City Council - Special Meeting

Miss Ela here. Mr. Clapper here. Mr. Hook here. Miss Schaefer Bish here. Mr. Tipton here. Mr. Turner. Turner has to be excused. Move to excuse. Second. Hi. Miss Wallik here. Miss Wesley here. Who who motioned? I made the motion to excuse. Thank you. She's I think she's doing all Okay.

All right. First of all, I'd like to thank all of the people that came here to apply for this position. We appreciate your interest uh in serving the community. Interviews will be conducted one at a time. Those who are not currently being interviewed will wait in the community room and someone will come and get you when it's your turn. Council members will who ask uh questions will ask the same question of each applicant. Follow-up questions may be asked and may be different. We will not be making a decision today. The council will be voting on this appointment during our regular council meeting on Wednesday, January 21st. We would like uh you to attend that meeting if you're able. If you cannot be there, that's perfectly fine. You I I can swear you in or Hope can swear you in or Kathy can swear you in. So, if you can't be here, we certainly understand. As mayor, I cannot ask questions during the interviews, nor am I a voting person in making the selection. Only if there's a tie. So, with that, we'll begin. And the first person is Eric. So, if the other two would go with Kathy and she'll make you comfortable, Eric, if you'd like to sit down, that would be fine, too.

But hold a mic. Grab the mic. Grab the mic and close to your mic. Yes. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Speak to the mic, though. This one this is we'll wait for Kathy to get back and then we'll start.

So what I'm going to do is I'm going to ask Melissa to ask questions first and then Chris and going all the way down and then we'll do that again for the other two candidates. One member one or Yeah, I would think one would be fine. Okay. What's that? Yeah,

Eric, thank you for your statement of interest. and we all received this last week and we've perused all of these applications and we're looking forward to your answers. So, I'll ask Melissa to start.

Thank you so much for stepping up to um to help with board to council. I think your long service um to our police department and of course Kent States um is impressive and I think you have a unique voice. But I have a very specific question. Thankfully, um, Jack put something together that really hits on something that I think is important, and that is how do you approach making decisions when presenting with conflicting staff recommendations, public input, and your own personal views? How would you approach dealing with that kind of an issue? Of course, you have to figure out sometimes they have a good in charge of position. I had something like that and a lot of they had also understand the last thing.

Thank you. This a very thoughtful response. Yeah, to see you. Um, I'd love to know just, you know, very generally, um, your motivation and interest in running. Um, and you could weave in there an answer around what do you see as the top challenges and opportunities facing the city? [clears throat]

involved. Sorry. That's a lot of family. I know this is the guy that You touched on it briefly, but um challenges and opportunities.

Yeah, challenges have one side here. future thing. Thank you. Those are things every Yeah, it does. Yeah. Thank you. Well, two of my circled questions were already asked, [laughter] so I'm flipping to the back page. Um, looking at the your interactions with the public, um, how would you explain a controversial council decision to the public? And it could be controversial in the sense that maybe the public doesn't agree initially or it could be that the council had a controversy. You know, the vote was very close. Um, you know, what what would you how would you approach such something like that? And maybe you've seen something like that here. Mhm.

That's Sorry. to what extent that I can explain that explain privacy here. generality. I think sometimes table eventually.

understand the justice system that this is what Thank you.

Thanks, Eric. Um, I was going to ask, are there any decisions that you've seen from council recently that you think, "Wow, I can't believe we got that done. That's going to make a great impact to the community immediately." Or is there anything you might disagree with and may have gone a different way on? Is there anything that you thought maybe like I wish this would have concerning those history. I'm so sure about myself. I know you're looking

just to clarify that you mean just specifically for that matter. Yes. Okay. I [laughter]

understand Kent's council manager form of government and if so what do you see as the primary responsibility as a council member under the council manager form of government and I wanted to know what is the biggest expense for the regarding the budget and have you been to any council meetings previously? [laughter]

No expense and then the other one is do you understand how K council manager form of government works? overseas. One person in charge, other person I'm lost.

Okay. Thank you. Hello. Um, how do you uh work with colleagues who strongly disagree with you and how would you um have that disagreement but still stay clear in your position?

You take your you take your personal back to thinking something. But what if we didn't have time to meet privately? What if you had to make a decision right right then? But you strongly disagree.

