forward to you all continuing to do the great work that you are doing in Wesley and have done for many decades. I appreciate the partnership. Certainly happy to also see these energy and efficiency home repair contracts, both with Habitat and Rebuilding Together Dayton. Obviously, as we continue to do demolition and rebuild our neighborhoods, these are pivotal partnerships both with Habitat and Rebuilding Together. So certainly, of course, happy to see these as well. In terms of... the airport contract coming back. Lucas, I appreciate your comments. I think he has left today, but I just want to say that, of course, when we pulled this, the expectation was for the administration to sit back down with AFSCME and Lucas as the leader and, of course, bring something back that is both A compromise on both ends and something that this commission can approve given the concerns that were had and based on the communication that I have received from Lucas, I believe that has been done. So just wanted to raise that and thank you for the opportunity. Appreciate you raising the point of order, Commissioner.

Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Fairchild.

Yeah, no, I just want to thank the city and Mr. Smith and the union for their work to come to some agreement. We pulled this and we asked you to do that, and I appreciate that you were able to accomplish that. I am sympathetic to Mr. Smith's comments regarding in general outsourcing work, particularly to a firm outside of Dayton, which means our assets are leaving our city and going to, I believe, North Carolina, South Carolina. So, to be clear, this is a one-year contract. It has a provision to be renewed for four years, but we can terminate it after one. Is that correct? It is my hope, and I don't know if we can get quarterly reports regarding updates on how the work is going on how to create a better workforce out there. Having talked with A variety of people, you know, anyone who's a hiring manager knows right now that it's a difficult time to be able to find employees. But that's the challenge, and we all have that challenge. And I think we can meet that challenge, so I... My hope, my expectation is that a year from now we'll be in a place where we have gotten the workforce issues resolved and created a space where people want to work there and people are willing to recruit others to come work with them and that we are able to provide the cleanliness that the airport needs as well as an environment for our employees and that we will not need this contract in a year. So that's my expectation.

Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Shaw.

Yeah, thank you for that, Commissioner. I agree with everything you've said there. I monitored this very closely, and I'm glad that the two organizations were able to come together and work out a plan. I'm really confident that this is going to move us in the right direction. Can never over-communicate on these issues with our bargaining unit. And I just think it's working right. So thank you, City Commissioner, and appreciate the work.

Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Joseph.

Thank you, Mayor. Three things today. The first is congratulations to Sister Cities. We want to make sure we mention that, that they've been granted a national award. I want to thank my colleagues for their consistent support of Sister Cities and the mission of people-to-people relationship building and people-to-people diplomacy. It's often the best way to build a future for our kids to reach directly out to people, and I'm proud of us for supporting them to the point that we've gotten an award for it. So thank you, Sister Cities, for your work. Second, I'm going to be abstaining on resolution number 694626 because it involves my employer. And third, I want to express my appreciation to both the administration and ask me folks, Mr. Smith, for coming to an agreement. I will say that this commission is on record and has been for a long time on being supportive of not only keeping the jobs that we have, but also insourcing. Our public works department successfully brought in jobs when we've done them that have formerly been contracted out. So I'd ask the administration to continue that push. We really appreciate it. And like I said, we're on record for supporting that. So I don't expect we're going to vary from that very far. So thank you. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you. Just a couple of brief comments in regards to the service agreement calendar item number two. As noted, it is for one year, so I want to make sure that that is, in fact, recorded. And in addition to that, I, too, would like to thank the staff. Thank you, Ms. Lofton, for meeting and having conversation with Mr. Smith, Mr. Smith, as well as the entire staff um the local the union itself having those conversations and willing to work through and finding ways to build that partnership partnership and it has been noted and from my understanding it is on record and so we want to hold true and there is also a commitment to make sure that there are in fact quarterly reports that were reviewed so that we can follow along um very closely as to the partnership and the relationship that goes along with the agreement itself. I too would like to echo the concerns around the out of the area, out of town recipient that was awarded from the North Carolina area. I think we need to be very mindful and I know that our Human Relations Council department worked very closely as well as with the various different departments to make sure that we are upholding our ordinances, our PEP ordinances. So again, I would just ask us to work through that very closely. I do have a question in terms of the staffing for the The organization itself that will come in to perform the deep cleaning within the airport itself. Where is the recruitment taking place?

For those positions in the evening? I'm not certain. And Dan, locally? Locally.

