The Dayton City Commission meeting will now come to order.

Would you all please join me in the invocation as well as the Pledge of Allegiance?

And this evening's invocation will be given by Commissioner Beckham.

Dear Lord, thank you for this evening.

Thank you for uh keeping us and uh protecting us as we came to this meeting today.

Continue to lead and guide us as we make uh progress and make decisions for the betterment of this community and continue to protect us all as we do your work in your name we pray.

I'm in the United States of America.

And to the Republic for which you stand under God, invisible with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you, my dear.

Thank you.

All right.

Ms.

Blackshare, may we please have a roll call this evening?

Mayor Turner Slaus.

Aye.

Commissioner Joseph.

Aye.

Shaw.

Aye.

Beckham.

Aye.

May I have a motion to approve the minutes for the uh February 25th, 2026 meeting?

So moved, second the motion.

It has been properly moved and seconded to approve the minutes of the February 25th, 2026 meeting.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed say no.

Ms.

Blackshare, are there any communications or petitions this evening?

There are none, Your Honor.

Thank you, Ms.

Blackshare.

Ms.

Blackshare, are there any additions, deletions, or comments to the calendar?

I have none, Your Honor.

Thank you.

Ms.

Dixtein, are there any additions, deletions, or comments to the calendar this evening?

Your Honor, I have no additions or deletions to this evening's calendar.

I do have one item to highlight, which is the first reading of resolution number 6921-26.

Honorarily naming Madison Street between First Street and Third Street as Amy C.

Walbridge Way for a two-year period.

Madison Street is the street where the AC Hotel sits.

And it was one of the streets that one of the many projects that Amy helped facilitate and get across the finish line in her over 30 years of public service to the city of Dayton.

We are coming up close on her one-year anniversary of her death and losing her both in the organization as well as in the community.

She worked in neighborhood housing, community, and economic development in those 30 years at the city.

She was a staunch collaborator, community builder, and what I always refer to as a professional dot connector.

When I needed to know anybody that was connected to anything or anyone, Amy was my go-to girl.

So it is with great honor and um bittersweetness that I bring that we bring this forward.

As well as Jen Hanauer who helped with this application to bring this forward to you this evening.

Thank you very much, Ms.

Dixon.

I really appreciate that.

And I look forward to supporting along with my colleagues.

Yes, Your Honor.

There is one citizen who has registered to speak.

I would like to state that there is a three-minute time limit.

As you address the commission, we ask that you state your name and address for the record.

At that time, I would turn on the green light.

When the green light comes on, you will have three minutes to speak.

After you have spoken two and a half minutes, a yellow light will come on.

You will have 30 seconds remaining to speak.

When the red light comes on, you will be asked to cease your comments and to take your seat.

To the audience in attendance, please be mindful.

This is a business meeting, and we kindly request that during this portion of the meeting you refrain from any hand clapping, finger snapping, and conversations that will prevent the city commission from hearing the speaker's comments.

I call to the podium Rebecca Gacoving, Mayor and Commission.

Name and Clerk.

I didn't expect to be this emotional.

Anyone who knew Amy knew of her passion for the city and the people in the city.

And anyone who ever worked with Amy felt included and informed.

And her work will go on after many of us are gone as well.

I'm really pleased and proud to be a part of this.

And I thank you for your consideration.

Thank you, Ms.

Thank you.

And thank you for your service to the organization.

That concludes the Speaker Sharon.

Thank you, Ms.

Blackshire.

Commissioners, are there any comments to the city manager's recommendations?

Commissioner Beckham.

Just one.

I just want to second all of the very heartfelt words that have been said about Miss Amy Walbridge.

I had known her since I was an AmeriCorps student just uh at the University of Dayton.

So I watched her in action over the years and uh a champion for this city uh truthfully and um she is missed and uh I just want to thank uh the staff and city manager for bringing this forward.

Uh I am more than happy to support it uh and the great memory of Amy Walbridge, so thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner.

Commissioner Fairchild.

Yeah, no, I just want to echo those words for Amy and um you know Daytonians love our city, and it's great to work alongside of people with that kindred spirit who love the city, and Amy has the great uh accomplishment.

There's really some concrete things that are left that uh that people can point to that she really you know physically changed the community, but underneath that really helped to make Dayton the community that it is.

So thank you and thank you for bringing it forward and all the your service as well.

Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Schell.

Totally agree with my my colleagues that says she was a talented and uh committed uh member of this organization, but further just uh a champion for the city, and uh she will be missed.

So I just uh thank you for bringing this up.

Thank you, Commissioner.

Commissioner Joseph.

Thank you, Mayor.

This this may sound like a non sequitur, but bear with me here.

Hang on a second.

So uh this is a few years ago when the airlines were making some huge changes in their frequent fire programs.

And because I like to travel, I follow what's going on online, and there was a comment that stuck with me.

Uh airline recently had like slashed the frequent flyer programs, and even though you these people had saved up a lot of miles, they weren't able to get life to them or anything.

And the comment was I've loved this giant faceless nameless giant faceless corporation, and it doesn't love me back.

And it kind of stuck with me, right?

Uh but the city is different.

The city is different.

Uh if you love the city and you work in the city like like Amy did in Walbridge did, uh, there's a there's a community that's built that you change the direction, the direction of history, the direction of the future by your work with people, by work with things.

You build bridges, both you know, physical and metaphorical, and you can change the direction of things, and your your memory can last.

So uh just coming around to it.

I feel like she loved the city.

She loved the work, she was great at it.

We're in debt for the work that she did, and through this act and through the the work that we all do and will do in the city, that's how we pay her back, and we love her back.

So I'm proud to have known her.

She was a friend and a really an excellent staffer, an excellent worker, an excellent person.

I'm glad to support this renaming here today.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner.

I too would like to echo all of the comments and the sentiments that have been shared this this evening.

I had the pleasure of working with Ms.

Walbridge uh some time ago on the other side serving as a member of the organization.

Uh I like to call it the good old days, but nonetheless, uh, she was in fact um infectious with the work that she did for the city of dates and her commitment.

And so I thank all of those who had their hand in bringing this forward.

Thank you for your comments, Ms.

Dixtein.

Um, and I believe she was noted for saying we're the people in this, and she really understood why we did this work on a daily basis, and that is for the people for the constituents for the residents.

So thank you.

May I please have a motion to approve the city manager's recommendations this evening?

Your Honor, I moved to approve the city manager's recommendations.

Second motion.

Thanks.

It has been properly moved and seconded to approve the city manager's recommendations.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed say no.

Any abstentions?

Legislation, Ms.

Bleckshir.

Second reading, emergency ordinance number 32178-26.

Authorizing the purchase of real estate in parcels R72-00806-0001 R72-0806-0002.

R720806-0003 and R 72-00806-0009.

Mayor Turner Sloss.

Aye.

Commissioners Joseph.

Aye.

Shaw.

Abstain.

Aye.

Emergency ordinance number 32178-26 has passed with four votes in favor and one abstention.

Thank you, Ms.

Black Sheer.

First reading ordinance number 32179-26.

To vacate the alley south of St.

Charles Avenue from 20 feet east of the alley east of Bourne Street to Crichton Avenue.

First reading resolution number 6920-26 authorizing the city manager or her designee to apply for, accept, and execute a state and tribal assistance grant administered by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, US EPA, on behalf of the City of Dayton for upgrades to the Dayton Water Quality Laboratory Project in the amount not to exceed $4 million.

First reading resolution number 6921-26, honorarily naming Madison Street between First Street and Third Street as Amy C.

Walbridge Way for a two-year period.

That concludes legislation, Your Honor.

Thank you, Ms.

Blackshire.

This evening we have a couple of board appointments for the Dayton Sister City Committee.

Thank you, Mayor.

I move to appoint Kathleen Caffrey and Aldean Fafulovich to the Dayton Sister City Committee for a term ending December 31st, 2028.

I second the motion to appoint Kathleen Caffrey and Aldean Fuffelick to the Dayton Sister Sister City Committee for a term ending December 31st, 2028.

