City Council - Regular Meeting

Here.

Gattis. Here. Hobbs.

Here.

Jones. Here. Comives. Here. Kramer. Here. Martinez.

Present.

McPherson. Here. 11 present.

Please stand for the invocation by Reverend Sohan from the Buddhist Temple of Toledo, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to our flag and a performance of the National Anthem by Adam Beanman.

Good afternoon, everyone. We have like about 30 seconds of silence and everybody just enjoy the silence. Okay. May this city council session have the blessings of mindfulness, clarity, compassion, and right intention. Let understanding, harmony, and cooperation fill this space. May your work, your inspired work, be a benefit to all who are touched by the decisions made here today. May it be so.

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Councilman Meldon.

Thank you so much, President Williams. This is, you know, it's always fun. We get to put these pairings together, and this one really threw me off, to be honest with you, because These two gentlemen here, one is a very new friend, one is a very, very old friend, so I'm going to give a little background on Reverend so on. I reached out to the temple to have someone come out for this month, and I did not know who it was going to be. kind of dealer's choice, if you will. And so wouldn't you know, when I go find someone who we, 20 years ago, we first met, and I have memories of us playing music together, and Reverend plays a mean mandolin, among many other things, I'm sure. That's true. I know Buddhists are going, it's not mean. It's probably not a mean mandolin. Anyway, thank you so much for being here. It's very, very meaningful. And then, Adam, thanks for being here, too. Much, much newer friend, not 20 years. We don't go 20 years back. But I got to see you. My wife and I got to see you perform recently, and I was like, man, if we can pull this off, that would be pretty cool, too. So thank you so much for being here. I don't know how our meeting could be off to a better start because of both of you, so thank you.

Thank you. Clerk, please begin with the resolution in attendance.

Resolution 381-26, honoring Linnie Liggins Willis for her social justice activism and the delayed conferral of her degree from the University of Mississippi. This is presented by Councilwoman McPherson. Whereas Linney Liggins Willis completed all coursework and requirements for her degree from the University of Mississippi in 1970. And whereas Linney and 88 other students engaged in a peaceful protest at the university in 1970, which resulted in the expulsion of eight students, the Ole Miss Eight. Despite fulfilling the academic requirements for graduation, Linney, as one of the eight, was denied the opportunity to receive her diploma and participate in the commencement ceremony. And whereas for nearly five decades, Linney carried the distinction of having earned her degree while awaiting the formal recognition and diploma that should have accompanied that accomplishment. And whereas in 2020, the University of Mississippi acknowledged this history, issued an apology to Lynnie and her classmates, and presented her with the diploma formally conferring the degree she had earned in 1970. And whereas receiving that diploma nearly 50 years after completing her academic requirements represents not only the fulfillment of a personal milestone, but also a powerful testament to Lenny's perseverance, determination, dignity, and commitment to her education. And whereas her accomplishment reminds us that circumstances may delay recognition, but they cannot erase achievement, perseverance, or the lasting value of an education earned through hard work and dedication. And whereas it is fitting and proper that we recognize Lynnie for her remarkable achievement and celebrate the long overdue acknowledgement of the degree she earned in 1970. Now therefore be it resolved by the council of the city of Toledo that we proudly recognize and honor Lynnie Liggins Willis, For completing the requirements for her degree from the University of Mississippi in 1970 and the perseverance she demonstrated throughout the decades to follow. And that Toledo City Council celebrates her receipt of her diploma in 2020 as a meaningful moment of recognition. One that honors her academic achievement, her resilience, and her unwavering belief in the importance of education. Suspension.

Meldon, Morris, Sarantu, Williams, Driscoll, Gattis, Hobbs, Jones, Comibes, Kramer, Martinez, McPherson. Passage. Meldon. Yes. Morris. Yes. Sarantu. Yes. Williams. Yes. Driscoll. Yes. Gattis. Yes. Hobbs. Yes. Jones. Yes. Comibes. Yes. Kramer. Yes. Martinez. Yes. McPherson. Yes. Resolution adopted.

Ms. Willis, you can come to the podium. And whoever you want to bring, you can come to the podium. Councilwoman McPherson.

Good afternoon. This is such an honor to be able to present this to Lady Willis. And it is more so because Lady Willis actually showed up. if you know her, she is not one for wanting to be upfront. But because I had heard this story in her being honored as a silent hero, I said, we definitely have to do this in city council chambers to tell the story. And as the resolution that I will be presenting to you, Lady Willis, it says, earning your diploma five decades ago, delayed but not denied. They can hold it up. But God has the final say so. And you stood fast in that. And I want to read what she feels is most important. She said, I was asked to participate on the task force at Ole Miss. with the thought that this could possibly assist me in reckoning with the tremendous hurt, anger, and disappointment that had resonated in my spirit for 50 years. Several initiatives have been implemented. However, the one I am most proud of is the awarding of eight full scholarships in honor of the Ole Miss Eight. That was done at the university. And I wanted to share this because of the importance of standing up for what is right. And even after you stand for what is right, you can be denied. But what Lady Willis did in that, for the city of Toledo becoming the first African American CEO Director of Lucas County Metropolitan Housing Authority, even after being denied her diploma, she kept fighting for the right. And so that's why I salute you, my sister, because you stand and stood for a lot of us, not just in Mississippi, but here in the city of Toledo. And I want the story to be told that there are those that behind the scenes are constantly working for the betterment of not just the African American community, but for the women of the community. And so I honor you and I salute you and I thank God for your steadfastness and for all that you do. And she wanted me to say that or not say about her and the church and it's not about me being the first lady And I respect that. But I thank God for you for standing in the midst where a lot of us wouldn't and couldn't stay. And you kept persevering to the woman and to the place that you are now. So honoring you is honoring us. And I thank God for this honor. And I just had a council member say, you know what, this is one of the best times that I've got. This vote right here, that says a lot. So we thank you, ma'am, on behalf of city council and myself. I thank you.

Councilwoman Morris. Thank you, Chair, and thank you for coming and allowing us to honor you. This kind of falls into, this is Toledo, and these are the everyday heroes that don't go noticed. And I worked with Congresswoman Kaptur for nearly 30 years. And I remember your tenure at the Lucas County Metropolitan Housing Authority. And I remember how hard you worked for your residents and how you stood up for them. And you should be immensely proud. I had no idea about this other chapter in your life. And this is how Toledo is, right? You know somebody in a certain way, but you don't know the whole story. And I'm just thankful. I'm literally thankful that we're able to celebrate you and that you are telling your story in an effort to tell another little Lenny Willis out and about to keep on fighting and to keep on being tenacious and keep on because it's easy to give up. It's hard to fight. Thank you so much for allowing us to celebrate you.

Thank you. Thank you. Dr. Brittany Jones.