Okay. And is there anyone in particular that we'll be working through? How does that piece work in terms of the recruitment for locally?

Dan, you want to come forward? Calling forward the Deputy Director, Dan Zink, at the Dayton International Airport. Thank you.

And you are a part of the conversations as well in terms of the negotiations and the partnership with the union itself.

So they will be hiring locally and they will be doing their own recruitment.

Okay. And is it true enough, in fact, in reviewing the documentation, the backup, the equipment, who is providing the equipment, the deep cleaning equipment?

They will provide their own equipment.

Okay. And they are, is that within local or is it, how is it, if they're out of North Carolina, they're providing their own equipment, how does that piece work? The level of service and the equipment that is provided? Okay.

So they are required per the proposal and the response to provide their own equipment. They will store it at the airport and they'll maintain their own equipment. The contract is for three days per week from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. for deep cleaning for the floors, carpets, and window cleaning basically.

And all while maintaining the staff that is during the day.

Correct. This will help the current city staff to be able to maintain and to be able to perform special projects and other items that they have not been able to get to.

And it is noted that there is a commitment for one year and one year only.

It is one year with options to renew.

In terms of the options, is it a means for us to eliminate the options? I understand that it is something that will have to be approved prior to by the commission, but in terms to make sure that there is a level of commitment, how can we work towards to make sure that it is, in fact, only for the terms of one year?

Well, in the contract itself, we do have a clause that allows us to terminate prior to a year if necessary. I think it's a 30-day termination clause. A 30-day termination clause. It's within that contract.

And what is the time frame in terms to monitor the performance outside of the quarterly reports? What would be the determination to monitor the performance of the vendor?

Well, the performance is being monitored continuously, but the reporting will meet quarterly and give evaluations. It's a monthly reporting from the contractor with the city. I think that's the requirement within the contract.

And in conversation with Mr. Smith, this is all agreed upon terms? Correct. I will tell you personally, I want to monitor this very closely. So Ms. Dickstein, Ms. Lofton, if we can monitor this very closely in terms of the level of performance, the service, the environment itself, and then overall the execution of the contract itself. And I know that we all want a clean airport. The union, our customers, the staff, the whole entire organization, we all want to make sure that that is, in fact, a service that we're able to provide. But, again, I want to monitor this very closely, so I would just ask that once, in fact, if, in fact, the approval or the recommendations move forward this morning, that we receive the report within a timely manner to make sure, in fact, that that, one, they're executing to the full extent of the intended purpose of the contract, and that, two, there is no overstepping or undercutting the staff and the union members that are currently performing that level of work and service there, and that we're finding ways and means to make sure that there is a partnership going forward and we're building on the staff itself.

Yeah, and just to add to your comments there, it was a very collaborative meeting that we had with the union. We're very much partners with the union. The intent is not to eliminate any union positions. It's to provide a clean facility for our airlines, for our customers, our passengers. That's the biggest issue that we see on our customer experience survey. is the cleanliness of the facility. Part of the collaboration was to develop a task force where we meet quarterly and we talk about the employee retention and we'll develop metrics to talk about employee retention and how we can attract employees to fill the positions. the city positions that we have out there. So I think this is a good path. It's a good path moving forward. Hopefully it will help us to bring awareness to the retention issue as well as try to resolve the retention issue.

Okay. Thank you. I appreciate it.

Thank you.

Okay.

May I have a motion to approve the city manager's recommendations, excluding legislation? He can vote on it separately.

Yes, okay.

Okay.

I move that we adopt the city manager's recommendations. Second that motion.

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 resolution number 6946-26, authorizing the city manager to accept funding from the Montgomery County Economic Development Government Equity Program as approved by the Board of County Commissioners in an amount not to exceed $250,000.00 by entering into a project agreement for the Sierra Nevada Corporation project and declaring an emergency.

Being declared an emergency, I move for the immediate passage of resolution number 6946-26. Second motion, Your Honor.

It has been properly moved and seconded to declare emergency resolution 6946-26 as an emergency. All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed say no. Any abstentions?

I abstain.

SECOND READING, EMERGENCY RESOLUTION NUMBER 6946-26, AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO ACCEPT FUNDING FROM THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GOVERNMENT EQUITY PROGRAM AS APPROVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $250,000.00 BY ENTERING INTO A PROJECT AGREEMENT FOR THE SIERRA NEVADA CORPORATION PROJECT. MAYOR TURNER-SLOSS? AYE. COMMISSIONER JOSEPH?

