May 9, 2016 - North Canton City Council Meeting followed by a Special Committee of the Whole Meeting

North Canton Residents and anyone having Interest in the Business of North Canton City Government:

Pasted below is a link to a video of the North Canton City Council meeting followed by a Special Committee of the Whole meeting held on Monday, May 9, 2016.

https://youtu.be/02dEZ6vtHVA 

Description of Video:  

May 9, 2016, – North Canton City Council Meeting followed by a Special Committee of the Whole Meeting:  

The video covers a North Canton City Council meeting lasting approximately 55 minutes and approximately twenty minutes of the one hour and five minute Special Committee of the Whole meeting. The meeting is called to order approximately soon after the video begins.  

Tonight’s meetings of North Canton City Council ran longer than the internal memory capacity of my camera. In the future this videographer will utilize the higher capacity external memory to insure lengthy meetings can be recorded. 

The combined length of both meetings ran nearly two hours. Consequently, only fifteen minutes of the nearly one hour and five minutes Special Committee of the Whole was captured on video.  

The meeting began with a prayer by Father Jay Clarke from St. Paul Roman Catholic Church. This was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. 

At 2:00 minutes into the video, Council President Peters takes attendance by having the Clerk Call the Roll. With only six members answering Roll Call, President Peters call for a vote to excuse Councilmember Dan Griffith who was absent. This is Councilmember Griffith’s first absence since the first of the year. 

The agenda for the City Council meeting consisted of the following actions requiring approval by Roll Call vote:

·        Ordinance No. 33-2016 - Approval of CRA agreements granting tax abatements to LMD Property and to Reed Funeral Home. 

LMD Property is a corporation affiliated with well-known North Canton multi-millionaire, Robert DeHoff. 

Reed Funeral Home is a corporation affiliated with Dennis Reed. 

·        Resolution No. 1-2016 – repealing and replacing Resolution No. 547 – a 1963 designation calling the City of North Canton “The Dogwood City”.

·        Ordinance No. 37-2016 – increasing the salary for top level exempt employees, specifically, Director of Administration, Director of Finance, Director of Law, and City Engineer.

 

·        Ordinance No. 38-2016 – increasing, to four weeks, the number of weeks of allowed vacation for top level exempt employees, specifically, Director of Administration, Director of Finance, Director of Law, and City Engineer. 

·        Ordinance No. 39-2016 – authorizing expenditure of $3,000 in donated funds for trees. 

·        Emergency Resolution No. 2-2016 - authorizing the Mayor to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the North Canton Police Department and the Stark County’s Sheriff’s Office to support the Stark County OVI Task Force.  

3:00 minutes into the video, there is a call for Recognition of Visitors

(referred to as Public Speaks). Six individual addressed City Council:  

          3:15 minutes into the video, North Canton resident and former Councilmember Greg Sarbach spoke in opposition to the passage of Resolution No. 1-2016, which called for removing North Canton’s designation as “The Dogwood City.” 

          5:40 minutes into the video, a City resident asks that an access road that loops behind their Portage Street home from Portage Street NW to Willaman Avenue NW be named to allow them to give directions to their home. 

          9:30 minutes into the video, North Canton resident and former Councilmember, Chuck Osborne spoke to City Council in opposition to the proposed tax abatements for two corporations; LMD Property, owned by local multimillionaire, Robert DeHoff and, Reed Funeral Home, Inc. (Ordinance No. 33-2016). 

          Mr. Osborne also spoke in opposition to proposed increase in salary and vacation benefits (Ordinance No. 37-2016 & Ordinance No. 38-2016) for North Canton’s high level exempt employees. The specific positions initially targeted for the increase in compensation levels are depicted in the following table. The current annual salary depicted in the spread sheet in column one are per Ordinance No. 51-2013 passed in 2013.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I might add that any increase in salary would not reflect the added sixteen percent in pension contributions paid on behalf of the employee by the City. For example, an exempt employee making $100,000 annual actually receives $116,000 per year. The extra sixteen thousand dollars is the City’s contribution to that employee’s pension. 

In the Mayor’s State of the City presentation just a week ago, if memory serves me correctly, income tax collections for this year are down from last year. 

