North Canton Residents and Anyone Having Interests in the Business of North Canton City Government:
Pasted below is a link to a video of the North Canton City Council meeting held on Monday, June 13, 2016.
Description
of Video:
June
13, 2016, – North Canton City Council Meeting:
The video covers a North Canton City
Council meeting that lasted about one hour and thirteen minutes.
Soon after the video begins (1:10
minutes), Council President Peters adjourns an Executive Session, held behind
closed doors, that started at 6:00 p.m., preceding the 7:00 p.m. Council
meeting.
Executive Sessions of City Council
are not open to the public. This has been the second week in a row, in which
Council has held an Executive Session with the subject: “imminent court action.”
Ward 4 Councilmember Fonte sat out
in the Council Chamber during the Executive Session. Councilmembers Cerreta and
Griffith were absent leaving only four members of Council in attendance at the
Executive Session.
The Agenda for the evening can be found on the City’s
Website at http://northcantonohio.gov/
under the tab, Mayor & City Council.
2:00 minutes into the video, the meeting is called to order.
The opening prayer is given by Reverend Diana Thompson of the Good Shepard
Lutheran Church followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
3:50 minutes into the video, the Council Clerk is asked to
call roll. Five of the seven members of Council answer to roll call. Council
President Peters quickly follows with a motion to excuse Councilmembers Mark
Cerreta and Dan Griffith who were absent from the meeting.
Mr. Griffith has been absent at one other Council meeting this
year on May 9, 2016. This is Mr. Cerreta’s first absence from a Council meeting
this year.
Totally unexpected, and the most notable action of the Council
meeting follows:
4:50
minutes into the video, President Peters makes a motion to amend the agenda and
remove from the table, the very contentious CRA legislation (Ordinance No.
32-2016) that had been tabled a week earlier (June 6, 2016) prior to its 2nd reading.
Ordinance No. 32-2016 was legislation sponsored by
Councilmember Marcia Kiesling, as Chair of Council’s Economic Development Committee,
who sought to expand the boundaries of the City’s Community Reinvestment Area (CRA)
allowing property tax abatements.
Many
City residents felt the legislation was unfair in and of itself and also very
harmful to the City’s schools. Further, the legislation would mostly benefit multi-millionaire
builders and developers in the City.
Councilmember
Kiesling acknowledged she had had ongoing conversations with one of the
multi-millionaires over the weeks the legislation was debated in Council.
At
one council meeting, Mrs. Kiesling passed on a proposal from one of the
multi-millionaires, that he would make annual gift payments to the North Canton
City Schools in an effort to facilitate passage of the legislation.
The promised
annual gift payments to the City Schools were a fraction of the taxes that
would have been owed to the Schools if not for the passage of the proposed CRA legislation.
5:30
minutes into the video, President Peters makes a motion to read Ordinance No.
32-2016. Councilmember Foltz seconds the motion.
Four
Council members voted NO on the motion to read the Ordinance (Peters, Werren,
Foltz, and Kiesling).
The
fifth Councilmember present, Dominic Fonte, chose to abstain.
Ordinance
No. 32-2016, at this point is DEAD!
All
I can say is Hallelujah!
North
Canton Citizens, for the two months that this legislation has been discussed,
have repeatedly urged their elected representatives, to drop the legislation
entirely.
6:10
minutes into the video, President Peters explains what Council has effectively
done with regard to the vote that Council had just completed.
Mr.
Peters’ explanation for defeating the CRA legislation is in my opinion very disingenuous.
At
the outset of the discussions on the proposal to expand the City’s CRA program,
City Officials represented to the Citizens of North Canton at City Council that
the North Canton City Schools had no objections to the legislation.
It
began with representations to Council from the City’s Director of Permits and
Inspection/Economic Development Director, Eric Bowles. Later Councilmember Mark
Cerreta would talk publicly of his close ties to the North Canton City Schools.
