City Council - Regular Meeting

I would like to get us moving into caucus here. We have quite a bit to go over today. So we've got a pretty packed agenda for this morning. I know that many of our meetings have been pretty full. Just to kind of run council through what we've got going on today, we have the Port Authority here with us to kind of give us some updates here in Caucus. We have a presentation from the County of Erie Reentry Department program so that we'll hear from them and know that we don't have that budget item in front of us yet, but this is so that we can start learning more about the program and what's going to be coming in front of us soon. But as we start to look down this, I'd like to first open up to see if any counselors have questions on any of the ordinances that are coming for final passage. We have three before us today for final passage. Does anybody have any questions on those? Yes, we do have Attorney Wachter here. If we do have any questions on things that we're gonna see with the Water Authority. He had sent his colleague last time who had answered a couple of the questions that we had posed. If there are no questions on items for final reading, I would ask that we move to items for first reading and see if there are any questions pertaining to those before us. Items four, five, and six are the historic designations that we saw in the public hearings. Good morning. Good morning. If council doesn't have any questions on those first readings, we can move on to new business as there is no old business items. I will just ask then, Solicitor, could you give us an update on item number two under new business, just kind of an overview?

I actually don't know what that is. I think that's from the Planning Commission. I think there's something that came from the Planning Commission that you guys need to schedule a public hearing for is my understanding. But it doesn't say that you guys need to schedule a public hearing. That's why it's part of my confusion. Someone from Planning.

Is Jackie here?

Cooper? I think that's what that is.

Slightly putting you on the spot, Cooper. Sure. We're looking at new business item number two. It's a resolution for the planned revision for the new land development resolution of Council of the City of Erie, Erie County, Pennsylvania.

It's the Arc Terrace Project, Cooper, and it's about the sewer tap-ins. Do you have any information on that?

I don't. We've been meeting with them to address some concerns from the engineering bureau and they've committed to making any adjustments that are needed.

Yeah, I think it's just to approve the sewer extensions for that project. And I think Council remembers this is the Arc Terrace Investment Project at Bayview Heights. That's on 2nd and Cherry. Remember, you had that come before you from the Planning Commission. So I think, and we can get more information for you, but I think this is just to do a sewer extension plan for that development. That's my understanding. Okay.

So this is just step one of a...

It's part of the land development. Certainly, obviously, that area needs additional sewer tap-ins for the development there.

Yeah. The Planning Commission has approved the preliminary plan, and before they submit their final plan, there's just a couple things they need to work through with engineering, and I think this is just an approval on that timeline.

All right. Thank you. Council, any other questions on any other items that we see on the agenda? Mayor, if we could just give a brief update. We had tabled the security contract, and I did see that there was some discussion in the meeting. If we could just get a brief update on where that is.

Sure, thank you. So at your last meeting, I believe, given the budget concerns we face, I think everyone is paying a lot of attention to every dime, which we appreciate. We're doing the same. Someone had noted, you know, the cost of the current security contract for our Security in the lobby had ended as of May 31st, and we had put it out to bid for a contract extension. We had received three bids, including the current company and another new company, but those were for three-year contracts for security in the lobby at a pretty high price. I can't remember, but in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. So you, council, had asked that we table that, that we maybe look at that and understand if there was a less expensive way to do it. So what we ended up doing was we extended the contract with our current company in a month-to-month contract. they were done may 31st but we asked them to continue on a month-to-month basis to give us a minute to see whether there's a honestly cheaper way to do security in the lobby so what we're asking and and you know just so council doesn't feel like this is a never-ending process we'd like three months of that month to month with them to give us a minute to talk with you about what security could look like and how we might do that in a less expensive fashion So instead of entering into a three-year or one-year agreement, we're just doing a month-to-month contract with them and asking you to give us space for three months to come back to you with a hopefully less expensive but still safe plan for building security.

Thank you. And then the question I have would be then for the solicitor. Remind me, we had upped... the amount before things had to be triggered to be on our agenda. And I believe that this falls under that amount.

It does. I believe the actual cost is around $2,250 per week. So you do the math, that's right under $10,000, which is under the, I believe the cap is like around $13,000. So that would be fair statement.

So that way, we're all on this, so when we don't see it on our agenda, that is why. But I wanted us to have that update so we don't think that it's been lost in translation here. But to know, I guess the other question I will have is that that cap, a monthly cap, or is that an overall cap?

Well, we've turned it into like a bunch of mini contracts by going month to month, essentially. So that's how I look at it. And also the advice from my end is that the proposal is 90 days.

So at the end of 90 days, I believe the city should firmly... Just as an update, we, from last week's study session, we received...

why we're trying to create value on this property. It's so important for the future of URI and supporting our economy here. And then there's different scenarios in terms.

We have about four minutes before we head into our public meeting. Is there any other questions that we might want to ask? We do have a study session next week. It will not be canceled. It will be moving forward, and that is on our parks. So just remember, next Thursday we will have that. But if there are no other questions, then we can go ahead and pause caucus and get reset so we are ready for our public meeting. Thank you.

Thank you. so so so so Thank you. Thank you. so so so so Bye. Thank you.

Meeting to order. If we could get roll call, please.

Roll call for the City Council meeting of Wednesday, June 3rd, 2026 at 9 a.m. Council President Titus. Here. Members Brzezinski, Flores, Horton. Yes. Pohl, Shaw, and Trudeau. Here. Thank you.

At this time, we will stand for a moment of silence and the Pledge of Allegiance led by Councillor Horton.

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

Motion to accept the minutes from the 5-20-26 City Council meeting and bills for payment on June 5th and 12th. Members Brzezinski? Yes. Flores? Yes. Horton? Yes. Cole? Yes. Schaaf? Yes. Troop? Yes. Titus?

Yes. Just for the public to have a quick rundown of what we're doing. We have a presentation this morning. We have public comment. There was some confusion, I think, about the way the agenda was written this time, so I just wanted to clarify. We have executive session written under public comment. That will not occur until after public comment has concluded. So there's not going to be any disruption to public comment. That is after, and that's related to the issues here that we have, and I'll go over this again, but it's real estate property and personnel. But at this point, I will go ahead and welcome up our presentation this morning from Sheila Silman, the advisor and volunteer for the reentry program.

