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, the invocation will be given by Commissioner Beckham.

Dear Lord, thank you for this evening. Thank you for helping us lead this city. We ask that you just continue to support this important work and let us make decisions that will help our entire community. In your name we pray, 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.

Ms. McClendon, may we please have a roll call? Mayor Turner-Sloss? Aye. Missioners Joseph? Aye. Shaw? Fairchild? Aye.

Beckham?

Aye.

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

So moved, Your Honor. Second the motion.

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

Aye.

All opposed say no. May I have a motion to approve the minutes of the August 12, 2026 meeting? So moved, Your Honor.

Second the motion, Your Honor.

It has been properly moved and seconded to approve the minutes of the August 12, 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.

All right. Thank you. You all, if you will please bear with us. This evening we will change the agenda up very slightly. We will now... review if there are, in fact, any additions, deletions, or comments to the calendar. Ms. McClendon.

I would like to request the addition of informal resolution number 1017, urging action to protect health care and food access for Dayton residents.

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

Your Honor, given the brevity of our calendar, I have no additions, deletions, or comments to this evening's calendar.

Thank you, Ms. Dickstein. Ms. McClendon? Oh, excuse me. I apologize. All right. Commissioners, are there any comments? To the city manager's recommendations this evening. Commissioner Beckham.

I have none. You're on. Point of order. Yes. Citizens.

We are voting recommendations right now for the...

But citizens can speak on...

That is true. Thank you, Commissioner.

You're welcome.

That's why it's five of us up here. Thank you. All right, Ms. McClendon, thank you. Are there any citizens who are registered to speak on the calendar items this evening?

Yes, Your Honor. There are eight citizens registered to speak on calendar items. 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 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, EBONY HASTINGS.

Ebony Hastings, 1238 Wabash Avenue, Dayton, Ohio. Good evening, Mayor Turner-Sloss and commissioners. Before I speak about tonight's items, I want to be clear about something. What I bring to the podium is not personal. It is not about liking or disliking anyone on the dais. It is about speaking truth to power regarding the direct impact of this commission's decisions regarding the impact this commission's decisions have on the residents of Dayton. Because when the city does not invest in Dayton neighborhoods, dollar for dollar, what it invests in downtown, that is a trickle-down economic. And trickle-down does not reach the neighborhoods. Tonight's city manager is recommending $567,952 for a Cincinnati consultant enrollment management service to keep running a health insurance opt-out program. Read the memo on page 8 of tonight's agenda. The consultant projected that 11 to 13 employees would enroll. After 12 months, there's only three. And the HR director's own memo says, if participation does not improve, he will not recommend continuing past 2027. We are paying more than a half a million dollars to consultants that produce three participants the same week that Commissioner Shaw told residents next year's budget will be short $5 to $10 million. That is a $5 million gap inside its range. inside the range itself. And then look at item number four, the Woe Dogs lease. The city is leasing the real ground property at 200 East 5th Street downtown, one block of the convention center for $24,400 over five years. That works out to be $407 a month for five years on city-owned ground downtown. I want to ask the commission directly, can any resident get that deal? Can a homeowner in West Dayton get a five-year lock at $400 a month? Can a renter in Old North Dayton get a five-year term at that rate? Can a small business on West 3rd Street get that price? Because if the answer is no, then the commission is telling residents that downtown businesses get a standard that the neighborhoods do not. item b1 hell brothers five commercial mowers to cut vacant lots that is a real need but it is a symptom the city is buying mowers because it has more vacant lots than it can maintain while cargill is leaving need more road and this commission has not published a cargo transition plan My ask tonight is the same as last week. One, put the pay to date, the projected life of the contract cost, and the number of prior modifications on the front page of every agenda item. Two, publish the working document behind the $5 to $10 million shortfall. Three, publish the Cargill transition plan. Four, for every dollar invested in downtown, publish the matching dollar invested into Dayton neighborhoods, dollar for dollar. Show us, do not tell us. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Hastings. I CALL TO THE PODIUM RODNEY STARK.

GOOD EVENING, MAYOR. GOOD EVENING. RODNEY STARK, 4526 ALFRED DRIVE, DAYTON, OHIO, 45417. GOOD EVENING, MAYOR. GOOD EVENING, COMMISSIONER. GOOD EVENING, CITY MANAGER, MADAM CLERK. I'm here today to talk about calendar item number three with the service agreement to the Dayton Public Schools. It is a shame that we are defunding our schools. How are we defunding our schools? With your CRAs and your tax abatement. Right now, Dayton Public Schools is $3 million short. You can go online and look it up. $3 million short because of all these tax abatements. Where are the tax abatements going to? Is these corporations. We've got to pay for them to help them build. We give them $1.5 million. And right on Main Street, we gave them $7.5 million. along with a bunch of nice pretty tax abatements. I'm not opposed to giving some seed money to help build in Dayton, but we can't give them everything. We are losing money and right now this city is running short. How are we running short? We're running short because we're giving the farm away. Right? We don't have enough money. We're not collecting enough tax dollars. That's what's happening around here. Right? And you want to know something else? All these little levies is coming around for the libraries, for the parks, for this, for that, for preschool promise, all that. The city should be paying for it, but we can't pay for it because we don't have the money, because we gave it to corporate America. And guess who's paying for it? The citizens are paying for it every single day. The citizens are paying what these corporations should be paying for. It's skin off our backs, right? And now you want to build a hotel and want to charge us more money also to help who? Corporations with the NCA. 5% more. And it's a utilization. I know you disagree with me, Mayor. It's a utilization tax. If I go down there and stay at that hotel, it's a utilization tax. I'm going to pay 3% to 5% more just to stay at that hotel, just to eat at that hotel. And you say, some of y'all argue, Mr. Beckham, you argue, I love jobs. I love jobs, too. But what are those jobs really bringing in here? $35,000? A year? When you make 66 as a part-timer? Come on now. Come on. These people have to work overtime. Our citizens and our city workers are working overtime. I want them to make a livable wage so they can stay at home with their families. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Stark. I call to the podium Sandra Lewis.

Sandra Lewis, 4614 Coondinger Avenue, Dayton, Ohio. Good evening.

Good evening.

Thank you, Mayor Turner, Slosh, and the members of the Dayton City Commission. My name is Sandra Lewis and I am a leader with the Amos BWHI of Dayton. I'm here tonight to sincerely thank each of you for voting on this important healthcare and food access resolution. Your vote demonstrates that you recognize the serious challenges facing our residents and that you are willing to stand with the people of Dayton during this uncertain time. As a community leader, I have canvassed neighborhoods and spoken directly with many residents. And one of the most troubling things I have discovered is that many people are not aware of the changes that may be coming to Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP benefits, nursing home care, and essential services. Some residents do not know that their health care coverage could be affected. Seniors are concerned about whether they will be able to afford medicine, receive care for the needed families, and they worry about how they're going to put food on their table once the SNAP benefits have been reduced. Caregivers are wondering how they will be continued caring for aging parents and family members with disabilities. These are real people with real fears. These are neighbors, church members, family members, and friends. These conversations have shown me how urgent our community needs accurate information. People cannot prepare for changes that they do not know about. They need trusted leaders who will educate them, listen to their concerns, connect them with resources, and advocate on their behalf. By voting on this resolution, you have helped bring greater attention to an issue that could affect more than 100,000 Montgomery County residents. You are also helping us bring information, public conversation about protecting health care, food access, and dignity of our families. On behalf of this resident I speak with, I want to thank Mayor Turner-Slosch and every member of Dayton City Commission for listening and taking this matter seriously. I also thank the Commission Matt Joseph and Ms. Venetta Jackson, Amos BWHI Dayton, and all the community partners who helped move this resolution forward. We look forward to working with the commission to educate our neighbors, church seniors, caregivers, and families. We will continue to canvas, share information, and ensure that the people that most affected are seen, heard, and supported. Thank you for your vote, your health, your leadership, and your commitment to the people of Dayton. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lewis. I call to the podium India Moore.

India Moore, 2068 Ravenwood Avenue. Good evening. I'm here in support of the community-led resolution for safety net programs. This sits in front of you and my hope is that you'll all vote yes. With the cut, we'd lose billions of dollars in funding and about 50% of the babies in Ohio are born using Medicaid. The maternal mortality rate is already substantially low and cutting funding only hurts them more. My own child was born using Medicaid at the lowest point in my life, and I survived using those safety net programs until I could survive on my own. Please remember that the people who are the most affected by these actions are also the most vulnerable to the negative impacts of losing that support. Thank you for hearing me.

Call to the podium, Alexis Renner.

Hello, Commission, Mayor, Alexis Renner. I'm here today with- Please state your name and address for the- Oh, sorry, 505 Riverside Drive. Thank you. I'm here today with Inspired by Dayton, Empowered by Us, Leaders for Equality and Action in Dayton, and Black Women's Health Initiative to ask the commission to adopt a resolution that shows how Dayton leadership will stand up for their residents by saying no to the state and federal representatives who are hurting us. This resolution asks the city to work with community resident leaders and other institutions including the county to make sure residents get connected to resources as well as educate them on the requirements residents will have and to bring actual meaningful community collaboration. Last night, Dayton Public Schools passed a resolution that said they're willing to work with our community to make sure that the kids have what they need. And tonight, we look forward to a unanimous yes vote from all of you, saying that you're willing to work with the community and make sure that we have what we need to. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Reiner. I call to the podium Lynn Lamance.

Hi, Lynn LaMance, 1061 Bertram Avenue. I am talking regarding item 32203-26, the civil housing penalties. And I just wanted to provide some feedback since that meeting does not provide citizen feedback. It looked as if the, they said yard standards were being, I mean it sounded like yard standards were being passed out or it's freely just everywhere so people know everything. I have not seen a housing inspector pass out yard standards. I have been very insistent on getting that translated. Welcome Dayton. I have a lot of African refugees in my area. It needs to be in Swahili and Kinyarwanda. and French, if possible. They mentioned community engagement. I would like to know when the last time a housing inspector went to any neighborhood meeting outside of downtown. 52% rental rate in the city of Dayton. So she quoted 18% compliance with the LLCs. What about the owner occupied? What percentage was that? And then also, I do want to thank Mr. Fairchild for bringing up the auto repair situation. Directly across from Children's Services, the 3300 block of North Main Street, cars, tow trucks, pieces of cars, tires is everywhere. It's directly across from Children's Services looking like, I mean... Appalachia. Okay, so when fines are paid, is those monies going to the general fund and then in turn into downtown Dayton or the neighborhood fines should go directly back to the neighborhood since the neighbors are the ones suffering in some of these blighted areas. Rental registration was mentioned. Again, they are talking about it's a tool in the toolbox. The auditor does not rarely have correct information in there. I check that frequently and keep my own rental registration for the Fairview neighborhood. If Tammy Murphy is listening, please look into that with her future auditor position. I also wanted to make aware the warning notices that are given. They make it seem like there's a warning and then the penalty. Some of these warning notices are from 2019, they're from 2023. So if you have ever had a warning notice, then it goes to a case. uh... it's it's not you get a warning okay now we're getting after you to take your house uh... the hearings i had a neighbor go through the hearings process she got a reduced down to fifteen dollars but From my understanding, it does not completely get waived for abatement or for poverty. And then also, what if the owner is not paying property taxes in the first place? I mean, what is the point of this? A perfect example, 53 Ernst. Go look at 53 Ernst. Time is up, thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lamanz.

A call to the podium, Talis Gage.

tell us okay before i start my spill i just want to say uh mr david beckham usually the last person in is the easiest to get out so just be mindful of that i'd like to speak on the agenda item number four the wall dogs lease with the city like miss hastings said how many other small businesses will be able to get a 400 a month lease until 2031. no one and nowhere would any resident get that same deal nor could they rent a place for 400 a month for five years y'all know this is ridiculous man that's crazy and what does that say to the community you don't care about the stress or the struggle You don't care about the stress or the struggle the average community member is dealing with when it comes to housing. I'm disappointed in the commission that downtown Dayton is commerce. Corporations is more important than the residents housing needs in this city. When schools are at a shortfall, so this commission is willing to allow at least agreement for five years at $400 a month. How many people in this room can pay that? The commission needs to check their conscience. And I'm going to say it one more time. The last one in is usually the easiest one to get up. And you were supposed to have a meeting with me a long time ago, and you never set that up. Somebody was supposed to connect, set something up, it never happened. So I don't know. We ain't even gotta have our meeting no more. I made my decision. I know where you stand with me. I couldn't tell the difference between you and Plummer and all them people at that last meeting that was at St. Clair, that was on the left side. There was all Republicans that was over there. And folks, as Democrats, I can't tell the difference, man.

