Too cute. >> [music] >> Yeah. Well, Heat. Hey, Heat. the first. >> Good afternoon everyone. Welcome to today's public comment. Um we have uh a lot of speakers today and I imagine um some of the speakers may be new. So wanted to um just go over the uh the procedures. So as you know in order to speak you you fill out a a yellow or white card uh that is then brought to um the das here. Um we call people in the order that they signed up uh to try and keep it fair. Um people can sign up until 2 pm at which point we suspend signups. We will allow every single person who signs up before two to speak. Um when your name is called uh I will call three at a time. So if all three people could come to the dis um I will then invite one to speak. When you're finished speaking please exit the dis and I will call the next person up and we'll go in order from there. When you begin uh when you sit down at the table uh you'll notice that all the microphones are on. So no need to touch the microphone. Uh you can just begin speaking. Once you begin speaking, your time will start. You'll see a green light illuminate. At the one minute mark, you'll see a yellow light and you you'll hear a beep. Please don't stop speaking. Um that's just indicating to you that uh you're halfway through. When you see the red light uh illuminate, you'll hear another beep and that's when you um end. Uh I try to make it fair to give everybody two minutes. And so uh please try to uh to keep to those guidelines. Uh before we move forward though, um I want to address um all the folks who came in today to express concerns around Piatt Park. First of all, thank you for being here and for making your voice heard. And I really want to be as clear as possible that my colleagues and I see the value uh and all the connections being made in this space including but not limited to all the support that is provided for some of our most vulnerable neighbors and unhoused community. Our goals as elected public servants are uh are to help encourage positive outcomes for our residents, not to get in the way of them or to stop them. Second, I want to emphasize that this conversation is of course taking place before anything is potentially happening at the park before there are specific pro uh proposals for new investments or programming to engage with the community. That does not mean that it's premature to express worries or to ask questions. I want to hear from folks who have lived experience in the park and I know that's true for all of my council colleagues. But I do think it's important to clarify exactly what we're talking about here, at least from my perspective. This conversation is stemming from an effort to put applications together for state funding to renovate the park. And part of the requirements to pursue those dollars was to enter into a conceptual agreement with our partners at 3CDC for park programming. So what does that mean and what it does it not mean? It means that our administration is interested if dollars are granted particularly from the state to invest in this area in leveraging our partners to program a park like they have in multiple other public spaces throughout our urban core. We have seen the extraordinary positive impacts from this kind of programming in other civic spaces and parks. And if we receive dollars to make physical improvements, we would expect and residents would rightfully expect a public and communitydriven conversation about what dayto-day programming uh looks like there, who might be impacted by more and different activity and how the city can support them. But what this application does not mean and I want to put a point on this. It does not mean that we are going to sell off a valued public space or take take away the public use of it or interrupt any uh social services and support for our vulnerable communities that are happening there. um that it is not going to happen uh uh on the city's watch and we are not going to deviate from our ongoing focus on promoting strong social services on strong placemaking for everyone who calls Cincinnati home. Right now, this is a stage where the city is pursuing public dollars from the state. But I want to again express that if if and when anything becomes more tangible, I'm only interested in investments that improve quality of life for those impacted, that make sure all our neighbors have a seat at the table, and that come that and that come and that come out of thoughtful and deliberate policymaking conversations. Thank you again for being here, and I look forward to input from all the folks who came today. And so, let's begin. We have quite a few speakers. So, as I mentioned, I will call you up um three at a time. So, if we could have Marvin Barnes please come to the dis. And let me pre-appize if I mispronounce any names or if I have trouble reading handwriting. Our next uh person invited to the dis. It looks like the last name is P I R O K or maybe H or maybe it's L E. I apologize, Nick. And then uh the third speaker is Olivia Merrill. Thank you for being here. Marvin Barnes, welcome. You may begin. >> My focus today is on the CEO of CHA. CEO Greg Johnson and the CPD always had the same access to review the cameras as Vice Mayor Kernney did. and she made a bold decision within two days that CEO Greg Johnson didn't have the guts to make after three months and removed another rogue employee. Should we have gone to Vice Mayor Karnney and state rep Bailey to begin with? Although I believe these two ladies have much more important work to do than babysit a rogue, evil and wicked CEO. I pray we continue to get support from the two of them. But there is still a black cloud over the Everston property which blew through other CH properties like a typhoon. A culture of mistrust was created by the CEO that still ravishes through the land. There's absolutely must be an outside independent entity that's going to monitor CHA going forward so we can be proactive and not reactive to prevent this from ever happening again. Starting with today, let's change the culture within CHA by Greg Johnson stepping down yesterday. And yes, don't forget to check his financial records, too, including if he has any offshore accounts. Let's change the culture within CHA by Greg Johnson stepping down yesterday. Let's change the culture within CHA by Greg Johnson stepping down yesterday. Let's change the culture in CHA with Greg Johnson stepping down yesterday. I'll say it one more time. Let's change the culture within CHA by having Greg Johnson stepping down yesterday. Thank you. >> Thank you, Marvin. Uh looks like it might be Matia Davis, Mat. Um it's either EA or CH Davis. Our next speaker is Nick. Welcome. >> Hello. The following statement is a response to 3CDC's proposal to lease Piatt Park. I'm speaking on behalf of the community survival network. We are a coalition of groups focused on the distribution of food and supplies within our community at Piatt Park. For over a decade, we have come together in Piatt Park to feed each other and have built a community there. Today, our viewes voices are being ignored. As the federal government continues to abandon working people, 3CDC now wants this council to follow suit. 3CDC's characterization of our work in the park as misuse is patently shameful. The gatherings at Piatt Park are an essential public good for more than 150 people every weekend. All of those people have dignity and everyone gets a plate whether they cook, serve, or attend. Instead of doing anything to address the root causes of food and housing insecurity for our community, 3CDC prefers to target all of us for displacement and is prepared to use $128 million of taxpayer money, our money, to do so. We have already been priced out of housing and now they want to kick us out of our oldest public park, too. Must we foot the bill for a space we are not allowed to gather in? Must we pay for our own displacement? Must we accept their assertion that our neighbors are unwanted and need to be removed? The answer is no. We will not allow community needs to go unmet. We will not be starved without being heard. We will continue to practice relentless solidarity. And we will continue to meet people where they are. We keep us fed and we keep us safe. On behalf of 513 Hygiene Care, the Coalition for Community Safety, Cincinnati Food Not Bombs, the Cincinnati Practical Education Coalition, the Trans Empowerment Network, and the Tribe Foundation. We at the Community Survival Network request that city council blocks 3CDC's proposal to lease Piatt Park as soon as it comes up. Thank you. >> Thank you, sir. If we could have Bob. Um, again, I'm so sorry. I'm I'm Highland. Um, this person is from Clifton. Thank you, Bob. Um, welcome, Olivia. >> Thank you so much, council. Um, my name is Olivia Merrill. I'm here as well as a member of Democratic Socialists of America. Um, while we are not part of the food serves at PIA Park formally as an organization, when we saw the description of the services as a misuse, it prompted us to open up our tools that we have as an organization so the community could put together a petition that now has over 1,700 signitories saying they do not want to see this park privatized or controlled by private entities to prevent the food serves. I want to emphasize that Piatt Park has a history of being a space that exists specifically for the community of Cincinnati to express their distaste and discomfort with the way corporations and development firms have controlled this city. This goes back to 2011 when Piatt Park was the site where Occupy Cincinnati happened. And we saw people in Cincinnati express how upset they were at the degree to which corporations and development firms control our lives, not just here, but across the country. And it's continued to this day with the organizations that do these food service and provide for people for nearly a decade now in this park to make sure that people are fed who've been deprioritized by corporations and wealthy people in the city who do not want to see the unhoused taken care of. It is imperative that we make sure we preserve these spaces so we can keep fighting for a Cincinnati that cares for regular people here and does not prioritize corporations and development over the needs of those people. When we do the work that we do, it is to make sure that everyone in this city is taken care of. These public spaces don't exist for the purpose of improving the value of properties. They exist so people are able to take care of each other and exist as part of a society together. As a member of Democratic Socialists of America, we stand in solidarity with the organizations that do these ser food serves and organize at PIA Park. and we demand to make sure that this park stays public and that their ability to do these food serves is protected. >> Thank you, Olivia. If we could have Stanford Pool please come to the dis. Um, our next speaker is M. Davis. >> Um, it's Mattea Davis. I am a member of the community. I'm here to speak about Pi Park. >> Thank you, King. >> I just have a couple of