Thank you madam president why I echo all of the comments that my colleagues have said and I know that Councilman McPherson had said that you didn't want to to be acknowledged just like the first lady and think well I'm going to acknowledge you as a delta because. We are. the trailblazers, but also we fight for what is right and you are a prime example of that. It is an honor to not only celebrate you, but to really have you as a sorority sister and also just the work that you have done here in Toledo and really forging a lot of just housing and all of the community activism That is what we do. And also that adds to just the history of Toledo, the history of our community, the black community, the history of black organizations and what we do to fight for the rights and just for the quality of life within this city. And I am truly just thankful that, again, as Councilwoman Morris has said, thank you for allowing us to give you flowers to celebrate you today and always just for the work and the stamp that you have in this history. And really, it is like I said, it is an honor to really know you and to just call you my store, basically. And thank you again for just all that you do.

Thank you. Councilman Martinez.

Thank you, Madam President. It's such a pleasure to see you. It's been a while. And I had the opportunity to work with you in various capacities, whether I was on city council or a CDC director, and I always appreciated your quiet power. Very unassuming. People always kind of thought, oh, we'll just go in here and I've seen you rule with what I would call an iron fist and a velvet glove, and nobody knew what hit them. And I always appreciate your passion for the work you did in our communities. And not just the black community, but also the Latino community. And seriously, you have helped so many families in the Latino community that people don't realize. And thought differently about public housing and that these are actually human beings and not just on the other side of the tracks. You gave dignity to people to live and create families. and, you know, rise up and capture that American dream. And I sincerely appreciate all your creative willingness to do that and work with LISC and work with nonprofits, whatever it took to get people out of poverty. And I sincerely appreciate and admire watching afar and watch you in a boardroom. It was impressive. So I just wanted to say thank you for all of your service, because what I feel is you are one of the true public servants of our time. and really made a big difference with a whisper and a nod. So thank you.

All right, Lady Willis, the floor is yours.

Thank you. At first I thought I should look around and see where is this person that you're talking about.

That's the first thing.

But in all sincerity, to all of you, I thank you. for this honor. I thank you for the vote of confidence in the thing that I have tried to accomplish over my lifetime. And while the story of Ole Miss seems to be an old story because it was in 1970 when this happened, the real truth did not reveal itself until 1970 because our history, the things that we did that February in 1970, when we had the peaceful protest, all of that was somehow hidden. No one talked about it. There was nothing written about it except one article in the Mississippian. And so. In 1969, there was a professor at the university who discovered our history by accident. And he implored the current administration to do something about it. And as a result of that, we went back and as I said, I did receive my diploma after 50 years. But fortunately, I was able to complete all of my coursework. And so even though I didn't have my diploma, I had my transcript that said that I had earned my bachelor's degree. And that is what I used when I was applying for jobs and other things in this city. Because I came here in 1970 after that time. And the reason that I came here is because I was blackballed. I couldn't get a job in Oxford, Mississippi, which is my hometown. And so I came here and this is where my roots have been ever since. And after going back in 1970, after going back in 2020, I'm sorry. the administration decided to develop a task force to say, what can we do to try to right some of the wrongs of the past? And so I decided to take part in that task force. Prior to that, I had no contact with the University of Mississippi. Even though Oxford, Mississippi was my hometown, when I went back to visit family, I went nowhere near the university. That's how I felt. But I thought, at this point in my life, I do need to say something more, and this would be my opportunity. And so as a result of that, as was mentioned, we now have scholarships named for the Ole Miss Eight. Last September, I returned to the campus, and there was a historical marker placed on the campus in front of Fulton Chapel where we had our protest. And so now I feel that... Yes. Yes. There's no way they can continue to ignore our history. There's no way they can continue to ignore the difference that we made on that campus. And believe you me, we did make a difference. Because when I was there, there was approximately 125 African American students. There were no instructors, no African American instructors, athletes, counselors, none of the above. but now they're everywhere and so what we did the sacrifices that we made I believe truly made a difference and the young people who are there now are able to enjoy the fruits of our labor and so again I want to thank you for this opportunity as I said I don't like to talk about those kinds of things I don't like to still the spotlight, but it's a story, I guess, that really needs to be told. And I've been told that over and over again, you need to tell your story because others need to know that they can do it. Whatever obstacles or challenges they confront, they must understand you can do it, you must do it, you don't have any choice. So again, I thank you. Thank you. Don't go anywhere. Thank you. First lady, you want to come on in and take a picture?

Come on, Pastor, you can come now.

Thank you.

Just one other thing. I'm sorry. I would just like to thank my family for being here, my church family, and also the sisters of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Willis. I now turn this meeting over to Councilmember Meldon.

Thank you. Clerk, please begin with the second read items.

under second read items we have ordinance 349-26 authorizing the department of public utilities to apply for accept and enter into a cooperative agreement between the city and the ohio water development authority providing for the refinancing of certain of the outstanding principal balance of the city's $64,925,000 water system revenue bonds, series 2016, dated September 7th, 2016 and declaring an emergency.

Emergency.

Meldon, Morris, Sarantu, Williams, Driscoll, Gaddis, Hobbs, Jones, Comibes, Kramer, Martinez, McPherson. Motion carried. Passage. Meldon. Yes. Morris. Yes. Sarantu. Yes. Williams. Yes. Driscoll. Yes. Gaddis. Yes. Hobbs. Yes. Jones. Yes. Comibes. Yes. Kramer. Yes. Martinez. Yes. McPherson. Yes. Ordinance passed.

Ordinance 350-26 to specially assess upon the lots and lands described in the schedule herein referred to in order to pay the cost and expense beginning July 1st, 2025 and ending June 30th, 2026 of cutting and destroying noxious weeds growing on such lots and lands in the city of Toledo and declaring an emergency.

Emergency.

Meldon, Morris, Sarantu, Williams, Driscoll, Gaddis, Hobbs, Jones, Comives, Kramer, Martinez, McPherson. Motion carried.

Passage.

Meldon. Yes. Morris. Yes. Sarantu. Yes. Williams. Yes. Driscoll. Yes. Gaddis. Yes. Hobbs. Yes. Jones. Yes. Comives. Yes. Kramer. Yes. Martinez. Yes. McPherson.

Yes. Ordinance passed. Ordinance 353-26, authorizing the expenditure of an amount not to exceed $55,765 from the capital improvement fund to the Lake Erie West Regional Council for the payment of the City of Toledo's 2026 transportation planning assessment fee. Authorizing the expenditure of an amount not to exceed $44,342 from the Stormwater Operating Fund to Lake Erie West Regional Council for the 2026 Stormwater Coalition dues and 2026 mass media campaign. Authorizing the expenditure of an amount not to exceed $82,079 from the general fund to Lake Erie West Regional Council for the payment of the City of Toledo's 2026 membership fee and declaring an emergency. Council Member Driscoll.

