We'll start with going down to see if any counselors have a question on any ordinance for final passage.

We have one, two, three, four, five.

Five for final passage tonight.

I was just wondering if anybody had any questions on those.

Rules of council, the only thing we changed was being out here.

Um for for this one uh that we have right here.

Yes, the one that we're doing the final passage on is starting the caucus at 5 30.

That's what I thought.

Okay.

So this one is then accessibility, the ADA compliance.

Yes, codifying ADA compliance.

Yes.

112 points and six.

So the one that we're is before us tonight is then the ADA compliance codifying what we already have.

Uh what we've been doing in practice, but making sure that we are we're following ADA compliance.

And then under under the new first or the first reading one, it is removing the report.

Um there was a uh uh a clause at the end, but we can we can go over that one in the next spot if you don't mind.

Any other questions on the ordinances for final passage tonight?

Just for the accessibility, that's if we're not meeting virtually out to the community, but that location is accessible.

Yeah.

We had to turn your mic on because I want to know you're gonna speaking of accessibility now.

Yeah, no.

So the important thing though, too, is that we're ADA accessible at other locations if council goes to other parts of the community.

That's all we're saying we're gonna comply with that there as well.

Thank you.

Any other questions on anything for final passage?

Okay.

Any questions on ordinances for the first reading?

So we have um two for first reading.

The first one being the rules of of counsel, and this is the at the very end of 112, specifically 112.16, there is a chapter or a clause that says we are to be getting reports uh on seminars and conferences that the administration goes to.

Um so it doesn't relate to council.

It's been giving us this reports that we're not collecting.

Um and I think putting us in a position where we would then be accountable to what the administration is deciding and then having to monitor.

We've not done that, I don't think, at least for the past two years that I've been on council, so I thought that put us in a in a position that wasn't great to be monitoring something that we've not been monitoring.

So I think that how the administration decides to send their staff to conferences and seminars is really up for the administration to decide, and that should be laid out in the budget versus us having reports and having staff having to submit reports to us.

That's what that one is on.

Any questions on that one?

Number two, who wrote the resolution?

Um that one was uh it's the first is by me, and the second is by counselor Shaw.

Sure.

I might the question I have, and I can't vote for it unless it's cleared up, is it's we're saying that we're welcoming all immigrants.

We're not working them all.

We're welcoming all legal ones.

There's you know there are immigrants out there that have paperwork problems or whatever.

I'll go to the walls room.

I've taken people buffalo to get their papers completed and done.

But I don't like the idea of saying we welcome all immigrants.

Because the ones that are the bad guys, they know where race is going, and they know we're gonna be.

So th in this ordinance, what it outlines is what was just passed in Allentown and also passed in Lancaster, and is what is required of the welcoming city, and if we don't have this, then we lose that application.

It's not saying that anybody's committing a crime, that they can't, that the our police can't be involved.

If they are committing a crime, it's not getting we put legal in that resolution.

I think that that's where we that's listed.

We yeah, we can I think that that's presumed in the language.

Yeah, I think legal.

Well, first off, I think we're gonna clarify it.

So the welcoming city is a program by the nonprofit welcoming America, which is based out of Edlena, and they do um a one to five star rating, depending of your city or borough or county, of letting whether um immigrants legal or here as a refugee status, you know, that that city has the ability to provide some sort of not protection per se, but like you know that they're not out to get you.

So that's the ordinances to help comply with our status as a welcoming city under the welcoming America program.

Now we can change it so that they're legal immigrants, but I would also put it in there probably and or refugees, because refugees are a separate type of legal immigrant, they're a separate program.

They're not like getting a green card or whatever uh the regular immigration process is.

Does that make sense?

So I probably would do rot over.

They didn't sneak them, right?

I know what you're saying.

Well, no, well, refugees I think could quote unquote of using your language, could sneak over, but then they have then they go to the immigration court and they're like, hey, we snuck over because something in my own my home country could lead to my death.

So there's so they could be actually illegal for a short period of time.

They're then designated by the court system or the legal system as a reference.

Well, I know, but you're starting but here's the thing, you're we're getting into the rabbit hole here, and it's not as clear as legal or illegal, because if I'm a refugee, I was technically illegal for a short period of time before being granted refugee status, which now means I'm legal.

So I have to be careful with how you phrase league legal immigrant.

That's all I'm saying.

So in no, but in the ordinance, it outlines that this still has to comply with federal law.

So it's not exempting anybody from complying with federal law.

And it's it you and it's not overstepping saying that our police can't enforce if a law is broken.

Because that that part is illegal.

We cannot, as counsel overstep and and and and reach into there.

So that's why in there it defines that the police still have the right to uphold and should uphold the law, right?

Well, they will.

I'm not worried about that.

No, but the police do carry out different investigations, so it's not hampering their regular investigation.

If they come across someone who's either legal or illegal, they can still do an investigation.

That part of their local powers is not being hampered at all.

No, I'm just that was my that was my primary concern, is that our police are able to do what they need to do to protect the community.

And this is does not hamper that.

Anytime we're in gray area, I get nervous because the wrong people can look at that and see it from bad side.

Uh-huh.

I don't want that, you know, what kind of effect we're gonna have on our finances.

I understand county council turned down the million and a half from the feds to use the prison on Ash Street.

Somebody's gonna have to make up that million and a half.

Well to I guess there's a couple pins in it.

For if we look at this from the fiscally standpoint, from a fiscal standpoint, if we if we don't have this ordinance on the books, we will lose the welcoming city status.

We're already at a one-star, which means that we will not be part of the program that is helping immigrants and refugees move here, which means our population is going to continue to decline, and we're gonna lose a ton of CBDG and HUD money if we head down that route.

So if we're looking at it from a fiscal route, this is also the fiscally responsible thing to do because we're protecting the program.

That's the only thing that's building up our population right now.

So what kind of money are we talking?

What kind of money are we getting from the hundreds of thousands of dollars every year?

And where's it going?

To the CBDG funds that are going into the programs that we're funding right now.

That's all based on population.

So if our population continues to decline, we hurt every after-school program in the area.

That's why economic development is so important.

Yeah, and that's the human immigrants is not going to widen our our base.

It's it's quite literally the only thing that is right now.

It's going to give us numbers.

No, I you tasted my fifth in the state bakery there.

Yeah.

Those folks are I would say they're immigrants, and you know, they're Americans like us.

They're immigrants.

But they were immigrants, like one time.

Right?

And so I I think we're we're arguing this at one time.

Family-wise.

Yes, Councilor Horton.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Not sure.

This is all new.

But I just want to be fair.

Uh County Council did not turn down a million dollars what they did with the law.

Yeah, they didn't want to be coming into that prison and uh judicial war.

And and uh as opposed to an administrative war.

Uh they still maintain their federal contract.

Uh not with ICE, but the existing federal contract.

And I just felt that that distinction needed to be made.

Thank you.

Any other questions or discussion around the welcoming city ordinance?

Okay.

It's pretty cut and dry.

It's in its and it is what it what is necessary for us to keep that.

We're we're on the cusp of losing that designation right now, which I think would really harm us as a city.

All right.

Looking at old business, any questions on any items in old business?

The all of one.

This was the public hearing we had last time on the Erie Cemetery and designating designating that as a historic site.

Whether any questions or comments that anybody want us to bring up or things we still needed to get answered.

There's a lot of history where there's a lot of chests.

Yeah.

And it's well kept and maintenance and a lot of community use it.

Like I get to see it daily, so people use that cemetery, walking, uh jogging, taking their kids on bike rides.

I think it's interesting to take your kids to a cemetery, but it's safe.

No one's driving fast in the area, so it kind of makes sense.

Any questions on new business?

Um under contracts, we did have something come up, and then I had to send everybody out a text um earlier um and sent an email following up about this.

We we have an ordinance on the books right now that says that things are due for the agenda um the Thursday at noon, so the the Thursday prior to our our meeting.

Um and we had an item come through uh that we do need to to talk about and and it could technically wait until the next meeting, but it's really gonna put quite a hinder and uh um a big responsibility on on on the person who would get this contract to try to learn a lot in three days.

So if we're able to do waive the rules tonight um and get this resolution uh passed for them, then the zoning board hearing is a or the zoning board, yeah, right?

Zoning board zoning hearing board is able to offer the contract to a solicitor because they by municipal code have to have a separate solicitor.

Um and they will be able to get ready for the public hearing that is coming up on that.

Did you want to talk a little bit just about the process?

Um Yeah, just this was accidental.

I think it was submitted to you to your city clerks on Friday.

Um but the zoning hearing board has not had a solicitor since December.

Their old solicitor had resigned.

Um they had done everything with the RFP, um interviews and everything else to get situated there.

So everything was ready to go, it just wasn't turned in on Thursday.

Um I asked Tyler specifically if it could be added because yes, it could wait until your next um meeting.

But there's some pending litigation, there's some deadlines that the zoning hearing board has to abide by through the zoning code when they make their decisions.

They didn't have a January meeting, but they did have a February meeting.

So the item on there needs to be done like within 45 days.

The solicitor usually drafts those decisions.

Um so and I know as an attorney it would be helpful to me have more than you know three, four or five days to come in and kind of get all caught up to speed.

This additional two weeks will help her out.

The solicitors um qualified.

She does municipal and zoning law as part of her practice.

And it's um at a like what I would call a reasonable hourly rate.

So I don't think there's anything.

Okay.

Yeah, so that was just so this is I try not to like you know jump to jump the rules because as a lawyer, I'm like, you should abide by the rules.

Um but this is the one time I was asking to kind of get it going because it won't really help them out.

And the main thing too is the zoning hearing board is supposed to have an independent quality to it.

Um it's not run by the city, but we help uh obviously pay the bill.

So you guys approving the appointment and the contract will help them get moving again.

Okay.

So thanks.

And and for clarity, that there this is no addition to the budget.

This was already budgeted, this was we're already planned for, it's now just putting the person in in the position.

Yeah, we all that's already the zoning hearing board budget's already incorporated in.

So I don't know all the the dollar amounts or the specifics, but it's something that the city pays the s pays their solicitor bills, and this has been the ongoing thing for as far as I've been here.

So any questions about about that?

So what what that would look like tonight is um right after we do the the approval of the minutes, I'll call for a motion to waive the rules.

We'll have to vote on that, and then if that passes, I'll we'll call for um a motion to then add this resolution.

And then it kind of just goes puts us right back into the regular flow.

So if I do it then, it gets tucked in with the rest of the contracts, so then we're back to standard operating procedure for the rest of the evening.

All right.

Yes.

Um you said we were like a one star or something like that.

Is there I'm just trying to think, is there like two star, three star?

Is that what five stars?

Five stars.

And do you have to like meet certain requirements to get to those or do certain things?

Yeah.

Are we trying to do those things?

Uh I mean if we're gonna do it.

And that was also part of the ordinance is it lays out the expectation that uh we as council will then will have.

Not that they have to, but that they shall always attempt to be getting at least a three-star.

So it puts us at I'm not saying you we have to do the five, but putting us above a one, I think would be excellent.

Um and then it also says that we need to do a little bit more investment around some of the training and things that we're offering in the services.

Go ahead.

Yeah, go ahead.

Yeah, so um we the prior administration did recertify in November, which is where we were with that one star.

We won't actually be practically eligible to increase our rating until next year, but we are getting everything in place to be able to be rated at a higher degree.

We're we're out of compliance with two of the seven categories, and it's it they're not that complicated in general to get in compliance.

It's the bigger issue is um one of the one of the two, the simple one is the library.

So we're working with the library to make sure that we have the kind of materials and access that we need to have there.

The other is our policing policy.

So if we um there was something that they had seen related to our use of translation services through border patrol that is a red flag.

And so what we need to have is a clear consistent policy with that our police do not cooperate with immigration enforcement.

So they have some specific standards around what that has to say, and we've been actively working as we've discussed and and we've all I think had conversations with the mayor about about getting those policies in place, um, both for our police and across the board in terms of how we navigate that.

Could you send us a copy of those seven steps that all yeah, absolutely?