Good morning, council. My name is Bob Hess. I'm the current program manager for the Erie County Ranch of Reentry Services and Support Alliance. This is Sheila Sillman. She's the former ECRSSA director and a current volunteer. My goal today is to introduce our program to everybody up here. Ms. Sillman will speak on some of the things that occurred prior to our program starting, and I will be happy to speak on everything about the program since we took it over. on May 8th.

And then I guess to just provide also a little bit of more context. So this will just be a brief presentation, knowing that we are going to have further conversations that expand from this, just so council is also aware too. So we'll be receiving information here, but this is just kind of the beginning of a conversation for all of us. So sorry.

Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Titus.

May I please introduce our staff that's here?

Yeah.

Okay. And we also have some of our advisory council that's here. And I'll just ask them to raise their hand. But if our staff would please stand. We have our case managers, Emily, Stacy, and Becky, and our client advocate, Craig. And then if our advisory, you guys can go ahead and sit. And if our advisory council members would please raise their hand. Great. Very good. Thank you so very much. So we are so grateful and thank you very much for the invitation. Do I just ask someone to move the slide or do I have a clicker? Oh, right here it is. Thank you. Here you go. I'll let him do the work. So according to slide one, very good. At the time of when we were starting our program and doing the research, we do have evidence-based research as the foundation of this program. approximately 1,250 people were returning to the community. And as you can see, according to this, 40.2% were re-arrested in three years. Of that number, they were re-incarcerated within three years, with an overall recidivism rate of 50% within three years. And we knew we had to do something, so we had a strategy development. And do you have handouts with you?

They were distributed to at least council in our emails. You do?

Okay, very good. So in 2013, Erie Together led and convened a group of stakeholders to explore the creation of a county-wide reentry strategy. And it's for all three levels of the criminal justice system, federal, state, and local criminal justice officials. We're there to help provide, and we also have faith-based representatives and also definitely former offenders. We identified former offender challenges and goals and essential elements. We looked at successful elements elsewhere, particularly in Lancaster, and we developed recommendations from that. We also had focus groups. with former offenders so that we could sit down and actually hear what was their concerns, what their barriers were. The overarching recommendations that we came up with is we wanted to serve kind of like as a one-stop shop. Previously, what the community had was is that the individual went here, went there, dropped a urine here, dropped a urine there, and we were trying to help minimize the amount of effort an individual coming back would have to do to access service, provide a necessary case management towards this particular individual focused on reentry, make appropriate service referrals, and help address any barrier challenge these individuals had. We came up with this mission statement, that we would provide the support and the services to what we termed transitioning clients through an intentional network of the community, faith-based organizations, organizations in partnership in partnership with the criminal justice system. This was meant to work alongside with the criminal justice system, not for them to overshadow us, not for them to hang over us in any way, shape, or form. Two things. The clients were individuals released from federal, state, county prison, reentering into our county after serving a criminal conviction, and or people reentering a law-abiding life from a criminal network. Number two is referring to the group violence reduction strategy, once termed as the call-in and now is referred to as a peacekeeping group. The challenges that we met to address, we identified these various areas that we thought were a priority. Address education barriers, transportation barriers, safe, stable, sustainable housing, access to employment, how to address the criminal record issues when especially going to find housing and a job, and creating a stable community that provides a positive and supportive environment. Pardon me, I'm trying to get this to flip. Program roles. First one was to reduce from 50%, get it lower, the recidivism rate. As I shared with you before, having been in this line of work my entire career, knowing how individuals, when they're incarcerated, lose housing, lose children, lose jobs, lose stability, and having to start all over again, that's one issue. The other issue is having to think about community safety, of course, but in addition to that, how does one start over again without that ongoing continued support? With a reentry program, having case managers and A peer support, a client advocate who has that lived experience to kind of help folks walk that journey and help them along the way. Access to adequate appropriate support services via case management, help the individual prepare for and obtain living wage jobs, and help that person become independent, self-sufficient. The implementation was we had this one-stop shop created back in 2016, and we got it off the ground in September of 2016, and when the ECRSSA, or Erie County Reentry Services and Support Alliance, was created. With the support of the $1.2 million grant for three years from the foundation, the Erie Community Foundation and United Way, it was launched, and it landed in GCAC. We're very grateful to them for housing it. What I do want to point out is at that time, the strategy included having advisory council or board over it to help guide it on its way to keep it within the fidelity of the model. GCAC and I and the advisory council, we all work together to get it off and keep it moving forward. The governance of the program, like I said, is managed by the advisory council. We have since, and you see that plus there to the right of that, added a community council so that there's this back and forth conversation around What's going on in the community? A lot has changed in 10 years. We now have a community college. There's a lot more going on within the drug and alcohol field. There is also a lot more going on in the housing field. There was an 814 shelter when I first started. And now that's changed how people can access housing. There's also other programs going on. And so to have that ever-changing conversation so that we stay in touch and also so that the community can stay in touch. And we actually had our first meeting with the community council last week. Program funding has been sustained through various grant funding at the local, state, and federal level since the implementation of the program. I have to tell you, when I was doing the program for those four years, it's a lot of work having to find funding. It takes a lot of your focus as a supervisor, as a worker, and a lot of energy. And it can be very unstabling to the program. The grant funding is not sustainable for long term either. You do a lot of work and apply for a lot of grants that never, you know, ever get awarded. They end up going to the bigger cities. The primary goal has always been to achieve sustainability with county support. I have met with who was then Kathy Dahlkemper many times. and discussed it with her, talked to her about it. And at that time, the county wasn't able to do it. Discussions formalized in late 24, continued through 25 regarding the possible transition of the program to the county as the program, as we understood, was running out of the money. And for three of the five positions at that time, of the three of the five positions, were in jeopardy of no longer having the ability to stay in place. Our concerns, we addressed at an October 2025 meeting led by Erie Together, identified the concerns. I was at that meeting. There was a lack of fidelity to the model. ICM is intensive case management. RC is resource coordination. Resource coordination is a lower level of service. ICM is the higher level of service. And the lack of fidelity of the model means that we were not receiving the data necessary to track the recidivism, track how many people were receiving services for various entities, whether it's drug and alcohol, mental health, finding housing, finding jobs. We were getting information word of mouth, but you can't do data by word of mouth. And so therefore, we had the conversation. Yeah, go ahead.