Okay,

Eric. Um, what do you think you can? So, we all come with different experiences and skills, you know. we all all come with different sets uh that we bring to the table when making decisions. Um and so the question is what do you think you can contribute towards achieving city council's top priorities during um the remainder of this term? myself for the remaining two If you're a second person Right. [clears throat] Thank you. Eric, do you have anything you'd like to say to us? So,

This is my Thank you. Thank you. As I said, we'll be voting uh next Wednesday, so hopefully see you then.

Well, he since he is finished, you can Yeah. Yeah. Sorry. Michael, [clears throat] I would like to see something like that. Thank you. And

well, no, I wrote the question. I just kind of maybe they address it in their responses, That's Michael, thank you very much for applying and the process is that we will uh Melissa will ask the first question and then Chris will ask the second question and we'll go around to the end.

Thank you. Thank you. like to ask question about approach decisions when making something that conflicts. So staff is telling you one thing, you're hearing something else from the public and you may have a different view. What does your approach maybe?

Uh, excellent question and it's an honor to be here. I appreciate the opportunity and and all the time you've put into this uh both today and and kind of from week to week. uh representing the city. As far as the the scenario you've given me, the first thing that comes to my mind is is trying to obtain as much information as possible. Um and really checking the sources. Um so I think in especially in today's day and age with the internet and the news, uh we can hear a lot of information. Um and it's difficult to ascertain the value of a lot of that information. So um when I have conf conflicting sources of information, when I have conf conflicting facts, uh at that point it tells me that I need to dig a little deeper. Um I need to get some source information and where there is a disagreement or where there is conflict, try to uh pose that to the constituent or pose that to the staff and you know get the uh full story or the uh contrary argument if there is one. Um, so really what it comes down to for me is getting the information, verifying the information, and trying to act on the information, being as clear as possible at the end of the day what I'm basing my decision on. Um, in in the scenario you gave me, you know, I might not agree with one side or the other. So I might not be necessarily make someone happy with the decision, but I want them to understand why I made the decision. and and that is at the end of the day the best I think that a person can do uh when you do have the you know conflicts of interest or the conflicts of uh opinions.

Um thanks for your application. Um, I would love to know a little bit about your motivation to run. Um, and as part of that, what you see as the top challenges and opportunities facing the city that you could address in your role.

Yeah. on the on the first part my motivations for uh applying and I'll I'll start with you know kind of how I became aware of the uh vacancy in the first place and that was I was just happened to be doing something I do from time to time which is mining through the city's website. Um, I just happened to be looking through the uh council minutes and agendas and uh there was a government page on the city website and saw that there was the the vacancy and and so I said to myself, well, wait a minute, I think that's my award. And sure enough, I verified it was. Um, and I think that kind of leads to a little bit why I'm here today. And I think it's safe to say I'm a little bit of a nerd about this kind of stuff. Um, you know, I my background in college, my uh major was political science, the technical verbiage for it at my college was public law and government. Uh, I served in university student government. Uh, I've always had an interest in uh government, whether it be, you know, just kind of as a uh, you know, information, you know, fact learning, but also the understanding the importance of government to our day-to-day lives, right? Um, so for me, now that my kids are a little bit older, now that I have a little bit more of life experience behind me, uh, you know, my, uh, public service, my volunteerism, I think, is transitioning a little bit from, you know, uh, coaching, uh, baseball or coaching soccer to more, you know, what how else can I serve the community? And for me uh you know given my interests given my background uh I always thought it would be a good opportunity for me to serve in some capacity in local government. Uh actually both of my siblings are employed in government service elsewhere. Um I I went the weird route. I went to the private sector but um I you know there's always been that that little hook for me. Um and I apologize. I know there's a second part of your question.

That's okay. uh challenges and opportunities you see facing the city.