I ABSTAIN.

Shaw.

Aye.

Fairchild.

Aye.

Beckham.

Aye.

Emergency resolution number 6946-26 has been adopted with four votes in favor and one abstention. Second reading ordinance number 32198-26, authorizing the city manager to execute a purchase agreement and authorizing the conveyance of real property located at the Dayton International Airport. Mayor Turner-Sloss? Aye. Commissioners Joseph? Aye. Shaw? Aye. Fairchild? Aye. Beckham?

Aye.

Ordinance number 32198-26 has passed with five votes in favor. Second reading resolution number 6944-26, determining that a petition to establish the city of Dayton citywide new community authority is sufficient and complies with the requirements of Ohio Revised Code section 349.03 in form and substance, setting the time and place for a public hearing on the petition and authorizing notice by publication of such public hearing. Mayor Turner-Sloss? Aye. Commissioners Joseph?

Aye.

Shaw.

Aye. Fairchild. Aye.

Beckham.

Aye.

Resolution number 6944-26 has been adopted with five votes in favor. Second reading resolution number 6945-26, determining the sufficiency of a consent to add certain parcels of real property to the city of Dayton citywide new community authority district pursuant to Ohio revised code section 349.03B4. and setting a date for a public hearing on such one or more consents as required by Ohio Vice Code Chapter 349. Mayor Turner-Sloss? Aye. Commissioners Joseph? Aye. Shaw? Aye. Fairchild?

Aye.

Beckham?

Aye.

Ordinance number 6945-26 has been adopted with five votes in favor. And that concludes legislation, Your Honor.

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

Yes, Your Honor. There are six citizens registered to speak. I would like to state that 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. 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 Alec Johnson.

My name is Alec Johnson. I live at 3206 Linden Avenue in Dayton. Honorable Mayor and Commissioners, I come before you as a Dayton resident deeply concerned that the Trump administration is building a political surveillance apparatus aimed not simply at violence but at dissent itself. National Security Presidential Memo 7, or NSPM 7, was published last September 25th and it received far too little attention. It directs federal agencies and joint terrorism task forces to investigate and disrupt organizations, networks, funders, nonprofit groups, officers, employees, and financial relationships. It names anti-capitalism, anti-fascism, immigration, race, gender, religion, family, and morality as ideological indicators. That is a dangerously broad invitation to treat political beliefs and lawful associations as evidence of criminal suspicion. The administration made its intentions even clearer at the recent ministerial on the resurgence of political terrorism. Stephen Miller said NSPM 7 would be used to, quote, "...disrupt, identify, defund, debank, arrest, and prosecute," end quote, alleged political terrorist. He then dismissed civil liberties concerns, declaring that such appeals, quote, "...must fall on deaf ears." Those words should alarm every American. Constitutional rights do not belong only to people the government approves of. The First Amendment exists precisely to protect unpopular speech, dissenting organizations, protest movements, journalists, labor organizers, religious communities, and political minorities from government retaliation. We've seen this pattern before in the Palmer raids, McCarthyism, and COINTELPRO. Officials invoke security, define political opposition as dangerous, map networks of association, investigate funders, and chill lawful dissent long before any crime is proven. Dayton cannot control federal policy, but Dayton can control Dayton's resources. This commission can decide whether city personnel, funds, databases, surveillance systems, facilities, contracts, grants, and task force relationships will be voluntarily placed at the service of ideological investigations. That is not obstruction or nullification. It is a democratic local control over municipal resources while preserving compliance with valid judicial process and genuine investigations supported by independent evidence. I therefore ask the Commission to consider two measures. First, a resolution condemning the thrust of NSPM 7 and the ministerial. And second, a binding Dayton Civil Liberties and Viewpoint Neutral Municipal Resources Act. the ordinance would require commission approval before discretionary cooperation restrict political surveillance using city resources and establish transparency auditing and complaint procedures preliminary drafts of both measures are ready and can be provided to the mayor commissioners and law departments for review along with any interested organizations and citizens i think the commission should engage with representatives of dsa psl gdpc gem city action miami valley immigration consider and citizens at large, inviting improvement suggestions from them all. I ask you to make this an urgent priority before Dayton residents discover too late that their own city helped build the machinery used against them. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Johnson. I call to the podium Kenya Akbar.

