The Dayton City Commission meeting will now come to order.

Would you all please rise for the invitation and remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance?

Which we given by Commissioner Shaw for the invocation.

Do you want to do the filament?

Yes, thank you.

But first, we'll be would you all please join me in a moment of silence for Mr.

Russell Reese, Mr.

Mark DeWitt, Bishop Richard E.

Cox, and Reverend Mann.

Please join me in a moment of silence.

Thank you.

Dear Lord, give us clarity and purpose today.

Help us focus on what matters and may our decisions be guided by your wisdom.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Shaw.

Thank you.

Ms.

McClendon, may we please have a roll call?

Mayor Turner Sloss.

Aye.

Commissioners Joseph.

Aye.

Shaw.

Aye.

Fairchild.

Beckham.

Aye.

Miss McClendon, may I please excuse me, may I please have a motion to exclude excuse the absence of Commissioner Fairchild.

So moved, Your Honor.

Second.

It's been properly moved and seconded to excuse the absence of Commissioner Fairchild.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed say no.

May I have a motion to approve the minutes of the April 22nd meeting, 2026 meeting, please.

So moved, Your Honor.

Second the motion.

It's been properly moved and seconded to approve the minutes of the April 22nd, 2026 meeting.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

All opposed say no.

Ms.

McClendon, are there any communications or petitions this evening?

There are none, Your Honor.

Thank you.

And this evening we have two proclamations.

First, I would like to call to the podium, Lieutenant Colonel Eric Henderson.

Ms.

McClendon.

Please proceed when you're ready.

Good evening.

Good evening, sir.

Okay.

From the Commission Office of the City of Dayton, Ohio, whereas the Congress and President of the United States have designated May 15th as Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week in which it falls as National Police Week.

This observance honors law enforcement officers who have given their lives in the line of duty, and whereas the members of the Dayton Police Department play a critical role in safeguarding the rights, safety, and freedoms of all residents and visitors.

And whereas the Dayton Police Department is committed to fostering a safer and more connected community through proactive, collaborative, and innovative policing, this work is grounded in professionalism, accountability, and ethical leadership.

And whereas the men and women of Dayton Police Department provide an essential public service through their dedication, courage, and integrity.

Their efforts strengthen trust and partnership between law enforcement and the community.

And whereas the City of Dayton honors the 31 Dayton police officers who made the ultimate sacrifice along with fallen officers nationwide and supports their families and colleagues.

Thank you.

Congratulations.

So we also want to uh not steal your thunder and not take away any of the shine of a police week, but we also want to recognize uh public works as well and public service week.

So again, it's all encompassing.

So congratulations, sir.

And I'll turn it over to my colleagues, Commissioner Beckham.

Uh no comments from me, mayor except congratulations, Chief.

All right, thank you.

Yeah.

Same here.

Yep.

Same congratulations, Chief.

Thank you.

Congratulations, sir.

All right, thanks.

Next, we would like to call to the podium, Captain Stephen Pose.

Ms.

McClendon, please proceed when you're ready.

From the Commission office of the City of Dayton, Ohio, whereas National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend is observed each year to honor firefighters who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their communities and to recognize their courage, dedication, and selflessness.

And whereas this year holds special significance for the City of Dayton as firefighter Roderick W.

Longprey, known as Rock and Rod, will be formally honored at the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial.

And whereas Firefighter Longpre proudly served his country in the United States Army and went on to serve the Dayton community as a firefighter and EMT with the Dayton Fire Department from 1985 until his retirement in 2008.

And whereas, throughout his career, he demonstrated exceptional commitment to public service, mentoring fellow firefighters, supporting his department, and contributing to the broader fire service community.

And whereas he played a key role in founding the Dayton Firefighters Local 136 honor guard and was instrumental in establishing the Miami Valley Firefighter EMS Memorial, ensuring that the service and sacrifice of others would always be remembered, and whereas, remembered for his positivity, kindness, and unwavering dedication, firefighter Longpre touched the lives of many and leaves behind a legacy within the Dayton Fire Department and the community he served.

Now, therefore, we the Commission of the City of Dayton do hereby proclaim the weekend of May 2nd and 3rd, 2026 as National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend.

Congratulations.

If I could have a few words to say, please.

Thank you for taking the time to recognize one of our own.

A man who didn't just wear this uniform.

The truth is, when we say firefighter, it sounds simple, but there's nothing simple about this life.

This is not a nine to five that you leave behind when you turn off the lights and go home.

Because the danger doesn't always come from the flames anymore.

It comes from what we breathe, what we absorb, what we carry home without ever seeing it.

Occupational cancer is the deadliest threat to firefighters today.

It doesn't arrive with flames or smoke showing.

And that's why we're here.

Because Rod Longpre, Rock and Rod, ultimately gave everything that this job asked of him.

Not in one singular moment, but over a career of answering the call again and again and again.

Rod wasn't just a good firefighter.

Ask around to anyone that would have known him.

He was the one you wanted next to you when things went bad.

The one you could trust without hesitation.

The one who made everyone around him better without ever asking for credit.

No ego, no shortcuts, no hesitation, just work, just consistency, and just presence.

He didn't chase recognition.

And that matters in this job.

Because respect is the only currency that counts when it's three in the morning and everything else is on the line.

Rod was the very best of us.

And now his name has been placed on the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial.

Not because of how he died, but because of what the job demanded from him over time.

Because he showed up.

Even when the cost wasn't obvious yet.

Even when the danger wasn't visible yet.

But that's the reality of this profession.

And today, through this proclamation, you've acknowledged that reality and you've honored it.

So on behalf of the firefighters and EMS professionals of the City of Dayton, thank you.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Commissioners.

Thank you, City Manager.

Thank you for recognizing the weight of our work and the cost that sometimes comes with it.

I said earlier that the danger doesn't come just from the flames anymore.

All good firemen know that.

We know the risks, we know the cost, and we show up anyways.

And that's who Rod was.

The fire didn't take them, but this job did, and he showed up anyways.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, thank you.

Thank you very much.

And congratulations, Mr.

Post on your recent appointment as uh the president of the local 136.

Congratulations, sir.

This evening we have a presentation on our monthly uh demolition update, and I'd like to call to the podium, Mr.

Steve Gondel.

Good evening, Mayor, Commissioner, City Manager, Ms.

McClendon, Steve Gondel, Director for the Department of Planning, Neighborhoods, and Development.

Um I'm here with our Dayton Recovery Plan Demolition Monthly Udate.

It is for March of 26th.

Uh we're usually we do this at the end of April, but uh with last week's cancellation.

So bear in mind, these are all for the numbers uh of March and through March.

So for the month of March, we saw 21 demolitions.

Uh 12 of those were through our ARPA funds.

Uh nine of those were through our Ohio Department of Development Funds, our ODOD.

Uh to date, that gets us up to 54 demolitions for the year.

Uh, where I look at it is to see what our goal is and our progress.

So we are at 16 percent of planned demolitions, and we're at 25 percent through the year.

So kind of watching that, I feel like you know, we do have months where we kind of get ahead, months we get behind.

We're slightly behind again if you're trying to keep up with that like that pace of uh matching our uh the rate through the year, but um confident that we'll we'll get back on track there.

Uh for our piles, we ended February uh with 22.

We um did not remove any again, and I'll talk a little bit about that contract in March.

We had two added uh in March, which ended the month at 24.

So, as I mentioned before, uh this is a whole new uh piles contract that we're drafting and working on selection of those properties.

So as that comes out, then this work will resume in earnest.

Just to give you an idea, uh those two uh piles, those emergency uh demolitions, 144 South Gettysburg and 159 Reisinger were the uh two locations where those occurred.

For the routine demolitions, um we had uh the following Burkhart neighborhood one, Edgemont two, Five Oaks, two, High View Hills, two, Huffman one, Lakeview, one, Madden Hills one, Miami Chapel one, Roosevelt two, Santa Clara four, and Southern Dayton View four.

So that was uh for those uh twenty-one demolitions in March, visually that's where they occurred, and then that was the count per neighborhood.

As we look year to date, uh, I'm not gonna read every single one, but I'm gonna highlight the kind of the high ones.

So um so far, again, five oaks has had four, Roosevelt has had five.

Uh the bulk of our work though has been in Santa Clara, 11 uh year to date, and Southern Dayton View 23 demolitions year to date.

So that is kind of where the bulk of the work is had uh while picking up some of these additional sites throughout um the city.

Looking at uh the number of structures added to our structural nuisance list in March, we had five added of that, three of those were houses, two of those were garages.

Um so to date, we and I should clarify, and on those five, two of those were for blight and three were for fire.

So that was the what put them in the structural nuisance.

To date, we're at 42 structures.

Um 38, those are either house or a single house or duplex, and four are garages.

Our pipeline, uh last month uh for February, we had a really robust pipeline.

Uh a lot of that work, that prep work, the title report, asbestos surveys kind of has we, you know, we didn't have anything for March, but we did have 53 asbestos remediations, which is again that final step before we do the demolition.

So that is all aligning with um getting properties ready for the demolition phase.

And our before and afters, a sample of some of those 21 demolitions, 27 Santa Clara, 101-103 Marathon, 133 Marathon, 1135 Wilson, 1204 again ahead of you all.

1204 Windsor and 142 North Orchard.

So again, as I always mentioned, in addition to the House, the structure is clearing away that brush as well, right?

So we want to really leave as little as possible other than trees that are six inch in diameter or greater, unless they are going to cause an issue to adjacent property, then we will contract those to be removed as well.

So leaving these sites ready, and again, for that below picture there, you can see just the difference that that makes in terms of opening up that site for the adjacent properties.

And lastly, uh 1258 all-wieldy and 8225 oaks rounding out some of that work.

So really robust work back in the neighborhoods of both the structures and the uh overgrown brush.

So where are we at?

Um we have 44, I'm sorry, 45 of the 120 ARPA funded demos completed, nine of the 70 to 75 ODOD demos completed, and then um an item on the uh calendar tonight uh will be some of our first CDBG funded demos, which is what's being presented to you tonight.

And then I'm I added from our conversation last month um just our general fund demo so that we also have a track of that.

We don't have a set number.

Our general fund is typically the where we step in when it needs to be, so we don't that was just kind of a I try to do a zero of zero, that didn't make any sense.

So we'll just it's uh it will be a count of uh demolitions done through general fund when we need to do that.

And so um as I continue to say we are about 99 percent of our ARPA project budget is expensed and or encumbered.

So we are on track.

We have 49 months down, and we have nine months to go for the ARPA work to be completed in time to meet those Federal guidelines.

On that, I will stop comments and uh take any questions you all might have.

Thank you.

Commissioner Beckham.

Uh thank you, Mayor.

Um none actually, except uh thank you, Mr.

Gondel, for the comprehensive update.

Always look forward to seeing uh the progress.

So I appreciate it.

Thank you.

Commissioner Shaw.

Yeah, I I want to thank you too.

Uh it's really uh what is the interval that you are doing these reports?

Is it it's more than quarterly?

It feels like it's been more than monthly.

These updates?

Monthly.

Monthly.

Okay, all yeah.

Well, thank you for that.

That's uh important to do as we track this.

