City Council - Regular Meeting

Okay. Uh we are are back in the finance committee uh during the executive committee at 7:32 and we going to take no action on anything discussed in the executive session. And no action taken in the executive session. Thank you. Is there a motion to adjurnn finance? A motion to adjurnn finance. Second. Uh, all in favor?

Opposed? Motion carries. Okay. At this time, we're going to have a public hearing. The public hearing is to consider an amendment to contract establishing governing the city of Madina Montville Township Joint Economic Development District and to add certain properties to the district. Uh, Mrs. Marshall, do you want to explain what this public hearing is about?

Sure. Thank you, Mr. President. So this request is to amend our city Madina Montville Township contract by adding district to the Jed territory and for consideration this evening are four parcels two of which are owned by um Cobblestone Crossings LLC and then two are owned by hold on a minute the other name of the is Lakefront Ohio LLC. See the it's a total of a little over 59 acres and the developer is interested in and you all have a map by the way so you could take a look at that map. Um so if you look at the parcels to the north of Cobblestone Drive, we're looking at um a potential VA clinic, an assisted living facility. And then you'll see that the residential to the north, those are going to be commercial rental properties. And then if you go a little further north on the corner of Sharon Cockley Road, which is State Route 162 and State Route 3, is another area reserved for um probably a larger retail project, but that's yet to be decided. So, um, the Montville Township, City of Madina, the Jed board met back in May to approve these four parcels coming into the district. And as part of our process, we have to have a public hearing and then the township um, Montville Township trustees have their public hearing scheduled for tomorrow evening. Um, Katie Wino, Lancessie is here. She's the developer for Cobblestone Crossing. So, she's here this evening um to say a few words as well.

Thank you. Okay. Thank you. So, at this time, I'd uh entertain Is there anybody that wishes to speak in favor of the amendment to the jet? By the way, I'm in favor of it. Just so you know. I know. I figured that. Um and so would Katie come? She she go to the back there and and talk now. Thank you.

So, we can hear her. My name is Katie Wino Lancianis and I am the developer at Cobblestone Crossings um which is located at the corner of State Route 162 and State Route 3. Um do you need my address? Yes, it is uh 3200 West Market Street, Akran, Ohio 44333.

And um thank you for uh hearing me tonight. We are bringing to the um to you tonight this application to be considered to add um as Miss Marshall said, approximately 55 acres into the Jed. This um 90 acre development total is within the jet expansion uh area in Montville Township and we have been working over the past couple years with both Montville Township and the city with the zoning that would be located in this Jud. As Miss Marshall mentioned, uh there is uh projects in place currently um that we're working through. Final approvals for multifamily rentals, uh a VA clinic, and um working on approvals right now for an assisted living facility. There's future development as you go north, which is to the left on your page, um for uh it's about 21 additional acres that will have some large commercial projects on it that are still to be determined. Uh we're finalizing right now our uh engineering at the county level and um anticipate getting uh shovels in the ground this spring

and I'd be happy to answer any questions. Thank you. Anybody have any questions? Oh, thank you, Mr. President. Also, I just would like to note that um she has also completed a traffic study for the site and has received approval from ODOT for a right in. Correct. Off of State Route 3. Is that correct? That is correct. Off of State Route 3, there is a right in and then full access on State Route 162 at the southern edge of the development. Access will be at Cobblestone Park Drive.

Thank you. Thank you. Is there anybody else that wishes to speak in favor of the amendment to the jet agreement? Is there anybody that wishes to speak against the amendment to the jet agreement? Hearing none, the public hearing is closed. At this time, I'd like to call the January 12th, 2026 council meeting to order. If you please rise for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Will the clerk please call the role? Simpson. Yes. here. Sorry. Here the salvo here. Hair here. Isabella here. Simmons here. Reading of the minutes. I move that the minutes from the regular meeting of December 8th uh and the January 6th meetings uh as uh as prepared and submitted by the clerk be approved. Second. Is there any discussion on the approval of the minutes? Will the clerk please call the role on the approval of the minutes? Coin, yes. Dalvo, yes. Hair, yes.

Isabella, yes. Simmons, yes. Simpson, yes. Motion passes 6. Reports of standing committees. The finance committee had its first meeting of the year, which was very exciting. Prior to council this evening, we'll have another meeting in two weeks. Health, safety, and sanitation. Mr. Simpson. Thank you, Mr. President. No meeting to report or nothing to report. No meeting scheduled at this time. properties. Miss Hair. Thank you, Mr. President. No meeting scheduled and nothing to report at this time. Special legislation. Mrs. Dalvo. Thank you, Mr. President. No meeting scheduled and nothing to report at this time. Streets and sidewalks. Mr. Isabella. Uh, no meetings scheduled and uh nothing to report at this time. Water and utilities. Mr. Simmons.

Uh, thank you, Mr. President. No meetings uh scheduled and nothing to report for emergency uh emerging technologies. I would just like to say that there's going to be a meeting scheduled soon and we'll have something to report and I hope everybody's checking out the website and knowing that it's doing very well.

The emerging technologies committee is going to be chaired by the new ward 4 uh representative. That's why I didn't say anything but thanks for informing people. Requests for council action. We have several for finance committee. We have 261 gap conversion contract with Ray and Associates for 2025 to 2027. 262 authorized sale of 5.4235 acres of the former Bennett Lumber property. 263 expenditure for best equipment street department. 264 expenditure for signal service cove for the street department. 265 expenditure to Lake County Sewer for the street department. 266 West Liberty Street zoning map amendment C1 to a C3. 267 grant approval. 2024 Patrick Lehey bulletproof vest partnership for the police. 268 grant application. 2025 Bureau of Justice Assistance Officer Ballistic Vest. 269 budget amendments. 2610 transfer request for MCRC capital contribution. 2611 Transfer request for the railroad fund. 2612 then and now for Flax Safety Police Department. 2613 purchase of a 2026 Ford F250 for the cemetery. 2614. Amend code 1331. Association memberships ships cue COG service department 2615 Madina Municipal Courthouse change order number one 2616 FMVE fair market values for South Huntington Street Bridge 2617 railroad crossing agreement and letter agreement for Prospect Street Bridge 2618 accept donation for signed purchase agreement for 338 Foundry Street 2619 petitions to join Jed Cabone Crossings LLC and Lakefront Ohio LLC and 2620 electric aggregation pricing. For the special legislation committee, we have 1DM 2621 modify the current deer abatement

ordinance. For the streets and sidewalks committee, we have three. 2622 modify the current sidewalk program. 2623 modify parking around the square and 2624 traffic signal timing throughout the city. Reports of municipal officers. Mayor Shields.

Thank you, President Coin. Welcome back to council. Uh, welcome back to the five returning. Mr. Isabella, welcome to your first meeting. They will go very quickly and it'll be 24 years before you know it. So, just a few announcements here. I wanted to let everybody know the LEAP program is now complete. On Friday, January 9th, the trucks made a final pass from one end of the city to the other. Um, this was probably one of the longest seasons ever for leaf pickup. And I I know from talking to the service director, he said it was probably one of the most challenging two because you had a late dropping of leaves and you had early snow and that combination made it very tough. But I really appreciate the uh streets department and the the leaf crew for all their work. They were out in the rain last week trying to get this all done and uh again they made sure they went uh on every street and did a thorough one more check, but we are done for the season here until next fall. Uh wanted to let you know on Saturday, this past Saturday, January 10th, the America 250 Madina program had its first event at the library for almost a packed community room. And our own Jed Simmons, council person, as well as former council person Roger Smallley, were both instrumental in a really interesting program that was a declaration of uh independence through early federal legislation. And I wanted to invite the public two weeks Febru or January 24th America 250 program will present another uh presentation at 1:00 at the Madina Library community room which focuses on the founding of Madina and its early years. So very entertaining and very well attended on Saturday. So thank you Mr. Simmons and Mr. Smallley for a great program for the Madina 250 for America 250. Uh next Monday is Martin Luther King Day. City Hall will be closed but trash pickup will remain unchanged. So, it'll be your regular day. But I also wanted to take the time to let the public know that there's a Martin Luther King program presented by the Madina County Churches at Second Baptist Church, 451 Bronson Street, 7 p.m. The

public is invited. There'll be se uh six different pastors from the community that will speak on Martin Luther King. And it's always a very wonderful evening and very meaningful evening. So, I wanted to make sure the public knew about that. Um, also, uh, almost a little less than two weeks, January 24th, Madina City Schools is hosting a community pancake breakfast and spotlight on students from 8:00 a.m. to noon at the Madina High School main cafeteria. Breakfast is only $5. And if you're 60 or older, it's free. There's student performances from 9:00 to noon in the Performing Arts Center main stage. And there'll be student art displayed as well as um all of the Claget and Rut Middle School boys and girls seventh and eighth grade basketball teams will play the whole morning too. So just a lot going on over at the high school and for $5 or less you can have a great pancake breakfast. I wanted to let you know United Way of Summit Madina County for households here in the city earning less than 67,000 per year are entitled to free tax prep services as well as households earning less than 84,000 can access free uh tax preparation software. You can contact United Way of Summit Madina County at 23 public square or email them at VA which is volunteer tax assistance at unitedwaysummedina.org. And I just wanted to take a moment too to thank the public uh for stopping in this last week in my first week welcoming me and saying hello. I met a lot of great people. I especially want to thank all the department heads and the employees here in the city. Everybody's been so welcoming and helpful. And I will tell you as council members, we see these department heads and see what they do from a distance, but when you're on the front line, it's really an impressive group that cares about this community and wants to provide great service. And I thank all of you for uh just making this first week so easy on me and so welcoming. So, thank you. It's a pleasure to be here and I look forward to working with not only the administration, but also all of

you council members to continue the great work we do here in Madina. Thank you, Mr. Durham, Director of Finance. Thank you, Mr. President. There's a couple things that originated with finance on the agenda and I'll address those when we get there. Mr. Huber, law director. Thank you, Mr. President. I have no report. Mrs. Marshall, economic development director.

Thank you, Mr. President. Just one item to note for council and the public this evening. The Yosenco site, the former gas station, the site is stabilized for the winter and uh there is still a little bit more work to do with the um grading of the site. And then there's one uh sort of a concrete block that is in the norththeast corner of the property that needs to come out, but they could not pull it out with the with the backho because it's too close to a gas line. So, they'll have to come back and I don't know exactly how they're going to get it out of there. Like bust it up and take it out a little bit piece by piece. Um, but we did have barricades put up so people aren't driving through there or or you know traveling through there. And we did request a grant extension through June 30th of this year which I'm sure will be done way before that. But um we are about 95% done. So that's my update on the Yosanokco gas station and then um we'll be ready the city will be ready. As you know, we received no further actions from both uh from Buster and then also Campbell Oil. And Mr. Huber is going to work on um getting that title transferred to the city. How's that going, by the way?