Thank you, President Williams. I know that initially we had gone first reading on this, but I've talked to a couple members who have some questions about how the dues are calculated. Additionally, the folks at Lake Erie West have some new data gathering and tracking tools that they want to show us that we'll have access to. And so I think we're going to do a committee meeting to present on those in addition to talking about the dues that we owe to Lake Erie West. So that meeting will take place either on the 16th or 30th. I'm waiting to hear back from the folks at Lake Erie West on a date for that committee meeting. Thank you.

All right. Thank you.

To the Transportation Committee.

New items from council. Councilman Meldon presents the following item. Resolution 382-26, committing to the implementation of policies, programs, and investments that strengthen access to full community participation for individuals with disabilities, older adults, caregivers, and their families.

Suspension.

Meldon, Morris, Sarantu, Williams, Driscoll, Gattis, Hobbs, Jones, Comibes, Kramer, Martinez, McPherson. Motion carried.

Passage.

Meldon. Yes. Morris. Yes. Sarantu. Yes. Williams. Yes. Driscoll. Yes. Gattis. Yes. Hobbs. Yes. Jones. Yes. Comibes. Yes. Kramer. Yes. Martinez. Yes. McPherson. Yes. Resolution adopted.

You want me to keep going, don't you?

The next item, Councilman Hobbs presents the following item from Toledo Municipal Court, Ordinance 383-26. Authorizing the budget neutral reappropriation of funds totaling $400,000 within the judge's division general fund and declaring an emergency.

Suspension.

Meldon Morris, Sorrento Williams, Driscoll, Gaddis, Hobbs, Jones, Comibes, Kramer, Martinez, McPherson. Motion carried.

Emergency.

Melden, Morris, Sorrento, Williams, Driscoll, Gattis, Hobbs, Jones, Comives, Kramer, Martinez, McPherson. Motion carried.

Passage.

Melden. Yes. Morris. Yes. Sorrento. Yes. Williams. Yes. Driscoll. Yes. Gattis. Yes. Hobbs. Yes. Jones. Yes. Comives. Yes. Kramer. Yes. Martinez. Yes. McPherson. Yes. Ordinance passed.

Clerk, I am going to abstain from this next one, so let me give you the proper intro, okay? Clerk, please continue with new items from the administration.

Councilman Driscoll presents the following item from the Department of Transportation, Ordinance 384-26, authorizing the mayor to enter into a grant agreement with US Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration for the Safe Streets for All grant. Authorizing the acceptance deposit appropriation and expenditure of grant proceeds in the amount of $542,170 for fleet vehicle safety planning and demonstration. Authorizing the expenditure of $39,770 for the match portion of the grant. Authorizing the mayor to accept bids and enter into necessary contracts for the Safe Streets for All grant and declaring an emergency. To the Transportation Committee. Councilman Hobbs presents the following two items from the Department of Law. Ordinance 385-26, authorizing the settlement of claims brought in Singletary et al. versus City of Toledo. Authorizing the expenditure of $62,500 from the risk management fund and declaring an emergency.

Suspension.

Melden, Morris, Sarantu, Williams, Driscoll, Gattis, Hobbs, Jones, Comibes, Kramer, Martinez, McPherson. Motion carried.

Emergency.

Melden, Morris, Sarantu, Williams, Driscoll, Gattis, Hobbs, Jones, Comibes, Kramer, Martinez, McPherson. Motion carried.

Passage.

Melden. Yes. Morris. Yes. Sarantu. No. Williams. Yes. Driscoll. Yes. Gattis. Yes. Hobbs. Yes. Jones. Yes. Comibes. Kramer? Yes. Martinez? Yes.

McPherson? Yes. Ordinance passed. Ordinance 386-26, authorizing the Mayor and Director of Law to enter into an agreement with legal counsel for the provision of professional assistance on behalf of the City of Toledo to prosecute claims and recover damages as part of potential fire truck antitrust litigation, authorizing the acceptance and deposit of claim proceeds and declaring an emergency.

Suspension.

Meldon Morris, Sorrento, Williams, Driscoll, Gaddis, Hobbs, Jones, Comibes, Kramer, Martinez, McPherson. Motion carried.

Emergency.

Meldon Morris, Sorrento, Williams, Driscoll, Gaddis, Hobbs, Jones, Comibes, Kramer, Martinez, McPherson. Motion carried.

Passage.

Meldon?

Yes.

Morris? Yes. Sarantu? Yes. Williams? Yes. Driscoll? Yes. Gaddis? Yes. Hobbs? Yes. Jones? Yes. Comives? Yes. Kramer? Yes. Martinez? Yes. McPherson? Yes. Ordinance passed.

Councilman Hobbs presents the following item from the Department of Fire and Rescue Operations. Ordinance 387-26, authorizing the mayor to accept a donation of $13,224 from Elevance Health Inc. for the purchase of a point of care ultrasound. Authorizing the deposit appropriation and expenditure of said funds. Authorizing the mayor to accept informal bids and award a contract for the purchase of the point of care ultrasound and declaring an emergency.

Suspension.

Meldon Morris, Sarantu, Williams, Driscoll, Gaddis, Hobbs, Jones, Comives, Kramer, Martinez, McPherson. Motion carried.

Emergency.

Meldon Morris, Sarantu, Williams, Driscoll, Gaddis, Hobbs, Jones, Comives, Kramer, Martinez, McPherson. Motion carried. Passage. Meldon? Yes. Morris? Yes. Sarantu? Yes. Williams? Yes. Driscoll? Yes. Gattis? Yes. Hobbs? Yes. Jones? Yes. Comives? Yes. Kramer? Yes. Martinez? Yes. McPherson? Yes. Ordinance passed.

Councilman Martinez presents the following item from the Department of Public Utilities. Ordinance 388-26, authorizing the expenditure of an amount not to exceed $1,020,000 from the Sanitary Sewer Replacement Fund for the smaller pump stations replacement package one. at the water reclamation facility, authorizing the mayor to enter into a contract for said project, waiving the competitive procurement provisions of TMC Chapter 187 and declaring an emergency.

Suspension.

Meldon, Morris, Sorrento, Williams, Driscoll, Gattis, Hobbs, Jones, Comibes, Kramer, Martinez, McPherson. Motion carried.

Emergency.

Meldon, Morris, Sarantu, Williams, Driscoll, Gaddis, Hobbs, Jones, Comibes, Kramer, Martinez, McPherson. Motion carried. Passage. Meldon. Yes. Morris. Yes. Sarantu. Yes. Williams. Yes. Driscoll. Yes. Gaddis. Yes. Hobbs. Yes. Jones. Yes. Comibes. Yes. Kramer. Yes. Martinez. Yes. McPherson. Yes. Ordinance passed.