Go ahead. May I? Yes. Because it seems like that's the whole emphasis of the program. Everything I hear about here is best practices and that.

I can hear you, yes. You said everything, you said the...

I said everything that I'm hearing around here about anything is best practices and data.

Yes.

And so, you say you're not giving... How long has this program been going on without data?

How long has the program been going on?

Without data collection?

My understanding is since 2023. Okay. I just wanted to make sure. Yes. Allow me to confirm. Am I wrong? No, I am correct.

And who was responsible for collecting that data?

The house of the program, which was the YMCA. Now, allow me to say...

This was from 2016? Yes. In 2023? Yes.

Well, allow me to say this. Okay, I want to be fair and I want to be clear. The program transitioned from GCAC in 22 to the Y. At that time, They were utilizing the data collection that I had devised, which was simply a spreadsheet. We did not have a client data system where you could electronically go in and click, click, click the information in. It worked, though. The staff would go in and they would insert through numbering system how to insert the data. And it worked. I monitored it. I made sure they were doing what they were supposed to be doing.

For 1,000 clients?

Sir?

For 1,000 clients?

No, no, no. 1,000 clients is how many were coming back. No, we didn't have 1,000 clients.

No, sir. Because that would seem like that. Yeah, you'd be insane. Because right off the bat, that just says that's not unsustainable. I mean, I don't mean that.

No, no, good question. Absolutely not. That was who was coming back to the community when we started the research back in 2013. We were, at the time, let me look.

So GCAC didn't collect data prior to the Y?

GCAC did collect data prior to the Y. I was the one.

Under the system that you were doing.

Under the system I devised, correct.

Yeah, with the spreadsheet.

The spreadsheet. That spreadsheet followed to the Y. It fell apart when program managers shifted. After I left, a program manager was hired That program manager left and then another program manager was hired and I was asked to come back and go in 23, November of 23 to help train. I did about three weeks to maybe a month of training but did not get to the point of being able to do that part of the training. They did not pick up any of the data and move forward with it from that point on.

How do you propose, is the same system that you used aforementioned before? And J-CAT going to be the same data collecting system that you're going to do now?

Well, what they did is they ended up purchasing a client electronic system, but the data was not being uploaded into the system.

I don't want to hinder conversation. I think that what I'm seeing there very quickly is that this is probably needs to be a study session where we can pull in for more conversation, more in depth. Sounds good. So if we, let's go through this and then let's get something scheduled so that we can have time to collect and then that way we can come up with more questions too.

Well, I don't have a problem doing that, but the problem that I would have with doing that It's interruption of services. Thank you. I don't know because from where I'm sitting now, we don't have anything.

No, we do. We do. That is not the case.

What we have now is the flip over from the The reprogramming from our perspective of the CDBG funds of the city's portion.

Yes.

And so, okay.

Yes. We are in service. The program never ended. The Y stopped serving May 8th. He was hired April 21st. And actually, there was that transition. We actually had people coming up to him during, I'll let him speak to that, during that time. New staff has been hired. And do you want me to continue with this? Or would you like to get to him?

I'd like to go through the presentation. I'm sorry. No, you're OK. Just to kind of keep us on track. Because I do think that there's a lot of information. So if we could get through that overview, it'll give us a better indication of what we need to bring up in a more thorough study session.

OK. I'm happy to answer more detailed questions at another time if you want it.

No, I apologize for taking you off track. I'm just kind of slow like that sometimes.

You're not slow. They're good questions. Okay, so I'll go to no data to support reduction in recidivism, connections to services, or client success. Lack of communication with partners. Stakeholders identified no longer making referrals to the program due as to various issues. And part of that was, part of the goal of our program is to do pre-entry. In other words, go into the institutions prior, meet the individual, and come out. There was an issue around that. Data was not being submitted for evaluation, while a new data system was put in place, here we go, July of 25. Data was not provided until September of 25 was incomplete. Of the data that was submitted, less than 7% of referrals were coming from jails and prisons, meaning no pre-entry services. Needs identified among clients were low, did not align with growing needs expressed by community stakeholders. The program was identifying less than 9% of clients having substance misuse issues, less than 12% having mental health issues. I want to just kind of say this real quick. We have percentages here, but whenever you look at data, you also want to have numbers, and we, during those detailed meetings, can provide actual numbers. Clients were marked as closure as successful in the program, but receiving less than 30 days of service, and in some cases, same day open and closure. That's really... I don't know what that means. Did the person just come in and get a bus pass? Did the person just come in and get access to one thing? Generally, that's not case management. I don't know what that means. Transition. Transition to the program to the county was coordinated by the advisory council, and the YMC administration started in January. The YMCA utilized local grant funds to maintain the full program until May 8th, giving the county time to get the program up and running to avoid disruption in service to clients. existing staff were strongly encouraged to apply for the positions through the county one applied but withdrew the application i'm going to let bob speak to the current program status at the end of this if it's okay we're going to have two people who are currently working in the program share with you how they feel about it so we're already at 9 30 we typically do like 15 minutes of presentation for these um

I do want to, I want to hear, but like if we can just kind of get it a little bit more brief.

So thank you.

Um, that way, that way we, I don't want to cut anybody off and not take away a platform, but I also want to make sure we get into the public comment and keep us on track.

Um, we'll cut out the last two slides. That's fine. Um, so current program status, we're at the same location, 1631 Sassafras street, same phone number, um, since January, 2025. We're centrally located on a bus line, which gives people access to our building and facility. The program, as we mentioned before, is fully staffed now with myself, three caseworkers, and a client advocate. And the majority of our staff do have lived experience. So since I've been there in the last 30 days with my transition, some of the things that I've accomplished is we've connected...

