Description of Video:
September
12, 2016 – North Canton City Council meeting lasting approximately one hour and
fifty-three minutes.
The video begins as Council members
return to their seats after a one hour Executive Session that began at 6:00
p.m.
Executive
Sessions are held behind closed doors and not open to the public, thus, no
video recording is available.
1:50
Council President Peters calls for a motion and a second to adjourn out of the
Executive Session and notes that Councilmember Stephanie Werren joined the
Executive Session in progress and that no action was taken.
According
to the Council agenda, the purpose of the Executive Session was to discuss the
employment of a public employee and to confer with the Director of Law
concerning a dispute involving the City that is the subject of imminent court
action.
The
agenda for the September 12, 2016, Council meeting can be found using the
following Link:
2:25
Peters calls the North Canton City Council meeting to order. An opening prayer is
given by Pastor Walter Poe and followed with the Pledge of Allegiance.
4:20
The Clerk of Council calls roll and all Council members answer roll except
Councilmember Dan Griffith.
President
Peters asks for a motion and a second to vote to excuse Mr. Griffith. This is
Councilmember Griffith’s third absence this year. Mr. Griffith has also failed
to attend meetings of Council for May 9, 2016, and June 13, 2016.
I
believe Councilmember attendance at meetings is quite important. In the last
few years, failure to attend Council meetings is being abused. A few years ago,
this abuse became quite obvious when Councilmember Marcia Kiesling was
repeatedly absent. Analysis of Mrs. Kiesling’s attendance in that time period
showed she was absent from nearly 30-percent of all meetings of Council.
For
this reason, I further divert a moment to report Councilmember attendance at
North Canton City Council meetings.
I
should note here that, historically, City Council has met four times a month.
The legislative schedule, according to the Rules of Council, calls for the Council
of the Whole (working session) to meet on the First and Third Monday of the
month and for Council to meet for legislative sessions on the Second and Fourth
Monday of each month.
This
legislative process has been followed since North Canton became a City in 1961,
fifty-five years ago.
Unfortunately,
the current membership on City Council, along with the support of Law Director
Tim Fox, have cut the number of Council meetings down to two meetings per
month, and on some occasions, only one Council meeting.
Consequently,
failure to attend a meeting of Council could result in weeks, or maybe months,
between Council meetings for a member of Council who might miss a meeting.
A
perfect example of this is Councilmember Marcia Kiesling. Last night, Mrs.
Kiesling made her first appearance in NINE WEEKS at City Hall.
An
explanation is as follows:
Earlier
this summer, City Council held its last meeting before the summer recess on Monday,
July 11, 2016. Councilmember Kiesling was in attendance at this meeting.
Council
ended its summer recess on Monday, August 22, 2016, six weeks after its last
meeting. Councilmember Kiesling was not in attendance at this meeting.
City
Council did not hold another meeting until three weeks later on Monday,
September 12, 2016.
Thus,
NINE WEEKS had elapsed between Council meetings attended by Mrs. Kiesling.
And
I guess to be fair; I should point out that the remaining six members of North
Canton City Council attended only one meeting over the same NINE WEEKS.
In
case anyone is curious, there is no interruption in the $600.00 paid monthly to
City Council members.
North
Canton City Councilmembers get paid even when there are no meetings.
In
recent years Council has cut back on the number of weekly meetings. And when
they fail to attend meetings under this reduced schedule, they continue to
receive a paycheck.
Perhaps
this is North Canton’s “welfare system” for elected officials.
Mrs.
Kiesling’s failure to attend scheduled meetings of City Council is not her only
shortcoming.
After
Council had returned from their six-week recess and after Council had held
their first meeting on August 22, 2016, there was a September 7, 2016, meeting
of City’s Planning Commission which by City Charter and City Zoning Code
(Ordinance 1171.03) Mrs. Kiesling is required to attend.
Mrs.
Kiesling failed to attend this meeting as well. Mrs. Kiesling attendance at the
high school girls’ soccer game held September 7, 2016, has been documented so
there is no denial of her attendance at the game.
