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 meetings held on Monday, June 27, 2016.
Description
of Video:
June
27, 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 one hour and 15 minutes, immediately
followed by a Special Committee of the Whole meeting that lasted approximately nineteen
minutes.
The meeting is called to order about
one and one half minutes after the video begins.
The meeting began with a prayer by Reverend
Cara Stulz-Costello of Faith United Methodist Church, followed by the Pledge of
Allegiance.
At 4:40 minutes into the video, Council President Peters
takes attendance by having the Clerk call the roll. Five of the seven members of Council answer to roll
call. Council President Peters quickly follows with a motion to excuse
Councilmembers Stephanie Werren and Dominic Fonte who were absent.
This is Mrs. Werren’s second meeting absence this year as
she was absent on April 11, 2016. This is Mr. Fonte’s first meeting absence
this year.
The
Agenda for the Council meetings can be found on the City’s Website at http://northcantonohio.gov/ under the tab, Mayor & City Council.
6:00 minutes into the video, President
Peters recognizes North Canton Chamber
President
Doug Lane who introduces Marc Schneider, co-chair of the Stark County Area
Broadband Task Team. Mr. Schneider gave a presentation on the impact broadband
would have on the growth of North Canton. Mr. Schneider explains the
feasibility of creating a broadband service network for Stark County and asks
Council for a resolution supporting the efforts of the Broadband Task Team.
30:00 minutes into the video, Council
President Peters outlines the rules for visitors who wish to address City
Council. Mr. Peters specifically states that there will be no discussion
between speakers and members of City Council during what is termed Recognition
of Visitors on the agenda and generally referred to as “Public Speaks.”
Despite the rules outlined by
President Peters immediately preceding the Recognition of Visitors portion of
the meeting, Council and the Mayor fail to comply.
Four
speakers address City Council:
30:30
minutes into the video, Bill Smith, a Canton Township Trustee and
Candidate
for Stark County Commissioner is the first speaker. Mr. Smith introduces
himself to Council and asks for support in the upcoming 2016 November elections.
34:00 minutes into the video, City
resident Larry Tripp (2nd speaker) presents
his concerns
regarding what he believes are the failures of Council and Council President
Peters.
38:05 minutes into the video, City
resident and former member of North
Canton City Council Chuck Osborne (3rd speaker) makes the following remarks
to Council:
-
Speaks
in support of the efforts of the Stark County Area Broadband Task Team as
previously presented at the beginning of the Council meeting;
-
Presents
a Taxpayer Demand Letter, addressed to Mayor David Held, Council President Jeff
Peters and Law Director Tim Fox, asking that violations of North Canton
Ordinance No.107-99, be corrected and if not corrected, alerts City Officials
that a taxpayer lawsuit would be forthcoming. State Law requires that the Law
Director be alerted prior to the filing of a suit to enforce the correction of
any violation of law.
The violations were brought to the attention of City Council
by former Mayor/City Council President, Daryl Revoldt in his remarks to City
Council on June 6, 2016. Mr. Revoldt’s remarks can be viewed at 18:00 minutes into the
video at the following link:
A copy of the Taxpayer
Demand Letter is available below:
Mrs.
Lee provides a one-page handout prior to her presentation, detailing the issues she wants to address,
and it is provided below.
Despite
Council President Peters’ weekly recitation of the rules for Public Speaks,
that City Officials not engage in any conversation with individuals who present
concerns to Council in a public session of Council, after Mrs. Lee finishes her
presentation, (46:00 minutes into the video) President Peters turns to Mayor
Held and if asks the Mayor would like to speak to the comments made by Mrs.
Lee.
Mayor
Held’s response to Mrs. Lee’s list of issues continues to illustrate the debacle that the recent upgrade to the
Dogwood Pool has become.
ONE:
In addressing
Mrs. Lee’s first issue that the Water Temperature of the pool is “dreadfully
chilly,” Mayor Held reveals that the Dogwood Pool complex itself now has
inadequate electric service (as a result of the $850,000 upgrade) and that the
heater for the pool cannot operate at peak efficiency.
WOW, what a
revelation of incompetence!
Didn’t the
City just undertake an $850,000 renovation of the pool?
Who
engineered this debacle?
Mayor Held
goes on to acknowledge that the electric infrastructure at the pool dates back
to the 1970s.
WHY wasn’t an
upgrade of the antiquated electrical system addressed in the upgrade of the
Pool?
Wasn’t an
upgrade of the electric included in the bid specifications?
I ask again,
Who engineered this debacle?
TWO:
With regard
to the failure to have the diving board and water slide installed, Mayor Held
reveals once again the City’s failure to adequately engineer the renovation of
the Pool. Mr. Held states that filtered/chlorinated water must be used for the
water slide which will require running an additional water line from the
pumphouse feed to the Pool.
THREE:
Mrs. Lee calls
attention to the lack of striping in the Dogwood Parking Lot which has resulted
in chaotic parking and patrons finding their cars blocked in and unable to drive
out of the parking lot when they desire to leave.
Mayor Held states that the problems at
the Pool are unacceptable.
That is an understatement!
Does that admission absolve the City for this for this
debacle?
I think NOT!