We will um I'll I'll get with Wuchi, our new American affairs coordinator, who's been doing an amazing job with welcoming America, and we'll send you everything we have on it.

Yeah, also the welcoming America um on their website is the welcoming city criteria.

So if so maybe send them like the exact link.

Um but it really spells it out, and it's like I said, it's like a like she's described, there's like seven or ten subsections, and there's an A and a B in each of those subsections.

So it's it's quite something to really achieve.

Thank you.

Um of the other things that let me make sure.

Do we have any updates uh around the zoo and and where that stands?

Your delay is on.

No, I've they've been radio silent.

Completely re radio silent.

I have a meeting tomorrow.

Okay, I think that we're on track to complete the transfer in March by latest information.

Okay.

So wonderful.

Oh no, sorry.

Good.

Um Kathy, you had mentioned that you wanted to talk a little bit about the I was looking over here, but you're you're actually right here.

Right.

Um yes, I was wondering if we were going to be having a hearing with the Bayfront Marketplace, but I talked to Jackie and Cooper uh before the moon meeting, and uh they uh said that you know there will be a hearing.

And so then uh next month's um study sessions of the second Thursday will be on Saldo and the information relating to the zoning, because that's come before us a lot and we're seeing a lot more.

I think because of the cruise is now fully up and running, we're gonna see a lot more applications and stuff coming through.

So just making sure that we're fully aware of the process and if there's things that need to be updated, which I think there is, um, especially around equity just with the waterfront conditional use, that that would be the spot where we as council could be working with um just zoning and and understanding and updating where we need to around that component of it.

Another element or something that I wanted I would like for us to try tonight.

Um we've done this before in the past, is I've received a couple calls and emails around uh vo voice voting, so saying yes or no versus not saying anything and unless we're saying no.

Um that some committee community members are very can we're confused by it, but then also uh just the accessibility.

So somebody it's just easier for people if they can hear us say yes or if they can hear us say no.

Um it's not in our rules of counsel dictating either way, and so I'm gonna ask tonight that when we do the the voice vote that we all say yes or no on on our vote.

And we don't need to codify that in any way unless we decide we want to, but it really is.

I would just like to try and see how if if it's helpful to the public, if it's not helpful.

Um the other discussion that we had started uh that I think is is really relevant right now, especially what I've been with what I've been seeing online is around the social media comments.

Um I think it would be helpful to the administration if if they knew where council stood on this.

Uh I know we started this discussion a little bit in the last caucus and then also when we had our retreat with the administration.

Um but I wanted to open this up to to council members for us to to talk this through so that we can help the administration here provide some guidance, I guess, like on where we as council stand.

That's what I thought.

Yeah.

Sure, Andre has something to say to anything.

What do you think, Andrew?

I think that uh thank you.

Thank you, uh Councilman Zisky.

I think that it's uh a victory for transparency.

I think that in opportunity we get to uh affirm that that's what we're about and uh and that we're open on this very transparent government.

I think it's a win-for-all.

Um so my concerns around the social media comments um personally are that uh if we start to break this down as uh around even just fiduciary responsibility that we're literally paying.

You guys shift it on the quick really quickly from the yes to the no vote to the social media.

And I don't have anything to add to what I've already had that I've already espoused, and that's the eerie uh our our electronic or our web page to be an ambassador for the city, and it should uh it should uh uphold all of the values and things uh that we say that we're about to I can't see voting uh to affirm or welcome the city or this without uh addressing the comments on there should be the best of everything we have from ear, and uh because as it is now, anyone in the world can see our page.

Uh in this environment or in any environment, it's just really nasty if it was just stuff directed at us, okay.

So that's that's not what that is on there.

It's just it's uh it's just straight hatred from racism in a lot of cases, and well in most cases.

Uh and we in uh in any citizen that feels that way.

They don't have to have keyboard, they can step right up to the podium and uh uh take their mask off.

Yeah, and so we're asking ice thrown mask, and we don't want that in our city.

Uh then we shouldn't be allowed for people to espouse those things in in anonymity, and it really does nothing for our city.

Thank you.

Yeah, I've I've been in favor of turning the comments off, and if people have anything specific they need to get to council, they know how to reach us through either text or phone call or email, just because some of those comments are a little um over the top, and as an outsider looking in, who would want to come here if they're reading any of that stuff?

So you know we're supposed to be nice and friendly and welcoming and eerie's vibe is completely different in person than it is online.

Yeah.

For me, um I have I mean, I I genuinely have a difficult time knowing that we raise taxes and we raised fees, uh, and that we're using taxpayer dollars to pay to manage a platform in which we're upholding inflammatory and oftentimes hate speech.

Um I think that if people want to say that, they absolutely can say it on their own page.

They can share and like and and comment all day long and they can tag whoever they want to all day long.

But I would really I would like to see us as good stewards of not just uh the community's image but also the taxpayers' dollars to to not be the one hosting those comments.

Um I think it's a I do think it is a very bad look for us.

Um and as somebody who in my in my day job where I get paid works to uh as a therapist, I will tell you that these comments have very, very serious impacts um on people.

Um very serious impacts.

And if people well again, I we're not cutting off anybody's ability to say or share whatever they want to on their own on their own pages, but I don't think we need to be the ones hosting it.

I think it's I think it's a bad look for uh for governing.

Can we block that to what's that?

Can we block it?

We can just turn the comments off.

Yeah.

And so we can post all the information, but we're more of a conduit and we're sharing the information.

When we're waiving a rules today, could we add that?

Can we shut it off?

I don't think we need it, but we could we could write a resolution that says we would like the administration to do it, or I think the administration just needs a nod from us to know that we're on board with it.

Yeah, most of these people they really believe it's like the Bible when you see that stuff.

And it's if it was if it was a way for us to connect with constituents in a productive way, but so often it is people who've made fake profiles who are who are not even from Erie or who are not bringing up things about Erie, and they're they're tainting and harming, I think our city when they do that.

So that's where I stand.

Oh, go ahead.

Sorry, Council.

Thank you, Dr.

Cigas.

Uh I don't think it has to be codified.

I just think it's just has to just be a procedural change by the administration or the page administrator.

And certainly they can share our page over here what's on there, and it appear on your page and they're free to come.

Uh uh app approach of what Jasmine said.

Uh we we're doing all these really fantastic things in the city, and we know our city to be a far more loving place uh than that page depicts and what and so people who might want to move into our community, whether a business were to raise a family or recreating tourist type things.

Why would they want to come here after looking at that?

And I think it is just the right thing to do.

So that's for counselors.

I um agree with what you're talking about.

Personally, I have been limiting my activity on social media and just trying to uh be uh out there.

If people want me, they know to email me or text or call, and I'd rather do it that way.

There's a whole research going on with how um mentally fragile um people are, and there's so much negativity and um people there's if people who have committed suicide because of being bullied and on social media and that and for my own personal mental health, I have had to you know just be away from it, not as much.

So I agree with what you're saying.

I don't know if you two want to to weigh in at all or if you wanted to abstain from that does put that five who who have a firm, but I don't I don't want to overshadow any voices.

Yeah, I I think as much as you're willing to share where you are, I I do I think you're right that we could just change this policy as an administration, but it's really important to the mayor that there be a united front here, as with everything.

I think the way we've been working together so far, it's been very collaborative, very open, and making sure that we're aligned in how we're serving the community, and I think this is a this is a pretty big decision, and just want to make sure that as much as possible we're going into it with a united front.

Well, then that leaves the option that you're asking for something, a letter of a resolution affirming that I don't think that's an appropriate.

I don't really feel it has to be codified.

So it's not a thing that whether you get an united front or not.

Uh we're elected to make the decision.

Yeah, and if we have to vote with it.

And so, you know, at some point you know, yeah, you have to make that decision.

In whole or in part.

Bottom line, with these clowns that are doing this, they could just as easily get every one of ours individually.

Yeah, and send it to us.

At least it wouldn't be the city very getting.

Hosting it, right?

There's it's we're not gonna stop the behavior, but the city's not hosting it.

Yeah, right.

And that's my biggest my biggest concern is that we're hosting it right now.

And we if going into a territory where you start to hide or you know, unshare some of the comments, that does put us in legal treading water because that and then we're paying for a staff to monitor Facebook comments, which just seems silly to me.

Yeah, I agree with that.

Um I don't think it should be one or the other.

You should have somebody there saying, well, I don't like this one or I like this one.

Um, but if legal has to go with the administration, I don't see um you know our comments mean a lot, but um if the administration feels better, it's there, they're the ones that are posting all this.

Uh uh, you know, whatever your post.

Um and I don't see a problem with the administration turning that off.

The way I was looking at there's a couple of different types of forums.

If you're a true public forum, which is sort of like city council meeting, anyone can come up during public comment and say what they want to say for the allotted amount of time.

Um but when you're on the internet or social media, if we turn off the comments, it really is a it's a limited public forum, it's for information only.

And I was trying to think back that like when I was in maybe high school or college, we used to watch C SPAN sometimes and or the cable news city, and it's kind of the same thing, like the shows were city related or government related.

You could watch them when you wanted to, and they repeated, but you couldn't comment on what you sold on the TV.

And we're kind of that's kind of the analogy that I kind of was making up.

So we're still gonna be able to show you the planning commission, zoning hearing boards, city council meetings, just you can't comment on them.

So it's a limited public forum versus a traditional public forum.

And we've had those limited public forums, like I said, on cable news or now, but now it's just on streaming.

It's kind of like that.

That's how I have analogized it.

That's why we hired you.

Thank you.

I appreciate it.

Is that helpful?

Would it helpful?

Yeah.

I'm not pressing you, I just want to make if you want to speak.

I mean I guess I really wouldn't be in favor of turning comments off.

It's just not the way I think, you know.

I mean, what would have made us want to keep them on if they would have just I mean what kind of comments, nice comments.

I I don't know.

That's what it makes it seem like we only wanted to hear like certain types of comments.

Um I like discussion, I like hearing people's opinions, and it might not always agree with mine or you know, um, but I do understand how my other council members feel about um us housing, um maybe when people start fighting and all the stuff on our like that, but I mean I'm not I'm not I don't I can't say that I love turning comments off.

I can't I'm not gonna say I I I'm in you know but I believe um if it's best for our city then if we feel like that's best and I can live with it.

Good point.

Thank you for that, and thank you all.

And I do I also just want to voice I I I think we don't love turning the comments off either.

And I I think it's really important that that be said.

I think it's tragic that we're in a situation where our own community members feel that it's appropriate to post the sort of things that they're posting, which are frankly usually quite hateful toward each other.

I think if it were nasty comments towards any of us as public servants, we could take it.

But um it's it's the stirring up of hatred and and pain and wounds uh within the community that does does not serve anyone.

So I'm I think we're all pretty disappointed to even be in the position to be having this conversation.

But I appreciate you all weighing in and giving just sort of yeah, your your sense of where we are on the issue.

I will give this back to the mayor and we'll make the decision from there.

But um, it does sound like we're aligned in terms of how those comments are not serving the community at this point and what we need to do about it.

So thank you.

Are there any other items that anybody would like to to bring up um at this point in caucus?

Then it's anything that people have just want to address.

We do have um a presentation this evening from um I'm actually just gonna pass the mic over to you, Councillor Troop, and you can share just where the students are from and and how we got to this point.

Uh so we have a presentation today um by some members of um staff members at Erie High School, and I think the Red Cross and some of our students are here today.

Um one of the teacher teachers that was um telling me about the event and ways that they can get it to the community.

And I thought, oh that'd be something nice for to bring down the city council, and um I presented the idea to you and thank you for um you know allowing it to be a part of the uh present uh the agenda tonight.

I think this is a great opportunity um to to learn more about this, but then to also get the information out to the public and then to engage um our young people in a really productive in a really productive way.

So thank you.

Thank you for helping create that.

Well, if there's nothing else that we need to go over that does give us um still about 20 minutes, so we can kind of reset the stage.

We'll pause pause the live feed, reset the fit up here, and then get ready for our meeting to go live at 6 30.

Thank you.

Roll call for the city council meeting of February 18th, 2026 at 6 30 p.m.

Councilmember Brzezinski.

