I call to order the agenda review meeting of February 10th, 2026.

Clerk, please call the roll.

Gaddis?

Here.

Hobbs.

Jones.

Here.

Comeves.

Kramer.

Here.

Martinez.

Present.

McPherson.

Here.

Maldon.

Morris.

Here.

Soranto?

Here.

Williams?

Here.

Driscoll here.

Quorum present.

And Councilmember Colmai's snuck in at the bell.

The first item we have is the Toledo Municipal Court.

Welcome, welcome.

Good afternoon.

Thank you for having us today.

I'm here with an ordinance to appropriate expenditures from the clerk's computerization fund pursuant to Section 1901.261 of the Ohio Revised Code.

This fund is used for upgrades to our case management system, our website, and to purchase computer equipment for our office.

I thank you for your consideration of this request, and I am asking for SCP.

I know I'm working.

Councilman Sarantu.

Thank you.

Um was this in your 26th budget?

This is from a trust fund and is not general fund money.

Okay, so it's the trust fund.

Okay, great.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you.

President Williams.

Your recommendation?

Uh we'll do uh SEP.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you so much.

And then next we have the Department of Police operations.

Welcome.

Thank you.

Um we have item number one on the thing.

Uh Lieutenant Brian Holmes, Sergeant Kevin Neighbor's uh item number one is authorizing the mayor to accept a grant.

The amount of 158,655 and sixty-three cents from the state of Ohio for police officer training, authorizing the deposit appropriation and expenditure of said funds and authorizing the mayor to accept bids and a work contracts and this is for our opater reimbursement that we get for the mandatory training for our officers.

This will be the fourth quarter from 2025.

And we are requesting SEP.

Councilman Sarantu.

Thank you.

What kind of specifically, what kind of training are we talking about?

The training that the mandatory training.

It's mandatory.

Okay, including non-uniformed officers.

Yes.

Okay.

Thank you, Lieutenant.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you.

See no further questions.

President Williams.

SEP.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Next we have the Department of Human Resources.

Good afternoon.

Mike Najelski, the Director of Human Resources for the City.

With me to my left is uh Vicky Coleman, she's the deputy director for human resources, and also Caleb Rasco.

She is the chief of collective bargaining for the city.

The item before you from human resources is a um request to amend uh multiple sections of the code, specifically six sections of the uh code uh for chapter 2101, which governs um non union uh classified exempt and non-exempt employees.

Um I would characterize the changes as in two ways.

Some of it's just cleanup, um, just some clerical things that needed to be fixed in the code.

Um and uh also there's some substantive changes uh that I'll get into uh presently.

Um what we're asking to do in uh we'll start for with the uh the plant manager.

We're asking to add a new classification under 2101.01.

Uh new classification of plant manager and um in in the in the pay range of an E2.

We're asking to do this because what we saw in our plant operations is that um all of the uh the employees who run that one the operation are administrators, pay grade 15.

And so we had um so we have administrators running different sections of the plant, such as maintenance or or operations, and then we have a plant manager or another, I'm sorry, another administrator who runs the plant.

But they all make the have the have the same pay grade.

And so what we wanted to do is separate that and basically correct it so that uh there's some pay separation between the person who runs the plant and the person uh the folks uh underneath that person who run the different sections or manage the different sections.

So you'll see that uh we're asking to add that the the that classification of plant manager um impact uh it impacts uh two employees, one for the um water treatment plant and one for the water rec plant.

Uh it's going to result in some uh lower overtime for uh those two operations, and it just it makes sense from a strategic standpoint, but it just aligns um, you know, it it creates some separation between uh again the people who run the plant and the people who um are in the different sections.

Uh another um uh change that we're asking is we're gonna we're asking to um uh add building inspection certification stipends.

This is consistent with uh the bar our bargaining unit employees and locals seven AFSME 7 and 2058.

Um they get a uh employees in those uh unions who uh qualify uh with these different building inspection certifications will get uh get a stipend.

And again, um to align with uh with um being consistent with what we offer our bargaining unit employees were asking to add this uh stipend to or this um benefit financial benefit to um the exempt employees would affect two employees if they were eligible, and it's again consistent with um with what we offer our unionized employees and just it's it's consistent with their priority to to cultivate a thriving workforce and and for retention and um recruitment purposes.

Um what that were how that works is that the employee gets paid if they have these certifications, they can get paid up to seven percent of their base wage uh one time per quarter.

Um so it would be four times up to four times a year.

Um again, it affects two employees, and the total cost is would be the maximum uh potential cost would be between 42 and 45,000 dollars.

Um we're also uh uh requesting to amend the code as it relates to police deputy chiefs, uh revising we want to uh revise the the severance and termination provisions.

Again, this is consistent with employees who um or union members and our police command officers union in you know our deputy chiefs come from that particular bargaining unit.

So this is just to make sure that we promote uh retention and consistency with those and um members of that bargaining unit.

Um another change, substantive change is we're uh we're requesting to um amend the sick time payout.

So currently our um exempt non-union employees are allowed to cash in every year a small portion of their um their sick time and with our bargaining unit employees, they actually have a um a different plan, and we're just offering the same plan that's consistent with our again our unionized workforce, police command, police um patrol, and our ASMA units all have this this different sick time payout.

So we're asking to um basically be consistent again in promoting retention and recruitment for um for our non-union exempt employees.

I also mentioned there was some housekeeping changes.

Um you should have um a red line version of this um of this uh ordinance.