Sure. I I I actually hinted at this a little bit in my application, but um I think big picture um long-term the the challenges for the city come down to funding and tax revenue, um business growth, you know, basically things that will keep the money the city services running. um you know the the success of the city I think is very deeply entwined with the uh success of the Ken State University. Um so I think that our interests often are aligned and the importance of working with them because of the you know kind of symbiotic relationship uh between the city and and our uh university friends. So I think that um knowing that Ohio as a state has lost population over the years, knowing that um you know tax base has changed, knowing that uh you know employment in the region has gone from more of a manufacturing based economy to more of a you know online uh learning or I'm sorry what do they call it the you know uh learning economy or the you know intellectual economy the e e-commerce if you will you know how that's going to impact the city long term. So, I think that these are are the challenges. You know, we have the the day-to-day um challenges of any city in terms of the in infrastructure and as far as uh resident life and maintaining streets and bridges certainly, but I think big picture the thing I look at is is is Kent going to be growing for the next 20 years or are we going to be you know facing challenges uh in particular with with revenue? about

a question more about relationships with you and the health or constituents. But the problem um and it has to do with we make a lot of funding decisions on council but then every now and then there's a pretty controversial issue show up and um maybe it's controversial to the public or maybe council might have different opinions and so somehow there's a controversial issue either split on council or the public doesn't like it. How would you how would you go about explaining a controversial council decision to the public?

Yeah. Um I one of the things that that you might have seen on my resume is early in early my career I I worked for the city of Akran uh specifically in their law department in the prosecutor's office. And um my main task for a lot of that time in in my last year of law school and just fresh out of law school was to meet with constituents on criminal complaints. Um and so the idea was to allow them to meet with someone in the in the law department like myself or or other you know young attorneys or young interns uh to determine whether or not there was enough probable cause for criminal charges in their misdemeanor complaints. Um, so we would interview, gather the facts, do these types of of leg work and frequently, more often than not, uh, especially where they had previously, you know, reported to the to the city police, uh, department the the issues, you know, we had to tell them, you know, why we we couldn't make a a prosecuting decision. Um, and so I think that was a pretty good um uh experience for me to uh, you know, have those difficult conversations with constituents. you know, certainly honoring their feelings, honoring, you know, why they came, um, trying to give them help where I could, uh, if it was more of a civil issue, if that was the the reason it wasn't, uh, criminal in nature, but in some way doing what I could for them as a, you know, public servant, as a city employee, uh, while still, you know, ultimately telling them, I'm sorry, I know you came here because you wanted to prosecute Mr. Smith next door, but we can't do that, and here's why. And that kind of go ties into, you know, my initial uh response and making sure that they understand not just what the decision is but but why, you know, uh we came that decision.

So you would extrapolate that to your constituent? Absolutely. Um, yeah, there I being in a a leadership leadership role, whether it's as a a manager or as a city council person, you know, there are going to be times when you're making unpopular decisions. Um, and so again, I think making sure that they understand that they were heard is also an important part of that. um you know the uh decision wasn't made uh lightly or the decision decision wasn't made you know without uh input but you know uh making sure they understood that that they were heard even if they don't like the outcome.

All right, thanks Michael. Um I was going to ask are there any decisions or actions made by council in recent history that you can point to or look at and think, "Wow, that's really great. I can't believe we got that done. that's going to be great for the community andor anything that you've seen us do that you would have disagreed with or maybe voted differently than council did. it the only thing that or at least the the first thing that comes to my mind is um DORA I can't cite a you know a date or a time or exactly when that was addressed but I'm sure the city you know council uh you know had a role in in that and I think the door has been uh a a great um benefit for the city in particular for downtown um good for the residents I know that you know when you have that kind of decision there I'm sure were people who were a little bit concerned about it both from an economic standpoint as well as a uh public safety standpoint. Um, but from, you know, my standpoint as a as a resident here in in Kent and being downtown, um, I think it's been a a great uh asset to, you know, have that uh opportunity. people come out, enjoy the outdoors, you know, socialize with people and and really I haven't seen some of the, you know, concerns that might have been expressed back then as far as public safety and things like that. So, I would I would point to DORA as something that uh the the city council and and the city as a whole implemented uh that I think has turned out well.

I'm gonna turn that off. So, I want to know, do you understand can council manage your form of government? And if so, what do you see as the primary responsibilities of a council member under this council manager former government? Then also, have you been to many council meetings? And what is the biggest expense for the city?

Sure. Um, multi-art question. I'll try to get them as much as possible, but if I miss anything, please let me know. Have I been to a city council meeting? No. Um, as I mentioned, I've I've reviewed a lot of the agendas and uh uh minutes on online, but I've never attended in person. I've probably not watched one uh on online either. Um, as far as your last question, I'm sorry. Um, what's the main expense in the budget?