Councilmember
Kiesling failed to attend Council’s first meeting back after last summer’s
recess, again taking a NINE WEEK break for herself and collecting $600.00 per
month while doing it.
In
2015, City Council’s last meeting before summer break was held on July 13,
2015, at which Mrs. Kiesling was present. Mrs. Kiesling was absent when Council
returned from their seven-week summer break on August 31, 2015.
Mrs.
Kiesling did not appear at a Council meeting until September 14, 2015, NINE
WEEKS later.
I
believe Mrs. Kiesling is taking public funds under false pretenses.
Perhaps
citizens and taxpayers of North Canton should come to a City Council meeting and
address this issue publicly with Mrs. Kiesling?
5:30
Council President Peters calls for Recognition of Visitors. This is also
referred to as “Public Speaks.”
Mr.
Peters dispensed with his usual admonitions to prospective speakers tonight. I
would suspect this was because Martin Olson, author of the Stark County Political
Report (SCPR), was present at the meeting.
There
are eight speakers who addressed members of Council.
5:40
City resident and former North Canton Mayor/former City Council President Daryl
Revoldt is the first speaker.
Mr.
Revoldt makes a request that Council table a scheduled vote on Ordinance No.
52-2016 to allow time to more closely study CRA legislation from other
municipalities which he provided to Council.
8:40
City resident Miriam Baughman is the second speaker.
Mrs.
Baughman points out to Council that the scheduled vote for Ordinance No.
49-2016 has not followed the City ordinances regarding amendments to the City’s
Zoning Code.
16:05
City resident Glenn Saylor is the third speaker.
Mr.
Saylor outlines to Council why the CRA property tax of nearly $1.0 million given
to the developers of the forty-unit apartment complex called North Ridge Place is
illegal.
21:35
City resident name unknown (residing at 638 Portage Street) is the fourth
speaker. This resident asks Council about the feasibility of naming a street
that runs behind her residence that apparently has no formal name.
Despite
the oft-repeated rule that City officials will not engage speakers who speak at
Public Speaks, Councilmembers and the Mayor enter into a running commentary
with several residents at the podium during their remarks to Council.
24:45
City resident Melanie Roll is the fifth speaker.
Mrs.
Roll speaks to the illegal property tax abatement given to the owners of North
Ridge Place. Mrs. Roll also questions Council’s true intentions regarding Ordinance
No. 52-2016, that is on the agenda for its 1st Reading.
It
is interesting to note that at the conclusion of remarks made by Mrs. Roll, Council
President Peters states the CRA ordinances passed by North Canton City Council
in 2009 and 2010 (specifically, Ordinance No. 5-2010 and Ordinance No.
107-2009) were never certified by the state.
Law
Director Tim Fox repeats these remarks later in the meeting at 50:05 minutes.
As
a consequence, in addition to incorrect and inaccurate statements made on the
application for the abatement of property taxes for North Ridge by the City’s
former Housing Officer, Mr. Eric Bowles, we now know that Ohio’s Department of
Development had never certified the CRA program under ordinances passed years
earlier.
Ordinance
No. 52-2016 that was up for its 1st Reading tonight seeks to repeal
ordinances passed six and seven years ago, respectively Ordinance No. 5-2010
and Ordinance No. 107-2009 and then revive three ordinance that were passed
twelve, seventeen, and sixteen years ago, respectively Ordinance No. 71-04,
Ordinance No. 22-1999, and Ordinance No. 106-2000.
Many
of these ordinances have been superseded by successive ordinances over the
years. The older ordinances limited
property tax abatements to remodeling only and not for new construction.
Tonight,
under Ordinance No. 52-2016, Council is attempting to include new construction as
eligible for tax abatements to ordinances passed as far back as seventeen years
ago for one ordinance, sixteen years ago for a second ordinance and twelve
years ago for a third ordinance.
This legislation reminds me of an old quote that says, "Oh! What a tangled web we
weave, when first we practice to deceive."
The proposed legislation
(Ordinance No. 52-2016) which many residents as well as North Canton’s former
Mayor opposes is indeed a convoluted twisted mess.