As I told county council last night, an apology without changed behavior is manipulation. This population, they want to see them successful. And this new program, going back to the fidelity of the program, is really what works. Those numbers of the recidivism, that's for a short period. That has nothing to do with, you know, a year down the line, two years down the line. That's when you're going to...

Good morning. I wasn't gonna do this, but I've had enough.

Could you say your name, sorry?

I'm Brother D. Gerald Craig, Sr. I've been in reentry for the last 40-something years. I spent 31 years of my life in the system. Can I get a witness, Mr. Horton? There's been some things said here today that are outright lies. Outright lies. I didn't want to call nobody out. But first of all, outside of Mr. Horton and Mayor Devlin, nobody has come and asked the people who've been working in reentry a damn thing from this side. Except for Mr. Jones, who I went to. and begged him to reapply. So I don't know where the narrative come from that he was told he couldn't apply and he was shot down because he's got a criminal record.

We ain't got criminal records.

So that makes no sense. And still would like for him to apply. But the narratives that's being floated are to fulfill somebody else's agenda. And I get it. I get it. First of all, to the lady that got up talking about they didn't talk to anybody from the reentry community, any ex-felons or anything, I held the focus group when this program started. And the room was full. Can I get a witness, Judge Piccinini? I did three presentations. between the House of Prayer Church and Erie One about this program. I've been here since its inception. I'm invested in this. When I leave here sometime today, I'll be over at the courthouse bailing my own son out. So people need to watch their mouths about what they saying, because they don't got facts unless their agenda is bigger than the facts. And whatever happened to fact checking anyway? Is that still a thing? Is that still a thing is what I want to know. Because apparently some people ain't doing it. Do your research. Come to the people that know who are there. I'll tell you what, if you take this program and tie it up in this like it's being done, it's hurting my son. It's hurting those people that are coming home. I'm the guy that live next door to people who get murdered. I'm the guy whose son gets shot two or three times. So all of you who don't live in our community, call yourself representing our community, you can kick rocks with me because you don't represent me. And you don't represent none of the people I know. Yeah, that part right there. And then last thing I'll say, the young man spoke eloquently about bringing information from the people who live down there. I happen to have the biggest street team in the city of Erie for the last 15 years. We have about 50 people that live in the community that show up daily. Be more than willing to talk to you about anything east side. Thank you.

Thank you.

Brother D, thank you for your comments. I appreciate you. I have never had an issue with you, and I don't intend to have one. I do want to say that neither one of us know what goes on in our families. So I think it's all very important to understand that I may have similar issues that you just don't know about, regardless of where I live. My concern is not... Can you state your name? Yes, Cindy Treiber. I'm sorry. Born and bred in Erie and raised... Or live in Erie... Or Edinburgh, currently. I'm sorry. Our concern with ECRSSA is not that it is needed. It is desperately needed. But it is desperately needed to be done properly. And there are situations that have occurred where that has not happened. There's... There's groups and situations being referred to that it is being misrepresented that they are being created right now, and they were already created by the Y. And we have documentation from that. So when we're talking about proof, we have letters, we have documentation about these programs and these things that were happening within the Y eCRSS team. So when a presentation is made, hey, we're doing this, we're doing this, we're doing this, we're doing this. Yeah, well, that's because they were doing it already. I think one of the problems here, well, there's two problems. Number one, nobody who is advocating for any kind of justice wants to go speak to anybody when we're getting phone calls from nonprofit leaders and persons that are being told to tell us to shut up. I'm not going to go have a conversation with somebody who does that. I'm just not. That's intimidation, and I'm not interested in that kind of dialogue. I'm not, I have not threatened anybody and I don't expect that that's an appropriate way to respond or to create a dialogue. And that's happened several times now. We need to remember that while we are trying to create a program that is better than anything that it's been, the way to do it is to not do it in probation. It's a different model. We have so much emotional tension tied up around probation and parole in the past year, and for many people, long before that. And it's not just people in this room, it's people here. We all have situations that are identifiable with each other. And because I may not have in a neighborhood or somebody else may not live in my neighborhood does not mean that we should not be acknowledging that humanity needs to be the focus. And I don't think that that's what's happening. I think the data is being driven, that there are hurt feelings that were created that have created ulterior motives. And I think that that's sad because as Deontay said, we're not talking to the reentry people. I will tell you that Several of the major industries were going to actually pay their people to come down and talk. But they're working. That's kind of the point. They're working. And they already get phone calls at 9 o'clock to be with their probation at 10 o'clock, and then they have to go check in here, and they have to go check in there. And luckily, those industries are tolerant and patient of those schedules. But they're not going to be here if they're working. I think there needs to be a town hall, a huge conversation in the county and city with people who represent all of the parts and pieces of this. Paul Gamble spoke last night very eloquently on his role in starting ECRSSA and how disappointed he is in what has happened. There are several people who have come down and spoke. Don John came down and spoke last night. There are people from all different aspects of how this program is running and being affected and affecting others that are speaking. But the ultimate situation is if there are facts that are not being shared, then that creates distrust and it creates a lack of transparency. And we don't need that right now. We don't need that right now. I can tell you that when I say something and people who know me, I come with paperwork. I come with paperwork. So anything that I have said has come from paperwork. It's come from documents. It's come from PA budgets. It's come from letters. It's come from budgets. It's come from grants. If I wanted to get up here and be emotional, you would see a wholly different side of me because I am very emotional, and I would be standing here crying. But that's not my place, and that's not my right to cry tears for somebody who's struggling. I don't feel that that's appropriate. If people can work together, this would be a different story. But there are some of us who are trying to, and there are some of us who are not. And I think each one of those groups are getting involved with maybe some malfeasance, nefarious other intentions, or just being told things. I'm not sure. There is no hidden agenda for me. I'm not benefiting at all here, none whatsoever. I have no aspirations for political. I'm going back to school. I have two grandchildren. I live in Edinburgh. I'm here because I'm trying to do something right. I'm trying to do it the right way.

Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Linda Graffius, born and raised in Erie, but live in Mill Creek. I don't have to say anything about ECRSA because my daughter does that so eloquently. But I do want to also address what was observed and the young man spoke about was the use of phones. We are asking our children to not have their phones at school. And I would like to see that happen here. There's no reason that anybody has to have their phone out scrolling. And then that shows their body language, too. Most of you are very attentive. But there was one person in particular who was very offended. And that's all I have to say. Thank you.

Thank you.

Dr. Tyler? Yes. opportunity because we normally don't respond but a lot of you send us information and you email it to us and while you're presenting often times we're looking at that information and some of y'all don't send us no one pagers you send us you know And so, yeah, so I can just speak for me. I probably will be on my phone because I'm checking information. Anybody who knows me know I didn't stay in school long, but I stayed there long enough to learn how to read. And sometimes that even means in between the lines. So just give me some grace. Don't let it bother you too much.

Thank you. Is there anyone else here for public comment? Anyone else for public comment? Anyone else for public comment? Council, at this point, I would like to call for a motion for us to go into executive session.

So moved.

Thank you. Can we go ahead and take the vote on that motion? Laurie, we need to take a vote. Oh, sorry.

Motion by President Titus, seconded by Member Horton to go into executive session. Members Brzezinski, Flores? Yes. Horton? Yes. Poole? Yes. Chaff? Troop?

Yes.

Titus?

Yes. So at this point, we have the majority vote. We will go into executive session about real estate and personnel issues. And council, we will meet over in chambers over here. In the caucus?

In the caucus, yes. so so so so Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Bye. Thank you. so so so so you so so so so Thank you for watching. so so so so so Thank you. so so so so Thank you. Thank you. so so Thank you. so so Bye. Thank you. so so so Thank you.

Okay, City Council, we continue the regular meeting. It is 1125.

And just as a reminder, we just met in executive session to discover or to discuss realty and personnel. I just completely lost my words there. So thank you. All right. Now we'll go back into our regular agenda.

Okay, ordinances for final passage. Council file number 16-609, official ordinance 30-2026. An ordinance amending ordinance number 26-1958, the traffic code of the city of Erie by the installation of stop signs at three intersections. Number one, McCarter Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue stopping at McCarter. Number two, Atkins Street and Birch Court stopping on Birch Court. Number three, West 39th Street and Fruit Street stopping at Fruit Street. Sponsored by Council Member Troop, seconded by Council Member Horton, that Council File Ordinance Number 16609, and now known as Official File Ordinance 30-2026, be finally passed by City Council. Members Brzezinski? Yes. Flores?

Yes.

Horton? Yes. Hull? Yes. Chopp? Yes. Troop? Yes. Titus?

Yes.

City Council, pass Official File Ordinance 30-2026, finally by a 7-0. Council File Number 16610, Official Ordinance 31-2026, an ordinance of the City Council, the City of Erie, the City determining to incur lease rental debt evidenced by the guaranteed revenue bond at the maximum principal amount of $2,784,063. To be authorized an issue by the Erie City Water Authority in connection with the construction alteration and improvements to the public water distribution facilities in and about this city including but not limited to the customer side. Galvanized service line replacement project phase five and paying related costs, fees and expenses. Specifying the realistic useful life of the project. Authorizing and directing the appropriate officers of the city to take certain actions and to execute certain documents including a guarantee agreement. Between the city as guarantor and the Erie City Water Authority and the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority. Approving the form, maximum guaranteed amounts and sources of payment of the guarantee agreement creating a sinking fund in connection with such guarantee obligations. And appointing a sinking fund depository and providing for the repeal of all inconsistent ordinances or parts of ordinances. Sponsored by Council Member Schaaf, seconded by Council Member Brzezinski, that Council File Ordinance Bill Number 16610, and now known as Official File Ordinance 31-2026, be finally passed by City Council. Members Brzezinski? Yes. Flores? Yes. Horton? Yes. Hull? Yes. Schaaf? Yes. Troop? Yes. Titus? Yes. City Council pass Official File Ordinance 31-2026, finally by yeas, seven nays, zero. Council File Number 16611-32-2026. An ordinance of the City Council of the City of Erie, the City determining to incur lease rental debt evidenced by the guaranteed revenue bond and the maximum principal amount of $8 million to be authorized and issued by Erie City Water Authority in connection with the construction alteration and improvements to the public water distribution facilities in and about the city including but not limited to the West 12th Street maintenance facility renovation and distribution system programmatic financing and paying related cost fees and expenses, specifying the realistic useful life of the project, authorizing and directing appropriate officer of the city to take certain actions and to execute certain documents including a guarantee agreement between the city as guarantor and the Erie City Water Authority and the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority. approving the form, maximum guaranteed amounts, and sources of payment of the guarantee agreement, creating a sinking fund in connection with such guarantee obligations, and appointing a sinking fund depository and providing for the repeal of all inconsistent ordinances or parts of ordinances. Sponsored by Council Member... Second by Council Member Brzezinski. The Council File Ordinance Bill number 16611 and now known as Fish File Ordinance 322026 be finally passed by City Council. Members Brzezinski. Yes. Flores. Yes. Wharton. Yes. Full. Yes. Shaw. True. Titus. Yes. Yes. Yes. City Council pass the Fish File Ordinance 322026 finally by yeas 7, nays 0. ordinances for first reading. Council file number 16612, appropriating the sum of $254,061 from unappropriated and anticipated revenue to be received from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, which is HUD, for the following emergency solutions. emergency solutions 26 projects sponsored by council member shot seconded by council member Brzezinski the council file ordinance 16 612 haven't been read is hereby adopted on first reading by City Council members Brzezinski yes Flores yes Horton yes Paul yes Shaw yes Troup yes Titus yes City Council read and adopt council file ordinance 16 612 by ye 7 nay 0 on first reading Council file number 16613, an ordinance appropriating a sum of $797,014.86 from unappropriated and anticipated revenue to be received from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD, for the following home M26 projects. Sponsored by Council Member Schaaf, seconded by Council Member Brzezinski. The council file ordinance number 16613 having been read is hereby adopted on first reading by city council. Members Brzezinski. Yes. Flores. Yes. Horton. Yes. Cole. Shaw.