Thank you, Mr. Gage. I call to the podium Tara Fox Williams.

Good evening, Mayor and Commissioners. Good evening. My name is 6521 Staverton Drive, Centerville, Ohio, 45459. My name is Tara Fox Williams, and I'm the Policy and Advocacy Coordinator for the Amos Black Women's Health United of Dayton. On behalf of our leaders, community partners, and residents we serve, I want to express our sincere gratitude to Mayor Shanice Turner-Sloss and members of the Dayton City Commission. I'm especially thankful to Commissioner Matt Joseph for the time, attention, and effort that he has given to ensure that this healthcare resolution was brought before the Commission for a vote. Commissioner Joseph, your willingness to listen to our concerns and recognize the urgency at this moment has been deeply appreciated. Thank you. We also want to send a special thanks to Valetta Jackson. Thank you for your dedication, persistence, and tremendous effort throughout this process. Your commitment to ensure that this resolution moved forward did not go unnoticed. We are sincerely grateful for your advocacy, your guidance, and determination to bring this important matter before the Commission. This resolution is more than just words on a piece of paper. It is a public declaration that the City of Dayton sees its residents, hears their concerns, and understands what is at stake. More than 100,000 Montgomery County citizens could be affected by this federal budget cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP benefits, nursing home services, and other essential programs. This is not just simple numbers. These are our mothers, our fathers, citizens, children, neighbors, and people living with disabilities and working families who are already struggling to meet the ends meet. For many residents, losing health care and food assistance can mean having to choose between purchasing medication and buying groceries. It could mean delaying medical care, losing their access to trusted doctors, and being unable to afford long-term care for an aging parent. These decisions will affect the health care, security, and dignity of our families throughout the community. This is why this resolution is so important. It sends a clear message that Dayton will stand with its residents and advocate for the resources they need to live a healthy, productive life. We look forward to working alongside Mayor Turner-Sloss, Commissioner Joseph, and the entire city commission and our community partners to educate residents about these budget cuts. We are prepared to host community forums, work with churches and other healthcare organizations to distribute accurate information to help residents understand how these changes may affect their families. We want to ensure that the voices of those most affected, black women, seniors, people with disabilities, caregivers, and low-income families remain the center of this conversation. Again, thank you all for listening. Thank you all for taking action. But most importantly, thank you for reminding the people of Dayton that they are not alone. Again, thank you, and may God continue to bless the city of Dayton. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Fox-Williams. That concludes speakers on calendar items, Your Honor. Thank you, Ms. McClendon. Commissioners.

Your Honor, may I provide some clarification for you all? So item number two is indeed a contract. It is, first of all, being paid for with our health care self insurance funding, which is restricted only to be able to use towards health care initiatives. This particular contract helps us identify individuals who can qualify for alternative insurance and come off of the city insurance which is a great savings to the city moving forward. There were three members identified last year. Primarily their numbers were lower because they missed the enrollment period because we had to negotiate with the unions before they could hit the ground and start interacting with our members. But those three members were provided over $400,000 of savings and we more than paid for the contract that the consultants got. This next contract We do anticipate that 11 to 12 members can be identified based on the claims information, and that would be a million dollars in estimated savings. So that is why we are bringing this forward for your consideration this evening. The other thing with regards to Woe Dogs LLC, this is a triple net lease. And the tenants for this commercial property are investing just under $200,000 in tenant improvements, equipment, furniture, fixture, and equipment. And they are also responsible for all of the ongoing maintenance, utility payments, exterior upkeep. And so this is indeed in line with other triple net small retail lease operations across the city. So just wanted to provide that clarification.

Thank you, Ms. Dickstein. Commissioners, are there any comments? Commissioner Beckham.

Thank you, Mayor. City Manager, I appreciate the clarification in our meeting tonight. I don't have any comments and questions, Mayor, so thank you.

Thank you. Commissioner Fairchild.

Yeah, I just want to lift up item number three. This is our contract with Dayton Public Schools where we provide a firefighter EMT to teach students how to become firefighters. If you know a young person who wants to be a firefighter or to be a paramedic or wants to even go into healthcare, this is an incredible opportunity for them to come And as they come out of high school, they can qualify to be an EMT. They'll be able to get a good job. They become a firefighter. The wages of a firefighter. And let's be honest, it's tough work. It's hard work. It's demanding work. But this is an opportunity for our own students. for us to grow our own firefighters through a public school with DPS. And so I think this is really kind of where the village needs to step up and help us identify young men or women who want to be firefighters.

And if Commissioner Shaw was here, he would say also lifeguards. We need lifeguards.

Right.

Excuse me. Commissioner Joseph.

Thank you, Mayor. Just one comment. I want to thank the community for working so hard to bring this health care and services resolution today. I appreciate my colleagues, Mayor, especially you, for supporting this. This is important business, important work. It's the kind of thing that we do best when we work with partners. So thank you all for your work on this. I'll be proud to support it.

Thank you, Commissioner. Thank you, Ms. Dickstein, for providing the additional context. And as noted, the department, the human resource department, as well as the administration, will do a review of calendar item number two after the 16-month period. And that period is identified to be able to garner the level of support between the 13th, the 11th, 13 employees that have been identified, and that is for the million-dollar savings, right? So I appreciate you providing that information. And then just for note, the additional information for WODOG LLC, as noted, it is in fact a triple net, so I really appreciate you highlighting that and mentioning that there are opportunities that exist to that same vein, if you will, across the city of Dayton. So thank you. And then it also speaks to other partnerships, if you will, like the First Fourth Fund and other opportunities that exist with citywide development, DDP, and so on and so on. So thank you for highlighting that. And then as noted, the partnership that we have with Dayton Public Schools and making sure that we continue on that on that path and having our students that participate in training programs. This past summer, our water department did an excellent co-op program where I believe they had over 20-something students, if I have that number right. And so with that, we do have a number of students that are in the audience today. And so with that, I want to make mention of our Youth Climate Action Fund. Applications are due October the 2nd. The information is on the website. There will be an info session that will take place September the 1st at 5 p.m. I believe it will be held at Princeton Recreation Center. And if more information, you can visit the website. You can also contact Nione Brown at DaytonOhio.gov. That's Nione. niani.brown, B-R-O-W-N, at daysonohio.gov. Or you can call the commission office. That's 937-333-3636. Did I get that right? All right. 333-3636. And again, that is the Youth Climate Action Fund, and that is being spearheaded by our sustainability department. So again, we invite all of the members in the audience that are in fact youth. We had a number of Thurgood Marshall students that joined us this afternoon for the press conference. So with that, may I have a motion to approve the city manager's recommendation?

Mayor, I move that we adopt the city manager's recommendations. I second the 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? Thank you.

Legislation, Ms. McClendon. Thank you. Second reading, emergency ordinance number 32203-26, amending section 150.130.7 of the revised code of general ordinances relating to the zoning code. Mayor Turner-Sloss? Aye. Commissioners Joseph?

Aye.

Bearchild?

Aye.

Beckham?

Aye.

emergency ordinance number 32203-26 has passed with four votes in favor first reading ordinance number 32204-26 levying special assessments for the purpose of acquiring constructing and improving certain public improvements constituting special energy improvement projects in the city of dayton ohio in cooperation with the dayton regional energy special improvement district Second reading ordinance number 32200-26, declaring the intention of the commission to vacate the alley east of South Main Street from the alley south of East 6th Street to 106.54 feet south of the alley south of East 6th Street. Mayor Turner-Sloss? Aye. Commissioners Joseph? Aye. Fairchild? Aye. Beckham?

Aye.

Ordinance number 32200-26 has passed with four votes in favor. SECOND READING ORDINANCE NUMBER 32201-26, APPROPRIATING PROPERTY DESIGNATED AS PARCELS 9SH&T, 12T, 15T, 22T, 30T, 33T, 36SH&T, 43T, 46T, 47T, 51T, AND 54T IN CONNECTION WITH THE SMITHVILLE ROAD RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT. Mayor Turner-Sloss? Aye. Commissioners Joseph? Aye. Fairchild?

Aye.

Beckham?

Aye.

Ordinance number 32201-26 has passed with four votes in favor. Second reading ordinance number 32202-26, appropriating property designated as parcels 130T, 156T, 166SH&T, 168SH&T, 169T, 171T, 175T, 177T, 180T, 181SH&T. 182 SH&T, 183 SH&T, 195 T, 196 T, 197 SH&T, and 199 SH&T in connection with the Salem Avenue Reconstruction Phase 5 project. Mayor Turner-Sloss? Aye. Commissioners Joseph? Aye. Fairchild? Aye. Beckham?

Aye.

Ordinance number 32202-26 has passed with four votes in favor. And for the added legislation, informal resolution number 1017-26, urging action to protect health care and food access for Dayton residents. Mayor Turner-Sloss? Aye. Commissioners Joseph?

Aye.

Fairchild?

Aye.

Beckham?

Aye.

Informal resolution number 1017-26 has been adopted with four votes in favor. And that concludes legislation, Your Honor.

Thank you. Thank you, Ms. McClendon. And this evening, I would like to call. We have a special presentation. I would like to call to the podium Ms. Dee Wooding of Westwood Wright CDC, as well as Mr. Fabrice June with Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission.

I'm not going to hit anybody. This is my litter picker. But don't swing it around. Put it to the side. Please. So, good evening. Good evening. Mayor, City Commission, City Manager, Madam Clerk. Can you hear me? Okay, good. Thank you guys so much for having us here today. I really appreciate this opportunity, but I'm going to keep it real short. I'm Dee Wooding. Today I'm also representing Lucky. For those who are not familiar with Lucky, she is a House First Lady of Litter Prevention. It's been around for a long time, so we rebooted the campaign today, and we kind of revised her a little bit and made her look a little cuter. So we officially had a wonderful press conference with the mayor today, so we appreciate the mayor, the city commission, county commission, and all of our other partners that's going to be joining us on this effort to keep Dayton clean and beautiful. So we also represent the Academy for a Thriving Community, and we partner with the Miami Valley Regional Planning on that. And we have several of our participants here today. We can either have all 35 of them speak, or we can just have them stand. And let's give them a hand for participating in this class. cohorts. It was really, really great. So what the goal was to problem solve with the city. Instead of keep complaining about the problems, we met for seven months, one Saturday each month to engage with the city leadership to say, how do we solve this problem? Commissioner Beckham was there, Commissioner Fairchild, Turner Sloss, some of the county commissioners came. So we've learned a lot. So now that we've done with that, we are going to be instituting a neighborhood environment action team called NEAT. So we're going to continue our efforts, but we need a partnership, a real partnership. So we really need a city to leverage whatever we raise to help us support that. So I just want to thank you guys again that we want to see a clean Dayton, a beautiful Montgomery County. We know we can do that, so we're going to be raising money to give every resident their own little litter picker, maybe. And so we can just do this together. So I want to turn it over to Fabrice and let him say a few words. Thank you, Ms. Wooding.

Hello, good evening. Good evening. With the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission. Good evening to the City of Dayton Commission, staff, residents, and community members. While I am the least important person that you'll be hearing from tonight, I've been granted the privilege of participating in this presentation to speak on how collaboration and partnership brought this crew together and brought us here tonight. Between 2021 and 2022, the Institute for Livable and Equitable Communities at the Regional Planning Commission partnered with the US EPA to co-host the first ever Environmental Justice Academy in the Midwest. Within that cohort was Ms. Dee Wooding, founder of the Westwood Right Project CDC, and a year later, the Regional Planning Commission, among other local stakeholders, was tapped to provide collaborative supports in the creation of the Westwood Neighborhood Strategic Plan. That strategic plan provided the platform that allowed the Westwood Neighborhood to be selected for a grant award, not anywhere from the Miami Valley, not anywhere from in the state, but from all the way out to a different corner of the Midwest in Minneapolis, Minnesota. At the Institute and the Regional Planning Commission, we're focused on fostering a thriving region for all. And those funds allowed us to pose a simple question. What does thriving look like at the neighborhood level? And how do we engage local residents in pursuing it as more than just the impacted party, but as real stakeholders? What started as one cohort member from Westwood participating in our educational programming has become a community-wide effort that you're hearing about today. Special thanks to Mayor Shanice Turner-Slaus, Commissioner Dara Fairchild, and Commissioner Darius Beckham for taking time out of their Saturday to visit the community sessions these past seven months. And I also speak for my Executive Director, Brian Martin, and specifically thanking Commissioner Matt Joseph and Commissioner Chris Shaw for their continued contributions to the MVRPC Board of Directors and the Institute for Livable and Equitable Communities. A thriving region requires strong roots, and accomplishing that is only possible with empowered residents like those you have in this room and leadership like tonight that make space for them. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Jones. And I believe we have a video. We'll be showing a very quick video. And we would need the screens lower, please.