But yeah, thank you for your work.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

Commissioner Joseph.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh Steve, this is interesting stuff, and you're you all are doing great work.

If I could uh put in a request to city manager and you all for the next month, if you could give a look at uh if if not maybe next month and one of these regular reports coming up, I'll look at next year, because I know that we're all pretty concerned about what's going to happen.

ARPA money is done, uh are we get what level are we going to be able to sustain?

Uh what is the need look like?

So uh I know that maybe a lot for the the regular reports, but I think in some format I'd like to know a little more about what the future looks like.

Commissioner, that may come when we come forward with our condition report update, because then we will have fresh data with regards to the conditions, particularly four and five, which are what we place on our nuisance list.

That sounds good.

Thank you.

That's all thank you, Mayor.

Thank you.

Uh Mr.

Gondo, I just wanted to thank you for the detailed uh report out, especially highlighting where those demolitions took place.

So I appreciate you adding that additional context.

That is extremely helpful.

Great work.

Uh wanna while you standing here at the podium.

I have to personally thank you for yesterday.

Yesterday we had the uh the first mayor's walk.

I want to thank you, your staff, uh PD, the police department, the fire department, housing inspection, um, the city manager's office, Ms.

Lofton joined us, as well as the the City Commission office, they joined us, the North Riverdale Neighborhood Association, President Victoria McNeil, Felons with the Future, our brave Orange Men and Women Women who are leading our CBG efforts.

So again, I just wanted to personally thank you and everyone that came out yesterday.

We we braved the uh the inclement weather nonetheless, we got it done, and so again, just kudos to you and the staff and all of the residents that came out despite the weather.

Um I think it was it went over well.

So we have we have some work that we have work to do.

We have some work to do, yes.

It was a good walk.

So our hope is that we will reschedule another a walk in the North Riverdale area where there is more um clear, clearer skies and sunshine.

So again, thank you very much.

Thank you.

All right, Ms.

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

There are none, Your Honor.

All right, 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 several items to highlight.

The first are um three service agreements, uh item number two, and a grant agreement with County Corp for 300,000.

Item number three, a grant agreement with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Dayton for $1.5 million.

And item number five, a grant agreement with rebuilding together Dayton for $1.5 million.

This collective $3.3 million investment is in home repair and energy efficiency across Dayton for the next two years.

This is what Meg referenced in our work session earlier today.

These trusted partners estimate they will serve more than $400 low-income households over the next two years.

This funding comes from AES Ohio's Disadvantaged Communities Grant.

It's specifically targeted towards residents living in HUD qualified census tracts with a focus on reducing energy burden.

It is geographically targeted as well as area and median income requirements so that we are certain to hit the regulations or the scope of the of the agreement and the funding.

All three organizations are part of DERN, the Dayton Home Repair Network, and enables coordinated service delivery through a universal application that leverages additional funding sources and maximizes our impact to the overall community.

We are will utilize the existing DURN wait list to streamline implementation and prioritize residents who have already expressed need, allowing us to deploy funding quickly and accelerate assistance to those most in need.

And then to reduce administrative burden and make the process more accessible for our partners.

We aligned the notice of funding opportunity, this notice of funding opportunity with the CDBG funding process to create more efficiency and coordination for a deployed approach for our partners.

So we're excited about bringing this $3.3 million investment to you this evening.

B6 is a construction contract with Archon Builders.

It's an award of contract for a water lab expansion.

It will renovate our current 16,000 square foot lab and add another $3,200 square foot addition.

This is an $11.4 million project, and it received two bids.

The lowest and best was selected with the completion date of March 31st, 2028.

And this has with it the negotiated PLA because of the threshold for the city funding.

That's great.

B8 is an award of contract with FCS construction services.

This is the demolition contract that Mr.

Gondel just referenced.

This is approval for a grant agreement and loan agreement of $78,750,000 that will all Ohio future funds from the state of Ohio that will support our aerospace aviation strategy at the Dayton International Airport.

It authorizes us to accept the $78.7 million from the Ohio Department of Development.

In November of 2024, we submitted a letter of intent to ODOD outlining the airport's vision for the defense and aerospace campus, a hundred and fifty plus acre development ready zone designed to attract aerospace and defense tenants requiring large format MRO hangars and direct airside access.

The letter of intent highlighted significant existing growth, including Sierra Nevada Corporations, new hangers, Premier Aviation's proposed Gulf Stream Support Facility, active industrial aviation operations by Jovi Aviation, Pratt Paper, Crocs, and Innovative Plastic Molders.

ODOD responded favorably and awarded us $78.7 million.

This was the largest economic development in infrastructure investment at Dayton International Airport Airport and Modern Times.

There is a 1.2 million dollar loan portion, which is 2%.

That's at a zero rate, percent rate, uh, five-year payment deferral, and a 25 repayment 25-year repayment term.

Uh it is leveraged the 78 million 78 million dollar grant is leveraged with 9.6 million from the International Airport, 7.6 million from Montgomery County Transportation Improvement District for the Ring Road Development that will serve this campus for a total project cost of $96 million.

This is a great opportunity.

And that is all I have this evening, Your Honor.

Your Honor, there are two citizens registered to speak on calendar items.

I would like to state 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 will 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 that 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 conversation that would prevent the city commission from hearing the speaker's comments.

I call to the podium Zakia Sankara Jabbar.

Good afternoon, Mayor, Commissioners.

I'm Zakia Sankara Jabbar, 2426, Jerome.

And I have a question about number 12.

It says revenue to the city.

Exactly what does that mean?

Are they paying the city that or is the city paying them that for services?

That's a question.

Yes.

We'll be happy to answer that question.

We can't make any questions.

Okay.

Well, let me just say this.

Yes.

Because I didn't want to speak out of terms.

That's why I wanted to ask first.

Yes.

This city commission runs in a way that is not conducive to a full democracy.

The city manager talks in code.

She doesn't spell out words, MDG, BD.

What is that?

Most of the citizens have no clue what she's talking about.

So let me say this.

If the city is paying the Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation, $29,166.50, then I'd like to know planning neighborhoods, development and mediation center.

Since there is a crisis of community violence in the community, what exactly are they doing?

Are they involved in trying to help what's happening, particularly with gun violence, out of control, community violence?

How are they supporting the citizens of Dayton if, again, this is a payment to them?

That's that's a huge concern for many of us, you know, in the community and certainly in this audience today.

And then finally, I'll say that I'm really disappointed that there is not anything uh in this agenda that is firing the city manager.

Okay, because we need a proclamation immediately, either for administrative leave or firing.

The community has seen enough.

Okay.

People have been coming down here for years, complaining about all kinds of issues from community violence, policing, housing, everything.

She's been here for 10 years.

Everything that we see happening in the community, she's the CEO.

She's been running the city for 10 years.

This is a result of poor leadership in this community.

It's a result of leadership that has not had enough power to check what she's doing.

And so I want to just finally say to you, Mayor, specifically, I have seen you in the community twice since I've been back.

I saw you at your very first town hall, and I saw you yesterday.

I wasn't there, but I saw you yesterday in the North Riverdale neighborhood.

I want to just commend you and thank you because the citizens of Dayton recognize that.

They appreciate that.

And that is actually one of the reasons why many of us have over 200 of us have signed a petition to fire this city manager to free up the vision that you and Commissioner Fairchild have for this city.

And so I again am very disappointed that there's not a proclamation on it to fire the city manager.

Thank you, Mr.

Gorge Jabbar.

I call to the podium, Tara Campbell.

Tara Campbell, 2224 Chamberlain Avenue, Dayton, Ohio, 45406.

It's been a long time since I came to this podium.

And I'm coming coming because there's a lot of things going on in this community.

And I am their voice.

And I come down here because I stopped coming because it was nothing being done.

But now I come back pleading.

So we talk about the Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation.

What I'm going to ask today is there be a contract with conflict transformation to help community, work with the city commissioners, the city manager, and all other departments.

Because the problem is we are addressing a conflict that we already been having for a very long time.

So we keep coming down here, coming down here, coming down here, where we're not really addressing the real conflict the community is bringing to this podium.

I've came so many times.

But what I'm asking you today is have a clear plan of how you all in this body have built it back to trust with us to really have some resolution as it relates to the conflict that's between you and us.

All of us, you see what's in this out here?

This is because of conflict.

This is because of problems.

This is because of the consistent thing that you not listening to us and not creating a pathway to communicate with community.

Okay.

What I'm saying to you is all you have to do is establish a pathway for us to work together.

There is no community without us.

There is no way to move faster or move forward without us.

So what I'm asking you today is to come into a room with us.

Allow us to invite you into the room.

So you can hear from us, not on three minutes, not on us not hand snapping and clapping, but you really be intentional on wanting to hear the voices of who elected you.

That's what I'm asking.

That's a simple ass to listen to us, to hear our pain, to hear what's problems with everyone that lives here.

To hear the problems of our immigrant coalition and families, our community, to hear the problems of our African American communities, of all our communities, to not sit here and act like we don't exist.

Like our we are not important to this process.

All I can say right now to everyone is that if you don't do something, the same way that you came in is the same way you will not come back in.

Because the people are documenting, they are listening.

We are making sure that every time that you decide on something that does not benefit us as community, we are going to document and ensure that you don't come back.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Campbell.

Second speakers.

Thank you.

If we could make sure that we just practice orderly conduct, please this evening.

I know that everyone is passionate.

There are a number of things that are we are all facing challenges.

So let's please try to be mindful and respectful.

I briefly like to say this, Mr.

Zakar uh Jabbar, as well as Ms.

Campbell, to answer your question in regards to calendar item number uh 12 that is in fact revenue to the city.

So those are dollars that come to the city, and we are in fact having conversation about how we can utilize the best practices of not only our mediation center, but as well as our human relations council.

We just had this conversation, so we're steadily moving.

We're having conversations.

As mentioned, um I held uh our first mayor's uh town hall, which was well attended.

Over 50 plus residents came out.

We heard your voices, we heard your concerns.

In addition to that, uh note that Commissioner Fairchild is not here this evening, but he has also made a commitment to hold a town hall to hear the voices to hear the concerns on a separate matter and in a separate issue.

So know that your concerns are not falling on deaf ears, and I I apologize for deviating, but I just wanted to make sure that that was known and noted.

So thank you for your comments.

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

Commissioner Beckham.

Uh I have none, Your Honor.

Thank you, Commissioner.

Commissioner Shaw.

Thank you, Commissioner Joseph.

I just want to say I'm thrilled for the the uh two things, especially the contributions to the Dayton Home Repair Network and our partners that are gonna let a bunch of homes get fixed up with people uh who wouldn't be able to afford it themselves.

So that's great.

And also I also want to mention the the source water protection program, which is going forward.

Uh, every time there's something on the calendar, I just want to remind folks that it's important that we're working not only within the city but with our partners to protect our most valuable resources.

So thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Joseph.

Very briefly, I just want to uh foot stump your comments, Ms.

Stixteen, in terms of the the work that's being done, our sustainability department or division, whatever have you doing great work, $3.3 million across the city for the next two years.

And please, please, please allow the contract to uh run its course in terms of their approval process and then the work that it will be done.

But note if you have an interest, if you meet the perimeters, please contact the Dayton uh Universal Home Repair Network, and their number is 937-369-0654.