Yes.

Titus.

Yes. City Council. Reading and voting very fast.

Councilor, it's 613 by yeas, seven nays, zero on first reading. Council file number 16614, an ordinance appropriating a sum of $2,909,512 from unappropriated and anticipated revenue to be received from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD, and $5,000 program income for a total of $2,914,512 for the following community development block grant CD26 projects. Sponsored by Council Member Schaaf, seconded by Council Member Brzezinski. The Council File Ordinance 16-614, having been read, is hereby adopted on first reading by City Council. Members Brzezinski? Yes. Flores? Yes. Horton? Yes. Cole? Yes. Schaaf? Yes. Troop? Yes. Titus? Yes. City Council, read and adopt Council File Ordinance 16-614 by Ye 7, Nay 0, on first reading. Council file number 16615, an ordinance amending the City of Erie zoning ordinance to designate the former Erie Labor Temple, 1701-1707 State Street, as a historic site pursuant to Article 7 of the revised City of Erie zoning ordinance number 80-2005, and to amend the zoning map to reflect such designation. Sponsored by council member shop seconded by council member Brzezinski the council file ordered at 16 615 haven't been read as hereby adopted on first reading by City Council members Brzezinski. Yes, Flores. Yes Oh, yes. Yes, true. Yes. Yes City Council rendered adopt council ordered at 16 615 by a 7 a 0 and first reading I Council File Number 16616, an ordinance amending the City of Erie Zoning Ordinance designate the Erie Manticore Club, 1607 State, as a historic site pursuant to Article 7 of the revised City of Erie Zoning Ordinance Number 80-2005, and to amend the zoning map to reflect such designation. Sponsored by Council Member Schaaf, seconded by Council Member Brzezinski, the Council File Ordinance Number 16-616 having been read is hereby adopted on first reading by City Council. Members Brzezinski? Yes. Flores? Yes. Horton?

Yeah. Hull?

Yes. Schaaf? Yes. Troup? Yes. Yes.

Yes.

City Council read and adopt Council File Ordinance 16-616 by Ye 7, Nay 0 on first reading. Council File Number 16617, an ordinance amending the City of Erie zoning ordinance to designate the South Erie Iron Works Company Building 1919 Peach. Erie, Pennsylvania is a historic site pursuant to Article 7 of the Revived City of Erie Zoning Ordinance Number 80-2005, and to amend the zoning map to reflect such designation. Sponsored by, you guessed it, Council Member Shaw, seconded by Council Member Brzezinski. Council File Ordinance 16617, having been read, is hereby adopted on first reading by City Council. Members Brzezinski? Yes. Flores. Yes. Polk. Yes. Shaw. Yes.

Titus. Yes. Yes.

City Council, right on top. Council file the ordinance 16-617 by a 7-0 on first reading.

Laura, I have to leave.

Okay. Just letting you know. All right. Thank you.

Have a good one, sir.

Last day of school. New business.

There is no new business, correct?

No old business, but there is new business.

Oh, sorry, yes.

Do we need a first and a second?

Make a motion to move the balance. I'll second that.

Take the box. Okay. Motion to move the balance of the agenda. Any separations?

No. Nope, I think we're good, Lorraine.

We're good. Moving the balance of the agenda. Members Brzezinski, Flores, Horton, Cole, Shaw, Troop, Titus.

Yes.

Resolution passes. We move on to committee reports.

Okay. We'll go ahead and start with you, Councillor Polk.

Thank you. I just want to start by the gentleman that was here. I appreciate everything he said and for coming in. Excuse me. I try very much to be attentive to everyone that speaks, and if he saw me not looking, I write. And I have like three pages written here of what everyone said. So I just wanted to make sure that was cleared up. I attended the Veterans Memorial Park on Glama Park Avenue Memorial Day. It was very somber and needed. day and a remembrance for all that served. Excuse me. I had a Port Authority meeting last Wednesday and what she spoke of or what they spoke of this morning was what they went over last week. So I was very happy that they could come here and let the public know that they're still working and it's a long It's going to be a long haul, but I think we're moving in the right direction and listening to the citizens down there that have been affected by the coke plant for four years. The Environmental Advisory Board was here, and they're always doing good. I found out that they have three openings on the board. If anyone's interested, I reach out to anybody that cares about the environment and wants to have a say to sign up to be maybe put on the board. Or to even come to their monthly meeting just to listen to see what they do. I attended last Friday the groundbreaking at trust, the upcoming trust hotel that when I was growing up was a Baldwin building then changed to the Renaissance Center. It's a good project. Hopefully they can, you know, I'm just glad that they're not knocking down all these beautiful buildings anymore and just revitalizing them somehow. And it's not all. on the city. It's a private investor with private funding. The historic preservation meeting was held on Monday. And that's always very interesting because it coincides with the Baldwin Building. And it's just good to see because I can remember going up and down State Street and all those buildings are gone. or made into not so nice buildings anymore. But that was before we had anyone to speak up. People just bought the buildings and did what they wanted to do. Firefighter pension meeting was yesterday, and we had two retirees, Firefighter Fraze retired, And Assistant Chief Greg Purchase. So I wish them both well in their upcoming endeavors. And a wonderful retirement. That's it.

Thank you. Councillor Flores.