Hi, my name is Raquel Woods.

You pause it. Thank you.

Hi, my name is Rekia Woods. I'm a participant of the Academy for...

It's not on this screen, on the larger screen. It's on the sides. Okay. Thank you. Excuse me.

Thriving community, where we focus on littering, contamination, and illegal dumping. It's a way for local citizens to come together and take back pride within our community.

The Academy for Thriving Communities was a partnership between the Westwood Wright Project and Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission. Over the past seven months, we engaged 45 local residents in identifying and learning about the environmental injustices and issues that impact their community. Participating residents will also be connected to regional stakeholders, offering professional expertise and partnership opportunities towards solution finding. the program will equip local residents from disadvantaged communities with the skills and tools to elevate their collective experiences and urgent priorities into the government decision making and processes that will ultimately impact their households and neighborhoods the program goal is to to lift up community-led innovation and strengthen community-based groups by breaking down barriers while increasing assessment and engagement efforts that increase understanding of the breadth, depth, or impact of local environmental or public health issues. Although we learned about several environmental challenges plaguing our communities, our project is solving the problem around litter contamination and illegal dumping. After the cohort graduates in September, we will continue our efforts through our neighborhood environmental action team NEAT. We want to thank all of the participants, our speakers, presenters, city county officials, city staff, and our partners, MVRPC. Dayton is our home. Let's keep it clean, safe, and thriving. FOR OURSELVES AND FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS. THANK YOU FOR BEING PART OF THE SOLUTION.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THANK YOU, AND CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF THOSE, THE GRADUATES, I SHOULD SAY, OF THE ACADEMY. AND I BELIEVE MR. JUNE NOTED, EXCUSE ME, THIS WAS THE FIRST CLASS IN THE MIDWEST, IS THAT CORRECT? Okay. Excellent. Thank you. Thank you very much. Ms. McClendon, are there any citizens that are registered to speak this evening?

Yes, Your Honor. There are 23 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 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 Aaron Shipp.

Good evening. Aaron Shipp, 3843 Alvin Avenue, Dayton. Good evening, Mayor. Good evening. Commissioners. Everybody else. Yeah, I'm sorry. My name is Aaron Shipp. First of all, thank you for this opportunity. Here we go again. I want to thank the Westwood Project for joining forces with the Academy for Driving Communities and the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission to begin tackling some nationwide problems starting here in Dayton, Ohio. Those problems consist of trash, litter, and illegal dumping, blighted houses, and dilapidated buildings. The Westville project held some workshops over the last several months, educating community members about the health hazards associated with trash, litter, and illegal dumping. Not only that, but how many of the houses were built using lead, and how that lead can enter our bodies through air and water, causing catastrophe. How the blighted and abandoned houses and buildings are being broken into. And then, because of carelessness or intent, they are being burned down. The burned down structures are then left there as fire piles. These fire piles are health hazards. Not only are they health hazards, but also eyesores. After having spent two decades in China and coming back to America, the first thing I thought about seeing all the trash, litter, and blight was, what is going on? Trash, litter, blight, fire piles, abandoned buildings, and the like are all eyesores. The majority of people, in my opinion, like to see things clean and green. In the rural areas of China from 2001 to 2016 or 17, people would just throw their trash wherever they were. In the city, there were trash cans every 50 meters and hired personnel to clean the streets on ships running from sunrise to sunset. Things started to change during the time that I was there. I saw more and more signs going up that said, please throw away your trash properly. The government did that, and this is why partnering with the city is so important. The city has the funds, the connections, and resources to help make a change. The Litterbug campaign is a step in the right direction. community involved through the kids like Thurgood Marshall, a STEM school is helping to lead the effort to help things go in the right direction or keep things moving forward. In summary, education is the key to change. These campaigns and workshops like those done by the Westwood Project, along with the Academy for thriving communities and the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission are helping to educate the community and what could and should be done in order to have a healthier life. Let's keep the momentum going and let's see the change that we want to see and deserve.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Shipp. I call to the podium Ebony Hastings.

Ebony Hastings, 1238 Wabash Avenue. Good evening again. Good evening. Proverbs 29 and 2 says, when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice. But when the wicked bear the rule, the people mourn. That is the standard I bring to this podium. I know who I am. My intention is to advocate for the residents of Dayton who do not have the ability, courage, or time to come to these meetings. I recently attended the Beam Lane event. As a kinship caregiver with my niece and nephew who benefit from the Boys and Girls Club, at that event, a woman connected to the commission circle told me I should soften my position on the city manager and Congressman Turner because they had contributed money to the Boys and Girls Club. I want to be clear, that was a loyalty test and that was not a gift, that was tax dollars. Congressman Turner secured 1.4 million in federal funds. Montgomery County contributed $250,000. That is public money that already belonged to us. Directing our own money back to us does not buy silence. A contribution is not a leash, especially when the contribution was never yours to give. And if we are going to talk about public money honestly, Dayton received nearly $138 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds. $10 million went into the West District Police Station. Another $11 million was planned for a downtown police fire station. That is more than $20 million in public MONEY IN POLICE BUILDINGS, WHILE RESIDENTS TOLD THIS CITY IN SEVEN PUBLIC MEETINGS THAT THEY WANTED HOUSING AND DEMOLITION FIRST. IF THE CITY HAD THE LEADERSHIP TO MAKE THE BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB PROJECT WHOLE OR BUILD ONE IN NORTH DAYTON, THAT WOULD BE LEADERSHIP. INSTEAD, 10 MILLION WENT TO A POLICE BUILDING. AND WHILE WE'RE BUILDING, WHILE WE'RE NAMING THINGS, THIS MEETING IS AT 6 O'CLOCK TONIGHT. MOST MEETINGS ARE AT 8.30 IN THE MORNING WHEN WORKING RESIDENTS CANNOT COME. WHEN THE ROOM STAYS SMALL, THE SAME VOICES GET HEARD AND EVERYONE ELSE IS CALLED CONTROLLED OPPOSITION. THAT IS BY DESIGN. ACCESS IS A POLICY CHOICE. A PHOTO OP IS NOT A POLICY. DAYTON RESIDENTS CANNOT EAT A PRESS RELEASE. MATCH DOWNTOWN DOLLARS FOR DOLLARS IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS. PUBLISH THE CARGILL TRANSITION PLAN. BUILD ANOTHER BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB IN NORTHWEST DAYTON. I AM NOT FOR SALE, MY ADVOCACY IS NOT FOR SALE, AND MY NIECE AND NEPHEW'S PARTICIPATION IN A PROGRAM BUILT WITH PUBLIC MONEY DOES NOT MAKE ME PROPERTY OF THE PEOPLE WHO SIGNED THE PAPERWORK. For the residents here today, continue to be involved, keep showing up, pass today. The decisions made by this commission and city manager directly affect all 68 neighborhoods. It shapes our lived experiences. Dayton still needs to bring the Tamir Rice resolution. Show us, do not tell us.

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

Rodney Stark, 4526 Alfred Drive, Dayton, Ohio, 45417. Protocol has already been established. Where do we start here? We're not for sale, and we're not going to be quiet. So if you want us to go away and come here real nice and gentle, no. We're talking about MAGA Mike Turner right here. MAGA Mike Turner voted for the big, beautiful bill. $990 billion cut out of Medicaid. He said he cares about businesses. What is that going to do to CareSource with all those funding cuts out of Medicaid? $240 something out of SNAP. These people were in here begging Joseph, who couldn't stay here to listen to these comments, begging Joseph to pass this legislation tonight. People are on the street in downtown Dayton, and y'all complaining about them out on the street. They're out on the street because of Maga Mike Turner, Phil Plummer, Andrea White, and the rest of them that took the stage during that joint convention. So you all can sit there and continue to lift up this man, but this man gutted everything that you stand for. And no, this is not political. This is almost murder. You're destroying people's lives. So you keep fooling around with Meg and Mike Turner all you want to. This is serious business. I'm not for sale, Darius. Mayor, I'm not for sale. You can't put me on your boards. You can't do any of that to try to shut my mouth. I'm not going to stop. I'm going to continue to call it out. And my problem is I wonder why you all are not calling it out. You guys are running into a funding gap right now. You don't have money. You're running out of money. You know where you're spending your money at? Those old glamorized porta-potties that are sitting out there, $400,000 worth. You know where you're spending your money at? $504 worth of LLC to come in here to show you how to treat your employees. That's right, $504. With all the money that you guys are making per year, Dayton Deli News blew the whistle on you. When you're hired over $100,000, you should know how to come in and treat employees and set the tone. Leadership is providing direction, motivation, and purpose, Ms. Jackson. Have a good night.

Thank you, Mrs. Stark. I call to the podium Hillary Lerman.

I'm Hillary Lerman. I am 249 Wyoming Street. Greetings to the mayor and city commissioners.

Good evening.

I just reached my 80th birthday. I come from...

Happy belated birthday.

Thank you. I come from a family that's fought oppression. And the other thing that I'm going to mainly focus on is the military industrial complex that's represented by Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. If we look at the history of the United States just in the last century, we overthrew the government of Guatemala because they were trying to give land to peasants. We overthrew the government of Iran because they wanted to raise the price of oil. And we all know about Vietnam, which maybe two to three million people were killed for no good reason, except the military-industrial complex. And if we just go to the present time, we have a blockade on Cuba, we've just attacked Venezuela and kidnapped their president. We've just had genocide in Palestine and specifically in Gaza. And now we're at war with Iran. These are all things that are going on. But it's all because of this establishment of the military-industrial complex. I will put to you that it's blood money. It's blood money because if we look at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, they're contributing to these attacks to the best of their ability, yet the money is, that's just keeping Dayton from being a ghost town. There's, I'd say, 30,000 to 40,000 people with jobs directly, and maybe another 10,000 with jobs indirectly. That's keeping us going. So we have to think about what is the deal that we're making. What's the blood on our hands for supporting the military industrial complex and supporting Wright-Patterson Air Force Base? I hope people think about it and try to stop it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Learman. I call to the podium Ebony Woodfork.

Hello. Good evening, everyone. Good evening. My name is Ebony Woodfork, 3936 Middlehurst Lane. I am here to speak about the Academy for Thriving Communities. I had a little thing that I was going to read off of, but that's not going to work. I would like to first of all thank you all for being a part of what it is that we're trying to do. I would like to thank Ms. Dee Wooding for bringing us together. And I just want to speak about my experience a little bit. So I'm a youth advocate at Sunlight Village and originally we brought our youth to the program because they wanted some youth in there. And I sat there for a little while and I got to listening and I grew up in Westwood and I was like, okay, I'm very interested in what's going on. And I'm glad that I asked and inquired about being a part of this program because I was able to meet and talk with city commissioners. I was able to learn things that I didn't know. Even about coming to meetings like this, our youth were able to learn things. In our group, we had our youngest, I think, was 16, and our oldest was 60, almost 80. So 79, I want to say. And in that group, we were able to come together, the young people and the elders, and try to come up with solutions and build things that could help make our communities better. Like you all heard before, we talked about illegal dumping. We talked about waste management. We talked about what it looks like to work together and what an honor and a privilege it is to be a part of an organization of people who really care. So we have homeowners who have been in this city and these homes for years. And then we have young people who have yet to have that experience. And we were able to come together and relaunch the Litterbug campaign. The mayor has come down, Fairchild, and a lot of other people. And you all seem to really care. And I know there's a lot going on. IN THE CITY, AND THERE'S A LOT OF THINGS TO COVER, AND YOU ARE TRYING TO DO A LOT, BUT WHERE YOU CAN, YOU HAVE SHOWED UP. SO WE APPRECIATE THAT. I AM GRATEFUL FOR THESE OPPORTUNITIES, BUT WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE IS MORE PROGRAMS LIKE THIS. A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T KNOW ABOUT THESE PROGRAMS. A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T KNOW THAT THERE'S MONEY OUT HERE FOR THESE THINGS. SO I WOULD LOVE TO SEE MORE, WHAT DO WE CALL? Yes. And letting people know. There's a lot of people that talk about the change that they want to see, but nobody's getting out here and actually doing the thing. So these young people got out here. We cleaned up. Again, we were able to listen to each other. We were able to come to resolutions. And I am so excited to see the work that we're going to do with our communities and other communities and also with the city because we know that you all do care and you're trying. So if we can bridge that gap and figure out how we can work together, that would be a beautiful thing. And that is all. So thank you all.