But again, brace yourself, allow them to get sped up, uh, utilize the universal uh contract or agreement, the universal application rather that is in place that speaks to a number of the partners that have been highlighted on this evening's calendar.

So again, just kudos to the work that is being done by our sustainability department.

I'm very excited about that.

And I also uh want to make mention again the work that was done with uh Ms.

Lawton and the city manager's leadership team, as well as Mr.

Gill Turner and working with the Ohio Department of Development, that is huge.

78 million dollars, that is just remarkable.

So again, I want to applaud you all for your your leadership and your work on that.

Uh kudos to the staff on that.

Um with no further comments, may I have a motion to approve the city manager's recommendations this evening?

Your Honor, I move we approve the city manager's recommendations.

Second, Your Honor.

All right, it has been properly moved and seconded to approve the city manager's recommendations.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed say no.

Ms.

McClendon, legislation.

First reading, emergency ordinance number three two one eight five-26.

Approving a grant agreement and loan agreement from the State of Ohio, Department of Development for combined funding in an amount not to exceed $78,750,000 in zero cents on behalf of the City of Dayton and declaring an emergency.

Your Honor, ordinance, uh emergency ordinance number 32185-26 being declared an emergency.

I move for its immediate passage.

Second, Your Honor.

It has been properly moved and seconded to declare emergency ordinance number 32185-26 as an emergency.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

All opposed say no.

I need to abstain, Mayor.

Yes.

Thank you.

Uh Ms.

McClendon, would you please note the record of the vote after the second calling?

Excuse me.

Second reading emergency ordinance number 32185-26, approving a grant agreement and loan agreement from the State of Ohio, Department of Development for combined funding in an amount not to exceed $78,750,000 and zero cents on behalf of the City of Dayton.

Mayor Turner Slide.

Aye.

Commissioners Joseph.

Abstain.

Shaw.

Beckham.

Your Honor, point of order.

Please.

This is emergency resolution emergency legislation.

It can't pass without four.

Yes, exactly right.

So if there is a need for abstention, um, Commissioner Joseph, then I think we need to poll it.

Let me just check one thing real quick.

The deadline and any dates of execution that we yeah.

I didn't even think about that.

There's no one.

Thank you, Ms.

Dixtein.

So please note that we will be pulling calendar legislation rather um from the calendar.

And please, just for everyone's edification and understanding.

Thank you.

Uh emergency ordinance.

Thank you, Commissioner Shaw.

Emergency ordinance number 32185-26 will be pulled from this evening's meeting due to the uh requirement to have a number of four members who will vote in favor and with the noted um uh recusal of Commissioner Joseph.

We need to make sure that we pull this for another uh date for approval.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you.

First reading ordinance number three two one eight six-26 consenting to the roadway restoration along main line of State Route 4 from mile marker 17.11 to 20.38 and from mile marker 21.98 to 22.98 in the city of Dayton and agreeing to cooperate in matters incidental thereto, including the execution of agreement necessary to implement this ordinance.

First reading ordinance number three two one eight seven-two six, authorizing the grant of a non-exclusive easement to Vectron Energy Delivery, Ohio, LLC doing business as center point for a gas pipeline on land at the James M.

Cox Dayton International Airport.

Second reading ordinance number three two one eight three-26 to vacate the alley south of Xenia Avenue from Fillmore Street to Still Avenue and the alley east of Fillmore Street from the alley south of Xenia Avenue to the vacated Noel Court.

Mayor Turner Sloss.

Aye.

Commissioners Joseph?

Aye.

Shaw.

Aye.

Beckham.

Aye.

Ordinance number three two one eight three-26 has passed with four votes in favor.

Second reading ordinance number three two one eight four-two six, repealing portions of ordinance number three zero four two one-zero five, and establishing and describing the boundaries of the Inner East Community Reinvestment Area in the City of Dayton.

Mayor Turner Sloss.

Aye.

Commissioners Joseph.

Aye.

Shaw?

Aye.

Beckham.

Aye.

Ordinance number three two one eight four-two six has passed with four votes in favor.

Second reading resolution number six nine two eight-26, declaring the intention of the commission to vacate the alley east of South Main Street from the alley south of East Sixth Street to 106.54 feet south of the alley south of East Sixth Street.

Mayor Turner Sloss.

Aye.

Commissioners Joseph.

Aye.

Shaw?

Aye.

Beckham.

Aye.

Resolution number six nine two eight-26 has been adopted with four votes in favor.

That concludes legislation, Your Honor.

Thank you, Ms.

McClendon.

Are there any register uh citizens who are registered to speak this evening?

Yes, Your Honor.

There are 29 citizens registered to speak.

I would like to state 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 will 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.

So 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 conversation that would prevent the city commission from hearing the speakers' comments.

I call to the podium Julio Mateo.

I'm speaking today as a Dayton resident, a member of the Coalition on Public Protection, and an advocate for open government, participatory democracy, and human rights.

I'm not speaking on behalf of any other group or organization I'm affiliated with.

All of you expressed disappointment in your responses to the news that the Dayton Police Department has been lying to this commission and to the Dayton community members about how our data is actually being used.

Hiding public information from this commission and Dayton community members, refusing to implement safeguards to protect our civil rights, and preventing any form of independent oversight.

All of you expressed disappointment despite the fact that this commission has been accepting the same pattern of behavior from DPD for several years.

And not only that, but also rewarding it with repeated expansions to DPD's AI powered mass surveillance technology capabilities.

In the last five years, you have all experienced this police department blatantly lying to this commission, including in 2022, when they lied about the results of the their ALPR pilot study.

And even though you knew they had lied to you and to all of us, you rewarded them with ALPR approval.

You have all experience this police department actively hiding information from this commission, including in 2023, when you requested critical data to understand how ALPRs had been operating in Dayton during their first year of use.

When DPD refused to share, you rewarded them with a two-fold expansion and a five-fold extension of their their AOPR contract.

You have all the experience the police department refusing to comply with legislation you yourselves enacted to enable oversight of surveillance technologies in Dayton, including when they refused to report critical data about false alarms, adverse impact, impact on crime on their annual surveillance reports in 2023 and 2024.

You didn't require compliance, and they continue deploying their AI-powered mass surveillance technologies on all of us with no oversight.

And that this commission has reinforced for years.

A pattern that in that should have never should have prevented you from approving, expanding, or extend this contract in the first place.

Fulfill all the other demands that you're gonna be hearing this evening.

What you do today won't undo the harm that is already done, but it may lay the foundation for a healthier pattern of behavior moving forward, a pattern that perhaps can prevent something like this from ever happening again happening again in the future.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Julio Mateo.

I call to the podium Joseph Abrams.

Hi, uh Joseph Abrams.

1601 Avenue Apartment Wise.

Thanks.

Okay.

I'm glad to hear Julio start off with that because that's what I wanted to talk about.

These liars in this room and behind me that apparently is part of their job description.

Because uh I was here in January when they stood here, and we all know as of this most recent incident that they knew what was happening as far back as October.

Members of the city manager's office, members of the law department, members of DPD command stood right here and lied to your faces.

Now Mr.

Beckham, I saw your comments about firing the person, the person responsible for implementation was a good start.

How is there one person responsible for implementation of a program that big in literally any field, if only one person was tasked with that entire task?

A lot of people need to get fired because there's supposed to be lots of IRs on any project of that size.

Beyond that, let's talk about who's really responsible for implementation.

Again, we have City Manager's Office, we have all of DPD command, we have the law department, and frankly, it comes down to you.

It could not have been implemented without five votes, which we had from this commission, while people stood here and lied to your face, as Mr.

Mateo pointed out as part of a pattern of lying to your faces.

Now, I at least had two commissioners.

One commissioner and the mayor, excuse me, asking a reasonable amount of serious questions.

You should, in due diligence of your jobs, the other three sounded the way I'm used to hearing this commission sound, which is as if you worked for the flock company.

This is coming from grant funding.

Oh, that's good.

And I understand neighborhoods asked for it.

Oh, that's good to know.

Those were your comments, uh, Mr.

Beckham.

Uh let me tell you, just because you get grant money for a project doesn't mean it's good, like you have to take it.

Why are we funding militarization of all of our neighborhoods while people are sleeping on the streets?

Kids can't have grocery stores or access to medicine.

Uh there's fires burning all over, and we don't have enough firemen to deal with it.

Like, just how does it look good to just fund this militarization?

Now, listen, with everything that's happened here, I shouldn't just see one job opening.

I should see a lot of job openings around the city.

And also on that note, I just saw where Henderson said to Whyso that he serves at this uh pleasure of this of the city manager.

Where is my accountability?

Where is it?

And here's another thing we all voted for.

This campaign stunt of Mike Turner with the new police station downtown.

Listen, we know that the purpose of that station, other than a campaign stunt for Turner, is to protect Turner voters from black children who want to come downtown.

And who can't even have fair uh transportation to school?

Now, I've seen in in in a couple years ago they shot a black teenager in the back, and we still haven't seen the report on that.

Shot a black man downtown for uh for being on a bicycle without a light.

What's with this picture with the deer heads on the wall in the new office?

Are they portraying themselves as hunters?

Because it's accurate, but it's not appropriate.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Abrams.

May I please just remind the chambers?

Let's make sure that we practice courtesy.

This is a business meeting.

Thank you all very much.

I know we all are passionate.

We are all very frustrated, myself included, but please I want to make sure that we hear everyone's comments and their frustration this evening.

Thank you all.

Excuse me, Miss McLinden.

I call to the podium Ebony Hastings.

Good evening, Mayor and Commissioners.

I am asking this commission to stop delaying and do its job.

The city manager should be fired, not placed on administrative leave, and not allowed to remain in office while this public is told to wait and hope for better.

This is no longer just about one report, one controversy or one mistake.

This is whether this commission is willing to enforce accountability when trust has clearly been broken.

This city commission is willing to enforce accountability when trust has clear clearly been broken.

The city commission appoints the city manager.

The city manager serves at the pleasure of this body.

That means responsibility does not stop with the city manager.

It also rests with the commissioners who know there is a problem and still refuses to act.

March 4th, 2026, contract presentation is a clear example.

The public was told that there were 223 contracts totaling 3.4 million dollars over 15 months, involving 179 vendors across 16 departments, but that presentation did not show real transparency.

It was a summary.

It did not give residents a it did not give residents a simple public line-by-line record showing who received the money, when they received it, and what each contract was for and how those decisions were made.

Even the mayor asked whether the information would be posted publicly, and Commissioner Fairchild asked that the detailed contract list also be posted.

That means the presentation itself was not thorough.

The minutes also state that this report was prepared only because Commissioner Fairchild asked for it, and that it required significant manual effort.

But the record still does not tell the public when that request was made.

Why not?

Why should residents accept vague timing, broad summaries, and after the fact explanations as accountability?

Departments are not transparent.

Departments are not transparency.

Totals are not transparency, and presentation is not transparency if the public still cannot clearly see the full record, which is what I asked for.

The minute also stated that the report was prepared.

And then the issue not only stands alone, there were years without annual performance reviews, even while salary increases.

There were public concerns about the policy chief's election process.