Yes.

Flores?

Yes.

Horton via Zoom.

It'll be better.

Councilmember Horton, are you there?

Yes.

Councilmember Poll?

Here.

Shaw?

Present.

Troop?

Yes.

And Titus.

Here.

At this point, we will stand for a moment of silence in the Pledge of Allegiance.

I'd just like to acknowledge the Reverend Jesse Jackson who passed and also hold a moment of silence for our clerk, uh Lori Watson, whose mother passed away.

One more, Mr.

President.

Yes.

Don Wright.

He was the leader mostly in school district, but throughout the city.

We lost him way too young.

I'd be able to space some there and to the republic for register.

One motion under God.

At this point, um I'm gonna ask that we as council waive uh we're gonna do I'm gonna call for a motion to waive the rules so that we can get the resolution that we discussed in caucus added to our agenda this evening for the zoning board or the zoning hearing board um solicitor.

Uh so I I'd like to uh call for a motion.

I'll motion second.

Thank you.

We go ahead and call for first.

Is there any is there any discussion now that it's open?

And if not, we can go ahead and call for the vote.

Voting on the wave of rules motion by councilmember Flores, seconded by Councilmember Schoff.

Councilmember Brzezinski?

Yes.

Flores?

Yes.

Horton.

Poll?

Yes.

Shoff?

Yes.

Troop?

Yes.

Titus?

Yes.

Motion passes zero seven to zero.

Councilmember Horton, I think you're muted, but I did see you say yes.

Yes.

Thank you.

Affirm.

So we believe it at this point.

Uh this brings us to our uh presentation.

And sorry, you're right.

Bills and minutes, and then we'll go to the presentation.

Approval of the minutes from the February 4th 2026 meeting and copies of bills for dates of February 20th and 27th, 2026.

Councilmember Brzezinski?

Yes.

Flores?

Yes.

Horton.

Yes.

Pole?

Yes.

Shaw?

Yes.

Troop?

Yes.

Titus?

Yes.

7-0.

Okay.

Now my ambitious movement to get us to the presentation.

I would like to ask Councillor Troop if you wouldn't mind to go ahead and do the introduction of this presentation.

Thank you.

Dr.

Titus.

I'd like to invite Erie High, Mr.

Teachers, Mr.

Fink and Ms.

Lofton up to the podium, I believe.

They were the ones who came to me with this.

Miss Lofton was introducing this.

I work at Erie High, and she was in talking to me about this program, and they had wanted to get it out to the public.

A great program they were putting together.

And I I let them know that you know we do have presentation portion to our meetings.

And we just they put it together and looking forward to their presentation today.

Well, go ahead.

Is that you know it's a student-led crop, a student-led club.

So everything they all the ideas that come out of the club is their ideas.

Um they're gonna show you some of the things that we've done since the beginning of the club this year, um, and then what their ambitious project for February is.

Um and it's kind of like the highlight of their presentation.

So if it's all right with you, I'd rather let them talk.

So all right, great.

Thank you.

Do we have somebody helping switch the I don't think the the the clicker is down there for the the PowerPoint presentation?

Hello, I'm Michaela Pachaco.

Um I'm with the Erie High American Red Cross Club.

Um we put together a presentation on things that we have done, not only in the club, but things that we also have coming up.

I'm gonna be handing it over to Danaya.

Hello, my name is Danaya Amazon, and I'm gonna be talking about some of the things that we have done so far in the Red Cross Club.

So the first thing that we ever did was help clean up and set up the ABC Learning Center for their second location's grand opening.

During the month of November, we also walked in the Veterans Day Parade.

And for the holidays, we made Christmas cards for veterans.

Another thing we did during the holidays was Reads Across America where we put re-s on tombstones for veterans that have passed away.

For the refugee center, we hosted a closed drive, and for the Mercy Center for Women, we did a gift drive.

Our club also taught collegiate academy students how to do CPR, and we volunteered and walked into MOK Day Parade.

For Valentine's Day, we made Christmas, not because for Valentine's Day, we made cars for cancer patients and veterans.

So our blood drive will be hosted March 9th, 12 to 6 p.m.

at the Booker T Washington Center.

We will be offering free sickle cell screenings prior to donating, as well as for the month of March, we will be giving out free A1C testing.

Um at our Blood Drive, donors will receive a free t-shirt while the supplies last, as well as a $20 Amazon gift certificate and $15 Amazon gift certificate via email.

Food will also be available at the Blood Drive.

Hello, my name is Mazarati Johnson.

I'm with the Red Cross Club, and I just want to give you like a brief summarization of the history of sickle cells.

So sickle cell is a genetic red blood disorder, and it takes the shape of a sickle.

Um it acts as a natural barrier to malaria, so that's why it's commonly found in people of African or India or ethnic discent descent.

Um it was first marked in medical literature in 19 1910 by James B.

Herrick, and it helped pave the way for where we are at now with treating sickle cell.

Um I see all the city council members in front of me, and I know you guys are all encouraged to help the community in a great way to help the community would be either donating blood or maybe just contacting a friend and telling them to donate blood.

And I'll be passing it on.

Hi, my name is Kamaya, and today I'm gonna be just raising awareness for the sickle cell.

Um people with sickle cell um require blood from African American donors because they need specific antigenic match to prevent transfusion reactions.

Did you know that over 50% of black blood donors have Pacific red blood antigenic profile that is a perfect match for sickle cell patients?

Sickle cell causes blood flow to become stiff, sickle-shaped blood flow, blocking blood flow causing severe pain, anemia, and potential organ damage.

And everyone can attend.

Um to to share that the the work that you've done um and to help get the information about uh the blood drive here tonight at council.

It's really important, and I'm very grateful that we we we as council were able to receive that information and also help put it out there.

So thank you very much.

Thank you.

All right.

Any other comments from any counselors before we move on?

Um if you guys could send us an email of the flyer, we'll share.

Okay.

That would be there's on the battery one or we'll grab them.

We'll make sure we'll grab one or have somebody make sure the council gets one.

Dr.

Titus, um, I just like to say um they did a great job.

It was great to see all the great things you're doing in the community.

Um if you watch our meetings sometimes, I'm always saying good things about your students, despite what the community may think sometimes.

Ninety-five percent of our students are really good students.

And they make my job really easy, so I'm proud of you guys.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right.

Um, so then this will move us into the the next portion of the agenda.

Uh is there anybody here for a repository sale?

Is there anybody here for a repository sale?

All right, is there anybody here for a repository sale?

All right.

Seeing none, we will then go ahead and move into the public comment section.

Uh when you come up to the podium, we ask that you speak clearly, give us your name, and just your municipality so that we so that we have that for the record, uh, and that you will have five minutes to speak.

Hi, Emerson Bannon, Coutree, City of Erie, Academy neighborhood.

I just wanted to come up today to um speak in support of the welcoming cities ordinance.

I think this is something that's really important.

Erie was built on immigrants in its history and will be continue to be built by immigrants in its future.

I think this is something we're gonna definitely need if we want to grow our city, grow our economy, and just be a welcoming place for all.

Um this is it's gonna be important to show that the city is willing to make changes and be uh nimble as we navigate with a shifting federal landscape.

Uh so I would encourage every member of council to pass this resolution.

I hope the administration implements it as well as in the future potentially consider opportunities to network with other welcoming cities and pool resources, because I think often a lot of times cities can feel isolated with a lot of these large challenges that have fallen upon them, but a lot are going through the same thing and looking at the same problems that might be able to come together for a solution.

Audit democracy was born out of the original confederations of Greek city-states, and I think that's something we can look together as ways for American cities to move American democracy forward.

Please um support this, Justice Fricello, uh, and uh hope we can be a welcoming city for all.

Thank you.

Thank you.

My name's Fred Achepfer.

I live in the city of Erie.

So now that the snow has been melting, it's a good chance to see where the really big ice snowberms are.

Because they're still there.

Um and I live right near Braybender Park, where for some reason a deal was made between the city to allow the businesses across the street to the north to use Bray Bender Park for free parking for their vehicles.

But they leave big berms across what isn't sidewalk.

Maybe in trade for this free parking, they should build a sidewalk.

And they should ensure that there's you can't there's no walking on outside of the gutter on either side of West 21st Street there, because there isn't sidewalk on either side, and there's big snow berms.

Even Pendelec has a big snowberm across what should be sidewalk.

So I would love to see the city revisit that gentleman's agreement that lets the businesses there across from Ray Bender Park, park free, and then not even clear the snow.

But if you're out there driving and there's still a big snow berm, you ought to report it.

Because that was a really big snowburn two weeks ago.

Okay.

And I am glad that Mr.

Seelinger is gonna cool his jets in jail for a while.

I think it's a good thing that we have a community that spoke up and a court system that seems to be listening.

So as to the welcoming city, I I understand we're only a one level welcoming city.

Wow.

Um there's some really interesting things in there, like this one, GL 3.2.

The local government provides regular training to its staff about language access requirements, available resources to provide meaningful language access.

You get the drift.

When I was at the caucus for the county council, the person from the prison talked about how easy it is to access translation services these days online or whatever.

So if it's true that sometimes the police were calling CBP when translation was needed, I sure hope that's not happening anymore.

And I've read the ordinance, and I think it's pretty good, but like I said, I didn't see anything specifically about the language.

Um I hope that's covered, and I um I mean I just don't think people should be afraid.

You know, I I regularly I interact with a lot of Minneapolis people every every morning, and the amount of trauma going on there is incredible, and we need to ensure that we are really setting an example here in Erie of how to stand up for our population and not do anything that would make them more vulnerable.

Um so I'm I'm glad to see this ordinance, and I don't think there's anything in the ordinance that would make it hard for families to help their families if they were um if they were um put in prison, but um I think it's a good idea to have this ordinance.

Thank you.

Hi, my name is Tina Hyotis.

I live on the east side of Erie, and first of all, I just want to address City Council since July 2nd of 2025.

The city's been carrying the weight of the murderer Marcello Woodard at the hands of a probation officer that was assigned by the Commonwealth, a PA that was supposed to protect him and help reintegrate him into society and not to cause harm.

As we all know with everything that's gone on, that is not what happened.

But through it all, our community responded with unity through peaceful protest.

It crossed racial lines and political affiliations, and across neighborhoods.

And we are grateful for the progress that has occurred, but now we must move from reaction to reform.

And so that brings my first topic is bringing back up the community policing board.

We need to make sure that we get something instituted here within the city and county, which I know you guys don't have anything to do with the county, but we need two governing bodies that are willing to work together to institute policies to make changes and the policy and procedures and protocols that deal with public safety, not just in the Marcello Woodard case, but for any other family member that may unfortunately be put in the same situation.

We need to have something on the books, and I know calling for a community policing board with subpoena power may be a little bit of a stretch, but anything with a community policing board with anything less is just placating.

You need a community policing board that's actually going to be able to do something.

They're gonna have to be able to access documents, they're going to have to be able to uh compel testimony, review policy and procedures to and to find out where they're not functioning correctly and put the new ones into place.

Uh, this isn't anti-police by any means.

Because when you have two entities like the City of Erie and Erie County working along the same protocols and procedures, when you have units or things that coexist, or they're working together for some type of thing that's going on in our community as a whole, they're all gonna be aware of what their responsibilities are, and there's gonna be no confusion and how they're supposed to respond and act.

The second thing I wanted to bring up is actually housing and safety.

I am still getting people that reach out to me regarding the community, uh the city housing authority, and the homeless population that resides in there at night that they come in and out that don't live there, doing drug activity, prostitution, people who live there that don't feel safe.

There's even been some concerns and reports of actually manufacturing of narcotics in some of those facilities or buildings.

I do have some private information that I could give you at a later time.

I do not want to put out here for the public to hear.

Um these buildings are housing vulnerable adults.

Some of these adults, that's the only choice for housing that they have, and they shouldn't have to live in fear for their safety or in fear of retaliation when they're going to these property managers that are contracted out to supervise these places.

They're getting told you're the problem, and you need to move, and they fear retaliation, and that's not something that we need to be happening here in the community to our people who are a lot of times vulnerable, disabled, and that is their only option of housing that they have.