questions. Um, honestly, is the park not supposed to be used for community gatherings because it is a public space? Uh, what would be the purpose to privatize Piatt? Um, what classifies the events that are thrown in Piatt as misuse? Um, last time I checked, parks are public for a reason, so that individuals in our community are able to gather uh to support our community, especially with the individuals in our neighborhoods who need the most help, our unhoused community. um do our tax dollars as well as permits to do everything correctly at Piatt Park not count to be able to use the park as we you as we should as we should be able to as it is a public park. Um I just personally as a taxpayer and a resident of Cincinnati don't believe that it would be in the best in the best decision to privatize Piatt Park. Um, like people before me have said, Tribe and all of the individuals who do come together every last Sunday of the month to make sure that our most our most helpless community, not helpless, my apologies, our most need needing community is taken care of. Why are we trying to make a decision to privatize it? >> Thank you very much. Um, we could have Shane C. White please come to the dis. Welcome Bob. >> Mr. Mayor, members of council. We meet again. My comments today are at root what they have been since I first addressed city council 25 years ago. Sadly, little has changed. That's because this building as a whole prioritizes private interests over public interests. Patronage is alive and well in Cincinnati. We are a classist city. Take for example the latest embarrassment from the park board related to Piatt Park. For over 200 years, it's been both in practice and symbolically a place where anyone can go to be on the commons in this city. Shared land that binds us despite our differences. the indecorous and appalling language that staff at parks, CPD, other city departments, and most importantly, 3CDC used when discussing with one another the people who use Piatt Park is the kind of thing that makes one want to not live here in a city whose public servants speak that way about other human beings. At the end of the day though, the beast responsible for this absurd idea of city relinquishing stewardship of its oldest public park and using ignorant, insolent language to advance that absurd idea is the behind closed doors dealing, specially interested, unaccountable, classist, oligarchic five known as the Cincinnati Parks Board of Commissioners who are yet again serving the interests of real estate development class rather than the public interest. It's your job to stop them. Will you do your job? Will you stop the oligarchs at parks? Will you investigate the apparent conflicts of interest related to this embarrassment? Who is on which board? Who should have recused themselves from official business related to the decisions thus far? Whose interests are being served and who do you serve? Reform the park board now. You're welcome. >> Thank you. >> [applause] >> Nick uh Nick uh only provided one name. Nick um please come to the D Stanford pool. Welcome. >> Well, the chickens coming home to roost. You guys need to learn what leadership is. You need to buy read some books and read. We done told you what's going on. You keep on doing what the rich people tell you. You sold the railroad and you're broke. You gave $8 million down on the river for no reason at all. But regular people, you don't care nothing about. Do you care? I know you care about your paycheck every every two weeks. You needed to stand up and do something. You're stealing houses from the poor people. You you're giving $4 million here. You're getting $400,000 to a a a complex that you put the receiverhip in in charge. Start doing your job. You're getting your paycheck. You then you look at your family and look in the mirror now. See, they ain't even paying attention. He looking down at stuff. You got two minutes. But when a rich guy come in here in the back door, you give them everything. The Port Authority, DC3C, those are your hench people to steal stuff from these people, the parks and everything else, and you walk away with your hands up. You're no different than Donald Trump and his group. You're doing the same thing. You're firing people. You're firing black people, policemen. You're setting them up. And if it don't come out the way you want, like Trump do, you find some other uh lawyer to do it to get them out of here to give them some money where you can do it again. You're ashamed. I'm ashamed of all of you. >> The brown one and the white one. The white one don't care nothing about the brown one. And the brown one don't care either one. You're getting your paycheck and your t title and that ain't nothing. And when your family look at you, you they should say you worthless because you ain't doing nothing for the people. Every rich people the airport down there get sold that for 35 years for the rich guys. You should be shaming yourself. You should be You must have >> Thank you, sir. >> voted for Trump. Levi Levi Antoine, please come to the dis. Welcome Shane White. Well, here we go again. Ain't nothing much going to be done about our situation. You know, sometimes it just feel like it's a waste of time because um just talking to just to be talking and I know Dominic Clayton, the girl who stole money orders in Cleveland. I know this ain't Cleveland and but still nothing. They got her and you know what I mean, but nothing is being done down here about anything. You know, um I live in the building so I know a lot of things that goes down far as you know people dealing with the issues mode [snorts] or whatever situation is. Um, and it's one time I believe just everybody needs to be looked at. Even Greg Johnson, he needs to be looked at too closely, you know, because I don't know how it could go on, but you know, this ain't the righteous world. But, you know what I mean? God sees everything. And, you know, we'll get some justice. We'll get we will get some justice cuz what goes on in the dark will show out in the light. So that's all I pretty much got to say. You know, God bless everybody. Y'all be safe. >> You too, sir. >> Thank you, sir. [applause] This is Carol Cunningham. Please come to the dice. Our next speaker is Nick. >> Good afternoon, mayor and city council. My name is Dr. Nick Kanig. I'm a post-docctoral researcher at the University of Cincinnati studying climate justice and environmental exposures to environmental hazards. But today I'm here on my own behalf. I just moved to Cincinnati this January and absolutely devastated to hear that we are entering into a new era of a public private partnership of Piatt Park potentially. And I really hope today to highlight two specific points around Piot Park being a climate justice necessity for our city and then further how this reappropriation to 3CDC would be an absolute atrocity of environmental uh gentrification. So first during the parks meeting the parks director uh gave falsified information around tree health and tree age. I'm a treeing scientist and I study here. You can tell by the age of the trees in there they are only twothirds to half of their natural life. Saying that they're need to be cut down soon is absolute lie. And trees in the later parts of their life exponentially capture more CO2 or carbon dioxide which is a greenhouse gas that I imagine many you all familiar with. But further, as we look into this summer, it being a potential super Elnino year year stacked on top of a heat dome stacked on top of a urban heat island. The downtown Cincinnati area could be upwards of 40° Fahrenheit warmer than normal. Further, I want to read here the definition. I brought some peer-reviewed publish literature here of environmental uh gentrification. It is the implementation of environmental planning agenda related to public green spaces that leads to the displacement or exclusion of the most economically vulnerable human population while espousing an environmental ethic. That right there, your support for this public private partnership with 3CDC is an explicit support of green gentrification that would be on the 56th anniversary of Earth Day today which global theme is collective action is collective earth. This is collective action right here. 3CDC is not collective action. Thank you. >> Thank you. [applause] Al Al Dalton. Al Dalton, please come to the DAS. Welcome, Levi. Like many other organizers in our community survival network. I grew concerned when this week PSL Cincinnati released screenshots of the proposal 3CDC gave to the parks council, citing various concerns they intend to address now that their plan to lease Payup Park has been approved. One of those concerns was quote persistent misuse of the park accompanied by a photo of people gathered at Piatt Park to distribute food, clothing, and hygiene items as has been tradition for almost a decade in Cincinnati's oldest public park. To categorize our our human family saving each other's lives as misuse is terrifying. I've been a resident of the otr neighborhood of Cincinnati for only three years and shortly after doing so met the founder of the tribe foundation Siri through our shared love of performing music and our collaboration with human rights organizations in Cincinnati. For almost 10 years, her nonprofit, the Tribe Foundation, has hosted a mutual aid food serve on the last Sunday of every month. and it's one of at least four organizations to do so, including Food Not Bombs, 513 Hygiene Care, Coalition for Community Safety, and the Tri Foundation, which has supported me through many dark times in my own life. Um, these people are of all ages, ethnic backgrounds, and they provide a hot meal, clothing, and they speak directly to homeless people about what their needs actually are, and they serve them immediately. Um, the important word there being immediately. So, even in the harshest winter storms and heat, they acknowledge they are a lifeline for hundreds of working-class people. Uh, to characterize this as misuse as tonedeaf at best and targeted at worst, as they've recently acquired the Garfield Suites, which has been vacant for a decade and we can only hope will be turned into affordable housing. I also encourage them to consider that demolition or construction of the park could interfere with our gatherings and to implement action instead that recognizes homelessness as a consequences of the housing market, parking rates and available spaces that they control. Our third places are growing fewer and fewer by the day and we have to gather and take care of each other in places that are free to inhabit. Uh and we will continue to do so. >> Thank you. Ma Molly, if you could please come to the DAS. Molly, uh our next speaker is Mrs. Carol Cunningham. Welcome. >> Um, I began three years ago previously at Potter Stewart because of violations of my civil rights and human rights. And up until today's time, I really can't tell you what they did. All I know is it led me here to you, Mayor AFAP, and you spoke out and you ordered that the bar association give me an attorney. I