My committee reports come later in the week. I have the parking authority next Tuesday. So I will try to attend through Zoom. It's just while I'm in commute to work. So it's kind of not the best time. But I also wanted to... mention that if people are interested in getting involved with the Environmental Caucus, you just have to reach out to the Environmental Caucus. They will put you on the Zoom, I mean, well, on the email list so that you know when the meetings are, but it's the last meeting of the month. I think it's the fourth Wednesday, if I'm not mistaken. but they are trying to just be more environmentally conscious. We do border the lake, so that's our fresh water, so it is good for us to be aware of what is being worked on, but also that this group of people are trying to work with developers that way. our building material is more environmentally friendly. I know they've been trying to get a plastic bag ban going on just because there's so much plastic waste and we are consuming that and that's not good. So if you are interested, that is an option for you to be involved and you can go back and rewatch any of the meetings through Zoom, well not through Zoom, but the Facebook and our YouTube channel. i also wanted to mention that with it getting warm please as a motor vehicleist please be aware of the pedestrians that are walking are physically disabled and are intellectually disabled need a little bit more time than what we're giving when people are crossing the road but also down by the blasco library some cars are aware that they are supposed to stop for pedestrians and some just blow through and that's kind of dangerous when we're have the right of way technically as pedestrians and people might not be all there to know that they should stop. I work with intellectually disabled so I'm always teaching my client to be aware of the parking lot and the driveway and making sure that she is aware of the dangers vehicles because just because you see them doesn't mean they see you. I also wanted to say that with school getting out please be mindful of going through residential neighborhoods because sometimes we're a little bit speed happy and we're going a little bit faster than the 25 mile an hour speed limit and the last thing we need to do is be the reason why a family is experiencing a tragic summer because we weren't paying attention. So just be mindful of the children who are enjoying their summer because this is the best time of the year for them. And that's all I wanted to report.

Thank you. Councillor Brzezinski, we'll go ahead and work our way down. Councillor Brzezinski, if you would like to give your report.

Things are, I think you all know that you made your convention center a little bit Uneasy, last meeting. I would caution you folks to, maybe because I'm old, I use my brain more than my heart, but when you turn down a tremendous opportunity for the Bayfront because of birds that might fly into a two-story building, it's no wonder we're the laughing stock. Thank God that, let me be proactive on this. In the future, whenever we have anything like this, we should have the Planning Commission and the Zoning Commission come to us in the study session or whatever and get all of those questions answered before they put us on the spot. A lot of you folks, you've been around City Hall and stuff, but you're still brand new. So it's tough to try to make a decision when all the bricks are being piled on your shoulders. I understand that. But you can't cave in. If you don't trust the Planning Commission and the Zoning Commission, get rid of the damn thing and bring in people that do it. Fortunately, we do have a good group up there, a group that works well. And to scream and yell that we're closing the garage doors after all the cars are stolen, it doesn't make sense. I was on vacation last week, and I spent quite a few hours on the phone I digress. Anyway, I'm looking forward to that next vote, and we can finally move forward with it. If anybody has any questions, please, if you don't come to me, come to somebody. Get your answers before the meeting. Otherwise, we're going to be fool's alley. The other airport authority, so many things are happening, but with the gas crunch and Iran one day this way and the other day the other way. Everybody's kind of moving slowly with the flights that we're going to add to Chicago and things like that. I have nothing to report on it yet, but once we do get a full handle on it, it'll be the first to know. Sorry that I had to lambaste, but we've got to do a better job, folks. That's all I'm saying. Thank you.

Councillor Horton. I attended the Housing Authority legislative breakfast and they laid out their three-year plan or annual plan. They had some interesting things. I think she's going to send the PowerPoint over. For those who weren't able to make it, I recommend that you look at it since housing is a critical part of what we're trying to do. We appointed a land bank representative from council. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, council. And E.J. Fike, who's going to work integral with the building for property management. I'm trying to get this verbiage still right as we go through the change. over those things, and I do realize that the last week's, or week and a half ago, the financial press conference where we talked about the 12 million, I do think that that elevated a, should have elevated us to a sense of urgency to do some stuff, and so a lot of the things I'm trying to do is not be distracted by what's coming down here, but some of those distractions are healthy. And one of those distractions was I met with Erie United. They wanted to talk about housing. I sat with them for about an hour and a half, listened to some of their concerns, fielded as many questions as I could. I told them that at some point, maybe they might consider bringing that stuff to us collectively. And I asked them, I'm always throwing them at you, Dr. Titus. Dr. Titus might be able to facilitate you during his presentation. as opposed to trying to run us all down one by one and give us the information. I'm of the same mindset. I am my mother's child. Fantastic things happen when you get all stakeholders in one room, as opposed to receiving information piecemeal. And so we didn't have a blighted review board meeting. The land bank has a moratorium on purchasing homes until they work out all of the things or impediments that would prevent them from clearing all of the bills or liens or all of that type of stuff off the property. I attended Chief Bauer's ceremony out front here, which as a former officer and come from a family of officers, they're always meaningful to me. And a few days prior to that, we actually did the Fallen Soldiers Memorial on South Park Road here. That concludes my report.

Thank you. Councilor Shaw.

Thank you, Dr. Titus. I, a week ago, Thursday, went to the drug treatment court graduation at the Erie County Courthouse and There's nothing better than to see people succeed in their stories and happen to sit behind a person who went up to receive their certificate of no more probation and it truly was very heartful to be there and It's just very moving. So I think it's very supportive. The courthouse was, that room was full, completely, you know, it was dedicated to saying congratulations and best wishes to the people who were Graduating was wonderful. I attended the Water Authority meeting, the historic commission this week, Trade Licensing Board, and attended the Veterans Memorial Service at the Veterans Memorial Park. And that is a beautiful park. It's very peaceful. It's very moving and I am glad to see it where it is as well. People should go down there and reflect. I'm also thankful for the Mill Creek Kiwanis Club and their dedication and anyone helping with the veterans flags going up in our city. And I also attended the ceremony of the lowering of the flag for our past Chief Bowers who had passed away. And grateful for all the people who were able to attend with the Rib Fest going on or building up. I'm sure there was parking issues and things like that. So that's great that Erie comes out and supports, gives support. And it's good to hear the Rib Fest was well attended and very delicious. I can attest to that. And... because school is getting out, definitely have to piggyback on what everyone's saying as far as you really need to be safe out there. I witness accidents almost happening every single day. So be careful and also want to extend my congratulations to Assistant Chief Greg purchase and Aaron phrase in the fire Department for retiring. Thank you.

