Chillicothe Council dealt with only two items of legislation, but had a couple of long discussions. The city’s homeless issue came up in both.
In his report to council, Mayor Luke Feeney said that the government assistance organization Community Action is buying a property to serve as a homeless shelter, but that the location is yet undisclosed.
Feeney said the county is co-funding the purchase, which will replace last winter’s shelter in the Chillicothe Salvation Army at 171 East Fourth Street.
(Learn more in my companion webstory on the mayor’s report, complete with six topics covered in a six-minute video interview.)
6th Ward councilman Jamie Brown explained his lone “no” vote in council’s last session against the city’s $200,000 share of funding “Wayfinding” signage to compliment anticipated World Heritage tourism.
He and Dustin Proehl – the legislation’s sponsor, a fellow Democrat, and neighbor at the council table – had a long, friendly, almost-debate on the rush to pass the large appropriation legislation on first reading.
Brown agreed that it was a worthy investment, but it is in contrast to Brown’s philosophy of “people first” and his focus on the needs of the homeless.
Brown also pointed out that that waiving the three-read rule cheats the public of learning more on such legislation and having input on it.
Proehl said those are good points but would have been best addressed before the vote on the legislation. If Brown is still opposed, Proehl said he could act to remove or block the funding.
The Chillicothe-Ross Convention & Visitors Bureau said they wanted to get the Wayfinding signs posted throughout the county before the anticipated September United Nations signing of the Hopewell Culture listing.
Brown also mentioned that his council committee on nonprofits is finally “taking off,” and has created an application form in compliance with state law. The committee will meet again 5pm this Wednesday, July 26th.
In other topics, frequent audience member and council candidate John Thacker noted that Chillicothe Transit is offering rides to the Ross County Fair, seven miles north of the city.
And again, Mayor Feeney’s briefing on several other topics can be heard in my companion webstory.
A video of the session is on council’s YouTube page, but it was allowed to record for 12 hours. (The lights go out at about 50 minutes.) The microphones were also glitchy, but listenable.