It has been properly moved and seconded to approve to appoint Kathleen Caffrey and Aldean Fufervich to the Dayton City City Committee for a term ending December 31, 2028.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed say no.

Any abstentions.

Your Honor, 12 citizens have registered.

And I would like to state that there is a three-minute time limit.

I call to the podium Logan Martinez.

I'm with the date of peace coalition.

We have someone I was the last person to sign up, and I'd not like to change the order if that's okay.

I have a left.

Okay, you can step forward.

Oh question.

Really hesitating that we have someone who's going to read the letter.

Makes my speech a little more pertinent, but we'll have your name and address.

Okay.

My name is Logan Martinez.

My address is 7470 Mohawk Trail Road.

You maybe can.

Okay, thank you.

Thanks for being here.

And uh before I get going, I want to say congratulations to the mayor and the new city commissioners for being elected.

I haven't had a chance to say that, but the city of Dayton is very excited and very much looking forward to the years ahead here.

Thank you.

We are under attack.

The people of the United States are under attack, and the world is under attack.

The people of Minnesota are under attack.

The educational system here is under attack, and they are into making war.

And with no declaration award, no warning, he attacked Venezuela.

I'll say his name, Trump, and kidnapped the president and brought him back here, kidnapped him.

Stole him away and murdered a hundred people.

The news media don't report that, but there were a hundred casualties in Venezuela in which people died.

Now we're here asking you to pass a resolution condemning Trump's attack on Venezuela.

And we would hope you would condemn his attack on Iran.

And maybe you could put it together in a resolution.

And we want the release of the kidnapped president and his wife.

Now the city of Dayton, fortunately, has a long history of speaking up for peace.

And it was one of the first cities to do so, and it made the New York Times that the city spoke up for peace.

Then I was here when the city endorsed a resolution calling for an economic boycott of South Africa.

Now that was a real fight.

A lot of people didn't want that resolution passed.

We had NCR uh standard register flying the flag of South Africa as they were shooting students in.

So wait a murdering unarmed students.

Sort of like Kent State, only it happened every day.

But the City Commission didn't want to do that.

They didn't want to pass.

They didn't want to, they said, that's not our business.

It's not our business what happens in South Africa or Vietnam or in Gaza.

But it is your business.

When they're flying the flag and and people are making money off of it here, it is our business.

And so we're calling on you to pass a resolution.

We thank you for passing the resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Of course, they're killing people in Gaza today, shooting women and children, unarmed civilians.

So we're calling for you to pass a resolution for peace and to put some teeth in it because we can't play around anymore.

We gotta play hardball for change and for peace.

Thank you.

Christina Coleman.

Good evening, Commissioners.

Good evening.

Name and address for the record, please.

My name is Christina Cohen.

My address is 6924 Greeley Avenue.

I am a resident of the city of Dayton, and I am also an attorney with Advocates for Basic Legal Equality or ABLE.

I'm here today to speak about transparency and accountability as well as the importance of consistent evaluation standards within city government.

In 2024, the city commission voted to increase the city manager's independent spending authority from $10,000 to $50,000.

This change allows contracts of up to $50,000 to be approved without commission approval or public awareness.

While administrative efficiency matters, transparency matters more.

Public funds required public visibility.

For this reason, ABLE has submitted a FOIA request for the city manager's contracts for the last five years, and we're waiting for those results.

We are urging that all contracts approved by the city manager, regardless of spending threshold, be publicly disclosed and placed on the same agenda as other contracts.

This ensures equitable access to information, meaningful public oversight, and consistency in how taxpayer dollars are reported.

When information is treated differently based solely on spending threshold, it limits the public's ability to stay informed.

Additionally, we are advocating for a formal evaluation of the city manager's performance.

The city manager is the highest paid city employee and has not had a formal performance evaluation in more than three years.

In any organization, public or private, performance evaluations are standard practice.

They provide clarity, establish benchmarks, and ensure alignment with organizational values and fiscal responsibility.

When elected leaders decline to publicly clarify their stance on whether formal evaluations should apply to all members of city leadership, including the city manager, that silence is meaningful.

It matters it matters of public accountability.

Silence can be interpreted as opposition.

Residents deserve clarity.

Accountability should never be controversial.

It should be public, it should be standard practice.

We are requesting that an outside consultant facilitate a fair and publicly available evaluation process to ensure objectivity and transparency.

We believe that residents should also have an opportunity to provide feedback through a structured survey process similar to what other communities uh employ in or and sorry, similar to other community input tools the city already uses.

It's about building public trust, transparency and accountability are not attacks but safeguards, and our community deserves leadership that embraces oversight, welcomes evaluation, and ensures that pup that public systems remain open and responsive.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Cowan.

Use of Alzheimer's.

Good evening, Mayor Commissioner.

Good evening.

When I look at the seven flags, international flags behind you, including uh Bosnia Herzegovina, Palestine, and Israel.

I don't I don't just see symbols.

I see people, mothers, fathers, children, entire communities who wake up each day hoping simply to live in safety and dignity.

And today across our world, the hope feels fragile.

We are watching wars rage in places like our Iran, Gaza, and my home country Lebanon, and many other places that I'm losing count every day.

We wake up with the war that we're waging, where civilians are caught in devastating violence.

New conflict are igniting as other count uh as others continue with no clear end.

We're normalizing war.

The headlines move quickly, the suffering does not.

War is never an abstract.

It's paid for in human lives and human dignity first.

Families shattered, children traumatized and killed, futures interrupted.

But it's also paid for and billions of American dollars, massive amount of public taxpayers.

And that's where we we become where this becomes local.

Because here in Dayton, we are struggling too.

We see families facing housing insecurity.

We see neighbors postponing health care because they simply can't afford it.

We see food insecurities affecting roughly one in seven people in our Miami Valley region.

Thousands of families are unsure where the next meal will come from.

Children going to school hungry, sleeping in cars, seniors choosing between groceries and prescription.

These are not statistics to us.

When we think about the billions spent on war, one missile being hit every day is over a million dollars across the globe.

It is hard not to ask.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Hazin.

Destiny Brown.

Good evening, Destiny Brown, 31 Second Street Day in Ohio, 45402.

Good evening.

Good evening.

I'm here to stand in the gap for several community members who can be here tonight due to uh prior obligations and sick children, and also on solidarity with community members who are here to speak about transparency, accountability, and the responsibility that each of us carry to the residents of Dayton, particularly you all have as elected officials.

Mayor Turner Sauz and Commissioner Fairchild in a not fair not a really recent article, but in a in a Dayton Daily article expressed their sentiment that evaluations, performance evaluations needed to happen to every with everyone that works for the city and for any organization, particularly including our city manager, which was what the article was about.

Today, Commissioner Shaw and Commissioner Joseph declined to respond to that article, at least when it came out.

And for the community, as what was shared already, a lot of people hear that silence as a stance on the issue.

In contrast, um, as I say, Commissioner Fairchild and Mayor Sloss have expressed their willingness to give attention to the matter and agree that evaluations are appropriate and important across the board for everyone.

It not only demonstrates public service, um, but it requires and demonstrates the need for a measurable accountability for everyone that serves our city.

As we know, requests that come before this body require a majority vote.

And therefore, uh, the question that the community then wonders as we have seen the silence from Commissioner Shaw and Commissioner Joseph.

Um Commissioner Beckham, what is your stance on this issue related to the need for performance evaluations for everybody that serves our city?

Um in 2024, the commission voted to increase the city manager spending authority as which has already been mentioned mentioned from 10 to 50,000.

Um, the decision allows contracts to go through without public visibility or becoming before this body or being included in the agenda.

Um efficiency is important, we transport transparency is a is a need.

So what I urge is that we want to see a performance review, um, which feels like low-hanging fruit and a bare minimum of what should happen when people are serving in these roles.

Um, but additionally, that that all contracts approved by the city manager, whether they are and under the threshold or not, it should be visible to people, not in a way that it feels unsearchable, not where people have to make a public records request for, but the same way that that other contracts are visible that we should be able to see them when we attend a commission meeting.