Thank you, Ms. Woolport. Thank you. I call to the podium Yusuf El-Zain.

Sorry. Good evening, Yusuf El-Zayn, 4906 Amber Road Drive, Dayton, Ohio. Today it was announced that our government is what, $40 trillion in debt, I guess, the highest ever. But we still dish out billions of dollars to genocidal states. So good evening Mayor Turner-Slaus, Commissioners. Good evening. I want to focus today on how our city vets companies and determine how to support them with our public money. And I need the commission also to help me understand the document that has been referenced numerous times since 1997, namely Informal Resolution 301-97. Since then, Dayton has required companies doing business with the city to certify that they do not use child labor, forced labor, or trafficking, or support these things. Our standard already says a company's treatment of children matters enough to disqualify them from city business. So I ask you to think about it for a little bit. If exploiting children is serious enough to disqualify them, What does that standard say about something graver? Maybe children being murdered on a daily basis, but not just exploited? Think about it. I'm not asking you as commissioners to make that comparison lightly. I'm asking you to recognize that the same reasoning applies only more urgently. I'm asking you to recognize that the same reasoning applies only more urgently, and to consider whether we should decline to do business with companies tied to governments that the UN's own commission of inquiry has found them responsible for genocide, including intentional starvation and killing of children. On July 22nd, this commission approved 60,000 grand for CATS 1899 Inc. to be located in North Dayton. Did our existing compliance process apply to this grant? I also received thanks to the commission's office through public records request that appears to be ordinance 31876-21 that was unanimously passed on April 14, 2021 by many of you sitting there. This ordinance would have expanded our 1997 informal resolution and made it an ordinance That's to be enforced. Our own RFP documents, including ones posted this year, still cite only the 1997 informal resolution and not the formal ordinance 31876-21. If it exists and isn't being applied, that's worth knowing. If it's not being enforced, then we should talk about it more seriously. Respectfully, let's apply the standards we already claim to hold and consider whether they go far enough. Thank you.

Could you repeat that ordinance number, Ms. Aldane, please?

31876-21, and a member of the city commission's office found that document and shared it with me.

Thank you, Mr. Alzain. I call to the podium Serenity Jett.

She's coming around.

Okay.

NAME AND ADDRESS, OKAY. MY NAME IS SERENITY WITH A C-C-E-R-E-N-I-T-Y, JET, J-E-T-T, AND I LIVE IN HUBER HIKES. SO, YEAH. I'M HERE SPEAKING ON BEHALF OF MEADOWDALE CTC CENTER AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAM, LADYBUGS. THIS KIND OF CAUGHT ME OFF GUARD. So when I first joined this program, I thought, another credit for high school. I'm gonna sit here, listen to people, see how this goes, ride through the wave, cool. But it enlightened me and showed me that this isn't just a problem for adults. This isn't just a problem for THE FUTURE, THIS IS A PROBLEM FOR ME NOW AS A YOUTH. THIS IS SOMETHING THAT I SEE EVERY DAY, THAT I WITNESS EVERY DAY. I USED TO LIVE BY THE SODA BASS, AND AS ONE OF THE MEMBERS OF THE PROGRAM, I WANTED TO SEE IF PEOPLE THAT ALSO LIVED NEAR THE SOTA BASK AND POPULATED AREAS LIKE THAT WENT THROUGH THE SAME THING AS ME, SEEING TRASH, SEEING THE BUS STOPS LOOKING HORRIBLE, GLASS, BULLET SHELLS, DISCARDED GUNS, THINGS THAT SEEMED NORMAL BUT ACTUALLY ISN'T. AND I DID THE VOTE, AND OVER 200 STUDENTS AT MY SCHOOL HAS WITNESSED AND SEEN THE SAME THING THAT I HAVE SEEN. seen the same glass bottles, seen the same shell bullets, seen the same cars, dumping areas, same thing everyday life. And when I realized that no one's saying anything and it literally took a random anonymous vote for people to actually speak up, I realized that me being in this program is actually God-given and I should actually speak up for the youth. And with that, I would like to ask the adults, the people who hold power, along with the youth, to actually stand up and say something. Because silence never gets fed. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Jett.

I call to the podium Yvonne Currington.

Hello, my name is Yvonne Currington. I live at 250 Trail Woods Drive, Dayton, 45415. Good evening, Mayor and Commissioners. Thank you for this opportunity. Everything I've heard tonight, it's like I'm repeating everything again. Because my belief is that poverty is the root of all evil and it won't be until everyone can meet their basic needs and those of their families that we'll see significant change. But nobody seems to want to concentrate on poverty but instead put band-aids on it. I'm so sick of the wealthy getting all the attention and the benefits. Our people are human beings who deserve respect, education, health care, housing, food, and the opportunity to thrive. I've seen this situation up close and personal as a registered nurse in this community for 45 years, especially the 28 years I worked in three different ERs here in town. The cost of living continues to rise and people resort to violence and other methods because they have no choice. I'm not saying there aren't people who are up to no good just to be up to no good. But too many people are forced to steal or to rob or whatever because they have to feed themselves and their families. And this is ridiculous in this country. This should not be happening. I'm just a... a member of the community. I don't have any power or authority. You guys are the elected leaders. You have some power and some resources to help with this. It isn't until we correct the basic poverty is the issue. And you all probably have ideas, I have ideas, probably everybody in this room has an idea about what we could do to alleviate poverty. But it's not gonna change until we get together and decide that this is, too often I feel like a broken record. I have said this over and over and over and over and over and people look at me and go, mm-hm, yeah. And then it's like, okay, what's next? Nobody wants to dwell on the topic. Nobody wants to, because they don't, I guess because they don't know what to do. You've got to have boots before you can pull yourself up by your bootstraps. And too many people don't have boots. That's all there is to it. They don't have the opportunity for a good education. They don't have an opportunity to have decent food. They don't have a roof over their head. They're moving from one place to the next. And it's not because their parents don't... Don't want things to be better for them, but they're either working multiple low-wage jobs and not home to be able to make sure their kids go to school and get their homework done. But it's got to stop. It's got to stop. And I'm begging you to please come together and let's work on how we can solve this problem. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Carrington. I call to the podium India Moore.

Good evening. Good evening. India Moore, 2068, Ravenwood. For starters, you voted for the safety net resolution, and that makes me hope these concerns I bring are taken seriously, though I am sad that those seats aren't all occupied tonight. By voting, we try to elect people who represent our needs, improve our quality of life, and hear us when we speak. So my question for the commission is, do you guys actually care about us? I have four areas to speak on. First, the city has invested in speed cameras around school zones. Keeping children safe is something we all can fully support, but there is a difference of 15 miles per hour depending on the time of day, and the signage is not consistent nor is it clear. And current city rules do not require the reduced speed timeframes to be posted in the school zones. An $85 ticket may not seem like much to some, but for many Dayton families, it can mean struggling to pay for monthly necessities. That's a problem the city has the power to fix. Second, the city manager, and to be clear, I'm not calling for anything, but it is a point of contention for the people. The mayor's flight plan allows for community input on certain policies and initiatives, but that doesn't give the citizens a meaningful role in selecting who this person is. People are clearly saying they care enough to be a part of the process. Third, flock cameras. We have repeatedly asked for understanding regarding everything flock. While the mayor has addressed the issue publicly, we understand this is not a power she holds alone. That's why we asked the commission for greater transparency. And I'll take the moment to also request the rest of the cameras be covered in the rest of the cities, not just downtown Dayton. NEXT, THE CITY HAS ALLOCATED MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TOWARD DEVELOPMENT. GROWTH IS IMPORTANT, BUT SHOULDN'T THE FOCUS BE ON MAKING SURE THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE HERE WANT TO STAY HERE? I PERSONALLY HAVE BENEFITED VIA NEW HOME OWNERSHIP PROGRAMS, BUT I AM NOW FRUSTRATED WITH THE PROCESS OF REPORTING PROBLEM PROPERTIES IN MY AREA. AFTER NUMEROUS REPORTS TO CODE ENFORCEMENT, I AM STILL LEFT WITH A VERY HAZARDOUS PROPERTY NEXT DOOR AND THE DANG CASE KEEPS GETTING CLOSED. THERE ARE ABANDONED HOMES, BUILDINGS AND LOTS THAT NEED TO BE REHABBED OR DEMOLISHED AND TURNED BACK INTO GREEN SPACE. THIS ALONE COULD IMMEDIATELY IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE IN OUR NEIGHBORHOODS AND POSSIBLY EVEN DRAW IN NEW LIFE TO OUR CITY. SO, DO YOU GUYS CARE? I'M ASKING YOU, YOU WHO ARE SUPPOSED TO BE OUR NEIGHBORS AND OUR ELECTED FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE POLITICALLY, Do you care enough to listen when we bring up our concerns before this commission? Because if you do, we need to start seeing it more in your actions and not just hearing about it in the speeches. Because now, more than ever, the constituents are observing to find out what their votes really counted for, and we would love to witness more action on our behalf.

Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Moore. I call to the podium Stephanie Cardo.

Hello.

Good evening. My name is Stephanie Caudill, 3001 Purdue, Kettering, Ohio. June 24th, my son was shot in the stomach at Belmont Billiards. When he was shot at Belmont Billiards, he was then, three hours later, took into Miami Valley. Three hours later, he was then taken to the Montgomery County Jail. They put my son in jail with a bullet hole in him. He had two, he had his child's mother and the two people that were with her come up to the facility at Belmont Billiards, get out of the car and shoot him. It was a planned event, if we look a little farther into the case of it. The problem being, I sent the video to you. I hope that you got that through email. The problem is that I'm going from the prosecutors to the detectives. I went and bought an attorney, which $2,500 for an attorney to get my son's name cleared. We went to court, name is cleared on that. Now I'm sitting here wondering why the detectives are not doing their jobs to put the man that was in, put him in jail that shot my son. Detective Ellis is the man that's on the case. He has belittled me. He really, what I want to say, that I believe that when I found out that he did not do his job, he didn't get that video footage. When my son got shot, the only people that he saw or that he talked to was the three people that were in the shooter's car. He never spoke to my son. He never sparked to the bar owner. He never looked at the video camera. Never looked at anything. Just spoke to the shooter. It's flabbergasted of this case. So now we're sitting here and I'm sitting here and I'm begging, I'm begging you, Mayor, if you could get these cops to do their jobs and get this Dylan Vance, the one who shot my son, to be locked up. I'm now $2,500 out on trying to get my son's name cleared. And thank God the prosecutors did clear that. I called the prosecutors to say, why didn't it get reversed to get the people that did do the shooting, that did shoot my son, why are we not putting him in jail? They can't, nobody can give me an answer. And I've been, since June 24th, I have been going backwards and forth. This is on my job, that I've had to leave my job multiple times. Not only do I want to say this as well, I have also two other unsolved homicides in my family. My father was Ronnie Intercan that was shot and killed. I mean, that was beat to death. in his home on his couch at 76 years old. The son that I'm speaking about right now, his father was shot and killed on Garland Avenue, James Delaney. I have three unsolved homicides right now in my family, and I've got one that is bluntly on camera footage that I'm sure you've seen. Can we just have them do their jobs? Thank you so much.

Thank you, and my condolences to you and your family. Thank you so much. Thank you. MS. DICKSTEIN, CAN WE HAVE AN UPDATE ON, IF YOU COULD? WE'LL LOOK INTO THAT AND GET A MEMO TO THE COMMISSION. THANK YOU. AND IF SOMEONE COULD FOLLOW UP WITH MS. STEPHANIE AS WELL, PLEASE. THANK YOU, MS. DICKSTEIN. EXCUSE ME, MS. MCLINDON.

I CALL TO THE PODIUM ALEC JOHNSON.

I'm Alec Johnson. I live at 3206 Linden Avenue in the Hearthstone neighborhood of Dayton. Greetings, everyone.

Good evening.