27:35 In response to a question
posed by Councilmember Werren, Mrs. Roll is allowed to return to the podium to state
her concerns that new construction should not be allowed to qualify for
property tax abatements as they siphon tax dollars from the schools.
Council President Peters then
responds to Mrs. Roll’s concerns at 28:05 and says “…We [Council] are opposed
to new residential…that is not what the CRA was intended for….”
Mr. Peters must think that North
Canton citizens cannot read as Ordinance No. 52-2016, uses language, such as new
construction, new housing, commencement of construction, completion of
construction, new structures, or simply the word construction on ten occasions
in Ordinance No. 52-2016.
What Mr. Peters states is
Council’s intent, and the legislation that Council proposes differs entirely.
Council President Peters is
intentionally misleading the citizens of North Canton, and City residents who
have closely followed this issue since April of this year are totally fed up.
North Canton City Council has
been totally disingenuous to the point of deceitful on the CRA issue.
The proposed language for
Ordinance No. 52-2016 can be found using the Link to the meeting agenda
provided earlier in this video description.
29:25 Former Mayor Daryl Revoldt
returns to the podium to point out that in a Commercial CRA abatement, the collection
of income taxes helps offset the loss of the abated property taxes whereas in a
residential CRA abatement, no taxes are collected that are needed to support
the schools and finance City operations.
30:50 City resident living at 373
Pershing Avenue, NE is the fifth speaker.
The resident brought to the
attention of Council that he observed that the traffic signal lights at the
intersection of Portage Street and Frank Avenue were not easy to identify when
approaching from east to west.
33:55 City resident Sue Platt is the
sixth speaker.
Mrs. Platt questions why Council
is voting on the CRA legislation (Ordinance No. 52-2016) when it does not have
the required map which illustrates the coverage area for the CRA legislation
and delineated in the legislation as Exhibit A.
Councilmember Kiesling acknowledges
that Council does not have Exhibit A and then dismisses Mrs. Platt’s concerns
that Council does not have all the information related to Ordinance No. 52-2016
before voting.
35:20 Former Councilmember and
City resident Chuck Osborne is the seventh speaker.
I addressed many of the remarks
made by earlier speakers regarding the following:
·
Proposed CRA legislation which attempts to introduce
property tax abatements for new construction which is patently unfair to all
residents who pay their fair share of taxes and also devastating to City
schools.
·
Attempts by Council to amend the City’s Zoning Code
without following due process as the code requires.
In summary, for residents who are unaware of the
City
Council has totally abandoned all established legislative process and curtailed
the number of nights that City Council meets each month.
My
remarks to Council were a little too passionate this evening but that is how
many of us feel with the actions of City Council and the City’s out-of-control
Law Director, Tim Fox.
41:10
City resident Larry Tripp is the eighth and last speaker at Public Speaks.
Mr.
Tripp speaks in opposition to the proposed legislation (Ordinance No. 49-2016)
which will allow homeowners to convert up to forty percent of their front yard
for the parking of automobiles.
This
amendment to the City’s Zoning Code has not been reviewed by the City’s
Planning Commission as required by City ordinances.
There has been no Public Hearing
before the Planning Commission and no recommendation from the Commission.
There
also has been no Public Hearing before City Council as required by the City’s
Zoning Code.
North
Canton City Council has abandoned compliance with the very laws they have
passed and that are expected to follow.
44:00
The legislative portion of the meeting now begins.
45:50
Council President Peters asks for a motion to table Ordinance No. 49-2016.
Residents
at this and previous Council meetings have repeatedly alerted Council that this
proposed amendment of the City’s Zoning Code has not followed requirements set out in
Chapter 1181 for amending the City’s Zoning Code.
If
Council complies with the very laws on the books, the two previous readings are
null and void and Council will have to begin after this issue goes before the
City’s Planning Commission and a recommendation is rendered to City Council.
46:15
Council President Peters calls for a motion and a second to read Ordinance No.
52-2016.