kept telling you every week, no one has contacted me. No one has contacted me. I have received a lease violation. went to court and the judge said, "Tomorrow my property I will be evicted and my property set out on the street." When Greater Cincinnati Behavioral Health is holding $11,000 that is to be released to me because of my injury by their employer, Emily Bender, rotator cuff injury three years ago that I'm still getting treatment for. I've been punched and knocked out three other times that have uh continued my serious rotator cuff and assaulted by a resident whose name I don't know with a cane. And uh by your power and authority, I want you to stop the eviction. I'm not going to sleep on the street. I stopped paying because they charged me, the property manager, with two false felony lease violations that has gone on for three years. And I knew it would only be if I willingly, purposely, and intentionally withheld my rent. You know, we can abuse you. We can hurt you. We can do anything but pay your rent or we going to put you out. So, by your power of authority because they never provided me with an attorney. I left you messages. I left you facts. I was here Monday. I left paperwork. This is not fair. This is not right. They are holding $11,000 of my money. Greater Cincinnati Supervisor uh uh Daniel um uh McDaniels, Stephen McDaniels, my I owe back property uh payments $1,120 which I kept cuz they haven't kept me safe. >> Thank you, Miss Miss Carol Cunningham. >> And I need to know today. >> Thank you very much. >> Whether you're going to do that [applause] >> we could have we could have Gokal Shrina Vasan please come to the das. Who do I talk with? >> Uh, please um speak with Noah Nixon at the at the >> at the door there. >> I want to stop. >> Thank you, Miss Carol. Good morning. >> Our next speaker is Al Dalton. Welcome. >> Parks belong to the people. My name is Big Al. I am a local business owner, downtown resident, and born and raised in the nasty natty. Today I am speaking with you about Piatt Park. I live currently on Race Street across from the park. My adopted mother owns Rya Lebanese which sits at 801 Elm Street and has in my opinion the best food in Cincinnati. Everyone from council leaders to bus drivers come in for her halal girros. She feeds everyone because she knows that some must beg for bread. I know this park. I love this park. I love its people. 3CDC has stripped this resilient city of affordable housing which makes it impossible for people like me to live and work here. This city, our city, is being hijacked by 3CDC for profit while decimating its people, which makes its city so strong. In the springtime, I look forward to the fountain being full so I can eat ice cream from sunshine fi foods corner market with my friends. The park has water fountains, charging stations, which makes it possible for people to survive. People who have been discarded by the city that they live and work in. I have survived homelessness 10 years ago. And because of the policies you have enacted, my landlord on Ray Street posted an eviction notice two days ago to my home after my father Jeff Dalton, a former Anderson Township firefighter, took his own life. I am once again facing homelessness after living and serving Cincinnati my whole life. AFTAB, you use nice words like unhoused, yet step over our neighbors sleeping on the street on your way to work, which shows me that you care more about looking good than doing right by the people. You have bought and sold this city, and for that in so much more, you have blood on your hands. You council leaders have a responsibility to the people that elected you. Corporations are not people. People are people. People like my mother and the people of food not bombs are picking up the slack. and you decided that people are disposable. Do your jobs or you too will be deemed disposable. Free Palestine, free Sudan, free Congo. None of us are free until we are all free. >> Thank you. [cheering] Emily Spring. Emily Spring, please come to the Das. Our next speaker is Molly. Welcome. >> Um, I'm just here to speak frankly and directly about 3CDC. They are a private corporation. Um, I know that you as a city council have kind of given off a lot of your own workload to 3CDC to develop the city, but at the end of the day, they are a corporation. They don't care about the citizens of Cincinnati. They don't care about the unhoused. They care about their bottom line. They have an agenda. Their allegations of safety and misuse of the park are unfounded. Um, we all know this. You all know this. You guys are adults. You know how to think critically. Yes, I assume we know that this is more of an exercise than anything. But I would like to add on to what the people before me said in that you do have a responsibility and a job to do and your responsibility is to us as citizens. So, it's great that you're listening to us today, but I hope to God this is not just a little PR stunt to say that, yeah, we listen to the people, so we're going to go ahead with the lease. So again, I just want to appeal to you guys, all of you who are looking down or not paying attention or whatever. You guys are smart, okay? You're not stupid. You can think critically. You know what this lease will do if given to 3CDC. So again, I implore you. Do your [ __ ] job. >> Thank you. Kylie Ham, Kylie Ham, please come to the D. Our next speaker is Gokle. Welcome. >> Hi there. Uh I'm a member of uh one of the mutual aid organizations that uh uh uses Pi Park and uh I've uh been there at four serves now where uh we helped out people and um uh I've I've seen some uh articles that are characterizing the uh mutual ag's use of the park as a supposed misuse or whatever they want to call it. And I personally don't see that. I think we do a great job of cleaning after cleaning up after ourselves. We uh we're only there for like two hours uh every weekend. Um and uh just this last month we had like 50 to 100 folks show up where the weather was nice out. But even when the weather isn't nice, I was there back in February. It was insanely cold. It was something like I mean I I thought it felt like zero degrees out. Still people showed up. these people really get a use out of uh what we do uh in those uh in those events. So, um yep, that's all I got. Thank you, sir. [applause] Ryan, um I think it's uh Clauses. Um Oh, thank you, Ryan. Uh our next speaker is Emily Spring. Welcome. >> Hi, members of the council. My name is Spring. I am a current resident of North Side but a former resident of Over the Rine. I was pushed out due to pricing of housing. Um I currently bartend in the Over the Rine area and I am one of the founders along with many industry homies of Cincinnati Practical Education Coalition. We are a mutual aid group started by and for restaurant and hospitality workers. So therefore, several of our members uphold and continue to provide the labor in your entertainment district that we advertise as the biggest draw to boost our economy here in Cincinnati. Um because of that, we believe that our voices need to be heard just like all of our neighbors here today. Recently, we became a part of the Piatt Park Serves. Um but I have long-term seen these serves as a positive beacon of joy in this community. Um as my friend just said that it's about two hours every week. It is not a nuisance and in fact in those two hours we provide more human services and life to for material conditions that are desperately needed by folks who live in Over the Rine by folks who live throughout this city and have been neglected by this council here who have been displaced by the ghouls at 3CDC. If 3CDC has been caught lying about persistent misuse of the park, when in fact the park is eating a meal, getting the services that people need, and that is what it represents, how on earth can we trust them to keep people's needs and interests in mind when they say that they will revitalize the park for us. We cannot trust this. Piatt is one of the last true publiclyowned beautiful beacons of joy, community, and mutual aid in this city. We cannot lose it to private interests. I'm happy to hear that the mayor is now today on record saying that these serves won't be interrupted, but we cannot stop at that. >> We must listen to the people the future of. >> Thank you. [applause] >> Susan Lakes. Susan Lakes, please come to the Das. Our next speaker is Kylie. Welcome. Hi guys, my name is Kylie Ham. I am the president of the registered nurses association at University of Cincinnati. I'm sure all of you are familiar with me. I've talked with every single one of you. Long time no talk since what endorsements? No calls. Okay. So, I'm here to give the full backing of the nurses union at UC to the Payatt Park Serves. Um, we have many nurses that volunteer um to serve the community. We also usually do multiple drives a year for hygiene products, clothing, non-p perishables, and things like that to supplement um the organizations that serve in these parks. I myself also work with 513 hygiene care um in the parks to fill a gap that the city and 3CDC do not fill. So, there is no food from our daily bread on the weekend. Um we all know that food insecurity and um unavailability unavailability of food is one of the factors for social determinance of health which affects people's health. Um the p the people that we see in this park are also our patients. Um so we represent about 1,700 nurses. I just wanted to offer our support to the organizations. I have a second thing. I have put a call out and I have not heard from any single one of you. Our nurses are being talked out of filing police reports or being told they cannot file police reports by CPD. And I need that addressed immediately when they experience workplace violence and assaults. It is not the police's responsibility to decide what can be prosecuted or a patient's mental capacity. That is up to the prosecutor or health care professionals. I need that stopped now. I had multiple multiple in a nurse was punched in the face last weekend and then told not to file a report handle that please. >> Thank you. [applause] Amber Cassum. Amber Cassum, please come to the dis. Welcome Ryan. >> Thank you for your time and attention today. I'm here to speak about Pia Park which is something very important to me personally. Um, I share many of the sentiments of speakers who came before me, but [clears throat] today I want to speak about some of the more intangible benefits of the serves that happen at Paya Park, specifically the community aspect of it. We understand what it means for hungry people to get food and cold people to get jackets. Uh, but I want to talk about the uh community aspect of it and the benefits that it has to put tangible real [clears throat] um uh well benefits. Let me say it that way. So, um I am a mathematician. So I started self-eing math at age 10. Um taught myself calculus in the 10th grade. Had a PhD in 2014. I worked as a math as a math professor for six years. Uh now I built statistical models. I [clears throat] uh uh my area of specialty