Yeah, I I believe the the largest expense for the city is the police department, the the safety forces. I could be wrong on that. Uh I did note that the uh city revenue is somewhere around 68 million these days but I didn't see the breakdown of that. Um offhand I I believe it's uh policed uh on that. Um and as as far as the uh there there's probably one at least one other question in there. Um do you understand the C city council manager form of government and if so what do you see as the primary responsibilities of a council member under the council manager form?

Thank you. Um, honestly, I should probably do more um background on the form of government. My understanding is the city the city council um deals with policy and the mayor essentially executes. So, the mayor being almost the executive officer um from a flowchart standpoint, the city council is the uh head of local government. We set the we are the legislative body for the city. uh the mayor and the department the departments report up through the mayor up to to city council. Um as far as the uh activities of city council, you know, just like any other uh board or or body, we speak through our ordinances. We speak through our our official actions. I know that we're subject to the uh sunshine laws, the the open uh records laws. So, uh there's a lot of uh process involved. Uh back when I I served as a a board member or even when I was in student government in college, you know, there was the parliamentary procedure that all plays a role in that that I'm familiar with. In terms of the powers and uh duties of the council, visa be the mayor. That's my general understanding as far as the the policy and or I'm sorry, the policy setting and the uh hierarchy of the city.

Thank you. Hello. Hi. Um, how do you ensure if if you were to be on council, how will you ensure that equity and inclusion are considered in in council decisions?

I think what it comes down to is ensuring that we are representing our constituents as individuals. And I guess what I'm trying to get at is um everyone in in my ward has a everyone in my ward um you know regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, religion. Um their their voices are equal. Um so it's important for me to affirmatively seek those voices on in particular, you know, important decisions, controversial decisions, these types of things. Um, I do strongly believe that uh the American way and the American uh system is focused on justice being blind and uh everyone being treated equal equally under the law. So, it's kind of a long-winded way of saying um it's important to me that everyone feels heard. It's important to me that everyone feels included. Um I I I don't have any special experience in the in the world of um uh equity or inclusion other than to say I think that that whether it's the the people that uh are my neighbors or the people that I interact with at work or the people that I interact with uh you know at the gym or in my recreational activities. uh they know that uh I see them as my neighbor, as someone that uh I care about and not as a you know female or not as a immigrant. Um it so at the end of the day it's it's on me to make sure

that people understand where I'm coming from and that their opinion is valuable to me. and would it be very important to help those that might need it more such as an immigrant or a female in our decisions? I think if we to speak for those who might not feel comfortable speaking.

Yeah. I I think when it comes to the city and and and governmental decision making, if there are people that are going to be impacted by our decisions, which is frankly everyone, um it's important for us to make sure that they are included. Um so, you know, I I I don't know if I see it so much as helping more as um ensuring that they're included. And if they're not included whe whether intentionally or unintentionally um that can be a problem and that's something that we want to ensure that um you know this the people of the city of Kent know that we value them. Um, so again, regardless of their economic status, regardless of their uh, you know, uh, religion or or race or whether they're W, W four, we want them to be involved and and feel, uh, like they're just as important as anyone else.

Thank you. Um, we all come with different experiences and skills. Um, but what do you think you can contribute towards achieving city council's top priorities during the remainder of this term?

Yeah, I I think as far as my background and experience, um, I don't think I've mentioned it or I I might have mentioned it early on, but I am an attorney by training. Um I I think my talent or at least uh you know something I'd like to focus on is my ability to analyze. Um so when it comes to whether it's large projects the city might be undertaking, whether it comes to um reaching out and working with other uh city departments and and getting some uh uh background assistance that the the city might need. you know, I know I don't I won't necessarily have a a lawyer hat on at the time, but just using that experience to try to shape the best outcomes as possible. Um, you know, how many times do we have, you know, decisions or discussions and we might be talking with a group of people and focusing on 80% of the issue but ignoring or forgetting about the other 20%. And I like to try to be that contrarian who looks at the other 20% and says, "Okay, that's great. I'm glad we have an understanding. We've taken a look at all of these things over here, but have we thought about this?" And so, I think that something I would bring to council would be to, you know, bring that outlook um to to make sure that we're looking at all sides of an issue. uh whether it's a you know public utility problem, whether it's a a fiscal problem, whether it's a public safety problem. um having that that background to say, "Okay, you know, when I worked at at First Energy and we had this, you know, public uh utility problem where we're working with the the county on on this right of way. I remember that we had to, you

know, do this that and the other um with the Ohio Utilities Protection Service and just, you know, kind of random things like that." just uh I think using some of my um life experience to ensure that uh we're we're making the best decisions possible. You know, that's what a council does is we use the collective knowledge of of the whole to try to make the best decisions and you know trying to be one part of that puzzle. Thank you.