Um the collective voices of people that are here really are standing in solidarity because people have had some challenges with our city manager.

And while this isn't an issue of personalities, the appropriate metrics in place to allow for certain things to not um go without notice and for people to feel included and for equitable decisions to be made for our community.

We have witnessed several requests for the disclosure of these contracts.

Thank you all for your time.

Thank you, Ms.

Brown.

Alice Wood.

Um hello, good evening.

Good evening, address for the record.

Um, Alice Wood, and as a domestic violence uh victim and survivor, I'd like to keep my address confidential, but I do live in Dayton, Ohio, 45415.

Good evening, commissioners.

I want to focus on the method by which the city manager's performance should be evaluated as identified in the recent Dayton Daily News reporting.

Dayton has not conducted a formal evaluation of the city manager in over three years, despite significant increases in her compensation.

Um this disconnect between pay and documented performance review undermines both uh credibility and accountability to ensure fairness, credibility, and rigor in the evaluation process.

We are asking the commission to engage an independent third-party consultant to facilitate the city manager's performance review.

Why is this necessary?

In peer cities of similar size, independent facilitators or consultants are regularly used used to one develop objective evaluation criteria that align with the city's um strategic goals to survey elected officials, stakeholders, and where appropriate, community representatives.

Three, compile a balanced and professionally managed evaluation report, and lastly, um provide recommendations for future focus areas rather than solely offering subjective opinions.

This approach prevents evaluations from becoming internal informal conversations and instead produces structured accountable reviews that commissioners and residents can trust, given that Dayton City Manager has become the highest paid city employee with no recent formal review and independent evaluation would benefit both leadership and public perception.

It will remove ambiguity about performance expectations and provide constructive feedback to guide future success.

We recommend that the commission adopt a formal policy requiring independent facilitation of the city manager's evaluation annually.

This would align Dayton with best practices seen in many peer communities and demonstrate a commitment to transparent um accountable leadership.

Additionally, we are asking that the city managers contracts be included in the agenda for the public as all other contracts are.

Thank you, Ms.

Wood.

Azela Fitz.

Good evening.

Good evening.

Name and address for the record.

2720 Orchard Run, Dayton, Ohio, 4549.

Your name for the record, please.

Azale Fitz.

Thank you.

Good evening, all.

My name is Azela, and I'm here to speak about a strategy that directly impacts public safety, community stability, and the economic vitality of Dayton.

Recently, I have attended the 2026 budget appropriation meeting with my social welfare policy class, where we observed how the city allocates funding across departments and initiatives.

After seeing how those resources are distributed, I wanted to offer a recommendation that addresses one of the root causes behind many of the challenges our community continues to face.

We frequently discuss discuss crime rates and behavioral concerns within our schools and correctional systems, but far less attention is given to the underlying drivers, such as untreated trauma, mental health conditions, learning disabilities, and the lack of out healthy outlets for emotional expression.

These needs do not disappear over time and they end up compounding and eventually service in our classrooms, neighborhoods, and correctional facilities.

If we are serious about lowering crime and strengthening our city, we must be serious about prevention and rehabilitation.

And that means intentionally allocating funds towards art and art therapy programs as a part of mental health services, both in schools and correctional institutions.

Nationwide, more than 60% of formerly incarcerated individuals returned to prison within three years.

Yet some art-based rehabilitation programs report report recidivism rates as low as 3% among participants.

Research has also shown that art-based therapy interventions significantly improve regulation and trauma recovery.

These outcomes demonstrate that creative program is not simply enrichment, it is rehabilitation that works for us.

I've also seen this impact firsthand through my experience at internship at Springboro High School, as I have partnered with therapists who incorporate our activities into sessions with students.

Similar approaches are also being used in correctional settings such as the Monday program at the London Correctional Institution, which integrates those therapeutic programming to include creative expression.

And addressing these roots is not separate from public safety, is the foundation of it.

This is an economic impact of our an opportunity for our city.

Investing in art in our therapy programs creates opportunities for local artists, therapists, and educators, while strengthening a growing workforce in mental health and community wellness.

With support from local art organizations and universities and businesses as well.

If we want safer neighborhoods, we must uh invest upstream, not enforcement.

Thank you, Ms.

Fitz.

Thank you.

Kevin Moore.

Nevermore record 1442 Philadelphia Drive.

Dayton R 45406.

When I look at the building on 14 Gatesburg, it's just like seeing a soldier being left behind.

First, turning this building into a vet center, a C bock, or incubator will have a positive influence in the community as well as veterans.

Second, and why?

It's cost-effective, cost effective, and cost effective.

This building can serve as a neighborhood anchor that can strict the social ties and provide essential services that have been overlooked.

This building is all of psychological needs that will bring love to the neighborhood and the community and feel a sense of self-esteem, which will lead to self-acquisition for all.

Having a cost-effective building can generate direct and indirect fundish returns for both residents and local government.

And last, having this building for community or military use can provide cost-effective platform for social infrastructure while delivering measurable costs effective economic returns.

Thank you, Mr.

Moore.

Sue Sutton.

Hi.

Hi.

Hi.

My name is Sue Sutton, and I um live at 317.

I've lived in so many different places I have to remember now.

317 uh Moss Oak Drive, and actually it's in Kettering.

And I'm very happy to see you sitting there.

Thank you.

That's what I wanted to say.

Um I actually was the first person that was supposed to read this letter, but that's all right.

And I wanted to say that I agree wholeheartedly with Yusuf and with Um Logan about this.

So this is our coalition.

On behalf of the Greater Dayton Peace Coalition, we are writing to urge the Commission to adopt a resolution condemning the recent U.S.

military operation in Venezuela that kidnapped President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Celia Flores and removed them from Venezuelan territory.

In reference to the request submitted to the Commission on January 5th, we asked Dayton's elected leadership to speak clearly for peace, sovereignty, and the rule of law by adopting the peace by adopting the peace with Venezuel Venezuela resolution.

Specifically, we urge the urge of the City Commission to condemn the abduction of a sitting head of state as a violation of Venezuelan sovereignty and a dangerous escalation.

Call for for the immediate release of President Maduro and Mrs.

Flores.

Urge de-escalation and diplomacy, not military intervention as the only responsible path forward.

Dayton, we know this.

Dayton cannot set federal foreign policy, but Date can choose whether to be silent.

A resolution from our city would affirm that we reject actions that expand war, normalizing kidnapping by force, and undermine peaceful conflict resolutions.

So please place this resolution on the agenda for the next Commission meeting and share who will sponsor it.

We would appreciate a response soon.

And it's so sincerely, Greater Dayton Peace Coalition, Youssef A.

Ella Zine, Juanita Worley Einhorn, Margaret Canapy, Stephen Scott Snyder, Reverend John Wagner, Hillary Lerman, Suzanne Fogerty, myself, Erica McCormick, Kevin Gwen, Judith Hempling, Mary Sugaminer, and Logan Martinez.

And the only other things that I wanted to say were that we we have an international peace museum here, which is really amazing.

And then we had the Dayton Peace Accords that were signed December 1995.

And on Salem Avenue, we have the Salem Peace Corridor.

So I just feel like these are things that are amazing that we're doing that we have.

Okay, well, I'm done.

But anyway, I just feel like we need more peace in this world, definitely.

Thank you, Ms.

Sutton.

Hilary Lerman.

Good afternoon.

My name is Hillary Lerman.

I live at 249 Wyoming Street, Dayton, Ohio.

I am speaking in support of the resolution by the Dayton, the Greater Dayton Peace Coalition.

And we prepared this a while ago, and the events are just moving quicker because we're trying to get peace for Venezuela, and we already have a war right now with Iran.

And it's not just a small war.

They said they wanted to kill the leader of the country.

That's not how countries usually operate.

They usually say we won't do that.

I mean, I was reading that they hit a primary school where I may be wrong, but I read there were 79 young girls who were killed.

And there's something wrong.

I've been, and then we heard about, as I saw several members nodding, of go of bombing Ecuador.

I don't know what's going on.

We I know people could say this is Dayton.