in math is the use of ordinal indices and bonding spaces. And that's a niche area within a niche area. But I am proud to say that I uh am quite literally the world's foremost expert in that area. Um I also have had um severe lifelong struggles with depression, anxiety, obsessivempulsive disorder. Um and I have not been free of suicidal ideiation since my teenage years until now. Uh I have uh lived a very isolated life. Uh and it was uh sometime in the last year when a friend of mine alerted me of service opportunities in Pay Park and that was uh uh let's say 12 weeks ago. I've been there literally every week since then. uh through connections I've made there. I also attend every week another food drive at a local church and I also have uh contacted that church about uh other opportunities in their community involvement programs with uh STEM education for K- through2 students. Uh so [clears throat] I have never before felt a sense of community. I feel that now. I have not been free of suicidal ideiation until now. Um, now because I no longer have a self-imposed expiration date, I am here to offer every free minute of my time uh for years and years to come as uh food server mathematician tutor whatever the community needs. Thank you. >> Thank you, sir. >> Ashen Jones. Bastian Jones, please come to the DAS. Uh, welcome Susan Lakes. >> Yeah. Hi. Um, I just wanted to move back to something I said a couple weeks ago. I expressed concern about a street car platform and the safety of it. For those of you who were here, um, I encouraged you to look at the street car platform across from the courthouse. Uh there were some I'm there a lot because I shop at Kroger and there were some things going on that disturbed me. Um right after this meeting I went to Kroger like I do every day. Went to the street car platform was sitting there. You guys are awesome or this is a coincidence. sitting there talking to another person and a police car pulled up and the policeman got out, police person got out and said, "Um, hi. Just checking everything okay." And we both said, "Well, yeah." And he said, "I want you to call if anything if if anything's going on here." So, um, I don't know if y'all got busy that quickly or if this was just a coincidence, but I just wanted to thank you. >> Thank you, Chelsea. Uh, Gabotero, please come to the DAS. Welcome, Amber. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um, again we see city leadership outsourcing care and public responsibilities, hiding behind subcontracted curtain of failure and harm. Abatements, privileged handouts that drain resources directly from working people while reinforcing the systems that benefit your connected interests and slum lords. You hide behind third-party contracts, quasi privatized systems so you can act surprised when predictable harm follows. This is that predictable harm we're telling you. This is a warning again. Accountability doesn't disappear just because you subcontracted the work out. It's simply pushed out of sight for people with short attention spans while the public continues to experience the qu consequences directly. You can say you paid for good stuff to happen, but this has consistently not been true. Consistently, our neglected daily realities still have to be cleaned up by us. In practice, this style of governance mirrors what we see from Donald Trump. Deflection of responsibility, the focus on optics, weak oversight, messaging prioritized over execution, intervention, and real results. Across your tenur, all of you, you have neglected my neighborhood. This falls short of what real public leadership requires, direct responsibility and systems that actually deliver public outcomes and intervention. Don't let this be another instance where residents are left to absorb your consequences that you have transferred on to us and continue to have us hold up. Please treat this as a predictable outcome and don't act surprised when everybody's evicted out of this park. Thank you. Anna Sullivan. Anna Sullivan, please come to the DAS. Bastian Jones, welcome. >> Hi, I'm Bastian Jones. I work at the public library. I've worked there for three years. Um, obviously it's adjacent to Pay Bark. Um, and when I heard about the 3CDC deal and this characterization of misuse that many people have talked about before, I wondered who is saying that because I've spent a lot of time in Piatt Park. Um, I haven't heard any people complaining in the public, which it's a public park. Um, I have seen these food serves. They are beneficial. There's no problems as far as I've observed. And I went to work the next day and I asked many of my friends and colleagues, I'm not a representative of the library. This is just what I did. Um, and I asked them, I said, 'H have you guys seen any problems with Piatt Park? Do you think it needs any changes or renovations? Do you have problems with these food service? Have you seen this news? And unanimously it was just outrage from the people who are actually right by this park every day who work there, who go there on their lunch breaks, you know. So I I have to ask what public is being served by any sort of deal with 3CDC, any sort of revitalization efforts. Who has asked for that? Who has said there's something wrong with this park? because I'm not seeing that. And I have worked here, like I said, for three years. Been by that park every day for three years. That's all I had to say. Thank you. >> Thank you. [applause] >> Helena Jones, please come to the DAS. Uh our next speaker is Chelsea. Welcome. >> Hello. Um my name is Chelsea. I also work for the library and this is a response to the privatization of Piet Park. Um I like to always focus on the good in others. I try to look for good intentions. Um, however, I cannot see any possible outcome from privatizing Pat Park. Um, that can be seen as good. It only resonates with greed and arrogance. The downtown area is already hurting for third spaces. This park is more than just a third space. It is a home for food serves and mutual aid distrib distribution that our community needs now more than ever. And if you see that as a misuse, then you see kindness, generosity, and community as a problem. And if that is true, then we must rethink this plan. >> Thank you. [applause] Ryan uh Ryan Saud, Ryan Sa, please come to the das. Our next speaker is Anna. Welcome. >> Hi everybody. Anna Sullivan. I'm a taxpayer and a member of the community. Current challenges. That's what 3CDC is calling a potluck in the park. Framing is important and that's what 3CDC is doing very well here. We can frame Pet Park as blighted and challenging or we can frame it with a more realistic lens. Pet park and every park in this city is what is called a third space. A third space is a place that's not work or home and it's very important for community building. I use the park a lot. All of them. I always feel welcome. Sometimes I'll nap in the park. And you know what? I've never had a problem doing that. But other people have. Why? Because they don't look like they have a home to go back to. And I do. I don't care who uses our parks as long as they leave them as nice as they found them. If we begin to characterize misuse of the park by whether or not people look like me while using it, it is no longer public. That is what 3CDC has clearly outlined that they will be doing when it's privatized. 3CDC has privatized Fountain Square and they play advertisements in my third space. They leased Washington Park and they play bad pop over worse speakers. >> I don't care who uses the parks as long as it's a person, not a corporation. Block this proposal. Come on. You know as well as all of us that public private partnerships have their place and it's not in our public parks. It is not taking [applause] property taxes off of parking lots like the last resolution you have here, resolution 31. My current challenge current challenges not seeing my tax dollars used for the good of the people. Make 3CDC open its books to all of us. Make all of the state agencies, these public private partnerships, open their books, make them pay their property taxes. Thank you. >> Thank you. [applause] >> Stefan Prior, please come to the DAS. Uh, next speaker is Helena Jones. Welcome. >> Hello. My name Helena Jones. I'm a bigger crime. Get the glove fit. Did the glove fit? I must have quit. So I did not quit cuz the glove the glove fit me. This is saying city man in line said no body cameras. Put it here. Go four body camera. Put it right here. Dina Brown gave me one. I don't know if Dena Brown still work down there. city manager. I seen I went down to my lawyer yesterday. They said you need to get that paperwork to Miss John and said it was the body camera. Put it and you lied, city manager. You ought to be serving yourself. You covered it up. They want to know what day did you get rid of my body camera. You wrong, city manager. And you wrong, too. Alter Pill Ball and Ida took my body camera. She took number one. I got four here. right here in your face. After pball, they told you to step down. You ain't right after P ball. You need to stop being racist toward people. Do your job. You not right. City man, you not right. Your day coming, city manager. You going to lose your job. You going to lose your job too. A tail p. All three of they looking for private poison ivy. And you know where she at after up here, ball, I'm going to walk her down. And you ain't no like that what I'm going to do to her. You ain't no like it. You better find where she at. And I ain't giving up cuz I'm a hero and not no zero. You violate my country to the right city, man. And you devil. Won't you come out and show your faith cuz you wrong. You was a crook lying for a peball and you steal the bribe money for the police. You covering up a tail pal. You not Dylan Bower, please come to the das. Dylan Bower. Our next speaker is uh Ryan. Welcome. >> Need to go somewhere yourself. >> Pay your card. >> Today, I'm here to speak on behalf of a 56-year-old homeless woman named Rosie who used to frequent my coffee shop. Over the last 10 months, I helped reintroduce her to society because she did not understand why I was willing to speak with her, allow her to use my restroom, and offer her water without charging. After being homeless for more than 20 years, I helped her seek medical care. In January, we had emergency cold shelters that kicked out their occupants at 6:00 a.m. when it was 0 degrees outside. I know this because these people came to my doorstep. Due to her level of frostbite, I assume Rosie would be a double amputee based on the cover the color of her legs. It does not take anything more than basic human empathy to understand why we need to take care of our neighbors. Rosie is now in a nursing home after a lifetime of hopelessness and cruelty. Last month, I explained to Vice Mayor Kernney I intended on launching a distribution similar to food not bombs in Grant Park to do the same thing. I explained the concern of needing a permit to use a public park in fear of being shut down by profiteers of the police. And this