Inside Toledo City Council is a new ongoing Toledo Free Press series that highlights notable resolutions, appointments, ordinances and resolutions made by up to a 12-member council. The meetings are held on Tuesdays in council chambers. Starting next week, the Toledo Free Press will publish Inside Toledo City Council on Fridays.
TOLEDO – The fate of over $21 million was decided on Tuesday in the 90 minutes that encompassed this week’s Toledo City Council meeting, held at 4 p.m. at 1 Government Center.
> Thirty items were on the planned agenda, with another added motion to terminate a legislative administrator for the City of Toledo, Ricky Verret.
In a 6-3 vote, council members Theresa Morris (District 6), Vanice Williams (District 4) and John Hobbs III (District 1) voted against the motion. It was one vote shy of the seven votes needed to terminate Verret.
Morris said she understood the work of a legislative administrator, as she had worked as one for 27 years. She said she voted against Verret’s termination because she had worked positively with him before, albeit years ago.
“At the end of the day, he was very effective with the train legislation,” Morris said of Verret’s contribution to her legislative goals.
Among others, Theresa Gadus, council member for District 3, voted for Verret’s termination, but would not say why.
> The first resolution to the council meeting was a recognition for local high schoolers who had won their respective brackets in the 75th American Institute of Architecture (AIA) High School Design Competition.
Council Member Adam Martinez (District 2) lauded the work of the students. “I’m a real estate developer, and I can assure you, I would take any of those plans and put them against any of our architects.”
> Resolution 199-25 honored Toledo’s very first Fire & Rescue paramedics from 1975.
> Afterwards, an unimpeded volley of ordinances were passed unanimously from Toledo City Council, with one zoning exception (Gadus) dissenting without effect on its passage.
In response to Ordinance 217-25, a zoning change at 815 Navarre Ave. from RD6 residential duplex zoning to CM-mixed commercial zoning, Gadus stated that “I received petitions from 162 East Toledoans that they did not want this in their neighborhood, and I represent their voice, and that is what they want. So I voted no.”
> Eight zoning changes were approved, including the zoning change to 815 Navarre Ave., two special use permits were issued, and about $21 million were allocated.
> In his closing remarks, George Sarantou, council member at-large, addressed the issue of dogs barking. “I just want to thank the planning commission for doing the analysis study on the dog issues. It clearly is a problem that we’re having.
“So, I look forward to working with councilman Martinez and others to come up with a policy that is enforceable,” Sarantou said.
> In Gadus’ closing remarks for the session, she spoke about the issue of garbage in her district not getting picked up from the streets of Toledo.
“I’ve always driven by my district quarterly,” she said. “I’ve noticed a lot of trash. Some people call them set-outs. Some people call them bulk pickups. But it’s in the tree lawn.
“I took it upon myself monthly to drive and count it [the bulk pickups]. And I’m trying to use that data with data in our system. Hopefully, I can get data from Republic and problem-shoot this, because I don’t think we should be paying $10 million to Republic if there are 700 piles of trash in one district.”
According to her own records, Gadus reported 592 piles of garbage in March, 620 in April (with 160 piles of garbage left over from March to April), and 699 piles of garbage so far in May.
“Obviously, there’s a breakdown somewhere, and my neighbors are the ones that’s bearing the brunt of this breakdown,” she said, but added that she didn’t have enough data yet to figure out who is to blame for bulk pickup remaining in people’s yards.
> Council members Sam Melden (District 5), Cerssandra McPherson (At-Large), and Brittany Jones (At-Large) were absent from the meeting.