It so it did there are some cleanup involved, but in other words, we're eliminating the E5 pay grade because I don't have that anymore, but there's still some references to it in the code.

You'll see that we've um in in what in one of the I think it's section twelve, I believe, of the code of this ordinance.

Um we're deleting or asking to delete the the reference to longevity pay.

We have no we don't do we no longer have any employees uh non-union that are eligible or would be covered by that.

So we're asking to um to just uh um delete that part of that section.

And then the last thing you'll see at the very end, we're um um asking to uh the um repeal two chapters of the code, those two chapters 2106 and 21 uh 21, sorry.

2115.

Both relate to our 911 uh operation, which we no longer have, because in 2020, um the Lucas County uh council of regional council of governments um took over the all of our 911 operations, you might recall.

And so this is just uh outdated um parts of the code that we are need no longer need to be in there, and so we're asking to be repealed.

Um happy to take any questions um requesting SCP.

Thank you.

Uh Councilman Sarantu.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Um Director, can you go back to re revising severance and termination provisions for the uh Deputy Chief Police Chiefs?

What is that exactly that mean?

What are we trying to accomplish there?

So right now we have three police deputy chiefs, and um they come, you know, they're they're selected from or actually a part of Pro Tem for with the Toledo Police Command Officers Association.

And but that the the termination and severance payout for when they retire is different from than what is offered from the union.

So we're just making that consistent with what that the terms of the contract are.

Okay.

So that ties into what other positions would be uh that are um similar.

Exactly.

Okay.

All right.

Thank you.

Thank you, madam chair.

I just want to recognize council member Meldon and uh Councilwoman McPherson.

Sorry.

Confused.

Didn't have a question.

I was gonna wait for the recommendation.

Um I'm not sure if all council members have um had the time to read thoroughly through all of this and to make uh decisions and looking at this, so I would just like to make sure that we all understand the changes and it's a lot.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And I was just made aware that we just received the red line copy not long.

Um and that after the meeting, Julie will make sure that we all get a copy of it.

Councilman Driscoll.

Thank you, Chair.

Uh glad we're going first read on this.

I do maybe question that maybe we'll have to be answered by referral, but um do we have a sense so looking at the the sick leave payout several disciplination?

Do we have a sense of the budgetary implications of that?

Um I know we um the that what we mean in the fire finance department does budget for sick time payouts.

I'm not sure how they do it, but I'm happy to I we were trying to get the actually an actual number of what that looks like every year, and we I can get that to you by way of response.

Okay, thank you.

I'll I'll make an actual one, but thank you.

Yeah, that's fine.

Councilwoman McPherson, I just want to be clear.

First read.

Um I know we um the the what we mean the fire finance department does budget for sick time payouts I'm not sure how they do it but I'm happy to I we were trying to get the actually an actual number of what that looks like every year and we I can get that to you by way of response okay thank you I'll I'll make an actual one but thank you yeah that's fine councilwoman McPherson I just want to be clear first reading yes first read okay thank you first read thank you so much thank you now we have number oh council president Williams I move the uh executive session for the purpose of discussion a security matter related to information and technology and I need a second second second so moved Gaddis yes Jones yes Kramer yes Martinez yes McPherson yes Meldon yes Morris yes Sarantu Williams yes Driscoll motion carried right short so I probably stand up in there comments I think they can do it at the end once we just have to be really frustrated no idea why some people are coming right here Janet is going to test if you need to make one maybe probably I've heard a lot about you yes yes to meet you nice to meet you we want us to support all the hard work and that's why we're here we're behind you absolutely just thinking very expecting maybe are you getting back okay we'll sit down really fast like for food it was it was really my job is right but I know the people who are that's that's very much my we did the strain that's my number one is false yeah it's not working my number one straight so I remember this she's really gonna thank you she's staying on private street President Williams can I have a second second role call Hobbs Jones here Kramer here Martinez here McPherson here yes here Meldon yes Morris here Soranta here Williams yes Driscoll yes motion carried I think it's item number three is from the Department of Information and point of order sorry uh clerk I just want to confirm do we need to redo that just to to reconsider if we said here instead yes to reconvene are we good we're good okay thank you we would just request SEP okay seeing no questions Chair Meldon your recommendation thank you next we have two resolutions in attendance this is from councilwoman McPherson and Council President Williams recognizing the Grand Lodge food pantry and then also from councilwoman McPherson President Williams and Councilwoman Gaddis recognizing Natasha Howard in celebration of Black History Month under second read items we have ordinance 34-26 authorization for a lease agreement with Toledo Wedison for the debtweiler park debt

This is from Councilwoman McPherson and Council President Williams recognizing the Grand Lodge food pantry.

And then also from Councilwoman McPherson, President Williams, and Councilwoman Gaddis recognizing Natasha Howard in celebration of Black History Month.

Under second read items, we have ordinance 34-26 authorization for a lease agreement with Toledo Wedison for the Detweiler Park Detweiler Park Pool Parking lot for $500 a month.

We have ordinance 38-26 authorization to contract with Home Serve USA Corporation for marketing of repair plans to water customers.

And we do have a Friday committee meeting scheduled at one o'clock on this ordinance.

Ordinance 40-26 expenditure for implementation of procurement strategies, improving overall functions for $99,000 from the general fund.

And then that's it.

Oh, I'm sorry.

New items from City Council.

This is now from everybody declaring intent to become a Storate Safe Community in partnership with American Academy of Pediatrics.