That's all my That's my report. Thank you. It's on Hubers's list. Thank you. Thank you, Chief Kenny Police Department. Thank you, Mr. President. Just a quick update on the deer hunting program. They have harvested 98 deer and the archery season will end February 1st. Thank you, Mr. Pulli, service director. Thank you, Mr. President. I have no report this evening. Thank you, Mr. Wley Parks and Recreation Center director.

Thank you, Mr. President. Just a quick update. Um on January 2nd, uh just a few days ago, we were able to kick off our sledding under the lights uh at Reagan Park. uh for the public. Um we will continue that on Fridays and Saturdays between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 10 p.m. Obviously, weather permitting. Um so make sure to follow uh us on Facebook uh for updates. And lastly, uh just want to remind the public if you haven't been into the rec center lately, stop out. We'd love to have you there. There's a lot of new programs, events, uh we have membership info, and we'd be happy to give free tours. Uh or you can check us out on online at madinar.org. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Patton, city engineer.

Thank you. Just an update on our Blake Road reconstruction. Um that project has been awarded. Uh we anticipate it starting in the first week in February. We will be reaching out to all the property owners uh with information and an open house for them to come take a look and ask any questions about the project. Thank you, Chief Walters, Fire Department. Thank you, Mr. President. I have no report. Mr. Dutton, Planning Community Development Director.

Uh thank you, Mr. President. Uh in 2025, all jurisdictions in Madonna County partnered to submit one single community housing impact and preservation or CHIP grant application uh with the county serving as the administrator. Uh CHIP funds are predominantly used for the repair and rehab of homes for incomequalified homeowners. Uh we recently received word that we've been conditionally awarded uh the CHIP funds with the city of Madonna estimated to receive approximately $370,500. Uh this is good news, but applications are not being formally accepted at this time. Once the grant is uh fully awarded, CHIP applications will be submitted through Madonna County and their consultant Kleinfelder. Uh I'll note we've greatly appreciated the county's willingness to collaborate on the CHIP program, particularly Denise Testa and her team in the planning department. Thank you.

Thank you. Uh consideration of mayor's appointment at this time I'd entertain a motion to confirm George Sam the historic preservation board as a second alternate for a term expiring 123126. Motion to approve. Second. Any discussion? All in f uh clerk please call the role. Dalvo. Yes. Hair. Yes. Isabella. Yes. Simmons. Yes. Simpson. Yes. Coin. Yes.

Motion passes. Six. At this time, an entertain or a motion by council to authorize a designate for the public uh records training. At this time, I'm entertain a motion to designate the clerk of council and or the deputy clerk of council to act as the mayor, the director of finance, and city council's designate to attend public records training as required by sections 14943 and 10943 of the Higher Vice Code. Motion to approve. Second. Uh any discussion? Will the clerk please call the role? Hair. Yes. Isabella. Yes. Simmons. Yes. Simpson. Yes. Coin. Yes. Dalva. Yes. Motion passes. Six.

Notices, communications, and petitions. We have none. We have no unfinished business. Introduction of visitors. Members of the public who limited the opportunity to speak on any issue or concern which pertains to the city during a portion of the council agenda devoted to introduction of visitors. All comments shall be directed to the chair and a reasonable uh time limit of approximately 5 minutes will be opposed. If there's a group, please appoint a spokesperson. Speakers should approach the rear microphone and state their name and address so it can be entered into the minutes. Members of the public will be afforded the opportunity to comment on other portions of the meeting is determined by the chair or by a vote of the majority of council members present. Is there anybody that wishes to address council at this time? Janet.

Thank you. My name is Janet Newcomer and I am the executive director of feeding Madina County. I come here tonight to say thank you very much. Um, thank you to city council, thank you to the mayor, um, thank you to the police chief, to the fire chief, um, and to so many of you, um, who volunteered at our city distribution on December 30th. Um, I wanted just to share a few numbers with you. We distributed 3,125 pounds of food. We served 85 families. That breaks down to 275 individuals. 24 of those families were new to feeding Madina County and 15 of those, so that's in addition to the 24, 15 of those families were new to any food program in the Akran Canton Regional Food Bank network. Um, meaning they had not accessed a food program before. We think it's really important to reach out to people who normally don't access us. So I want to thank you providing for providing us with the vehicle to be able to do that. Of those families that we served, 35 were families with children, 50 were families without children. We served or you served, you gave us the ability to serve 90 children ages 0 to 17 and 50 seniors and 135 adults. You made a tremendous impact helping those people who are struggling with food insecurity. And on behalf of those families that we served, I say a very heartfelt thank you.

Well, thank you. And I guess the question that uh that we have is I mean we we donated up to $50,000 to be used to help feed those in need in the city of Madina. I'm pretty sure we didn't spend that amount correct

during this first goound. So the question would be uh is there enough available or wouldn't we know the amount of money that was spent and and when can we do another event? We are we are calculating how much we spent because we in advance of this purchased food. So I will have those numbers for you shortly, but I don't have them tonight yet. We anticipate using additional funds to serve seniors. We'll be doing our staples for seniors program on Friday for uh seniors located in um the senior housing facilities throughout the city of Madina. We're also opening up the emergency pantry. I think by the end of the month we'll be able to calculate what we have left and then we'll come to you and we'll select another date to do a second distribution.

We appreciate it and we appreciate the great partnership with feeding Madina County and in order to help the residents of the city of Madina. I know you go beyond that and help the people of the county you know but in these times as are are difficult for a lot of people we're glad to provide them with assistance and you know sustenance that they they definitely need uh in these you know these harder times. We we just could not be more grateful. The volunteer turnout was exceptional and the number of people that we served was significant. So again, thank you. Thank you. Um, moving on. Is there anybody else that wishes your address counts at this time? Yes, sir. Thank you.

I'll probably use the uh the full five minutes. So, my name is Ben Rdnick, 7:30 Fairfax Drive, Madina, Ohio. So, good evening members of the city council. I want to share share a quick quote from an article that I came across. Imagine that someone stood on your street writing detailed notes about you every time you drove or walked by them. All the details about what your car looks like, make, model, color, distinguishing characteristics, bumper stickers, as well as details about visible occupants and pedestrians, how many at what time, their activities, demographic data, what they're wearing, attributes that they may have such as a beard, hat, tattoo, or t-shirt, or what the hat, t-shirt, or tattoo might say. Now imagine that there's an army of individuals doing that. To give some background about myself, I have 10 years of experience in audit primarily focusing on IT systems which includes data privacy and security. Over the years, I've worked across several industries from tech and insurance to government manufacturing conducting numerous audits, many of which involve assessing data handling and security risks. I'm here today as a concerned citizen, urging you to carefully consider the long-term implications of the government lease safety surveillance cameras currently implemented in our city. Block safety isn't just a tool for catching criminals. The reality is that these cameras target everyone, including innocent civilians. They track every vehicle, whether involved in a crime or not, and capture data far beyond license plates, including make, model, color, routes taken, and other distinguishing features. This creates a digital footprint for everyone in our community without consent. Every movement, whether related to a crime or not, is logged, stored, and analyzed. It's worth noting that Flock Safety has installed cameras in over 4,000 cities across 42 states. However, despite this wide adoption, numerous cities have since revoked these cameras as more details about the system have come to light. Federal agencies such as ICE, Border Patrol, and the FBI are already using Flock data in cities across the country, often without public knowledge or legal oversight. If you believe that Flock's data is secure and only accessible to law enforcement through proper legal channels, it's important to remember that once data is stored on third party servers, outside jurisdiction, we cannot guarantee how or by whom it will be accessed in the

future. According to statements from some US senators, it's alleged that foreign entities have even obtained stolen flock data, raising serious national security concerns. From my experience, I've seen how data can be misused, even when the best safeguards are in place. I've witnessed how actors exploit sensitive data and how poorly protected information can be manipulated for purposes far beyond its original intent. And that's just here in this country. I've also performed audits in China, where Americans often shocked by the level of surveillance. Rightfully so. However, what we fail to see is that we're walking down the same path. We're heading towards a future where privacy becomes an illusion and every movement is monitored. The best way to reduce the exploitation is to limit our digital footprint in the first place. This is how surveillance takes hold. Not suddenly but slowly like a frog in water that warmth until escape is no longer possible. In today's world, data has become a more valuable commodity than gold or oil. An asset that can be bought, sold, and exploited with little regard for people it represents. Flock databases is a treasure chest for many entities. Flock systems doesn't just crack criminals. attracts a movement of innocent people visiting personal locations such as churches, reproductive health clinics, or protests. The argument that the argument that if you're doing nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear, ignores the fact that privacy isn't just for those who uh with something to hide. It's a fundamental right that protects all of us. As I mentioned earlier, if a person did what these cameras do, photographing every car, logging movement, checking drivers for warrants, people would be alarmed. Yet, we accept accept it simply because a machine is doing it. Furthermore, flock systems also track minors, specifically teen drivers. Imagine a teen driving to school or spending time with their friends only to have their movements recorded, creating a digital profile that can follow them into adulthood. The systems of profiling our youth before they even fully understand the consequences of being surveiled. One of the most troubling aspects of flock safety isn't the lack of transparency around how it's artificial intelligence is trained. The company has not publicly disclosed whether it uses customer data to train its algorithms. Is it is it using information for people who have never committed a crime, including minors? This lacks uh this lack of clarity raises here's concerns about Flock's technology. Flock safety claims