Kenya Akbar, 147 East Hillcrest, Dayton, Ohio. Good morning. Grand Rising. Grand Rising. So I'm here to speak to hopefully prick your hearts on the issue that has caused us to launch this campaign for firing the city manager. It's not that her work is not good, it's just not serving the black disenfranchised residents, the 80 plus percent population in the West Dayton area. Even if you look at phase two of the city's strategic plan to improve the city, it did not take into account what was west of the bridge. Dayton is one of the most hyper-segregated cities in this country, so it was very easy to redline that area. We all looked at the 2015 opportunity maps and saw that those people in that area were the ones that were being disenfranchised. Those were the ones who lacked the opportunity. So our plea is that that's recognized and the dishonor of those people is recognized. Jonathan Dayton, when he founded this city in 1759, he was the youngest signer on the US Constitution. Young people matter. Brian Moody matters. The way that the police treat these citizens matter. Wesley Community Center housed my bachelor's degree senior thesis project. called the ecological team. I took youth, 20 youth out into the neighborhoods of Westwood and we picked up trash and we gardened at the Wesley Center. And at the Wesley Center, we took the harvest and we gave it to the elders. This has been my work, but the police didn't mind taking my arm up behind my back when I went to defend one of the youths. Most recently, When I was working on a project, a cooperative project, and she shakes her head and she makes little sounds. Every time I say anything, when I ask to render time for the youth that was killed in Troutwood, she makes these types of motions. It's not cool. You winking at her, that's not cool because she knows what she's doing. She's upholding white supremacy. And it's not right. It's a problem. The police broke my arm because I had renderings. I had just picked up those renderings for a study for unified power, a land trust. And when I picked those up from community survey, not minutes later at the corner, the police broke my arm. It was not just coincidental or accidental. What they're doing to the black community is not right. Police came into play because slave masters wanted to catch their slaves. This is not cool. You're in charge of the police. You understand what's happening? You're not oblivious to it. I wish I could think that, but you're not. You need to be fired. You don't need to retire.

Thank you, Ms. Akbar. I call to the podium Asadik Sankar Jabbar.

Good morning.

My name is Asasin Khar-Jabbar, 2426 Jerome. I was born at Miami Valley Hospital here in Dayton. I'm a youth leader with Racial Justice Now. I heard that you guys are allowing Shelly Dickstein to retire in March of 2027. That sounds right to you, Shelly Dickstein? Okay. I don't think so, but anyway, I'm here to talk to you guys about reconsidering about firing Shelly Dickstein. She has been torturing black women, children, and especially black boys and men. Her job is to make sure that the community is safe and that police are doing their job correctly. But that's not what has been going on for the past 10 years. She's been in office, torturing the people of Dayton. It's not acceptable, and it's not okay. And our voices matter, and we are not allowed to be hushed. You are trying to shut us up, but we will keep fighting, and we will keep being... We will keep... We keep speaking. We will not be silenced because you made an announcement that you guys will let Shelly Dixon retire next year. Because why would you make an announcement to let Shelly Dixon retire next year in March? That doesn't make sense, trying to keep us quiet. Shelly Dixon, you can really pack your bags and leave. Thank you all. Thank you, Ms. Jabbar.

I call to the podium Zakiya Sankara-Jabbar.