was last month and here we are full circle. I don't know what levels of degeneracy you must carry in your heart to see a person enjoying a publiclyowned park and think, "Wow, how can I make that a business model?" But hey, 3CDC is a nonprofit, right? I'm trying to understand from a fiscal standpoint why we refuse to keep the city owned by the city. We are the best, we are, to the best of my knowledge, the only city with train tunnels and no subway. We've passed racist laws to shut down hookah bars in town while we refuse to support a ceasefire for an ongoing genocide in Palestine. We sold our train to Northfolk Southern after what they accomplished in East Palestine. We denied affordable housing initiatives as we have continuously defunded the CCA while simultaneously funding the police. The same police that decided to run over and kill Joanne Burton in Washington Park as it was being proposed to be developed. We are now on a 100red-year schedule to put benches at every bus stop in the city. But we find the money to install sadistic grooves to prevent people from sleeping. And now, according to the police, 3CDC now has more surveillance of the city than the city does. >> Thank you, [applause] >> Josh Ingram. Josh Ingram, please come to the DIS. Um, Stefan Prior is our next speaker. Is Stefan here? Okay. Could we also have Ryan Barbara please come to the DIS? Our next speaker is Dylan Bower. Welcome. >> Hi, I'm a resident of the city of Cincinnati who's self-employed through my business that's also based here. I currently pay around $3,500 a year in city taxes alone. I would love if those tax dollars felt like they had a more tangible benefit, not just to me, but about the causes that I care about. The basic agreement that upholds any governments is that in exchange for taxation, the government provides the necessary functions and services of life. The sheer necessity of mutual aid groups is a proof of failure on the city's end to be able to uphold that agreement. The need to leverage 3CDC and other private corporations seems like an admission of failure to be able to meet that agreement as it is. The city's already sold off its public railroad two years ago to fund the existing infrastructure. Does Piatt Park not fall under that scope of existing infrastructure? Because I remember we had a lot of conversations about that in which you tried to lie to the public that the sidewalks would be fixed when the city in fact doesn't own that many sidewalks. So what 3CDC sees as a misuse of the park won't magically disappear by changes to the park itself. It'll simply be moved out of the view of their business interest that is the Garfield suites. The city has previously seen public drinking at as a misuse of Washington Park. It would lead to tickets, fines, or jail times for people who are just trying to get by. But now, now that 3CDC has renovated that park, public drinking is not only encouraged and profited from, it's a feature of the park that you can enjoy. So will soon will it soon be illegal to serve food in Piatt Park only for it to accommodate food trucks once the renovations are done? >> I would suggest that 3CD 3CDC focuses on filling much of its current vacant storefronts before it looks to change parks that are already fully functioning. [applause] Thank you, [applause] Minister. Um, [applause] >> welcome, Minister. Our next speaker is Josh Ingram. >> Hello. I am an urban planning student at the University of Cincinnati and I am coming here because I am also concerned by the privatization of the park as so many people have come up here already today because I feel that first of all a park should be publicly owned if a park it why are we giving a 40-year lease to a company e instead of renovating it through the city because the city has the ability to renovate the park itself and if we have to have new parks why can we not do it in other parts of the city where they are where there are there's where there's nothing just the vacant land from parking lots and I >> I don't know I'm sorry I'm not okay and I just feel that the fact that we are choosing to focus on renovating a park that already is welldesigned and already has a purpose in protecting the community is is wrong because why are we focusing on giving to a millions of dollars to a private company instead of doing things through the government that are already owned by it. We already own the park. Why can we not do it ourselves? And why is it being done specifically at the park that has the public food serves? I feel like it's being done not to improve the park for the residents of the city, but rather to get rid of the homeless people who go there for the food serves because 3CDC is renovating hotel right next to the park. you're here >> and I just think that if we have to do anything if we sorry I'm I'm not good at speaking but I >> but I feel that we need to have an actual look at why are we focusing on the needs of 3CDC over the homeless community in Cincinnati when thousands upon thousands of children in our public schools are are homeless and we are having to build homeless shelters by the schools so so that they don't. >> Thank you. [applause] Thank you very much. Josh Josh Spring. Josh Spring, please come to the DAS. Our next speaker is Ryan. Welcome. My name is Ryan. I'm speaking on behalf of myself as a citizen of Cincinnati and a taxpayer. Um I wanted to speak a little bit about 3D 3CDC's proposal to lease Pi Park. I want to be clear. I'm not here to stand against improvements to our city's oldest park and say that things have to stay the same as they are now. Cincinnati has amazing parks and they should be improved and maintained. They should be welcoming to everyone, which they are. I'm not against growth, but this is not an issue of growth versus no growth. It's about who decides on what that looks like. What we're talking about here is the leasing of a public good to a private corporation as part of a project funded by taxpayer subsidies. Our money, a public that was not involved at all in any of this process so far. In fact, today is the first time we've had any opportunity to comment on it. A decision that's this consequential to the use of public space requires direct and public input and consent. Uh 3CDC says, "Yes, nothing's changing right now. You can comment later, but that's what every developer says when they're going to be doing something unilateral. I've heard it before. We've all heard it before. The best way to gather that input is before 3CDC is allowed to move forward, not after. The time for public input is now. And so, I urge this council to block the proposal uh because decisions that are made in our public spaces should be made with us and not in spite of us. And with the time I have left, I would encourage all of you to come to any of the events in the park. We will feed you too because we feed everyone. >> Thank you. Thank [cheering] you, [applause] >> Jonathan Nortman. Jonathan Norton, please come to the dis. Uh, welcome, Minister. >> Um, I want to say this for the record and on the record to all the citizens of Cincinnati, you know, you can sue the city. That is your equity. All you can come together and create a class action lawsuit. The next thing we need to create a charter where commit where we make sure that private nonprofits are committed to exposing and being transparent and everything. The same thing that's going on at Finley Market that's controlling a public space for private goods is the same thing that's going on with Cincinnati Parks Board. What's also a problem is that it needs to be in the bylaws that only one trustee from each board should be able to go on that board. You got two trustees that's on three of the same boards that's controlling all of this and they work for subsidiaries of 3CDC alone. The next thing, please assistant DC's from the false statements. I am still getting text message shots from a council member in here. Um still keep talking about the harassment and I will and I'm keep saying please come up here and tell me well how did I harass you? The next thing I have a problem with the park thing, you know, like Mika Owens said, 1.8 million is good enough for them. That's how you feel about us. But you give 8 million to down here on the riverfront. I understand it's going to give you more tax dollars. However, how does it look to the people? Now, I don't got nothing against you. Um, uh, Scotty Johnson, council members Scotty Johnson, Cranley, Vice Mayor, y'all did a good job speaking out against that because it was wrong. Even you, mayor, spelled out against that. So, we understand that stuff need to get fixed, but it's the part that the private is not being transparent with the public. That's the big issue. No transparency, and they get to do anything. So, even when you sue them, you're suing them from a private side, which is a contract, not on constitutional law or public tax dollars, which is another problem. >> Thank you, Minister. [applause] If I could have um Daniela Rosewald please come to the dis. Uh our next speaker is Josh Spring. Welcome sir. Josh Spring, executive director of the Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition. When 3CDC decided that they wanted to change Washington Park to look like themselves, they went on a hate campaign against the park, talking about how supposedly dangerous it was, drug use, etc. In the midst of that hate campaign is when a police officer ran over the core of Joanne Burton as she was resting without a home underneath a tree and killed her. And the police told me they had run over her ankle. Uh when the park reopened, there were a list of rules in the park. Three of the rules didn't exist in any other park. No passing out or receiving of food or clothing. No reaching into trash cans or any receptacle. People like to get stuff to scrap it for income. No amplified sound. It had been a place of protest for decades. Because those showed up, uh, we paid attention and we noticed that the police were enforcing them as laws, charging people with crimes for breaking them. We led people to sue the city over that. And we found out in discovery that in fact those rules that were being enforced as laws had been created at the last minute before the park opened on a phone call that it had three people on it. Somebody from the police department, somebody from the park board and somebody from 3CDC. They created a law that they thought was a law over the phone and the police department enforced it against our people. That is how much power they believe they have. They didn't think they needed to consult you. They thought they could make a law and they did and it was enforced until we got the court to stop it. That's what privatization does. >> It gives away our power. It is scary and it should not happen here. Thank you. >> Thank you. [applause] >> Our next speaker is on Zoom. Our next next speaker is on Zoom. Uh Mike Yulhorn. Can you hear us? >> Can you hear me now? >> Yeah. Go ahead, Mike. >> Yes. So, my video stopped unfortunately, but I'm wearing my Batman shirt today