Thank you. So I'll keep my report brief. I wanted to, again, thank everybody for coming down and speaking during our public comment time. And to be mindful that our public comment time really is that opportunity for the public to address council and to address the administration. What I would ask also though of the public is that we make sure that we are addressing the administration and council and not necessarily using this as an opportunity to argue with one another in here, because I think that that takes away from the solutions that we can create together and to work collaboratively together. I always get a little cautious when I just see some groups maybe who are coming in and addressing one another versus addressing us because this really is the opportunity for us to come up with solutions and to work together. I still don't think we've mastered the best way to respond to the public and so I am open for suggestions from the body here so we're not leaving the public feeling like we're not listening. I've met with Erie County United also for around an hour. I did leave that meeting feeling that there's a shift in how they want to approach just with some of the community advocates and really wanting to coordinate and bring solutions together and changes that we as council and a body can enact. So I left there feeling very positive. with the things that we're gonna do together. I met with the superintendent to address some of the issues that I am seeing in, not only as I wear my council hat, but in some of the other hats around the rise, especially in xenophobia, and left that meaning feeling again that we all want to do better, that we are aware that there is a crisis happening, not just here in the city, but across many of the cities in the US. that solutions are being discussed right now I also would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge and this is a call out to not just counsel but to those who are listening that there is a steady and consistent rise around suicidality and loss of young life we had another young person and their life this week who is a member of the Erie public school system and this is multiple this past year and all of the things that we hear during public comment are absolutely related and connected to this. And so this is a call upon every elected official and every community leader to also center this as part of the conversation is our young people are believing that there is no future and that there is a deep loss of hope and that it is on us to help create that and to create pathways forward. With that being said, it is imperative that we acknowledge that it is Pride Month because you can't be yourself unless you can see yourself. And so this month celebrates those who have endured various amounts of oppression and still do not have access to civil rights and find themselves a target to not just the federal administration but also just hate in general. We also have our Juneteenth celebration that we'll talk more about. But I challenge all of us to really look at the history of what Pride Month is and to look at the history of Juneteenth so we can understand why those celebrations are so important and to make sure that we are showing up and honoring the festivities that we'll see throughout the month. And with that, I'll conclude my report and pass over to the Comptroller.

Hi, my report's brief this week. Just want to say we're still working hard in the Comptroller's office, still continuing to work with mindfulness and intentionality. We're organizing and researching on many important issues up in our office, and just kind of after the first 120 days, We've learned a lot, and workflow is going really well. So I'm very thankful for my staff. I'm also thankful that we're collaborating well with other offices and departments in City Hall, and we're grateful for all the city employees who work so diligently. They do great work. And also I'm thankful to Mayor Devlin for her thoughtfulness and willingness to do the difficult tasks that are coming up to ensure the longevity of our city. Thank you.

Thank you. Ma'am?

Thank you. I will also be brief. Just a couple of shout outs. I appreciate the controller's comments as well. We had some really terrible wind storms last weekend over Memorial Day. And then, of course, the Ribfest coming right after there. Our Public Works team has just worked so hard during the wind and the cleanup and then Ribfest, working with the police department, special events. So just want to give them a shout out. As the controller noted, people work very, very hard around here always, but sometimes particularly. I also want to say I spoke at Erie High's graduation on Saturday. I want to congratulate all of our graduates from our Erie's public schools as well as those that attend private schools and charter schools in our area. We wish them all the best. you know, hope to, Dr. Titus, to your point, give them a message of hope and let them know that they have a place here, that they belong here, and we need to do better to make sure that they see that. So I want to note that. I also want to call out the initiative that my office has launched with a partnership through change.org. Change.org is a national organization that tries to help communities really engage in civic discussion. I think We see the need for that, the need for people to be heard and then to take that and translate it into policy and into action. So would encourage people to follow that effort on the city's social media pages. There's opportunities to lend your voice and then to work with us again to turn that into policy. So we're looking forward to that partnership and that participation. And lastly, I'm sad that a couple of our colleagues on city council had to leave because specifically for Ms. Flores, I wanted to let her know, probably one of the most impactful things I did over the past two weeks was attend a Love Your Block celebration at Roger Young Park on Saturday. And I will say that I was there, they were taking a little time to get set up, so I had some time, and I just walked the park, because I felt like You know, it had been a very long time, if ever, that I had done that truly the entire way around. And I didn't like what I saw. I saw a basketball court that had an enormous amount of cracks in it that looked very dangerous. I saw a pool building that just didn't look the best. And I saw enormous softball fields that don't seem to be being used. So I came back yesterday. met with my leadership team, and I met with the Parks Department. We will be immediately fixing the cracks in the basketball court at Roger Young, immediately, just to go over there and do a Band-Aid approach. And then I have tasked the Parks Department to give me proposals on what it would take to fully redo the basketball court. and what it would take to turn the softball courts the softball fields there into soccer fields we hear over and over again that that community is crying out for soccer and we're not listening and so even to some of the comments that were made today i've made that a priority i'd let my team know that yesterday i know money is tight but we do have parks money as counselor flores reminds us often so i just want to let council know that we have decided this is the priority At least in the beginning, we'll work with planning on the parks plan that comes out in your study session. But we will immediately be taking care of the urgent needs. And then I've tasked them with a larger conversation. So I just want to say that it's unfortunate. At the end of a meeting, everybody's gone. But I do think that's important for me to say out loud that that is our priority. So with that, we're at noon.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council.

Thank you. So Senator, you have a report.

Reminder, Market House re-votes on Tuesday, June 9th.

And we welcomed our deputy solicitor.

Oh, that's right. There is the deputy solicitor. I had a meeting at 11 that I couldn't attend, and so I assigned her the task of leaving here at 11 to go handle that matter. But, yeah, we are now up to a staff of three in the solicitor's office.

So we have to add one of those chairs for our deputy solicitor to sit on the dais.

Okay. Yes, and a reminder, next week we do, just to kind of reiterate what the solicitor just said, we have a special meeting on Tuesday, and then we have our study session that Thursday. So we will be live and active in this chamber next week. And with that, we will conclude this meeting.

City Council adjourns at 12.01.

Thank you.