There was also flock data sharing violations where Mayor Turner Slaus and Commissioner Feltchild said that it was not an isolated failure.

If it is not isolated, then why is this commission still acting like time alone will fix it?

It won't.

So tonight my questions are simple.

If you know trust has been damaged, if you know public record is incomplete, and if you know residents have been asking for real transparency, then why are you still protecting this administration instead of protecting the people of Dayton?

Administrative leave is a delay.

Thank you, Ms.

Hasting.

I call to the podium Joyce Probst McAlpine.

Joyce Propes McAlpine 326 Park Drive, Dayton, Ohio, 45410.

Um thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak, Commissioners and Mayor.

Good evening.

I was one of the people who provided testimony raising concerns about flock cameras on January 7th, 2026.

That day, all four commissioners and the mayor voted to approve the amendment to the existing contract that aided that added 27 new uh APLR cameras in Dayton.

That day, speakers raised questions about the vi possibility of violation of privacy and the potential that the data collected by the cameras would be used for purposes prohibited by the contract and city policy.

We requested an audit of the flock cameras and database to understand how the information had been used.

The mayor and commissioners supported the request for an audit.

Follow-up request for the audit happened several times without any result, but now we know why.

That day the speakers raised questions about violation of privacy and oops.

But now we know that there were 7100 searches of the data for immigration purposes during the summer of 2025.

The Dayton police department has not said who initiated the searches.

But whether it was ICE itself or another federal agency or an Ohio law enforcement agency working with ICE, these searches put our immigrant neighbors in jeopardy.

This information directly contradicts the statements made by the police at the January 7th meeting and reinforces the concerns that Dayton residents have expressed since 2020.

Dayton residents need to know what happened and who may have been impacted by the data release.

A more complete accounting of what happened presented in a public hearing, so public officials can be questioned.

And we want communication with impacted community members about what occurred and what consequences there might have been.

The flock cameras pose an ongoing risk to the privacy of everyone in Dayton.

The cameras must be removed during the external investigation.

In addition, the flock contract should be canceled.

Sixty-three communities have already done that because the risk to their residence privacy was too great.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

McGillby.

I call to the podium Blanca Weinberg.

Good evening.

Yours.

Name and address.

My name is Blanca Emily Waymber.

I'm leader ispanic community.

And I'm here because may you please say your address is 2918 Merrimon Drive.

They don't know how it.

Thank you.

45410.

Okay, I'm here for you, Commissioner.

Um because I is the face for my community.

But our community ha the this problem with the cameras create one big big mistake in the community about the mental health.

And I want to know how you can uh solution this problem because now for the uh yes, old people are talking about the cameras, the big mistake in the past, but what happened in the future?

What what is the solution for this problem?

Because the our community, not only Spanik, all our community, and our privacy.

And uh is it now here.

I want to know what what is this um solution for us.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Weinberg.

I call to the podium Sharon Screech.

Good evening, Commissioners.

Good evening.

My name is Sharon Screech.

I live at 515 West Grand Avenue, Apartment 3L, Dayton, Ohio, 45405.

Good evening.

I would like to address the salary issue regarding our current city manager, Miss Shelley Dixtein.

When Ms.

Dixtein was hired in 2016, her annual salary was 172,500.

From 2016 through 2022, she received a total of over 92,000 in raises.

Then despite reporting not having performance evaluations in 2022, 2023, and 2024, she still received additional raises, approximately $6,784 in 2023 and another 12,560 in 2024.

Today her salary stands at over 284,000 a year.

That is an increase of more than 11,000 over a 10-year period.

I only get 3% raises every year on my job.

As residents and taxpayers, I believe we deserve transparency and accountability.

At the same time, the mayor makes around $89,000 a year.

The assistant city manager reporting earns around $63,000 a year, and city commissioners average around $66,000 annually.

While those figures may not be exact, they paint a picture of the wage structure among city leadership.

I find it concerning that the city manager earns significantly more than the officials she answers to.

Over time, that kind of imbalance can create a sense of entitlement and disconnect from the everyday struggles of residents and city employees, and a sense of entitlement over the people that she answers to.

When someone makes more money than you, they feel like they have more power than you.

I've experienced that myself.

Meanwhile, many entry-level city employees make around 42,000 a year with inflation and rising cost of living.

Many hardworking people are barely getting by.

What makes this even more troubling is that our city continues to struggle in so many areas outside of downtown Dayton development.

We have vacant lots, trash issues, deteriorating streets, underfunded parks and recreation programs, ordnance concerns, and neighborhoods that continue to be neglected, yet raises continue to be approved without visible improvements that residents can clearly point to.

Maybe again.

All right.

I came here today because I wanted to talk to the commission about the uh recent news about the flock cameras and the fact that we just learned that the uh the flock cameras have been sharing data with ICE and other federal officials this entire time, in spite of the fact that we were directly assured multiple times, and you all were directly assured multiple times that that was not the case.

The um the setting that enabled this to happen was visible inside of the software from what the police have said.

If any person at any point in this process had actually cared to have somebody look and confirm, we could have found this out months ago.

Instead, it took months to do an investigation, and after the investigation was concluded, it took months to do a press conference to confirm that.

So today I wanted to make three demands to see if we could to see if we can go at least a little bit towards rectifying the situation.

I think the people here deserve to see the audit data that was investigated and uh so that people could see how their data was used and what data was seen.

Uh, we need to physically remove the cameras after all.

If we can't guarantee that that data isn't being collected by federal agencies, we also can't guarantee those cameras are actually turned off.

And we should cancel the I and we should cancel the contract.

That'd be it.

Thank you, Mr.

Mr.

Holderbatter.

Thank you.

I call to the podium Kenya Akbar.

Good evening, Commissioner.

Good evening.

I am an eyewitness.

Oh, excuse me.

Kenya Ogbar.

Thank you.

147 East Hill Crest.

I am an eyewitness.

This city government has an issue with corruption, and I am an eyewitness.

When my school age friend was killed, a Dayton police officer took to social media and called him a thug.

At the time, myself and several other organization leaders went to the HRC and filed a complaint against the officer.

We were told that was the first time citizens had filed a complaint against a police officer.

Shortly afterwards, the officer was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.

The day before his hearing, he resigned from the force.

Del Rio was placed on Riverscape, and it was renamed after him.

Confusingly, Del Rio entered a home with a no-knock warrant and two rookie police officers and was killed.

Over the course of 30 years, I've heard countless stories of police officers taking drugs and money from drug dealers and letting them go.

I am an eye witness.

In 2023, one of my heart's pleasures was picking up trash on the streets.

And while I was out working with two youth, one of the youth shoplifted, and I arrived on the scene, and the police officers immediately started cussing me out.

Stay the fuck back.

Excuse my French.

The officers went on to take my arm up behind my back because I continued to ask what was going on.

And karate chopped it, breaking my arm and leaving me with a piece of floating bone in my arm.

A recent MRI showed that that bone is still floating in my arm.

During these rainy days, I've been in a lot of pain.

And the city never apologized.

The city never paid any of my medical bills.

There was nothing given to me for pain and suffering.

And there was no payment for Miss Work.

But I watched a two million dollar memorial go up for the police at the end of my block.

And I also watched The Street Be Renamed.

And then most recently, I talked to a 16-year-old pregnant girl, seven months pregnant, who said she was repeatedly punched in the stomach by police officers a week ago.

I saw Reginald Thomas die because he didn't have a light on the front of his bike.

The police brutality has to stop, and we need to fire the city manager.

Thank you, Ms.

Akbar.

I call to the podium, Yusuf Elzane.

Good evening.

Good evening.

I hope you've been reading my emails.

I'm sorry I couldn't appear in in person for the last few weeks.

My name is Yusuf El Zain, 4906 Amberwood Drive.

Mayor, Commissioner, City Managers, City Manager.

I'm here tonight about two issues that are at their core, the same issue.

Trust.

What happens when governments surveil, control, and silence communities, and call it security.

One is happening abroad, one is happening here in Dayton.

And local, state, and national officials are implicated in both.

This is my ninth consecutive week speaking about the unspeakable.

A war waged with American weapons funded by American taxpayers and shielded by American vetoes of the United Nations.

Israeli military funded by our taxes, detonated thousands of tons of explosives in Gaza and Lebanon, desecrated tens of churches, mosques, and other religious sites with no journalists, no UN inspectors, and no independent witnesses present.

Villages erased.

Communities told you do not belong belong here.

Much of the surveillance technology is used to track and target Palestinians and Lebanese civilians population has been developed, refined, and exported, including to American law enforcement agencies by Israeli war industry.

The logic traveled with it.

It's monitored the population, dismiss the alarm.

That same logic arrived in Dayton through flock safety.

Approximately 7100 access requests to Dayton's license plate data were tied to immigration enforcement.

Not the black community, not the white community.

It was specific immigration enforcement from agencies explicitly prohibited from that access.

The department discovered this in October 2025.

And in January at this very podium, told this community and the commission that there's their data is safe.

They knew and they said it anyway.

Immigrant families in Dayton, many of them fleeing the exact wars.

We're being tracked.

This movement logged their safety promised and betrayed.

Mayor Turner's loss in her response to the breach last week.

This is not an isolated failure.

Our community member raised alarms.

They were not heard.

And I am here to hold this commission body to them.

Oversight is your responsibility, and obviously, and the rest of the citizens were deceived.

I asked three things.

Release the full audit logs, including the non-immigrant searches, such as the officers' exes, lovers, and enemies.

Hold a sworn hearing, and this appointment is not accountability.

Sworn testimony is.

Because I'm seeing police um accosting young black males as they're walking.

Um, and how is RTA allowed to pay for a police station?

I am so confused.

How is RTA able to use dollars to pay for a police station?

That's that's a problem.

I'm also concerned about um police response times when there is um when there are incidents that happens, and the um some of these police are out of control when they're speaking with citizens.

So you guys got a lot of work to do.

You you really do.

Um that's why I'm here today.

I'm hoping it can get fixed.

Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Chamel.

I call to the podium Benita Kelly Good evening, Commissioners.

Uh good afternoon.

Dr.

Vanita Kelly, 233 Waterlake Avenue, Dayton, Ohio, 45420.

I'm speaking to you all tonight, and I want to give you three resources because this is where I'm speaking from.

I'm here tonight on behalf of my friend and colleague Kenya Baker Kenya Akbar.

Uh the resources, prison policy initiative report, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, and Angeria Ritchie's Invisible No More, Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color.

I remember the phone call from Kenya when she uh when she told me what had gone on when she was trying to service with her her young people uh and the police assaulted her.

I remember the horror, I remember the shock, I remember the trauma in her voice because of what had happened to her and what she physically was going through.

We've had conversations afterwards about local lawyers who might be brave enough to take on the police force and what was going on and what goes on in Dayton, Ohio.

We walked and talked together with the NAACP.

I connected her, we could talk and connected her to national level lawyers who are on record as seeking justice against police because of what they do to, in fact, black citizens.

To my memory, Dayton and Ohio had too many excessive uses of forced cases under their that firm's docket for them to take on Kenya's case.

And eventually, the young man who was pulled out of his car, he was compensated by by the city.

Uh it is up to you, the city commission, to remember and to put into place as you are sworn to make it happen to support Kenya and to resolve and excuse me to address the core problem, and you know what it is, and to initiate restitution to Kenya Akbar.