Thanks, Michael. Do you have anything you'd like to say to council? No, I I in speaking with the the other applicants here this evening, um I'm I know we're all excited to be here. We're we appreciate the opportunity. Um I I know that whoever you select will will be a a good candidate here for the next two years in city council. And if uh I I know it's the end of a long workday, I I hope I've been somewhat uh uh logical and and uh understandable in my comments, but if not, I I apologize. Um, but I I've been a resident of the city of Kent for six years. Um, I've I I really love it here. Uh, I came here because of the city services to be honest with you. Prior to this, my wife and I lived in a nearby township. Um, not to disparage the the township life at all, but I really missed having things like libraries and sidewalks and police stations and parks and, you know, uh, play uh, teams that my kids can play on. um you know, I can take my bike and and ride safely between, you know, downtown and the trails and things like that. So, um you know, people would say, "Well, yeah, you're going to pay more taxes in living in a city." And it's like, I don't care because I get the services for it. Um and and that's kind of what brings me here, not just to Kent, but also to to council is to try to, you know, take the things that I see is is the best parts of Kent and make sure that they're they're here for the next 10, 20, 30 years. So,

thank you. Thank you. You can stick around if you'd like or you can leave and we'll see you next week. All right. Appreciate it.

Thanks, Mike. We're going to wait one second. One of the council people had to

leave for a Yeah, this is kind of Do you see my new talking? I can set it for three minutes and they can see how much right in front of me. Oh,

is that cool? Yeah. Cecil order. Yes. It's a timer that will tell people that how much time they have to speak. So, it doesn't apply to you. Yeah. [laughter]

Well, I guess I can speak too generous. They decide. Yes. Can I tie them both together then? Yeah, that would be okay. I kind of with the first one. Okay. Okay. Yeah, you can tie it together. That's fine. Reset. Okay. That's okay. Thank you very much for applying and I will uh Miss Alissa will ask the first question and we'll go down counsel. Okay. Good. How are you?

Thanks again for applying and stepping up for this opportunity to serve our community. So my question is, how do you approach making decisions when you're presented with conflicting uh recommendations from staff, from public input, and maybe even from your own beliefs, ideas? How would you manage that kind of conflict when making decisions?

Absolutely. Thank you for your question, and thank you all for having me this evening. Um, first and foremost, I would say that I try to approach situations with active listening, get as much information as possible. Uh, I particularly want to get as much information as possible from our city staff first or I'm able to go out and to talk to folks. I want to be able to have all of those details. Um, and in understanding the way that our council was set up with our government model, it makes sense to to to deter to those folks first. After I have that information, I want to go straight to the people. I want to say, how do you feel about this? And at the end of the day, you have to talk to your colleagues on council, sunshine permitting, uh, to make sure you don't break any of the rules. But you need to hear everyone out. We can't come into these spaces, make decisions without having that information without hearing from other members of the community. So I think that's how I would approach it.

Thank you. Thanks. Hey Chris. Um my question is a multi-art question. So I'll start with the first and that is can you just tell us about your motivation and interest in running for this uh ward position right now? Absolutely. Um about a year ago I almost died. It changed my perspective on a lot of things.

I know it's like a shocking thing to hear. I'm okay. I promise. Um but I discovered some things about my health and about um some genetic stuff that I didn't know that I had. And I found that out the hard way. Year later, two weeks from now, it'll be a year later, I feel great. I feel better. Uh and I'm managing. But it changes the way you kind of look at the world and it changes the way that you look at your place in the world. I've always been someone who volunteers. I've always been someone who tries to be involved and try to support other people. Um [clears throat] I'm usually the guy who is standing behind the guy running for office. And I have told probably everyone in this room at some point in time or another, I don't really have an intention of doing that.