We're not the president, we don't have the authority to do this.

But this is a moral position.

We've got to get hold of where our country's going.

I mean, I'm old enough.

I was opposing the war in Vietnam.

I was old enough that we had the invasion of Iraq.

And the administration swore to us, they had Colin Powell get on in front of a national audience and say there were weapons of mass destruction.

Scott Ritter, who was officially tasked with finding them, and he wrote a report, and there were no such thing.

Thank you, Mr.

Learman.

Bishop Richard Cox.

Hello, I'm Bishop Richard Cox 1453, Liskham Drive, Dayton, Ohio.

Uh I'm concerned that if the city manager has a $50,000 fund that she can be used to contract with minorities, that needs to be published.

We need to know who those minorities are.

And let me be critically clear, since I represent the clergy community coalition, is that the city manager should be evaluated, and it shouldn't have taken three to five years to do it.

You ought to do it tonight.

And let me be clear, um city manager.

You work for the commission, they don't work for you.

All of y'all work for us.

She should be evaluated.

We want you to make it public, and we want you to do it tonight, not tomorrow.

Inquiring minds want to know if you're using some of that money to contract with minorities, it needs to be published.

Who are they?

What are you using that money for?

And let me be critically clear.

And we want it done tonight.

We want you to vote on it.

Because inquiring minds want to know what you did with that money.

And if it's going for minority contracts, publish it.

Let us know.

Evaluate her tonight, not next week, right tonight.

Because people need to know what's going on.

Cut us in or cut it out.

Y'all need to vote on this.

It means to be transparent.

You need to do it tonight, and we want to know what you're going to do about it and why she hasn't been evaluated from three to five years.

Everybody gets evaluated, and let me be again critically clear, because I am representing the clergy community coalition.

Do it tonight.

Vote on it tonight, not tomorrow.

Using that money, and you're using it to contract with minorities, publish it.

Let's do this tonight.

Cut us in or cut it out.

Thank you, Bishop Cox.

Kiana Bickham.

Kiana Bickham, 33 Barnett Street, Dayton Ohio, 45402.

Good evening.

I am coming to you on behalf of Committee Village.

Our mission is to lead change that uplifts every person, advancing fairness, expanding opportunity, and ensuring that progress is shared by all.

When there is no clear public stance on whether evaluations should apply to all members of city leadership, including the city manager, it leaves residents uncertain.

Silence on matters of accountability can feel like resistance to oversight.

Our community deserves clear answers and consistent standards.

Last year, the city commission raised the city manager spending authority from $10,000 to $50,000.

This means contracts under $50,000 can now be approved without commission's approval or public visibility.

While efficiency is important, transparency is foundational.

Public trust depends on access to information.

We're asking that every contract approved by the city manager, regardless of dollar amount, be publicly disclosed and placed on the same agenda as other contracts.

Equal access to information ensures fairness, strengthens oversight, and reinforces confidence in how public dollars are managed.

We are also calling for a formal performance evaluation of the city manager.

The highest paid city employee has not received a formal evaluation over three years.

That gap does not align with best practices and governance.

Regular evaluations ensure fiscal responsibility, alignment with community values and responsibility responsiveness to resident concerns.

To maintain public confidence, we are requesting that an independent outside consultant facilitate a fair and publicly available evaluation process.

We are also believe residents should have an opportunity to participate through structure feedback similar to the surveys the city already conducts.

Community voices should be a part of assessing community leadership.

This is not about division, it's about strengthening systems.

Transport protects both leaders and residents.

Accountability builds trust.

Open process creates stronger partnerships between the commissions and the community it serves.

We're asking for a clear commitment to these principles.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Rochelle Hewlin.

Name and address for the record.

Okay.

Good evening.

My name is Rochelle Hewland.

I live at 1444 Kipling Drive, Dayton, Ohio.

I have a couple concerns that um bothered me over the winter.

One of them was when big heavy snow we had down on uh Edwin C Moses Boulevard when Ponnox High School is located, and the students have to cross that boulevard to catch the um public transportation.

And one particular day when the snow and the plows had plowed all the snow up and it was the snow was very deep because I had walked across my street to get to the other side.

And um the students were struggling to get over there to get to the bus.

In the meantime, the traffic going well over the speed limit.

Was you know um I was afraid that you know they was gonna hit one of the kids.

It's always like that.

So two weeks go by, the snow is still there.

They hadn't snuck uh shoveled the snow around there where the kids got to stand for the bus.

And um it was just one of my concerns because for one thing, I was I talked to one of the officials and they said that um I asked them about why isn't there um flashing school light there?

Um you know, a school zone light flashing, and they said they was working on this, they're working on uh school bus transportation for the kids.

Um but something needs to be done because that is a dangerous situation with those cars speeding down there.

They do not slow up.

They see the kids trying to cross the street to get to the bus.

And some of the kids probably like had to get on the bus at a certain time, and who knows if they got to be home to let the siblings in or you know, got a job to go to.

And my other concern is that um Northwest shopping center, where um where uh family dollar is, it was cold and icy and uh that day.

The parking lot, it's a lot of seniors in my neighborhood.

And you know, we don't have any stores close by itself where the ones were it's uh they don't keep up the uh parking lots.

This parking lot was full of ice.

And I saw this one senior lady get out of her car.

She was barely making it because she was slipping on the ice.

It was slippery.

She's holding on to cars, and and the whole parking lot was full of ice.

I said, why don't they, you know, try to get this ice up or something, you know, make it safe for the seniors.

Because the seniors shop in that area, and on top of that, potholes everywhere.

That parking lot has a million potholes too.

Potholes on Gettysburg, the railroad track on um Little Richmond Road.

I've been complaining downtown about when are you gonna fix that railroad track?

It's wider now.

Between the tracks, it's wider space.

You had to practically come to a complete stop in order to get over the um tracks.

And it's like nothing being done.

I have complained several times about all this, but the school issue, I just complained about that maybe a couple of weeks ago.

So the people that I spoke with, they advised me to come to a town meeting, so here I am.

So I I'm hoping that something can be done about these issues, especially with the seniors had to go out in all that bad weather.

Someone driving by themselves, and it's it's dangerous for them.

Thank you for your comment.

Oh, oh, my light went off.

Thank you, Mr.

Shell.

That concludes the speakers, Your Honor.

Thank you, Miss Blackshire.

Ms.

Dixteen, do you have any closing comments this evening?

Your Honor, I do um in response to, and this is actually very timely, in response to the $50,000 spend authority.

As you know, um, as we've explained previously, that um the $50,000 spend authority um was the first time that that had been increased for many years.

Um we looked at best practices, and we just finished an analysis on um that $50,000 the activity from when you were approved this in May through um August or September of 2025.

And I want to re-emphasize that that money is goes through the same regulatory for do of our fiduciary policies, and um we make sure that you know it is just as rigorous uh as far as the fifty thousand dollar spend.

We just finished an analysis, so I'd like to call forward um Deputy City Manager Lachey Lofton to just walk through an executive summary to share that information with you all since it's fresh and on people's minds.

Thank you, Ms.

Dixie.

Good evening.

Shea Lofton, Deputy City Manager.

Uh, in my duties, I have the privilege of leading the departments of finance, IT, public works, and uh aviation.

And so as um city manager Dixteen um shared, we have some information to share with you.

This information was compiled as requested by Commissioner Darrell Fairchild.

Um we prepared the report and submitted to him in um and the rest of the commission to in f in early January.

So I'm just gonna go over the summary of that data.

Um and I'd also like to make sure you all understand that uh our financial system um does not track this information this way.

We have to manually develop it, so it does take some time to bring forward, and I do believe that there has been a public information request for um uh back, we which we cannot go back any further because of course the resolution or the ordinance was passed in 24.

Um going forward, um, those reports can be compiled and presented as uh necessary.

So um the information that we shared with the commission um over the 15-month period of time, we looked at um 223 contracts that were approved over that 15-month period of time.

The total value of those contracts is 3.4 million dollars, and the median contract amount was about 10,000 dollars.