And that brings my next topic up, and that is community or city contracts.

You should be able to review the contract awardees, the people who have these contracts to make sure that they're upholding their end of the bargain, that they're doing what they're supposed to do, and if they're not, there should be some recourse for those contracts to be pulled, and then be reassigned to someone else.

And then I really think the city should focus on making eerie an eerie first city where eerie city businesses get priority on these contracts.

Thank you.

Thank you.

My name is Maria Chilevich, and I'm here and I concur that Sydney and County need to work together.

But one thing I am very upset about is I have a friend in Nevada that contacted me and then sent me an article about a child being taken out of a school here by ICE.

There's no news here.

We don't have a newspaper, we don't have any investigative reporters.

What it isn't that is a bad picture.

Nobody knows what's going on in this town, unless you watch a city council maybe.

That should not be like that.

You know, Erie used to be an all-American city in the 60s and in the 70s.

72 was the last time they were named.

And it's gone downhill from then.

You've taken away any enjoyment that seniors have had downtown.

They can't even go to McDonald's and get a cup of coffee and enjoy each other's company that they have to sit outside of the rich bred arms.

You don't have anything for children around here unless you want to go to Mill Creek.

Is it there even a stateway anymore?

I don't think so.

We become a third world city.

That's the problem here.

We have no news because what they put on the news, or if you get the paper in the mail, which is usually two days late, it's old.

And there's nothing in it about what's going on in the city of Erie and in Pennsylvania.

And that needs to stop.

People need to be informed.

Information is free.

Whether you send it by a text, whether you get on in a council meeting and just give out the information.

We cannot live like this.

And that's the thing with ICE.

You know, they're trying to go on through government contracts so that they're not investigated.

Is that what the shipyard is all about?

That's a polluted site.

They're having the same problem in New Hampshire, wanting to buy and put a building up on a polluted piece of land.

Even coke is polluted.

The people that work there will tell you it was polluted.

And why in God's name, they were let off the hook is beyond me.

Something needs to be done.

We need a newspaper, we need investigative reporters to know what's going on with the city, to know what's going on in the county.

As some of the people I've spoken.

That they can't even get there anymore.

And that's a shame.

And that's a crime to the citizens of the earth.

And something needs to be done.

And I intend to come back and start speaking at council from this point on.

Because these things need to be addressed.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Abdullah Washington, Erie, Pennsylvania.

I brought somebody special here for me.

I'm gonna be brief.

And then she's going to explain to make it plain why the people of Erie have no desire to cooperate with ICE.

First, I want to say Justice Vicello, of course.

Many of us here in the city of Erie, about 30% came here and changed.

As property.

Seeing one of the officers, unfortunately, responsible for this being prosecuted after all this effort, after all this discouragement, after being told that we were out of line, uh, seemed to face justice at this point, is encouraging.

But there were also people who were being dehumanized.

So I want to encourage Erie to really listen to its heart.

We are a city and a county of many nations trying to be one.

I have somebody very special here.

Hi, my name is Deanna Chatfield.

She's gonna use the lesson.

My time, she's gonna lose her time.

Please.

Um, I'm pretty sure that we all have read this book in elementary.

Um, if you give a mouse a cookie.

Um what I think is very special about this book is that it shows opportunities you have if you give someone an opportunity.

I was given the opportunity to wrestle, and I've been growing and striving at wrestling.

But also, there are other people in our community who haven't been giving chances in this community that people that are often overlooked, and we don't have much help for that.

And I think that maybe if we look back on lessons that we've learned in elementary school and we learned um how to treat people, and we just try to put that more into community and stop so much violence, it could help a lot.

Also, I want to come up here and speak about ice.

I'm I just hope that like you guys can help influence that we don't work with them.

I've seen the things they've done.

We we I think we all have seen the videos and everything that they've done.

And if we bring them into this community, because this community is already filled with hate, and I can see that from being a high schooler, I can see the hate that people have, and I can see how nobody can ever come together on one thing.

And I feel like if we bring that group of people in, it's just gonna make the city more hateful, it's gonna make it more hectic, it's it's gonna make people want to leave more.

So I just hope that like we can take what we learned in elementary, look back on like what kindness is, how do we how do how should we speak to people?

How should we be kind to people?

And just overall just making sure that like the community is good as a whole because I see the things that are happening in the schools, um, on the streets, and I and I hear about it all the time, and it's like truly heartbreaking.

And like for me, in my heart, I just want my whole community to come together, and I want us all to be happy and peaceful.

But like that uh woman said, I'm sorry, I don't know your name.

But like she said, there aren't many things for us younger and senior people to do down here.

I mean, you have the big bar, you uh you have all these bars down here.

What is it for us to do?

I mean, you like we can't go down to the bayfront because of the departure thing that you know what I'm talking about.

It's hard to find something to do around here.

I mean, if I want to go skating, I have to go all the way out to Milk Creek.

And a lot of kids out here do not have ways to get to Milk Creek.

They don't have ways to get to Watermere unless they walk two hours or three hours to Watermere, or unless they start Ubering everywhere.

And it's just hard to get more opportunities for ourselves if we're not giving them opportunities.

Thank you.

Hi, I'm Sister Jacqueline Sanchez Small.

I live in Harbor Creek, but I work in the city of Erie.

Um I'm here to speak in support of the welcoming city ordinance.

I'm gonna be brief.

Um just as Benedictine sisters, we have had a mission to be in support of and working with uh the immigrant population in Erie since 1856.

We continue to stand with the in our immigrant neighbors and we know that they're essential to just every part of our life and community.

They're essential to our economy.

Um we don't want to do anything as a city that would harm them or help them or or encourage them to continue to live in fear, as so many people across the country are currently living in fear.

Um I think that as we turn our attention to what we can do to be a welcoming city for immigrants, it's um coming at a time when we also rightfully so are thinking about policing and how we can be as just and um encouraging of safety and a feeling of security for our entire population, especially in the wake of the killing of Marcello Wetterd.

Um there's something very important about having clarity around what this city is and is not going to do against its own people, and um as this is becoming more of an issue um nationally, we know for the last several months we've been worried about it um for our black brothers and sisters as well.

And um I just wanted to say that uh on behalf of the Benedictine sisters, we do wish to continue in being as welcoming of all people, all races, all ethnicities, and uh we do want to support that.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Um Cole Shimley, I live in the city of Verie.

I'm here to speak in favor of uh council passing the welcoming city uh ordinance, and so it's really important we've seen county council take on some of this work, we've seen the city take on some of this work.

Uh I think it's really necessary in the times that we live in when our immigrant population who is so important to our continued uh growth and success as a community and who are our neighbors and our loved ones uh should not feel afraid for their lives.

And I I want to point something out.

I know that a previous speaker mentioned uh not always being able to get the news about what is happening uh with ice coming into our community.

And I wanted to highlight something from Penn Live.

There's an article from a few days ago uh about the ICE's presence in Pennsylvania, and they made reference to a raid in Erie, where they detained uh potentially as many of us as a dozen men who were working for a company installing high-speed internet cable.

And I tried to inquire that the article doesn't go into a lot of depth as to what happens to those men.

Uh a local immigration attorney did get back to me and told me that she was pretty sure that they have been deported.

They went they were sent to Mo Shannon, an Eastern PA and their processing center and were then deported.

I don't know those men.

I don't know their backgrounds, but it seems like they were regular people doing a regular job and are now in a very uh scary situation.

That cannot continue to happen, and we cannot be working with ICE and the federal government to be partners in such like evil actions.

It just can't, we just can't.

That's the soul of our city is on the line in a situation like this.

This resolution, this ordinance needs to pass.

I hope that it passes 7-0, regardless, it needs to go.

Both votes needs to pass.

Thank you for your time.

Yeah, my name is Todd Davis.

I live on East Lake Road.

Uh he said it perfect.

We cannot partner with evil, and that is what that is.

Uh, these people, they can't not even show their faces.

You think about that.

Goons, they cover their faces.

I've come to the point where I can respect an officer.

I saw us talk with a state trooper today, just saying.

Uh badge, name, number, smile on his face, handshake.

That's the kind of officers that we need to be all about.

And these guys are absolutely not that.

They are indeed you would be partners with evil if anybody in this city helps them out in any way.

We have two children adopted biracial, they could pass for any nationality in the world, but they're not white.

And and we worry about them because they're you know, nobody's gonna bother an old white man like me.

But somebody with a profile, dark skin, you know.

We worry.

We seriously worry about that.

That's just my family.

Everybody is worrying.

Um real quick, we just got back, our family just got back from our educational trip to Thailand.

Huge open, open, open, open policy to immigrants.

They even give health insurance to their immigrants, and that energy and that vision, just whew, it just comes together, and the economy is just thriving.

There are expatriates going over there all the time just to get out of this mess and get into something that looks a little bit better.

But it's been said and said and said again.

We need to do a whole lot better.

I feel real good about the new mayor, I feel good about the new council chairman, and uh I just hope we can get to a better place.

And thank you for everything that you do.

I know it's a big job sitting behind those tables and doing that work.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening, my name is Constantine Hyotis.

I live on the east side of Erie.

Uh I want to congratulate everybody on the election on their winning.

I was sick the last few meetings, so I wasn't able to attend.

So, congratulations and welcome.

Um my feeling is to be completely honest with you, and I'm talking straight from the heart.

Why is there ICE?

I mean, what caused that?

Do we remember not even four years ago what happened at our border?

Who dropped the ball?

Mayorcis, Biden, oh, the border's safe, everything's fine.

And then people started being murdered by people that got into that border that weren't supposed to be here.

I have nothing against immigrants.

I'm Greek for God's sakes.

My family came here from Greece.

My mother did not know the English language when she first moved here, and she worked at a morgue, cleaning dead bodies, so she could bring food to her children, me being the baby.

So I got nothing against immigrants.

My best friends from New York were Puerto Rican, Jewish, Italian, Polish, every single nationality you could possibly think of.

But we can't just sit here and say it's okay for people to come to this country and terrorize our women and terrorize our communities.

What about Rachel Morin in Maryland?

She's a mother of five.

Kids will never see their mother again.

Dakara Thompson, also from Maryland, a 19-year-old beautiful black girl, murdered and thrown off the bridge like she was discarded like garbage.

What are we supposed to do about those people?

Who's supposed to take care of that?

Are we supposed to feel safe in the streets with people like that walking around?

Because I can tell you right now, when I go to a place, I I look at the place.

I make sure I'm in a safe place.

I want to protect my wife, I want to protect my friends.

Because men need to step up and be men.

We need to protect our women, we need to protect our kids.

And when I say protect our kids, I'm not just saying from people that with evil intentions.

I'm talking about from the media, from the social media, from their phones, from their tablets, from everything.

We all have to be vigilant.

We gotta start stepping up and start doing something about what needs to be done.

Then you wouldn't have a need for ice.

If we had leaders up top, if we didn't have a president that was comatose half the time, we would have had that leadership, and this wouldn't have been a problem.

Why is the murder rate down in DC?

I understand the National Guard had to go there.

But do you really want to go and get some gas off of 18th Street and get shot in the middle of pumping your car with gas?

Because there's no self-control?

Because there's no direction, everybody's looking the other way, people's pockets are getting filled, and nobody's doing a damn thing about it.

So when are we gonna do something?

We have our community, our community went out and protested in peace.

I was part of those protests.

I was proud to do it.

And I don't care who has a problem with it.

But I will tell you one thing.

Look at Minneapolis.

That place is a shit shell.

It's a complete mess.

And why is that?

Because you got no leadership.

The government doesn't care.

What does he care about?

He's stepping down from even wanting to run president because he got caught with his hand in a cookie jar.

So what are we supposed to do?

Let's get leaders that want to lead.

And let's protect the ones we love.

Thank you.

Good evening.

My name is Deontay Cooley, lifelong Erie resident.

Um over the course of the last, I want to say five days, like I'm gaining a better understanding of why people are speaking up for some of the things that they're speaking in up to, even though even throughout my frustrations, I've learned to gain a better understanding.

Um I've read the resolution.