Despite
the recommendations of former Mayor Daryl Revoldt to table the legislation and
despite the pleas of City residents who are vigorously opposed to the CRA
legislation, Council moved ahead with its 1st Reading on the
legislation.
49:20
Prior to the Council vote on the CRA legislation, Law Director Fox speaks at
length regarding past and present CRA legislation, concluding his remarks at
58:50.
Mr. Fox tells Council at 50:05
that there is no record that Ordinance No. 5-2010 and Ordinance No. 107-2009
apparently were ever certified by the Ohio Department of Development.
50:40 Law Director Fox comes
right out and states that a CRA must have a certification from the state [Ohio
Department of Development] before a tax abatement can be issued.
WOW!
What a mess!
In addition to the fact that the
application for the abatement of property taxes for North Ridge Place,
amounting to nearly One Million dollars, was totally flawed, we now are told
that the North Canton Ordinance on which the abatement was predicated was never
certified by the Ohio Department of Development.
Why won’t City officials rescind
a totally flawed illegal abatement that was given to a multi-millionaire that
is financially detrimental to the North Canton City Schools?
Why aren’t North Canton City
School officials stepping up on this issue?
No school district anywhere can
survive when property tax abatements are given for new construction. Period!
51:20 Law Director Fox continues
explaining the mess that the City has found itself mired in stating that prior
abatements could be deemed invalid.
52:20 Law Director Fox
acknowledges that there is a problem with the North Ridge Place CRA in that new
construction is not identified as qualifying for a property tax abatement under
current CRA legislation.
54:00 The advice given by Mr. Fox
that by state statute only the Housing Officer can authorize tax abatements is
misleading. As a community that has chosen to be governed under “Home Rule,”
North Canton can tailor laws, given to it by the state legislature, as it sees
fit.
No one individual behind closed
doors should be allowed to give tax abatements.
56:55 Mr. Fox states “…we know
it’s clear that we only have authority to grant the abatement for which we have
the certification for….”
Law Director Tim Fox concludes
his remarks regarding the CRA legislation at 58:50.
Council then approves the 1st
Reading of Ordinance No. 52-2016. Eleven additional pieces of legislation
receive their first reading with all except one passed invoking the emergency
clause.
1:27:15 The legislative
portion of the meeting concludes and Council reports begin. At this point, city
officials seated at the dais are given time to present remarks on any subject
of their choosing.
As
City Officials make comments, one might notice the absence of the City’s new
Finance Director, Laura Brown.
I
was told at the conclusion of the meeting that Ms. Brown is on a two-week
vacation.
Ms.
Brown started as the City’s new Finance Director on August 1, 2016. With only four
weeks on the job, and just learning her way around the office and the new faces
of her staff, and now she is gone for two weeks.
This
is something I have never seen before.
Recent changes to the City’s vacation policy
for exempt employees states:
“The
appointing authority may grant up to four weeks of vacation for the positions
of Director of Administration, Director of Finance, Deputy Director of Finance,
City Engineer, Director of Economic Development, and Department Chief or
Superintendent.”
Will the City’s new Director of
Economic Development, Mr. Gary Fry, who began his employment sometime around
September 5, 2016, also be given four weeks of vacation for his three months of
employment this year?
This
would effectively result in him working less than three weeks of each month of
the remaining three months he is employed this year.
City
Council has stated that the starting salary for Mr. Fry will be $83,000
annually. Mr. Fry’s starting salary is approximately $17,600 more than was paid
to the outgoing Mr. Eric Bowles who held that position for eleven years.
Big salaries and long vacations are
great, courtesy of politicians who find it easy to spend other people’s money.
Inflated
salaries and long vacations will pay for a lot of loyalty to Mayor Held who
asked Council for the increased compensation for his new hire.
Mayor
Held never advertised the position filled by Mr. Fry.
Based
on public remarks made by Mayor Held, no other individuals were considered or
interviewed for the position of Director of Economic Development/ Director of
Permits and Inspection.
1:52:48 The meeting exceeds the memory capacity of the camera
and the video ends prematurely at this point.
This was just moments before the Council meeting was
adjourned.
Thank you,
Chuck Osborne