So um, and we'll go into a little detail about those contracts here in a moment.

There were 179 unique vendors here, and over 16 departments across the organization were served through these contracts.

Uh, and 80 percent, uh almost 81% of those contracts were less than or equal to 25,000.

So just to give a little bit of timeline and uh about how this authority came to be.

Um we looked at best practices across the country and also in Ohio.

And the city was sitting um with Columbus and Cincinnati, Toledo, Cleveland, um, we were at 10,000, and we had not had that increase um changed or evaluated in over 17 years.

Um the other or um municipalities in the state were at 50,000, 75,000, uh, and in the case of Cincinnati, almost 250,000.

And so we wanted to make sure we were aligning and given the transparency, but also the efficiency that other cities across the country and in the state of Ohio were doing.

So we provided an internal memo memo to you all in May of 2024, March of 2024.

We did briefings with the city commission individually to share with you what we were looking for.

And in on March 27th, we received a commission vote on the ordinance that changed that authority authorization.

And that vote was a four-one vote with Commissioner Fairchild voting no, and uh at that point uh it was Commissioner Turner Sloss uh was absent for that meeting.

Uh in addition, we assured the Commission that we were not going to just roll this out haphazardly.

Uh this is a significant change.

We wanted to make sure we were training the staff as well.

So the staff all went through training on what was necessary to ensure the integrity of this process.

None of our rules or regulations or our review processes would change or evaluate be changed or evaluated.

Uh and in April 27th, um the ordinance took effect.

So the approval level changed, the oversight did not.

Um, regardless of the amount, anything over $2,500 in our in our city has to go through competitive bidding.

All RFPs, standard bid requirements, procurement timelines, none of that changed.

Uh MBE, WBE, and SBE goals, that participation equity program, those inclusion goals did not change, and all contracts or RFPs awarded either way, um, still must meet those requirements.

The finance director certification per our city charter, um, Article uh 11 or 9, sorry, no contract executes our are executed without that certificate.

So this is another level of review where our finance director determines that any contract awarded, the funds are indeed appropriated and they've been appropriated according to budget.

Also, there is a legal level required.

So the city uh law department reviews any contract that is executed uh by the city manager and also sent before they are sent to you, our legal review has happened as well.

And so those are all signed and approved, uh, and the law department also is sort of our second level of eye to help determine whether the contract is meeting the requirements of all of our ordinances.

Then we also have a rule in our ordinances that calls for no splitting of transactions.

And this is basically prohibited, so you cannot take a vendor and award them $75,000 and split it by taking that contract for the same purpose under the same fund and org combination and split it in order to avoid the ordinance as it is written.

That rule was in place when the uh threshold was 10,000 and it remained in place at 50.

So this is something that we look at and we make sure departments have again are trained on it, uh, and we evaluate it so that if it comes up to the city manager's office for approval or recommendation to this body, we have ensured that it is a ethical contract and has not gone through this process of trying to undermine or split the contracts in various means.

And then again, we have independent audits uh every year annually.

The state of Ohio regularly audits the city, and we have received clean audits for the last three fiscal cycles.

GFOA, which is the government finance officers association, a national organization that provides guidance and input to municipal and state and local governments across the country, has recognized the city of Dayton for over 40 years of having good fiscal sound practices and policies.

And we also have our bond rating agencies who provide oversight, and they do deep dives into our policies before before they extend their credits to us when we go out to issue debt.

There's really no way we could receive the credit ratings that we have if our fiscal policies and practices were not well defined and well executed.

So for these 223 contracts, again, I just wanted to give you a snapshot here of uh the breakdown of those.

Um the average contract amount was about $15,000, and 50% of those contracts were even less than 10,000.

And you can see the distribution of those there.

The other thing that we want to make sure is clear is that the we are not spending this money on pet projects or things that are outside of what the commission has authorized or approved us to spend money for.

So you can see our major CSA areas.

We've sorted those contracts through this as well.

And so in economic and community development, we had over 54 contracts.

Justice had about 73 contracts that were approved.

The infrastructure line had 47, and then our corporate services and governance had 49 contracts.

Now, zero of those, none of those contracts fell outside of those commission priorities or the budgets that have already been established for the city of Dayton as authorized by the city commission.

So just to break these down a little further, this is a little bit of detail, and just so that you have some flavor of the types of contracts that went through the process for review.

So for in the justice, most of these were public safety courts and law.

Most of the contracts were intergovernmental.

29 of those contracts really fell under the NATO support.

We had MOUs that we had with other jurisdictions, and that constituted a lot of those contracts.

Traffic and safety and OVI enforcement had 20 contracts.

We had first responder wellness, public safety facilities, technology, and then of course courts and legal services.

So this just gives you a flavor of the types of contracts and the vendors who were participating under that particular category.

Next is economic and community development.

There were 54 out of those 223 contracts or 32 percent.

And you can see that neighborhoods, businesses, youth, housing, mediation, these are the core of Dayton's community investment mission, long-standing priorities that were processed just simply more efficiently.

So we had conflict resolution and mediation services, community planning and program evaluation, and business and economic development agreements.

There were neighborhood mini grants, of course, that fall in that category, and then youth and leadership and international programs were had six contracts, and finally a housing arts and some of the other priorities that nestle up under this particular service area.

In infrastructure, we had uh 47 contracts, and these were with water and utilities.

There were some memberships that came through there, parks and recreation, there were change orders specifically around Liberation Park and McCabe's amenities.

We had our ARPA tree lawn project in Five Oaks that came through.

Um there were you can see the flavor again of some of what these contracts constituted in infrastructure and in governance and corporate services.

We had budget and financial technology projects and human resources.

We had a dependent audit that was done and we paid for it through a contract, some executive coaching that went on, and then in communications and records, the Omen Group we contracted to do our youth violence campaign, and then there were some website accessibility there, and then our debt and bond compliance.

We have Densmore and Shoal, who is the city's debt underwriter, not underwriting, sorry, bond council.

And so there are various contracts that we have with them across the organization to help manage our debt portfolio and keep us in compliance with our bondholders.

And then there's membership, banking, and taxes that we we used different contracts to execute there.

So just to address a couple of your specific concerns that were raised, the trend the change the one being the threshold change, let the city manager make deals without oversight.

The commission granted this authority through two public readings and one recorded vote.

Only the commission can change the city manager's authority, and they did by that ordinance.

And again, that $10,000 limit had not been updated since 2017.

The other concern we've heard, not just here tonight, but you know, when it was initially proposed, was that vendors are being paid over the $50,000 through multiple smaller contracts.

And our response to that is that there's only four of the 179 vendors who had cumulative totals over 50,000.

And each of those invoices and those contracts had independent scopes of work at different times.

And this is reflected in a lot of people don't understand.

We operate on a fiscal year.

So a contract in 2024 can be renewed in 2025, and that threshold resets.

So sometimes people will see a contract and it may look like it was over 50,000 but it crossed fiscal years and we we were still in compliance.

The other thing that happens is we our legal level of control is the fund org level, right?

So fund an organization.

And so you may have a contract or a vendor in the water department for 12,000 and you may have that same vendor be used by the airport.

It's a different fund and it's a different organization.

And under our legal level of control you could have two separate contracts for two different scopes with the same vendor but in two different departments, two different funds and they may total over 5000 but that is still within our legal level of control and we know that.

And then we track for that right so we are um I'm usually the one who is reviewing all items that come before either the manager for signature or to you for signature.

And so those are the things that we are checking for diligently when those come up for uh approval and processing.

Not really possible there are 179 unique vendors and again I want to remind you that we cannot we do not break our process for how we select vendors.

So we don't get to subvert our procurement processes.

We still have to go through the law department to ensure that those contracts are indeed legal the finance director still has to certify that there's budget available and that budget has to be appropriate for that use.

So the average of 1.2 contracts per vendor this distribution is pretty much the definition of open competitive procurement it's not a concentration of vendors with any favorites you you won't be able to get that um conclusion here.

And then there is no oversight of these contracts I think I can't stress this any further there are several layers of oversight that we provide um to um make sure that these contracts are within compliance.

