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COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES CITY OF UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, OHIO MEETING HELD VIA ZOOM / MEETING ID: 841-2603-2624 MONDAY, JUNE 15, 2020 Mayor Michael Dylan Brennan called the regular meeting to order at 7:03p.m. Roll Call: Present: Mrs. Michele Weiss Mrs. Saundra Berry Mrs. Barbara Blankfeld Mr. Justin Gould Mr. Phillip Ertel (7:11) Mrs. Susan Pardee Mr. John Rach Also Present: Law Director Luke McConville Clerk of Council Kelly Thomas Finance Director Dennis Kennedy Police Chief Dustin Rogers Fire Chief Robert Perko Service Superintendent Jeffrey Pokorny City Engineer Joseph Ciuni Economic Development Susan Drucker Interim Building Commissioner Nino Monaco Communications / Civic Engagement Michael Cook Special Events Rachel Mullen MOTION BY MR. RACH, SECONDED BY MRS. BLANKFELD to excuse the absence of Mr. Ertel. On roll call, all voted “aye.” Approval of Minutes: Special Council Meeting May 27, 2020 There were no corrections to the May 27, 2020 minutes. MOTION BY MRS. WEISS, SECONDED BY MRS. PARDEE for the passage of the May 27, 2020 Special Council Minutes. On roll call, all voted “aye.” Council Meeting June 1, 2020 There were no corrections to the June 1, 2020 minutes. MOTION BY MRS. PARDEE, SECONDED BY MRS. WEISS for the passage of the June 1, 2020 Council Minutes as amended. On roll call, all voted “aye.” Comments from Audience Ms. Sheri Sax, 14474 Summerfield Road asked what was the City’s best practice policy in regards to law enforcement and the Police Department. Ms. Sax stated that there were models that existed showing the use of Federal registries in hiring police officers that the City could look at. Ms. Sax also suggested expanding the Positive Community Policing program that was implement in 2019. University Heights could lead the way in creating best practices with other police departments. Ms. Aliah Lawson, 3590 Cedarbrook stated that she and a few friends were interested in hosting a rally for the “Black Lives Matter” in University Heights on June 23, with persons gathering together beginning at 5:30pm at a march starting at Wiley Middle School and marching towards University Heights City Hall at 7pm. Ms. Lawson stated that she is working with the City’s Administration and the Police Department. John Hissong, 2441 Fenwick voiced his concern about the problems his neighborhood was experiencing with rodents. Ms. Bridget O’Callahan, 2460 Fenwick stated that there is a group home at 2452 Traymore and the rodents seem to be coming from that direction. Ms. O’Callahan asked how many residents live in that group home and who monitored it. CC 06/15/2020 Page 2 of 9 Mr. Steve Cambell, 3953 Lansdale informed Council about the problems he was experiencing in getting his rubbish and special pickup items removed from his home. Ms. Katie Uhlir, 2448 Fenwick spoke to the redevelopment planned for University Square and asked about the fiscal aspects of the parcels in terms of the bonds, compensation to the schools, the cost of re-issued bonds, etc. Will the current garage be rebuilt or just fixed up? Mr. McConville spoke to Ms. Uhlir’s comments and stated that the bond holders would not be the owners of the property. The developer will own certain parcels outright. The garage parcel will be owned by a limited liability company, partly by the developer, partly by Target and partly by Macy’s. The developer will be obligated to make “pilot payments” or payments in lieu of taxes to the bondholders to satisfy the debt. The pilot payments are based on the value of the land post construction of the project. Mr. McConville stated that there would only be one new set of bonds issued. The conceptual plans that the City’s has seen suggest that the garage will be a combination where part of it will be removed and the other part will be refurbished so that it is opened up to some degree. Final plans are not completed yet, the developer will have to go before the Planning Commission once they have plans ready for approval. In regards to the compensation to the schools is an amount that was negotiated with the Cleveland Heights- University Heights School District in exchange for the school district agreeing with the developer to waive taxes. Thus, the property taxes will be waived to allow the developer to make payments in lieu of those taxes to satisfy the debt. Ms. Sarah Glazer, 2315 Miramar asked why the pool wasn’t opening and ask the Mayor to reverse his decision and open the pool since the playgrounds are opened. Mayor Brennan replied that the City would not be opening the swimming pool because the City is still in a “hot spot” area. There is a difference between