Glass City Jungle

This week’s Toledo City Council Meeting started with resolutions which took almost the first hour of today’s meeting, it’s one of the ways Council recognizes groups and members of our Community:

Resolution – Recognize winners of Toledoan of the Year Awards

Resolution – Recognize Block Watch Program for 2008 Award For Excellence In Neighborhood Watch

Resolution – Recognize Jehovah’s Witnesses

Resolution – Recognize 50th anniversary of S.T.A.R.S. (Hopefully they will get a great turnout of citizens and electeds on their first day of the season on August 17th starting at 11:00 a.m. at Libbey High School.)

Authorize Brownfield Revolving Loan to Dillin Corp. for remediation of Southwyck, $1,500,000 First Reading

Councilman Ashford dropped a bombshell when he provided documentation from when Jack Ford was Mayor in 2003 that specifically stated that the EPA Revolving Loan of 2 million dollars was solicited from the EPA under the conditions that it would be used for disadvantaged/blighted Central City brownfield projects associated with New Schools/New Neighborhoods program. He also had copies of the original grant and those who originally supported the request for the EPA funding, this included letters from Lagrange Development Center, Toledo Lucas County Plan Commission, Toledo Alliance, Toledo Area Chamber of Commerce, National City Bank, Syke Bank, Central City and River East. He made several requests for information from the administration by referral and he expressed concern in how we protect the money and that Southwyck is not associated with this original intent.

Councilman McNamara expressed his desire to not hold this item at first reading but to vote immediately after discovering the original intent of this loan was not for the purposes the administration is planning, with his intention to send a message to the administration about their lack of providing this by voting no. For immediate consideration nine votes are needed, Szollosi, Craig, Ashford & McNamara were the only ones who voted yes, so it was held at first reading.

The Convenience Store Legislation was moved to the end of the agenda until after Council went into Executive Session.

Increase General Fund budget for Municipal Court drug testing and security, $175,000 salary savings

As in previous situations regarding this, the debate centered on continuing with the lawsuit or supporting this and would this or would this not eliminate the current court proceedings per se it would eliminate the funding problem. Councilman Szollosi pointed out that he felt it would be better for Council to address this rather than to waste the City’s law departments energies on what appears to be a losing battle. Collins stated that it should be left in the courts. Shultz, Sobczak, Waniewski, Webb, Brown, Collins, Copeland, and Sarantou voted no

Festival Fees Waiver – St. Catherine of Siena Parish

Councilwoman Webb did not want patrons of the festival ticketed for parking violations as happened last year, she wanted the Administration to try to work with the parish. Apparently last year quite a few officers were sent out to issue tickets.

Ordinance presented by Councilman Joe McNamara on proposed changes to noise ordinance related to smoking patios

McNamara presented an amendment to current legislation so that it would be placed in the Neighborhoods Committee so that hearings could be held, he requested of members of Council give him addresses of businesses with smoking patios and neighbors that they forward them to him so that he can make sure all of those interested are invited. Councilman Waniewski stated this was not designed to be anti-business that they need to get a handle on some things, that he wants to bring this to a good resolve and he is surprised by the things that are on the books that we can’t enforce. He is hoping this will create a result that works for both businesses and neighors that you can not be a good business if you are not a good neighbor. Councilwoman Brown wanted to make sure that whatever is done can be enforced and that it address more than just the patios since some locations have the doors open and the music is loud enough that it is heard well outside. Councilman Szollosi expressed concern as to non-permanent sound structures such as in cars, Councilwoman Shultz also wanted loud music played on patios of apartments as far as enforcement discussed during the hearing. Council President Sobczak stated that the University of Toledo Engineering students were helpful in sound abatement at a bar in Point Place with a plexiglass design and stated if any of them were watching, their input would be welcome for this hearing.

Accept loan from Ohio EPA and OWDA for Delaware Creek SSO Elimination Construction,$1,825,992

Sobczak apologized for this needing to be voted on tonight but said this needed to be in the State’s hands before the next scheduled Council meeting. All voted yes.

Discussion on the resolution by Councilman Collins related to ESM – Collins said the resolution addresses ESM issues on Bay for it points out language in their policy and procedures related to contractors or promoters who find themselves in an non-compliance situation as related to their tax obligations. He stated that he thinks at what was spent at ESM will be over $100,000 before it’s done and he asked his fellow council members to send a message to the administration by supporting this resolution. That we are heading into a budget crisis of over 2 million dollars and by the same token we are now experiencing an investment, while they can’t control how the administration responds to the day to day operation of the city they can say they don’t condone the business practices that you slide away from to let the ends justify the means.

Ashford stated there has been an ongoing track record of the Mayor’s past incidents, that it doesn’t matter how many resolutions you send he’s not going to get it. That last year he locked his dog in the car, and this year he did it again even though he had made a commercial. So we can urge him to do the right thing but there is no enforcement part of this, the law department works for the Mayor and that anything we ask that is a conflict of interest we are told that the Mayor and the Administration are right. He asked, when are we as a body going to place checks and balances that we are so splintered on council and we end up fighting against each other rather than push forward council’s agenda. He spoke about the budget arguments before Council, over street paving. He said on his time on council since 2002 it’s never been this bad and pointed out the documentation he provided earlier that the Administration did not share with them. Sobczak interjected for Ashford to stay on topic, Ashford asked that Sobczak not cut him off that this was related to the topic at hand of the Mayor because he has yet to follow anything. He was giving examples of the Mayor disrespecting the law, and council.