At the last commissioner's meeting, Commissioner Beckham, while talking about jobs, declared economic activity is not a bad thing, it is a good thing. With all due respect, it isn't nearly as simple as that. To understand my objection, I need to introduce a concept that should enlarge our collective understanding of both jobs and economics. The concept in question has long been absent from most economic discussions. It was suppressed along with what was known as political economics over a century ago to make way for the economic pseudoscience prevailing today. The concept we must revive is known as surplus value. In brief, surplus value is the value workers create beyond their wages. Imagine a Starbucks barista working an eight-hour shift. If her first hour generates enough to cover her daily paycheck, her remaining seven hours create surplus value. That surplus is controlled not by her or her community, but by the owners of Starbucks. Most workers have little real choice. We do not control the means of production, the workplaces, equipment, and financing. So we must sell our labor power to those who do or we starve. This is a coercive relationship. This is the essence of capitalist exploitation. It's why the 1% keep getting richer and the rest of us, the 99%, lead precarious lives. However good or bad a job may be, they are all great opportunities for employers to extract and privatize surplus value. There is an alternative that starts from a different principle, that workers and communities should retain and democratically reinvest the surplus value they create locally. Let's imagine a West Dayton Housing and Reconstruction Cooperative, for example. It would train and employ West Dayton residents to restore neglected homes through a worker-owned enterprise. A community land trust and limited equity resident cooperative would keep land and housing under community and resident control. The surplus would circulate locally, supporting more homes, equipment, worker education, new cooperatives, and neighborhood institutions, instead of being extracted by the rapacious members of the 1%. This could be the kernel for a wider Miami Valley community wealth initiative. The Mondragon region in Spain shows that worker-owned enterprises can federate, finance one another, educate their members, and protect workers in downturns. The Emilia-Romagna area of Italy demonstrates an ecosystem of cooperatives, unions, technical institutions, and public policy. These are not utopian extractions. They are concrete examples that alternatives to capitalist exploitation exist. Locally, Co-op Dayton has been trailblazing the last decade, developing cooperative businesses that meet local community needs. The conventional attract and retain economic development model fails under the prevailing conditions characterized by the hypermobility of capital. This forces the communities to compete with each other in a race to the bottom. In a nutshell, this is what NCA is all about. Far better alternatives exist, and what I've shared here is but the tip of the iceberg. The realm of the possible is vastly larger than many imagine. Dayton does not need a special purpose development government whose democracy comes later. It needs development that begins with democracy. Public power and public policy should produce public wealth. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Johnson. I call to the podium Joyce Probst McAlpine.

Hello, my name is Joyce Probst McAlpine. I live at 326 Park Drive in the South Park neighborhood, Dayton, Ohio, 45410. Good evening, commissioners and mayor. Good evening. Thank you for having me here. This is the third time I've come this year to speak to the commission. On January 7th, I came because we were concerned about the risk of flock cameras to immigrants and other vulnerable populations. and we had many questions about how the data was being used in the city. So we asked for an audit and the commissioner supported an audit very strongly and committed to having an audit done. There were many delays and we asked for updates on it and heard nothing. Then on May 1st, the police announced that 7,000 searches had been conducted in flock data with immigration as a reason, which violated the city's policy and was really... terrible thing. And I want to go back to the January Commission meeting because after we asked for the audit, we were reassured by the chief at the time, Chief Azul, and the city manager that the policy to prevent the use of flock for immigration searches was being upheld. It was repeated several times in that January Commission meeting. So we found out May 1st that that had been a lie because these immigration searches mainly happened in 2025. So the May 6th Commission meeting was really emotional. Many people came to talk about FLOC. And there was really a lot of testimony. And I spoke about the lies that we heard in January. And commissioners said they were disappointed. They said that this violated trust. There was many strong statements from the commissioners. And the leading thing they committed to was an investigation, an independent investigation to find out what happened. Well, it's three and a half months later, no word about an investigation. What we understand is the police are gonna investigate the police. And that is not what was said in May, and that's not what is needed. So here I am again, and other people will be again, to ask again that we need to know what happened, we need to know the process, we need to know why the police lied to us, we need the audit data released. The bags over the camera are a first step, but we're three and a half months after the commission said they were gonna cancel the contract. So you're paying every month for cameras that can't be used, that nobody wants, and they're still there. So this isn't how to rebuild trust. So we're asking tonight that each of the commissioners here make a commitment to an independent investigation. That means the police are not investigating the police. And we find out what happened and that you canceled the contract. And now, all this time, right? January, we were worried about immigrants. Thank you for your comments.

Thank you, Ms. McAlpine. I call to the podium Mary Sue Geminer.

Mary Sue Geminer, 1418 Arbor Avenue. Good evening. Good evening. I want to address Mr. Peterson's comments from last week about the flock cameras. No one is saying that these cameras didn't make it easier for police officers to find stolen vehicles and solve other crimes. With the suspension of their use, however, the officers have not been reduced to pencil, paper, and shoe leather. Technology has come a long way since 1986. I will remind you again about the statement of Chief Afzal when announcing their suspension, that the police were solving crimes before this technology was introduced, and they can continue to solve crimes. There are always trade-offs, and any benefit that might be gained from automated license plate readers is far outweighed by their problems. Those problems have been discussed before. Misuse by officers, misidentification of vehicles, searches for reasons forbidden by policy, and the general sense by an increasing percentage of the public that we are being surveilled too much. The misidentification is especially concerning because an officer will react differently if pulling over a potential thief versus a common traffic stop. There is a danger of escalation that could harm innocent people. In Los Angeles, an audit of a two month period by their inspector general found an alarming 32.3% error rate. They suspended their cameras as soon as this was reported. My concern is not only about today's ALPR technology, it's about the future. When cameras are in place all over the country, when surveillance is that widespread, it becomes much easier to escalate the surveillance. One article giving the pros and cons of Flock cameras wrote this. As technology continues to evolve, the capabilities of Flock safety cameras are expected to improve further. Future advancements may include enhanced AI capabilities for facial recognition and increased integration with smart city initiatives. So even as Flock is saying we don't use facial recognition, they are likely to use it in the future. The initial objection to the cameras here in Dayton was misuse for immigration purposes. But it's also important to note that immigrants are not the only demographic at risk of being profiled. Here in Ohio, laws have been passed that threaten the identity of trans people. At the national level, our civil liberties are being threatened, using terms like socialist and communist as pejoratives and encouraging a witch hunt. One doesn't have to be a criminal to be alarmed at our expanding surveillance rate, our surveillance state. I'm not a conspiracy theorist. The Presidential Memorandum on National Security, NSPM 7, makes it clear that viewpoints outside the mainstream are being targeted. Free speech protections are threatened. The surveillance network will be used far beyond the current law enforcement. Let's not be a part of that network.

Thank you, Ms. Gunweiner. I call to the podium Kathleen Kirsch.

Let me get my time up, because you know I can go on for a while. Good evening. Kathleen Kirsch, Katie Kirsch, 130 West 2nd Street. Good evening, everyone. I think I know most of you. I am a managing attorney with Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, or ABLE. I am also here tonight to speak about flock cameras. And I want to highlight something that Mary Sue and Joyce both said, that while our concerns initially started with the immigration data sharing, everyone should take note that there is a massive, massive group of people that can be exploited and harmed by these cameras. This week is the National Week of Action for Accountability for ALPRs. It's been more than three months since the news broke that the police in Dayton had failed in their commitment to honor safeguards to keep resident data safe. And in May, when the news broke, you all expressed outrage and committed action to make things right. There has been some progress made, and I want to acknowledge that. The cameras have been bagged, and while we know DPD is still accessing the flock database for data from other cities, and we know the county still has cameras in our cities, we are told the city purchased cameras in the city of Dayton are not collecting driver data, and that is a good thing. The audit locks, after quite a bit of back and forth, have been produced in part and I understand additional logs are forthcoming and that's also a good thing that I want to acknowledge. But more needs to be done. The city has taken steps to uncover what data was shared, but how this egregious violation happened in the first place and why the data sharing went on for so long before it was made public is still an unanswered question. The city official I spoke to with previously about this said it best. What the city needs is to focus on repair. But you cannot repair a problem that you have not yet named. We cannot name how these systems that many of us and many of you worked for years to put into place, these safeguards were never implemented. And even if we can agree that one employee made a bad decision by enabling national data sharing, the question glares at us. Why did no one at any level of city government catch this sooner? Where were the checks and balances between law enforcement, the city administration, and the commission? And how can we build a system where the city commission fulfills its statutory obligations to provide oversight to the surveillance technology purchases? In order to answer these questions, we need an independent investigation, and the results of that investigation need to be made public. And you as the commission, as our elected officials, need to lead it. I know that customarily many of these conversations are had in private and we are grateful to have conversations with the city about this issue, but Abel's client communities are almost never in those meetings. They will listen to what you say publicly and they deserve to know their elected officials are still committed to addressing this egregious violation of trust with transparency and accountability. So I'm asking each of you tonight in your comments to state whether you support a fully independent investigation and publishing the results of the investigation. That investigation should address who knew about the data sharing, when they knew, why internal audit reports repeatedly stated there was no data sharing and no one caught that, and how no one caught this sooner. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Karsh.

I call to the podium Melissa Bertolo.

Good evening. Good evening. 1137 Harvard Boulevard, 45406. You guys put all the flock of people together. So, I'm here tonight because the city's response to the flock camera scandal reveals a fundamental accountability problem. The issue is not simply that Dayton Police violated their own policy by allowing flock data to be used for immigration-related searches. The issue is that this commission was repeatedly told that this problem did not exist. For years, the city published annual surveillance reports telling the public and this commission that its surveillance technology had been audited and that no misuse had been found. Then in January of this year, this commission was considering whether to approve more flock cameras. The former chief of police stood before you with members of his department and the law department present and told you that the department had not found any instances of sharing flock for data immigration purposes. That was a blatant lie that they stood before you and told. That demands accountability and we have not had that yet. We need an independent investigation to determine who knew what and when. This is also bigger than FLOC. Residents have been coming before you for months, raising concerns about accountability and transparency. FLOC is just one example of a larger question. Who is accountable for giving this commission and the public information that is false or accurate? Residents have also been coming before you about the very real concerns and consequences of over-policing. Flock is part of this issue as well. Law enforcement continues to come before you and say these cameras create investigative leads. But ALPRs are not simply about who gets arrested. They're about who gets watched. A camera hit is not evidence that someone committed a crime, and these systems generate errors. Expanding surveillance can increase police attention, questioning, stops, and investigations of people who have done nothing wrong. So what I'm asking for tonight is a commitment to the following. A true independent investigation that asks who knew Dayton's flock data was being used for immigration-related searches. When did they know? Who was informed? Why did previous audits report no misuse? Why was this commission told in January the department had not found this type of sharing? And why did it take until May for it to become public that it had? You need to cancel the FLOC contract and take the cameras down. My understanding is that this contract does not have what is considered a termination of convenience. That means that you cannot cancel this contract at will, and that is a serious mistake for a contract that is nearly a million dollars. Finally, release the remaining audit logs. Again, we have the audit logs related to immigration purposes, but this is about so many other people, and we cannot understand the harm that has been done to our community. Thank you.

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

Lynn Lemans, 1061 Bertram Avenue. I just want to come up and speak regarding the dysfunction of this body. I think it's very clear from the speakers tonight, you know, if you have any type of conscience, because I don't know what church you all go to, who you prayed to, or Omega before this, but I don't see anybody's conscience. So yeah, if this would be for future commissioners, city manager, and mayor that would run, we would like to see a city manager that actually does walks with the mayor. I don't see the point with the mayor coming up with lists of work and the city manager is not out there. I mean, these lists have to pile up of work not done. And you're very nice to compliment the workers, the city employees, but they're not all good ones either. We need this work done. How do you explain work not being done Well, as a neighborhood president or leader, how do I explain to neighbors that work is not being done, that police don't respond, that these investigations are not being completed? Bruce Irwin was murdered just feet from where I live. I mean, the east side of Dayton, these murders are not being solved. You try to order public records requests. How long do you have to investigate? They're not looking at people's cameras because I keep cameras laced up. They're not interviewing neighbors. I've told you that before. I've spoke on the Phoenix police not being in the Fairview neighborhood. WORK NOT BEING DONE. ZONING, AMPM MARKET, 2317 SALEM AVENUE DOES NOT HAVE A CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY. RAISE, CORNER STORE, 2208 CATALPA, NO CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY. THE HOME NETWORK, WE DO NOT HAVE A LIST OF WORK BEING DONE IN FAIRVIEW. THERE'S FOUR PARTICULAR NEIGHBORHOODS THAT THIS WORK IS SUPPOSEDLY BEING DONE. WE CANNOT GET PARTICULARS. WHY DO YOU KEEP MENTIONING FAIRVIEW IF WE CANNOT GET PARTICULARS of what work is actually being done. Mr. Fairchild spoke on insubordination by the city manager and I do approve and appreciate his truth telling. And in the future, the city manager, first up, we do not want Joe Parlett as city manager. We want a city manager that actually has police investigations, firefighters that actually investigate fires. The public hospital, we have heard absolutely nothing. That was supposed to be done in the spring, a board, but you can pick a board for the NCA and worry about economic crap of downtown. We need to know the closure rate of murders in this city. The paramedic, I'm sorry, paramedicine community contract in Fairview, we would like that information as well. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Lamanz.