So I really want to just stress that this data does not support any characterization of malfeasance circumvention or impropriety and I will take any questions you may have thank you Ms.

Lofton I really appreciate the the overview one quick question and I'll turn it over to my colleagues and correct me if I'm wrong this information will in fact be on the dashboard under the management and budget is that correct will this information we can post it.

Okay.

As again we this information doesn't come out of our system naturally I can't push a button and generate a report.

So when Commissioner Fairchild asked for it we had to go to work to do it.

And you all know we are undergoing a review of replacing that system which will give us a little more flexibility and adaptability to manage information in our systems.

Right now this is all a pretty much a paper process but yes we can make this available online.

Yes.

And that system you're referring to is the the ER financial system exactly which we are in the process and I know that we have made commitments in the budget to make sure that we make those necessary upgrades.

And that system itself is banner which we know is antiquated and we're moving to make those uh to be more digitally transformative.

If it was here 37 years ago when I came thank you and I apologize for jumping ahead of my colleagues Commissioner Beckham please.

I just thank you deputy city manager for um the uh expeditious presentation I don't have any questions thank you.

Thank you.

Commissioner Fairjoy thank you for this deep dive and thank you for providing the every item and the hard work that went behind that.

And I don't think that was the bar I don't for me personally it wasn't around thinking that there's mouths and circumvention or impropriety.

For me it was a question of transparency and I think that's what I heard from the city citizens.

And so being able to see it and you know I went back and I went through I wasn't able to do this kind of analysis.

I don't know how many hours staff put in there but it's really helpful and I really appreciate you you know being able to talk about the diversity of vendors and how it spread and those kind of things.

And I think if we could also post the actual you know line item ones that you shared with us that I was able to go through and look and say okay that's that and that and that you know because I think it just breeds confidence in the work we do.

And we know you guys do a good job.

I think it's helpful when we show everyone that you're doing a good job.

I was curious about one thing though in the in the com in the presentation in my mind not every contract is goes through a competitive process.

Sometimes we have vendors who we've used over time, we have vendors who are um sole source, we have vendors who have pre-existing so can you talk about that piece?

Because they don't I mean, they go, let me be clear, they go through an appropriate process, they don't go through a competitive process.

And I think it's helpful for people to understand that.

You're right.

There are professionals, we are not required to um bid out or um go through an RFP process for every professional service.

But I will say that the larger that professional service could be, the more likely that it is going to go out.

And yes, there are some that are negotiated.

Um they are a sole source or but there's criteria that our procurement department uses to work with each department to determine whether or not this needs to go out.

And we make some decisions lots of times that if the if the if we know that uh something was procured seven, eight years ago, and maybe seven or eight years ago, there they were the only source.

But now there could potentially be more market uh vendors in the market, we will encourage the departments to go out.

So you're right.

Um we don't have to bid out professional services, but I would argue that the overwhelming majority of those are.

Sure.

But but thank you.

And you know, I just want to say that I really appreciate the work that you've done and um and you know, meeting my request around transparency.

I think it demonstrates that you the professional nature of our staff and the desire to be accountable and transparent.

So thank you for doing that.

I appreciate the hard work it took.

I look forward to getting the new system because it will be a lot easier.

And we do too.

And you know, that was my concern from the get-go, is that it's a vulnerability.

And as uh you know, us taking our fiduciary's responsibilities and to be good stewards, you know, whenever there's a vulnerability, um just have to keep an eye on that vulnerability.

Not you know, uh trying to think uh w what the phrase is.

But you know, uh idle minds um breeds something.

So anyway, um thank you because I think it reassures us as leaders, but also the community that uh we're doing the right thing.

So thank you.

I want to thank my colleague for that.

Yeah, I really appreciate that.

Um very deep dive.

Thank you uh for this kind of thorough report out.

Um I do want to correct one thing.

Uh you mentioned that there uh regarding the vote.

You mentioned that it was a Ford 1 vote.

It was not a three to one vote because the time commission, yeah.

All this math has so yes, three to one, sorry, thank you.

I totally get that.

Um, but that that was a thorough dive.

I mean, we you know, these are best practices.

We really thought a lot of this before we voted, at least I I know I did, uh, and looked into um you know other cities and what what they did.

And this is this is the best practice, so I'm glad that that we're doing it.

I totally stand by my vote on that.

I would do it today uh if we had the vote again.

So I I just want to say that for the record as well.

I think that um uh we have to be nimble and flexible and that uh there's there's only so much capacity that that we can have.

So we need to trust but verify.

I I think that you're absolutely right on that.

And then report out to the community so that they feel comfortable um with these processes.

So I want to thank you for that.

Mayor, Commissioner reminded me of a question.

Um the threshold I don't think is is the concern.

The concern was what the best practice around reporting.

And I'm not sure I've seen from other cities what they do in terms of their reporting for items, and I don't know if this is we've exceeded what other cities did, and that'd be great, or if we're in line with what they've done.

So I don't know.

I would say we've exceeded it.

But we I will get you some more information about how other cities manage that.

Again, um in some of the larger cities for sure, uh, and this uh comment comes from my time of serving on the National Uh Government Finance Officers Association.

Larger cities uh you know are way more complex than we are, and so that their thresholds are usually higher.

Um and nobody's, you know, when you've got a billion dollar budget, which we are now at, by the way.

Um really, you know, looking at pennies, tens of thousands of dollars.

So I do think, you know, this is in proportion.

Our $50,000 threshold is in proportion with our our growing budget.

Um, we're still in the lower threshold um category of most of the states uh or cities around us, even smaller jurisdictions like Kettering.

Um their threshold is 75,000.

But I'll get a little more information about the reporting requirements.

Commissioner, that what I do recall from this research was most of them got reports.

They could, they had systems that they could generate reports.

Right.

And many of them, after a while, stopped asking for the reports.

Um but we don't have a system that's easily that easily generates that yet.

Um but that's what I recall, as most of the time they got they had reports that could be generated, and after the commit after the commission was comfortable, they just stopped.

Thank you.

Commissioner Joseph.

Thank you, Mayor.

I appreciate my colleagues' comments.

I agree.

Uh bringing it out this way reassures folks that our processes are in place.

And I appreciate that.

So thank you for your work in putting this together.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you.

Uh I just want to echo all of my uh colleagues' comments and their sentiments in regards to it.

I know it was a heavy lift that was an ask that was um presented some time ago, and it took some some diligence and some effort, a lot a lot of a lot of effort to say the lease.

Um but again, I really appreciate it.

Thank you for the high level review.

And then as noted, if we can find some way to make sure that is noted and posted on the city site.

The other thing is if we could look at a regular cadence where it's not so burdensome.

I don't know if it's more frequent, if it's quarterly, whatever you and your staff can identify so that we won't have to go back understanding that this was something that was passed in March or April of 24.

But now that we have a better rhythm, rhythm, if you will, we can establish a cadence.

Um then again to the point of once we get to our new ERP, then a lot of this will be able to be pushed out.

So again, kudos to you and your staff.

I really appreciate it.

And again, I just want to echo um Commissioner Fairchild's sentiments, his comments in regards to making sure that we are upholding our fiduciary responsibilities, and there was no means or of any malice to suggest that there is something out of out of scope or within our purview, but again, upholding to that that silver uh digital recognition that we receive from Bloomberg.

And so again, we appreciate the the residents um and their interest.

Um thank you for to you and your staff.

Thank you, Ms.

Dixteen.

Ms.

Blackshare, do you have any closing comments?

I have none, Your Honor.

All right.

Commissioners, closing comments, Commissioner Beckham.

Thank you, Your Honor.

Just a few.

Um again, I want to thank uh the residents and the citizens that came out tonight.

Uh appreciate you sharing your concerns.

Uh thank you to the staff for the presentation once again uh for all inquiring minds.

Uh I want to thank the Westwood neighborhood.

Um Saturday, uh myself and Commissioner Shaw uh had the opportunity to attend the Westwood Rising experience at uh the West Branch of Dayton Metro Library over on Abbey Avenue.