Waniewski said he’s never gotten into the Mayor bashing, but he thinks this resolution is the civil and legal way to do it. He said that it’s not just working together as a Council but working with the 22nd floor that should be the goal. He wanted to give the 22nd floor the benefit of the doubt, using Ashford’s fool me once line. Waniewski said he applauds Collins because it’s the strongest message Council could take and he wishes they could do something stronger but they can’t.

Szollosi said he supports both of what Ashford and Collins stated. Shultz stated she supports it because it’s a request and the Administration has the right to run the City and Council has the right to fund it. Webb stated what Shultz said was relevant as to the responsibility and obligations under the Charter. She broached a complete review of the charter by an outside entity and supports that, she doesn’t think the charter as it’s currently constituted takes us where we want to go as a city. As to the legislation she previously suggested to change the charter to reduce the threshold to $2,500 and that McNamara had provided her with research that demonstrated if they reduce the threshold, this council would have an additional 78 votes to cast each meeting. After that discussion and discussion with Sobczak as well as other council members she’s withdrawing her ordinance.

She also said that more promoters should be involved, pointing to one who spoke last week about being left out of the process. Brown called for immediate consideration and a vote. Sobczak voted no and so did Ashford, Brown and Copeland – all others voted yes, resolution passed.

Meetings excused

Ashford – Youth & Parks, Public Safety
Brown – Youth & Parks, Committee of the whole
Shultz – Youth & Parks, Public Safety
Szollosi – Public Safety, Agenda Review

Then they went into executive session for over an hour…

The Convenience Store Legislation issue – This is not all of what was said but the main points – it’s long as you can see

McNamara proposed an amendment to the amended legislation that was before Council, Councilman Waniewski is not in support of legislating them period, Council President Sobczak wanted Council to not support the changes McNamara suggested but to only support the original. Councilwoman Brown asked about not having a camera fixed on the cash register, Sobczak responded using RiteAid as an example and how stores were not using cameras at the register but at the door. Sobczak then shared this story about a son asking his father what type of business he ran after looking on line at the portion mentioning prostitution and that put the father in a difficult position explaining it to his son. Brown was concerned that this was going to not be restrictive enough. McNamara raised the point that one conviction of food stamp fraud should be enough to create a scenario where a convenience store should go out of business. Sobczak stated just one employee selling alcohol to an underaged minor could close a store down. Councilwoman Webb stated she philosophically agreed with Waniewski that there should be no increased resolution but she was going to use her vote wisely and vote for the Sobczak/Sarantou amendment.

Szollosi pointed out that the McNamara amendment specifically was related to business owners caught of a crime and did not reference employee’s breaking the law. He felt that the Sobczak/Sarantou amendment did not address all of the issues that the McNamara amendment did. He stated that some of this came about after a murder that took place at a convenience store when there was not video at the cash register, that was where business takes place both legitimate and illegitimate. Councilman Sarantou said that we had talked about shutting down taverns that have had dozens and dozens of liquor violations and he thinks this is a departure from that and that it gives the property owners the chance to make good on their promises. He also said that no one has yet been convicted of food stamp fraud so they better be careful what they said. He agreed with Sobczak as to not requiring a camera over a cash register, that there is a security code that some use that employees could have access to if a camera was fixed over the register.

Craig said part of the reason for cameras was a deterrent to crime, he can see no legitimate reason to not have a camera overlooking the cash register. He’s going to support McNamara’s amendment because he doesn’t’ see the point in having legislation that has no teeth in it. That he has been fairly lucky with his area but he knows other districts in Toledo have had issues and we need to make sure that they are safe, contributing neighbors. He repeated Waniewski’s comment that you can’t be a good business and not be a good neighbor.

Sobczak then continued to take issue with the McNamara amendment stating that while things may have been taken out by title but they are still in the legislation by reference in his and Sarantou’s format. There was a brief moment where Craig tried to respond and he said that he had the floor that Craig did not that if he wanted to speak again to hit the button. He stated several times that the McNamara amendment had only been given to council for three hours and he wanted this to be stalled two weeks so they could discuss what he felt was still in the legislation. Like owners, there would be pages of officers needed for a TruNorth or a Speedway. Brown said that the ones they were talking about were not Speedway’s which is why she wants to know who owns the stores, she’s not talking about the larger chains. Sobczak stated that all of her concerns were addressed by the changes in the legislation and that he wants to vote today, again mentioning only the three hour time frame of the McNamara amendment that he’s not stuck on pride of authorship and that some of McNamara’s amendment was part of lengthy debate he and Sarantou had with the Midwestern Retail Association.