Councilwoman Morris, Chair of Zoning and Planning Committee, reports the following items. Ordinance 389-26, amending Toledo Municipal Code Part 11, Planning and Zoning Code by repealing two sections addressing community recreation and enacting amended versions of the same and repealing and reenacting an amended use table to accommodate the new uses and declaring an emergency.

Suspension.

Meldon Morris, Sorrento Williams, Driscoll, Gaddis, Hobbs, Jones, Comibes, Kramer, Martinez, McPherson. Motion carried.

Emergency.

Meldon Morris, Sorrento Williams, Driscoll, Gaddis, Hobbs, Jones, Comibes, Kramer, Martinez, McPherson. Motion carried. Passage. Meldon? Yes. Morris? Yes. Sarantu? Yes. Williams? Yes. Driscoll? Yes. Gattis? Yes. Hobbs? Yes. Jones? Yes. Comives? Yes. Kramer? Yes. Martinez? Yes. McPherson? Yes. Ordinance passed.

ordinance 390-26 granting a special use permit for a new community center located at 355 dearborn avenue in the city of toledo lucas county ohio subject to certain conditions and one waiver and declaring an emergency suspension melvin morris sarantu williams driscoll gaddis hobbs jones comibes kramer martinez mcpherson motion carried

emergency melvin morris around two williams driscoll gattis hobbs jones comites kramer martinez mcpherson motion carried melvin yes morris yes around two yes williams yeah crystal yes gattis hobbs yes jones yes comites yes kramer yes martinez yes mcpherson yes ordinance passed

Ordinance 391-26, granting a special use permit for used auto sales located at 5057 Lewis Avenue in the city of Toledo, Lucas County, Ohio, subject to certain conditions and declaring an emergency.

Suspension.

Meldon Morris, Sorrento Williams, Driscoll, Gaddis, Hobbs, Jones, Comives, Kramer, Martinez, McPherson. Motion carried.

Emergency.

Meldon, Morris, Sarantu, Williams, Driscoll, Gattis, Hobbs, Jones, Comibes, Kramer, Martinez, McPherson. Motion carried.

Passage.

Meldon. Yes. Morris. Yes. Sarantu. Yes. Williams. Yes. Driscoll. Yes. Gattis. Yes. Hobbs? Yes. Jones? Yes. Comives? Yes. Kramer? Yes. Martinez?

Yes.

McPherson? Yes. Ordinance passed.

Ordinance 392-26, changing the zoning maps attached to part 11, planning and zoning. Toledo Municipal Code for the property located at 3959 LaGrange Street in the city of Toledo, Lucas County, Ohio and declaring an emergency.

Suspension.

Meldon, Morris, Sarantu, Williams, Driscoll, Gaddis, Hobbs, Jones, Comives, Kramer, Martinez, McPherson. Motion carried.

Emergency.

Meldon, Morris, Sarantu, Williams, Driscoll, Gaddis, Hobbs, Jones, Comives, Kramer, Martinez, McPherson. Motion carried.

Passage.

Meldon. Yes. Morris. Yes. Sarantu. Yes. Williams. Yes. Driscoll. Yes. Gaddis. Yes. Hobbs. Yes. Jones. Yes. Comives. Yes. Yes. Martinez? Yes. McPherson? Yes. Ordinance passed.

Ordinance 393-26, granting an amendment to the planned unit development originally granted by Ordinance 150-25 and Ordinance 439-25 for a new library for a site located at 3027 West Alexis Road in the city of Toledo, Lucas County, Ohio, subject to certain conditions and two waivers, and declaring an emergency.

Suspension?

Meldon, Morris, Sorrento, Williams, Driscoll, Gaddis, Hobbs, Jones, Comives, Kramer, Martinez, McPherson. Motion carried.

Emergency.

Meldon, Morris, Sorrento, Williams, Driscoll, Gaddis, Hobbs, Jones, Comives, Kramer, Martinez, McPherson. Motion carried.

Passage.

Meldon. Yes. Morris. Yes. Sorrento. Yes. Williams. Yes. Driscoll. Yes. Gaddis. Yes. Hobbs? Yes. Jones? Yes. Comives? Yes. Kramer? Yes. Martinez? Yes.

McPherson?

Yes.

Ordinance passed. Ordinance 394-26, vacation of all that portion of Jefferson Avenue, lying between Water Street and the Maumee River, Toledo, Lucas County, Ohio, waiving certain fees and declaring an emergency.

Suspension.

Meldon, Morris, Sorrento, Williams, Driscoll, Gattis, Hobbs, Jones, Comibes, Kramer, Martinez, McPherson. Motion carried.

Emergency.

Meldon, Morris, Sarantu, Williams, Driscoll, Gattis, Hobbs, Jones, Comives, Kramer, Martinez, McPherson. Motion carried.

Passage.

Meldon. Yes. Morris. Yes. Sarantu. Yes. Williams. Yes. Driscoll. Yes. Gattis. Yes. Hobbs. Yes. Jones. Yes. Comives. Yes. Kramer. Yes. Martinez. Yes. McPherson. Yes.

Ordinance passed. That completes our agenda. Council Member Meldon, your first call.

I move to dispense with the reading of the Toledo City Journal for the Toledo City Council meeting of August 25th, 2026.

Seeing no objections, it's still ordered.

I move to excuse Council Member Meldon for non-attendance at the Housing, Community Development, and Public Health Committee of August 27th, 2026. Councilman Driscoll for non-attendance at the City Council meeting of August 25th, 2026, and the Finance, Debt, and Budget Oversight Committee of August 26th, 2026. Councilwoman Jones for non-attendance at the Agenda Review meeting of September 1st, 2026, and Councilman Martinez for non-attendance at the Housing, Community Development, and Public Health Committee of August 27th, 2026.

Seeing no objections, so ordered.

Thank you. Just one simple thing, I think, from me today. I'm just really thrilled that we passed 382.26, this policy setting our intentions on a more disability-friendly community. We talked about this at length last week, so I'm not going to rehash all of it. I think now the hard work begins of actually thinking about different policy changes that we wanna make in line with that resolution. And of course I was wrong, there's one more thing. Next week, an Economic Development and Innovation Committee hearing at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, I believe it's the 15th. Right? Let's hope so. So hope to see everyone there. Some really interesting topics at hand, you know, a responsible AI strategy review and conversation there. Make a quick comment on that. It is remarkable to me, actually, that when we pass the resolution to kind of get the administration working on this responsible AI strategy, AI itself has changed in that time. Just like if you think about, which we all know, right, technology is exponential in terms of evolution, I feel like if nothing else proves the case that we need this, it is that one fact that the conversation is going to end up being different. So I'm really looking forward to that. And then I think some data privacy, data governance policies as well. So if you're interested, I hope to see you there. Thanks.

Councilwoman Morris, first call.