Zakia Sankar Jabbar, 2426 Jerome. I'm back to follow up again. First, I want to say in the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful, all praises are due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. And again, I want to have another moral conversation with this commission because at this point, the data points, you know, Kenya continues to relive her trauma in front of y'all. The city continues to ignore. She hasn't received any type of, so much as an apology, let alone compensation for the pain that she continues to endure. And again, the question is, What's holding y'all back from listening to y'all citizens? Do y'all work for United States citizens, citizens of the city of Dayton? Who do y'all work for? Because y'all clearly are not listening to the people that voted y'all in. So is it Larry Connor from the Connor Group? Who is it? Is it Israel? Is it the Defense Department? Because the last time I checked, it's blasphemous to start a city meeting in the name of God and pray. And then you turn around and you make immoral decisions. You make decisions that harm people. These are all God's children. WE'RE ALL GOD'S CHILDREN. I'M HERE TO TELL YOU AND WARN YOU TODAY THAT IF YOU DON'T DO WHAT'S RIGHT, YOU NEED TO CALL FOR AN EXECUTIVE SESSION TODAY, AND I DON'T CARE WHO DO IT, BUT SHE'S GOT TO GO. WHY BE TRANSPARENT and hold her accountable. Be transparent to the community and tell us why she stands to march. Why does she have to stay to march if she's already got 30 years? And why don't y'all have the courage to do what the citizens have been telling y'all to do for months? Answer the question, because at this point, you all are going to be exposed and held accountable by the Most High God. Believe that. Because God uses ordinary people to come down here and warn y'all and tell y'all to do what's right. Are y'all more scared of Israel and whoever else that's backing her, the power that's backing her, than you are of God? Because the last time I checked, God is still supreme. Last time I checked, God is the most powerful. So do you answer to God or Israel? That's the question. Do you answer to God? The citizens that y'all took an oath, I believe, of the U.S. Constitution and probably on the Bible, but you're making decisions that kill people. Sierra Nevada, what y'all do? Y'all make defense systems that kill Palestinian children? Is that what y'all do? And this city is continuing to have a dog and pony show with the Sister City Foundation. Get that Israeli flag up out of here.

Thank you, Mr. Barr. I call to the podium Reverend Kelly Kelly.

Hello, I am Reverend Kelly Kelly with Miami Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship located at 515 East 3rd Street, Dayton, 45402. This is my third time before you all continuing to try and support are my black kin with racial justice now. The first time I appeared was after the police murder of Reginald Thomas on a bicycle. I just had the opportunity to go to the contemporary art gallery and see an incredible display by Dr. Carolyn Maslomi about freedom fighters and she created a quilt with All several of those who have been killed by police in the country. George Floyd, Michael Brown. Is Reginald Thomas going to be in a future quilt that we hang in our sophisticated liberal spaces forever? while we continue to kill our own residents as they're fleeing. I am a suburbanite. I am a white, middle-aged, middle-class lady. I have investigated our request. And I like to be liked. But Ms. Dickstein, it's time to go. It's time to go now. There may have been good decisions or good reasons for your decisions, but they have resulted in the disenfranchisement and the murder of our citizens. Black people. And they have assisted our current administration in torturing brown people. The metro parks, the city using cameras to help ICE terrorize. And then we say that we are with immigrants. We are with them as we persecute them. That doesn't make sense. Thank you for listening. I know that personnel decisions are complicated. I do believe you can do better.

Thank you, Reverend Kelly Kelly.

I call to the podium Rodney Stark.

Rodney Stark, 4526 Alfred Drive, Dayton, Ohio, 45417. Thank you, Reverend Kelly. Thank you, Mr. Johnson, for both of your comments. I really appreciate that, and thank you for everyone who spoke. We're not crazy. We are not crazy. You're talking about a city of Dayton where I was born. I came back eight years ago, lived in Atlanta, lived in Charlotte, North Carolina. I've seen progressive cities. Been a part of that, raised hell out there too. I wanted to come back because this is my hometown. I wanted to come back because if I didn't come back, I probably wasn't going to have a hometown. That's my take on it. Our city, especially the west side, has been disinvested for decades. It's been redlined for decades. And it still is being redlined. And it's not just the banks. It's our own city government that is doing it. A lot of folks come in here. I'm going to hold some comments on the NCA. I'm going to talk with the city manager a little later. So I'm going to switch script here a little bit. But we are sick and tired of the tunnel vision on downtown. You all have tunnel vision about downtown. At what cost are you gonna continue to fix up downtown when we got fire piles still sitting in our neighborhood, all right? That's contamination. Our children is breathing that, we're breathing that. There's asthma-related issues, right? Allergy-related issues, cancer, people going to oncologists, seeing oncologists, and some are even succumbing to their cancer. But you're talking about $77 million and still got fire piles still sitting in the west side of Dayton. What about the houses you turn down you don't pick them up over a year takes you a year so to pick up those houses. Going into the ground. When you finally pick it up. Yes, what children play in those little fields and stuff like that.

Mister Starks make sure you speak in the light so we can hear you children play in those grounds.

But you sit up here, clutch your pearls, act like you proud dignitaries. You got shackles on your feet. And no, I don't necessarily blame everything on the city manager. I blame you. That's the problem. It's not the city manager. City manager can't do anything and can't put nothing here unless you pass it. You guys are consistently passing these things. So it's a combination. Darius, I gave you a little pass, but you just got it.