that data is deleted after a set retention period, but we have no way to independently verify that. Flock owns the system, the hardware, and much of the infrastructure that it sits on, which is proprietary. Without transparency or access, we cannot guarantee how long this data is stored or who may be able to access it in the future. This also creates a legal and financial exposure for the city. If locks data is misused or breached or accessed improperly, it won't be the vendor facing public backlash. will be the city. Cities across the country are already facing lawsuits over unlawful surveillance and data sharing practices. And once data exists and once data exists, it can be subpoenaed, leaked, or repurposed in ways the city never intended. Another important point is the United States has some of the weakest data privacy law privacy laws, excuse me, out of any first world nation where companies are rarely held accountable for data breaches or hacks, leaving the information vulnerable and often unprotected. Flock is also continuing to expand the power of its system. The company has announced plans to integrate its platform with commercial data brokers such as people lookup services. While Flock has long claimed its license plate readers do not collect personally identifiable information and now explicitly ties LPR data to commercial databases. In another major shift, Flock is transform transforming its plate readers into full scale surveillance cameras. The company has announced plans to allow departments to request not only still images but video feeds or 15-second clips of vehicles passing by. Combined with AI powered natural language search, this means it's no longer just vehicles under surveillance and potentially occupants and bystanders as well. Let me be clear. I'm not against the police. I understand law enforcement needs tools to protect our community. However, these tools must be targeted, evidence-based, not broad indiscriminate surveillance. Access to DA should require warrants. Use should be strictly limited to accordance in accordance with our Fourth Amendment rights. I also have a comfortable level of trust in our city council and our local law enforcement. However, the danger with these surveillance tools is that what while they may be used responsibly today, they can easily be abused by future local governments, potentially compromising civil liberties. It's building a massive database of personal movements just in case they become useful later. It's not

how our legal system is meant to function. The truth is is the truth is that if people truly understood the risks of these systems, many would likely vote to have them removed. But the technology is complex. The average person focused on feeding their family, paying rent, making it through the day doesn't have the time or resources to fully understand the surveillance infrastructure, cloud computing, data security, and its artificial intelligence. I'll leave you with a thought from Benjamin Franklin. Those who give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. Privacy is a fundamental right that protects everyone, not just those with something to hide. When we sacrifice privacy for the illusion of security, we risk losing both. To protect our city's digital privacy, I'm urging the city council to take immediate action to remove these cloud-based block cameras from public infrastructure. We cannot afford to normalize this in our city. Once privacy is lost, it cannot be reclaimed. If the community decides to pursue security cameras, there are safer alternatives to block safety. You should never punish the innocents by the actions of criminals and by breaching everyone's privacy. You are just doing that. Thank you. And I'll take any questions.

Thank you. Appreciate that. You made it. I think a lot of information. Yeah. Any questions or would you like me to take a seat? No, I don't think there anybody got any questions? Nope. Thank you. Thank you. That was good. Is there anybody else that wishes to address council at this time? Hearing none. Uh introduction and consideration of ordinances resolutions. At this time, I'd entertain a motion to suspend the rules requiring three readings on the following ordinances and resolutions. Resolution 326, Ordinance 426, 526, 626, 726, and 826. Mr. President, Miss Hair, I make a motion to suspend the rules requiring the three writings. Second.

Any discussion on the motion to suspend the rules requiring three readings on today's resolutions and ordinances? Will the clerk please call the role? Isabella, yes. Simmons, yes. Simpson, yes. Coin, yes. Dalvo, yes. Air, yes. Motion passes 6. Resolution 326, a resolution requesting the county auditor to make tax advances during the year 2026 pursuant to Ohio code section 32134. Mr. President, Miss Move to approve. Second discussion. Mr. Durham. Thank you, Mr. President. This is uh kind of a formality, but we have to make this request in order to get these advances. So, we do this every year. Any other comments, questions? Clerk, please call the role. Simmons,

yes. Simpson, yes. Coin, yes. Dalvo, yes. Hair, yes. Isabella, yes. Resolution 326 passes 6. Ordinance 426, an ordinance authorizing the job creation grant agreement for Sandridge Food Corporation. Mr. President, Mr. Move to approve. Second. Any discussion? Who's this? Is that you, Mrs. Marshall?

Yes. Thank you, Mr. President. This request is for the this request is for the mayor to enter into a job creation grant agreement with Sandridge Food Corporation for the purpose of renovating a newly acquired facility located at 111 Commerce Drive to allow for expanded sales and marketing departments. An innovation kitchen, conference room, and warehouse space. This building was known as the former Corpro building. And then they moved Corpro into um a building that they owned on Lafayette. Sandridge Food Corporation will have a total investment of 5.3 million for the facility and improvements and they have committed to creating 10 new full-time positions and new payroll to the city of Madina of $600,000. The agreement will provide Sandridge Food Corporation with a grant up to 40% of new payroll taxes to the city of Madina for three years. This agreement has been reviewed and approved by the law director. And as a reminder to council and the public, grant payments are funded through non-income tax generated revenue. Thank you.

Thank you. Any further questions? Mr. President, uh, Mrs. El, I'm going to abstain from voting since my son is employed by Sandridge. Okay. Any other questions? Will the clerk please call the role on the adoption of the ordinance? Simpson, yes. Coin, yes. Dalvo. Epstein. Hair. Yes. Isabella, yes. Simmons, yes. Ordinance 426 passes five BAS, one abstension. Ordinance 526, an ordinance amending sections 3102 B9, 3105, and 3107 of the salaries and benefits code of the city of Madan, Ohio relative to abolishing the cable TV department, creating a communications department, and accepting the new updated job descriptions. Mr. President, uh, Miss,

I move to approve. Second. Uh, discussion. Uh, Mr. Friday in the back room back there.

Thank you, Mr. President. Um, just want to make sure uh first this is a great opportunity. Looking forward to this opportunity with an affirmative vote this evening. Uh, the opportunities that this communications department will create for the city and its residents. I also want to remind council that there are no wage adjustments at this time and the new job descriptions were approved by uh Todd Hunt as well as Greg Huber, our law department, and also approved by the civil service uh commission as well. And I want to give thanks to uh Paul Rose and Chad Simmons for their work on our access committee to get this to council and also thank uh mayors Hanwell and Shields and also council uh through the subcommittees to get us to where we are here this evening.

Yeah, thank you. And it's kind of uh unique as you see where we're progressing in the uh the community. We no longer have cable TV, which pretty much everybody has Hulu or whatever that is. You know, everybody does all those Netflix, Hulu, and all those other kind of streaming programs that we're moving to, which is kind of a testament of how technology changes and how we have to keep up with it. So, uh, this makes a lot of sense, and I think it'll be beneficial to the city as a whole. Does anybody have any questions or comments on that? just that I know that um that Jared worked really hard on um getting the website up and going and um I think that this is going to be a very good thing for the city. Thank you. Will the clerk please call the role? Coin, yes. Dalvo, yes. Hair, yes. Excuse me. Isabella,

yes. Simmons, yes. Simpson, yes. Ordinance 526 passes 6. Ordinance 626, an ordinance amending ordinance number 21825 passed December 8th, 2025, amendments to the 2026 budget. Mr. President, Miss Hair, move to approve. Second. Discussion. Uh, Mr. Durham. Thank you, Mr. President. This is adjustments to the budget as we discussed at the finance meeting earlier. Thank you. Any further discussion? Cler, please call the role in adoption your ordinance. Dalvo, yes. Hair, yes. Isabella, yes. Simmons, yes. Simpson, yes. Coin, yes. Ordinance 626 passes 6. Ordinance 726, an ordinance authorizing a finance director to make certain fund transfers. Mr. President, Mr. Move to approve.

Second. Uh, discussion. Mr. Durham. There are two transfers here. One is the city's contribution to capital for the rec center and the other is the city's contribution to the city-owned railway. Any further discussion? Cler, please call the role in adoption ordinance. Hair. Yes. Isabella? Yes. Simmons? Yes. Simpson? Yes. Coin. Yes. Salvo. Yes. Ordinance 726 passes 6. Ordinance 826. An ordinance of the council of city of Madano House certifying that when a municipal oblig Oh, this was withdrawn at finance. Oh, this is the one withdrawn. Okay. Uh, ordinance 826 has been withdrawn from the agenda. So, at this time, I'd entertain council comments. Mr. Simpson.

Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, first of all, Mayor Shields, I just want to congratulate you on your your first week in office, and I'm I'm sure that all the department heads are excited to be working with you. Uh, I hope Mayor Hamill's enjoying his his time off in in some warmer weather. Uh, there's a lot of things going on around the world and in our country that that uh, frankly, me personally, uh, is embarrassing. But in saying that uh we have to deal with what life throws at us and to deal with that I just again remind everybody just try to be kind to one another and and it will make a difference. Thank you.

Thank you Mr. Simmons. Yes. Um thank you very much to Janet Newcomer uh Feeding Madina County for partnering with the city on our December 30th uh food distribution. If you were there, what an outpouring of support. Um, thank you to the police department for the traffic management. Uh, Larry, thank you for the fire department for all the lights and things. Uh, the fair board for opening up that facility to for us to use that for the distribution uh for cert uh the city volunteers, community volunteers. It was uh an awesome evening. So, thank you very much. Thank you. Mr. Isabella, you're this is your first welcome.

Yeah, I guess I got to say something. first one. Um uh just would like to again congratulate uh Mayor Shields. Uh excited to work with you uh for these hopefully, you know, more than four, but minimum four. Um uh lots of people to thank. Obviously, I have to thank the residents and voters of the city of Madina for putting their faith in me. Hopefully, I can uh you know, do what I can with that with that faith and you know, earn your vote, you know, four years from now. Uh, in large part, I'm not standing here without uh without the help of my uh mom, Barb Isabella. She was an absolute uh rockstar uh for my campaign. You probably saw her around town more than I did in a in an Isabella for council shirt. So, uh from the bottom of my heart, thanks, Mom. Um and other than that, just really excited to to get to work on behalf of the city of Madina. Thanks.

Thanks. And welcome, Mrs. Dello. Um thank you, Mr. President. I just wanted to add my congratulations to Mayor Shields. I look forward to working with you and I look forward to working with Mr. Isabella on our new council. I'm very excited about that and um I'm really glad that feeding Madina County that went really well. I was very pleased to hear that. Thank you. Thank you. And uh you Sorry, I have one more. Okay. Yeah, one more. If you haven't picked up your America 250 brochure, there's some on the rack behind us. Uh our next event is going to be on Saturday the 21st as Mayor Shields talked about. uh stories from early Madina would be at library one to four or or one to two.