Thank you, clerk. I know worlds collide a little bit sometimes, but in my other profession, my boss was let go at my other job, and he was with the company for 11 years, and with restructuring and the way things are going, I really want to wish him a happy retirement, which is just really sad that you kind of get forced into retirement. His boss was let go as well. So lots of changes out there in the private sector, but I can tell you about Steve Gibson. He is a Maumee resident, but he does like to hang out in Toledo, and he has a magnanimous demeanor. uh... and he's just uh... he's that he's a great great man and so we are sad uh... that we are going to see him go better happy that he can go have a margarita during the day uh... and uh... we are also working in point place on an economic plan uh... which would uh... look at how we can use summit street more strategically and so we are working with the administration in economic development and also with the point place business association so stay tuned and then the last two things i'd like to mention is september 19th i'll mention it again the art work art walk say that five times art walk at Bayview Park right there right by the lighthouse so I hope to see you all there and then also September 26 is also stroll point place so that's always a good time too so lots of fall things happening in your favorite water community to the north. So I will mention that again before these events happen and remind you of the times. Thank you. Councilman Sarantu, first call.

Thank you. Well, this weekend is the annual Greek American Festival and opens up Friday at 11 a.m. And from 11 to 3 p.m., it's totally free admission. And there'll be plenty of Greek foods to choose from. And there'll be plenty of pastries and plenty of cultural activities. And Imagination Station is going to be there on Saturday and Sunday with a special scientific experiment booth for our young folks. So it should be a great weekend. So everybody try to come out to the Greek Festival. Enjoy the food and the dancing and the music and everything else that goes along with it.

Thank you Councilman Driscoll first call Thank You clerk a couple things I'm going back in time a little bit because I missed the last meeting in our summer session the opportunity to share this but I attended council president Williams pool party at Willie's Park and And I had a great time, and the kids were great, and the pool was fantastic, and the employees did a great job hosting us. But I have to say, I grew up going to the Pickford pool as a kid. Most of my family grew up in South Toledo, so we went a lot. I went into the locker room to get changed for the party. I got to be honest, it looks like a third world country. It is unacceptable. And I understand that oftentimes those kinds of things are not a priority. But if we continue, we're heading into budget season. I think we're always in budget season, really. But we're heading in especially at this point. If we continue to shift money out of our capital fund, the full amount that we are legally allowed to, we only have ourselves to blame. I look back in time at whoever had this seat in this job 25, 30, 40 years ago, and it probably didn't seem like a priority to them either. But it will never rise to that level of being a priority or anything that we can fund if we don't take our budget seriously. And we'll only have ourselves to blame if 25 years from now, Those facilities are in that similar condition. Where I'm really concerned is what are we communicating to the children of this community when they walk into that bathroom? What are we communicating to them? That their neighborhood doesn't matter, that their facilities don't matter. I don't want to communicate that to them any longer. I'm not saying this is the most important thing we got to fix, but I do think that we need to steer the cruise ship of our financial situation towards a point where we can continue to make investments in the public infrastructure that we all know are necessary. None of this is fun today. I got three things and they're not fun, so I'm sorry about this, everybody. The second thing is I do know that there are property owners that are starting to receive summonses to appear before a housing court judge regarding our lead law. I'll be submitting a referral because I think we need to know how many people have gotten these summons and where mostly we've been targeted. The administration that if people are working earnestly towards remediating it, then they're likely not going to land before the housing court judge. I'm not really sure that that's an efficient process that somebody just calls the city council member or the right person in the housing department that they might be able to work towards. Now, here's my fear is that if we don't handle this correctly, what I've heard from a number of landlords is they're going to sell their property. And we don't really govern who that gets sold to. And the downstream effects that may have on the renters and the downstream effects that may have on housing supply, the more we constrain supply, rents are only going to go up. And it's particularly true if we, you know, the largest buyer of houses last year in the United States was BlackRock. So if we put more and more houses on the market, I'm concerned about uh what that means i think there is we would rather have local landlords than out of state landlords and we've got a serious issue here that i think we need to address to make sure that we have look the lead law is well intentioned and i and i'm supportive of of the enforcement we have to make sure that our um that our policies work towards compliance rather than somebody simply taking their housing units offline or working in the black market and not following any of the fair housing rules that we all put in place. So I've talked a little bit to the mayor about this, but I think we need to convene some conversation with landlords and our administration about how we're moving forward with this. And finally, I appreciate that Council President Williams next next agenda is going to have a resolution about flock cameras in our community. But I am calling today that I think as we do an audit of the cameras, I think we need to pause the system. I have heard from too many residents over the course of the last couple of months that they are concerned about what's happening with their data. i don't have a lot of good answers for that i i think this tool has been useful i voted for it i think it's been effective i think it's been useful but we've got to put safeguards in place to make sure that the data of our residents is being handled appropriately and i'm not yet sure that i can say that to our residents. So the auditing is a good step. And after we do that process, I think we can get our hands around what some regulations and safeguards might be necessary. But we've got to do that audit first. And I think in the meantime, this is an administrative decision. I think we should pause our use of the technology during that time. That is all I have today. Thank you.

Council Member Gaddis, first call.

Thank you. And I'd also like to acknowledge that I'm happy we're moving forward with flock auditing. I know Councilman Driscoll and I had had lots of conversations. We've spoke to the auditor and really happy that we're moving forward as a council. It's been 69 days since I made a 10 point records request. for information around flock. I made that on July 1st. I have not received any information and so I am requesting that the administration send me the records as they gather them in installments rather than one lump sum. so maybe I can start getting some of the information. I've had conversations with law and the police department, and it's made its way around the administration, yet I haven't seen anything. I am working on digging through the data of my grass audit. I originally did one in 2021, so I did it again this year through my district to see what was going on. I'm seeing a lot of the same issues, so I have more referral questions. I'll be giving them to the clerk, but they are focused around if our mowing contractors. are using work orders in City Works, and if there has been any field audit reports around the completion of those lots, because there is a big disparity of how lots are cut in my district versus how lots are cut in other districts, and it has been at least going on since 2021, but way before that. And then finally, I had spent time this weekend looking at the news stories have come out about the Swainfield Farmers Market and I have spent time looking into what ordinance That program was tied to I'm struggling to find what ordinance that is so by way of referral also I will hand it to the clerk. I'd like to know what ordinance is tied to the $150,000 given to the Swain farmers field market program. So with that I yield my time, thanks. Councilman Hobbs first call.