That changed for me when I realized that the time that we have here is very limited. We don't know what tomorrow brings. And when I look out at the world that we live in and I see governments shying away from transparency and shying away from listening to the people that you're here to represent, gives me pause. It gives me concern. And I know that if I don't step up and if other people don't step up and raise those concerns and, you know, wave those red flags around and say, "Hey, what are we doing here?" you don't have compassionate leaders and you don't have folks who are listening to people, actively listening and making decisions based off of what the people want and the people need and what's best for the city and not what's best for your personal interest. We're no better off than the nation right now. And to me, with the little time that I do have on this planet, I want to try to make it a better place.

Thank you for that. And sorry, I speak for everyone say we're glad to hear too. Um, second part of my question is just what do you see as some of the challenges and opportunities for the city in this current moment?

I think right now one of the biggest challenges we have is meeting people where they are. We have this big beautiful new building. Um, and we need to fill it. We need people to come in from the community to voice their opinions. We need people to come in to join our boards and commissions. We need people to feel like they have a seat at the table and to show up and then be at the table. I feel like now more than ever, government needs participation, be truly representative of the people. It's not like it used to be. You have to give everyone space to come in and and share those details. And far too often, especially in Ohio, we see local governments that don't do that, that limit public debate, that take away from that, make it harder for folks to make their opinions heard. I am a huge advocate of transparency. I believe that everything that happens in local government should happen out in the public. It should be requestable. It should be available to folks. How we make informed decisions. It be it boards and commissions, our council members, whomever. They should know how we got there. They should be able to connect the dots, not come into a space and say, "Oh, we're voting on something. We don't have the details." So, for me, it's that transparency piece, and it's getting people to the table. And then from there, I also think the other biggest issue that's probably going to be facing us is going to be the budget. Uh, right now, we obviously have a surplus. I know you just talked about that at the last meeting. Um, [clears throat] but I think depending on how things go with the state government and cuts, depending on how things go with the federal government and cuts, we are always at the whim of certain outside forces. So, it's investing in that rainy day fund and building that up for when the city needs it, but also being able to recognize when it's raining and being able to dip into it if it means bettering the lives of the people of Kent.

Thank you. Thank you, Christopher, for for applying and for being here. Um, [clears throat] I'm going to ask you about controversial council decisions and um how you might uh explain um these types of decisions to the public. And let me give you two examples. One might be a split on council or council there's a it's a controversial for council. One might be council's okay but maybe the public isn't so happy. So how would you go about explaining something controversial to the public?

Um I think I would probably approach it the same way that we did on the planning commission. Uh I know several of you were in the meeting when we met to decide whether or not Starbucks would be there, whether or not we would cut down a century tree. uh you had, you know, 100 folks show up who wanted to talk about it and you had planning commission that was split on one side that said we think that it should be this way and the other two on the other and then we had a community that was split. I think could you remind me of what what where you were on that issue on the planning commission? Yeah.

Um so on the Starbucks I believe I voted yes due to the legality of the issue. uh because we weren't the way it was explained to us by legal counsel, everything was fully permitted. I was also the individual who made the comparison that if we pushed through that issue, we would be able to control the project. We'd be able to control the plan, make sure it conforms with the requirements of the city. If we denied the project, the developer would then have the ability to step away from that project, go cut down those century trees because they weren't currently being considered by the city as part of a project, and come back to us with a clean slate and be able to just kind of take over the system. What we ultimately came to was at the end of the day, you're going to have disagreements with the people that you work with. You're going to have disagreements with the people that are here to represent other folks. It is remembering that one, we're all human beings, and two, that we're all here for the same reason. that is to better the city. That is to be a good representative and a steward of the city. And in doing so, we have to be able to agree to disagree and then come back to the table on the very next issue. If anybody went through a fraternity or sorority, um they understand that sometimes you have to leave the business at the table. That personal relationships and personal feelings about those issues, there's a space for business and there's a space for the rest of it. And when you're in this space, you have an obligation in my mind to doing the best that you can to represent those people. You have to put personal differences aside. You have to put your feelings aside and you have to do what's best. We're not always going to agree. Doesn't mean we can't work together. And that doesn't mean on the next issue on the agenda that we're not on the same side. I think everyone has a different perspective. A lot of us also would represent different swaths of voters who might believe different things. What is good for your district might not be good for my district. They might not agree with it. it might be different going over from word five to word one. So being able to say, you know, we have a difference of opinion. We agree to disagree. Ultimately, council decided to do this. And then you have to respect that decision. You're not always going to be on the winning side. But what the council decides is what the council decides. And you have

to go out and be a cheerleader for that and be a cheerleader for the city. That's the job. Even when the public might disagree with us. So I think when the public disagrees, you have to explain how you got to your decision. Say this is how I got there. At the end of the day, I think the public won't always agree with us. Um, no, the public didn't agree with me when I voted on that Starbucks issue. It was a very difficult choice to make, but it came down to protecting the legality of the city versus the personal opinions of the individuals who came out. And while their opinions were important, I tried to avoid his litigation because that could have hurt the city more in my opinion than the project that was at hand. Still hate the traffic in that area just to just to be clear.

