Council Meeting - Regular Meeting

Okay, good evening. Like to call to order our city of Stow uh city council organizational meeting for January 2nd. Time is 700 p.m. Uh could I have a roll call, please?

Belman here. Real present. Coffee here. Baron here. Vioa here. Herman here. And Young here.

Okay. So, nobody has left since six o'clock. That's a good sign. Um, if we could all go ahead and uh bow our heads for the prayer this evening. This moment of reflection is intended to begin our meeting with a positive and collective support for our beloved community. The city council welcomes everyone joining us this evening as well as the mayor. We encourage you to take a moment to reflect on our community and the work we will be doing tonight and into this upcoming year. Although each of us has our own unique reasons for being here, we are united in our passion for our wonderful city. As we pause, let us consider our individual contributions to the community and what they mean to those around us. Let us find soloulless in knowing that by working together with a shared spirit of community and partnership, we will always act responsibly for the betterment of our city of Stow. Thank you. If we can rise for the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Okay. Before we do the actual election of the president of council, we are here to recognize um Andrew Branch. And uh Andrew, um I'm going to let you put it in your own words as I bring you forth, but also to present you with something that I'm sure that um everybody has already seen around the community. If you haven't, please as you drive into our community, you witness a sign. And um I've met over the last two or three years uh with uh Jim Miller and uh we talked about what we'll do with these signs after the fact. uh because you guys are knocked it out of the park. Every time I turn on uh uh some type of Facebook, Twitter, whatever, uh speech and debate knocked it out of the park. And but that doesn't make your accomplishments any less. Uh it's kind of like a fundamental building block. And so this evening, uh I do have and this is for you. Your mom and dad will probably love me for this. [clears throat] Your very own sign.

[applause]

is for our 2025 speech and debate state champion, none other uh state champion congressional debate, none other none other than our Andrew Branch. And uh thank you for being with us here this evening. Uh we're doing it a little bit backwards. Like I said, we've already got these out because you were away at college, so we had to go ahead and fit this in. And I'm pleased that you were able to make it this evening, but uh both you and Jim, can you just kind of explain what goes into this and so forth like that? Yeah. You're not getting out of this. Mayor,

real quick, I got a picture just for because I'm going to send this to you. You're the picture guy. Okay. Um so the event that I do in speech and debate is called congressional debate and essentially it's a a competitive category in which you have about 12 to 18 um other students in the room with you. Um and each of the students uh before the tournament wraps up legislation focusing on issues that a United States Congress would actually tackle in real life. And um we're limited to speeches of about three minutes that we have to give speeches either for or against the piece of legislation. Um after each of our speeches we are crossexamined by our peers and you're ultimately ranked on how wellies that I want to understand. What what's the compition? uh very very intense. Uh it's um it's very uh you have to do a lot of research to understand the issues in depth about what you're talking about in order to talk about them confidently and also to talk about them persuasively in order to ultimately win whatever or try to win whatever debate debating. And um it's really uh depends on you know what laws we pass and how these laws or legislation affect United States and the communities that we live.

Yeah. Uh the only thing I would add is um you know obviously Andrew is very humble so he won't say it himself but he kind of helped set the standard for what our uh what our program is all about. Andrew is our first time uh our first student ever winning congressional debate at Still High School and we've had a long story history of quite a bit of success in that competitive category. So for Andrew to be able to be recognized this way is a true honor and they couldn't be here tonight. Uh but uh Sue Tyson and um Sean Dunner were both excellent helps with our program as well and Andrew uh who was constantly challenged by a really good squad of competitors and um just a really great coaching staff who made all the difference.

So after this sign comes down uh Jimmy and I have met several times. It will also be displayed at high school. Uh you get to keep this on. Okay. We're not going to take this away from you. It's not like the weekend. So, uh, to your dad, you need some lighting for the front yard [laughter] so we can show that. So, anyways, we're very proud of you and thank you for being here this evening. We're very proud of the whole speech and debate team. Uh, every time I see you guys knocking out. Yeah. Again, students like Andrew really help set the standard for where our program is headed. [applause]

Okay. Now comes the important part of the meeting. Uh we have uh I'm going to start off. I'll be the foreman for this and then once we elect our council president uh they will run the rest of the meeting. So, do I have a uh motion to uh elect uh council president for 2026 the city of Stowe uh city council? I'd like to make a motion to nominate Kyle Herman as president of Stow City Council. Second. Okay, it's been uh moved and seconded. Is there any other nominations from before? Ma'am, I move that nominations be closed and unanimous ballot be cast for Kyle Herman, associ city council president.