We just like everyone to remember that this is the September is the National Suicide Prevention Month so please be especially aware as we should at all time but just the signs to help someone that could be in danger and just experiencing It's extremely important, and sometimes it can be hard to ask for help. So sometimes you have to try to reach out and help, you know, those that may not necessarily be asking for it but could be in trouble. on the, as far as the pause on the flock camera, I am asking until we have the data that we do not pause. There are a lot of things that this information can be used for in a positive way to help. I understand that there are others in other areas that are doing certain things or have done or whatever, but we don't have proof that that's happening with our officers or those that are using FLOC here. And until we have that data that says otherwise, I think that we should continue to allow this technology to help us You just had a few weeks ago, a young lady was kidnapped in Cuyahoga County. And had it not been for flock cameras and technology, who knows where that young lady may have wound up and what may have happened to her. But the flock camera was able to assist and save that young lady's life. Flood cameras had a lot to do with helping us in the old West End with one of the most tragic events that we've had in our cities. So we have to be careful as council members not to always bend to the pressures of what may be happening other places. and understand that the safety of our citizens is extremely important. It may not be popular, but it is important. So until we know otherwise, I am asking that we continue with flock technology to help If nothing else, who knows when the next child could be in danger of being kidnapped and their life not be saved. And nobody wants the technology until they want the technology. Simply saying, You don't want it until your parent is experiencing Alzheimer's and walks off and no one can find them. You don't want it until it's your child that has been kidnapped or is now missing. Now we want everybody and everything that's available to try to see what's going on. Thank you.

Councilwoman Dr. Jones, first call. Thank you, Claire.

I'll start off from as a follow-up to the committee meeting that we had regarding Brent Industries. I did talk with the health department as far as how We would gather information in case people are experiencing symptoms later on, where should they call in and things of that nature. So the health department does have a page regarding just what to do in these instances. So as of now, they do not do like on-site testing, but they rely on the hospitals in order to keep foul of how many people are complaining about nausea, migraines, any breathing issues. uh... issues and then that's how they get their data so i'm trying to work with the health department in instances like this possibly just have a hotline where they can for people was because not everybody has coverage in order to go into a hospital in the arts crazy uh... expensive so just a call into a number uh... to report their systems and then from there they would be guided to whatever resources that they would need but currently right now they do have a landing page uh... is under the latest news uh... smokey been exposure it's a whole pdf based upon just what to do in those instances when you are experiencing symptoms and then they also have the poison hotline which is one eight hundred two two two one two two two i think is very important to really get this system into place in process into place because if during that time it was multiple ones that kept happening and so when it comes to those late onset symptoms there at least is a way to report or at least to get help in case you like I said, do not have insurance or aren't available to go to a medical provider. So this is just another outlet in order to do that. So I'll be following back up with the director, but that is the first step that we're trying to do right now. On September 12th, so this Saturday, Connecting Kids to Meals, if you feel like volunteering, from 10 a.m. to noon, they are having a food packaging event. This will be for families, and it's just a good time to... just be around and helping families when it comes to food access as well as just getting if you need some volunteer hours or just want something to do on a saturday morning this is definitely fun to do connecting kids to meals is a great organization and it will be at their site which is 1501 monroe street So that's this Saturday, 10 a.m. to noon. The following Saturday is the Heal Together Race for Sickle Cell 5K run. September is also known as Sickle Cell Awareness Month. And so always on the third Saturday, Scott Observation and Treatment Center, they hold a 5K. That will be at Ottawa Park starting at 8 a.m. The race starts at 9 a.m., and it goes until noon. So if you don't run, you can walk, you can just enjoy all the festivities, but that is something that's happening the following Saturday. um in regards to what my colleague uh council member gaddis had said regarding this rfp issue i want to put on record that council nor i as the chair nor council member gaddis as the co-chair of the committee had anything to do with this that is the narrative that has been going around for the longest time and i'm here to say we did not have any idea about this so what we did suggest was that looking back in the rfp in terms of re renaming adding revising whatever it needs to take to get the categories correct making sure that the vendors have the correct categories and codes and keywords in order to get the rfp because this has exploded to the point where we're being looped in and council had nothing to do with this at all so i just wanted to put that on record moving forward Me as the chair would like to know about these things, mainly because now I am being dragged into it as the chair. And food is my thing. I don't want this to go down and be a lesson saying that's why we shouldn't invest in food system stuff or food security stuff, no. This is important work. And for this to happen in the community that we always try, I don't want to say we, I'm not going to say we. that has always seemed to be the receiver of help per se because it seems like the neighborhood needs to be saved. This was a bad example. I'm doing a lack of a better term right now, bad example. What we're doing at the city when it comes to food systems is very important. This is more than just food security. This is more of being proactive and protective over our food system. This is being prepared. This is to make sure that neighborhoods, farmers, everybody who adds to the food system, this is about equity. And this has exploded to the most negative way that I could have ever imagined. But I wanted to put on record that council had nothing to do with this. So moving forward, we're going to have to have that RFP process revised. in that like literally we need to have that revised. I'm putting that with the administration to get that together because if we're going to be looking at urban ag as an industry economic development which it is then we're going to have to start taking it seriously when it comes to these contracts right now because they are essential to this food system. Other than that, that's all I have to say. I claim my time.

Council Member Comey's first call.

Thank you so much, Clerk. I want to thank everybody who attended the hearing we had last week for an update on Brent Industries and a special thank you to the administration for being upfront and transparent with our residents. I did have a conversation today with Commissioner Simon about the current state of what's happening there. The chemical tanks have all been remediated and removed, which is a really good sign, and are now offsite. The cleanup company that has been contracted has requested from the OEPA to pause testing water and air quality as they no longer believe that it is a threat. And I think the OEPA is going to say yes to that, but our internal environmental services team will continue to test and monitor moving forward in spite of the call by the OEPA to stop. So our residents should rest assured that we continue to monitor and do what we can to make sure that they are safe in their neighborhood. Should they continue to have questions, please keep reaching out and let us know. So many of us are focused on this. And last, let me just say that while it was stated several times that Brent Industries is fully cooperative and helpful through this, I hope that continues and I hope they continue to show that they can be cooperative and that they come full circle on their obligations to the city of Toledo. It's a real shame and I think a problem that 5% of all past Waterdew bills are owed by this one company. And I think that's a real issue and certainly I hope our DPU team is looking into these companies that owe us a lot of money in water. Last, I am glad to hear so much conversation about flock cameras. I have been voting against flock cameras for some time now, a little more than a year, going on two. And the conversation is larger than I think it's ever been before, as more and more people realize that they're all being watched. Every single one of us is being treated like a suspect. just for being out in public. And people across the country have time and again had to show that they have to prove their innocence due to these cameras. Dozens and dozens of communities across the country continue to eliminate their contracts. Most recently in Ohio, just last week, the city of Columbus paused their contracts with Flock because they found internally that an officer was abusing the system. So I did, as a result of their pause, as well as our neighbors to the north in Monroe County who also paused it. I think seven out of eight or eight out of nine Republicans there voted to pause their system. And due to concerns over the constitutionality over FLOC and the ability for the police to monitor or government to monitor people's actions and privacy in public. I sent an email to the administration on Friday after the pause by Columbus was announced. urging the administration to pause our system until an audit is completed. While I will not support mass surveillance of any kind, I think it is imperative at this point that this administration pause the use of this technology until we find out uh... better how we can protect our residents who uh... who i think are very clear on this topic i i don't know that i've seen another topic since being on council that is so clear by the public in terms of where their opposition lies uh... there's not a story that is published you know rarely do we see all of social media comments going in one direction and they are on this topic it is very very clear so uh... The case for keeping them, I think, continues to diminish as all of these communities eliminate their contracts. If we are going to be one of the few communities that remains with the system, we better make the case as to why. Lastly, I included a referral question in my email to the administration, and I'll just reiterate it here today, but I want to know if we have ever investigated any of our own employees for misuse or abuse of the flock system or currently investigating any employees for misuse of the system. But I would again implore the administration to pause the flock system. Thank you.