But I think you have to go out and be willing to explain your choices. folks aren't always going to agree with you and if you don't go out and explain your choices and take the time to meet with them first before you make those choices, they're also not going to re-elect you when it's time to run again. So, you have to meet people again where they are and be willing to have those adult conversations. It's not always going to be easy, but it's the right thing to do. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks, Chris. Um, can you point to any actions by council in recent history that you wholly agree with and think, "Okay, this is going to be fantastic for the city. I can't believe we got this done." or are there any that you look at and you think, "Wow, I really wish they would have gone a different way on this."

Uh, I'm going to have a really nerdy answer to that. Uh, redeveloping the zoning code and reexploring all that and the work that the planning commission did on that was huge for me. Uh, the city investing so much time and energy in that was a huge accomplishment for me and that I think we made it a more equitable document for the people that it impacts. Outside of that, I think the easiest thing to point to would be the downtown redevelopment. That is a crowning achievement of this council that took years and years and years to implement and to bring all this resources and partnerships with so many different organizations, federal, state. This city would be drastically different. The city was drastically different when I got here 16 years ago. It looks nothing like it did. And I think you all should be very proud of that. It is a crowning achievement for this city. Uh something that might have been a little controversial maybe when we tried to move the door zones a little bit and move the outdoor area. People didn't seem too happy about that. We probably could have asked first and said, you know, we're thinking about doing this. What do people like? But think anybody also thought it would be as controversial as it was. But once businesses spoke out and people spoke out and they talked about the impact, council came back together and said, "Okay, what do we have to do to, you know, address this?" [clears throat] And I think that's what you have to do. Hello. So, my question is kind of a three-prongong question. I do you understand K council manager form of government? And if so, what do you see as the primary responsibilities of a council member under the council manager form of government? What's the largest expense for the city regarding the budget? And have you been to any council meetings?

Uh, I will do them backward uh because that's how my brain works with dyslexia. Uh, I have been to many council meetings. Um, I haven't been to as many recently. The last council meeting I came to, I believe, was in reviewing the um charter commission recommendations. Um, for the second middle question, budget,

the budget, um, I would have to take a look. I'm not entirely certain. My assumption would be that the largest cost that we have to the city is going to be our staffing administration costs. Uh it's going to be our um maintaining certain city systems, be that utilities, be that repairs, or be that um actual infrastructure pieces. Um and my guess would be from there it's probably going to be um some of the vendors that we're paying for. some are legal fees are fees for folks who come in to do the studies, that type of thing. I would have to take a look at the budget. I know that the budget was considered at the last meeting. I haven't had a chance to read through all the pages yet.

And then the other part was, do you understand Kent council manager form of government? And if so, what do you see as the primary responsibilities of a council member under the council manager form of government? I think the primary responsibility of council members is policy. I think we have a form of government that encourages council to come together and to decide the policy directions and then empowers our city team to go out and make that a reality. We empower the city manager. We empower the staff. They guide us. They inform us. But it is a relationship. It's working together to make those things happen. But at the end of the day, I believe that council is responsible for setting the policy. And the administration is responsible for carrying out that mission, carrying out that vision, and going out and making it happen. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm going to put two questions together. Um, how do you work with colleagues who strongly disagree with you while also ensuring that equity and inclusion are considered in our council decisions?