People who have participated in the resolution have been huge supports to me.

Um, and I definitely understand people's concerns a little better, not fully.

I understand people's issues a little better, not fully.

Um, and I do agree as far as like when you understand a population of people who have been seized or kidnapped or even murdered or hung or you know, so many different things, then you can kind of empathize with what's going on in some of the things that are going on.

So I'm not for having an organization or anybody coming in and snatching people and kidnapping people and brutalizing people and agonizing people.

I'm not for that.

By no means am I for that.

Um I understand people's cries a little better.

You know, I understand people's concerns a little better.

Being an Erie resident, being a lifelong Erie resident, and let's say we all come to terms with okay, we're gonna make sure that we are a welcoming city and we're gonna make sure that people are safe and happy here.

My concern has been the east side of Erie.

You know what I mean?

Um, prior to us coming here and crying for Justice for Cello, I've been to plenty of meetings for issues and things that have taken place because the majority of trouble comes from the east side of Erie where I reside, um where I've spent the majority of my life.

So let's say everything is all fine and dandy.

How are we investing in the east side of Erie?

You know, they're redeveloping downtown.

We got our West Bayfront.

Um, even Mill Creek is doing their thing over there, even we're talking about Prescott.

But then, what about the people who reside in the places where the most trouble and harms are coming from?

People who think and feel like it's okay to sell drugs, to where there are law organizations who feel like it's okay to come into our neighbors and our communities to kill us, arrest us, shoot us, and things like that.

So when we talk about communities and we talk about investing, or even when we talk about making Erie a welcoming city, what about the people who reside here who reside on the east side where there's little or no opportunity to where it's trash over there where we live and we gotta figure it out?

We're fighting amongst one another as far as who has what and who does what.

And even the young people, you know, like we have community centers that have been the foundation of our cities.

I'm not exactly sure what's a part of you all's budget to invest in that.

And I was so glad to see the young people from Erie Hat come in here and present their presentation because there's a lot of great things going on up there, but we tend to look at the bad things, and we're not realizing and recognizing over the course of the last three to four months.

I've been doing a lot more work with young people to truly understand what it means to say they're the future, but there are things that they're not being taught in the schools that we have community centers that we can be investing in and pouring into that have built people such as myself, built people such as you, built people such as Mr.

Horton and some of my other friends.

So it's like when we think about Erie being a welcoming city, I get it and I understand that.

And when I cry about black people, specifically black men in the city of Erie is because okay, when we welcome people here, the majority of the new Americans live on the east side of town.

So now they have to create their own things, but we don't invest over there.

So now it's like if ice does come, they know we're exactly where to go to the East Ot.

But oh, guess who else is over there?

My people.

And guess who else is being killed over there?

My people.

So when we say, or when we say, hey, everybody's here for ice, that's not to take a shot at anybody.

We understand, but also understand when we have the same issue, and what I'm understanding is we have the same issue is there's nothing going on on the east side of Erie, and that's where we send people.

All of the organizations are over there, but we're not investing.

There's not nothing new over there, there's not nothing pretty over there, there's not nothing sexy, there's not anything over there that makes me feel like, hey, I want to live in Erie when I get here if they drop me off on the East Side.

They drop me off on 22nd Street where the majority of the new Napoleons live or out there where the um Holly is where Mr.

Gary Horton is doing the job that he's doing with the um new American community for that's coming from the African countries.

Like everybody's getting dropped off on the Esau.

So when we come down here and we scream and we cry, it's people who majority are coming from the east side, and seeing Marcello being shot and killed on the East Side from his parole agent who feels like it's okay, that is our issue as well.

So now, as I'm learning and understanding everybody else's fight, so let's say we abolish ice and ice doesn't come here, and then everybody who we're advocating for gets sent to the east side of Erie.

What's over there?

Nothing.

For none of us, there's no opportunity, but you can come downtown, you can get a burger, you can go have all of these different things.

I go to the brig all the time.

You can go to the cigar lounge, they put the ice rink over here.

There's so many great things happening down here, and we love it because we're all from Erie.

But then what about the people who have been living in the east side and the people who we're advocating for when we send them east?

Where are we sending them to?

So again, our cross for help have been change, not just arrest an officer, not just not have ice in here, but give black and brown people opportunities on the side of town where we reside, so we don't have to come here and look like problems in trouble.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Hi, my name is Cindy Triber.

I am born and raised in Erie and currently live in Edinburgh.

Um, I wanted to come and speak on some things regarding our budget in Erie City and Erie County and the state.

I know that there are certain things that this board can control and certain things that they can't, but I'd like to speak on something that um Governor Shapiro is in charge of.

Um key feature of the budget this year 62 million dollar allocation to community and violence uh intervention programs.

This is a 10% increase over last year.

The reason this is important is because that funding funds gun task forces on July 2nd.

I want to make sure everybody hears that.

Gun task forces are part of that funding.

We currently have multiple different agencies involved in gun tasks force, gun task force.

We have Erie PD, Mill Creek PD, we have the FBI, ATF, State Parole, County Parole.

Do you want to know what all of those agencies don't do?

Train together.

That has been confirmed.

None of them train together.

They operate as one entity and have no idea what each other is doing.

This is actually part of testimony that was given at the preliminary hearing.

This is not just Cindy getting up and talking or asking people who work.

This is testimony that was given under oath.

One of the officers that spoke spoke about he didn't even know which agency was the lead that night.

How is that?

How is that happening?

We don't even know who's in charge.

The Erie City Police Department, we have funding going $800 and something thousand dollars worth of SWAT vehicles.

I want to know why there were not gloves in every Erie PD car.

The officer spoke.

He could not even perform life-saving aid because he did not have gloves in his car.

Gloves.

It's like Amazon.

Like six boxes for like seven dollars.

They could not even put a trauma kit and a chest seal on Marcello because a different unit with different officers were not there yet, and they had a trauma kit, but the first responding officers from Erie PD did not.

So when we're talking about 62 million dollars and a 10% increase, I understand you can't fix that, but you can fix gloves.

You can say we are not going to be part of a gun task force that does not train together.

We can say we are going to have trauma kits in every vehicle.

So I'd like to know why we're not doing that.

I will be asking the county the same thing.

When you guys have a meeting and you're speaking as one entity, do you all talk?

Or does everybody just go off on a tangent, do their own thing, and then go, oh yeah, sure, let's all just show up.

That is not oversight, that's not checks and balances, it's not a proper way to conduct business, it's not a proper way to have funding, it's not a proper way, proper way to police communities, it's not a proper way to do anything.

So we have this gun task force that's getting more money now, so yeah, we can shoot more people, we can do no-knock warrants more.

Well, of course, the gun violence is going to go down because you're eliminating people.

People use guns, not guns using guns.

I would really like this to be looked into.

It's a problem.

I mean, I will, I will personally, personally buy gloves if I have to.

That's ridiculous.

I worked as an EMT.

My daughter worked as an EMT.

I grew up in a medical family.

I have gloves on my house, and I don't even have children under the age of 20.

Like, why?

Why are we not?

We don't have a trauma kit in every car.

I have a trauma kit in my car.

Do you guys have band-aids?

Like, come on.

This is the Erie Police Department.

I want to speak on this because also at the Erie Police Department, we have these two accidents that took place.

I understand that there's been a ruling about the police officer.

I want to let you know that that church, Luther Memorial, is my church.

I have friends whose children saw that accent.

Who told me what they saw.

Maybe they should be interviewed before that there is a ruling or stat or summary charges.

Because what those kids saw is different.

And I'm pretty sure that sixth graders have no reason to lie about the police.

And the police keep having accidents there.

Like maybe they need to not use that road at all.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening, Susanna Faulkner, City of Erie, and I'm wearing a specific hat tonight of serving as executive director of Erie Arts and Culture.

Thank you for your leadership and for considering ordinance two under new business to codify Erie's commitment as a welcoming city.

It's especially encouraging knowing the chief of police and the mayor's administration are in support.

As a leader in our arts and culture community, I want to speak from lived on-the-ground experience.

We work every day with immigrant new American artists, creators, entrepreneurs, families, and youth.

New Americans are not a special interest group in Erie.

They are small business owners, which you can learn more about in our refugee owned business directory, which is available at many different places around town and at citizenship ceremonies, and I'll leave some here.

Our new Americans are community center staff.

They're musicians, dancers, filmmakers, poets, their parents and mentors, they are faith leaders and volunteers.

They contribute life and care to neighborhoods, they stabilize our housing markets, they strengthen schools, and they power our local economy.

When we invest in welcoming policies like this ordinance, we're investing in Erie's long-term future.

So why would we pass this now?

I see it for three core reasons.

First of all, it builds trust.

Creativity and community engagement require safety.

We've heard so much tonight about public safety, and this matters, not just for our refugees and new Americans, for every block, every pocket, every neighbor in our city.

Safety matters.

We cannot thrive without safety.

Artists will not perform publicly, they won't rent venues, they won't have community festivals and programming.

If they fear that interacting with the city could put their families at risk.

Trust is the foundation of community participation.

Second, it ensures fair access.

The ordinance reinforces access to services regardless of immigration status or language preference.

For arts organizations like us and throughout the city, this means that youth can attend programs.

For arts organizations like us and throughout the city, this means that youth can attend programs, families can participate in festivals, artists can create, and all of this is without fear.

Thirdly, it clarifies roles.

By defining limits on immigration enforcement cooperation, except where legally required, it provides clarity not just to city staff and leadership and elected officials, but also to residents.

And with clarity, we reduce misinformation and fear.

This ordinance commits the city to ensuring that immigrants can fully participate in civic life.

And arts and culture is often the first doorway into that type of participation.

It's a cultural festival like World Refugee Day or the Fiesta at Perry Square, which might be the first public gathering that someone goes to.

It could be a mural project that becomes a first act of civic expression.

Or maybe it's a field trip for youth who are in their first month of school in the United States to a museum that bridges them across different communities.

If people feel unsafe engaging publicly, they withdraw.

And this is the last thing Erie needs.

If we are going to combat things like violence and just so many of the public problems that we are facing, we have to find a way for people to feel safe and seen.

And if anything, we need this ordinance to ensure Erie's future while reducing population decline.

Our foreign-born population is the only part of our city that has grown in the past decade.

There's stats behind this.

Cities across the country are competing for talent, for workforce, for entrepreneurs, for culture.

Maintaining our status under the welcoming America certified welcoming standards sends a clear signal that Erie is a place where people can build a life.

And we see the families.

We see the children translating for their parents.

We see the joy when cultural traditions are celebrated in public instead of hidden behind closed doors.

We cannot build a thriving Erie if portions of our community feel invisible or unsafe.

This ordinance affirms Erie's history.

Erie has always been shaped by migration.

Whether it's industrial workers, European immigrants, African American families relocating during the Great Migration, refugees and new Americans today.

Welcoming is not a new value for Erie.

It's a historic one.

This ordinance simply codifies who we already strive to be.

And don't get me wrong, there's a lot more work to do, so everyone feels a sense of belonging and welcoming in Erie.

But this is a great start.

As executive director of Erie Arts and Culture, I urge council to adopt this ordinance because belonging is not some abstract value.

It's something that's built in policies and procedures and ordinances and by leadership from all of you.

If we want Erie to thrive, we must make it clear that everyone who calls Erie home belongs here.

Thank you.

And I'll be pleased.

Hi, Aaron Meisner.

I live on the East Lide of Erie.

First, I want to say nobody is advocating for protecting murderers and rapists.

Nobody is doing that.

It's a disingenuous argument, and Keith Porter was murdered by an ICE agent, and we still don't know his name because DHS is advocating for protecting murderers or rapists.

Public safety requires public trust from all residents, regardless of immigration status, race, disability, language, gender, orientation.

I'm gonna read you real quick the DHES use of force policy statement.

It's uh 044-05, section three DE.

But before I do, real quick, I just want to also point out that the EPD has yet to adopt the DAOJ use of forced policy, and I will be back again to talk about that as well.

Um, DHS LEOs are permitted to use force that is reasonable in light of totality of circumstances.

This standard does not require LEOs to meet force with equal or lesser force.