So at this time as you notice to my your what is it my right your left uh we have a vacant seat here. It was Mr. Shields who was a ward four council representative who's now the mayor of the city of Madina. We have an obligation on council to fill this vacant seat. So uh in order to fill that vacancy seats we're going to conduct interviews at this time uh of we have five individuals who are pursuing the vacancy. We had six. One individual has asked to be removed from consideration. So the interviews will be conducted in the order that the request or the applications were received by our clerk of council and that will be Don E. Williams will be first, Bruce G. Gold will be second, Matthew R. Gregory will be third, Bill Lamb will be fourth, and Janice Joel will be fifth. The way we're going to conduct these interviews is that all the members will be uh removed to the basement with Keith Durham and you'll be brought up one at a time because we don't want all the other members to listen to the answers of the people who are going because it gives them an unfair advantage. Uh so when we do that, the members will then come up. Uh you will sit down at a chair probably where Andrew is. we usually we usually put them uh to uh give a five-minute presentation of of why you would like to serve on city council and then each member of council will ask a question of that applicant. The same question will be asked to each applicants to be fair so we can judge the answers to our questions. Uh that way when you know the same question answered the the feedback we get we'll be able to discuss in executive session of the answers to those questions and make an informed decision of who we believe will be best to serve as a W 4 council representative uh in the next two years uh because it since the general election is two years from now that's when the individual will have to run for office again for W 4

will be in two years. So, at this time, I would like all the members except for Don Williams to follow Keith Durham in the back door over there to go downstairs. Uh, I don't Do we have any cookies or coffee down there? Probably not, huh? Just some water. Nothing. Keith will sing to you for a while so we can get you loosened up a little bit and relax you a little bit. He'll talk you into being Ohio State fans if you're not already.

Yes, he might do that. So, Don, welcome. I guess you can come up here, sit where Andrew is sitting the and as long as the green light on the microphone is on, uh, that'll give you an opportunity to to to be, uh, heard through the microphone. So, so welcome, Don. And so, Don Williams, if you could state your name and where your address is, and then if you'd like to, we'll give you five minutes of an opportunity to uh let us know, you know, why would you like to be a W four council representative? Yes. I'm sorry. One. Oh, wait. J, the microphone's off. Green. Okay. Not green enough.

Okay. Microphone is testing. Testing. Okay. Yeah.

Um Okay. It might go 5 minutes and 10 seconds when I might time her. Okay. um wanted to say good evening and Mr. President, members of council, thank you very much uh for this opportunity to submit to you why I believe I am your strongest choice to fill this vacancy in Ward 4. Um I'm going to present you with three fundamental reasons that I believe support that statement and respectfully ask for your support to achieve that goal. The first reason that I propose is I love Madina. A very simple statement, but I I think it's significant uh and relevant to the to the question because to love this town, to know this town, to be proud of this town is an important aspect of serving on this council, I believe, and I see it exhibited by all of you because I regularly come and watch. Of course, um Madina has always been my home. My parents moved here in 1956 when I was but a wee boy. And although my career has taken me to different locations for a few years here and there, Madina has always been home since the square was a faltering fountain with a pipe railing around it painted green. And and up until now, you know, it's been a minute. Um, when someone asks me where I'm from, my reply is usually I'm from Madina, Ohio, the crown jewel in the buckle of the rust belt, and they get a chuckle out of that sometimes. But I I think there's truth in that as well. Madina is special. Madina is absolutely special. Um, in my opinion, the city has been on an outstanding trajectory for the last seven several years and we need to continue that trajectory towards excellence. Not just simply good enough or acceptable, but excellence and Madina stands out. It needs to continue to

excel and I think I can make that happen. I can help make that happen, I should say. My second reason is I'm fully engaged in this community. I'm I'm engaged in Madina. We could start with Madina Senior High, class of 72. My body still from time to time hurts because of my willingness in various sporting activities to sacrifice all for the greater glory of the battling bees. Someday it'll pass, they say. Um, I'm still part of the small group of of uh my class that organizes our every five years reunion. That's always a good time. And in more recent times, let's move up to the current century. Um, I I think this is probably the right venue to to describe the the committees and so forth that I presently serve on and have served on. I'm a member of Barbara Dour's USA 250 committee which as has been me mentioned a few times this evening organizes and manages the um semiquincential. See I can say it too chat um that's just now underway and we've also mentioned a few times about last Saturday's initial activity which was fantastic and and of course the followup here in another two weeks. Um, turn the page. Eight years ago, I served on the bicesentennial committee celebrating Madina's 200th anniversary. I'm sure everyone remembers that unless they weren't here. And I also helped run the great race which brought all the antique classic automobiles to the square. Uh, I believe it was 2022. Quite a nice afternoon in the summer that year. I am a member of Main Street Madina. I'm a lifetime member of Madina County Historical Society and attend most of their events. For seven years now, I've

served on the city's archive commission over our museum with Roger Smallley, Paul Wood, etc. And I'm a member of the Madina Alumni Foundation. So, yes, I'm engaged in this town. I still wear my class of 72 ring. Um, the third reason, I'm qualified. Not going to be bashful at this point. It's time to tell the truth. I earned my MBA from Carnegie Melon University a few years ago. and and I have used that education through my life to build multiple small businesses, mostly successful uh in different industries, a machine shop, a franchise restaurant operation, most recently a real estate uh management and brokerage firm both in Ohio and Florida. We recently sold all that and retired. Um I have employed in excess of 100 people at a time. I think that was fun. Um, I've gone broke and I've come back from that experience smarter and stronger. I've also held different management positions with three different Fortune 500 companies through the decades. I think perhaps it's also worthwhile and valuable to mention some of my avocational activities, that is to say hobbies. Uh I was the national president of an organization with 10,000 members nationwide, worldwide with uh across the United States and Canada with 40 chapters, I'm sorry, chapters in 40 states as well as provinces of Canada, Europe, and Australia. I did that for five years, a million dollar budget annually. uh I get things done and I get them done well and I can do that for the city of Madina and and I want to do that for the city of Madina very much. So in

closing, let me just say that Madina must continue to excel that we have to maintain the trajectory of being a high value location, which I think we are excelling at that, but we have to maintain that and even improve it uh both for existing and future residents, visitors, which are invaluable, and businesses. So if you bring me into the fold on council, you will not be disappointed. In fact, I will exceed your expectations and I very respectfully and earnestly ask for your support and vote this evening. Thank you.

Thank you. Uh so at this time each council member is going to ask you a question and the question will be asked of all the other candidates the same question. So I will I will start first. My question to you is what do you think is the most important issue facing the city of Madina?

That is a tough one. I as you know I I I come and attend these and and watch all the various issues and and everything seems to be well in hand where it's not really an issue. It's not something that's in debate very honestly. I think one of the largest issues that cons confronts the residents of Madina is the deer problem. And I hate to drag that thing back up again but it's there. It's a reality. I had 11 deer in my lawn this morning. Um and and how do you address that? I I think a guy named John Coin described my opinion very well of how how we might move forward is a comprehensive plan. Your your video when during the campaign, I thought that nailed it. You know, the the idea of uh involvement of police, sharpshooters, uh where do they feed, understanding the problem in more depth, I I thought it was brilliant and a fantastic starting place. I don't mean to flatter you, but I mean that. Um I guess that's my answer.

Thank you, Mr. Simpson. Thanks, Don, for putting your hat in the ring. Wish you the best of luck. My question is, our city charter states that council members and the seats they were elected for are nonpartisan. Do you agree or not? And why? I think the guys that wrote that charter were brilliant. I absolutely agree. Um, I prefer to not know which way someone leans. I I think that uh leaning partisan, if you will, tends to be more of a national issue. I I don't see that it really impacts the governance of Madina dramatically and and and I think it's incredibly smart to have a nonpartisan council, administration, etc. Um I I think it's a shame. I I I know Well, I won't go into that. I I think it it's just a brilliant way to do it, and I fully support it.

Thank you, sir. Thank you, Mrs. Dalvo, thank you for coming tonight. Um, so how would you handle a situation in your ward where there's a vocally strong minority um that opposes something that appears to be the benefit of the community where there's a vocal loud Yeah. a a vocal minority that strongly supports something that doesn't appear that it would be or they disapprove of something that it appears it would be beneficial to them. They're against the majority position. Correct. Okay. Um yeah, there there's a simple one-word answer to that communication.

You you have to bring those people or the leadership of that group together, understand what they mean. The young man that that spoke at length and incredibly fast uh as an issue, you know, absolutely there's meat in what he is saying and and meaningful things and other people might want to slough that off and not deal with it. That kind of thing is the nature of of human society. Some people go one way, some people go another way. We have to communicate. We have to find that common ground. Figure out a way that we don't, you know, start swinging fists and and resolve in a in a reasonable uh fashion. I, you know, we used to say in a real estate transaction, a deal did not close until nobody was happy. The buyer's not quite happy. He he spent too much. The seller's not quite happy. He didn't get enough, but somehow the deal goes down. And I think that's the essence of compromise and finding workable, viable solutions.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Simmons.

Thank you. Um, leadership rises and falls with relationships. As a W4 council person, you'll be representing a specific population of Madina City residents. There's different perspectives, feelings, judgments, opinions, etc. Please give an example of relationships you have cultivated that would demonstrate your ability to lead a good question. Um again building consensus communicating finding in you know my experience in life has been that some of the most interesting people are people who are very different from me. My wife kind of frowns that I in my old age, I found I like to talk to females more than males. They're they're interesting. They're different perspective. I I I find it fascinating. I've spent my whole life talking to guys, you know, and and I enjoy that. Um I went to this is in no way racist. My my dear one of my very dearest friends is is a black man. You all know him. And he and I and a group of his people went to Egypt together for a couple of weeks. That was fantastic. I, you know, just absolutely fantastic. And, and we came back like brothers. Um, and and I've had that experience over and over in life. The more different a person is, the more opportunity to grow, the more opportunity to find common ground that you didn't even know existed. And and uh it enriches you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Hair. What does diversity and inclusion in the city of Madina look like to you? And how do you respond when someone says that doesn't represent me? That plays right off of my previous answer. Uh diversity is an opportunity to expand to deepen understanding of other people's positions. Um I I will say there's two sides to that coin. I I I think there is meaning and positivity and meritocracy, if you will. I I don't want um diversity at the price of efficiency and proper results. Um but I think that's achievable. You know, it it's it's certainly a hot topic and a difficult topic, but I in general I support the concept of including everybody blindly. As a landlord with hundreds of apartments through the decades, I I am absolutely colorblind, religion blind, age blind because there's no meaning in it. People are people. Good people come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and opinions.

So, how do you respond to someone who says that doesn't represent me?