Second. Thank you, Mr. Real. And who was that? Mr. Foka. Thank you. Okay. So, that being the case, uh, we need to go ahead and vote on this, make it official. So, uh, Sonia, if you can take a roll call, please. Felmouth, yes. Rio, yes. Copy. No. Baron, yes. Yes. Herman, yes. Young, yes. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Herman. I'm going to switch spots with you. Take your name tag with you. It's like in kindergarten. We're going to move your seat and uh it's all yours.

Thank you. Um I think what did Kyle, did you take the uh Gavman takes every cleaning out his car. Let me go check your car, Kyle. We actually have two. So, where did the other one go, Kyle? There's one in the other desk. [laughter] Very good. Congratulations. Not a problem. [laughter]

Uh thank you uh to all of the voters who uh put your trust in all of us uh to lead our city and thank you uh to all of my colleagues. Uh I uh as I said before, I uh am committed to being an authentic and resultsdriven leader who collaborates with others to improve our quality of life. and I look forward to working uh with all of you on behalf of our city. So uh thank you for entrusting me with this uh responsibility as council president. I would also uh like to continue the work that many of us have already been doing uh to try to make our council and our meetings more accessible to the public to encourage public engagement and public participation because ultimately the the power and authority that we have in government as we've been practicing in these 250 years since the Declaration of Independence is a government of by and for the people. And so it's important that we hear from you all the people here in person and virtually about how we can all best serve you. So thank you.

Now to uh get the motion and so forth from vice president. Yes sir. Uh so the next item on the agenda is the election of vice president of council and I would like to nominate uh Mr. John Baron because he has served honorably as Sto's finance director in our finance committee chair and I rely on his advice and counsel. Second. Uh all we have a a motion and a second. Uh do we have any other nominations for vice president? Mr. Real. I move that nominations be closed and unanimous ballot be cast for John Barrett from the board three council vice president. Second. Uh we have a motion and a second. All in favor?

Yes. Yes. No. Okay. Uh, roll call. Belman, yes. Real, yes. Coffee, no. Baron, yes. Vioa, yes. Herman, yes. Young, yes. Mr. President, can I could I say something? Uh, sure.

Um, first of all, congratulations. Um, I just wanted to say I'm not voting the way I want to vote tonight because I really want to vote in support of my colleagues and the way I feel about you guys and your capabilities. Um, Mr. Herman, uh, you are not very experienced like me, but you are very intelligent, went to Harvard, so I think you're very capable. Mr. Baron is my go-to for municipal finance questions. So, I like and respect both of you. My votes are merely um because of the process and I think you both know two years ago I emphatically stated that I wanted both parties included in leadership. If you look up here, you know, both parties are represented what the people elected almost equally. Um and so I just feel like that's the best thing for the city. So that's the only reason for my no votes. It's nothing personal. I'm just voting no on all of these just because I I wanted both parties and if both parties were represented, I I would have voted yes on both of these. So I just wanted to clarify that. Uh, thank you, Miss Coffee, for justifying your vote. And I will just say that I see this as a nonpartisan council. These are nonpartisan positions, and I hope that we will all be able to work together regardless of party. So, thank you. Uh, next item on our agenda is the election of president of council prompor. And I would like to nominate uh, Mr. Kyle Feldman because he served honorably as our immediate past president, and I also rely on his counsel and advice. Second.

Uh, we have a motion and a second. Uh, any other nominations? Mr. Real. Thank you, Mr. President. I move that nominations be closed and a unanimous ballot be cast uh for Kyle Feldman for council president prom. Second. Uh, roll call, please. Belman, yes. Real, yes. Coffee. No. Baron, yes. Bioca, yes. Young, yes.

Uh, congratulations, Mr. Feldman. Thank you. Next item on the agenda is committee appointments. Uh, I had not wanted to be uh presumptuous about who would be council president, and I haven't uh heard from everyone on council about what committees they would be interested in serving on this term. Uh so I would just ask that all council members uh communicate with me about their preferences. Okay. And uh if that's good with you all uh that is the end of our agenda. Do we have a motion to adjurnn? Move to adjurnn. Second. Uh all in favor? Yes. Yes. We are adjourned. Thank you.