because like Batman, I am embodying justice that is independent of a corrupt and broken system. Now I say that because apparently all of you up there have forgotten one of your duties and responsibilities and that is to conduct yourselves ethically. Now I ask you how ethical is it for you with your water department to take money from people when the water is turned off and you are providing absolutely nothing nothing of value at all but you're taking money. It's criminal for Ohio state law. It's criminal and certainly not ethical. I believe everybody here would raise their hand to say that it is not ethical to take money from somebody and give nothing in return. What I'd like to know is what are you going to do about it? I've been coming here for almost a year now. I've called your offices, get hung up on, shouted at. as soon as they realize who I am. All because I'm pointing out unethical, illegal practices of taking money from people when the water is turned off at the meter and are providing absolutely nothing. Perhaps somebody else mentioned a class action should be pulled together to sue the city in a class action lawsuit. maybe that would enact change because apparently none of you are going to step up and change anything. So, thank you very much for your time today. I appreciate the opportunity to come speak about this and hope that somebody up there will do something to stop these unethical acts taking money from people. >> Thank you, Mike. when you >> could we have uh Sam Beer please come to the dis. Our next speaker is Jonathan Norman. Welcome. >> Just days after October 7th, the drone manufacturer SkyO sent hundreds of its drones to Israel for their use in Gaza. These surveillance drones were tasked with running facial recognition and target selection as Israel began its destruction, implementing the Lavender AI systems, which marked Palestinians as acceptable targets based merely on the suspicion of any connection to a militant group. no matter how loose or non-existent those connections were. Then these drones implemented the program known as Where's Daddy? An AI system which identified when these selected people were in their family homes because they were easier to kill sleeping at home with their loved ones. This system approved a 100 to1 kill ratio where 100 civilian casualties could be swept under the rug for one supposed target with little to no human oversight. That's intentional. With systems known to be riddled with errors, this practice of AI washing allows Israel to shift the blame and call it a mistake when they bomb and bring down entire high-rise apartment buildings, kill journalists, doctors, and ambulance crews. Skyo isn't the only American company testing their tech and profiting from genocide and apartheid. Axon has been supplying camera systems like the body cams worn by the Israeli military. Cameras that that implement the same racist fa facial recognition used only on Palestinians at the checkpoints that divide up the West Bank. They supply the tasers used to assault Palestinians at these checkpoints while their homes are raided and when they are abducted and tortured without charge or trial. How hypocritical that the council that says it stands for racial justice would turn to tech that was built in the most racist environment in the world. Tech used to single out, persecute and kill Palestinians is now trusted to to police black, brown and marginalized in our community with a city and force already dealing with its racist components. this axon fus network which we know will be accessed by ICE regardless of our intentions as we have seen with other city councils and IC's use of the flock network. This council has elected to give these companies more than $30 million and force them on our community for people that want to campaign off of misuse of public funds. This kind of spending and capitulation to the donor class is embarrassing, shameful and corrupt. This should be corrected immediately and we should stop the privatization of Pyatt Park. >> [applause] >> Thank you. Could what [cheering] could I have? Minister Vanessa and Bishop Sunny James please come. Oh, I'm sorry. Just Minister Vanessa. Uh I didn't see you there, Sam. Uh our next speaker is on Zoom. Carrie Davis, can you hear us? >> Hello, sir. Can you hear me? >> Yeah. Go ahead, Carrie. As a nonprofit that's operated in Cincinnati and Hamilton County and all across Ohio since 2003, I it it shocks me when I come to your meetings and it feels like valid concerns. This is where valid concerns goes to die. And I'm just going to share with you before I talk about my issue that I feel like your subcommittees are not properly hearing out people at their level. And that's why you're facing such backlash in city council meetings. These concerns um should have been addressed at committee meetings and the committees are acting as gatekeepers instead of facilitators to uh find out facts for the rest of the council um to be able to consider and it's just very unfortunate. I'm here again today to ask you that um to f a resolution to amend the solid waste district's plan to make it to improve it and bring $2.5 million back into our community to be used for littering, illegal dumping, pollution issues, all kinds of environmental issues. Um, you are the largest, most powerful entity in the solid waste district. you hold um over a third almost half of the votes in this district. You have a wonderful representative, Sue Magnus, who has been begging for five years for them to raise the fees to establish rules and to create a sighting committee. But the committee is ignoring her because you guys are not backing her. You have the authority under law and the duty as the largest member of the district to file a resol or to pass a resolution to simply amend the plan. >> Thank you very much. >> Uh if we could have Danielle Rose. Um you are our next speaker. Welcome. >> Hi. Uh my name is Ellie Rose. Thank you. I'm a new member of uh Over the Rine. Just moved here in January, but I am not a stranger to Cincinnati. I've grown up here my whole life. Um, this is my first council meeting, so bear with me while I get the shakes out. Uh, I'm here to speak on Piatt Park and to echo my community members and what they've said thus far. Um, the purpose of government is is to serve the people. Um, clearly with 150 to 200 community members going there for services regularly, there's a gap to be filled. Um, with 3CDC being here for as long as they have, their vested interest in serving the community is yet to be seen. [laughter] Um so with with the um uh uh uh with the growing tariffs that are coming, the increase of uh oil for an unjust war uh impacting individuals um it will uh eventually impact our farmers and our food production as well which will cause a further need for these food serves for a greater uh number of our community. keep piatt public, putting it in the hands of 3CDC with the folks that have just spoken. Uh there's concern, deep, deep concern. Uh I pray that you do the right thing. Let the public uh actually have their voice, listen to us. That's where our tax dollars are going. That's where we want them to go. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Bishop Bishop Sunonny James, please come to the das. Our next speaker is Sam. Welcome. So, the uh air filter in the corner needs the filter replaced. Um, unfortunately, yeah. Um, okay. So, uh I think the reason why they need the park, by the way, I didn't come here to talk on that, but uh they probably uh have to use it for staging to build the thing. And it's it's just so um but yeah, in order to um do anything about this, you guys are have to do what High Park did and get a vote together. That's the only way because uh >> you're not listening. >> It this doesn't matter. Um but uh >> anyways, uh I I make I brought this [clears throat] last time. Uh it's a magnet of um of the city. It's 1907 park plan. Um >> in the 30s uh and he was of the Homestead era. Uh and um in the 30s they did the WPA program. They built all those stone structures that were of the Frank Lloyd Wright uh student, one of his last students. Um in 2007, they did the 100red-year plan. Um and the goal was to stop uh completing this picture. Um and uh it was just to improve the parks and they had a number of uh I mean 3CDC didn't wasn't one of the uh members then because it didn't exist but uh MSD wasn't and uh they did exist and uh now that we're approaching 100 years from WP projects what do the parks mean to us now? um uh MSD uh is trying to do this impervious uh tax for the uh surfaces because of the storm water. And um anyways, uh Mikones, if you're going to be going over there, you need to have a stance on the consent decree because that's the reason why MSD wasn't a part of the uh plan to begin with. And um gosh, how to sum this up? I'm not going to be able to, so I'm gonna have to come back with this. But, uh, essentially, um, a gosh. Well, I'm gonna leave this with you and I hope you put it on the cooler so you can look at it. >> Thank you. Michael Binder, please come to the dice. Our next speaker is uh, Minister Vanessa. Hi, my name is Vanessa and in my role of chair for quality of life committee for otr, I'm here to support my neighbors um keep piatt park public. I don't need to tell you why. You already know why. You've heard why. I don't need to show you why. You've seen why. I don't need to bear my soul to you because you're not listening. As Minister Adrian said before, a member of this council thought that it was okay to say that $1.8 million was okay for the homeless people in this city. I do the grass work. I'm on the ground every day. I deal with all our homeless kids. I see 12 year olds drunk. I see 12 year olds high. We need the park to be public. 