DHS LEOs do not have a duty to retreat to avoid the reasonable use of force, nor are they required to wait for an attack before using reasonable force.

Warnings when feasible warning when feasible prior to application of force, a DHS LEO should attempt to identify himself and issue a verbal warning to comply with the LEO's instructions.

In determining whether a warning is feasible under the circumstances, an LEO may be guided by a variety of considerations, including but not limited to whether the resulting delay is likely to increase the danger or to the LEO or others, result in destruction of evidence, allow for a subject's escape, or result in the commission of a crime.

If you listen to that standard, we've seen it.

Anybody can be forcibly arrested by not immediately complying to commands from masked men in non-standard uniforms and unmarked vehicles.

They're allowed to do it.

That's a reasonable, they don't have to give you a warning.

So cooperation with ICE and CPB erodes our trust, leaving our community less safe overall and our residents more vulnerable.

I'm gonna ask you to pass the ordinance to keep Erie a welcoming city.

We're in a queer sanctuary city.

Let's be one for immigrants too.

It's at least the start.

And I'm just gonna leave you with a quote from my uh idol, Mr.

Rogers.

I've always wanted to have a neighbor just like you.

Why don't you be my neighbor?

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening.

My name is Michael Woodard.

I'm here with the organization called Enough Blood Official.

This organization was started by Marcella Woodard's son, Malachi Woodard Jones.

He's always been there at heart, but plenty of times he couldn't fight physically.

So we started Enough Blood Official for other families across the nation, for wrongful deaths, and sticking up for ones who can't speak for themselves.

So here in Erie, there was a car accident that fairly killed Matthew Zimbroski.

Matthew Zimbrowski was struck by a police vehicle that ran a red light.

He suffered a devastating injuries and fought for his life until he didn't.

The officer received a fine.

Matthew never came home.

One month later, his mother passed away.

As his sister wrote, we did not just lose one life.

We lost two.

A child is growing up without his father.

A family is carrying trauma that would never leave them.

Enough blood stands with families or left behind after preventable loss.

The family's not asking for revenge.

They're asking for accountability.

Does a life lost mean a citation?

Please hear their cry.

Now moving forward.

The officer runs a light.

No signs of sirens, of which I was told.

Knocks him across the street into the corner, which actual breaks the legs of a bystander.

That could be another life that was lost.

Accountability should start with everyone.

We all make mistakes.

Some mistakes had to be held accountable for.

Let's let that sink in.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Hi, I'm Julia Jacobs.

I'm a student at Penn State Baron and a resident of the East Side.

I didn't prepare anything today, actually.

So I am on the spectrum, so please bear with me.

I want to highlight both the murder of Cello and the brutal fascist activity of immigration and customs enforcement, better known as ICE.

These terrific acts of violence are not separate from each other.

And the more we recognize that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, the better equipped we are to protect our community members from danger and fight for their justice when our inequitable and discriminatory systems inevitably harm them.

With that being said, I want to echo the earlier point made in reference to the traumatic murder of Marcella Woodard, that we need to move from reaction to reform.

Reform is not just an ordinance or resolution, but like Mike mentioned, full accountability, series of legislation and cultural shifts.

These cultural shifts in attitudes and values are essential for any successful reform to take place.

I've seen many people, my fellow white people especially, celebrating claims of possible jail time for Marcello's killer and former PO officer.

And I want to remind everyone that jail time for brutally removing somebody's father, partner, son, friend from this world, will never be justice enough.

Justice when it comes to police brutality against people of color requires vast reform and consideration, not just legal consequences for a single incident that will leave lasting damaging marks on the entire family and community.

Justice when it comes to ICE terrorizing immigrants that our country used to so proudly welcome requires vast reform and consideration, not just a couple resolutions and ordinances.

My point being this ordinance needs to pass, but it is only a start.

ICE, police brutality against people of color, the genocide in Palestine paid for by our American tax dollars, AI data centers poisoning the air and water of already marginalized communities.

All of these issues are united by a greedy desire for profit over people.

Money and often white supremacy, prioritized over protecting the freedoms and liberties of American people.

That's all.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Hello.

My name is Wuji Ahmad.

I reside in the city of Erie.

I just want to shed light on this welcoming city ordinance from a refugees' perspective, speaking solely from my family's experiences.

This month marks 25 years since my family sought refuge in the United States.

I was eight years old.

If there's one thing people should know about refugees, no one chooses to be one.

Refugees flee their homelands due to many reasons, including war, persecution, poverty, or dictatorship, to name a few.

My parents are originally from Eritrea and escaped dictatorship and moved to the Middle East.

I was born in Baghdad.

We eventually became refugees once again and moved to Jordan while waiting for our process to be approved for the U.S.

That process took about two and a half years.

I say all this to remind everyone that refugees are carefully vetted, contrary to popular misinformation.

Most people lose everything and start all over again in a new place and with a newfound hope.

We've seen firsthand what it's like to be stripped of basic human rights, live with censorship and fear, and without any idea what horrific changes will be sprung on us next.

Eerily similar to what we're seeing here in our nation.

ICE agents kidnapping and terrorizing families under the guise of protection, a fascist regime that punishes you for criticizing its ways while glorifying dictatorship and paying the price as a whole for the actions of a few.

We went from being the face of freedom and democracy to taking notes from the very ones we criticize and oppose.

This is not who we are.

Our hatred towards immigrants and refugees now runs so deep.

When a man injured two and killed a National Guard, which goes without saying was a horrific, deplorable and inhumane attack, the entire immigrant community was punished for his actions.

Oh, let's add their countries of origin to this banned country list, which we've already drafted, but I mean, now we have an excuse.

Immigrants and refugees are being profiled, harassed, questioned, and assume they are not legal if they if there's a language barrier and more.

I remember walking in a grocery aisle with my mom a few years ago, um, having our own private conversation, and a guy walked by and yelled, speak English as if he's entitled to join in on any strangers' conversation.

Again, immigrants are collectively punished and harassed for the actions of a few.

But what do we do when a certain demographic shoots up yet another school?

Oh, my fault, lone wolf, now due process uh it's disgusting how it's disgusting how immigrants, refugees, brown, and especially black people are treated in this country.

And it's wild that we don't see the connection.

As Dr.

King said, injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

We all need to stand up against a corrupted system.

Um and while we may not be able to change some things in a federal sense, at least we can protect our little corner on the map that we all love so much, Erie, Pennsylvania.

We have the opportunity to make a ripple effect and lead by example, show our neighbors how much we love and care for one another.

So please I also want to add, show up for your black neighbors too.

As a refugee and a black refugee at that, it breaks my heart when I see any form of injustice and dehumanization, whether it's here in Erie in Palestine, in Congo or Sudan.

But we cannot make changes in the world without starting at home first.

Marcella Woodard was an Erieite, so let's all remember to spread awareness for cello, justice for cello until justice is served.

It is heartwarming to see the support here for immigrant and refugee neighbors, but I say this from a place of love and as a refugee, indigenous and black people were your first neighbors.

And it's also true that you can care about multiple neighbors at once, just be adamant, intentional, and apologetic, and consistent when seeking justice.

We can move mountains if we stand in solidarity with every community member.

Let it be known that our love for Erie and his people is greater than any hateful rhetoric we see and hear around us.

And if my stance on this issue wasn't clear, ICE has no place in Erie.

We see what's happening in other cities.

We see why are we cooperating with them when we are under no obligation to do so?

Why are we giving them space and opportunity to harass our residents?

Your role is to serve all residents of Erie with dignity, not pick and choose who deserves basic decency.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Is there anyone else here for public comment?

Anyone else for public comment?

So once again, um my showing up at the end, I guess as it's the end of uh public comments, and everybody's probably happy as long as I don't go on too long.

Um my name is Bob Strasser, uh lifelong resident of Erie, mostly on Erie's Lower East Side.

Um of you will remember probably about a year and a half ago, I came up here and spoke about uh the Erie Coke plant and uh some of the meetings that went on with the Port Authority.

Uh the first one was held at um East Middle School.

Um, I attended that one.

I did a lot of research, and uh I being that I um do a lot with AI, I used AI to come up with a couple proposals on how to repurpose that land after it's uh cleaned up.

Um couple of those if you remember they were uh one was for a cargo port facility to load and unload cargo um off the Great Lakes and use Erie as kind of a Great Lakes hub for that.

And the other was because of what was going on with um um the government and uh the military suggestions were to build uh shipyard, a naval shipyard.

Um, and the last meeting I went to um after that East Avenue, East Middle School at the Port Authority building, it was kind of determined that it's gonna take 20 to 30 years to get that site to be uh usable.

Um so I kind of like thought that's gonna kind of be it.

Um as far as my proposals went, um, because who knows what things are gonna be like in 20, 30 years.

But lo and behold, about a week and a half ago, I'm watching our local television stations, and I see that there was a uh segment done on a company that's interested in building naval ships here in Erie called um Gem City shipyards.

Um I did see in those uh television uh segments that there were some uh federal and state politicians that were given some of their comments, but I I really didn't hear any solutions to the part about that it's gonna take 20 to 30 years.

Um but thinking about a little bit longer, having some of those people at those levels.

What about if we were able to get a uh federal super fund for cleanup sites that they could come in and maybe do it a lot faster than uh what the state or local stuff could do.

So that's just something to think about.

Uh uh if we were to land something like that, as people were talking about on the east side, which I was glad to hear other people from the east side here tonight.

Um that would be something a start as to building up the east side.

Um just to um expand upon that as that being a start, before coming to the meeting tonight.

Um, I I saw a uh television report about in Pennsylvania in Montgomery in Montgomery County.

Um they're gonna be receiving a new Johnson and Johnson uh corporation uh state-of-the-art plant facility is gonna be built there.

It's probably gonna be millions, maybe billions of dollars.

I I didn't get a dollar amount.

But that's just a um a sign to me that things can get better in Pennsylvania, and I'm hoping that we can do that here with Erie.

Um, whether it's uh a private company like that, or if somehow we can uh come to some deals with uh government type of projects to get jobs back here in Erie.

I've heard everyone talking about uh and and actually I had suggested it a long time ago of saying that we would be a welcoming city, but in addition to being welcoming to people and immigrants and stuff, let's be a welcoming city to uh new businesses and uh uh corporations that aren't going to pollute or things like that.

That uh we can bring uh sustainable jobs here to Erie and make Erie uh the uh gem city on Great Lakes.

Um another thing here, uh just to let you know, advancements in AI and quantum AI are moving at a very very rapid pace, and in uh the research and different uh sources that I that I watch and view uh the sources and experts in in the in these fields are barely keeping up with all the advancements.

So some people were doing maybe a uh program uh on YouTube maybe once a month.

Now they're doing two to three a week now.

Um so there's a lot going on, and I'll have future updates and at future meetings.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Bob.

Go ahead.

Hello, my name is Shane Talberg.

I live here in Erie, Pennsylvania, and I work at Gannon University.

I'm a janitor, and it is an honor to work alongside so many immigrants from all over the world to uh provide for so many students who come here from all over the world, and uh it really sucks that every single day I have to worry about whether I will see all of them again the next day.

It really hurts.

And um, I you know, I really hope all of you are willing to do something to keep these lawless fascist pigs out of our city.

They are uh terrorizing everywhere, and the law just does not apply to any of them at all.

And uh, you know, the the murder of Alex Predi and Renee Good at their hands, like just stop and think.

Those people were as white as me, as English speaking as me, as born in America as me, and they were murdered by these pigs.

Like, what is protecting any of us, all of you, whoever, from uh death at their hands?

Nothing, nothing is protecting us.

Uh so the way I feel is multiculturalism is not just Erie at its best, it's not just America at its best, it is humanity at its best.

And uh, in the words of Reverend Jesse Jackson, you know, this is a rainbow coalition that is uh we're we're all here from different means.

Some of us came here by choice, some of us came were brought over by force, and uh we're all here now, and the best thing we can do to pay off our collective karmic debt as a country is to be a safe place for all oppressed people of the world.

We need safety here.

We need to protect these people.

Uh yeah, that's about all I got.

