The Toledo City Council convened on September 8, 2026, at 4:00 PM in Council Chambers. The meeting opened with an invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by a resolution honoring social justice activist Linnie Liggins Willis. Council passed several ordinances on second reading, introduced new items from various departments, and engaged in extensive debate over the use of Flock license plate reader cameras, with multiple members calling for a pause pending an audit. Other topics included the Brent Industries chemical incident, the city's lead law enforcement, and community events.
Here. Gaddis. Here. Hobbs. Here. Jones. Here. Colmines? Here. Kramer. Here. Martinez. Present. McPherson. Here. Eleven present. Please stand for the invocation by Reverend Sohan from Buddhist, the Buddhist Temple of Toledo, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to our flag and a performance of the national anthem by Adam Beanman. Good afternoon, everyone. Could we have like about uh thirty seconds of silence and everybody just enjoy the silence? Okay. May this city council session have the blessings of mindfulness, clarity, compassion, and right intention. Let understanding, harmony, and cooperation fill this space. May your work, your inspired work, be a benefit to all who are touched by the decisions made here today. May it be so I am space on America. Councilman Meldon. Thank you so much, President Williams. This is uh you know, it's always fun. We get to put these pairings together, and this one really threw me off to be honest with you, because these two uh gentlemen here are one is a very new friend, one is a very, very old friend, so I'm gonna give a little background on Reverend So on. Um I reached out to the temple to have someone uh come out for this month, and I did not know who it was gonna be. Kind of dealer's choice, if you will, and so wouldn't you know when I go find someone who we've twenty years ago we first met, um and I have memories of us playing music together, and Reverend plays a mean mandolin among many other things, I'm sure. That's true. I know Buddhist is to go on. It's not mean. It's probably not a mean mandolin. Um thank you so much for being here. That's very, very meaningful, and then Adam, thanks for being here too. Uh new, much, much newer friend, not 20 years. We don't go 20 years back. Uh, but I got to see you. My wife and I got to see you perform recently, and I was like, man, if we can pull this off, that'd be pretty cool too. So thank you so much for being here. I don't know how our meeting could be off to a better start because of both of you, so thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Clerk, please begin with the resolution in attendance. Resolution 381-26, honoring Linny Liggins Willis for her social justice activism and the delayed conferral of her degree from the University of Mississippi. This is presented by Councilwoman McPherson. Whereas Linny Liggins Willis completed all coursework and requirements for her degree from the University of Mississippi in 1970, and whereas Linny and 88 other students engaged in a peaceful protest at the university in 1970, which resulted in the expulsion of eight students, the old Miss Eight, despite fulfilling the academic requirements for graduation, Linny, as one of the eight was denied the opportunity to receive her diploma and participate in the commencement ceremony. And whereas for nearly five decades, Linny carried the distinction of having earned her degree while awaiting the formal recognition and diploma that should have accompanied that accomplishment. And whereas in 2020, the University of Mississippi acknowledged this history, issued an apology to Linny and her classmates, and presented her with the diploma formally conferring the degree she had earned in 1970.