14:45 minutes into the video, City resident Miriam Baughman also spoke in opposition to the proposed increases in salary and vacation benefits (Ordinance No. 37-2016 & Ordinance No. 38-2016) for City’s high level exempt employees.

18:50 minutes into the video, Akron resident John Arnold spoke in support of the City’s proposed expansion of the City’s CRA program. This is the second time in recent weeks that Mr. Arnold has come to a North Canton City Council meeting to speak on behalf of expanded approvals of property tax abatements.

I was told after the meeting that Mr. Arnold is employed by Robert DeHoff. I have not verified this but if it is true, I can only say that the multi-millionaire, Mr. DeHoff, has benefitted greatly from the property tax abatements that he has been given by North Canton City Council over the years.

Further, Mr. DeHoff and his partner at the Hoover District, Stewart Lichter, have received nearly $7.0 million dollars by way of the generosity of North Canton City Council. And with no obligation to repay any of the millions of dollars back to the City or its taxpayers.

I think it is fair to say that Mr. Arnold’s endorsement of the City’s CRA program financially benefits not only his employer, but Mr. Arnold as well.

I would suggest that Mr. Arnold is acting as a lobbyist for Mr. DeHoff and that he should state that fact in his remarks to North Canton City Council the next time he speaks at Council!

20:20 minutes into the video, Ordinance No. 33-2016 is read and passed. The tax abatements for multimillionaire, Robert DeHoff and Reed Funeral Home was approved for another year, thus diverting revenue intended for the North Canton City Schools, the  City Library, and City coffers.

21:30 minutes into the video, Resolution 1-2016 is read and passed despite pleas from several residents in recent weeks that the legislation be voted down. The designation of North Canton as "The Dogwood City" will end.

24:03 minutes into the video, Ordinance 37-2016 is read, receiving its 1^st Reading toward passage of the higher salary caps of $115,000 for all four department heads.

I might add that North Canton has advertised the opening for the Director of Finance position, at the yet unapproved higher salary cap since April 11, 2016.

Is there any doubt that the legislation will be approved when it has been advertised at a salary cap of $115,000 for nearly one month?

30:25 minutes into the video, Ordinance 38-2016 is read, receiving its 1^st Reading toward passage allowing four weeks of paid vacation for all four department heads.

33:10 minutes into the video, Ordinance 39-2016 is read and adopted on an emergency.

 35:40 minutes into the video, Resolution 2-2016 is read and adopted on an emergency.

37:40 minutes into the video, Council Reports begin with some remarks made in support of the increased salary caps and increased vacation time for high level exempt employees.

54:40 minutes into the video, the City Council meeting was concluded.

The Special Committee of the Whole immediately follows.

The agenda for the Special Committee of the Whole meeting consisted of one item:

·        Continued discussion of tabled Ordinance No. 32-2016, the boundaries for the Community Reinvestment Area.

55:40 minutes into the video, Chairperson of Community and Economic Development Committee Marcia Kiesling leads the discussion on what should and should not be included in the expanded Community Reinvestment Area (CRA). 

The following discussion is worth listening to as long as the video lasts. 

Mrs. Kiesling first states that Monticello and the Sanctuary are out and that Waterside Park and Summit Street are in. Later in the meeting, after Doug Foltz says he wants Waterside Park taken out, Council realizes that Waterside Park has been in the Main Street CRA since it was first created in 1999.  

The discussion is worth listening to until the end of the video. I will make no further comments on the discussion as long as it lasts. I will let the viewer decide whether members of City Council really understand the issue. 

I will only add this. City Council is discussing greatly expanding the number of property tax abatements that could be offered throughout the City. Property taxes support the North Canton City Schools and the North Canton Library. 

Current tax abatements already approved resulted in nearly $100,000 a year in revenue lost to North Canton Schools and the City Library. If all the tax abatements currently approved play out, nearly $1.4 million dollars will have been diverted away from the City’s schools and libraries. 

And now City Council wants to increase the number of property tax abatements exponentially. 

The video ends at 1:15:16 minutes. Unfortunately, the meeting continued for approximately another forty minutes.   

Thank you,
Chuck Osborne