Mr. Cerreta stated that the City Schools were informed of the legislation and
that they expressed no concerns.
All
of those statements were highly suspect given the millions of dollars that would
have been diverted away from the School District had the CRA legislation been
passed.
There
is a well-known quote that may be appropriate for North Canton City Council in
this situation. It comes from the classic comic strip, “POGO,” where on the
first annual observance of Earth Day on April 22, 1970, comic strip writer Walt
Kelly stated, “WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY AND HE IS US.”
At
that time, those words were used to highlight a key concept of environmental
stewardship. I think those words can also be applied to highlight another key
concept, and that is the important concept of elected representation.
For
nearly three months, North Canton City Council continued to push the CRA
legislation despite overwhelming opposition from their constituency.
North
Canton City Council misrepresented the position of the North Canton City
Schools on this legislation and refused to acknowledge the financial impact the
CRA legislation would have on the City’s School District.
The
legislation was driven by the financial interests of people of financial means
and a Council blind to the harm the legislation would do to the City and the North
Canton City School District.
8:25
minutes into the video, Mr. Peters opens up Public Speaks.
Four
City residents addressed City Council:
8:30
minutes into the video, City resident Doug Lane (1st speaker) presents
remarks to Council regarding his thoughts on the CRA program.
On a
weekly basis, President Peters states that Council rules dictate that there be
no back-and-forth conversation between speakers at Public Speaks and City
Officials. I do not agree with the rules, but as one watches the video, it is
apparent that City Officials cannot follow rules that they themselves have
setup.
Mr.
Peters himself enters into discussion after Mr. Lane finishes his remarks which
do not reconcile with previous discussions regarding the CRA legislation. I am
referring to the explanation given by Mr. Peters that Council did fully explain
what would and what would not suffice for improvements that would qualify an
applicant for a tax abatement.
If
the expenditure of a few thousand dollars for a roof or windows, for example,
would not result in an abatement of property taxes, why did Council have
exhaustive discussions on this point and then ultimately lower the threshold
for the abatement to $2,500?
City
Council did not explain the workings of the CRA as Mr. Lane described because
they themselves had no understanding of the program themselves.
13:25
minutes into the video, City resident Larry Tripp (2nd speaker)
presents his remarks to Council. Mr. Tripp very ably makes his points.
I
certainly concur with Mr. Tripp’s statement that anyone who differs with City Council
is marked as an enemy.
After
Mr. Tripp concluded his remarks, Mr. Peters again fails to follow Council rules
and chooses to respond to remarks made by Mr. Tripp.
Mr.
Peters:
-
Calls out Mr.
Tripp stating that he (Tripp) was showing disrespect.
-
Claims that other
folks in this room who have given opposing views are not treated in this disrespectful
manner.
I beg to differ with Mr. Peters, as I am routinely
treated in a disrespectful manner by my elected representatives.
-
20:25 minutes,
Mr. Peters reveals what he thinks of Martin Olson, the author of the Stark
County Political Report.
21:00
minutes into the video, City resident Ron Jeskey (3rd speaker) presents
his concerns to Council dealing with:
-
Traffic on
Glenwood
-
Noise in the City
After
Mr. Jeskey concluded his remarks, Mr. Peters again fails to follow Council
rules and chooses to respond contrary to rules of Council that Mr. Peters reads
aloud at the beginning of Public Speaks each week.
27:35
minutes into the video, City resident Judy Longacre (4th speaker) also
addresses concerns regarding traffic on Glenwood Street and its intersection
with Woodlawn Avenue.
31:50
minutes into the video, the legislative portion of the meeting began.
44:50
minutes into the video, the legislative portion of the meeting is concluded and
Council reports begin. At this point, each City official seated at the dais is
given time to present remarks on any subject of their choosing.
1:14:45
minutes into the video, the Council meeting is concluded.
The video
continues to run until 1:20:51 minutes capturing post-Council activity.
Chuck Osborne
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