Thank you, Mrs. Dart. That concludes public speakers, Your Honor. Thank you, Ms. McClendon. Ms. Dickstein, do you have any closing comments?

Your Honor, I would just add that over the years, I am really proud of the work that we have done in both fire and police and diversifying our ranks. You have seen the numbers as the classes come. In 2025, in the police department class of 2025, we had a 56% ethnic and gender diversity. We've been really working on increasing our gender and ethnic diversity. We joined the national platform of 30 by 30 to have 30% of our officers by 2030 be female officers. So we're really proud of the work and engagement outreach work going there. The fire class of 2025 was the most diverse in our history. It was 59% ethnic and gender diversity. And while the 2026 did not have someone of color, it did have one woman, the 2025 is more representative of the work we've been doing over the years. And so we're really proud of that. And we will continue to work with the community in that engagement effort to continue to diversify our employment base.

That's all I have, Your Honor. Thank you, Ms. Dixie. Ms. McClendon, do you have any closing comments?

Yes, Your Honor. There is a work session for the Human Relations Council update in the PRC immediately following this morning's Commission meeting.

Thank you, Ms. McClendon. Commissioners, do you have any closing comments? Commissioner Beckham?

I have none, Your Honor.

Thank you. Commissioner Fairchild?

Yeah, I want to thank the commission for excusing me the last two weeks and the community for understanding that I needed some vacation time with my family and having the space to do that. I'm very grateful that our family was able to get away. During that time, I was able to read. I read the Declaration of Independence, the small book reflecting on the greatest sentence of that independence, that line in the independence, as well as another book, To Love Country. And collectively, they have really generated my thinking around what it means to work at this experiment in self-government. Some of the issues that have been raised today is really about what we the people consent to. And if we want a better community, we want better government, we want a better society, it's really about we together figuring out what we're willing to consent to. One of the more unsettling observations of the greatest sentence ever written was the foundation of enlightenment and reason that underpins the decoration. And I think we're in short supply of a commitment to reason and those enlightenment values. And it raises the question of whether self-government can even hold in this environment without a commitment to those foundational pieces of reason and the foundations of the enlightenment. I look forward to having a conversation with the community. So I'm trying to find a time to have, for those of you who may have read that book with me, to have a conversation about that. I have my thank you. While I was away, I didn't get a chance to thank the city manager and staff for the July 3rd and 4th celebrations. And a lot of work went into it. It was a very hot day. Kudos to Rudy Flyer, who was out in full costume on a day that must have been 100. But I want to thank you for the whole team who kept people safe on that day. There's a great opportunity this weekend. The weather looks to be a little better than that weekend. This weekend, the Dayton Celtic Festival will take place at Riverscape Metro Park. There's free admission. The festival features three days of live music, performances, food, and a Celtic marketplace and family-friendly activities. So I encourage you to come downtown to experience that. I think also... Going back to thinking about self-government, we have an opportunity before us. And there will be a big spotlight on this commission as we make this transition from one city manager to the next city manager. I think a robust conversation around what we, the people in Dayton, consent to in terms of governance will be important to have. I've always said, from the first day of running for commission, our number one job is the selection and the management of the city manager. And so this is an opportunity we have for the next selection in the city manager. It's the most important work that we do, and it's incumbent on us to do that well and to find the best candidate. to move us forward. So I think we have a great opportunity. And so I think that's another part of the conversation that we need to have. And Mayor, I appreciate in your term how much you've done in town halls, and I look forward to working with you and expanding that, particularly around this topic. And then finally, I wanted the community to know that there have been some questions about whether I do or do not have a conflict of interest around the question of the public hospital. And that will be coming back before us. I have had lawyers tell me I do and I don't. have a conflict of interest. There's only one place that can really adjudicate that, and that's the Ohio Ethics Committee. And so on June 24th, I had submitted a request for an advisory opinion from the Ohio Ethics Committee. I anticipate that they have 40 days to make a decision. Oftentimes it happens sooner. I expect any day that we'll have an opinion. And once we do, then we can all be confident whether I have a conflict or not and whether I'll be able to engage in the conversation and decisions or not. So just wanted to let the public know that.

Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Shaw.