She has no idea that I'm going to ask her about that.

But I'm also going to tell you that women make up a growing share of arrests and report much more use of force than they did 20 years ago.

In particular, the experiences of women and girls, especially black women and other women of color, are lost in the national conversation about police practices.

They are also largely invisible in the data, as Andrea Richie Richie details in Invisible No More.

Police violence against black women and women of color.

Women are subject to racial profiling, use of excessive force, and any number of violations of their rights and dignity by police.

In fact, women make up an increasing share of arrests and report much more use of force than they did 20 years ago.

Black women experience disproportionate rates of police race rates of police violence in the United States, comprising 20% of women killed by police, despite being 13% of the female population.

Black women are 1.4 times more likely to be killed by police than white women with high risks of sexual assault and excessive force during stops.

Fatal shootings, unarmed victims, black women represent 28% of unarmed women killed by police.

Use of force.

Excuse me, use of force.

Black women are more likely to experience police threats or non or non-fatal force compared to white or Latino women.

Take this in, please do the job that you have been put in office to do, and also include restitution to Kenya Akbar.

Thank you, Dr.

Kelly.

I call to the podium Kathleen Galt.

Kathleen Galt, 5066 Safeway Drive, Dayton 45414.

First, I have to ask a question because I come to the meetings early and sign up to be like the second or third speaker because I can't see at night.

So this is the only time in eight years was second time that the City Commission, somebody's choosing to mix up the lineup for people speaking.

So some of us come up early for a reason.

Anyway, so on um first I want to thank all the voters who voted for the hospital initiative.

Thanks for taking it over the goalpost.

You were critical.

And so on January 14, 2026, Attorney Mousto said, as he described very well what the next steps are.

I encourage people to go watch that commission meeting on January 14th, 2026.

He said, so what we are proposing is the city conduct a public hearing to allow the citizens to express their views about which choice they want to go forward with to administer this hospital and just as importantly which services are most important to them so that we can use those limited resources to focus on the services the citizens want.

Then Commissioner Darius Beckham asked him, so what is the timeline?

And Musto answered, late spring.

So I'm asking when are those public hearings going to take place.

The CCC asked Mayor Whaley, Mayor Mims, all the commissioners, the city manager, to do town halls eight years ago, to do a series of town halls, to hear the public that we were hearing from as we collected 600 testimonials about the closing and then the federal investigation.

So we heard from people, they wanted to be heard from you.

So where are those town halls that are going to happen now?

And then I want to say 10,000 people, must 10,000 people voted for that.

So what we were saying to you guys for years about people being angry was absolutely so.

You know, Ms.

Dixteen, I have none, uh none of us know what it's like to be a city manager, but I have to say, from living in other communities, the pattern of undermining citizens' groups, including the CCC, the police committee, DUHR, are alarming to say the least.

The undermining of those citizens' groups is alarming.

So the most recent thing was the Citizens Assembly.

And uh Mayor Shinesh, you talked about that on 4226.

How did that come about?

I would like to see a chronological order of how that came about, how the people were chosen, and investigations into all the funding that a young woman talked about earlier about the decisions Ms.

16 makes of under 50,000.

I'd like to see all those decisions investigated to see if there's any conflict of interest.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Galt.

I call to the podium Stephen Ware.

Stephen Ware, 3033 Beaver Avenue, Dayton, Ohio, 45429.

If the City of Dayton really wants to prevent crime, its contract with FLAC Group Incorporated must be canceled and its cameras removed.

The funds that are currently being wasted on suspended cameras from the company FLOC, a private company, can then be invested into the public good.

Investing in our neighborhoods would be far more effective at preventing crime than Flox cameras and databases ever could be.

The savings from canceling the contract with FLOC could be further invested, cleaning up the many nuisance properties across our city.

Those cleared lots could then be given to our neighbors for extra yard space, repurposed for community gardens, turned into new developments, or any other purpose that would make the neighborhood a more welcoming place.

The savings could also be used to combat the accumulation of trash in Dayton's neighborhoods.

The city could set up programs to pick up and properly dispose of litter.

More public locations for trash disposal could be created and regularly maintained so that people are less inclined to litter.

Dayton's alleyways could be revitalized to make trash and recycling pickup more consistent so that residents aren't left with overflowing bins.

Sure, we could keep the contract and the cameras going, but everyone already knows Dayton suffers from urban decay.

We don't need condor cameras to document that.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Ware.

I call to the podium Mary Sue Ga minor.

Mary Sue Ga Minor, 1418 Arbor Avenue.

Madam Mayor, Commissioners, I want to begin by remembering Bishop Richard Cox.

He spoke at this podium many times, speaking truth to power.

He was an inspiration.

What stood out to me about Bishop was his unwillingness to accept the unacceptable.

Tonight I am urging you to not accept the unacceptable.

Getting no information is unacceptable.

This commission is overdue in creating a governing board for the proposed hospital.

The law took effect in November.

Six months later, there have been no appointments to the board.

This is unacceptable.

On January 7th, after a request for an informal resolution condemning military action in Venezuela, Commissioners Fairchild and Joseph kicked the can down the road by promising to discuss potential further resolutions.

Since then, our government has added an unauthorized and irresponsible attack on Iran.

Commissioner Joseph's verbal assurance that you are all on the side of peace needs to be backed up by an informal resolution that is shared with the community and with our state and federal elected officials.

Recently, some citizens have highlighted the president's presence of lighters that look like guns being sold in area convenience stores.

One shop owner removed them while another has refused.

If it's legally possible, please outlaw gun lookalike objects from being sold in Dayton.

If you don't have that power, please intervene with the store owner and ask him to stop selling them.

Maybe he'll listen to the mayor and commissioners.

On April 17th, I emailed a report to all of you on racial disparities in traffic stops in Dayton.

Have you investigated this yet?

What remedies does the next police chief propose to end this practice?

You are hearing a lot tonight about the automated license plate readers.

It's important not to miss the point that ALPRs are but one tool being used by our federal government to expand a surveillance state in total disregard for constitutional privacy.

Regardless of what vendor you choose, once the data is collected, it can be accessed.

And there are no guarantees that the vendor won't allow access to that data, regardless of what a contract says.

Remove the flock cameras to a warehouse, cancel the contract, demand the audit logs, and look more seriously at every other surveillance tool that the DPD is using.

Anything less is unacceptable.

Thank you, Ms.

Ga Minor.

I call to the podium Cheyenne Meyerick.

Good evening, Mayor.

Good evening, Commissioners.

So I come to you, excuse me.

Oh, excuse me.

Cheyenne Myrick, 3730 Delphi Avenue, Dayton, Ohio, 45417.

I come to you before I come to I come before you today as a member of a committed village to speak about something fundamental to our health and city, which is trust.

Trust is built through meaningful community inclusion and sustained by transparency in how decisions are made.

Right now, many residents feel that both are lacking.

Across our neighborhoods, people are showing up, organizing, and clearly voicing their needs, whether it's around housing, safety, economic opportunity, surveillance, and basic quality of life.

Yet too often these voices feel unheard.

It is deeply frustrating to participate in public processes, offer input, and still feel decisions do not reflect the will and priorities of the very communities that elected you to serve.

Equally concerning is the structure of our local local government, where an unelected individual holds more decision-making power than those who were chosen by the people.

Their elected officials to lead, to advocate, and to act in alignment with community needs.

That responsibility cannot be delegated or overshadowed.

Transparency is not optional.

It is essential.

People deserve to understand how decisions are made, who is influencing them, and how public resources are being allocated.

Without clarity, skepticism grows and civic engine and civic engagement declines.

And when we look at the current investments across our city, the disparities are hard to ignore.

Not all neighborhoods are benefiting equally.

Not all residents are seeing the same level of care, attention, or opportunity.

Equity is not just a talking point.

It requires intentional, measurable action that is not an empty performance with handpicked voices established to represent community needs.

This pattern regards disregards the majority of residents that are impacted by these decisions made by this body.

Ensure transparency in your process and re-examine how power is distributed through our local government.

Most importantly, align your decisions with the people you were elected to serve.

Our city deserves leadership that responds to the voices of the community that elected them.

Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Myrick.

I call to the podium Tim Devon.

Good evening, Mayor.

Good evening.

Timothy Devon, 1008 Brome Lane.

Um there was an incident at Hoover and Lilac where a gentleman got um arrested for jaywalking.

Ever since then, I have citizens been asking me about jaywalking on Hoover.

I don't know if you really know how Hoover is set up.

I know a lot of people hear about Summit Square because of the violence, but we also have Hoover Place, which is a senior place, Canaan Manor, and Stratford Place.

Now, these is a lot more residents that live there than that lives in Summit Square, but you don't hear about our seniors there.

So the corner store down the street is where everybody walks to.

Now, as you go down Summits to in front of uh Summit Square, there's a sidewalk in front of Summit Square.

There's no sidewalk in front of the bus hub.

There's no more sidewalk that starts until you get to the Trotwood line.

Then you went to Trotwood, the sidewalk for two blocks.

All of Canaan, there's no sidewalk.

Then there's a sidewalk again that starts up again.

As you get to in front of the old Boland Alley at Lilac, there is a storm drain with a bridge.

The no one's cut the brush, it's covered the sidewalk.

So people step back in the street and then back on the sidewalk.

The house was torn down at Lilac and Hoover by the city.

They took out 10 feet of sidewalk.

No one has put the sidewalk back about a year and a half.

So there's a lot of walking on Hoover Avenue.

So a lot of my citizens have talked to me and asked me about jaywalking on Hoover Avenue.

What is the protocol?

Because it's so different than any other part of Hoover.

And so they have asked me about that.

We got those.

There has been many times we have seen our seniors in their mobility carts going to the corner store.

And definitely between Lilac, where that semen is missing on the heel, they are in the street.

And which is really a city responsibility because the house was torn down under the plan that they were talking about earlier.

I think they did the uh water service that they tore out and but somewhere between the contractor and the city, the sidewalk never got put back.

So you always see somebody in the street in that area.

So I've had quite a few residents want to know what is the city's going to do, if there are going to be any sidewalks putting in to make it safer on the walkway, or what is their responsibility on Hoover Avenue.

Thank you, Mr.

Devon.

Thank you.

Good evening, Commissioner.

Good evening.

Kathleen Kirsch, 6310 Harvest Meadows Drive, Dayton Ohio 45424.

We all know why I'm here.

I'm here to talk about the ALPR uh driver's automated license plate reader issue.

Um I am a managing attorney of the immigration practice group at Advocates for Basic Legal Equality or ABLE, and we work with uh low-income immigrant communities in addition to other communities of color and other low-income community communities across the city.

Um last year, around the same time, we've been reported uh that DPD has noticed an uptick in ALPR data inquiries.

I want you all to know that ABLE also began noticing an increase in calls from people whose loved ones were arrested by ICE.

What was different about these calls is that these individuals were not being transferred to the jail.

This was not an arrest by criminal record.

This was not an arrest because they had a final order of removal.

It was often while they were driving or shortly after they exited their vehicles.

Now I don't know if that was because of the data that was shared, leaked in violation of the policies that existed.