Well, you got to sit down, maybe have a beer, and talk about Yes, it does. Yes, it does. because all of us hopefully have two legs, two arms, one head. Uh get out of bed in the morning, the traditional pants on one leg at a time. And and uh if you talk to someone for a little while, you'll discover interesting things in common. I you know, when I was on a board, a national board, we had guys from New York City representing that part of the country. We had guys from a cornfield in in uh Kansas representing that part of the country, and they hated each other. a darn city guy. Doesn't know what he's talking about. Loudmouth the country guy. Well, the country hick, he doesn't know what he's talking about. He's never been out of the cornfield. And and yet both of them were incredibly intelligent. And my job as president of that particular organization was to get them both to understand that. Now, they weren't representing each other per se, but they were in a body where they had to work together, get along, communicate their thoughts, and and that was a challenge. Um, but we got there. You know, if you grow up in a world where there's 10,000 people elbowing you and trying to get down the sidewalk at the same time and your voice can't be heard like a city guy, you're used to shouting. You got to make noise to be heard. The guy that grows up in a cornfield in Kansas, he's delighted to see another human being. He hasn't seen anybody for two weeks and he wants to talk to you. How's your sister? How you doing? What's going on? You know, it's a very different approach to life. But they were both in the same organization. We needed to meld into a whole and and they got there. Uh and again communication that coincidentally happens to have been the answer to three of these questions for me. You have to communicate with people. You have to open your ears, open your mind and and not sit on preformed opinions which are so frequently wrong.

Thank you. Thank you. And finally, Mr. Isabella, thank you for applying. Don, uh Madina City's motto is preserving the past, forging the future. How would you balance those objectives? And do you have any particular items that you feel the city needs to progress on or to change?

Well, as as a member of the uh archive commission, I I sit at the museum when we have meetings, the the old firehouse on the square. That's where we have our meetings upstairs. Uh that's certainly preserving the past and and and we work diligently at that. But that's one small piece of the past. The past is houses. the past is ways of life that that uh that fade over decades and centuries of course and and to preserve some of that is really challenging because there's also a town that I moved to when the population was 7,000 and something and now it's what about half a million. Um growth is inevitable. It it's positive. If it's not growth, it's stagnation or decline. And growth requires change. It requires new infrastructure. It requires tearing up the hollow logs that used to be the water mane to put something in that's made out of plastic that will last a century longer. Um it it it's a case-bycase decision and and if you're a civil engineer I'm sure you you have fought that very battle um where you have to compromise again compromise you have to find a way to preserve the things that really matter and some things are going to really matter to that small vocal group that disagrees with the majority position uh but matter for the the greater benefit of the entire population. It's it's a case by case tough decision. And you just got to look at each thing. When something's huge that matters, it's obvious. You get down to splitting hairs, you got to look at it, study it, and talk about it.

Thank you. Thank you. And that completes all of our questions. Uh we appreciate you uh throwing your hat in the ring forward for seat. And I guess at this time, Kathy, you'll get the next candidate, which is Bruce, I think, you know. And you could take a seat in the audience if you'd like. Oh, in the audience. Yes. Okay. Very good. Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity. Yes. Thank you,

Bruce. Welcome. Welcome to the hot seat right up front here. So, at this time, Bruce, let me just state your uh address. So, uh it could be entered into the minutes. And this is going to proceed where we'll give you five minutes to talk how you would like and why you would like to be a representative ward 4. And then each candidate, each council representative will ask you, the candidate, a question. And again, it's the same question that was asked to the previous candidate so we can get a feel for how you respond to our questions. So at this time, just give us your address and you have five minutes to talk about why you would like to be award for council representative.

Hi, I'm Bruce Gold at 407 Providence Drive and I've been in the city since ' 08. Uh I chose to move here because of the opportunities presented. Uh I was a friend of Tom Krueger's who was the uh economic development director before Kimberly and Tom had asked me to help him on his campaign for council and he challenged me. He said, "Bruce, we don't have many people getting involved." And at that time there there wasn't the involvement. And because of that, I said, "Well, geez, I understand what you're saying. I want to be involved. I'm not doing anything." Goes, "No, you're helping me. That's good, but I wanted to go even further." So, I got put on a couple different committees. I was on planning. I was on water re uh water and utility rate review. Um currently I'm on planning still. I'm on the audit committee audit review committee and now also on the charter review committee. So I'm serving in those areas and I wanted to expand that. Um, I've been uh in Ward 4 the entire time I've been in the city as a resident and I see it as an opportunity to bring forth maybe a view that isn't on council right now and that is of a business owner. I moved here because I wanted to move my business here into the city and it presented me with a great opportunity. So I bring that respect that kind of perspective into council and I think it's important because there is differences um from that mindset. I saw that on uh

the planning commission when I was uh asked to join and it was specifically because I was a business owner and it helps to bring that perspective to give a diversity of views and that helped greatly. But Madina is a great place to live, raised my kids here. Uh my wife and I aren't planning on going anywhere. we're going to stay here for a long time and uh I just want to be able to give back to the city and I think that's important. Thank you. So at this time each council representative will ask you a question and uh my question to you is what do you think is the most important issue facing the city of Madina.

Well, it's part of a problem that we have in Madina because everybody wants to be here. So now we have a corridor on route three coming in from the south of uh the city that we have and if you notice there's about five or six new housing developments and that's going to add even more traffic to the problem that we're having already because Madina is kind of unique. Every single corridor that feeds the city is two lanes. And now we're seeing such growth and we've had some problems. In fact, on council or on the commission, we've seen a couple issue where they've had to do traffic studies coming up through Route Three and how it was affecting proposed um businesses. um packets coming into uh the planning commission and so we've had to discuss that. It's only going to get worse. We need to take a look at that because it is a uh a factor. We're getting uh more and more traffic and the current uh traffic or the latest traffic study was done where we were getting so many cars coming up there more than you realize. it was in uh excess of 24,000 a day and I was really surprised by that but it's an issue we have to look and address and uh we also have to look and address uh other issues if you look at um for example Lafayette uh down Lafayette there's areas that are on the periphery of the city but there's

no sidewalks there's no way for people to get to certain areas in the city that are within walking distance of, for example, the um uh the mobile home park. And so you're looking at that, they don't have any sidewalks. And so if they want to go through to the to the uh um to the get-go, I keep calling it that. That's always it was named getgo when we first started. It kind of stuck. Uh I believe it's e uh ego or easygo

I don't know I pass it every day going to the office that and um so we see things like that it might be minor but it's part of the growth and it's something that could uh definitely help. Thank you Mr. Simpson.

Thanks Bruce for throwing your hat in the ring. Our my question is our city charter states that council members and the seats they were elected for a non are nonpartisan. Do you agree with that? If so or not, why? Yeah, I've seen how um I as you're well aware of Denny, I was uh attending meetings um getting involved in that and just coming to the meeting without any thought of running for one of the seats and I got to see that how it can work and how it should work that you put your partisanship aside for the betterment of the city and I've seen that and how it works well. Okay. And yes, we can all have differences in um and philosophies and what's important to us. Uh whether you're right or left, doesn't matter. But I've seen how the city can work with people coming together and promoting the city and what's best for the city as opposed to their own personal ideas.

Thank you, Bruce. Thank you, Mrs. Salvo.

Hi, thank you for coming. Um, how would you handle a situation where a vocal minority strongly opposes something that appears to benefit the entire community? We've seen that on planning commission have had to deal with it where people were just the ones that were affected in the surrounding area. But we have to look at a couple different things. We can't sit there and promote um an idea or a judgment based on how we feel. We have to look at the in our my case was the planning commission. In this case, the city charter. We have to see how the city charter is written and what we're allowed to do. Because when we start injecting our personal feelings, it becomes con uh complicated, convoluted. But if we look at the charter and what the charter says and we vote that way, then everybody knows we're in a level playing field. And I think it would be important to do that. But I also think that we do need to hear the the feelings and the uh desires and aspirations of even uh a minority whether that vocal or not. But I think it's important that we do take their cons uh opinions in consideration and maybe down the road we would have to change the charter to allow that and if there's enough backing for it that's something that we can consider.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Simmons.

Thank you. Thanks, Bruce. Leadership rises and falls with relationships. And as a W four city council person, you'd be responsible for a specific block of city residents. These residents have different perspectives, feelings, judgments, opinions, etc. Please give an example of a relationship that you have cultivated that would demonstrate your ability to be a good leader. H I think that started when I started attending the council meetings way back when and got involved. We've had discussions, Mr. Coin and I have had very good discussions and we may be on different sides of a fence, but we're able to do it and and most importantly with respect. And that's a part of leadership that may be lacking in um attitude that we're seeing today as Denny alluded to in uh his council comments in uh Washington. But we can have a difference of opinion, but we can come together respect and that helps develop a leader. A leader hears all sides of the story, not just one side. He's going to gather the facts. He's going to bring those facts together and see how it lines up with the overall good because again we're not here to serve ourselves. A leader doesn't serve himself. A leader serves the people and I think it's very important that you take that into consideration before you make a judgment or decision. But you have to do that as a business owner. I have to lead my employees

and that helps to make a better understanding of how to address issues, how to be a good omnib thoughts, different ideas, and that's what helped me. Thank you, Miss Hair. Hi, Bruce. Hello. What does diversity and inclusion in the city of Madina look like to you? And how do you respond when someone says that doesn't represent me?

The way I look at diversity is from all walks of life. I don't care if you're black, brown, pink, or purple. You're a person. You're a member of this community and you have your own thoughts and you have value to that. What I see diversity meaning is outside of just the normal bounds. I see it as someone who grew up in uh the Cleveland area and brings a different perspective to then what we see here in Madina. Somebody who grew up in the generation today is going to be totally different than the generation I grew up in. But there's different thoughts and different ideas and those ideas can be pulled together and brought to the point where we can respect each other, understand what their perspective is and understand that the goal is to create a better Madina and that's important again putting the city at forefront instead of own personal values and and ideas. I want to know how we can help improve this city. And that's forefront, I think, of anybody here on councils. And that's what you want to do. And I think um but understanding that you have to respect other people's walk of life. You know, I have employees from so many different walks of life that I have to understand that and help bring those ideas together. And when we have a brainstorming, we get to do that. We get to see different ideas and help incorporate that into our plan on moving a business forward. No different than with the city.

Thank you, Mr. Isabella. Bruce, thank you for applying. Um, Madana's city motto is preserving the past, forging the future. How would you balance those objectives and do you have any particular items that you feel the city needs to progress or change on?