Thanks a lot.

Thank you.

Justice Procello, Free Palestine.

Yeah.

Anybody else here for public comment?

Any other person here for public comment?

Any other person here for public comment?

All right, we will move on.

Ordinances for final passage.

Council file number 16591, official ordinance 12 2026, an ordinance amending the city of Erie Zoning Ordinance to designate the property located at 411 State Street, Erie, Pennsylvania as historic structures pursuant to Article 7 of the City of Erie Zoning Ordinance and to amend the the zoning map to reflect such designation.

Sponsored by Councilmember Schaff, seconded by Councilmember Flores.

That council file ordinance number 16591 and now known as official file ordinance 12 2026 be finally passed by city council.

Councilmember Brzezinski?

Yes.

Flores?

Yes.

Horton.

Yes.

Poll.

Yes.

Shaw?

Yes.

Troop.

Yes.

And Titus.

Yes.

City Council pass official file ordinance number 12, 2026.

Finally by Ye's 7, NASZero.

Council file 16592.

Official ordinance 132026.

And ordinance amending the City of Erie zoning ordinance to designate the property located at 1372 West 6th Street, Erie, Pennsylvania, as historic structures pursuant to Article 7 of the City of Erie Zoning Ordinance and to amend the zoning map to reflect such as designation.

Sponsored by Councilmember Schoff, seconded by Councilmember Flores.

The Council file ordinance bill number 16592, and now known as official file ordinance 13-2026, be finally passed by the City Council.

Councilmember Brzezinski.

Yes.

Flores?

Yes.

Horton?

Yes.

Pole.

Yes.

Shaw.

Yes.

Troop?

Yes.

And Titus.

Yes.

City Council pass official file ordinance 13-2026.

Finally by YAS 7, NASZero.

Council file 16593.

Official file ordinance 14-2026.

And ordinance appropriating the sum of $1,250,000 from unappropriated and unanticipated revenue and the expenditure thereof for the City of Erie Wastewater Treatment Plant Chlorination Disinfection Reliability Project to be funded by US EPA grant number 939.

I'm sorry, 953A0104.

Sponsored by Councilmember Troop, seconded by Councilmember Shaw.

That council file ordinance bill number 16593, and now known as official file ordinance 142026, be finally passed by the city council.

Yes.

Flores?

Yes.

Horton.

Yes.

Pole?

Yes.

Shaf.

Yes.

Troop.

Yes.

And Titus.

Yes.

City Council pass official file ordinance number 14, 2026.

Finally, by Yeys 7, NASZero.

Council file 15.

I'm sorry, Council File 16594.

Official file ordinance number 15, 2026.

Appropriating a sum of $1 million $50,000 from unappropriate and anticipated, I'm sorry, unappropriated and anticipated revenue to be received from the Business Development Revolving Loan Fund and utilized in the Urban Core Economic Recovery Revolving Loan Fund.

Sponsored by Councilmember Schoff, seconded by Councilmember Poll.

That City Council file ordinance bill number 16594 and now known as official file ordinance 152026 be finally passed by the City Council.

Councilmember Brzezinski?

Yes.

Flores?

Yes.

Horton.

Yes.

Pole?

Yes.

Schaaf?

Yes.

Troop?

Yes.

And Titus.

Yes.

City Council pass official file ordinance number 152026.

Finally, by Yay 7NA 0.

Council file number 16595.

Official file ordinance 162026.

An ordinance amending the rules of City Council ordinance of the City of Erie under Article 112, specifically 112.02 to improve the efficiency and legisl in the latest to approve the efficiency in the legislative process for city council.

Sponsored by Councilmember Titus, seconded by Councilmember Schoff.

That's City Council file ordinance bill number 16595 and now known as official file ordinance 162026 be finally passed by the City Council.

Councilmember Brzezinski?

Yes.

Flores?

Yes.

Horton.

Yes.

Poll?

Yes.

Shaw?

Yes.

Troop.

Yes.

And Titus.

Yes.

City Council pass official file ordinance number 16 2026.

Finally, by Yay 7-NAS 0.

Ordinances for first reading.

Council file number 16596.

An ordinance amending the rules of City Council Ordinance of the City of Erie under Article 112, specifically 112.16, entitled Seminar and Conference Reports to Streamline and or update the rules of council to reflect current practices.

Sponsored by Councilmember Titus, seconded by Councilmember Schoff.

That official that that city council file ordinance number 16596 having been read is hereby adopted on the first reading by the city council.

Councilmember Brzezinski?

Yes.

Flores?

Yes.

Horton.

Yes.

Poll?

Yes.

Schoff.

Yes.

Troop.

Yes.

And Titus.

Yes.

City Council read and adopt Council File Ordinance number 16596 by YAS 70 on first reading.

Council file 16597.

An ordinance that the City of Erie hereby establishes Article 137, which outlines the city's goals to obtain and or maintain the status as a welcoming city under the welcoming America guidelines and the city's rights and or responsibilities as part of the welcoming city under the welcoming America program.

Mr.

President.

Yes.

If I may.

I think you folks know that I take my job very seriously here.

I'd like to know everything that I'm voting on.

This will probably pass 6 to 1.

It should.

But I, in good faith, cannot be an affirmative vote on this until I have the opportunity.

It's my fault.

I was away in family business.

I didn't get the chance to delve into it as much as I wanted to.

I'm sure it'll get cleared up.

But again, in good conscience, I work for you folks.

I'm going to do the right thing.

So my vote is a no.

Thank you.

Go ahead and call for the vote.

Sponsored by Councilmember Titus.

Seconded by Councilmember Schoff.

The Council file ordinance 16597.

Having been read is hereby adopted on first reading by the City Council.

Councilmember Brzezinski.

No.

Flores?

Yes.

Horton?

Yes.

Poll.

Yes.

Shaw?

Yes.

Troop.

Yes.

Titus.

Yes.

Excuse me one more time, Mr.

President.

Yes.

To explain to the folks.

This is an ordinance.

So it takes two readings.

So after I get my crazy little mind wrapped around this thing, it would probably be 7-0 in a couple weeks.

I just didn't feel right doing it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

City Council Redden adopt Council file ordinance 16597 by Yase 6 NAS 1 on first reading.

Old business.

That pursuant to Article 7 of the revised zoning ordinance number 80 2005 and a public hearing held by Erie City Council on Wednesday, February 4th, 2026 at approxim at approximately 9 30 a.m.

in council chambers 626 State Street, the municipal building, Erie PA, the request to designate the Erie Cemetery located at 2116 Chestnut Street, Erie PA as as a historic site, be hereby approved.

And the city solicitor is authorized and directed to prepare an ordinance to amend the zoning map to reflect such des such designation.

Councilmember Brzezinski?

Yes.

Flores?

Yes.

Horton?

Yes.

Poll?

Yes.

Shaw?

Yes.

Troop?

Yes.

And Titus?

Yes.

Resolution passes 7-0.

Council President.

This takes us to new business.

I think to accept the motion to move the new business balance.

Midbound.

We have a second.

Second.

Oh sorry, who is the first?

Council Brzezinski.

Thank you.

Just real quick.

I just want to make sure that we're including in there the resolution that was added by the rules earlier.

I just want that clear for the record and to know that that is included as part of any move the balance.

Yes.

Thank you.

Just any separations?

Any separations, maybe.

I think you're good.

Voting on moving the balance.

Councilmember Brzezinski.

Yes.

Flores?

Yes.

Horton.

Yes.

Pole?

Yes.

Shaw?

Yes.

Troop.

Yes.

And Titus?

Yes.

Motion passes 7-0.

I believe this takes us to committee reports.

All right.

I'll go ahead.

Uh Councilor Brzezinski, if you if you wouldn't mind, we'll just go this way.

Sure.

I can go first.

Uh I am liaison now to the Airport Authority.

I met with them last week.

Uh a lot of great people there.

I'm looking forward to having a lot of fun with airplanes over there too.

So that'll work out well.

Uh my second uh liaison is to the Civic Center Authority, Mr.

Pine, and we have our first get together tomorrow afternoon, 3 o'clock.

So I'll have more information about the zoo and everything else that we talked about earlier.

Uh I'm also liaison to IT.

As soon as I learn how to spell it, I'll probably be bad at it.

But anyhow, kidding aside, uh, I look forward to a good long year with everybody.

Thank you very much.

Councilor Shaw.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Um I am the liaison to the sewer authority meeting.

They had a meeting on Tuesday that I attended.

And there's always um some money being put into their infrastructure and machines and things to make sure that we are compliant with EPA.

So I'm thankful to all the people who are on the board at the authority to um make sure everything is running smoothly.

I um personally um outside of council am going to be a part of uh production called WOW on Tuesday, February 24th at the Schuster Theater at 6 p.m.

It is completely free to the public and is a fine arts production directed by Thaisia Lunger.

It has a diverse cast of poets, dancers, singers, percussionists, and they explore issues such as domestic violence, addiction, PTSD, homelessness, suicide, and trauma, and we're having a motivational speaker doing uh a poems.

And we're having a motivational speaker doing a poems.

She's a national poet, Dion D.

Hunter, traveling from the South to Erie for it.

And this removes the barriers that people can access these services after the program.

There is time that you can talk and get literature and things like that.

It's wow, women of word, but there's also men included as well.

So the way we're structured, we are the liaison, and then there's two people who are committee members underneath.

And so I do attend meetings that I'm not necessarily the liaison for, but I'm very interested in and many times have the time for.

So I attended the Erie Land Bank and the Planning Commission meeting, and on my own, I uh prayed for the immigrants at uh the federal courthouse last Friday.

They meet once a month the second Friday of the month to uh pray for um the immigrants in our nation and uh I was on the toil and review board last Thursday.

So um don't park at a broken meter.

You know, you think, oh, you're gonna be safe, but you can actually get a ticket.

You should report it and uh not park there, but um you can't park there, you can get um a ticket, even though the meters broken.

And where on State Street, up and down State Street, there are no more meters, but you have to use the app then.

So don't think you can park because there's no meters.

Um you will get a ticket that way too.

If you want metered parking, there's metered parking, um, going east to west on most of our side streets and um use the ramp as well.

Um, but using the ramp is uh using your credit card.

I want to thank the firefighters and the police and the garbage people, anyone doing and the postal workers, anyone doing outdoor services this winter.

It's really really been a hard winter weather-wise, and thank you for your service.

Um I'll let um Ms.

Pole um talk about the firefighters.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Um Counselor Flores.

Um, I have a few meetings coming up for my committee assignments.

Um, I just wanted to dedicate my specific reporting time to talk about um our immigrant community.

I am half Mexican and half Puerto Rican, so being half Mexican makes it very obvious that a good portion of our southern border um residents are being targeted and persecuted.

As someone who was raised by two hardworking immigrant men who provided for their families and who had friends who were all immigrants who provided college graduate students, it's hard for me to understand how the narrative of these people being rapists and criminals is all people consider.

We have rapists and criminals in all circles and all groups of people, and considering who our president is currently, it's just the audacity is insane to me.

But as someone who is half Puerto Rican and half Mexican, I could tell you this.

Puerto Rico became a part of America in 1917 when we needed more people to fight in war in World War One.

So that's why Americ um Puerto Ricans are considered citizens because we needed foot soldiers.

And then Mexico slowly became more and more a part of America, and this invisible border kept coming farther and farther to where the people who were already there became citizens until we wanted to get rid of them.

And now we're doing again what has been done in the past.

So the Texas Anne, the Texas annexation happened in 1845.

Where we, America acquired a great portion of Mexico.

You know, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, a lot of Mexico is a part of America.

So for us to sit here and go after people who are brown or black is insane in 2026.

And I'm so proud of the next generation because they are not allowing it because America is a melting pot.

America used to be called Turtle Island because of all the Native Americans that used to be here because this was red man's land.

So we need to acknowledge the fact that every immigrant, every human being has value.

And at this point in America's history, people are going to be remembered on where we stood and how we acted and how we stood for what is good.

So as a half Mexican, half Puerto Rican, first Latina ever elected to Erie City Council.

My people are hard-working people.

Okay.