The next question is what are the final costs to have Dogwood
Pool fully functional? A month ago I had reports that $200,000 had been pulled
from the City’s water fund to cover all these added expenses. If true, how that
has been done without Council action may be another issue.
I think it is a certainty that additional tax dollars will be
expended to restore full functionalty to Dogwood Pool.
The elephant in the room which City Officials have been loath
to acknowledge is who is responsible for the 2016 Dogwood Pool debacle.
Service Director Jim Davis undertook this project. Why was Mr.
Davis left to “sink or swim” alone with this project is a mystery!
Where was City Engineer Jim Benekos, City Administrator Mike
Grimes and, Director of Permits and Inspection Eric Bowles?
And after the Dogwood Pool failed to open as scheduled, and
the public took notice of the City’s failures to manage the Pools renovations, WHY
did Mr. Davis leave on vacation just as these failures became known?
Did Mayor Held spirit Service Director Davis out of town for
a week to personally handle the very negative PR that was growing day by day
that the Pool was not ready?
The question now is will North Canton’s Service Director, Jim Davis, keep his job or will he pay the
ultimate price and be sent packing?
Dogwood Pool has been a very public debacle for the City of
North Canton. And with new revelations from Mayor Held at this evenings Council
meeting, the magnitude of the debacle grows exponentially!
Stay tuned….
Discussion of Dogwood Pool continues for over seventeen
minutes (42:10 minutes until 59:13 minutes into the video) with Mrs. Lee responding
from the audience at times. I have seen citizens, including myself, berated and
on occasion, ejected from Council meetings for similar conduct that transpired
this evening.
On a weekly basis, Council President Peters is very erratic
and unfair, generally, in his treatment of citizens who question the actions of
City Officials.
It would be nice if all North Canton Citizens could engage
members of City Council and be treated in the manner in which Mrs. Lee was
treated.
1:07:30
minutes into the video, the legislative portion of the meeting is concluded and
Council Reports begin. At this point, everyone seated at the dais is allowed to
make remarks on the record on any topic of his/her choosing.
1:10:15
mintues into the video, in response to my Taxpayer Demand Letter, Mayor Held states
that if any of his staff has done anything illegal, the City will make sure to
make corrections.
1:11:00
minutes into the video, Mayor Held reveals
that City Engineer Jim Benekos has chosen to retire. In the same breath, Mayor
Held explains that Mr. Benekos will be rehired and continue to serve as North
Canton’s City Engineer.
Mr.
Benekos will join City Administrator Mike Grimes as a retire/rehire employee
holding a high-level position in the Administration of Mayor David Held.
As
Mayor Held expounds on his decision to retain Engineer Benekos, it is quite
curious that there has been no announcement as to who will be chosen to fill
the position of Director of Finance.
Current Finance
Director Karen Alger announced at a March 28, 2016, Council meeting she planned
to retire as the City’s Finance Director. At that time, Mrs. Alger stated that
her last day with the City would be July 5, 2016.
Why after
three months has there been no annoucement as to who has been selected to
become North Canton’s Director of Finance?
With accrued
vacation and the last weekend before retirement a three-day holiday weekend prior
to the effective date of Mrs. Alger’s last day on the job, the City presumably has
no Finance Director on the job at City Hall.
City Council
has failed to appoint an interim Director of Finance at this time.
Consequently, North Canton is in violation of its Charter.
1:13:40
minutes into the video, after explaining his reasoning for rehiring City
Engineer Benekos, controversial as it is, Mayor Held references the City’s
search for a new Finance Director and explains how difficult it is to fill high
level positions in the City.
With the
City’s Finance Director now gone and the City having had three months notice of
the vacancy for the position, it is hard to comprehend why a replacement for
the Director of Finance postion has not been found and announced.
The very
purpose of recent legislation increasing salaries and benefits for top City
officials was to facilitate filling the position of Finance Director. That was
the explanation given for the nearly thirty percent increase in salary and
increase in vacation time for the position.
WHAT is going
on?
1:16:15 minutes into the video, the Council
meeting is adjourned and the Special Committee of the Whole is called to order.
Council President Peters again takes
attendance by having the Clerk call the roll. Five of the seven members of Council answer to roll call. Council
President Peters quickly follows with a motion to excuse Councilmembers
Stephanie Werren and Dominic Fonte who were absent from the meeting.
1:20:15 minutes into the video, there is discussion to
change the City’s Zoning Code to allow homeowners to park vehicles in their
front yard directly in front of their homes. This proposal is presented by
Director of Permits and Inspection, Eric Bowles.
This
proposal is something that I urge residents to oppose as front lawns will be
turned into parking lots under this proposed change in the City’s Zoning Code.
This can only increase the decline of neighborhoods. Listen to the video and
attend Council meetings to learn more.
1:33:40
minutes into the video, discussion of proposed legislation is concluded and
there is brief discussion to forgo a meeting of City Council for the week of
July 4, 2016, and hold both a Council meeting and a Committee meeting on July
11, 2016.
1:34:40 minutes into the video, the
Special Committee of the Whole is adjourned.
The video continue to run until 1:42:39
minutes capturing post-Council activities.
Thank you,
Chuck Osborne
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