Councilman Driscoll.

Thank you.

Sorry, thank you, Chair.

Yes, we have some folks coming up from the American Association of Pediatrics, or not sorry, American Academy of Pediatrics.

We're going to give a short presentation here about what it means to become a STORET SAFE community, what it means moving forward.

And yeah, as they approach that they can take it away.

Welcome, welcome.

If you could just introduce your name for the record.

Good afternoon, and thank you all for allowing us to be here today.

My name is Mark Driscoll with the Ohio chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

We do a lot of work with education of those pediatricians and then also programs that ask for and promote the health and healthy lifestyles of children and their families.

One of those programs specifically that we're here to talk about today is the STORET SAFE program.

A little bit of background on it.

Sort of the legend of the STORTSAP program is that it was started by writing down on a napkin at dinner.

Some of our members were meeting at a National American Academy of Pediatrics meeting and discussing the difficulties of seeing so many stories related to firearm injuries, and they wanted to do something about it, but also knowing that it can be kind of a hot button issue.

And so they wanted to do something that would satisfy all parties and that everyone could agree to, and their hope was this Store it safe program.

So STORT SAFE goal is to bring a unified approach and nonpartisan messaging, bringing together leaders from education, health care, city officials, state officials.

We have Buckeye Firearms on firearm owners were invited to participate in the formation of this program.

So really the goal is to make a program that everyone can agree to.

Now in 2024 and up till today, we have started a STORT Safe Coalition with many members across the state with the hope of taking STORT SAFE not only in the medical field but throughout the state of Ohio at large.

We have signed on officially nine cities and communities throughout the state of Ohio that have become STORT-Safe designated cities or communities with the hope that they can use that brand and our messaging to be able to increase or increase the safety of families in the state of Ohio.

Just a little bit of the why, and unfortunately, this may not be new information because we see the drastic effects of firearm of related violence often.

In 2019 and 2020, firearm-related injury overtook motor vehicle crash injury as the leading cause of death in children throughout the United States.

What we like to reflect on at this at the Ohio AAP is that when it was realized that motor vehicle crash became the highest rate for children's death, we did a lot about it.

We started clicking our ticket, we increased the safety of car seats and seatbelt awareness.

So we wanted to do the same for firearm-related injury.

Again, unfortunately, I probably don't have to show this slide because we are all too familiar with stories like this spreading throughout the state of Ohio as well as across the country.

I might hear from some of the council members before the meeting today that there were just recently in Toledo some firearm-related injuries as well with youth.

But these are again some of the why this is so important.

I would be remiss to not share this video with you today.

Dr.

Jennifer Fallon Delucia at University of Toledo Hospital System is one of our biggest advocates in the area.

And she did record a message that she wanted to share with everyone today.

Hi, I'm Dr.

Jennifer Fallon Delusia.

I am working with the Ohio American Academy of PETs as a Store at Safe Ambassador.

From September of 2025 through January of 2026 in central Ohio, there were six children that were accidentally shot with a firearm, and five of those children died.

Unfortunately, this is not an unusual thing.

We see this more and more.

In fact, the number one cause of death in children in the United States now is firearms.

In Ohio, we do not have child access protection laws like some states do.

One of the things that we at the Ohio American Academy of PEADs are really striving to do is to teach parents to lock up their firearms properly.

We want each firearm to be locked, unloaded, unaccessible by children, ammunition stored separately.

We actually give out gun safes as a part of the Store It Safe program so that our patients, families, can store those weapons safely and locked away so that children will not accidentally be shot, nor will children accidentally shoot others.

I really invite you and urge you to join this coalition.

Together, we can all make a huge difference in the lives of these children.

Thank you so much and have a wonderful day.

And then I'll actually pass the mic over to Dr.

Otis to speak a little bit about her experience and some of the ways that the STORT Safe program can serve our physicians.

Well, first of all, I want to say thank you for your enthusiasm as a city council and for your work as council members.

It's a big deal that you serve.

I'm a pediatrician here in Toledo, and a number of years ago I had a seven-year-old come in with my patient.

He shot his friend on the front porch, didn't kill him, but it was severe injury.

And I realized, oh my gosh, I didn't even know whether my patients had guns at home.

I did a small study evaluating the American Academy of Pediatrics gun safety program, starting off by asking mostly mothers who were bringing their children in.

Do you have a gun at home?

They were deeply appreciative that somebody was addressing the issue.

This was back in 1995.

This was not yesterday.

And what we learned was it mattered that somebody asked and that a pediatrician asked them because they trusted us.

And I will say that I also am an adult whose father was shot when I was a child by accident.

And the emotional trauma I experienced has just been published in the in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The numbers of mental illness and mental health visits of children whose parents suffer firearm injuries is enormous.

All this translates to money, obviously, not to not to mention anguish.

So I just want to say that I am honored to represent the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Ohio, we can take pride.

We have gotten the large chapter award five times record setting.

Ohio beats Texas, New York, California, all of them.

Ohio.

So take pride in our chapter of the Ohio Academy of Pediatrics.

And I'm really proud that Toledo is making this step, and we are going to be working with other the small towns, and I'll see you next week when you all actually vote on this.

But I just want to say thank you very, very, very much.

And then I'll just share a few final thoughts.

A little bit of information about Ohio and Lucas County specifically.

Also in Ohio, guns are the leading cause of death among children and teens.