I call to the podium Sharon Screech.

Hello. Good evening. My name is Sharon.

Ms. McClendon, your hair is always gorgeous. My name is Sharon Screech. I live at 515 West Grand, Dayton, Ohio, 45405. It was so much said here today, I didn't even know what I was going to come up here and say. I'm just being honest with you. But the one thing I would like this commission to do is not talk in commission code. When someone... Ms. Dickstein wanted to talk about the triple net lease. Who in here knows about that? And when we get this agenda, half of these people in here don't know this agenda is sometimes 200, 200 or 300 pages. So how is the community supposed to know any of that? I work at a bank. They tell us never to talk in bank speak with the customer because they don't know what I know. So that's what I'm asking you all to do. When someone mentions something because she wanted to come up and try to speak to something, quit speaking to something. When you know these people in here don't know that. So I'm about to go tell them. A triple net lease with the city is a real estate arrangement where a municipal government acts as either the landlord or the tenant. The party designated as the leasee pays base rent plus the three nets, property, taxes, building and insurance and maintenance. Who doesn't already do that? Who doesn't already do that? When I rent a place, I have to have rental insurance. I have to do the upkeep. Yes, I do, because I'm doing it right now. I've paid to fix my roof in my apartment. I'm doing the upkeep in the place where I live. We do do that. When you rent somewhere, you're upkeeping the place while you live there. Now, I'm not changing no pipes or nothing like that, but I keep the upkeep of the property. I'm cutting the grass. I'm doing all that other stuff. I might not be paying property taxes, but I'm paying the landlord that pays the property taxes. So what I'm saying is, we're doing the same things. We're doing the same things as renters in this $400 for five years is ridiculous. I just want to say that. That is some kind of ridiculous mess. Y'all need to explain that to these people, what a triple net lease is, since she wants to call that out. And all this kind of stuff when she needs to be fired with the $300,000. Who was approving them raises? Me. I would love to give myself raises. I guess that's what she was doing. Some of the things that go on in this, it's hard to listen to the people that come to this commission every week. It is so hard. It's falling on deaf ears. I just say scrap the whole commission and let's get some new folks. Because just as fast as we helped you get in here, we can work to help you get out. And trust me, just like we coming down here like this, Beckham, like he said, first one in, you can't. Last one in can be the first one out. And I say good riddance to you. Because if we're voting for people to come down here to do what we want and you're doing what you want, then what do we vote for you for? I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHO I'M VOTING FOR. AND GET RID OF THE FLAG.

THANK YOU, MS. GREECH. I CALL TO THE PODIUM TALLIS GAUGE.

TALLIS GAUGE, 1921. I DIDN'T WANT TO START SPEAKING BEFORE YOU STARTED, SO I COULD GO AHEAD. BUT ANYWAY, MAN. First thing I want to say is she said get rid of all the commissioners. I want to keep Fairchild, though. But then after that, yeah, the rest of them can go. The rest of them can go. I'm disappointed, man. Oh, one thing I want to say, too. I'm up there. I work at the shelter. I know y'all donated, what, $562,000 or some number like that. Can somebody let me know exactly what that's going to? Because I... I'm in there, so I just want to know exactly where it's going, what was the focus on that. And if they could get some more case managers, some more help up there, that'd be great. I see it up close. I see exactly what they get, what they don't get. I see it. I know that it's... It need to be more hands on up there at that shelter with those guys. And some of those guys I see, they get kicked out that shelter and then they downtown. And you know who scoops them up, right? And then I'm tired of these police downtown harassing me because I got a jaywalking ticket trying to get on the bus to go to work. And then another cop gave me a ticket just a few days ago for a crosswalk. He said I look right at him, but ain't nobody thinking about him. I looked at that light. I seen that it was yellow going red, and he still popped me with a ticket. He could have gave me a warning or said something, but I know who I am, and I know they don't like me, and I don't like them either. So I think that's all I really wanted to say for real. And the two commissioners that I wanted to address ain't here. They ducking me, but they can't duck me forever. I'll make them find me. I'm going to make sure with everything I got in me, each commissioner that's not doing what they're supposed to do, I'm going to put all my energy in to make it so they don't come back. You just got in, so you're going to be able to breathe a little bit. But them other two, oh, I'm on them. I'm on them. Facebook posts, whatever. I just went viral a few days ago. I'm pretty sure I could do it again. And put the scope on Mr. Matt Joseph and Shaw. And then when it's your turn, Beckham, you'll be next to him if you don't tighten up. I said what I said. And city manager, I can't wait for you to go. You need to go. I still got, what, 30 seconds left? Okay. I ain't got nothing else to say. If y'all really care for real, man... Show it. Don't just say it. Thank you for the walks. I appreciate that. That's a powerful thing. It's a powerful thing. And a lot of people don't see the power behind that because you're going to be able to reach people right where they are and build with them. And like I said before, one street at a time, one kid, one house, one block. I would love to work with the folks that clean because we'll be able to do.

Your time is up. Thank you.

My time is up. No, I'm just playing. All right.

Thank you, Ms. Gage. I call to the podium Raquel Lowe.

raquel lowe 733 cleverly road dayton ohio good evening good evening i want to start with 321 206 dollars 321 206 dollars who makes that shelly makes that the mic went out No, we still can hear you. We can hear you. Who makes that? Shelley makes that. The Vice President of the United States makes $235,000. If you're getting paid that much, that means you're doing a good job. I live on the west side of Dayton. You're not doing a good job. He was talking about the men's shelter on Germantown. Gettysburg. You're making $321,206 and they are outside sleeping in tents if they can't stay there. How can we take you serious? My good sister said, do y'all care about us? Do y'all care? That's a question that needs an answer because it feels like you do not care. It feels like it's all a game of politics and getting as close to the 1% as you possibly can. There are people who need jobs in streets that need to be cleaned. How is the connection not being made? Hire the people to clean the city. I feel like that's common sense. But I don't have a college education, so maybe I don't know too much. But I feel like if there's a need and there's a solution, it should be handled. Hire the people who are homeless to clean the city. Use this money in a way that can actually benefit the residents, because poverty and crime go hand in hand. When the crime rate is high, that means poverty is high. You make $321,206 and you over here playing in our face. Like for real. These are real problems for real people. I live on the west side of Dayton. How many of you are willing to come to my house after 11 p.m.? Because the police don't. $321,206. And you're not doing a good job, Shelly. We want your job.

Thank you, Ms. Lowe. I call to the podium Paul Manning.

My name's Paul Manning. I live at 25 Springfield Street.

Good evening.

Mayor Schloss, do you remember last time you seen me where I was at? I was in a motorcycle wreck. Person pulled out into the middle of the street, waited till I got up beside him, and then forced me over into the curb. I was doing about 25, 30 miles an hour in a 40 mile an hour zone. When the police got there, first thing they said was, how fast was you going? I told them probably about 45 because the motorcycle got all crazy on me over her running me onto the curb. He writes up that it's my fault that I was traveling at a successive rate of speed and Now, in my days, when I was growing up, police officers, if they couldn't get a good police report or a good testify from the person that was involved because they had to go to the hospital, the next day they would show up at the hospital and get their statement. No. Nobody showed up at the hospital. Three weeks went by. Nothing. I had to call around, call around, get to run around, get to run around. Finally got a hold of a detective and he tells me, oh yeah, I got your paperwork right here on my desk. I was about to call you. Right. So he makes an appointment with me to come and see me that following Monday. No show. No show. It was like about a week and a half, two weeks later was when I seen you. I was trying to talk to you about the injustice that was being done on me because they want to make it out like I was the one at fault and I brought it all on myself. They didn't even try to find the car. I tried to tell them where the car was. It was right there where it pulled out that the people worked there Monday through Friday and you could find them there. But I couldn't tell them that until two months later when I finally got out. And then they say, oh no, we can't go on that license plate number because you don't know for sure if that's the same car. And I almost thought like, oh yeah, it's the same car because it was the identical car that the sexual predator, which is down in Florida now, had one just like it before he took off to Florida. That's how I knew it was the same car. Or not the same car, but same looking car. But... And... My motorcycle is a classic antique motorcycle worth about $2,500. It went to the tow yard and got jumped.

Thank you, Mr. Manning.

I feel like I've been stolen and robbed.

I call to the podium Ree Molnar.

Hi, B. Molnar, 361 West Dayton, Yellow Springs Road, Fairport, Ohio. Hello, Mayor and Commissioners. So I'm also here to talk about the flock cameras. And there have been some folks that have given some pushback regarding concerns around safety with the flock cameras, so just acknowledging that. I'm so in support of the healthcare and food resolution that was proposed because those are things that actually contribute to safety in the community. Having people have the resources that they need make all of us feel safer, and that is the true path to safety, not the cruel joke of the only money that you get for safety is for surveillance. That's not real safety. So I have also words from the ACLU of Ohio that they weren't able to be here to share. The ACLU of Ohio believes prohibiting the use of ALPRs is the only true solution to addressing residents' serious concerns with their use. There is simply no amount of regulation or restrictions that will make ACLU of Ohio comfortable with APLRs ALPR's existence and use as a mass surveillance tool. ALPRs are designed to track our movements within a defined space and location. Multiple ALPRs can and are utilized to track us wherever we go throughout the city, like some other folks have mentioned. This is revealing of our political meetings, rallies that we attend, where we worship, where we get, and the types of physical and mental health care we receive, if we are gun owners, and so much more about who we are and our daily private lives. So all of us should be concerned about this. and also the direct impact on sharing that kind of information with ICE for immigrant communities in Dayton. They go on to say, regardless about the ins and outs of regulation, the ACLU of Ohio believes that the city of Dayton was on the right track in suspending the use of its ALPRs earlier this year, and this commission ought to make that suspension permanent by removing all the cameras and prohibiting their use moving forward. Ohio is in desperate need of leadership on mass surveillance issues and Dayton can and should be a catalyst for other cities to change that. I also want to mention, as a licensed social worker, if there is one complaint from one client against me to my oversight board, the licensure board, it is investigated by the licensure board. You've heard countless of complaints toward city leadership over and over again throughout the weeks, as other folks have said, over policing, police brutality, as well as other concerns. And you all should be the ones to investigate that. So if you're not doing it, then you could resolve to do that.

Thank you. Thank you. I call to the podium Kelvin Hatter.

All right, good evening, mayor, commissioners. My name is Kelvin Hobatter. I live at 1637 Beaver Ridge Drive, which is down in Kettering. So I have a bit of a story today. So last Saturday on the 15th, I was helping a couple of friends of mine move out of the Park Lane Apartments, which are a set of apartment buildings that are located next to the Daynard Institute. The reason they were moving... is they were given a notice of non-renewal on their lease for attempting to organize a tenant union of the tenants in their building. The process of moving them out took a couple hours in that time. A couple things I saw. Both of my friends and supposedly others that they have talked to in the building were shown a different unit that they were moved into, one in much better condition. Their parking garage is in a dismal state. My personal favorite was, you know how they have the motors to automatically open the garage doors? They had routed one of those metal outlet boxes and then taped it to the motor to plug it in right next to a sprinkler. I have heard of, though I did not personally see, a mold in the apartments. The pool in the apartment unit is closed indefinitely as far as I'm aware, and I'm sure no one here will be surprised to learn that the rent did not go down. The reason the tenant union is being organized is to try to improve these conditions because the landlord could show no interest in doing so. The lives of two of my friends were upended because they were trying to help the people of that apartment building, including themselves, secure better living conditions. The fact that they are legally allowed to retaliate in this way needs to change. both in order to improve the overall building quality of buildings within the city of Dayton, and also so that tenants feel safe in being able to organize in order to pressure landlords in order to fulfill their legal obligations. For now, what I'm wanting to ask for the commission to pass, there are two ordinances that were proposed by Christy Oritz at ABLE. One of them is a mold ordinance, which aims to make mold a valid reason to escrow your rent, which for anyone who does not know, is not a valid reason to escrow your rent right now. and an anti-retaliation ordinance preventing tenants from retaliating against tenants the same way that they retaliated against my friends. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Holgenberger. I call to the podium Eliza Kotapuri.

Good evening.

Good evening.