I didn't want to give it a close, yeah.

Thank you, Dr.

Titus.

Um I have nothing for my committees to report, but I did want to share some facts about Black Street Month since it is Black History Month.

And I know Councilman Horton mentioned Bo Bladen before, so I did want to read something about him.

That's kind of a local black history fact.

So Bo Blade was a pioneering African American landowner in Erie County, widely regarded as the region's first black property owner.

His life is characterized characterized by his transition from enslavement to becoming a significant landowner during Erie's earliest year years.

So he was born in Guinea, West Africa.

He was brought to the United States on a slave ship and sold in Maryland.

He arrived in Erie around 1795, 1796, accompanying John Grubb.

So you know that name Grubb.

A captain in the local militia.

Shortly shortly after obtaining his freedom, Bladen purchased a 400-acre farm in Milk Creek, Milk Creek Township in 1796.

This land was located in what is now the Glenwood Estates neighborhood.

I read somewhere before that it became illegal actually for blacks to own property in that area.

The Bladen Farm remained in the family for three generations over nearly a century, eventually being sold in the late 19th or earlier 20th century.

Accounts say that his family, he might have came from royalty or being a chief in his homeland.

Today Bladen Road, you've probably seen Blade and Road before.

That's before in Milk Creek Township is named in his honor, marking the site of his original homestead.

So I just want to share that.

Right in the EPA.

So thanks, Dr.

Titus.

Thank you.

Councilor Paul.

Good evening.

I attended the CDBG meetings last week, some of them.

Uh spoke about why they need the money, usually for summer projects, and how they're going to go about using it.

And March 2nd, they're going to have public hearings where anybody can attend to listen to that also, and then they'll decide from there what they're going to do with the money.

Uh for the city.

That part is new for me.

It's very interesting to see how that's all comes together.

We had a study session last Thursday with the fire department on the public safety, or police and fire with public safety building that's coming up on State Street.

Hopefully, uh Chief Trott will we can get together and I'll be able to tour that.

Um interested to see.

It's it doesn't look like much now, but I hopefully it'll come together in a couple of years.

Um the planning commission uh had their monthly meeting yesterday.

Yesterday, Kathy.

Yeah, thank you.

Um they uh mainly well, they had a few different things, but they were talking about um the new marketplace that's gonna be at the bayfront, uh, where the GF property used to be.

Um there should be public hearings coming up on that, hopefully soon, because it's it's a big project, big undertaking, and um hopefully it's done right.

And that is it for me.

Thank you.

So I'll start my my report with uh we had a water reserve meeting last week.

Um, and what we saw happening in those.

I'm actually I apologize.

Counselor Horton, I keep forgetting that the zoom is is happening, even though I'm facing Renat.

So let me pause.

I'll re step back and if you could give your report.

Thank you, Dr.

Titus.

I uh actually met with the housing authority, uh, their executive director, Miss Dusty Dennis, uh their director of development, their new director of development, Ms.

Renee Lamus, and Sherry Kenham.

Uh we discussed the housing authorities' uh annual report, uh, what their assets are, the buildings that they own, uh, and what uh projects they have uh goals that they have at the immediate future.

Um counselor poll um just commented on the study session, so I won't spend a lot of time there, the public the study session uh about the new public safety building project.

Uh when we got a chance to speak uh with the chief and uh the fire chief and the police chief and any questions that we had, they were on hands to answer.

Um I'll say more about the fire and police in a minute.

Uh the land bank actually met Monday.

Uh I wasn't able to attend uh due to uh personal business.

Uh I will say this about the Erie Fire Department.

I want to uh congratulate them and and also um give honor what our honors do.

Uh they did a water rescue Sunday morning, 2 30 a.m.

out on Prescott, and I always find that work to be uh heroic uh and very challenging and dangerous.

So I do want to acknowledge uh that rescue uh Erie Police Department.

Uh after the study session meeting, I spoke with Chief Laura about us getting together.

Uh wasn't able to get together with Chief, but I did manage to meet some of the rank and file people on Sunday morning.

I got to meet the use the city services, the emergency care services, our fire department showed up as I was in a two-car vehicle accident.

A young lady ran a stop sign and T-bone me, ergos I'm not there in prep uh in person uh this evening.

Um and so the zoning board um wasn't able to make that meeting as well.

Uh do know that uh they have some we took some action today uh to allow them uh to have their public hearings.

Oh, excuse me, to hire a solicitor, so I'm excited about that.

And finally, uh Black History Month.

I won't talk about the heroic stuff of Black History Month because we hear that nationally, and certainly I could talk about some of the local heroes.

Uh famous people from Black Erie from the turn of the century.

Uh but I just want to make a really quick comment.

And that is that anyone's name on the Epstein files should then found to be in violation of the law, should be fully prosecuted.

Uh and so I I get up in arms about Black History Month and the uh president of the United States, the current president of the United States and his efforts to dismantle black uh history, which is a part of which is American history.

But I just want to remind uh the city of Erie and this country, whoever else is listening.

Human trafficking occurred on the plantation daily.

And rate occurred daily.

So uh we're uh acutely aware uh uh the pain of the and uh those who are victimized.

I don't want to call them victims the survivors.

Uh I want to say that it's a national disgrace to watch our attorney general uh conduct herself in the manner that she did during the congressional hearings.

And I want to thank the citizens of Erie for just allowing me the opportunity to be involved in this part of government.

Uh thank you so much.

Thank you.

Um my report, uh again, I apologize for the zoom.

The Zoom has got me a little out of whack, but we'll we'll get there.

Um we had our water reserve meeting this the last week.

Uh what we saw is um tick typically what happens when you have investments.

We didn't they kind of went down over this last quarter, uh, but overall they're still doing really good.

Um this continues to be a unique uh and that was highlighted in the report, a unique thing that Erie is doing.

Um and and it's gonna be very helpful for us when we when we get to the point of of utilizing this in a positive way to build up some capital development here.

So continue the the water reserve continues to be uh and doing what it was set in motion to do.

As far as working on, I'm also the liaison with with with Mocha, uh the communication with um the administration and some of the departments that the how things are shifting.

Uh I am excited about some of the things that we've started to put in place.

One having caucus out here, I know that's with council, but we were able to stream tonight the the caucus, which has not happened before, so I think that's another step in a transparent direction, um, and working on creating a a cohesive template for some of the information and how it comes down to council, especially around memos and contracts, which I think will go a long way in helping counselors be able to know what they're voting on more effectively and efficiently and being able to transparently give that to the public.

So I am excited about many of the changes that we're all working on together to see happen.

Uh and a reminder it is petition cycle seasoning.

So if if you are interested in the civic process, now is the time to be paying attention.

People are out collecting signatures all the way from uh county parties all up to uh for our governor a race.

So it is it is a big year uh to pay attention with that.

And in closing, I do want to address uh as as I wouldn't forgive myself if I sat next to my colleague and and have have her to defend herself and and her community with without solidarity.

Um public comment is public comment.

Um and that is the opportunity for all residents to be heard whether they are spreading inf misinformation or or correct information.

And we did hear some comments tonight that were inflammatory for for really no necessary and productive purpose, um, in my opinion.

And what we need to be doing is making sure the information that we are getting and that we are putting out there is accurate, um, that we are not causing harm for out of fear or ignorance, uh, and to be locking arms as as a group of uh people right now because there is a lot that is happening at a national level, uh, and what we can do locally is is is big uh and incredibly important, and we cannot be avenues for hate um and we cannot be avenues for divisiveness.

And so sitting here pledging, again, locking arms, it is different for all of us who who serve in public office, but is exceptionally different for those um who are brown or black.

Uh the amount of hate that is experienced and and visible is notable, and I think we we need to be aware of that as as we call upon our electeds and what they have to go through every day.

Um we are all still people too, and yes, we signed on for this office and we got voted at this office.

But we need to also we are we are making sure that that government is functioning in a way that is representative of everybody and not just some.

Um and I will conclude conclude my my report with that.

Um do you have a report?

Hi, good evening.

Um just want to update everyone on uh what's going on in the controller's office.

Um we've begun our meetings with all the department heads in the city, and so far they're going well.

Uh I've had a few meetings with our solicitor, and he's put up with me.

So and those have all gone very well.

Uh we're doing much research on our city contracts and familiarizing ourselves with all the provisions of the contracts that came from 2025 prior to me being in office.

Um just making sure contracts are being followed correctly.

We're paying bills uh according to contracts, according to terms on on all of our invoices.

So we're doing our due diligence on all of these things.

Uh we're actively working on our mandatory state reporting for our pension plans.

And that is a very interesting fund.

And so we're very lucky to have it as our consultant had mentioned.

We've met with our pension consultants.

We received an update to our plans performance, and uh everything is is going well.

We're remaining engaged with all the departments and listening to their needs from our end and addressing them.

And we're also actively putting in new procedures in place to streamline all the processes for paying bills.

We want to make sure that we have a checklist out there that so we're not duplicating work, basically.

Duplicating work uh costs money.

So we're just trying to make sure we're operating as efficiently as possible.

And I do want to mention my staff.

Um, they are extremely competent and they do their jobs very well.

So we're working very hard in the controller's office.

And thank you.

Thank you.

Uh solicitor.

I was asked specifically during caucus if there's any updates on the zoo.

I didn't say without getting into the details.

My best guess based on what I've been told is that we should be able to do to complete the transfer sometime in March.

Okay.

So I think that's going to get finalized.

And then I don't really have a report, but I would say Godspeed and uh quick recovery to councilperson Horton.

Thank you.

All right.

Uh Chief, go ahead.

A few updates from the mayor's office.

So we are continuing to send our weekly notes from the strategic leadership team meetings and hope that those are helpful.

Welcome feedback if you have any.

Uh the city staff workshop on the 6th was a huge success.

A lot of really good feedback from that.

The next step is to assist each of our departments with their individual strategic planning tools to get their plans ready for the year.

And want to thank Gannon for donating this space for the day.

We had our CDBG project presentations completed last week.

Uh, just a reminder echoing what council member poll referenced.

There is a public hearing on Monday, March 2nd at 10 a.m.

and 6 p.m.

here in City Council Chambers.

We're very pleased with the Black History Month exhibit in City Hall's lobby, and we look forward to finding more ways to encourage the public to come and enjoy this public space.

We have gotten a lot of positive feedback from the Miller Brothers Public Safety Complex study session last week.

Um, and we will continue to keep you all informed on that project as it moves forward and look forward to these monthly study sessions.

I think that's a really good space for us to learn together.

We have plans for celebrate Erie and the city celebration of America 250 in the works, those are being finalized, and we're very excited to announce them on the city's incorporation date, which is April 14th, so we can look forward to that.

And we're also hosting a youth workshop next Thursday to engage our youth in decision making about the city summer programs and the youth council that we hope to launch.

So thanks to Booker T for hosting that and to the youth who will participate.

Also just want to um express thanks and pride in the the Mocha Mayor's Office of Community Affairs team for their work on our new American summit that took place on Monday night.

Special thanks to Wu G, our new American affairs coordinator for organizing that event.

We had over 80 attendees engaged from over at least eight different countries of origin, got incredible feedback, and um the purpose of that summit was to gather their input to help shape our local policies as well as assist in the formation of a restructured new American council.

So we'll keep you in in informed on that.

And on that note, just want to say how glad we are to support the council council's work on the welcoming city ordinance.

Thank you for taking that vote today.

Thank you for those who came to speak about that.

I think this was a very necessary step to continue our renewal application to the welcoming cities of America.

And a good moment to remember that as we begin planning for its census 2030, our new Americans are very important to the city's population numbers, as many named tonight, which impacts our ability and the amount of federal funds that flow to our city to support programs, including those funded by CDBG.

Also just want to acknowledge and give condolences to Lori Watson, our clerk for in the loss of her mother, um, thinking of her and her family.

And want to close by noting this is a special time of year for many faiths with the start of Ramadan for Muslims and the start of Lent for Christians.

So just wishing everyone a time that brings peace and reflection.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Anything else?

All right, we will go ahead and close this meeting.

City Council adjourns at February 18, 2026, 8 30 p.m.