Sarantou said he’s never heard of a situation where a robber has had his case thrown out because they didn’t have video of him at the cash register. He feels considering the huge number of violations that happen by other businesses lessening that makes it better. Councilwoman Shultz stated there is not any reason why they can not hold this because she wants to compare both pieces of legislation, she stated that the Toledo Police Department has the ability to take pictures as they are actually happening and that would end the dispute as to where the cameras should be to take advantage of that technology. She wanted Brown to convene a committee meeting to discuss that and that the City should not be chasing businesses out of Toledo.

Councilman Craig said there had not been a convenience store that was shut down in Toledo for several years, that you can do whatever you want, you can crowd the aisle and your parking lot can look like junk. While he doesn’t believe he has that many problem stores in District three, but there are some and we are not chasing them out of town but we are putting laws in that have some teeth in them. If they don’t want to operate in Toledo, he’d be happy to go on tv and tell them to leave, that he doesn’t want them here if they are not going to obey the laws. They are asking them to be good citizens, report criminal activity on their property, this is a common sense piece of legislation. To allow the store owners to come in to negotiate away most of the teeth in this law is not right.

Councilman Copeland said he doesn’t understand why we can’t come to some kind of a compromise, he doesn’t understand why it has to be “I got something here” and “I got something here” is all we are doing is politicking up here, to him it seems as if they are 12 people who are elected by the citizens and we can never come to agreement on anything. They need to get themselves out of the way and compromise. He’s fine with either legislation.

Councilman Collins stated that both amendments have the same intention to be able to create a body of law that works, a body of law that’s defensible that would hold up to constitutional defense. He wants to refer back and go back to the drawing board.

McNamara said it’s acceptable to disagree about policy, it’s part of what Council does, his amendment was a part of the original legislation which has been before council for well over 8 months, his is more stringent, their’s is less. He feels they went too far and the way to end the endless discussion is to vote. He then called the vote. Yes is for the McNamara amendment (I predict it won’t pass) Let’s see if I’m right. Shultz, Sobczak, Waniewski, Webb, Sarantou voted no which means the yes votes had it. Shultz called for a slow roll call for suspension of first reading, she was the only no vote – then passage – Shultz, Waniewski, and Webb voted no so ordinance passed. (Okay I predicted that one wrong.)

Copeland wanted to change his vote on Increase General Fund budget for Municipal Court drug testing and security, $175,000 salary savings so it was reconsidered. Szollosi made a plea for the rest of those who voted no to please think of the workers and vote yes on this. Sarantou said he would ask that his colleagues consider the rule of law (convenience stores are before the courts?) Szollosi said let’s take responsibility. Shultz, Sobczak, Waniewski, Webb, Sarantou, Collins voted no – ordinance failed.

Then at 7:37 p.m. first call:

Shultz said we need to have a retreat of just the 12 council members and no one else because she has problems with the way this meeting went and she said they have communication problems. She will not argue with the Administration, that she feels they need honest and clear communication with each other and they need to be able to conduct a meeting with civility. That they may respect each others differences but they have the right to control the purse strings, council may question members of the administration but some of the unwarranted criticism they’ve given of each other have nothing to do with council business.

Waniewski – referral why the speed bumps were removed on Woodley and if the speed bumps are going to be put back on Wendover and wants to congratulate the Boys and Girls of Club of South Toledo for their baseball championship.

Webb – construction on Alexis has started as well as Benore road overpass, so there are detours and heavy traffic. Next week she will not be available since she will be on her honeymoon so if anyone needs assistance ask for her assistant Vicki.

Ashford – sinkhole on Hoyt, high grass on Vance – Pinewood tree issues – demo house issues with yard, and another house that has been on the demolition list for 5 years. He said that the role of council is to vote on rules, that if things get contentious they should be referred to committee, that tonight with the changes there was no public input.

Collins – Mrs. Gabriel – when are we going to have the ability on our website to be able to see the streaming of Council meetings – she said this was her first knowledge of this request. (Actually Sobczak stated that he would deal with that previously.)

Copeland – he wanted to point out that things were not good during the City Manager form of government he doesn’t think it’s the Strong Mayor form of government is the problem. That he doesn’t have to agree with whoever it is but they have to work together to move things forward. We have a good government now, we just have to go with it. We have to get to a point where we are willing to work with whoever is up there.

McNamara – reminder to send addresses and names for those who want to be at the noise ordinance committee. About debate and discord, is okay, that’s what we are here to do, we come from different ideologies and backgrounds, we need to not be afraid to cast a vote when we feel we are right, one way to get beyond this is to agree to disagree. He apologizes for his passion but we do need to as Copeland said, move forward he has respect for all of them and he thinks spirited public debate is good.

Sarantou – agrees with McNamara that debate is healthy and disagreement is always going t happen and that we try to weigh into both sides of arguments and he wants a report from the Charter Review Committee and that no one has received their information on referrals on the ESM from the administration. He feels the retreats are only helpful if everyone shows up, congratulations to his daughter who is now 18.

Sobczak – thanked his colleagues for the immediate consideration on the EPA funds, and there is an economic development meeting tomorrow, he was at a meeting about recent developments at the airport and he has information to share. He echo’d Sarantou’s comments about working together and about retreats and reminded council that part of their responsibilities were to work towards that end.

It’s now 7:51 p.m. Meeting Adjourned.