City commissioners and the mayor and the city leadership. My name is Eliza Corporee and 7000 Clio Road, Centerville, Ohio. In the month of February, I purchased a house on Clegg Street. It's 723 Clegg Street. I purchased it through an auction. The title company did the search and everything. They finalized the sale and I got the ownership of the property and we started working on the house. So after a month or so, I got a letter at the address I live saying that, you know, the grass is not cut and something has happened or whatever it is. And then there is a $50 fine or whatever it is. Okay, good, you know. We have been maintaining the property. We've been cutting the grass. Everything has been cleaned up since we purchased the house. Why am I getting these nasty letters in the mail? So I called the city of Dayton and I said, oh, you know, there is a nuisance or something which I never know of and I don't need to know any of that stuff. That's where I get the letter. So I said, you know, let me go down to the city office and I find out that this property has been on nuisance or whatever it is. And they said, you cannot do anything on the house because it's a nuisance property. You should not be entering the property. We already changed the roof. We cleaned the property. We got into the house. And we did whatever we were doing for the last one and a half months. So I still continue to get letters from the city saying that the grass is not cut. So it looks like somebody is cutting the grass or whatever it is by the side of this property, and then they continue to send the letters to me, which I don't understand. And I call the city, and then they said, Oh, maybe they sent it by mistake. When somebody is sending a letter and when they're signing and their name is at the bottom of the letter, don't you think they would kind of see why they are sending this letter and who it is? And then I call the place, the person, you can't get the person for like 10 times. We all are busy people and we have work to do. Why do we need to call 10 times to find somebody in the city who is doing the job for that particular reason? And, you know, last before week I came here. They said there's around 55,000 properties or something that are vacant. The city is trying to do some work on them. So if the city would let me do work on that house, there would be one property less to worry about. I'll make it nice. And I even was talking to the city that I'll buy the other property, 712 Clegg Street. They already tore it down, which would make at least one street in the city of Dayton where the city don't need to worry about it. So I urge the officials of the city to help me with this property while I'm dealing with all of these things.

Thank you. Make sure we get the information from you before you leave the chambers this evening. If you can write the staff member, if one of the staff members can make sure that we get the address and the location, please. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you. Thank you very much. That concludes speakers, Your Honor. Thank you, Ms. McClendon. And thank you all, all of the residents and all of the members and the staff for this evening's meeting. Ms. Dickstein, do you have any closing comments? I have none, Your Honor. Thank you. Ms. McClendon, do you have any closing comments?

I have none, Your Honor.

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

Yes, Your Honor. I have a few. Thanks to the residents that came out this evening. Those of you that are still here, thank you for staying and obviously advocating for your concerns and the issues that you're experiencing in our city. I want to follow up on just a couple of things. For one, to MVRPC, the Westwood neighborhood, Congratulations on this effort. To all the residents, obviously, who have left by now, but to all the residents that were here that participated in that program, thank you. I did have the pleasure of spending a Saturday morning with that group. It was very... I think informative as to their goals and of course any ways in which the city and the commission can support their work. I look forward to that, particularly Ms. D. Wooding. I appreciate her leadership, the idea around equipping each resident with a trash picker-upper. If that is possible, I think that is a worthwhile thing to do. Once you have one of those, you are just more, I guess, motivated to pick up trash in your neighborhood. So look forward to, again, working with them and supporting that work. And Ms. Serenity, the young lady that got up and speak, thank you for your courage. It takes some conviction to stand there. So I thank you for being here as well. I want to also address the FLOC, Independent Investigation. To my understanding, there's already... You know, a DPD investigation that was ongoing. The commission with the mayor's leadership has called for a independent investigation. I don't have the particular update on where we are with that at this time, but I certainly want to go on record to say that the process that that takes has began, and I still support an independent investigation. I do think it's going to be necessary for us to communicate out where we are on that and really ensure that folks understand the benchmarks moving forward. So for all of you that spoke on Flock, just want to make sure that I address that. Miss Stephanie Perdue, who was here, my condolences. That is a extremely traumatic situation. The mayor has, of course, requested that the city manager provide an update on that particular investigation. Earlier this year, when we had a DPD-specific work session, I had made the comment that it would be worthwhile and necessary if we could really begin taking a stronger look at the closure rate of the cases that come forward, the investigations specifically, because I can't say right now that I specifically know how many of these investigations are actually being solved in the city of Dayton. And I understand the complexity of these investigations and how much they also require sometimes community cooperation in terms of where they're happening throughout our city. But I think that is needed moving forward so that we can ensure there's some, I would say, Some more oversight in terms of how these things are occurring. Gateway homeless shelter came up, certainly proud of the city's nearly $600,000 investment in that shelter. The question was asked, what is it for? It is to expand the capacity and modernize the shelter. So as we are dealing with homelessness in the city of Dayton, we anticipate that this investment will create more space and hopefully as residents are entering the shelter and working with Homeful, which is now the operator, that they will be able to get back on their feet. The update also includes opportunities to actually support residents more directly as opposed to just shelter in terms of their needs and life skills and things of that nature. So I wanted to make sure I spoke to that. Ms. Lamance had brought up all of these particular convenience stores that don't have occupancy certificates. Can we look into that? Obviously, those are issued by the city, so I want to validate and make sure that those businesses are following our codes. Nuisance properties ending up on the treasurer's foreclosure list seems like a pretty consistent trend to me. I want to certainly have a conversation about what is the place in the process in which we can ensure that that is no longer happening, if possible, because I think at least since I've been up here, I've heard various situations in which residents purchase property through the foreclosure sale later to find out that they're on our nuisance list. That's problematic just for, I think, us, the resident, the neighborhood, right? So I think trying to understand how we can better manage that would be, I think, in everyone's INTERESTS. LASTLY, THE ORDINANCES THAT WERE MENTIONED AS IT RELATES TO, I THINK, MOLD AND RETALIATION, I DON'T SEE WHY THIS COMMISSION WOULD NOT ALL UNANIMOUSLY SUPPORT THOSE, SO I'M CERTAINLY LOOKING FORWARD TO talking to ABLE and getting drafts of those ordinance and working through those so that we can see what changes can be made to improve the experience of renters in our city. Again, given that we're 52% renting population in the city of Dayton. I believe that's everything that I wanted to follow up on. I guess the last thing I'll just mention, ARPA came up. This is the last year of ARPA spending. The city, over the last five years, ARPA and other funds has put $36 million into demolition. The mayor has introduced a resolution in order to offset the particular funding that will be freed up around the NCA. We intend to dedicate that towards neighborhood services as well. So there are things that I think we will continue to do. in compliment to organizations like Dee Wooding and the Westwood Right Project, who are dedicated to beautification of our neighborhoods as well. So we know we have to do our part. I look forward to working with all the residents and citizens who are also invested in making sure that our neighborhoods are stronger. So again, thank you for all the speakers that attended tonight. And I appreciate hearing your concerns and you sticking around for this lengthy meeting. But I appreciate hearing your concerns. So thank you. Those are all my comments, Mayor.

Thank you, Commissioner Beckham. Commissioner Fairchild.

Yeah, thank you, Commissioner. You covered a lot of ground there, and I appreciate it. And likewise, thank you for the citizens, especially those of you who have stayed this late. I want to say congratulations to the leaders of the African American Cultural Festival for their successful event this year. I regret I could not get there. It's unlikely I'll be able to get to Porch Fest this year as well, but I want to make sure people know that that's this coming Saturday in St. Ann's Hill from 12.15 to 6.45. Fifty bands spread out over that time span playing at bands, duos, and solos. It's a great time to build community and enjoy all kinds of music and whatever your genre is, there's going to be someone somewhere playing it The Dayton Salsa Project usually plays, so that's always a very good time. And just a funny story, my daughter's teacher for her last cohort in Montessori was 4th, 5th, and 6th, Miss Mullins. And if you look at her, you'd think she was kind of a singer-songwriter kind of type. And she was performing at Porch Fest. So I made my way down to listen to her. And to my surprise, she was a punk rocker. So you might have quite a surprise or great discoveries at Porch Fest. So I invite people to come and help build community. You know, people ask, are there other opportunities like the owners of Mo Dog have received? And I would say yes. And one of the places you might find those opportunities is the West Dayton Incubator, just moved into new space. And so that's a resource for people who want to be entrepreneurs, want to learn business, build a business plan. learn how to get access to capital you know one of the things that's important to me is that we activate empty spaces and so i'm glad that this space on patterson boulevard has been activated but i would love to see other spaces particularly in our neighborhood commercial zones be activated and so i think there's real opportunities if there are folks who are inclined to do that work Thank you to all the people with the litterbug campaign. You know, it's really about changing a culture. And the more and more people who continue to kind of move into this movement will start to create a culture that litter is not gonna happen in Dayton, and that we're gonna take care of our own, and we're gonna have pride in our city and in ourselves. And so I'm excited to see this renewed interest in keeping our city clean, But I think it's just a spark in terms of what it can mean to have a culture of engaged citizens who really own their communities. Ms. Gminer, I'm glad you're here tonight. Last week you asked about the 70% that comes from the urban core. I think that was yours. Sometimes we hear 70% of our income comes from downtown. I just want to give a little bit more context to that. As people know, our primary source of revenue for the city is income tax. Our place where the majority of that comes are our largest employers. So the top 11 largest employers, and I don't have this in the right order, but it's UD, Premier, Miami Valley Hospital, Dayton Children's Hospital, CareSource, the county, DPS, Sinclair, Kettering Health Dayton, the city itself, and Goodwill Easterseals. It'd be interesting to see what percentage those 11 in themselves contributed to that 70%. One of the things we do to get to that 70% number is we expand the boundaries of downtown and talk about greater Dayton, greater downtown Dayton. So boundaries get expanded north to draw in Goodwill, Miami Valley, and UD. They get expanded east to bring in Dayton Children's and across the river to get Kettering Health Dayton. I think it'd be helpful if we worked to get a little more precision in that number, how much actually comes from the central business district. So when we say downtown contributes, it'd be great to know what that percentage is for that part, and then also the greater downtown, and also knowing what our largest employers contribute. So I wanted to add that context. I am supportive of the independent investigation. I said that back in May. I still hold that position. I think we have three proposals regarding path, pardon, four. We have four proposals on paths we can take. This commission needs to choose one. I think some are more in line with what I understand an independent investigation to be. And I'm of the opinion that maybe we put it in some type of informal resolution and bring those proposals here and the commission can vote on them in a public way. That seems to be maybe the most straightforward way of making sure people understand what the proposals are and how we're discerning that together. Ms. Renner has left, but I think she had great words of wisdom. It's one thing to pass this informal resolution talking about how disheartened we are that the safety net is going to be diminished and that we would like to see it restored. And she said, really, tonight the work begins. And it's not going to be easy work, and it's not going to be quick work. Quite frankly, we're looking at reversing 46 years of bad public policy. That goes back to Ronald Reagan and his move to austerity, where he started to reduce the resources for the social safety net. And we saw the homeless were put on the street. We still are dealing with the fact that we don't have the resources for homelessness. We see it in the reduction of funding for affordable housing. We see it in the reduction of workers' rights. I mean, if you look at the loss of purchasing power of our citizens, you begin to understand why so many people are having a hard time making ends meet, because this has been a long journey of people's ability to care for themselves. And we, quite frankly, have lost the middle class. I mean, most people are just up in the upper middle class, or they're living in poverty. in a living poverty of that where they're working jobs and are having hard times making ends meet even though they work 60 hours a week. I really appreciated Michael Tubbs who was the mayor in Stockton. And he asked his team to look at how do we take on poverty directly. And the solution, because we don't often talk, I can't remember who the speaker was who said we don't talk about poverty directly. What's that?

Ms. Carrington.

Yeah, Ms. Carrington. Thank you. We need to. I mean... 26% of our residents live in poverty. Almost half our children live in poverty. We really, Dayton has an issue that we need to address and it goes all back to this work of long work, creating a movement that's gonna put people first in our society. So I'm looking forward to doing the work. I am eager to hear ideas. Michael Tubbs' solution was the guaranteed basic income. I think there's an opportunity for us to find ways to possibly pilot that here in Dayton because it worked and it made people's lives better. So those are my comments, Mayor.