Councilwoman Kramer, first call.

Thank you, Clerk. A lot of serious topics before us this evening. I just wanted to say I attended the produce party at Sonia Organics this weekend and it was packed it was very well attended we were all excited to get that fresh produce from some of our urban farmers and i know the pop-up produce stands at swainfield are planned through the fall and i really urge the administration to work with those urban farmers to include them. Could we have stands as we do at the farmer's market downtown for those urban farmers? I definitely think that's worth having a conversation because we definitely want to have them at the table. But I thank you to Sonya for opening up her garden. It was fun seeing the chickens and just the community and the sense of community that was there this weekend was really cool. I also do want to talk about the pause on the flat cameras and I think Councilman Driscoll for bringing that up tonight because I think it is important. I think we do have to look at Monroe County. We have to look at Columbus. We have to look at the real bipartisan outcry about these cameras. I mean, I look at Florida. Florida is taking the lead on eliminating these cameras. And over 150 communities have paused or eliminated these cameras. And I know I've heard from a tiny bit of folks who say, you know, well, if you're not a criminal, why are you worried about this? But as some of my colleagues have said here, it does criminalize everyone. And I look at just the audit that Lucas County has done and look at all of the hits that have been made through Texas. And I've said this before, in Texas, different people are considered criminals than the people who are here. People who are seeking reproductive healthcare in Texas are considered criminals and they are not here in Ohio. people who are trying to get gender-affirming care are considered criminals down in Texas, and they are not here. So my own son, who may be trying to get that gender-affirming health care that he needs, would be considered a criminal in Texas, and he is not here. So we have to be very careful about these cameras and who is able to obtain this information so i support a pause as we are trying to audit i have been you know in contact with council um council member gaddis as well as law as well as the police department in terms of you know getting information and as council member gaddis said 69 days ago she asked for that information um so i i just i think it's important for us to take the utmost caution with the information that is out there On a lighter note, I do want to say happy Labor Day to everyone. It's always incredible to see parades and the gatherings downtown, and it was really great to see all of our labor unions downtown and celebrating. And I think we also, I know I always do on Labor Day, pause to think about all the people that fought for safe working conditions in this country. I mean, children are not working in factories right now because of the fight that we had years and years ago. We have a 40-hour work week. We have safe working conditions. So I think it's important to remember that every Labor Day. Thank you.

Councilman Martinez, first call.

Thank you, clerk. A couple things. I wanted to say a belated happy Labor Day to everyone. I appreciate everyone to echo my colleague's comments earlier that have made our workforce what it is today. And I sincerely appreciate all of the hard work and continued effort moving the agenda forward as things change and evolve, Secondly, I want to thank Councilman Meldon for bringing, what number was that? 382-26. So as District 2 rep, I challenge all of my colleagues, all of my district reps. to include more ADA-friendly and elderly policies in place. And I just wanted to highlight a couple that we have in District 2. Number one is Snyder Park that we voted for through ARPA dollars, but we have the inclusive playground along with the mini pitches or the smaller soccer fields so those with disabilities or ailments can play a organized sport. And I worked with TDOT to get a crosswalk near, well not just TDOT but also TARDA, to get some pedestrian friendly crosswalks to plate 21 in that area and move a bus stop and put a shelter in place because we have some individuals who As heartbreaking as it was during the winter time would get stuck in the snow and would fall in the street because they cannot access. They didn't have a safe space to have their wheelchairs or walkers or whatever they needed. So this is definitely very important. And so I thank you for bringing this to our attention. and then finally just about the flock i do have a referral um about the pause because if this what this council decides to move forward with number one i won't support it number one but also legally i want to make sure that is not a violation of the tmc section 30 clause that does not allow city council to interfere with the day-to-day operation so i do have a formal referral that i will give to law here shortly. And then secondly, I hear all the talk about Flock and I welcome the conversation and looking at the policies and the data. A lot of this stuff is already on the Toledo Police Department's website in their transparency page. I would encourage if you haven't seen it, check it out. I would also encourage all of my colleagues that haven't to actually take the time to meet with either Lieutenant Cook or Sergeant, excuse me, Captain Lenhart, or even the new chief, Chief Braun, to get a more thorough understanding of what FLOC means and what it does. Everyone talks about the abuses in every city but Toledo. So if you're aware of abuse through the flock system, through TPD, please let us know so we can bring it to council so we can investigate it if that is the case. I am generally concerned. But I think we have a lot of safeguards in place. The problem is nobody knows about them. And what we're seeing in municipalities across the country in the state of Ohio is the abuse, but you don't necessarily see the heroes behind these. Also, understand the constitutionality, but as of this past year, Schmidt versus Norfolk. the district judge says it's legal until that changes unless there is litigation in the state of ohio or national it is the law of the land and regardless of what you feel or what you believe facts matter and that is the fact um so i just want to say i i understand where everyone is coming from and i surely do appreciate the the conversation about it but We do have a responsibility to our entire community. We want to make sure everyone feels safe and protected. And as we think about how this technology goes, I think the fact of the matter is there is a stigma or bias against flock labeled either cameras, software, or hardware. And the pausing of Monroe County, by the way, is going to impact Toledo because guess where a major thoroughfare is for criminals up to Detroit. So not having them online does jeopardize the safety of Toledo. We're all interconnected along these lines. And pausing this is also a concern about active investigations um you know we're able to there's some really good um uh wins for our hard-working men of tulip police department that we were able to find killers within 24 hours of the event because of flock cameras and lprs and there is uh a human aspect of it so it's not just 100 um ai generated and they are guidelines and to councilman komive's um referral to the administration i've actually asked that question last week uh to see if there was any internal investigations of any abuse that we were investigating internally and i did uh direct that directly to uh captain lennhart and as of now there are none they run periodic searches, so there are audits. And then moving forward, you know, I think as I've said in the past, I think we've all And this council can agree that while we appreciate the hard work of the administration, the problem is they are terrible at communication and telling the story. We have a comms department that works really hard, but it's very hard to overcome a lot of the misinformation, the noise. And I can't address anything that's happening outside of the city of Toledo. That is not what I was elected to do. But I do agree that it is important that we are aware of it to make sure that it doesn't happen. I believe this council can walk and chew gum at the same time. We both have been proactive and reactive to our constituency regarding flock. And as one member had mentioned to me, well, what if we want to change the type of our gum, right? We don't like the flavor anymore. So if it's not flock, then it would be Axios or Motorola or pick a different software system. But we still need an operating system of brains to do all this at the same time anyway. And guess what? It still has all the same capabilities. So I am not by any means an advocate for flock branded business. What I am very supportive of safety measures and security to keep our residents safe, especially as I mentioned on Reynolds Road, we've had three murders in the last year and a half. And we've never had that in District 2. District 2 has the least amount of LPRs and flock branded cameras. in the entire city of Toledo, right behind District 5. The most is District 1. I'm sorry, not District, my apologies, District 4. My apologies, I was looking, sorry, President Williams. And then right next to that is District 3. So crime has been reduced, but it's spreading out. And as you look at District 2, 75 quarter to Holland, Springfield, Monroe, It's very concerning. So we're going to have to come to grips with this one way or the other. And I do agree with Councilman Komis that we do need to put some protections in. But we also need to make sure that we're able to communicate that to our residents in a reasonable way. You know, I had multiple information sessions about the District 2 project. I'm not making this specifically about District 2, but to make sure questions were answered because I understood how sensitive flock branded cameras were. So, are you timing me? Yes, ma'am. So, I do understand that, and there are plenty of opportunities to get real information, to get questions answered. So, when people ask you, District 2 school safety program, are they going to be spying on our kids? No, I was very clear that it's very specific exterior cameras only, and that should have been an easy answer from our members to tell members of our community. Even if you didn't show up, it was a simple conversation that I would have been happy to have. So again, I look forward to the debate and the conversation, but I think pausing, flock system in general would have devastating impacts to ongoing investigations and most importantly, giving justice to the people who are victims.