Neither does anyone else because none of that data has been revealed.

I can remember giving a know your rights presentation at a community center in Dayton by Dayton Children's and meeting a woman, a young Latina woman afterwards.

She held her four-year-old daughter's hand while she asked me if she could complete a power of attorney.

Her husband and the father of her daughter had been arrested by ICE two weeks earlier in a traffic stop.

She was terrified about what would happen to her daughter if ICE came for her.

I can remember weeks later, my own daughter asking me what would happen if ICE came for her father, who is an immigrant, and my husband.

This is the fear that is ravaging Dayton communities.

This does not feel like public safety to me.

Under city law, the city commission is responsible for providing oversight on police surveillance technology, purchases, and compliance.

The actions that you and the city manager take in the coming days and weeks are vital.

You will show our community how you value transparency and whose public safety is worth fighting for.

And I want to note that I'm disappointed that there is no request to hear from the police tonight.

The only thing that we have heard from the police is a 3 p.m.

press conference on Friday, which we all know is not a time you release news when you want people to follow it.

ABLE, in conjunction with other community groups represented here, call on the commission to do the following.

Hold a public hearing where public officials should testify under oath under penalty of perjury to what they knew.

Produce audit logs.

The police department should be doing that to explain the violation of trust that occurred.

And you should immediately stop the license plate reader cameras.

We when we were talking about this ordinance, you all immediately did not go with vigilant, and you went with Flock, and Flock has proven no better.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Kirsch.

I call to the podium Ivy Young.

Good afternoon, Ivy Young, 323 West Hill Quest Avenue.

Good evening.

This week we lost a hold of man, and I appreciate you taking a moment of silence for him.

Bishop Cox was a mentor, colleague, and friend.

As president of the clergy community coalition, he led us to successful campaign for Dayton Public Hospital.

Before and basically before he passed.

First, I cannot imagine being one of the less focuses for our holy man.

Bishop believed you to be corrupt and so compromised that he wanted to give this time a focus to you.

To be in concert with others in the community on your list of trying to undermine community initiatives.

Taxpayer money that was we feel misappropriated.

The same holds true for the citizens' assembly.

Twenty thousand dollars in December 2025 for from the discretionary fund again.

This $20,000 was done before the inauguration of the new mayor in order to undermine the new law for the public hospital.

We are grateful that not only was a Woolport report a successful, it was not.

We are grateful that not only was a Woolport report a successful it was not, and the Citizen Assembly's advisors have decided to pivot the subject matter that they're covering, which they will not resume until the fall of this year.

What has been taking place, you know it's a very is vindictiveness and leads us to the actions that I am while I'm here today.

I really don't appreciate having to even say the things I did being said, but I'm glad somebody has to say it.

Bishop also wanted to focus on another focus.

Mr.

Beckham.

Good evening again.

He believes you also have made many compromises after working side by side with the former mayor, Whaley, and Mims, along with Commissioner Shaw, Joseph, and of course the city manager.

You are four months new in your office.

You are no longer beholden.

You can make a fresh start.

Part of this fresh start is to exercise your legislative power and make a motion to terminate this contract that presently exists with your city manager.

We in the clergy community coalition are still processing the loss of Bishop Cox, but know that in the last meeting we discussed strategies for a strong future, which we will be sharing with the community in the coming weeks.

Information about Bishop Memorial is forthcoming, and I want to thank you for your time.

Thank you, Mr.

Young.

I call to the podium Melissa Bertolo.

Good evening.

Good evening.

Melissa Bertolo, 1137, Harvard Boulevard, Dayton, Ohio, 45406.

Good evening, Mayor, Commissioners, City Manager, staff, and the Dayton community.

When I learned that the Dayton Police Department had shared information with outside agencies for immigration related purposes, I was not shocked.

This is exactly what many of us have been warning you about for years.

After the news broke, I went back and re-watched all of the public meetings about ALPRs on the Internet Archives since they've been taken off of the city website.

And I wanted to understand how this commission commission has been persuaded to continue expanding this technology despite the alarms that we've been ranking.

Since 2020, we have come here to raise concerns that Dayton's ALPRs do not operate in isolation.

These cameras are connected to larger databases which are accessible by outside agencies.

We have told you this.

Hold a public hearing under oath so that we can understand exactly how this information is.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Bertell.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I call to the podium re Molnar.

Good evening.

Re Molnar, 361 West Danielle Springs Road in Fairborn.

Good evening.

Um I want to uh finish what um my friend Melissa Bertola was getting ready to wrap up, but I wanted to start it.

I'm not an expert on policy like my friend Julio Mateo or my friend Katie Kirsch or um Melissa who gave testimony just before me.

Um I'm a mental health care provider.

And so one of the things that I am an expert in is um noticing abuse.

Abuse comes in many forms.

One of the forms is through brutality, like has been mentioned by many people that spoke before me tonight, the brutality that ended in the killing of Reginald Thomas, the brutality of a 16-year-old pregnant girl just last week, um, the brutality that is rampant from the police throughout the city of Dayton and beyond.

Um another form of abuse comes in the form of surveillance.

Um being watched, being tracked everywhere we go, the license plate readers that many people have given um reports on this evening as well.

Um abuse comes in the form of deceit.

The many lies that have been shared to your faces from the people reporting on these technologies, telling you over and over again that they're not being used for um for malintent, that they're they're protected, that they're safe.

Those were lies.

Lying to your face, deceit, that's a form of abuse.

Um another form of abuse is the threat and isolation that these license plate readers have been um have been enacting for immigrant communities in the city of Dayton and beyond.

The threats, the the news reports of what we see, the violence of ICE, families being separated, um, these threats and the isolation that that creates.

That's a form of abuse.

People are afraid to leave their homes.

They're afraid.

That's because of you all also being complicit in allowing these cameras to go up all over the place.

Um to bring to light, these are all forms of abuse that I hope now you can recognize as well.

Um everyone here in the audience that's wearing black is wearing black in solidarity with us who want to see the contract canceled.

Um, if they want to quietly stand, they could do that.

Correct.

So what our demands are are to remove the cameras immediately because, like has been previously stated, Flock has access to the this data no matter what.

So the cameras need to come out.

That's the only way that we know they're not on and watching and recording data.

We want to cancel the contract with Flock immediately.

Um, and we also don't want to have any other uh private companies surveilling the residents of Dayton.

Um we want you to release all of the audit logs going back to 2020.

Um we want you to hold a public hearing where public officials testify under oath about what happened.

We want you to put a clause back into the ordinance um that holds the police accountable.

Uh we want the city law uh department to formally request documentation from ICE to ascertain what immigration enforcement um occurred as a result of the license plate readers.

Okay, wrap up, please.

We want you to commit to not contracting with any other APL APR APLR ALPR vendors, and we want you to communicate directly with communities that are impacted in their first languages about what happened and what you're planning to do to remedy it.

Thank you.

I call to the podium Miranda Hallett.

Good evening.

Good evening.

Um thank you for listening.

Um my name is Miranda Hallett.

I'm from 21 Hilltop Avenue, 45419.

I'm here to speak on the flock camera scandal and the harms that that negligence has caused.

I'm gonna say the demands up front in case I babble on and forget to get to them at the end.

Take down the cameras now, do not sign any more ALPR contracts in the name of our public safety.

They do not make us safe.

Release the audit logs immediately.

Those that are already in the possession of the city or the police, uh produce others going back to 2020.

Hold a public hearing, ensuring that officials um attend and provide answers to the public.

Sunshine is the best disinfectant, and tell people what happened, especially the impacted communities.

As many of you know, I serve as a teacher and a researcher at the University of Dayton.

Um my comments here are as a private um private resident and citizen, but my profession informs what I know and how I know it.

I'm a scholar of the rule of law and authoritarianism in El Salvador.

I have seen its breakdown.

I have seen state violence against particular social groups in the midst of it, and the conditions where policy and state action become a politics of cruelty, dressed up in a uniform, inhumanity hiding behind a badge, raw domination instead of law and order, and I have seen local officials stand by and watch it happen or look away.

My experience in El Salvador and in other places has helped me to understand that authoritarianism triumphs when good people do nothing and look away.

Nothing.

And that's exactly what happened here when this body was entrusted and when the police agency was entrusted with our private information and promised us that they would take care of it.

Promised us and lied to us.

As Chief Isaw said in his public statement, the policy was clear the regulations were important and they did not follow the very thing that they were asked to do.

He used the word disgusting.

I share his sentiment.

Finally, as of April 7th, that's when all the ALPR data sharing was stopped.

Why did it take from October to April while people were being ripped away in front of their children, while people were having agents follow them to their houses?

We we don't need to know.

We can assume flock cameras are related to this enforcement in Dayton, because such APR cameras have been instrumental in surges of immigration enforcement activity in Florida, California, Oregon, and other places.

We told you that this would happen.

The negligence on the part of the police and on the part of the commission as the oversight body is a betrayal of the most serious and alarming nature.

You need accountability and repair, and they start in the same place.

Clear communication and listening to the victims and survivors.

How have you shared that with impacted families?

And how how how in what languages and what is your plan for sharing further?

How have you made attempts to find out from immigrant community leaders and advocates what the impact was of this callous oversight, or how do you plan to do so?

Show us you are serious because you have failed so egregiously in the past.

But uh I'm not one to reinvent the wheel.

People have told you, uh, but I do want to share an experience that I had several years ago when my oldest son returned from Atlanta.

He had graduated from Meadowville High School, had gone to Tennessee State University, graduated, relocated to Atlanta, got a job as an accountant, and was doing very well.

He visited us in Dayton, and he was with a friend of his and um they were moving things out of the house that the friend owned.

The police, the Dayton police, came up on them and uh pulled their guns and told them to get on the ground face down.

My son was dressed, and he's kind of vain and didn't want to do it.

They threatened to shoot him.

So he got on the ground.

So after this incident happened, um my wife and I complained, and an officer from the Dayton Police Department came to our house and discussed this incident.

This officer told us that they're pulling guns on my son, our son, and having him get down on the ground face down was for his own good.

Now we're sitting here listening to this officer told us that and said, That's it.

I don't want to talk to you anymore.

And we went on to go to the next step because what that officer was saying to us was ridiculous.

So now, um, what I'm asking here now is do these police officers in Dayton still behave this way in light of the fact that very recently a man was shot for riding a bicycle, black man.

Um, I will say very quickly, I did witness uh recently a uh white male um uh under surveillance by the Dayton police for the same thing, but relative thing.

This white male was escorted to Grandview Hospital.

I know because I followed him, and he went to the hospital, he was treated there, he was not forced to get on the ground, uh, and he was certainly not killed.

Thank you, Mr.

Wattenza.

I called to the podium Tara Campbell, Tara, okay.

I stand again before you tonight because the people of Dayton deserves transparency, accountability, and leadership rooted in human dignity and human rights.

Over the last several months, our community has witnessed a growing pattern of decisions that have weakened public trust, from concerns surrounding the fatal shooting of a man killed on a bike downtown.

What is the status of investigation?

To the lack of transparency in the police chief selection process to concerns surrounding the recent announcement of the civil citizen assembly structure, and now the suspension of the automatic license plate reader technology.

The public is asking serious questions, and the community deserves answers.