3CDC already has enough of this city. They have all these empty buildings. They don't want to put public things in there. They don't want to put community things in there. They want to keep it for themselves. We know what you're doing as a council. You're pushing off your responsibilities to be managed by 3CDC. But have you ever seen what happens when kids are hungry? Have you ever seen what happens when homeless people are desperate? It comes to your front door. And I manifest that you are ready for it when it comes to your front door. Peace and love. >> Thank you. Hope Durban. Hope Durban, please come to the das. Our next speaker is uh Bishop Sunny James. Welcome sir. >> Two very important texts come to my mind. Let him without sin cast the first stone. That brings accountability to me and to all of my peers. We're dealing with matters that are very sensitive. But I believe the Bible tells us and to my leaders that we are to be doers of his word rather than just hearers. It saddens me when I have to hear people who I serve and people that I love that I may never not even know come and share their heart. But here's what I believe we need to do as a people. We need to come together. You see, if we have issues, we're always going to have issues. But do we want to just complain about an issue or do we want to give leadership proper opportunity to properly govern those issues? So I have to stand as I believe Christ would do before us. I want to give credit to Mr. Scotty Johnson because I am standing with the residents of CHA and Touchstone property at Evston Apartments and these residents have felt unheard for a long time and he acknowledged Mika Owens has acknowledged Evan has acknowledged to come together. So within 10 days, I'm going to put together another group meeting called come together. And next Wednesday, I will come and report to the people which of our members are willing to come together. It's time that we just come together and show the people that we're listening by doing. God bless you all. >> Thank you, Bishop. Our next speaker is Michael. Welcome, sir. >> Thank you to the council members, the city manager, Mr. Mayor. I want to thank you for your time. I'm here uh to talk about Piatt Park and I'm a I'm a physician but I'm speaking as a citizen of the city. I've been a citizen for 16 years. Um and my message is I would encourage you to keep this as a public good and thank you for your time. >> Thank you sir. [applause] Uh our final speaker is Hope. Welcome Hope. Thank you for your patience. >> Yeah, of course. Thank you. My name is Hope. I found Tribe when I first moved to downtown Cincinnati and have kept it uh very dear to me as I moved to Northern Kentucky. In 3CDC's presentation, what appeared to be a food serve was deemed as persistent misuse of a park. If they meant something else, they fell sickly short of their intent. Or did they mean it? I've not heard any kind of statement on this. Any renovations to this space without considerations for these serves would directly disrupt the consistency it takes to provide services to the most vulnerable community that has come to rely on the joy and resources provided by volunteers who show up because we care. We're not paid. Many times this is coming out of our own pockets and collectively it is abundance. We're happy to do it and some organizations are on their eighth year of monthly serves. Our community tribe knows it's the last Sunday of the month at Pet Park and that's this Sunday. I invite everyone here, especially those I'm speaking to before me to come by this Sunday, noon to 3 and I've have taken pizzas from you before um and I'd love to see you stay. We are told nothing would happen in the interim from 3CDC and that's an aloof and arrogant response to the understandable raw emotions stirred by attributing our serves as misuse. They rely on us losing interest to pursue their own interests like maybe a doggy park amenity for the new Garfield suites. But please rest assured our attention span for collective participation in our own community at Pet Park will not dwindle. We are asking you to block this lease and work with us to build a plan that honors the people using the park right now. >> Thank you, Hope. >> Thank you to all the citizens who came forward today. We genuinely appreciate um and value uh your words uh your lived experiences and the passion that you've shown for this this subject. Uh before I move to um the business portion of the meeting, um no no um expectation, but if any council members wanted to say anything uh now or later, uh wanted to invite you to do that. Okay. Um moving to the business portion of our meeting. Uh we'll begin today's uh let me repeat myself. I apologize. We will begin today's business portion of Cincinnati City Council and the clerk will please call the role. Council member James >> here. >> Council member Jeff >> here. >> Council member Johnson >> here. >> Council member Nolan >> here. >> Council member Owens >> here. >> Council member Walsh >> here. >> Council member Albby. >> Council member Crane here. >> Please stand for a moment of silence. And now, the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The minutes from the previous meeting will be approved and filed without objection. hearing. None. They'll be approved and filed. Vice Mayor Kernney uh is excused from today's meeting. Moving to our agenda item one. Uh actually, give me one moment. Never mind. I see the note here. Moving to our agenda item one. We will now recognize President Johnson on behalf of Vice Mayor Kernney. Recognizing Keep Cincinnati Beautiful and expressing the support of the mayor and council for the public launch of Keep Cincinnati Beautiful's comprehensive campaign to double the impact of our city through its new home in the historic Harry Hake building in Walnut Hills. President Johnson, >> thank you, Mayor. Um, I'm a pinch hitter today. I didn't do well in Little League pinch hitting, but >> Oh, I don't believe that. >> Hopefully, I'll be able to get this done. Director Addie and this young man right here, thank you very much for all the work you do here in Cincinnati making sure Cincinnati stays beautiful. It's an effort. It's a grind, but you've been on that grind and we greatly appreciate what you're doing. As I'm pinch hitting for the great vice mayor, allow me to read this resolution. recognizing Keep Cincinnati Beautiful and expressing the support of the mayor and this council for a public launch of Keep Cincinnati Beautiful's comprehensive campaign to double the impact of our city through its new home in the historic Harry Haly building in Wanted Hills. And whereas since the founding in 1978, Keep Cincinnati Beautiful has enhanced the quality of life in Cincinnati through sustained efforts in little removal, beautifification, and community education. And whereas the organization has made immeasurable impact by removing millions of pounds of litter, painting more than 1500 buildings and planting thousands of trees across the city. And whereas Keep Cincinnati Beautiful has restored their historic Harry Howy building in Wanted Hills as its permanent headquarters, reflecting a commitment to both environmental stewardship and historic preservation. And whereas the launch of Keep Cincinnati's Beautiful's ambitious $6 million campaign demonstrates a forward-looking vision to expand its impact and continue its legacy of service and excellence. Now therefore, be it resolved that this council, Mayor Abtab Purevall, and the office of the great Vice Mayor Jan Michelle Kernney, who I'm pinch hitting for, re recognize, keep Cincinnati beautiful as you move into your new home in the historic Harry Hakey building in Wanted Hills. Once again, thank you very much for what you do. Your commitment I'm gonna remove this. your commitment to this city and continued great success. Couple of words, Mr. Aiden. >> Of course. I'm never going to pass up an opportunity to riff a little bit. Um, thank you so much to this administration, council, the mayor, for your generous support of Keep Cincinnati Beautiful. Yes, since 1978 when we were first founded during the middle of Pete Rose's 44 game hitting streak, um, Keep Cincinnati Beautiful has relied on civic engagement. all these folks that you saw here today. One of the greatest ways that we can exercise our civic responsibilities by volunteering. So, I thank you on behalf of the tens of thousands of volunteers who have made Keep Cincinnati Beautiful go. We're excited for our new home because we've we have pledged to double our impacts and we just couldn't do it out of the admin building for the Department of Public Services. Um we're excited for all of you to come visit this historic building. There's some great Easter eggs in it. And um we're also excited to return the DPS admin building to DPS so they can do wonderful things with it as we move out during the spring, but um it'll take a couple of minutes. Thank you so much. >> Thank you and congratulations. Uh comments from council, Mr. Jeff and thank you, Mr. Mayor. All the baseball analogies, Mr. Johnson, I think you hit a home run. You got the Pete Rose. So, thank you for pitch hitting U. No, thank you, Jonathan, for everything KCB does. I think the name keep Cincinnati beautiful is the important word, the keep, it's not make Cincinnati beautiful because we have a really beautiful city, but it does require attention, requires uh folks to actually put in the effort to keep it beautiful. And the thing I love about KCB is like how dedicated to results and impact you are and measuring those. How many, you know, tires, how many, you know, pounds of litter or whatever it is, uh, that you pick up. And I think that's really important because obviously we make an investment, a public investment, uh, and also private dollars to further your mission. And I think the impact that you guys have had and continue to have is really phenomenal. So, thank you uh for all that you do for our city. >> Thank you, uh Mr. Walsh or I'm sorry, Miss Albby. I'm I didn't >> sure. Thank you. Thank you. Uh thank you, Council Member Johnson, for stepping in today for this the pitch hitting. Uh and congratulations uh to the entire Keep Cincinnati a beautiful team. You all do so much. Uh and some of it, you know, we get to see you out in the community, you know, cleaning up litter, but some of it is partnership through, you know, our safe and clean fund. Thank you, Ty, for your amazing amazing stewardship there. It's the work and commitment to the uh action teams that are helping do these cleanup blitzes in otr and west end to support our act for cincy work. So, you all have been true partners across the board. So, really just wanted to thank you for the the whole uh wide array I don't have a baseball metaphor of your support uh there and congratulations on the new home in Walnut Hills. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Nolan. I just want to also offer my thanks for all the work that you've done. Um, you know, you you show up here at city hall often. You do it with a positive attitude. Uh, it's tough work, but that positive attitude brings a lot of volunteers to the table and we are all beneficiaries of that. So, thank you. And if it hasn't been said yet, of all days on Earth Day, uh, to have this resolution, uh, thanks to Council Member Johnson and the vice mayor for timing that up for us. Thank you, >> Mr. Walsh. Miss Owens, >> thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh, Jonathan Ty, congratulations on your new home. Um, so many great accolades have been said already, but I just want to continue to raise up the work that I did in college shows only made possible and begun because of partnership with KCB. I think there's many groups around the city that have that same story. And so, keep up the fantastic work and I can't wait to see the new home. >> Miss Owens, >> thank you. Yes, happy Earth. And it was a pleasure what on a beautiful day to celebrate a beautiful momentous uh milestone for you all. First of all, you truly are a leverage partner in the city. And I just want to recognize that out of the $6 million that you all need to raise. You've already raised 4.8 million. So I think it's an a testament to what you've done, how you have actually built civic engagement in this city, how you how you've actually uh met uh you know all of the big goals that you all have set and you're continuing to strive forward. The building is amazing. I know you all will feel like a new organization walking in there and that will mean greater impact. And also thank you for keeping it historic as well. Uh and super excited about just the activation that's happening in Walnut Hills. Uh there's true collaboration there. Uh and I know our best days are ahead. So thank you so much for being a partner. >> Thank you. Any final comments, Mr. Kramerang? >> Yeah, I would just like to add uh you know, keep it beautiful is always there to step up to the plate and swing for the fences. So, it's much appreciated. >> We are all now worse off after having [laughter] heard that pun. Thank you. Uh, I'll just um add my congratulations. Thank you all so much for all of your hard work. This morning's celebration was incredible. Roll call on passage of the resolution, please. >> Council member James, >> yes. >> Council member Jeff, >> yes. >> Council member Johnson, >> yes. >> Council member Nolan, >> yes. >> Council member Owens, >> yes. Council member Walsh, >> yes. >> Council member Albby, >> yes. >> Council member Karine, >> yes. >> Items 2 through 25 are as indicated. >> Item 26, first reading, please. >> An ordinance modifying provisions of chapter 606, rabies vaccinations for dogs of the Cincinnati Municipal Code. >> Roll call and suspension. >> Council member James, >> yes. >> Council member Jeff, >> yes. >> Council member Johnson, >> yes. >> Council member Nolan, >> yes. >> Council member Owens, >> yes. Council member Walsh. >> Yes. >> Council member Albby. >> Yes. >> Council member Karding. >> Yes. >> Mr. Kramering, talk to us about rabies. >> Absolutely. Mayor, we had a thoughtful conversation about this in finance. This expands the rabies vaccination requirements, including adding them for ferrets. Ferrets with an F. >> Thank you. Further comments? >> Roll call and passage, please. >> Council member James. >> Yes. >> Council member Jeff. >> Yes. Council member Johnson, >> yes. >> Council member Nolan, >> yes. >> Council member Owens, >> yes. >> Council member Walsh, >> yes. >> Council member Albby, >> yes. >> Council member Cranberry, >> yes. Item 27, first reading, please. >> An ordinance accepting and confirming the grant of public utility easement in favor of the city of Cincinnati for water main easement A and water main easement B. >> Roll call and suspension. >> Council member James, >> yes. >> Council member Jeff, >> yes. Council member Johnson, >> yes. >> Council member Nolan, >> yes. Council member Owens, >> yes. >> Council member Walsh, >> yes. >> Council member Albby, >> yes. >> Council member Kering, >> yes. >> Mr. Kramerang, >> Mayor, this ordinance uh accepts some easements that allow waterworks to run uh pipes uh to uh new property owners in the city of Harrison, Ohio. >> Further comments? Roll call on passage, please. >> Council member James, >> yes. >> Council member Jeff, >> yes. >> Council member Johnson, >> yes. >> Council member Nolan, >> yes. Council member Owens, >> yes. >> Council member Walsh, >> yes. >> Council member Albby, >> yes. >> Council member Kramering, >> yes. >> Item 28, first reading, please. >> An ordinance authorizing the city manager to apply for a grant of up to $300,000 from the Hamilton County Resource Residential Recycling Incentive Grant Program. >> Roll call and suspension. >> Council member James, >> yes. >> Council member Jeff, >> yes. >> Council member Johnson, >> yes. >> Council member Nolan, >> yes. >> Council member Owens, >> yes. >> Council member Walsh, >> yes. >> Council member Albi, >> yes. Council member Kramering. >> Yes. >> Mr. Kramering. >> I will defer to my colleague, Council Member Owens. >> Miss Owens. >> Thank you, Mr. Kramering. Um, yeah. So, we can actually reduce waste to the landfill when we invest in the infrastructure to do that. Not only is it the the recycling uh bins and and all of those pieces, but education and awareness. And so, really excited because we know that's lowhanging fruit um that will make a difference as we tackle the climate crisis together. >> Thank you. Further comments. Roll call on passage, please. Council member James, >> yes. >> Council member Jeff, >> yes. >> Council member Johnson, >> yes. >> Council member Nolan, >> yes. >> Council member Owens, >> yes. >> Council member Walsh, >> yes. >> Council member Albi, >> yes. >> Council member Criting, >> yes. >> Item 29, first reading, please. An emergency ordinance authorizing the city manager to apply for, accept, and appropriate a grant of up to $273,433 from the US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Buru of Justice Assistance, Fiscal year 2025, Edward Burn Memorial Justice Assistant Grant Program. >> Roll call and suspension. >> Council member James, >> yes. >> Council member Jeff, >> yes. >> Council member Johnson, >> yes. >> Council member Nolan, >> yes. >> Council member Owens, >> yes. >> Council member Walsh, >> yes. >> Council member Albby, >> yes. >> Council member Kramering, >> yes. >> Mr. Craring. >> Mayor, this is a grant from the Department of Justice that supports police visibility overtime as well as a sexual assault advocacy program that's through a contract with women helping women. >> Thank you for the comments. Roll call on passage please. >> Council member James, >> yes. >> Council member Jeff, >> yes. >> Council member Johnson, >> yes. >> Council member Nolan, >> yes. >> Council member Owens, >> yes. >> Council member Walsh, >> yes. >> Council member Albby, >> yes. >> Council member Craning, >> yes. >> Roll call on emergency. Council member James, >> yes. >> Council member Jeff, >> yes. >> Council member Johnson, >> yes. >> Council member Nolan, >> yes. >> Council member Owens, >> yes. >> Council member Walsh, >> yes. >> Council member Alvi, >> yes. >> Council member Craning, >> yes. >> Item 30, first reading, please. >> An ordinance establishing a new capital improvement program account, Red Bank Road COOTF, grant to support construction of a shared use path for bicycles and pedestrians along the west side of Redbank Road from Hzel Street to Duck Creek Road in the Madisonville neighborhood. Roll call and suspension. >> Council member James, >> yes. >> Council member Jeff, >> yes. >> Council member Johnson, >> yes. >> Council member Nolan, >> yes. >> Council member Owens, >> yes. >> Council member Walsh, >> yes. >> Council member Albby, >> yes. >> Council member Kramering, >> yes. >> Mr. Kramering, >> I'll defer to my colleague, Council Member Jeff. >> Mr. Jeff. >> Yeah. This is a a grant application for Ohio Department of Natural Resources shared use path along Redbank Road. I know Tri-State Trails has been working on this for a few years. This is right near Medpace, which of course is a growing employer, so it's a great connection to uh enable folks to get to that employer. >> Thank you. Further comments? Yes, Miss Albby. >> Yeah, thank you. Just really excited. I know the the Madisonville neighborhood is really excited to welcome this as another way for folks to get around our neighborhood and increase connectivity. Uh, as council member Jeff mentioned, we have some really great employers in the neighborhood and we want to make sure that people are able to, you know, live, work, and play all in one place and get around the city in multiple different ways. And this is an exciting step forward. So excited to have this in my my neighborhood. >> Thank you. Further comments? Roll call and passage, please. >> Council member James, >> yes. >> Council member Jeff, >> yes. >> Council member Johnson, >> yes. >> Council member Nolan, >> yes. >> Council member Owens, >> yes. >> Council member Walsh, >> yes. >> Council member Albby, >> yes. Council member McCrading. >> Yes. >> Item 31, first reading, >> an emergency ordinance declaring improvements to certain real property located at 240 West Fourth Street and 251 West Fifth Street in the Central Business District of Cincinnati. >> Roll call and suspension. >> Council member James, >> yes. >> Council member Jeff, >> yes. >> Council member Johnson, >> yes. >> Council member Nolan, >> yes. >> Council member Owens, >> yes. >> Council member Walsh, >> yes. >> Council member Alvi, >> yes. >> Council member Kramering, >> yes. >> Mr. Kramering. Mayor, this is another financing piece of the convention district. This is a 30-year property tax abatement for the convention center hotel. It is a tax exemption. I will point out that the tax monies would have just flowed into the tiff uh and not into our general fund. >> Further comments. Roll call on passage, please. >> Council member James, >> yes. >> Council member Jeff, >> yes. >> Council member Johnson, >> yes. >> Council member Nolan, >> yes. >> Council member Owens, >> yes. >> Council member Walsh, >> yes. >> Council member Albby, >> yes. Council member Kramering, >> yes. >> We'll call an emergency. >> Council member James, >> yes. >> Council member Jeff, >> yes. >> Council member Johnson, >> yes. >> Council member Nolan, >> yes. >> Council member Owens, >> yes. >> Council member Walsh, >> yes. >> Council member Albi, >> yes. >> Council member Kering, >> yes. >> We have need for an executive session. I move that the council adjourn into executive session pursuant to RC121.22G3 22 G3 for the purpose of conferencing with attorneys for the city concerning disputes involving the city that are the subject of pending and imminent court action. May I have a second? >> Second. >> Second. >> Uh I saw Mr. Jeff. Roll call on adoption of the motion, please. >> Council member James. >> Yes. >> Council member Jeff. >> Yes. >> Council member Johnson. >> Yes. >> Council member Nolan. >> Yes. >> Council member Owens. >> Yes. >> Council member Walsh. >> Yes. >> Council member Albby. >> Yes. Council member Kitting. >> Yes. Happy Heat. Heat. N. Hey, Hey, hey hey. Heat up here. Hey hey hey. Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] [music] [music] >> Thank you. [music] >> [music] >> N >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. Hello. Hey. Hey. H. Heat. Heat. Hey, Happy. Hey, hey hey. Heat. Heat. >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. >> [music] [music] >> Natalie. Hey. >> [music] >> Natal. >> [music] [music] >> Wow. How do you feel? Rolling around. >> [music] >> Hey, hey hey. Heat. Heat. Hey, hey hey. Heat. Heat. Hey, hey hey. Heat. Heat. [music] Come on. Come on. Hey, hey hey. >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Hey, [music] that's Thank you. [music] [music] [music] N. >> [music] >> Hello. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Oh, hey. >> [music] >> Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Hey Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat [music] up here. Come on. >> [music] >> Hey. >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat. Heat. Hey Heat. [music] >> [music] >> Thank you. N. N. >> [music] >> Hello. Hey. >> [music] >> I am. Hey. Hey. Hey. >> [music] >> Good afternoon. We're back in session. We have a quorum. Uh any announcements? Seeing none, we adjourn. Thank you.