I think you know it's important that we have history and we have a baseline on how the city was started, developed, and grew. And it's very important to be able to have that understanding. But going forward, we have to we have to look at what changes need to be done again for the betterment of the city. As I discussed with the rapid growth in south of the city in Montville, we have to incorporate changes into our planning, our strategic planning, our understanding of how we're going to incorporate what's going to happen and how it can be best addressed. um if we only keep it a two-lane road coming from the south or from the north or the east or the west, we're going to stagnate and cause problems. But if we understand that we have to look yes this is how we did this in Madina for years but now there's a new metric that we have to incorporate into our understanding and make changes so that we have the foresight that we can see problems before they even arise and uh addressing the uh the need for growth and and transportation and access to the city central is important and that's what we need to look at and be able to incorporate and be be don't be static but we want to be able to be able to grow where we need and incorporate those ideas into that growth.

Thanks Bruce. Thank you. Thank you for uh taking the time to apply for the W four seat and answering our questions. You could take a seat in the audience. Matthew, welcome. You can take the hot seat. That'll be great. Uh, just state your uh your your address. Uh, and then it'll give you five minutes to tell us why you would like to be a Ward 4 council representative.

All right. Thank you. Uh, thank you. I'm at 1162 Bridgeport Drive. Uh, good evening, council. My name is Matthew Gregory. I'm here tonight because I think the city of Madina is a very special place and I want to help keep it that way. Again, I live at 1162 Bridgeport Drive with my wife Nicole and our three children. Nicole is a school teacher at AIO Middle School. Uh our oldest daughter, Clara, she's a second grader, Ella Canavan, and Ryan, our middle child. He's going to be at Canavan in the fall. And then Lucy, our youngest, she is 2 years old. Uh my wife and I chose Madina to be our forever home because of the character of this community. Whether it's taking our kids to the square or visiting the local parks, we feel lucky to live here. But I also know that keeping a city great doesn't happen by accident. It takes people who are willing to step up and do the work. And that's exactly why I'm here to serve. I want to serve on the council. I am currently the assistant treasurer for Madina City Schools, but my journey in public service began over a decade ago. Since 2015, I've worked my way up the ladder of public finance. I started in entrylevel support, and by 2021, I was serving as the treasurer of the ESC of Madina County. Over the past 10 years, I've had the unique opportunity to work under numerous boards and elected officials. I've seen firsthand what works and what doesn't work when it comes to governance. I've learned that mo the most effective leaders are those who prioritize responsible budgeting and transparent decision-making. In my work, I practice fiscal stewardship daily. I look for common sense solutions to complex business problems. I understand how the gears of local government turn and I'm ready to help any way possible on day one. Looking ahead, Badina's biggest opportunity and its biggest challenge is growth. We have a unique identity,

preserving the past, forging the future. My vision is to ensure we have a smart, wellplanned growth that respects that identity. Uh we need to be proactive in this. This means welcoming new businesses and families that fit our community's needs while also being protective of the infrastructure and neighborhoods that make Madina a great place to live. I want to make sure that as Madina grows, we don't just get bigger, we get better. This involves looking at our long-term planning through a fiscal lens, ensuring that every new project is sustainable and adds real value to the lives of our taxpayers. I want to help manage that balance so Madina stays the best it can be. Uh, thank you, council, for your time tonight and for the work you do to our for our community. I appreciate your consideration for this appointment and I'm happy to answer any questions. Thank you.

Thank Thank you. and we're going to ask you questions. So, all right, I ask you the first question. Uh, the question I have for you is, what do you think is the most important issue facing the city of Madina? Uh, I think the number one issue just in the last couple years has been the deer issue. Uh, it seems like it's making some progress, which is great. Uh, but if you just ask me for the one issue, it would be that. And then obviously the other issue, any other issues would be just handling growth, just making sure we have well planned growth. Our city is pretty much capped. There's obviously other places that can be put into Madina or not put into but grown, but the only way we could really grow is up. So just making sure that we have well planned growth is probably the other thing I'd say. Thank you, Commissioner Simpson.

Thanks, Matt, for throwing your hat in the ring. Yeah, it's a pleasure meeting you. My question is our city charter states that the council members and the seats they were elected for are nonpartisan. Do you agree or not? and why.

I agree with that. I think the city should definitely be nonpartisan. Uh we we all live in this city. We shouldn't let national politics uh separate ourselves here in the city. Uh we we have a wonderful city to live in. The square is wonderful. Our neighborhoods are wonderful. And I don't think, like I just said, national politics should get in the way of your neighbors. Just because somebody doesn't agree with you nationally shouldn't mean you shouldn't be, you know, friends with your neighbors because of just some national politics stuff. So, I think it's definitely wise to keep it nonpartisan and I think it's a smart thing to do. Thank you, Matt. Yeah. Uh, Mr. Dalvo.

Hi, Matt. Thank you for coming tonight. Um, how would you handle a situation where there's a vocal minority and it strongly opposes something that appears to benefit the community as a whole?

Well, with anything, like any lawyer says, it always depends. So, you want to get the facts right because that's the first thing you want to do. You want to figure out what the facts are because some people might think that that their reasoning is fact. Some people might think their reasoning is fact. You want to get hear what both sides are, what the minority opinion is, what the majority opinion is. And then have really good discussion with them because you never want to make quick decisions. You want to have, you know, good feedback between both parties so that whatever whatever decision is made, both parties understand why you made it and that it's transparent. Like I said in my uh intro, you want to be transparent as possible. You never you never want a party to feel like you're hiding something from them. So transparency is the number one issue. And if people are upset about it, then they can speak their minds at, you know, public comment and you respect that. But again, you do what's best for the city. That's overall what I believe. You should always do what's best for the city.

No. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Simmons. Thanks, Matt. Thank you.

Um, leadership rises and falls with relationships. As a word for representative, you're going to represent a specific population of Badina City residents. Those residents have different perspectives, feelings, judgments, opinions, etc. uh please give an example of relationships that you have cultivated that would make you a good leader. Uh when it comes to leadership, I believe in the uh in making uh trust deposits. It's something I learned when I was younger. And to me, trust deposits are just giving people your time and letting them know you're listening to them and hearing from them. I mean, every single day when I show up to work, you know, get get through emails, then you go out and talk to your the folks that you work with. You know, just hear how their day is going, what do they need help with? You're just letting them know that you're here for them. And that's what I would want to do with the uh citizens of W4. Let them know I'm available. Do open sessions, you know, coffee with four councilmen or whatever you'd want to do just so that the biggest thing people want is to be able to speak their mind and hear and be heard. And that's what I would do. It doesn't matter what you want to tell me and it doesn't matter if I agree with you or I don't agree with you. I want to hear it help you through it if you need help. If not, you just listen listen to them and just hear their opinions so they felt heard. So, and then when you hear all these things, then you can make wiser wiser decisions.

Great. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Hair. Hi, Matt. Hi. What does diversity and inclusion in the city of Madina look like to you? And how do you respond when someone says that does not represent me?

So it can mean a lot of things. So I'm a I'm a money guy. Obviously I work uh with as the assistant treasurer at Madina City School. So if you take it just from a numbers point of view. You want a diverse tax base. That's obviously very important. Uh we don't want to put all of our eggs in one basket. So diversity to me can be obviously many things but I'd first start with uh financially it should be definitely a diverse tax base. When it comes to social issues I believe in like what Martin Luther King uh Martin Luther King Jr. said it's it's uh not the color of your skin but the but the content of your character. So I believe in that 100%. Um I think diversity is totally fine. Uh, but when you push diversity, that can also, you know, mean upset some people. So, it's best to be neutral and just go off the character of somebody. And then, did you say equity? Is that the other one? Okay. I just want to make sure. Uh, diversity and equity. Equity, I think, is a fine term. Everybody should be treated fairly. And just like with Martin Luther King, Jr. said, you should be you should treat people fairly based on the the content of their character. So, um, and as like what the constitution says, you everybody should be treated the same no matter what. So, uh, and then like I said earlier, you just want to listen to people and if you don't agree with them, you want to keep this council a nonpartisan. You don't try to speak your mind just because you have this one intention. You you have a council to represent and you have a city to represent. You're not here to honestly embarrass your council in case you get too worked up about an issue or something. You need to be calm, levelheaded, and if DEI triggers you in some way, you need to figure out how to not let that do that to you so that you don't make an embarrassment of your council and, you know, cause a scene, a national scene because of just some words. So, you need to think through things. I try to do that with anything.

Thank you. Yeah, Mr. Isabella, Matthew, uh, thank you for applying. you kind of stole my thunder on this question a little bit, but Madina city motto is preserving the past, forging the future. How would you balance those objectives and do you have any particular items that you feel the city needs to progress or change on?

Uh, I think the city's doing great, honestly. Um, but again, it just because something's doing great doesn't mean it'll always stay great. It takes the people behind it to make it great. So, I think as long as we stay down the path we're on, it's great. We we need to remember what we are and that's a great square. I mean there's not many squares in northeast Ohio. I mean I grew up near Oberland. Oberlin has a square but it's nothing like Madina Square. So just remembering that we have this great asset of a square and we want to keep it that way. We don't want to mess up that square and our obviously our historic neighborhoods around it because that square will bring in visitors will bring in you know um revenue people families that want to live here because of the square. That's why my wife and I chose Madina because the square and and the great community. So the more that we can always remember the square is our hub, that's what makes us great. Obviously the people make us great, but we have this great asset. We can't lose sight of that. And um as long as we can remember that and I think our mission statement is perfect. So it just if that's in the back of our mind all the time with any decision that we make, we shouldn't hopefully, you know, veer off and make incorrect decisions. So thanks. Yeah.

Well, Matt, thank you for your time and your interest in serving as a war for council representatives. You could join the others in the audience and we'll move on to the next one. Thank you. might get lost. There he is.

Bill, up in the corner over here. Bill, if you could state your address and then we're going to give you five minutes to explain why you would like to be a Ford Ward 4 council representative and then we'll each ask you a question that we asked all the other candidates so we can determine how your answer relates to everybody else. Just say your address and yeah, five minutes. Okay. My name is Bill Lamb and my address is 140 Lafayette Road in Madina. Good.