I work in um political compliance. So, I look at numbers all day long and I file reports for folks who are running for local, state or federal government. Candidates on all sides, all kinds of different stuff there. No one ever agrees. No one ever agrees on the budget. No one ever agrees on how money should be spent. No one ever agrees on how reports should be managed because of the nature of the work that we do. So what we have to do is come together and say let's look at the facts. Let's look at uh where we are. Let's look at this. What's the determination here? What information do we have? What information do we need? And then we defer to the experts. We say okay let's talk to legal. What does legal say about this? Let's talk to this person at the FC. What do they say about this? We defer to the folks around us. uh because you're not always going to agree, but you go out and you get more information. At the end of the day, you're going to have a majority. One way or another, one side is going to come to a consensus and the other side isn't. You're not always going to be on the same side of that majority, unfortunately. But that is the cost of doing business. That is the reality of doing business. Um but you have to be willing to hear people out. You have to be willing to let someone come to the table and give you everything that they're trying to give you before you give them back your opinion, respect, and then go with it. I think that's really important for the diversity side of thing. I think it comes down to what we do to again meet people where they are. What we do to elevate diverse voices, bring people to the room, and make sure that if someone isn't being represented, we're giving them an opportunity to do so. Uh was uniquely fortunate in being a student at Kent State University. I got to be a part of the team that advocated for the LGBTQ student center before it was launched and when the funding was being secured and Dr. for Molly Marman and Dan Naden and all the others who were doing the real hard parts of that fight. Um I was stationed between the student multicultural center and the student women's center at Kent State. So I spent a lot of time in both organizations learning about um different opinions and how we can build bridges, how we can bring people to the table. We also did a lot of trainings around that on preconceived notions and how people are treated depending on who they are. You can't have true diversity, equity,

and inclusion unless you reach out your hand and invite everybody to the table. And in doing that, you have to continually ask who isn't seated at the table, who doesn't have a spot here, and how do we bring them? I think that's something that everyone should be looking to do. Thank you. Thank you. Um, we all come with different experiences and skills. Um, but my question is, what do you think you can contribute towards um achieving city council's top priorities during the remainder of this term?

Uh, I think I bring two things. One, I am uh and I I know this will be an irony. Um, I'm a numbers hawk. While I haven't had a chance to go through and look at all the lines in the budget, I deal with multi-million dollar budgets every single day. File reports for clients that are 30 and 40 million budgets. And it it's just what I do. Those numbers I'm able to go through. I'm able to look at everything. Things stand out. I'm able to connect the dots. Um because I've done it for so long. I feel like having someone who can look at the budget, who can help to say, "This is where we're spending. This is where we could possibly save. This is where we can make some compromises, and just being able to then take that information, read through the budget, and explain it to people when they ask, explain it to the city. Why is this important? Yes, we're spending $55,000 over here, but this is what it actually does. this is how it actually benefits the public. Being able to take that information and turn it into action helps those folks understand and helps them get on board with what you're trying to accomplish. Um, I also think my background in working um with the board of DD and Portage County is very helpful uh in as far as being able to work with other government officials, agencies, and groups uh to advocate on behalf of the city. Part of my role at the board of DD was working with legislators as they were drafting budgets, as they were making key decisions about how much they were going to invest. I was one of the groups that was lobbying for an increase in wages for direct service providers who provide services to individuals with developmental disabilities. Um, and I had to work with folks on both sides of the aisle because that's the job. So having that experience, being able to go to those spaces, being able to have sit in on union negotiations and sit in on those pieces, I think all of those things individually can help support council in different areas.

Chris, do you have anything you'd like to say to council? I just want to say that it has been a privilege to be here for the last 16 years. Um, again, in my application, I said that I grew up in a rural area in southern Ohio. I come from a thousand acre farm in the middle of nowhere. I never expected to find home in this city. It's been my honor and privilege to serve every chance I've had to do it. If you select me, it will continue to be my honor and privilege to serve right alongside you. And if you don't, I really appreciate your time and allowing me to come in here and giving me a chance to do it. Thanks, Chris. We will see you next week. I move that we go into an executive session to discuss employment and appointment.

I think I have to Oh, you have to do that. I'm sorry. Uh I'd like to move an executive session to consider the appointment, employment, dismissal, discipline, promotion to motion or compensation of a public employee or official. Second. Roll call, please. Miss Silka. Yes. Mr. Clapper. Yes. Mr. Hook. Yes. Miss Schaefer Bish. Yes. Mr. Typton. Yes. Mr. Turner. Miss Wallik. Yes. Miss Wesley. Yes. Move to excuse. Mr. Turner. Second. All those in favor? I opposed. Thank you.

I They sure do. Don't. They sure do. I did I did it for 12.