In Lucas County specifically, in 2024, there was one unintentional child shooting recorded in 2023, seven.

And then for overall deaths in 2024, 11 children in Lucas County had deaths involving guns.

And we would say at the Ohio AAP that one is too many.

A little bit of the success that we've had with the program.

We've had successful media campaigns.

You can see an example of that on the slide here of one of our billboards in Akron.

What's interesting on this slide is that the program Store at Safe can be used to promote not only safe storage of firearms, but with the laws all ever changing on marijuana and prescription pills.

They can also encourage families to store these safely as well.

The program itself has distributed over 5,000 and probably closer to 10,000 lockboxes throughout the state of Ohio to families to be able to store their guns safely.

The hope is that we could bring those to Toledo as well.

We've trained over 300 providers in Storet Safe tenants.

We've reached around 130,000 Ohioans.

And as I said, you would become the tenth city to accept the designation by joining the others that you see on the screen.

The benefits of becoming a part of the program are that you become a partner with the Ohio AAP and are able to use our resources throughout your city.

This is a look at our website.

Some of the resources that we have are listed there.

We have rack cards that we give out to parents to be able to learn how to better talk to their children about mental health.

We have resources that can be given to providers for how to have the discussions about firearms.

Many providers that we've spoken to before this program, and even Dr.

Otis mentioned were not.

That wasn't even a part of their thinking that's something that they would discuss in a visit with a patient.

And so this is a good guide for those providers to use to how to have those discussions.

We have a youth resource specifically for youth to be able to know what it means to have a firearm stored safely in their home, why it's important.

And then also we like this part that uh has the ways to take a break that we have on our youth resource, but it's probably useful for adults and youth of how to take a break, de-stress, something helpful for children that may be going into signs of uh depression.

Um we spoke to firearm owners about what would be helpful for them.

Again, we know this can kind of be a controversial topic for firearm owners, and they said they would be most interested in having kind of the basic facts and then the back of this resource what they can do about it.

A lot of firearm owners aren't aware of what it means to safely store their weapons, and so this graph on the back can easily show different ways that they can safely store their weapons.

This is a poster that we have available as well for firearm retailers to use.

Um, kind of we think of it as the final way of reaching the audience so that they can see this message before checking out at their firearm retailer.

And then just a little bit about the program itself.

We've joined the statewide prevention coalition association.

Um we've started uh the Storet Safe Education Professionals Work Group.

We continue our collaboration with many organizations throughout the state.

And other regions are noticing the success of the program.

We've had interest from Michigan, Pennsylvania to run our specific STORT SAFE program.

And currently in Indiana, we are running a quality improvement project with our employees helping Indiana to run a storet safe initiative in their state.

And then this slide just will that I can share with each of the council members will link to our resources that I mentioned today.

It also again points out that safe storage doesn't have to only mean firearms, but can also be related to medicines, marijuana, other lethal means.

And then that would be the end of my presentation.

I'm happy to take any questions, as are my partners up here.

And again, we just really thank you for letting us speak to you today.

Thank you, and thank you for your advocacy and hard work.

You're changing the lives of a lot of people.

I think Councilman Driscoll, you were first.

Thank you, Chair.

And it's pronounced Driscoll, is that right?

That is correct.

Thank you.

Um I I want to thank the AP for their work.

I want to thank them for uh coming um and working with the city tool.

People should I the rest of the members should know that the AAP actually has worked with City Talia on a couple other initiatives too.

Uh most notably our um uh lead poisoning prevention works.

They help us distribute um the little the little books that you've seen with the about um lead safety prevention.

Um yes, that is my brother, Mark Trisco.

Um yeah, I think insofar as it can be this is this is a nonpartisan sort of apolitical issue.

I think everybody is wants to avoid um unnecessary um gun dust in our community, particularly uh for children.

Um there are other Northwest Ohio communities seeking uh uh classification.

Is that correct?

That is correct, and we've talked with several cities um in Northwest Ohio, uh Delta specifically has already signed on, and then Washington Township in Wood County is also signed on.

Yeah, so I think I think we're gonna count us as first.

Uh I don't know how you classify Delta, but I'm counting us as first.

Um highlights that uh this is sort of a nonpartisan issue.

I think Delta is obviously more rural area of of uh of the state of Ohio.

Um, but that they're they they care about this too.

The Buckeye Firearms Association obviously um has signed on to this in a way that I think promotes how just reasonable this is and and important.

Um I won't go back to that that chart that you shared.

Um I said a couple weeks ago and when we did the committee appointments, but um this this took me back a little bit because um I do feel as though any society can be judged by the work that it does to prevent unnecessary deaths, and the top two uh firearm-related injuries and motor vehicle are the two most likely ways that a child dies in this country.

Um I think it's I think it's pretty cool that this council cares deeply about vision zero and and trying to prevent unnecessary um automobile-related deaths in our community, and then also now we're adopting this.

I think we're really I think it's just I don't know, just I want to we all deserve some credit here to do our best to um to step try to stem the tide here and and do what we can as a community.

Umfortunately, there are no I think uh Dr.

Delusha mentioned there's no child firearm access laws in Ohio.

Um nothing that we can do about that here.

I maybe maybe we should auto-sponsor a resolution, but a lot of other states do that, and I think it might be a necessary step for us to take as well.

Um Mr.

Driscoll is from Dayton, works out at Columbus.

Uh so we're gonna jump the gun and assume that we're gonna pass this next week and just take the picture today because they're uh they're not coming back next week, so we're gonna take our page.