Yes, I just want to thank our friends at the AFL-CIO and Dayton Buildings Trades Apprenticeship Program. They had a graduation last night. Graduated 13 individuals from across a variety of trades. It was a really nice event. I was glad to speak at that. And then the Victory Project will host a volunteer open house at 4519 Oak Ridge Drive, offering community members an opportunity to learn how they can get involved through tutoring, mentoring, chaperoning, and other volunteer opportunities. And that will be held on Monday, July 27th from 5.30 to 7 p.m. And this is a great chance to connect with the organization and learn more about helping our local youth. That's all I have.

Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Joseph.

Thank you, Mayor. Just one. Glad to announce that yesterday the city kicked off our community engagement for our new sustainability plan. We had a public workshop at Northwest Rec Center. If you haven't had a chance to participate yet, it's not too late. You can learn more about the plan and share your ideas by completing the community survey that's online. It's at daytonohio.gov, and there's a link for the sustainability plan. So you can also Google sustainability plan Dayton, and the survey will come up. So please complete that. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you. Just a couple of comments. I would like to thank all of the residents that came out this morning. Thank you for your comments, your questions, your concerns. You are, in fact, being heard. I invite those who have a number of questions, if you would stay after the meeting, I'll be happy to come down and have the conversation with you more in detail to answer some of your questions specifically. Ms. Dixie, can you, if you will, provide more information in terms of the development project and the investment for the... THE HOTEL, AND THEN ALSO TO NOTE THE PAST, AND YOU HAVE MORE INFORMATION ON THIS THAN I DO, IN TERMS OF THE FORMER SITE OF THE CROWN PLAZA HOTEL AND THE CURRENT INVESTMENT THAT IS BEING MADE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE HOTEL AND THE $77 MILLION, IF YOU COULD.

Sure, I can provide a high level. High level. So we don't disagree with Mr. Stark with regards to the conditions of the Crowne Plaza. And that is something that we have never controlled and have always been reliant on trying to work and influence the private property owners of that property. And we had great hope when there was a change in property ownership. They have renovated a little over 100 rooms and are operational but the requests that we have made with regards to replacement of windows and it appears that that has not been honored and it appears that that renovation may have stalled at the moment but that is a property that both the MCCFA and the city team work closely with to try and influence, support, you know, move them forward in renovations. They were supposed to have it completely renovated by this summer when they started the work last fall and that has obviously, that timeline has obviously slipped. So it remains a CONSIDERABLE CONCERN BECAUSE OF ITS LOCATION AND ITS CONDITION. SECONDLY, THE NEW HEADQUARTER HOTEL, WHICH CAME ABOUT PRIMARILY BECAUSE OF THE NEED FOR HOTEL SPACES, AND AT THE TIME THE CROWN WASN'T EVEN OPEN OR OPERATIONAL. THE CONVENTION CENTER MUST HAVE of a room supply of over 500 rooms open and available within a half a mile of the convention center to support larger conventions and meetings that draw in people who come and spend money in our city. So that $77 million headquarter hotel is something that the MCCFA has been working on putting the financing together to structure. When we talked about they are looking to the NCA to support some of that financing gap. And they are working right now on about an $8 to $10 million gap that they think they have solved and a path moving forward. And they are looking at a closing later this fall and hopefully groundbreaking in January. But it will provide about 200 hotel rooms. About 200 hotel rooms there right in front of the transportation center, the Oregon garage. So they won't need garage parking, which is very nice. And it will be right across the street from the convention center.