Good. Um it's it's great to be here. Um I would have liked to have gone first. Um just to be perfectly honest with you. Um but I'm glad to be here. Uh it's actually thrilling to me for a number of reasons. Um one of them I think is simply the idea of living here in Madina. Um I I came here simply because um I had a friend who was a school principal here named West Florian. And when I was getting out of college in Tennessee, I called him and I said, "Where should I go?" Because I thought I could go any any place to teach school. And he said to me, "You've got to go to Madina. You've got to come to Madina because that's the best place to be, the best place to work." And so I came here in 1975 and taught school at Elanovan. And six years later, I ran for mayor and I was elected mayor. So I had an interesting introduction to the city. I was just initially attracted to it when I taught school um because it's something that's hard to describe but it has to do I think with the sense of community growing up on the west side of Cleveland there was no center to where we lived and when I came to Madina I realized that there was more to the center was more than just a physical thing it it somehow represented a sense of community the sense of people working together and that's really always stuck with me. Um, and so when I became mayor, I had an interesting introduction to the city. Um, that was different from teaching. I had three I worked as mayor, I worked with three different council presidents. Each one of them, I think, probably taught me something uh about the process and the relationships between city council and and the mayor and the mayor's office. So, some of the things we worked on when I was mayor that are important, of course, we did all the routine things that you do to keep the keep the machinery working and functional and

provide services, but we also did a lot of things together um looking forward to what what we would what would be good to work on that's in the future. And some of those things were um the railroad while I was mayor, one of the rail lines that serves the industrial area was going to close. And so I worked with city council so we could buy the rail line and that's why we have the railroad commission now and we still have that rail line that serves that part of the industry. In a similar um issue was the airport on 18 was going to close and airports that closed almost never reopen. And there was no question that it would benefit the it probably wouldn't benefit the city in 5 years or 10 years. But we knew if the airport closed it would be gone. and so worked with council and we bought the airport. One of the most important things I think that we have is the downtown. Uh it's what I think attracted me to come attracts people to come here just to visit. Uh realators say when people are looking for a house, they go through Brunswick or they go to Strong Story, they go someplace, they drive through Madina and they say, "I want to move here. I want to live here." Um, so the downtown had been restored to a degree, but it wasn't protected. So I worked with council for six years. And during that time, we created the historic district, the nineb block historic district and the board that oversees the historic district. Those were important things. I think that we didn't see the result of the benefit right away, but I think we see it in each of those things. we see it more as as time went on. Um, we also expanded the parks, expanded the police department, and importantly for safety service, we had when I was mayor, we had one firehouse and it was on the square. And as the community began to grow, as well as the communities around

us, we recognized that you couldn't have one firehouse on the square. And so we passed a levy and that levy was the was the funding that built the three firehouses that that we have now that provide this service this service to the community. Um after I was mayor I I had taught school public school in Madina. After I was mayor I opened the b the business that's now Cool Beans. We built the coffee house and then leased that business out. I went to Cleveland and I spent a number of years teaching at an inner city Catholic school. Um when I left the Catholic school, I went to Akran, lived in Madina, but went to Akran and taught at a Jewish school. I thought it'd be interesting to me. I'm not Catholic and I'm not Jewish, but I thought it'd be interesting to learn how to speak Hebrew. So, I stayed at the Jewish school for 16 years, but I actually never learned to speak Hebrew. I I learned a lot of songs and I can still say the prayers. Um, but I still can't really speak Hebrew. It's a little more complicated than I thought. Or I might not have been a good student. I'm not sure. Afterward, I I ran for city council um and served with some of you. I've been on city council with some of you. I know all of you. And that was an experience that was interesting um for me in a lot of ways personally because people would ask me, well, what what did you like better? You know, what was that the difference, city council or mayor? Which one did you like? And while mayor is a is a is a a fascinating job, what was interesting to me about the difference of how do you address issues in the city with as as a group compared comparative to how you work as an individual, as a mayor. And what I found on city council was there was almost a um a joy I guess in the partnering with

people and the back and forth of an exchange on ideas and how do you get this goal accomplished and you had people and there's people to work with with different opinions that work toward the same goal. And the approach that I've seen when I was on city council was always this. there was something that needed to be done and that was the goal and some member of council would come at it kind of from this way and some might have an opinion a bit different from this way but always it was this is the goal and so it's okay to have a difference of opinion but which whatever it is that would make us reach the goal that's where we would go and I guess it's that kind of a camaraderie and a working together and a group all that participatory where you're not working alone. You're not working alone as the mayor because you have an administration. But when resolving a problem or trying to work on an issue, it is it is interesting in a human way I think on city council to have that kind of a joint those relationships that get you to the place you want to go and frequently it's not the way you thought you would go. Um, and I think it teaches you somewhat like Benjamin Franklin said, um, every once in a while it's good to doubt yourself. And I think on city council you do learn that you don't always have the right answer, but you can work together to find the right answer. So, um, we have a a great community. I think all of us recognize that amazing things have happened here. a lot of them in conjunction with other groups uh like tonight feeding Madina County Kowanas' chamber of commerce main street Madina which took the restoration and actually expanded the possibilities of the restoration for decades everybody talked about what would it be like to be a a city where people wanted to come here just just a destination city well I think Main

Street Madina was really the the launch of they made this a destination city we had the stage but they made it work. So I think those kind of communal things, the community, whether it was me recognizing that where I grew up was so different than here simply because of the square, which spoke to me about the meaning of community, like-minded people that work together. we had a place that we could all go and share that time and be in the same place that you can only have when you have a a place a setting like this. And you've had enough people work at it in a responsible way that you can maintain and keep it. So my interest in being on council is similar to the interest I had the other times I I was elected. Um we still have a lot of work to do, things that need to be discussed, some things need to be changed probably. We have a future in front of us that we need to look beyond what we're doing daytoday and what's what do we need in 20 years or 25 years and do what we need to do to make sure we address that so people that look back in this room sometime don't look back and say well you missed the boat here because we don't want to miss the boat. So appreciate the opportunity. It's good to talk to you.

Well thanks and now each of us is going to ask you a question and I'll I'll be the first one to start. What do you think is the most important issue facing the city of Madina?

Um, I think the most important issue which I think that we have and I think there's been a lot of conversation talk about it recently is safety. Of all the things that we're responsible as a government, whether we're city government, county government, or whichever level of government, safety is the key. You have to provide safety. Safety on sidewalks, safety on streets, safety for crosswalks, safety for pedestrians, safety for people that live here, safety for people that are visiting here. The reputation that the city has, the reputation is one thing, but failure to provide safety is is is a second thing. We have a great reputation, but you don't want it blemished by things that could be corrected to ensure we do maintain safety. I think there are other issues that are important that we need to that we need to address things we have worked on addressing before but I think a priority issue is to ensure that we do everything you can do that's possible to do to keep the city safe. The crosswalks that we put on the square with the flashing lights. Mark Kolasar and I both I had seen them in Cleveland Heights and Mark had seen them somewhere. We worked on that a couple years before they were installed. And it was great because the administration was able to get um a grant to put those in and I think they were helpful. But I've also gone through the square frequently when those lights are flashing and I see cars on the other side of the street or next to me just still going through and people standing at the flashing. So those are things I think we've we we've begun to do. We've begun to look at but we need to look a lot further to guarantee that.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Simpson. Thanks, Bill, for throwing your hat in the ring. My question is, our city charter states that the council members and the seats they were elected for are nonpartisan. Do you agree or not? And why?

Okay, I do agree. And I've also thought it was one of the I guess I don't want to know maybe a blessing. When the city charter was formed in the 1950s, the Madina County Gazette was called a rep the Madina County Gazette a Republican newspaper. And all of the people that put the charter together were Republicans. But unlike Brunswick and unlike unlike Brunswick and unlike um Wodsworth, those people put together a charter that is nonpartisan. And I think what it does for us is it it better demonstrates that first of all city government is the government closest to everybody to people. It is the one that provides for your basic day-to-day things. It's the most important vote I think that you make. And that city government cannot be distracted by national issues or personal issues based on whether you're an independent, a Republican or a Democrat and to lean into that. City government needs to be involved on how to address this issue in the best way to deliver to residents. That's why being nonpartisan matters. Now, are we political? We know most people know what party you belong to, but it's an exception here on city council in my time I've been here to see that happen. And frequently I have we've had conversations where I couldn't tell what party the person probably really is in action although I knew what party they were in how they registered. So, I think it's one of the great benefits that we have as a community that we can we can work that way and not get involved in issues peripheral to what we're doing for residents here.

Thank you, Bill. Yeah. Thank you, Mrs. Salvo. Hi, Bill. Nice to see you again. Thank you. Um, how would you handle a situation where there's a vocal minority that strongly opposes something that appears to be a benefit to the community? Could you say that again? Sure. How would you handle a situation where there's a vocal minority strongly opposing something that appears to be a benefit to the community?

Um, I think you I think you go with the benefit to the community always. Um I think in every instance whether you are agreeing or disagreeing or you think it's a minority or the majority I think the decisions need to come get the input and always be a good listener but you have to distill that down to what's the best thing for the city regardless of voices that you hear. Not to not take their opinions seriously but to do what's best. Thank you. Uh, Mr. Simmons.

Hello, Bill. Hi. Um, leadership rises and falls with relationships. As a word for council person, you would represent a specific population of the city of Madina. Relationships can be different with perspectives, feeling, judgments, opinions. So, can you give us an example of relationships you have cultivated that would demonstrate your ability to be a good leader? Um, I try to develop relationships, I guess, with most anybody I'm working with. When I was mayor, I developed a relationship with the president of city council. Is that is that where you want me to go with this or do you want it specific to word for?

Not just any specific relationship that would show a coalition, a building, and then that would lead into a good leader.

Okay. Um I think there was always a coalition working with city council. You had you know city council if you're on city council you have to build a coalition. So if you need you need to come up with a dynamic on a on a certain issue. So one of course the most interesting ones I guess was when we worked on the equality legislation. you had to put together a coalition that would recognize something that was that there were I I guess I looked at it as unfortunately but there were two sides to that issue. There was opposition and there was people for it and I mean I built a coalition clearly with the president's city council. The two of us built a a coalition. Um we spent two years working on the equality legislation. Um while some people in the administration stayed silent, while some members of council stayed silent or voted against it, we we stuck with that issue and and provided the leadership that was necessary to to do that. And I think that was important. If we had not had the two of us working in tandem, that issue could have that issue could have easily have failed. And and in my opinion, when people have asked me over the years, what was the best thing? You know, people talk about the the restoration downtown or other things. What did you what was the thing you thought you did that really mattered? It's always gone back to that one thing that we worked on. Um because if you can't have equality, you don't have a very good you don't have a community and you don't have much of a government. So, I guess that would be my response.

Thank you. Yeah. Thank you, Miss Hair. Hi, Bill. Um, what does diversity and inclusion in the city of Madina look like to you? And how do you respond when somebody says that does not represent me?