And um it was definitely a powerful event.

I think their vision for the neighborhood is very inspiring.

Uh certainly want to thank uh David Claybrooks, who was the new neighborhood president, uh as well as the library for hosting uh as well as the students uh from I believe Miami University who did uh much of the research that went into the um uh into the experience.

So just looking forward to uh supporting uh that neighborhood as they continue to um rebuild and attract investment.

Um it's very clear that the story is being still being written.

So uh just looking forward to where uh that next chapter leads.

Also want to mention that um the violence intervention program is finishing up their final week of training.

Um so very excited to continue to support that effort as we try to reduce violence in target areas throughout our city.

So uh we will be looking forward to doing some uh community engagement sessions at some point in the target area.

Uh but the training obviously is first to make sure that the team is prepared for the uh very important but uh somewhat um you know dangerous at times work that they will be doing uh to to reduce violence.

So I want to thank the team uh for all of the training that's happened, and uh I want to continue to uplift this work to uh ensure that we are making uh concentrated efforts to reduce violence and make Daytona a safer and more peaceful city.

So thank you, and those are all my comments.

Thank you, Commissioner, Commissioner Fairchild.

Yeah, thank you.

Um to respond to some of the citizens.

The Commission completed an evaluation of the city manager in December for years 22, 23, and 24.

Um we did not, it was December, so 25 wasn't completed, so we didn't complete that evaluation, so we did do that evaluations.

Um the Commission has also talked about looking at getting uh consultant to help us think through how to do that performance on a regular cadence and in a uh more structured way, and so that's in process.

And I would say that you know, to be fair with the city manager, um, giving her clear um expectations before the evaluation, so she knows what we are evaluating her is something that uh the commission has some room to grow into.

And so in this working relationship, we're really working on how to um get this um because you know it's only fair for the evaluation to match what the expectations were set up ahead of time.

And so we're reviewing that whole process, and I think this commission um has us on um on its priority, and I think it's gonna really foster a better working relationship with the commission and the city manager, but also be able to um be able to demonstrate to the community that we're working together in a way that um does justice to the the power and the authority that you guys have uh entrusted to us.

So I just wanted to say that.

And I want to thank you for coming up and raising the question.

I'm kind of surprised that if there wasn't a press release out there back in December, I was trying to check and see if there was a news story about that.

Uh we didn't do a good job of communicating that out that that had occurred.

So uh my apologies to the the community that we didn't communicate that.

Um a couple of things I'm gonna say some thank yous.

Uh I was at a different event with Westwood on Saturday afternoon over at the Roosevelt Center with their their fellows that are working on this environmental justice grant for Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission, and they have 40 people, I think, going through here who are really digging into how their community works and um understanding how they can make a difference in their community.

So very exciting work in Westwood.

Um I also got to attend the um DC DC dance performance, Black by Popular Demand.

It was amazing.

It was actually an amazing presentation.

And I want to give you a heads up now on April 10th, 11th, and 12th, uh DCDC and Dayton Ballet are doing a collaborative performance and lifting up the the essence of the Gem City and uh our history and funk.

So I can't imagine what this collaboration is gonna be, but kudos uh um to Debbie and uh McClendon and Burton McClendon and uh and that whole team, it was um really a very rich performance.

Um still want to remind people that uh this Friday's the deadline for the African American Community Fund Scholarships 4 p.m.

There's uh scholarships at uh 750,000 and 5,000 level.

So if you have uh a student who's going to college and looking for scholarship opportunities, you can look at the Dayton Foundation to get more information.

Um proud day for us uh back on uh Sunday, March 1st.

It was the uh 223rd birthday of the state of Ohio.

And so um we were the 17th state admitted into the into the union in 1803, and Ohio has helped change the country in ways big and small from innovation.

Dayton's played a key part in that, changed the world with the invention of flight, um, but also leading leaders in industry and culture.

And I'm curious, does someone know how many presidents have come from the state of Ohio?

Five, seven, four of it.

Nine.

We'll have to get that number.

Eight.

Oh eight.

I thought it was nine.

All right.

Well, we'll have that answer next week.

On trivia, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Um so encourage everyone to celebrate uh the Buckeye State and its storious people and its rich history.

Uh that continues to have a mark um here and beyond.

Um the Dayton Metro Library will host a government um will host government commons and equitable civics series, and the first session is tomorrow night at 6.30.

Um 7.30 at the main library.

Uh the Center for Community Imp in the Center for Community Impact and Innovation.

The first module explorers the Federalist Papers, registration and registration is required, and uh you can do that through the Dayton Metro Library.

Um get your plans.

It's March Madness time, it's March, and uh the madness is starting to begin.

There's conference tournaments being played even tonight, and uh in what week and a half, we'll have first four here in Dayton on that uh Tuesday and Wednesday.

What's that?

That must be the 17th and the 18th.

So celebrate St.

Patty's Day by coming down to the arena and participating in March Madness.

Um then finally I want to um thank uh those who have come and talked about the need for peace and and uh and the the atrocities that are happening in terms of war in many locations.

And I would just say that um you know we're in a season of fasting to our um more um uh prevalent uh religious traditions, uh uh Islam and Christianity are in seasons of fasting, and in those seasons, you know, it's as a Christian.

I look to try to draw closer to God and to look at the world and try to make sense of it and how to do better.

Um in my tradition, we have a phrase blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.

And um when I think about that morning is blessed are those who are brokenhearted.

So I appreciate those who feel the pain of the the lives that are impacted by war.

And um certainly our hearts and our prayers go to them.

I've spoken on other occasions here about um what to me seems to be lawlessness and a lack of um fulfilling our oaths of office around protecting our constitution.

Um but then all of us here have uh responsibility to uphold that constitution.

Uh those who are elected swearos, but those of you who are um our citizens have a responsibility around consent.

And so together, collectively, we need to lift up our voice about what kind of constitutional republic we want to have and whether we um have the will to maintain it.

Um we can withdraw our consent, we can speak up.

Um we can demand a commitment to truth, and um we can also demand that Congress fulfills their job in being the check and balance to what appears to be uh an unchecked um consolidation of power, which leads to tyranny.

So I look forward to working with you on on all of that.

Um it's uh important work that we have to do together.

So thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner.

Commissioner Shaw.

Yeah, thank you, uh Commissioner, for that, and especially for the clarification on the evaluation process.

You know, we uh we did go through a very robust evaluation process at the end of the year, and we have aligned and agreed uh amongst ourselves that we will do better uh in the future moving forward.

It's important, and I think your point uh exactly that we should lay out some expectations and then evaluate a city manager, whatever city manager, uh, based on on those criteria, and that's what we uh have committed to set up and and we'll do that.

So uh so thank you for that.

Uh I just want to clarify, you know, someone mentioned that uh we were asked to comment on that article in Dayton News.

I I was never asked to comment on that, so you know I I uh would have absolutely done that.

But uh it's important to have this conversation.

We want to be transparent.

Um certain personnel things I I don't think I I would be putting out into public purview.

Um but on the other hand, where we can be transparent and talk about uh what we've come up with, we should report that out.

And you're also right, I think we could have done a much better job of um communicating outward that we did uh go through that evaluation process.

I think uh folks wanted to know that, and I don't I don't know how what happened there, but uh we could have done a much better job.

So we'll commit to doing doing that also.

But I would just want to thank you for that.

Um also thank you, uh Commissioner for talking about the Westwood Wright um uh program and process.

Uh that was really interesting.

I was just so impressed with the energy that was coming out of that organization.

And want to thank the city manager for joining us uh there as well.

I think um uh her being there was was really important to to show that you know we're really invested uh in that community.

You know, you went to another event at Westwood, and uh they're doing some remarkable things there, and I really look forward to working with them uh in the future as we look at reimagining the Gettysburg Corridor and that whole thing, but uh they will be intimately uh involved in that process too.

So uh I just have one announcement.

Uh the Greater Dayton, the Greater West Dayton Incubator is hosting their urban elevation accelerator this Saturday, March 7th from 10 to 2 at the West branch of the Dayton Metro Library, and uh that is 300 Abbey Avenue.