These are not isolated incidents.

Together, they point to a deeper issue regarding transparency, accountability, and communication, and the public ability to meaningfully participate in decisions that directly impact their lives.

These failures disapportionately impact African American immigrant communities, low-income residents, and other martyr marginalized populations who have historically experienced over surveillance, exclusion from decision making, unequal treatment, and lack of trust in the systems meant to protect them.

When transparency is absent and accountability is delayed, these communities often carry the greatest burden and harm.

What steps will the city take to rebuild the trust?

Multiple community concerns regarding transparency and communication.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms our right to life, liberty, and security.

Article 3, justice, the rights rights are not to be violated.

Article 6.

Failure public process, Article 10, access to information, Article 19, and meaningful participation in government.

Tonight, the community is calling on the commission, the city manager to Chiefs of Police and the date leadership to uphold these principles.

This is what we request.

In the contract with Flock, safety, take down the cameras.

We need all the audit logs from the inception of the contract.

Transport is not optional.

Accountability is not optional.

Human rights are not optional.

This is the moment for Dayton.

Let us understand and know transparency over secrecy, accountability over avoidance, and community over division.

Public trust demands transparency and action because community is the recipe for change.

Thank you, Ms.

Campbell.

I call to the podium, Zikia Sankara Jabar.

Zakia Sankar Jabar 2426.

Jerome.

Mayor Slaus, thanks again for recognizing my great uncle Russell Reese, who recently passed.

I'm sorry.

I'm so angry.

After hearing a black woman have to come up here to relive her trauma from police brutality.

And listening to black people constantly come up here and tell y'all what's happening to them in their neighborhoods and to continue to see just the benign neglect.

This is a city of hate.

Okay.

Anti-black hate.

That's what we're dealing with.

Policy and practice.

The ALR cameras, we should have expected that.

As you've heard everybody talk about.

Look at how you treat the citizens.

People have been begging this commission to make changes on behalf of the citizens who put you here.

The citizens who pay taxes in this city.

Have some damn respect for the people.

This is wrong, and you all just sit there like everything is okay.

Darius, where is Nan?

She ain't governor.

She is not governor.

You're not going anywhere without the people.

So just like this man told you, get off the train of the billionaires, the developers, and all the white power structure that run this city in collaboration with this woman right here.

Since you don't have tonight, you seem to have the courage to get rid of somebody who's been here for 10 years, listening to all the people come up here after years and years and years.

Y'all pulling black people over on Hoover and it ain't even a damn sign.

Well, come on, man.

This is ridiculous.

This is absolutely unacceptable.

I have also lived in other cities.

I have never seen anything like this before in my life.

Don't get me wrong.

Racism and anti-blackness is everywhere.

But this is egregious, was what's happening in Dayton.

You got a business downtown, Miss Dixtean.

You love downtown.

We all know that.

You done put the police station right next to a store that's selling black youth lighters that look like guns.

And you don't see a problem with that.

You don't see a need to do something about that since you run the city.

Is that a setup because you want black youth to get killed and shot in the back by somebody that look like that?

Because we all know that all they gotta do is say, Oh, I fear for my life, even though the damn gun ain't even real.

Poor people, black people, marginalized people are being treated in this city is unacceptable, and the people are not gonna continue to take it.

Let me give a message to the business community since that's all y'all seem to care about.

Let me finish this, please.

A message to the business community.

When the people are unheard, they'll figure out a way to be heard.

25 years ago in Cincinnati.

What happened?

20 double.

Y'all to spend 2.5 million dollars downtown.

Y'all want black people come down here and tear it up in three days?

Because that's what's gonna happen if you don't take action.

Fire this person right here, Shirley Dixon, fire her tonight.

Thank you, Miss Akbar.

I call to the podium, excuse me.

Sorry, thank you.

Yep.

A call to the podium.

Talis Gage.

I don't like you.

Talis Gauge, 1921, Gettysburg.

45, 417, I think it is.

I don't know.

But um too many police is a crime.

Over pollution is a crime.

Over pollution is a crime.

I get on a bus.

I see how they walk through there.

It's unnecessary.

Y'all are doing too much.

And I want to know which one y'all gonna tell me.

Why y'all taking so long to get rid of Shelly Dixie?

What what back dollar are y'all getting?

Is it a dollar that we don't know about?

Y'all compromise?

Are y'all that weak?

I mean, tighten up.

I mean, it's a reason why I wouldn't be up there.

I wouldn't last that long.

Because I'm gonna tell it all.

I mean, where's the where's the muscle at, y'all?

Where's a bag?

Where I mean, if if it's if if if y'all hitting a wall, let us know what wall y'all hitting and where y'all why the stuff ain't happening.

It shouldn't take this long.

Like, let me know.

Because like I say, if I was up there, I wouldn't last long because I'm gonna tell everything.

I'm exposing everything.

They're gonna say, yeah, he gotta go.

I'm telling everything.

Like, let me know, y'all.

Why is it taking this long, man?

I know you.

I know y'all ain't that weak.

Well, you are your eyes open today, huh?

You await.

You hear me?

And yeah, I don't like it.

Oh, yeah.

Another thing I wanted to address while I'm up here too is rec centers.

I'm from Cleveland.

If you got John F.

Kennedy High School, you got like Kennedy Ray.

You got South High School, you got a recenter.

Like I was playing sports since I was like eight, nine years old.

We had Mutiny League, I was able to play eight, nine, ten all the way up to junior varsity when I was 14 years old.

It's like midges, peewee's, and banaways.

So you can say I've done I've been boxing since I was I don't know, a very long time.

And I love fighting it.

I can't even do it now because I gotta be a better person.

But baseball, basketball, football.

They had tutoring, they have uh water aerobics, just etc.

Teaching that's where I got some of my ideas with my love day events, like teaching kids how to play chess and different things like that.

I took out of Cleveland what I seen them them doing at home and brought it up here to some degree.

So, like if it was more reg centers, and Dayton is small.

Dayton ain't nowhere near as big as Cleveland is, so like this could be a great city, a model to show other cities things that could be done that works.

Like this is I just don't get it, man.

I don't get it.

I don't get it.

More rec centers for the kids, man.

Then they have something else to do instead of watching they big homies push dope all day.

Come on.

And uh we need some relationships, cops.

Have relationships with these people in these neighborhoods that y'all going into.

Thank you, Mr.

Gage.

Fire Shelly Dix thing.

Thank you, Mr.

Gage.

I call to the podium Paula Humphrey.

I live at 201 West Fairview Avenue, and I would like to address the audience and the comment that was made that the city is anti-black.

I live in West Dayton.

Please address the commission.

I live in West Dayton, and the people who live in this neighborhood have chosen to live here to be neighbors to blacks.

So I take issue with that.

But um I didn't come here to um I don't have the mo emotion and the and the passion that I experience here tonight, and I don't have any real strong feelings that Shelly Dixtein should be fired.

Um this is emotional for me because I feel like I'm a miss I've misplaced here.

Has my time started?

Oh, it has.

Oh my gosh.

Okay, well, I came here for a totally different reason.

Okay, and I uh appeal to everyone to be patient with me.

I'm a resident of Northwest Dayton.

This area is zoned residential, and it's not commercial.

We as loyal Dayton citizens in Northwest Dayton are dedicated to keeping our neighborhood streets classified as a residential zone.

We want a residential zone, our residential zone strengthened and our housing codes enforced.

Unfortunately, for several years now, new people have moved into the neighborhood to set up car repair shops, which is not appropriate where people want to live a quality of life.

Do you know what it's like to live in a street where someone is advertising to do cheap repair car work?

Well, when people do this commercial repair work from their home, the people on this, the entire neighborhood is affected.

There is pollution in the form of terrible loud noises, clanging, banging, constant power, tools operating.

There's dirt and litter and commercial oil spills and constant odor and constant stream of unfamiliar people arguing or causing disruption.

Tow trucks come to pick up inoperable cars or to deliver the cars in the middle of the night.

They have flashing things and they have all this loud motor noises.

It just doesn't lend itself to, you know, being a very nice community.

When you live in a residential area, you know the people with whom you live, you're familiar with their routines, and you have a sense of security.

The pop-up auto repair shops destroy that sense of security.

If people desire to conduct these repair shops more power to them, they can find a place that can accommodate this kind of activity.

This is just one example of how the quality of life in the city of Dayton, city that I love, the city that I appeal to be a segregated city of multi-culture and pluralism and diversity.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Humphrey.

I call to the podium Stephen Mohammed.

Steve Mohammed, 126 Burgess Avenue.

Honorable mayor, City Commissioners.

I wanted to first talk to you about a good brand of mine, sister in the struggle, Sister Kenya Akbar.

Her the issue with Sister Akbar is a lot more than just injustice.

It's an issue of where you have servants, you have servants of the city, but didn't you also have servants of God?

You have people who go out of their way with their time, their money, their finances, their resources, because they see the plight of the least of these, and they're trying to do the best to lift them up.

And so whenever there is an injustice against individuals like that, the city might not recognize it, but there is a higher power that recognizes it, and that higher power is in play today.

And that's the second thing that I want to talk about, which is the heat wave that is about to hit Dayton, Ohio.

I've reached out to uh parks and recreation, and God willing, uh my organization, refuge depot will be able to work with uh park and recreations because the issue is this.

The summers are getting hotter and they're getting longer.

And because of global warming, if that's what we want to call it, you have more humidity in the air, which means that these heat waves that are uh in some cases they call them a heat dome that lays over certain cities, and because urban areas are made up of concrete, steel, and glass, even when the night comes, there's no relief from the heat.

And so I want to just urge not just the city, but I want to urge black people, black churches, black community uh black organizations to come together so that we can establish cooling stations, but also so that we can have committees that will look out for the elderly, look out for the handicap, look out for children, look out for those who can't afford central air.

I know a lot of us will are going to be happy to turn that on, but unfortunately, because of the antiquated grant system, they might not even have uh heat uh when it comes down to this summer.

So I just wanted to put that before the city commission uh and thank you for your time.

Thank you, Brother Mohammed.

Thank you.

That concludes speakers, Your Honor.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

McClendon.

Ms.

Dixteen, do you have any closing comments this evening?

Uh I have just a few, uh Your Honor.

Thank you.

As um was discussed in the briefings last week with regards to the flock cameras.

The uh of course the um the administration will look toward the commission with regards to direction on the audit.

And um we are working on um pulling together all of the records that were reviewed.

I I want to make sure that be there were over 7,000 emails and all hundreds of thousands of records that were reviewed as a result of those 7,000 accesses to our data, right?

So it is a huge, huge amount of data that our folks were looking at.

And the investigation that the uh police department was doing is not complete yet, but I will work towards some of that release as been um discussed this this evening.

Uh also the um police department is already putting together the um variety of community meetings that need to take place, uh, beginning with ABL, who was the partner and originally as we sat through to put this technology ordinance in place as well as welcome Dayton, and then um certainly making sure we're take going out to the neighborhood um meetings, particularly where there were flock cameras, so that we're engaging and talking about that.

We're not done yet talking about what that outreach looks like, but that uh and we will report on that as we get a little bit more finalized.

But I wanted to let you know that that's the work that's in place right now.

And um and that's all I have to see.