Just want to let everybody know that we're taking the picture today.

Um thank you again.

And just while I have you on the record, Mr.

Driscoll.

Do you remember when we were kids and you worked my favorite stuffed animal?

Why would you do that?

I do not recall that.

I recall when you stole my Mountain Dew.

Okay.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Um the uh information cards that you presented on.

Is there any way we can get some of those to make sure it gets out to the community?

Yeah, um uh we have some of those printed out.

I unfortunately didn't bring them with me today.

They're all downloadable, so you can get the PDF versions, but I can also send some home.

I'll either give them to Mac or somebody that can bring them up here.

Okay, thank you.

Councilwoman Morris.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you for coming here, and thank you for your dedication to our youth.

Um Dr.

Otis, I would love to see a copy of that um article in the New England Journal of Medicine.

So if you I would share it with everyone if they would like it.

That would be great.

Old fashioned talk.

Hey, that's I'll take old fashioned any day.

Thank you very much.

I had misspoke.

I had said that within the last year, I have three uh incidents in my district alone where there have been children who have been shot.

I misspoke.

It's been the last five months that I have had children in my district who have been shot.

And you know, everyone has the right to bear arms.

We have that uh that that guarantee, but children have the right to not have access to firearms, and they have the right to be in a safe environment.

And um I love that this has the information about how to do some of this because gun locks without any kind of education are really not effective.

Um we need that personal ask.

Is there a gun in your home?

Um so many people were raised with with firearms, but they also were taught how to safely coexist with them.

I don't believe that that is happening now.

And we as leaders in this community owe it to these youth that we keep them safe.

And I love that we are walking this line today and adopting this next week.

Um, and thank you for the collaboration that you are bringing to our community.

We are excited about this.

Thank you.

Councilwoman McKramer.

Thank you, Chair, and thank you so much for being here today.

I am very proud of this council um for you know for the work that we're doing here to designate our city as a story safe city.

It is so important.

And I'm an educator by trade, and so I've been very involved in you know, gun violence uh prevention initiatives for many years, and I think this is a great step that we're taking.

Um I'm really excited by all the materials you guys have, the posters, um, you know, just the different resources that we will have as store at safe cities.

Um, one of the things I'm very passionate about is locking up our weapons and encouraging Toledoans to lock up their weapons.

And so, you know, I was talking to Dr.

Otis a little bit about the availability of the gun locks and the gun safes.

Um, so we're definitely gonna work with you all on that.

Um, for me, um, gun violence in this country is a public health crisis.

You know, it is the leading cause of death in children ages one to nineteen, and it is preventable.

You know, it is something that we can prevent, and I want to do everything we can in the city to prevent those shootings that councilwoman Morris was was talking about.

So thank you very much, and I look forward to working with all of you on this.

Thank you, Councilwoman Dr.

Jones.

Thank you, Chair, and thank you all for just bringing this even more to light.

Um, as you know, just what has been happening within the city and all around when it comes to gun violence and also just the desensitization, however, you say that when it comes to gun violence because of just social media and the culture and things of that nature.

And I like the slide um with one of the pamphlets that say, you know, education is not enough.

It's just not enough.

You actually have to have some sort of intervention, having that safe environment where people can come and share that information.

And really, you know, it was just curious, you know, that first step is talking to a pediatrician and how you all create that safe environment to disclose this sort of information as a mom of three young children, and I am also a gun owner, licensed and trained, my husband is as well.

We understand the importance of that, and also it was a conversation that I've had um talking about gun locks because most of the gun locks are at police stations, but people don't usually feel comfortable going to a police station, so there needs to be more discussion of where else can you have access?

Is it the libraries?

Is it community centers?

Is it pediatricians, doctors' offices?

Because at this point we can talk all that we need to, but unless we offer just those items to encourage that locking up.

I don't know how this will it will change, but I mean education is the first step, but we have to have more access to those preventative tools as well.

And so I really thank you for bringing this to our attention.

Definitely thanks for our the colleagues that definitely started this, and I'm hoping to see a lot more change when it comes to just guns in general.

So thank you very much.

Looking forward to working with you all.

President Williams.

Hi, thank you for coming.

Um I was one of those gun owners that said uh I need my gun out and readily available.

Um and then I uh my daughter was grown and moved out, and I taught her gun safety when she was a little girl, and now I have a little baby that I'm old and I can't teach anything to her because she teaches me.

So I I once I got her, I did know that I needed to lock it up because as I get older, I do, and I have I've had guns stolen and recovered.

Um if I had it locked up, they probably wouldn't have been stolen in the first place.

So I am one of those that had to learn, and I I thank you for putting this message out.

One more thing.

Um I'm glad you came, Mark.

You give me hope for Charlie.

That head of hair is amazing.

That is simple amazing in a conversation where it is so serious, and I'm sitting here thinking Charlie has hope.

Because that hair is amazing, and that mom intertwine that I think we are in all right.

Thank you so much again, and it's so good to see you back to Otis and you too.

Thanks for coming.

Councilman Melton.

Thank you, Chair.

Um I have nothing for uh council president.

Totally took the words right out of my mouth.

So no, uh although I second the motion.

Um that's great.

The Driscoll kids, man, they're all smart, aren't they?

Thank you for being here.

Great, great to learn and hear.

You anyone remember the it was a PSA.

It was I just looked at it, it was 10 years ago.