opening the playground and tennis courts where individuals assume their own risk. Opening the swimming pool would put the employees at risk and it just not worth it. Not opening the pool, it is a safety issue. Mayor Brennan encouraged everyone to social distance themselves from others. Tennis lessons for this summer have been cancelled as well. Ms. Annie Rawlinson, 3949 Bushnell stated that she has noticed that McDonald customers are once again making illegal right hand turns onto Bushnell, would it be possible for a police car to monitor the area. Mrs. Rawlinson reminded everyone that when the McDonald’s was built there was an agreement that there be no right hand turn out of the parking lot on to Bushnell. Lastly, Mrs. Rawlinson reported that she was bit by a Pit Bull when she was walking at “The Walt” community park and asked that more rules for vicious dogs not to be allowed at the public parks. Mayor’s Report We all remain stunned by the killing of George Floyd by law enforcement officers in Minneapolis. Last Thursday, June 11, as promoted by President Obama and the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, I took the mayor’s pledge. In essence, I have committed to take the following actions: 1. REVIEW the city police department’s use of force policies. 2. ENGAGE our communities by including a diverse range of input, experiences, and stories in our review. 3. REPORT the findings of our review to our community and seek feedback. 4. REFORM our community’s police use of force policies. I have discussed this with our police chief, Chief Dustin Rogers, who is understanding of the appropriateness of this review. That we need not wait for a tragic incident to occur to review our policies and make improvements. I have discussed this with Councilwoman Saundra Berry, who chairs city council’s Safety Committee, and who later in this meeting during her committee report will be going over the letter she signed together with 24 other African-American councilwomen from Northeastern Ohio. But with respect to reviewing use of force policies and collecting public input and comment, Councilwoman Berry and I are going to work together to identify and approach stakeholders to join an ad hoc advisory council for this review and collection of public input and comment. Our goal is to spend the summer working on this, and report back at the end of summer, presumably at one of the two regular council meetings of September. Anyone interested in serving on the advisory council or nominating someone to serve on this advisory council should contact Councilwoman Berry or me. At our last meeting, University Heights became the 30th city in Ohio to pass comprehensive non- discrimination legislation on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, public accommodations, and housing. Today, in a sweeping landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld employment rights on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. In a 6-3 decision, authored by CC 06/15/2020 Page 3 of 9 Justice Gorsuch, the prohibition of discrimination on the basis of sex found in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, necessarily includes a prohibition on discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, because “sex” is a distinct characteristic inseparable from the concepts of sexual orientation and gender identity. This is not the first time our city has led on an issue, only to have the state or federal government catch up to us shortly thereafter. And I grant there is still work to be done. But with our votes last time, we said that in University Heights, you can marry the person you love on Sunday, and not get fired for it on Monday. And today, with the Bostock case, that is now the law of this country. This is a great day for freedom, a great day for America. On June 3rd, I went to the statehouse and testified to the Ohio House Finance Committee on Senate Bill 310. It was the fourth committee meeting the House held for the bill, after the Senate introduced and passed the legislation over the course of two days. I waited all day to testify, and I was the last person to provide proponent testimony before the committee moved and voted unanimously to advance SB310 to the house floor for a full vote, which it then did the next day, albeit, with six amendments. I will not now read my testimony from that day, but I will provide it to our clerk of council for the record. Suffice it to state, I went over how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted our city, both in the resources devoted to responding to the pandemic, and in the shortfall of our income tax collection as a result of the economic downturn.

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