Thank you, Ms.

Dixteen.

Mr.

McClendon, do you have any closing comments?

Yes, Your Honor.

Next week's Commission meeting on Wednesday, May 13th is canceled due to a lack of quorum.

The next Commission meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 20th at 6 p.m.

Thank you, Ms.

McClendon.

Commissioners, do you have any closing comments this evening?

Commissioner Beckham.

Thank you, Your Honor.

Um appreciate all the uh attendees tonight uh and making your voices heard.

Um just briefly say that the uh block camera situation, the ALPR circumstance is extremely disappointing.

Um I obviously um the newest member up here, but I am uh committed along with my colleagues to rectifying uh the situation as best we can.

Uh we have, of course, spoke about uh the needed investigation to really understand uh where the breakdown happened and who all obviously was involved in in that breakdown.

So I look forward to the results of that investigation and working with my colleagues to uh make sure that uh we take the steps we need to rebuild some trust because uh this situation uh it is it is equally uh unfortunate, uh, but it is also um hard to understand in terms of uh how we could allow this to happen.

Uh it is a disappointment to me and and my colleagues, so I look forward to uh ensuring that the investigation is thorough uh and complete and that we take the necessary actions from here.

Thank you, Commissioner Beckham.

Commissioner Shaw.

I totally agree with my colleague and and for the most part uh the folks that have come down here tonight to speak to us, understandable that uh there is major disappointment and distrust in this community now uh after this um has happened.

Uh I I thought we had some good processes in place, and we were uh made uh assured that uh everyone was on the same page and that this would kind of move forward in the way that it was intended to do so.

Clearly.

That did not happen.

And that is unacceptable.

And I am glad all my colleagues agree that we should have a very thorough and open process about how we move forward with this.

I do want a thorough process to understand uh where the gaps were.

Um it's uh I'm thankful that someone did catch the the error and brought it forward.

But we've just got to do better because we cannot um we cannot move forward without trust in this community.

And uh I am committing to do just that, and I know that all my colleagues are on the same page, and and that's important, uh, an important start uh to to healing.

So I agree with you, agree with uh with everyone that's spoken so far on that uh we have just got to do a lot of hard work to rebuild trust in this community, and it's gonna be important to do so, and we are committed to doing that work.

Thank you, Commissioner Shaw.

Commissioner Joseph.

Thank you, Mayor.

I am not sure that I've never ever been as angry as I was Friday when I found this out.

Uh I know that uh folks here are correct that uh this is a failure of all levels.

Uh, and we need to work to make sure, like Commissioner said, and we rectify it as best we can.

Specifically, uh and we are calling for immediate shutdown of software in the system, all the readers.

I am also calling for an independent review, just like my colleagues have said, and specifically, I want the results of investigation to be reported directly to the Commission.

I want the investigator to find out what data was shared with other law enforcement agencies, other agencies, what those agencies' purposes were as best they can determine, where there were gaps in our oversight process, and as a result, recommendations as to what additional safeguards are necessary to preserve regular order, regular policy following by by staff.

In the meantime, I call upon our city manager and chief to re-examine all of our data sharing policies, whatever department, uh, and the processes that ensure compliance with commission direction and policy to make absolutely sure this breakdown is not repeated.

It doesn't fix what happened before, like Commissioner said, but we at least have to close the door so it doesn't happen again.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I have a couple comments this evening.

Um I do want to thank all of those who are in attendance this evening.

I want to thank the staff members for the presentations this this evening.

Also, um, and please forgive me, I am only going to pronounce your first name.

I do not want to butcher your last name.

So Zakia, Tara, Julio, Joseph, Ebony, Joyce, Blanca, Sharon, Kevin, Kenya, Yusuf, Dory, Vanita, Kathleen, Steven, Mary Sue, Cheyenne, Tim, Kathleen, Ivy, Melissa, Ree, Miranda, Kamaru, Tara, Talis, Paula, and Steven.

Thank you all for coming before this body this evening.

Um, I know there were a few that didn't necessarily speak in regards to the ALPRs.

Um this particular incident, I believe, is a test to our leadership.

It is a test to what we campaigned on, only being in office for four months now, let me add that.

But I raised the point in running for office, running to be the next mayor, and I take great honor in that.

I take great privilege in that.

And I am not short-sighted in terms of who put me in this position.

I hold true to that, and what we have experienced is exactly what my brother said, and he said, that this was a gross act of negligence.

Not only were the Commission.

We were misled.

There is acts of deception.

And frankly, I have shared on a number of occasions where we are and how we need to move the needle.

This feels, even though it is prior to my time on the commission and being on the outside, this feels like uh another episode of what we saw that was the dark cloud of the city.

And what we are experiencing here this evening.

What we have experienced the last couple of weeks and months in the City of Dayton.

And it gives me great pause, it gives me great concern.

I know that my colleagues, again, this was before my time.

You all did amazing work with the police reform.

Many of you in this room were a part of those conversations.

Many of you in this room led those initiatives being on the number of of committees.

You gave your time, your talents, and you volunteered to be a part of a process that you believed where there was reciprocated trust and transparency and accountability.

I am all in all right now because sitting in this seat as the mayor of the City of Dayton, as a black woman, as a mother, as a wife, it is deeply, deeply troubling and concerning.

And so I am so glad and I am appreciative that all of you that came this evening.

And I charge you to continue to hold each and every one of us accountable, myself included, to hold us accountable.

So there are a number of questions that I have.

I do want to raise this point as well before I go into my questions.

Thank you to my colleagues.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for agreeing to make sure that we move forward with an audit, a full investigation as to what the next steps will be.

That will in fact preside in the hands of this commission, of this legislative body.

And that is, in fact, according to the ordinance in Section 46.

So I hold true to that, and I am so glad and appreciative that we are all on the same page on that regards.

There are a number of questions that I have.

And I know this is dear to you, because this is something that you're very passionate about, Commissioner Joseph.

And I thank you for your leadership on that, and thank you for your commitment.

And I know this is a very devastating incident to many of us in this room.

But I'm asking my colleagues, we got to do the right thing.

The one that fail, that's not enough.

There are more that are accountable for this negligence.

There are more that are accountable for these acts.

And we got to do the next best thing.

We have to do the next best thing.

We have to make sure that we are preparing the lack of trust in this community.

And I know we have had some conversations, and thank you, Ms.

Dixteen, for your commitment for the various different reviews that will take place.

My question to you is who in particular are they working with ABLE?

We have an able attorney here this evening.

I hope that there will be an exchange where we can tap into the leadership and the advocacy and the work of Ms.

Katie Kirsch.

I will also encourage us to make sure that we're having the conversations with those who have been a part of the police reform, who those who have been a part of the surveillance technology coalition, those who have been a part of all of the various different works and advocacy that has taken place in this community.

I hope that we tap into them, and it will be the direction of this body to make sure that we do so.

I also want to make note, again, in conversation, the well-attended town hall that took place this past Saturday.

There were over 50 plus residents.

And in conversations that I have had with Ms.

Dixine as a city manager, we are going to find ways and means to utilize the 30th of May Town Hall to have a public safety conversation.

There is some much needed work we have to do in this community, and we cannot do it alone.

So I invite you all to stay tuned to make sure that you are engaged in that process.

We have to make sure, and again, I don't know what this looks like, but we got to make sure that there is mutual respect in this community, mutual respect.

And so I am calling on all of you to be a part of that process and to hold us accountable.

I am also asking that the number of demands that have been communicated this evening, that they are in fact recorded and they are deployed and executed in this fullest extent.

I am also asking, again, as mentioned, that there is an in fact a full independent audit, that all of the logs starting from the pilot of the program dating back to 2020, I believe, a direct explanation, and again, I posed this question during the time.

Why are we just now finding out?

This was discovered in October, November.

We received information in the end of April.

Where's the gap?

And to say that someone didn't know, if you didn't know, if you didn't know, it's a problem, Michael, the way it goes.

It is a problem.

And so I'm asking that, again, we put the number of provisions in place, and I too agree with the public.

The cameras need to be removed.

We need to remove those cameras.

We have to remove those cameras.

There is much work that needs to be done.

I'm committed to that work.

Again, you already heard that Commissioner Fairchild, he is not here due to another obligation from his uh full-time employer.

But he has committed to holding a town hall specifically to this issue, the ALPRs.

So more information that will come from him on that regard.

But again, note that the five of us will be working collectively together to make sure that you all and that we we all have answers as to where there was in fact a disconnect and where those gaps lie in this process.

So continue to hold us accountable.

We got much work we need to do, and we're gonna hold the city manager and all of the staff accountable as well.

So thank you all for being here this evening.

The last thing that I want to mention as well is that in regards to the recreation services.

There are a number of programs.

Our youth and recreation services department, they do a phenomenal job.

We currently only have, to your point, Mr.

Gage, we only have three recreation centers in the city of Dayton.

And that is due to, which is a very unfortunate.

Make no qualms about it.

I agree with you.

I wholeheartedly agree with you.

But you also got to understand the population that we have.

You also have to understand the dollars in which that provides us the means to have those services in operation, the overhead costs, the staffing, all of those various different things.

And that is near not an excuse.

I'm not saying that to give an excuse.

What I'm saying is we have to do better to make sure that we are one, we're providing the level of information to the public because of the great work that is being done with the recreation and youth services.

There are a number of free events and activities, sports events, whatever have you, that are readily available to the members in our community, and so we have to do a better part in making sure that people know about it.

The other point that I want to make to that is there are many partners that we have in this community.

Commissioner Shaw works very intimately.

He sits on the board with the Boys and Girls Club, Boys and Girls Club.

They're doing phenomenal work.

There is great work that is being done by the Hub Hope Zone.

We want to continue on that path.

Big Brothers, Big Sisters is another organization that does great work, and these are all various different organizations, mechanisms that are in place to make sure, in fact, that our kids do have something to do.

So again, there's more work that needs to be done, and we need to do a better part in educating the community about those various different services that are in fact provided.

Last point, and I said this and I apologize.

But Ms.

Humphreys, thank you for being here.

Note that your concern does not fall on deaf ears because all of this is encompassing.

When you talk about trust, when you talk about upholding zoning, when you talk about housing standards, all of this is all encompassing.

So we have to do a better job in making sure that one, we are enforcing our ordinances, two, that we have housing inspectors that are actively working on the ground to address those various different issues that you have mentioned this evening.

So, Ms.

Dixon, I will ask that if you could, which I know we've already been in conversation about this before, but if we can have a follow-up as to where we are for those particular concerns and the the Fairview neighborhood, um and I know that they have been brought to your attention.

Thank you all very much.

Again, transparency and accountability is not optional.

You have our full commitment, and we are more than willing to work with each and every one of you that are here and those that are actually viewing online.

Please, if you have those four or five recommendations that you have eloquently communicated so succinctly and clearly, please make sure that you share them with us.

Many of us will be here after the meeting.

We look forward to having those conversations, not only this evening, but continuing those conversations.

So provide that information to us.

I know we received a number of concerns via email this evening as well as phone calls, but again, we want to make sure that we're doing the work to continue on this path to repair the damage that has been done in this community and and to restore trust in our community.

So, with no further business that come before this commission, this meeting is now in adjourned.

Thank you.