Uh one of the most creative ads I've ever seen, which was guns don't kill people, toddlers kill people.

Um and it said there are more deaths by gun in this country from a toddler than by a terrorist.

And that was 10 years ago.

I mean, bananas to me that I heard that ad, and it like shook me.

And I looked and you blank, and it's 10 years later.

I think the the gun conversation in our country is maybe the thing that exhausts me more than anything, any sort of like debate or or public policy notion.

I just feel so like I mean the most depleted I could feel ever.

And so when I see anything that feels like, oh, this is a no-brainer, this is just so common sense, I get really excited about it.

Um so thanks for leaning into what I'm sure seems like advocating that air is important, and that you know, maybe gravity is useful.

I mean, it has to be disorienting to be advocating for like the most basic of things.

Um but it is, and I'm I couldn't, I couldn't be, you know.

I echo all the comments, I'm proud of this council, and then I say, All right, what are the next thing and the next thing and the next thing?

And my vote is already yes.

So thanks.

Councilman Sarattu.

Thank you.

Thank you for being here.

Um very compelling uh what you've mentioned.

Well, in my humble opinion, I think the real problem is adults, the lack of adults, the the the fact that adults can't lock up guns.

So how do we reach them?

What what can we do in your opinion?

Your professional experiences.

What can we do to get adults to be adults and lock up their weapons?

I will allow these two ladies to speak as well, but I know from the data from our quality improvement projects, and it's something that Dr.

Otis mentioned as well is that um in the pediatrician's office, a lot of success was had with speaking to parents at the well child visits.

Um a lot of the times parents didn't even think about that they would have to store their weapons safely, it's just not something they were educated on.

Um, and so having those discussions in as many places as possible, um, specifically through the AFP would be the pediatrician's office, but I know that uh Melissa probably has some ideas as she wants to spread the message of Storyt Safe as well, and I invite Dr.

Otis to speak as well to you.

I will say that pediatricians are trusted, and I think as our family medicine physicians, um, and it's a great place to ask the question do you have a gun at home?

No opinion, no judgment, no nothing.

And the expectation for me was the answer was yes.

Um, and we saw that where there was a male above the age of 18, the numbers went way up that there was a gun at home.

And then just to be able to ask questions, be respectful, be kind, be informative, um, non-judgmental, and um offer data that mostly those guns hurt somebody they don't defend, they actually hurt a family member that you don't want to hurt, and to offer a box and a lock and some education, that was something I didn't have access to in my in my little study.

And to offer a box and a lock and some education, that was something I didn't have access to in my in my little study.

But I think physician offices is a wonderful place to start.

And as we educate the community with public health education, much, much, much more broadly than that personal relationship, that having them at libraries is a really great idea.

I mean, having them in public places where people come and feel safe.

So yeah, I think you all you know.

Well, about uh utilizing the media, not just the media in general, but social media in terms of uh public service announcements and that.

It seems like you know, we have a lot of kids who do not see doctors on a regular basis, unfortunately in this country, and uh child care or medical care for children is lacking for a substantial number of of kids in this country.

So I mean, what about television, radio, uh, social media?

It seems like you know, we can reach a lot of people, besides obviously the physician offices, which is important too.

Yeah, uh definitely, and we would love to see that happen, um, whether that's through the Ohio AP AAP or our cities that have signed on.

Um we like to say that once the city adopts the store at safe uh designation, it's kind of their program to run with.

And so um we welcome you to use um PD uh PSAs, um, any sort of social media campaigns, um, our resources.

I know a lot of um the cities uh take our resources and table at events like street fairs and things like that.

So getting the word out at those events, and then uh you wanted to speak if you want to speak about some of the ideas that you have too.

Sure.

Thank you for that question.

Um I am with the Toledo Lucas County Health Department, and in the background um as we're working towards um today and presenting with you all.

Um I've been um collaborating with many different partners here in Lucas County.

So we have um both Mercy and Prometica's injury prevention departments um ready to um join in along with the VA.

We have the um suicide coalition prevention coalition involved, um, and and uh Monsi along with other partners and looking at um starting a chapter, coalition chapter, where we can all work together on finding ways to promote, to table, to distribute, um also UTMC, of course, with Dr.

Fallon Delusia.

Um, and so we have a tight-knit group that I think will be able to um build and spread the word and make this into a more robust program for our community.

Yeah, I I I just think PSAs are very helpful.

They get people's attention.

We've had them for vaccines, we have uh for so many other things in the community that we're trying to reach the masses.

So I I would strongly recommend that I hope that the city, our communications department will also work with you on that because we really need to get the word out uh uh very quickly and uh because we once again we we've we just had a tragedy in the city of Toledo, and this is gonna go on, unfortunately, and until we get people to be educated in terms of what they really need to do, and that is take responsibility.

Thank you very much for being here.

Thank you, Madam President.

And if I can just share an example just came to mind.

Um Cincinnati is signed on as one of our Sort Safe Cities as well.

Um and they were seeing an uprise in vehicle thefts where guns were present, and so they asked us to collaborate on a social media campaign of safely storing your weapon in your vehicle, um, especially events like Bengals games and things like that.

Um so if there is someone in the city or in the health department that reaches out to the AAP, we're happy to collaborate on messaging.

I did want to mention one other small comment.

Um, last year in um June, there was firearm awareness day in the health department in collaboration with Safe Kids Greater Toledo and the VA did do a very small one-day distribution event and kind of media blitz.