Thank you very much. Thank you. I appreciate it. And then also just want to note too, Mr. Johnson, Ms. Jabbar, as well as Miss Asina Jabbar, thank you very much for your comments. Kelly Kelly, thank you, excuse me. And Mr. Starks, thank you all for your comments. And again, I invite you, if you have any additional questions, I'll be happy to answer the questions to you. I do believe, in terms of what we're dealing with, with the number of questions and concerns that have been raised over the THE ENTIRETY OF THE TIME THAT I'VE SERVED ON THE COMMISSION, EVEN PRIOR TO. DURING MY TIME, THE FOUR YEARS AS A COMMISSION AND NOW SIX MONTHS SERVING AS THE MAYOR, WE HAVE FAILED TO EDUCATE AND TO PROVIDE THE LEVEL OF AWARENESS TO THE PUBLIC. That is my commitment towards the transparency, the amount of information that is given to the public. Noting that the questions are, in fact, still warranted, but at least there's more information that is given to the public to help guide and shift the questions or concerns that may come before this body. So that is my commitment. We definitely have to do a better job at that. Because we are not doing our due diligence in that vein. And I don't offer any excuses to it. A lot of it is, in fact, capacity, bandwidth. To Ms. Hastings' point, the 263 document, backup document, your point is valid. We have the same concern. We're all juggling multiple various different obligations. We receive the packet and then the process. And I know I had this conversation with you before in terms of, THE CITY MANAGERS RECOMMENDATIONS ARE IN FACT PROVIDED TO AND REVIEWED ON THURSDAYS. ON THURSDAYS THOSE PACKAGE ARE IN FACT REVIEWED FOR THE RECOMMENDATIONS. THAT FRIDAY WE GENERALLY RECEIVE ALL OF THE ALL OF THE DOCUMENTS, THE STAFFING, THE CITY MANAGER'S MEMOS, THE FM DOCUMENTS, THE SERVICE AGREEMENT, WHATEVER HAVE YOU, ALL OF THAT INFORMATION IS THEN COMPILED. AND AGAIN, THAT'S A HEAVY LIFT AND A LOT OF THE WORK THAT IS BEING DONE, THIS IS WEEKLY BY THE STAFF TO MAKE SURE THAT IN TURN IT IS GIVEN TO THE COMMISSION OFFICE. SO THE COMMISSION OFFICE THEN IN TURN CAN PACKAGE, HAVE EVERYTHING TOGETHER, MAKING THE COPIES, UPLOADING ALL OF THE VARIOUS DIFFERENT DOCUMENTS, It could be 200. It could be 100. It could be 500 pages. As many pages as I have seen has, in fact, reached to over 600, 700, 800 pages. That information is uploaded. We receive those packets. When that information is uploaded on the city's website, that's when we have the information as well. So on Monday, mind you, we're making decisions on Monday. We're making decisions for Wednesday, but we receive that information again on Monday as well when that information is uploaded. We receive the packets on that Friday, sometimes it's Friday afternoon for us to review over the weekend. There's other various different competing obligations for us to make sure that we're making well-informed decisions. Oftentimes those questions are formulated and then we are sharing those questions with the staff. The staff do their due diligence in making sure that they're answering the questions themselves. So again, to your point, is it ideal? No, not for any of us, not for us that are making decisions, not for the staff, but we do know that this is the process of us doing business. We ask that if you have any questions or concerns, and there's a number of various different things that you all may raise that, again, can be brought to our attention so, in fact, that we can work TOGETHER TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT INFORMATION IS IN FACT ANSWERED TO THE BEST OF OUR ABILITY. SO AGAIN, IF YOU HAVE ANY RECOMMENDATIONS, I INVITE YOU. I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS. WE DO NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT IN PREPARATION FOR THE JULY 29TH MEETING, that the number of various different questions that have been raised this morning that we find some time to address those questions and any other questions that may come before this body so that we are in fact prepared and that we can again to address any concerns and that we are in fact doing our due diligence to make sure that the tool is properly utilized and that there is in fact a positive and win-win for the use of that tool itself. Thank you all for staying. Thank you all for being here in this meeting this morning. I want to make a couple of other additional announcements. I would like to thank the young ladies aspiring greatness. They have held a number of cleanups. They're very excited of doing this work. And I believe it's this Saturday they have their last cleanup in the Five Oaks area. And they will be focused on... Santa Clara, I believe they're working on in the Santa Clara Business District. And they're starting at 9 a.m. I would imagine that they will be working with Felons with a Future as well as Preservation Dates and Initiative, PDI. So we invite everyone to come out. They're doing some great work. And then also would like to note that tomorrow, Thursday, the 23rd of July, we will be meeting at Liberation Park, Broadway Park. We'll be meeting at Liberation Park for the final... mayor in a commission's walk, and that walk will take place at 6 p.m. Again, at Liberation Park, we invite everyone to come out. And again, as noted, if there are any other neighborhoods or any residents who have an issue and interest in holding any walks, we can definitely accommodate your schedule. We can make sure that we make the necessary provisions to schedule something that is outside it. Noted. Understand that we may not have all of the staff members at that If any additional walks that may be scheduled due to bandwidth and the time, that is allotted. But we invite everyone to come out. Again, that's tomorrow at 6 p.m. And with no further business to come before the commission, the meeting is now adjourned. Thank you.