Um, generally I think that inclusion is what makes us in diversity is what makes us strong. And going back to the equality legislation, um, it is an absolute necessity. It's it's it's sacra sync to me that we are equal. We should all be equal regard. It doesn't make any difference if you're male or female. We all are a color. Um your education diversity is is is is the is the it is the blood and bone of what the country was built on and we are simply a part of that country. And to deny that or to degrade that is to degrade the community at large. Yeah. You have to you have to judge people as people on their behavior or attitude or the other things that we all absorb when we know people. But all of us are equal and all of us are capable and and should be accepted.

Thank you, Mr. Isabella. Bill, thanks for applying. Uh Madina city motto is preserving the past, forging the future. How would you balance those objectives? And do you have any particular items that you feel the city needs to progress or change on?

Um, sure. I think that preserving the past has been has been key to some of our econom economic development. That's a key. And we've we have done it well. And what we've did well with preserving the past was recognizing that the past is not building a museum. The past was making a restoration that could that had a in its in its ability to in order to sustain what was restored there had to be an economic value and when you look at the square there's a value because there is no there are no vacancies because people want to be there because you make money and and it attracts and it attracts people at the same time I think you have to be willing to look ahead and see things do change you know I mean a lot of things change over the decades. And so, for example, um there's been a lot of discussion about having a Dora in town. And I think that in conjunction with what what you work on is to work to make the city safe, make sure that people that come here will be safe and that we have put the things in place to ensure that. But we have to begin to recognize that we can't always conform to what something was 20 years ago because that was the legislation that we had then. And when we look at other communities that have adopted, for example, adopted Doris, we'd want to is that going to be beneficial for is that beneficial for the businesses that are here, would that help to promote business? and at the same time would that provide a benefit and a joy to residents and visitors that want to come and and and participate in that. So I think door is probably one of the obvious examples to me of things that we need to look ahead. I also think Southtown um I've always been an advocate to keep sign codes and things that we have in place now structured in the in the historic district, but I think looking at Southtown is to look at at a place that's different. It's

looking at you're looking at some place that's going to be more maybe music oriented or oriented to something, you know, different than an historic district. And that that area needs to address what's the signage going to be allowed to be because maybe it should be different. Maybe it should be completely different because it's a different kind of place. So I think it is important because if you ever start to lock in and say it's got to be this way because this is the way it's always been then you're just looking at do you're just looking at depression and failure. So I think it's a great question and I think it's important that we look at things going forward that we need to change or to improve on or to address how culture and society's changed. Thank you.

Thank you. Uh, thanks for applying for the Ward 4 seat. And we have one more left and you could take a seat in the audience. Janice, welcome. If you can come up here in the seat, you're going to be put in the hot seat as we've been saying all night. And I know you're the last one with Mr. Durham. Hope the conversation went well. Are you He didn't talk about Ohio State football cuz that's He loves Ohio State football. So, uh, welcome and we're going to give you an opportunity to state your address and then get, you know, have five minutes to talk about why you would like to be a W 4 council representative and then we'll go through our questions. Sure.

And we each ask the same question every candidate. So, we'll do that. So, if you can give us your address and and give us up to five minutes of why you would like to be a W for council representative.

Sure. My address is 1187 Newa in Madina. First, thank you for the opportunity. Uh, as a wife of a fireman for 32 years and a mom of two kids, we chose I I wasn't born and raised here. We chose to to set um our roots for our kids here. And it means something um to be able to choose a community that really has values and um a strong moral fiber to it. And as I as a business owner um for many years and a business owner that owns a couple businesses down on West Liberty, um it's all choices that we make, right? So, why I've why I've put my name into the hat for all intents of purposes is I really have a passion for this community and I want to continue to see all the hard work and dedication that the council has done in addition to the past mayor and the future mayor or the mayor now um is uh really moving our community forward and attracting investors and new families to come here. We're a growing community and I want to be a part of that moral fiber. I I believe in everything that we've done here so far that has attracted um families to come and move here. It's a growing community and I want to be a part of that. Um as a business owner, business coach, I have heard many business owners, uh I've had the honor and privilege of sitting with some of them that just come to cry for help. And to be able to have that to be able to have that conduit and resources to be able to provide them to sustain their business or to help them grow their business. It's an honor and privilege to say that I have my business here in the city of Madina.

Thank you. Now the questions. I'll start with the first question. What do you think is the most important issue facing the city of Madina? Well, from what I hear from the residents, it's the cities and streets, but that's that's the one thing that I hear a common um opportunity for change. Um but um I I would say continuity and really having the same voice to the community as a whole is very important um for the community to trust us as a city council, but more importantly that they see us walk in unified moving forward to move the uh move the city forward. Thank you, Mr. Simpson.

Thank you, Janice, for throwing your hat in the ring. Thanks. My question is, our city charter states the that the council members and the seats they were elected for are nonpartisan. Do you agree or not? And why? I agree. Um my political stance should not have any um my political stance should not have any decision-making power over how the community as a whole moves forward. in addition to um the decisions that are made on the behalf of the on the community. So um regardless of what my stance is, it's whatever is best for the city and the community moving forward. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mrs. Salvo. Hi, nice to see you again.

Nice to see you. Um how would you handle a situation where there's a vocal minority strongly opposing something that appears to benefit our community? So you have to weigh your options. Um I uh I have the honor and privilege of teaching conflict resolution to leaders and that's one of the the steadfast rules is you have to stop and listen and understand and share both sides. But most importantly, um be able to tell the why factor and why that um that decision as a council as a whole um as we move something forward would benefit the community and um and explain our why.

Okay. Thank you, Mr. Simmons. Hello. Hi. Um leadership rises and falls with relationships. Yes. As a W four city council person, you'd be responsible for a specific block of residents in the city. Those residents have different feelings, judgments, opinions, uh, ideas. Can you give an example of relationships you have cultivated that would demonstrate your ability to be a good leader?

I can pick many, but I'll pick one. Um uh there has been many situations where um you have to rise above and um one specific situation that happened to me recently was um I opened a little business called the shippet store and the uh landlord at the time and another tenant had uh difficulty of coming to an agreement and as a small business launching my first day I took the opportunity of of taking a step back. Um, not going to get into details, but you have to look at both sides and as a leader, you have to weigh the options of what what battles need to be fought and what battles need to be assessed. And in that situation, I I had taken the higher road and moved forward. So,

thank you. Yes, m. Hi. What does diversity and inclusion in the city of Madina look like to you? And how do you respond when someone says that does not represent me? H that's very interesting. Diversity inclusion in are you speaking in terms of employment or just as a whole? As a whole.

As a whole. Diversity and inclusion is a is a um a subject that's pretty passionate to me and I see it as everybody has their own um their own journey in life and we have to respect that journey and we may not agree but we have to come to a pass where we have to see each side as as they present themsel and we have to stand in what we feel firm on and respect the others decisions to what they see value in. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Isabella.

Janice, thank you for applying. Uh Madina city motto is preserving the past, forging the future.

How would you balance those objectives and do you have any particular items that you feel the city needs to progress or change on? Hm. Well, preserving the history of the community is important to me. It we I am I am a firm believer that we should not become strong and um I'm pretty passionate about preserving the areas in which we have greens and the park systems and really con conserving what we have as a whole. As we move forward, I think we need to look at our infrastructure. um as as a business owner, but more importantly attracting businesses into my business is important to see the infrastructures of our safety council and our fire departments and can we can we um support the infrastructure build that we're looking to put in Monfell and all the other areas. Do I firmly believe that we need to do something about the infrastructure of how our safety um departments as a whole are going to support th that growth and infrastructure that we have today or that we're proposing today?

Thank you. Well, thank you. That concludes all of our questions to you and all the other candidates. So, at this time, council is going to recess into executive session to take under consideration uh the candidates and make a selection this evening. So, we'll come back out and we'll have our answer for everybody. So, if you'd like to stick around, uh I'm not sure how long it'll be, but hopefully we'll be back before midnight and uh we'll be able to give you the answer uh to our question. So, at this time, uh Reggie, I'd entertain a motion to recess into executive session.

Okay, Mr. President, I make a motion to uh move to executive session at 9:31 to discuss the Ward 4 vacancy uh choice and selection. Second. Will the clerk please call the role? Isabella, yes. Simmons, yes. Simpson, yes. Coin, yes. Dalvo, yes. Hair, yes. Motion passes 6. Okay. I think we're going to meet back in the council office uh to do our executive session.

If you see the smoke come out. We were talking about the back. We put the smoke out. We lit the thing. It was Yeah, we got the smoke out. Green.

Uh, we did that. U, I just want to say to let you know how we do this. We usually go back there and confer about our thoughts of each of the candidates and then we rank everybody uh as as you know we think of how they should be ranked and then we add the numbers up and of course it's like golf the the person with the lowest score if there's a tie we discuss discuss the tie and we went through that. Uh I do have to say that from our discussions you know there you know these candidates as we go through this we have you know usually three to five candidates for each of the selections and it's it is it's this is a great group of candidates because we were said well this person brings this attribute that we don't have this person brings this attribute that we don't have you know and then we have to start discussing uh you know what attribute is do we is most lacking or what do we need on council or how do we how do we move that forward or or what do we looking for because everybody brings something different to the table and it's very interesting. We go through this process and after listening to each of the candidates of of what those attributes are and and what do we we think that that we would need. So we went through that process. Everybody gave a little discussion about who you know who they thought rose to the top of their particular uh points of view and the attributes that council needs. So we so we went through all of that and and you know after going through it you know some of the candidates had a great history uh had a great knowledge of the the community. Some of the candidates uh brought a different perspective uh of of what they can bring and and how they would approach the solutions to our problems and those are always very exciting to us especially to me listening to the candidates that that do that. Uh but as we went through there and and their rankings, uh one candidate kind of came up and we selected uh the candidate came up because of the ability to uh bring us information and bring us the ability of knowledge to to council that you know I think we we need and

we'd like uh and would be very helpful. And the candidate that we selected this evening is Bill Lamb to be the next Ward 4 council representative. So uh he will be sworn in at the next council meeting. And I think we need a motion to approve that and and need to vote on that. Mr. President, uh, Miss Hair, uh, I make a motion to, uh, appoint Bill Lamb to, uh, the Ward 4 vacancy on Madina City Council. Second. Is there any further discussion on that? Will the clerk please call the role? Simmons, yes. Simpson, yes. Coin, yes. Salvo, yes. Hair, yes.

Isabella, yes. Motion passes. I'd like to uh commend everybody for coming to uh apply for the W four seat. I appreciate the interest and I hope you still get involved in the other com, you know, committees that we have and everything. So, with that, the meeting is adjourned by 10 o'clock.