Thank you.

Councilwoman McPherson, first call.

Real quick, our team has used up all the minutes. I want to extend my condolences to the families of the two who were found at the St. Agnes Church fire tragedy. And because of the situations that we have in our city of those unhoused, we have this tragedy. So I'm kind of flipping from where everybody else is going. Heartfelt in that we, after the fire and after the fact, and that happens. um let me say thank you and kudos to calvin harris and his department for always being consistent and sending us emails about what's going on with the water department with sewers as we deal with these heavy rains they are always consistent in shooting us an email that they're watching and that they're sending people out I really appreciate the communication that his department does for us. Last Wednesday I had the pleasure of hanging out with Kids Council and the Kid Mayor and the Grown Mayor. We were packing sacks snacks bags at the um connecting kids to meals and it was it was fun um i never worked in an assembly line so thank god but we got to experience assembly line packing there and um as always the mayor and his history and explaining and we did math and We did social studies as we packed snacks and he's sharing with the kids. It was great. And I think I learned a lot just talking with Wendy and the amount of food that we distribute. throughout the city to our high schools for the weekends and i think she told us it was something like 16 000 of those snack bags we did 250 snack bags in an hour with the kids and It's all being used and they need more. It's just astounding to hear the numbers of the meals and all that they are doing to feed so that our students, our kids are not having to deal with food insecurities through the week and the weekends. So kudos to Wendy and her crew. Saturday, there's a lot going on. Toledo Sister Cities International Festival is Saturday from 12 to 8 p.m. at the Erie Street Market. It is free. Come out and sample foods from all around the world. There will be dancing, singing in all languages. And I am pleased and honored that it is at our Erie Street Market. So I want to invite the community to come out and experience the different nationalities and customs. And that's all I have.

President Williams, first call. Thank you, clerk. So it's been busy and we've had some good times and it's been some lows, but I definitely appreciate this council and all the feedback and the way that we think and can work together on different topics. But I wanna just bring us back real quick to Joseph Johnson. Joseph Johnson was a young man that he was a 16 year old Woodward High School student. He was shot and murdered on Woodward Avenue back in March of 25. On Friday, myself, Councilman Martinez, and Commissioner Lisa Sebecky went over and we looked at the workings of Flock, and we looked at different ways that the detectives used Flock to solve that murder. They not only used Flock to solve that murder, they used the cameras on Ring Camera on houses, They used a ring camera that was across the street from that shooting that identified the car that held the criminals that shot Joseph. They also used the gas station camera on the corner of Stickney and Manhattan. There was a camera on Stickney and Manhattan. They also used ODOT cameras on the highway to track that car. then on savannah they used license plate readers to track the car a young man's life was lost and within that two-week span two-week span they were able to sync all those cameras together to find the individuals that murdered joseph There is more to just we're being over surveillance. There is crime deterrence because I just bought a camera, a flat camera a few months ago before this blew up across the country for Greenbelt Park, Greenbelt Place Apartments. Anybody want to go over there with me and sit at night? Because let me tell you what, Paul, and it's going up. I just, there will be a camera placed on Central and Detroit. If there was one placed a long time ago, guess what? We would have had our Congresswoman's person that day when she got into that accident. So when we talk about this, make sure that I want to ask all my colleagues, go over and get the presentation that I got, and I ask the police department to bring it to council on the 17th to see this. This is to see how they brought everything together. And I want everyone to think about our ring cameras. Yes, it's our choice. Our ring cameras are our choice. Our ODOT, are we going to ask ODOT to pause their camera systems? Are we going to tell the gas station on the corner of Stickney and Manhattan to pause their systems? If we're going to do it to one, do it to all. I feel better having found the criminals that shot up the OSN Festival with Flock that dot was used to find those individuals that shut up the festival that was nationally televised and put to lead on the spotlight so district four has more flat cameras and flight license plate readers and the crime has went down cases are being soft thirty percent faster is thirty percent a lot but guess what it can stop that the criminals that commit those crimes from committing more I understand the people don't like the use of cameras and how it's done, but find out more information about it before we pause it. I would like all the referrals answered. I would like the data put on the table. I would like all of this. So please, please let us work together to do this. We will have an audit of it. I will bring a resolution forward or legislation forward to produce that audit on next cycle. But we got to work together on this law, y'all, because I don't want crime to go up. Also too, I will be having a town hall this Thursday at 5 PM at the Zablocki Center. Please come out. We'll have different individuals there talking about different things. One thing I want to make sure that the public is educated on is the ballot measures that this council passed to clean up our charter. So please come out. Also, there will be a community meeting about tenants. I'm going to tell you what it is. It is on... the same day at 2.30 at Kent Branch Library. It is the Toledo Tenants Community Meeting, Thursday, September 10th at 2.30. So after you leave the tenants meeting, come on over to Zablocki. All right, if nothing else, this meeting's adjourned.