Last Night's City Commission Meeting Recap
Last night's City Commission meeting was a chonky three hours, so I'm going to recap it for folks who can't sit through that on the YT rewatch.
First of all, some 23 beautiful souls stood up to speak in opposition to the commission's reticence to remove the Flock cameras after it was discovered that they were not in fact secure, and could be accessed by all sorts of agencies. Many, many good points and arguments were raised, and it seems like we were heard! All members of the Commission have committed to ending the contract, removing the cameras, releasing the audit logs and providing timelines for these actions to occur. Because removal will take time, they are also seeking to place bags or other obstructions over the cameras so they cannot continue to capture data.
Budget adjustments was up first on the docket, with line items such as $200k for snow removal from the January snow storm. One item funded was rightfully contentious with audience members: a $36k golf simulator for the community golf course in Kettering.
Several large projects were funded last night including an airport expansion and development project, mostly through grants (I believe), with Commissioner Joseph abstaining from most of these votes. I plan to ask him at the next meeting if this is because he benefits financially from these projects.
There was a presentation on the formation of a Children's committee through a program called Learn to Earn. There were calls to provide the demographics of who this program would benefit and also state what the benefits to participants would be.
The site of the old Zion Baptist Church at the corner Third and Edwin C Moses was voted to be rezoned as Mature Multi Family, with Magnussen (spelling?) leading a project to put 100-120 'work force housing' apartments divided into two buildings on the lot. The church, as a designated historical site, will be preserved and later made available for some type of commercial use (like a restaurant). This developer is also developing the project on Forest Ave in Five Oaks. They plan to retain as many trees as possible and preserve access to the bike path and river walkways. My biggest concern is the fact that they are planning only 155 parking spots (which includes whatever the future commercial venture will need), with no mention of a plan for overflow.
The commission was made aware of several problems citizens are encountering. One of which pertains to the fire that took out the convenience store at 900 W Third Street, which has been sitting unsecured and untouched for three weeks. Neighbors reported that the smell of rotting food is horrifying, the flies have become unbearable, no cleanup efforts have been made so the threats to the health of neighbors is unknown but assumed to include asbestos, lead, etc. A neighbor reported scrappers have disturbed the piles of rubble, likely causing more contamination in the area.
Another concern was for an area in West Dayton (forgive me, I can't read my note on the address) where tents, tables and grills are being set up daily for an impromptu block party involving gambling and blocking egress for neighbors. Dayton Police Department has been notified repeatedly, and while they have come out several times, made empty threats for arrest if the situation continues and blocked off the lot that is being used, but provided no follow through.
A concerned citizen provided a startling recap of the timeline of City Manager Shelley Dickstein's actions regarding not only the coverup of the breaches of the Flock cameras, but also of her circumventing the Commission since her time as City Manager began in 2016, by awarding large contracts without their input. This citizen called for her resignation, a call that was echoed by many in the chambers, and extended to calls for the resignation of several commissioners as well.
I'm sure I'm missing stuff, like I said it was a hefty 3 hour meeting, but these were the highlights that stuck out to me the most.