And um I didn't bring the data with me today, but I think we had about 140 um locks and lock boxes of people coming into our two sites between the VA and the health department um interested in just receiving those locks.

So I think that there may be more interest in people utilizing them if they have access than we realize as well.

Councilman Driscoll.

Thank you, Chair.

I'll be brief.

I just failed to mention that.

Yeah, we we started having this conversation a couple months ago, and we're working with um at the well with Malcolm Cunningham and the folks at MONSI Josh Davids is in the audience, which is great.

Um, you have like tons of good ideas about how we can move forward.

So we're not just um signing on to this and and doing a proclamation, and that's it.

Like um uh rest assured uh Mod C in the health department are prepared to work with hospital counsel with the police department.

We even talked a little bit with um Director Fosnaw about you know we have we have gun locks and um at the safety building, but why don't we have them at the ice rink?

Why don't we have you know why don't we have them everywhere that we do business?

So um we've got some you know we personally uh will be doing this from the council end, but also there are folks inside this this agency that are going to carry this forward from the educational materials to the gun locks, everything that we can possibly do.

Um, Dr.

Otis, obviously sounds like you are you do this.

I know our pediatrician also when we first made our first appointment and at the hospital, they asked us do you have gun at home?

Um yeah, just those basic um things that we you know we can we can now be sort of the hub that provides the educational materials and the the actual equipment to our partners out in the community to do what we can to um to make a difference here.

Councilwoman McPherson.

Thank you, Councilmember Gaddis.

Thank you for your presentation.

Um yes, I am very excited about this.

Um there's also when we talk about um teaching and educing, I think uh there needs to be another component about even educating our young kids.

And I said this in an interview yesterday.

When I was in my parents' home, we were not allowed to go in their bedroom.

They didn't have doors on it.

We just knew that that bedroom was off limits.

We knew dad had a gun.

We still didn't go in that bedroom.

Young people now are very inquisitive.

And with the guns that they get and they see with the Xbox games and all of this, when they shoot a person, they jump back up.

That's the mindset of a lot of kids.

And so we have to educate not only our parents, but we have to educate our kids about when you find a gun, what to do, if you see a gun, and we also need to educate now because a lot of times when you go into a place you can't take your gun, you gotta put it in a car.

Where are you putting it in your car?

Putting it in the glove compartment is not a safe place.

More guns are on the street because they have broken into cars and gotten guns.

So it there's a full circle on this.

And the other piece of it is we've got to hold parents accountable when a gun is found and it is used in a home, and another child is shot because of the lack of gun safety.

We need to be in our children's book bags and in their bedrooms, and no place in the house should be off limits where you as the adult can go in and search.

We've gotten laxed on that because we say kids have privacy also.

No, you don't have no privacy.

Not until you get your own place.

So we have to be firm, and we have to be consistent in the message to our kids and to the adults.

We've got to start holding the grown folks accountable for these uh tragedies that are happening to our children.

I'm excited to work with the program and and storage safe.

I'm not a I'm not a carrier, but just in speaking yesterday, I need to have gun education.

I need to be educated on it.

Um, and I believe we all should, regardless of whether or not we are carrier, we need to be educated on it.

And I do believe that we need to start in our schools educing our kids on gun safety too, not waiting until they're adults.

They need to have it now also.

But thank you for what you've done and doing, and we're on board and hallelujah.

There is hair in Charlie's view.

Dr.

Jones.

Thank you, Chair.

I I just thought of a question.

Um, I think you've already answered it.

You said that you were operating in Mercy and UTMC with this program or this this initiative.

We're going to be starting a coalition, and they have expressed interest in participating.

So Mercy ProMedica and UTMC, all three of them.

With UTMC through Dr.

Fallon Delusha, who did the video, and then with Mercy and ProMedica in both of their injury prevention departments, along with the Suicide Prevention Coalition that's run out of mercy.

Okay, because I was just thinking, and Councilman Driscoll had mentioned this about the question being asked, do you own a gun?

I don't recall being asked that when I bought my children.

And I recently had twins, they're about to be nine months this week.

And I don't recall being asked that question.

So I was curious of when this was basically started.

And then it also came to me as far as just the expansion and accessibility of the education, especially with students.

I'm thinking of those that go into the schools as far as you know, behavioral specialists, counselors, things of that nature, um, to also talk about that conversation about gun safety as well because they have that close relationship.

My husband is one of them, and actually he knew the 10-year-old that got shot.

And so that was um a big blowback as far as the day being plan of working with that child, and um they just came across that news.

So it's with that sort of close relationship.

We start thinking about well, who are our like community health workers and how can they answer that question, give that education as well.

But I yeah, I just recalled that I was not asked that question of do I own a gun in my home.

I think um this is something that you know we're today is the first day in Toledo for this, and we're gonna be working now from now forward in expansion.

Also, um, I can't speak on in regards to the pediatricians, but I think you know, we will be pushing for some educational campaigns and and getting into pediatric offices.

In regards to the schools, I do chair the school safety task force for Lucas County, which brings all Lucas County public school systems together, focusing on threat prevention, and I do see this as um easy partnership with that task force as well.

Okay, perfect.

Thank you very much.

And I would just add um the storage safe program, we like to think of in two buckets.

So we have um what we're here for today, the city designation, the coalition itself, um, uh advocacy.

Um, but then we also have the bucket which is on the medical side of things where things started.

And so the goal of the program is to increase the screening for firearms.