Thank you, Commissioner. I'd like to thank everyone this evening, and thank you for mentioning that, and I'll just pull on that thread slightly. Ms. Carrington-Commons, thank you very much for your comments in regards to the poverty rate that we have, that we're seeing in the city of Dayton, for that matter, across the country, and the issues that we're dealing with on top of housing, food insecurities. mental health, a number of challenges. I will mention too that the work is being done and there are a number of partnerships with the 2Gen model and that is the work of East End Community Services as well as the Hope Zone, Omega CDC, and that model is to have the framework that suggests that children and adults that are in fact living in poverty that they create those mechanisms and those various different opportunities for them to uplift them out of poverty. And so, again, that work is being done by the Hope Zone, Omega CDC, as well as East End Community Services, and we do that work in partnership with them. That work is also extended with the Continuum of Care and the partnership that we have with a number of the other social services organizations as well as those that work in... in other jurisdictions as well, in line with our HUD dollars, right? The work that we do with our housing and urban development dollars, whether it's CDBG, community block grant dollars, the partnership there, our home dollars, home investment dollars that we receive, ESG dollars, which is emergency solutions grant. These are all federal dollars that we have right now, right? knock on wood, that we're able to continue this work and we're able to work in partnership with the various different organizations is not to suggest that there is not more work that needs to be done. And again, I want to commend, I believe it was Omega CDC during their gala last year. Was it last year that they had a speaker that came in from Alabama? Was it Alabama? I believe it was Alabama keynote. I don't recall, but... But they were also mentioning of the work that guaranteed income and some various different mechanisms that they were able to use and the impact that it had on the residents in this particular pilot program in Alabama. And they're continuing on doing that work. So that's something that we definitely need to vet and to review, understanding that the purse strings are drying up. They're tight right now. But it's more of a... a call, if you will, and a charge for us to be innovative, collective, and to work together in that space. So in regards to the number of comments that were made for LPRs, the flock cameras, I've already made it noted on a number of occasions that I fully support an independent investigation. I said that since day one in May, May 6th. I believe I said it most recently last week, and I'll say it again today. I fully support an independent investigation. As noted, we have received four proposals. We are reviewing those proposals right now. We actually have a tasker, a deadline to make sure that we have our recommendations before the commission office chief So therefore that policy direction can be in fact implemented or executed rather, excuse me. So we are doing the work. And to be very frank and honest, it took us a while to even locate any vendors or firms. There were a number of firms that simply didn't have the capacity. We reached out to a number of our various different partners, advocates for basic legal quality, many independent attorneys that we know in the area. all of us reached out to all of these various different associations, relationships that we had to identify if in fact there were any firms or any independent agencies or organizations that could fulfill the the charge and that was for the investigation. So more to come on that. We do need to do a better job in making sure that we are communicating that out to the public so the public truly understands where we are in the process for not only the ALPRs but as well as for the search for the city manager. We released a statement and noting all of the various different things that we have committed to and that is that there will be a public engagement process for our residents, our community stakeholders, as well as our business leaders and our business community as a whole. So those commitments lie true and we're moving forward with that in terms of finalizing the firm itself so that we can in fact have the firm identified and more so on contract. So we will make sure that we continue to update the public on where we are. And we are not being caught flat-footed, if you will. We are doing the work. We're vetting the various different organizations, vendors, whatever have you, to make sure that the process is, in fact, clear, is transparent, and that we are running all the proper channels in terms of vetting. Thank you, Commissioner Beckham, for mentioning Ms. Perdue. And as noted, thank you, Ms. Dixing, in terms of we look forward to final receiving the information in terms of some addition, some context as to where we are in the investigation. And just overall, to Commissioner Beckham's point, during the DPD work session, just really trying to get an understanding. I, too, receive calls. I receive emails. I receive a number of voicemails. And I believe that we noted in that session that there was a level of courtesy that should be extended. And not to say that our detectives in our department is not doing it, but there's something that should be noted to say that there is an active investigation, whether it's every 30 days, something so that the individuals, the families, could be made aware that the case itself is not being ignored or is not being dismissed and we know that there's an overwhelming number and a volume of concerns and that's something that goes along with the issues of poverty, that goes along with gun violence, that goes along with all of the various different things that we're dealing with in our community and know that the commitment is there and that we're doing our darndest to make sure that we are addressing a number of those issues. I would like to thank Ms. Hastings, thank you for being here. Thank you for your comments. You mentioned the Cargill transition plan. We have not received a plan, from my understanding. And Ms. Dickstein, correct me if I'm wrong, when we first got the news, that was the first time. When it hit the paper, that was when we knew of this issue. relocation, if you will. And so with that, the city administration have been in constant communications with the Cargill executive team, if you will, the lead. And they are having those communications as to when the timeline is and what are the expectations and all of the various different particulars. But even the individuals who actually work for Cargill, they don't even know what's going on. So I was, again, I I hope I'm not going out on a limb, but we have not, correct me if I'm wrong, we have not received anything yet. We don't know anything. I have personal family members and friends that work there, and they're saying the same thing. Like, they don't know what's what. So we're still, but again, we're doing our due diligence and noting that, hey, following up and wanting to know what are the next steps and what is, in fact, the exit strategy. Because at the end of the day, it affects all of us. Mr. Starks, thank you for being here and raising your concerns. Mr. Lehman, thank you for your advocacy and for being here. Also wanted to note too, you also mentioned, excuse me, Ms. Hastings, you mentioned the Tamir Rice legislation. So what we have done, and I would ask that if we could follow up on that, Mr. Davis, Ms. Jackson. We have drafted legislation. Actually, Ms. Lynn Lamance, she brought that to attention, as well as Mr. Talis Gage. We took that information. We did some reviews, some scrubbing. We did all the necessary things that we needed to do in terms of drafting that legislation. And that is the novelty gun lighter prohibition act. And that is currently under the review for form and correction in our law department. So we should be receiving an update on that and where we are in that legislation. And so hopefully we'll have an update by next week as to where we are in the process. We know that it takes, what, seven to ten days for a law review. But we also know that our law department is, in fact, they're mighty but slim in terms of manpower. Thank you, Mr. Youssef. I have noted the ordinance that you may reference. There's some additional review. Mr. Davis, if we can take a look at that review and if you can work with the administration and the law department to see where we are on that. And just want to make sure that we're clear. As to what your concerns are, and I can talk with you afterwards just to make sure that we have a clear understanding as to the concerns of the ordinance that you noted in your comments. I would like to thank Ms. Moore for her comments and noting that the ALPR is in the blighted structures. Thank you, Ms. Perdue. As noted, we will follow up with Ms. Perdue. Mr. Johnson, thank you for your comments. Thank you for being here. Ms. McAlpine, Ms. Kirsch, Ms. Mary Sue, Ms. Gminer, thank you very much for being here. And again, as noted, we support the investigation. And Ms. Bertello, thank you as well for your comments or for being here. Ms. Lamance noted the number of properties, and I believe Commissioner Beckham has already asked for a follow-up on some of those commercial structures. And that was the purpose of us updating the zoning code, if you will, just last week with the... the amendment that we made with Mr. Kroger's presentation. And so that, in addition to reviewing the occupancy, that will also help us withholding a number of these commercial structures accountable. And then in terms of the hospital board, we are actually in review. There are some recommendations. I'm calling for the appointment as noted in the ordinance itself and the legislation that was passed. Excuse me. The ordinance that was passed by, what, 71, 76% of the voters. I have to believe I had that number right. I'm calling for the board to be appointed by me, by the mayor, as noted in the language. And so I look forward to moving that forward. I know that there is conversations in terms of a public hearing, but the statute does not call for a public hearing. So it calls for the appointment of the hospital board to be made by the mayor and with the support of the commission. So I'm asking my colleagues to support me on that so that we can move forward with the work that needs to be done for the board. Now with that being said, that does not suggest that the mayor, with the support of the commission, it will in fact prohibit us from identifying a nonprofit to run the day-to-day operations of a hospital itself. That is my understanding. I know that there is other interpretations of that. That is my understanding, as well as others who are more skilled in that practice than I am, who are practicing in attorneys, who would agree with that assessment as well. So I hope that we can have further conversations on that. But I do support the appointment and the naming of the hospital board. And know that it is a charge that has been set for us to, as well, Ms. Screech, thank you for your comments, and thank you for noting the triple net lease. Commissioner Fairchild, thank you very much for going in detail, as well as Ms. Dickstein has noted what the triple net lease entails and that that opportunity, in fact, it extends across the city of Dayton. The other thing that I want to note, too, Ms. Screech mentioned that she is responsible as a tenant to make repairs to her unit, whether it's roofing, excuse me, not roofing, but ceiling repairs, various different repairs within her unit itself. That is predatory, and that is not a common practice, and that is something in which I do know, and Ms. Kirsch, you can correct me offline if I have that wrong, But that is something that I know that advocates for basic legal equality has been fighting for quite some time, where a lot of the burden of these rental properties are in fact placed on renters that is not common practice and so there's some work that we need to do and that's why I am in fact pushing for a rental registration even though we know that right now it sits in the auditor's office there's some work and some conversation that needs to be had I look forward to having those conversations with advocates for basic legal equality. Maybe we can talk offline, Ms. Kirsch, just so I can get an understanding. But we're looking at a number of individuals who are, in fact, renters who don't, one, they don't even have a lease agreement, which is illegal. Secondly, some of the lease agreements are, in fact, they're predatory, and they are charging for... the maintenance or the upkeep of these properties, which in fact it is the sole responsibility of the owner or the property manager themselves. So that's some work that we need to do. Mr. Gage, thank you for your comments in regards to the men's gateway shelter. Ms. 16, the $500,000, that was only for the maintenance. And that was done on the front end. And those dollars were used for the ARPA dollars were used on the front end to correct some of the things. The million and something dollars is for the expansion work.

Could you elaborate? The $500,000 to $600,000 was the money that was invested for addressing immediate issues as the transition between St. Vincent's DePaul and Homeful took place. There is the improvement project that is at this point in time estimated to be about five to six million that is to actually modernize the facility, increasing the quality of life for individuals staying at the shelter, but also to create that continuum of care campus with wraparound services and workforce development opportunities. So that's a larger project that is just getting underway with design. You recall you all passed a contract with the architects to start that work. Thank you for that clarification.

I appreciate it. I knew it was more. And I know that Homeful is doing some great work, and they're continuing to make those necessary improvements until the expansion project can itself be fully executed. Trying to make sure I have all of my comments. Then I would also, too, like to understand the process. As we start to go back to school, we know that there are a number of students that will be riding the public transportation. And so I would like an update or an update If, in fact, you can provide some information, Ms. Digstein, as to where we are with the level of ticketing for jaywalking, whatever the case may be, we need to make sure that there is public service announcements, that there is warnings or some level of courtesy that is extended to the public to let the public know that there is a heightened level that will be executed around jaywalking so that we can try to mitigate or eliminate any confusion, misunderstanding, whatever have you. But I do believe that there needs to be a level of education and awareness that is made to the public. And if there is, in fact, a first offense, then there should be a level of of warning or courtesy that's given because a jaywalking ticket can essentially lead to what the pipeline to incarceration and we know that that's where it starts so we want to make sure that in fact we are doing our due diligence and providing some level of education and awareness um i think there were for a minute there was a lax a lapse or a relaxed effort being made in regards to the level of enforcement for jaywalking. So if we can make sure that we provide that level of information, it would be greatly appreciated. Mr. Manning, thank you for being here. It's good to see you. You're right, the last time we did see each other, you were in the facility. Ms. Dixing, if we could get some information on the investigation, through a memo as to where we are and if he can provide the detectives in the work. Ms. Rowe, thank you for being here and your comments. Reed, thank you. It's good to see you. Thank you for being here as well. And as mentioned, your concerns are valid. And it is all around safety, not just the use of technology, but the safety of being in your neighborhoods, addressing our food insecurities in housing. Mr. Calvin, thank you as well for advocating for your friends. Thank you for being here. And Mr. Elijah, I hope that you are still here. I hope to get some additional information about the property. Thank you, Commissioner Beckham, for raising that point of the number of nuisance properties that are, in fact, on the list of the Treasury's depository program. So I look forward to having those conversations. And perhaps it may be, and we talked about this too, Ms. Jackson, perhaps it's an opportunity for us to have County Treasurer, my favorite treasurer, I should say tax collector, Mr. John McMahon is to come to present during either a work session or in fact in the commission meeting so that people can have an understanding of the process. And then maybe it's an opportunity too for us to see what that process is in terms of how properties are identified. Is there a matter of a checks and balance, if you will, to make sure that they're not on the nuisance list or they're not slated to be demolished? And if in fact there are on the nuisance list and they do go through the treasure depository process or program, what is the mechanism or what is the process to have that property removed being that there is a responsible owner or property manager, whatever have you, that has an interest in that property and that is going to turn the property back over into productive use. Last but not least, thank you Ms. Tara Fox-Williams for your comments, the work that is being done along with Ms. Sandra Lewis. Alexis Reiner, the Black Women's Health Initiative, lead and inspired by Dayton, empowered by us. Thank you for your advocacy, your leadership in uplifting the work around the safety net legislation. This work is definitely important. It's needed. And we all know what we're faced with right now. And so I just really appreciate my colleagues, their support on this. And I appreciate those who work in this space that advocated and uplifted this work. I believe that is all I have. Thank you all very much. Thank you for being here. Thank you for uplifting your voice. Thank you for the work that you're doing. And with no further business, this meeting is now adjourned.