Small business and startup owners can go seek advice from educators, subject matter experts, successful entrepreneurs, students, and many others.

Uh and for more information, you can call Juanita Darden at 937-559-6474.

So I think folks should really just take uh advantage of this great opportunity for entrepreneurs to kind of update their skills and look at best practices and what other folks are doing, and of course, opportunities in our community to support small businesses.

Thank you very much, Mayor.

Thank you, Commissioner.

Commissioner Joseph.

Thank you.

Uh Commissioners, thank you for your remarks, Commissioner Furchild.

I won't repeat that.

I'll just say you said it very well.

And I wanted to reaffirm our our commitment at both as a body and individually to peace and dialogue.

And I appreciate the residents coming and raising their voices.

This is not going to go away without all of us working together.

This Saturday in partnership with Dayton Metro Library and My Valley Meals are hosting a free International Women's Day celebration from 11 to 2 at the Dayton Metro Library downtown here.

The community is invited to celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women through hands-on activities, conversation with women of diverse backgrounds, volunteer opportunities, a movement session hosted by the City of Dayton Recreation Department.

So please come to the library and join us this Saturday from 11 to 2 for International Women's Day celebration.

Welcome, Dayton.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Commissioner.

Just have a couple of brief comments.

I'll try to be briefest possible.

Again, I just want to uh echo my colleagues their their comments this evening.

Thank you, Commissioner Fairchild.

Um the other thing that I would like to add to in regards to our responsibility in upholding the Constitution is that to remind everyone again, we look forward to working with you all to make sure that we are again upholding our constitution and that we're doing the necessary work.

But there is in fact a midterm election that will be soon approaching.

So we definitely have some work that we need to be doing on the ground.

So I I um invite you all to join me as we work collectively together.

Um and then in regards to the comments made by Mr.

Alzheimer's as well as Mr.

Lurry, Hillary Larry, Lamey, excuse me.

Um I think at one point, correct me if I'm wrong, and I do not want to speak out of term, but Commissioner Fairchild and Commissioner Joseph, you both were reviewing the resolution itself from Venezuela, the proposed resolution.

At this juncture, I don't know if there is a model that we could mimic to call on peace that considering everything that is transpiring, we don't know who it will be next week or the following week.

Um so if there's something that we could potentially look at to have further conversations, and if Mr.

Lerman or Ms.

Sutton or even Mr.

Alzane have any recommendations, again, we hope for the best, but again, we don't want to continue to pass one resolution and can then the next week we'll be passing another.

But we do stand firmly with um our residents and with our community as it relates to upholding our values in the Constitution and for peace for that matter.

So, Ms.

Cohen, thank you very much for your comments and for being here.

Ms.

Brown, thank you for your comments, Ms.

Wood, as well as um Mr.

Moore, Ms.

Sutton, Mr.

Learman, Bishop Cox, thank you for your comments.

And understand too, as mentioned, that there is a process that we are reviewing.

You have the commitment from all of us, and we want to see through that process and that we have a regular cadence in place, and we are again reviewing not only the process, but also making sure that there is a potential for us to uh review the recommendations that you all have provided this evening.

So thank you all for being here and raising those concerns and those recommendations.

Um as mentioned, we will continue on the path and identifying a regular cadence so that the spending authority of the 50,000 will in fact be publicly reviewed and noted, uh, whether that is through the city's website.

It will in fact be remained uh a priority for us to make sure that that information is noted and easily to review.

I will also like to uplift uh the work of Ms.

Keanu Daniels, understanding that our social policy class, some of our students are here this evening.

So thank you, Mr.

Woods, as well as Ms.

Fitz.

Uh your recommendations were or were noted.

Uh understand, Mr.

Fitz, that is out of our purview.

We don't own that particular site, 14 Gettysburg, but know that that is something that we are pressing forward, and there are a number of recommendations because we too want to see that site repurpose, but it is again out of our purview, meaning that we don't own that particular that building itself.

Uh so again, we have to make sure that we go through the proper channels, but it is an ISOR, and it is something that is a priority for us, and we look forward to working with our our colleagues at the various different levels.

Um Ms.

Fitz, thank you very much.

Your recommendation as noted.

Again, that's something that our recreation and youth services department.

They are very innovative.

I'm sure they're taking note if if already in cue of something that they may already have in the process of uh of executing.

Um I also will like to make mention of Ms.

Rochelle.

Thank you.

I apologize I didn't catch your last name, but your comments were noted.

Um the Northwest Shopping Plaza is in fact a a concern, a deep concern for this body uh as well as the administration, and we have raised those concerns, and we're continuously moving forward and making sure that we hold the property owner responsible for the lack of um maintenance in the the derelict uh conditions of that site itself.

Um, you're right in terms of the school zone for ponits high school, and I don't know if that's something that we can look further into, Miss Dixteen to see what we need to do in making sure that the site is identified with the proper signage.

Um and while we're speaking of Ponis High School, I would like to acknowledge the work of Dayton Public Schools.

Yesterday, they received their designation for innovative academies of Dayton Public Schools, where they are only uh the second in the state of Ohio, noted as the I believe it's the the next four generation.

If I think I have that right, next four generation initiative.

And what that means is that 100% of all students one year after high school will successfully enroll in a two or four-year university, employed in a demand, a high demand job using their earned industry credentials, certifications, or pre-apprenticeship skills or enlisted in the military uh in military services.

So I encourage uh many of our community members, our residents, parents.

Uh, if you have not already, please, please, please take some time, learn more about what the uh DPS school district is implementing, and it is it is profound, it is moving, very um inspiring, and we actually had a work session earlier today, 5 p.m.

today.

So go back, uh view our YouTube channel so that you can to learn more about it.

But I look forward to collaborating with Dayton Public Schools.

I know we're going to do some great work with them with the work of all of my colleagues.

Um again, I want to uplift uh the work of Dr.

Lawrence as well as Miss Minor and the entire um school board as well as all of the the leadership over at DPS.

I'll make sure I have all of my comments noted.

I don't want to read this.

Wood, thank you for being here as well.

It was good seeing you this evening.

And then um, Mr.

Martinez, thank you for all of your aggregate advocacy and the work that you're doing.

And Miss Um Ducky Gecko, thank you for bringing forward the renaming um for Madison Avenue for Miss Amy Walbridge, and we really appreciate it.

I'm glad that our colleagues when we were able to support that initiative in recognition of all of the great work of Ms.

Wellridge Walbridge.

Um the last thing that I would note, speaking of the Department of Recreation, they're launching the next Gen Leaders series, a six-week hands-on workforce development program for teens ages 13 to 17 that builds leadership coaching and recreation management skills while providing real-world experience and certifications like CPR, first aid, and youth mental health, mental health first aid.

Here's our lifeguards right here, Commissioner.

The program runs from June 1st through July the 11th, Tuesday through Thursday from 10 a.m.

to 2 p.m.

Cost is $60 and requires an interview and registration, and families can call 937-333-3059 for more information.

And if the $60 is in fact a problem, we will encourage those students to sign up for youth work so you can own your own money, so you can pay for your own registration fee.

I don't know if there are any scholarships or anything available, but again, uh definitely pose that question to our recreation department.

Last and certainly not least, I would like to recognize uh DTU, Dayton Tennis Union.

Thank you for being here, as well as Miss Ulexis Reiner.

Uh she has a leadership community leadership program that she has launched, she is launching, and hopefully they are still taking applicants.

I don't know if the applicants, okay, very good.

So individuals who are eager to learn new leadership skills and they have an interest in advocacy or improving their community.

Please reach out to Miss Alexis Reiner.

That's Alexis, E L E X U S R E N N E R One, the number one at gmail.com.

And I'll make sure that we'll share that.

I'll share this on my social media to get some more applicants.

But again, this is great work.

Um thank you all for being here this evening.

And with no further business to come before this meeting, this meeting is adjourned, and I would like to also acknowledge Dr.

Milson for being here this evening.

You all have a good evening.

Thank you.