So um hopefully through the education that we're spreading through the Ohio AAP, you'll see more physicians and pediatricians asking that question.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for all your time today.

Thanks.

Next, we move on to you want to read it first.

No, that's fine.

Let's see.

Reaffirming the city of Toledo as a welcoming and inclusive community.

And before I introduce Councilman Colmives, I just we have um Brittany Ford from Welcome TLC, Janelle Metzger from Water for Ishmael, and Carrie Mahoney, Director Karen Holman from HRC.

If you guys would like to come up, and then I will open the floor to Councilman Colmives.

Thank you so much.

Uh just briefly, this is certainly not a new thing for us.

This body reaffirms our commitment to being a welcoming community nearly every year.

I would say it's really poignant in this moment that we do this.

I also want to invite everybody around the state to co-sponsor this resolution with us.

Um I'm thankful to the people uh doing work on the ground who we ran this resolution passed, and um you know there's still time if we want to add some language and do what we need to do.

Um but I think it's important right now for us to make our stance, our values, our commitments very clear that we as a community are indeed a welcoming community to everybody.

We have an incredible people that are children of immigrants that serve on this body.

We have uh I am I too come from a line of of immigrants uh to this community.

Ummigrants are our friends, they're our neighbors.

They are people who bring an awful lot of value to our community and are part of what make Toledo such an incredible place to live.

And so um I'm just really grateful for this body's continued commitment to uh affirming our belief that we value all individuals that live, work, play here in Toledo.

And I will stop talking now and turn it back over.

Thank you.

Hi everyone.

I think I know most everyone, but not everyone.

But my name is Brittany Ford.

I'm I helped launch Welcome TLC back in 2014.

And I'm now chair of the Welcome TLC Workforce and Economic Development Committee.

Janelle Metzger and I are here on behalf of Melia Rebus Douglas, the library's Welcome TLC specialist, and Michelle Zarou, the Welcome TLC Advisory Committee Chair, as they are hosting a 300 plus strong bystander intervention training downtown at the main library today.

So Welcome TLC wants to thank Toledo City Council for considering this resolution today.

And they did a 30-year study of from 1994 to 2023, where they found that immigrants reduced U.S.

budget deficits by a cumulative 14.5 trillion dollars over that 30 period 30-year period.

That they estimate the public debt would have reached 205% of GDP, nearly double its current level without immigrants in our country.

Every single year between 1994 and 2023, immigrants paid more in total taxes than they received in government benefits.

That non-citizens contributed $6.3 trillion to total fiscal savings, despite not being eligible for many of the benefits that we have in this country.

They added or preserved $5.7 trillion in housing wealth for U.S.

homeowners and generated $3.3 trillion in state and local property tax revenue across the country.

And we have a lot of that local data here in Toledo as well about the impact of our immigrant community.

And then just a few more data points.

And lastly, the Lakato Institute found that immigrants are significantly less likely to be incarcerated than native-born Americans.

So legal immigrants 319 per 100,000 versus native-born 1,221 per 100,000.

So and I'll pass it over to my colleague Janelle Metzger from Water for Ishmael.

Good afternoon, everyone.

As Brittany said, my name is Janelle Metzger.

I'm the executive director of Water for Ishmael and a member of the Welcome Toledo Lucas County Advisory Committee.

I stand before you as one of many who serve our immigrant families in Toledo and recognize the gifts and contributions that immigrants make to our community and our nation.

But I carried that Toledo low self-esteem until I started working with the immigrant community.

Why would all these warm country people be so happy to live where the air hurts our face?

So I asked, and they told me.

Metro Parks, Art Museum, Zoo, Library.

Kind neighbors, helpful schools, safety, affordability.

I have a chance.

Last week on Monday morning, I witnessed an incredible rally of faith leaders in Springfield, Ohio.

1,300 people filled an auditorium set up to accommodate 800.

Three different times they had to stop the meeting and request people to leave and watch live stream in order to comply with fire codes.

For three hours, we listened to one local faith leader after another talk about how the immigrant community had made Springfield a better place.

Now I know this is going to sound like the opening for a joke, but in reality, a missionary Baptist church hosted a Catholic bishop, a Southern Baptist preacher, an Episcopalian preacher, priest, and a Mennonite pastor.

And they all told us how their city had growth for the first time in five decades.

Things were looking up in their tired little town.

The woman sitting next to me had been part of a volunteer group who helped children born to immigrants fill out paperwork and pay the fees to obtain their U.S.

passports.

Please understand.

This is a small middle class town of 60,000 people, and 15,000 of them are newly arrived Haitians.

Why did they do it?

Because they understood the same thing that the brave people in Minnesota also understand.

They know that loving our neighbors makes our communities stronger and healthier.

Northwest Ohio has demonstrated this same core value as the first welcoming city county in the nation.

We've already demonstrated that we are for one another.

We value each member of our community enough to make space for their voices and to accommodate their needs.

Liberty and justice for all means that the Constitution and the rule of law must be upheld by both our residents and our law enforcement.

And I am so grateful to live in a city and a county where our local law enforcement have already affirmed their role to protect and serve all the residents here.

And I learned it from my immigrant friends.

You will do better in Toledo.

Members of City Council, thank you so much for putting forth this vote to reaffirm our welcoming status, and please continue to support this initiative.

Thank you.

Seeing nothing further.

That completes the agenda.

Oh seeing nothing further, meeting adjourned.