FROM "THE OUTHOUSE" OF STARK'S CITY COUNCILS TO "THE PENTHOUSE?"

VIDEOS

COUNCILMAN LARRY DORDEA

ON ORDERLINESS/STRUCTURE OF 

JOINT COMMITTEE MEETING

&

IMPENDING ANIMALS LEGISLATION

====================

COUNCILPERSONS 

DORDEA/JAKMIDES

GROUND RULES

FOR 

ZONING/HOUSING 

DISCUSSION

====================

CITIZEN VIDEOS 

JOE WAGNER

DON KOLIHA

SCOTT BROWN

JOEL COLLINS

CHARLES KREINER

LYNN ZERBE

DOUG SCHWARTZ

MIKE OGLINE

THOMAS MOUSHEY

CHERLYN BRIDGES

HALEY RODDY 
 ====================
MOUNT UNION OFFICIAL
JOHN FRAZIER
DEAN OF STUDENTS 
====================
POST MEETING COMMENTS 
COUNCILMAN LARRY DORDEA
COUNCILWOMAN JULIE JAKMIDES
 

Only twenty-four hours ago, The Stark County Political Report was in the depths of despair at goings-on with North Canton City Council:

But today, The Report is "on top of the World" with what is going on with Alliance City Council.

Yours truly does not get to Alliance all that often, but though not perfect, Alliance City Council is in the estimate of The Report the very best Stark County city council among the county's four largest cities in terms of implementing America's democratic-republican core values.

Canton and Massillon (in sort of a "pick 'em" context) aren't that far behind.

North Canton is a crowning example of how a city council ought not to be.

North Canton voters if they care about their government being in the doldrums will do something about who sits on council come this November.

Last night two committees of Alliance's council (Safety and Judiciary chaired by Ward 3 Republican Larry Dordea; Planning, Zoning and Housing chaired by Republican Councilwoman-at-Large Julie Jakmides) held a joint meeting beginning at 5:00 p.m. (two hours before the regularly scheduled council meeting which begins at 7:00 p.m. on the first and third Mondays of each month) to gather input and to have a dialogue with Carnation City residents on two very important issues to its citizens:

• the care of animals within the city of Alliance, and
• the permissibility of more than two unrelated persons occupying housing in R-1 (residential) zoned neighborhoods

As both Dordea and Jakmides signaled at the beginning of the meeting, they were concerned whether or not the meeting would get out-of-hand given that the passion that various citizens attending the meeting held for their particular cause as they dialogued with council.

Those who spoke last night included:

But the entire 1:45 minutes, more or less, of council committee/citizen interaction went off without a hitch.

And particularly impressive was that the joint committee meeting was in the style of a council work session which normally includes only council members and city administration members in any discussion but in last night's format included stakeholder participation.

The Report does not recall seeing anything like what happened in Alliance last night at the many, many Stark County-based council work sessions or committee meetings that yours truly has attended over the past seven plus years.

DORDEA: TOPICS & STRUCTURE OF MEETING



CITIZEN DIANA AUSTIN ON ANIMAL LEGISLATION



JAKMIDES/DORDEA INTRODUCE HOUSING ISSUES

In the following video Councilwoman Jakmides as the chair of Panning, Zoning and Housing introduces the topic of misuse of R-1 Residential zoned areas for housing which is habitated by "two or more 'unrelated'" persons which is a violation of Alliance's ordinance except if a given property was grandfathered in as being in compliance when the current city code was adopted back in 2003.

She makes the same point that Councilman Dordea did upfront that the meeting was not going to be allowed to devolve into an impassioned diatribe which in this instance would be a bashing of Mount Union University (MUU) officials/students and/or Alliance's landlords.



Next is a string of citizens who speak to the issues of rental properties in R-1 zoned areas and the Mount Union University factor insofar as several presenters think that the use of zoned residential area for rental properties is in the main a student residence problem.

Joe Wagner

One allegation that Citizen Wagner made was that there are many illegal rental units in the area he lives in (Vincent).

Later on, Alliance officials responded to the allegation.  But not in this video.



DON KOLIHA

Chalk Mr Koliha up as being a citizen of Alliance supporting the "no more than two unrelated persons" ordinance.  He like Wagner alleged violations of the existing ordinance.




SCOTT BROWN

California resident Scott Brown (a California licensed attorney) made allegations which created some stir with Alliance officials.

Brown said that he endeavored to purchase a property with four other families so that their Mount Union University students could live in it.

He claimed that:

• Alliance's ordinance:
• only addressed occupancy and not ownership,
• was discriminatory:
• in that it violated Fair Housing law,
• for young adults,
• is sexist (his and others' purchase is for five women),

Brown went on to claim (the SCPR's words of interpretation; not his exact words) that there are many violations of the "no more than two unrelated persons" rule and that whether or not Alliance tried to enforce the rule was dependent on a R-1 residential person arbitrarily singling out a violator.

Noteworthy as a response, Councilwoman Jakmides (who happens to be a law student at Akron University) challenged Brown on his sexist allegation.



JOEL COLLINS

Citizen Collins of Vincent Street in Alliance (a supporter of the ordinance as it is) picked up on the specificity of the trouble with folks living in rental units in his Residential Only neighborhood.

His complaints:

• unrelated students living in rental units in violation of the Alliance Zoning Code,
• students living close to him:
• do not respond to inquiry from Zoning Commission and are playing "hide in the car,"
• have not shoveled the sidewalk,
• have not, until recently when warned obeyed the two hour parking limitation,
• rental units may bring into the neighborhood,
• terrorists,
• a pattern of deterioration, law breaking and wild partying and drinking,

CHARLES KREINER

A realtor and a landlord, Alliance resident Charles Kreiner (also of Vincent Street) buttressed the case for keeping the housing ordinance as it is.

Kreiner related how he as a realtor has always cautioned his customers over his years as a realtor when neighborhood zoning does not allow rental units house two or more unrelated persons.  He also mused as to where is the move coming from to modify the existing ordinance to allow rental units in R-1 zoned neighborhoods.



LYNN ZERBE

Also a former realtor who supports the ordinance as it is constituted presently.

Apparently speaking for the folks who live on Inwood Road, "We do not want to live next to a bunch of college students, ... male or female."

The SCPR understood her to be referring to the California resident and four others' endeavor to purchase an Alliance property for their MUU student-daughters.



FORMER COUNCILMAN DOUG SCHWARTZ

It was helpful for a number of former Alliance councilmen to be at last night's meeting so that they could shed light on the original thinking in council passing the existing ordinance in 2003.

Councilman Schwartz (who favors keeping the law as it is) started the history lesson off.

Along the way, he emphasized that the thinking "way back when" was that Alliance residents deserved the assurance that their "single family residence" neighborhoods would not be disrupted by other types of housing.



MIKE OGLINE
FORMER COUNCILMAN, LAW DIRECTOR & CHAIRMAN OF ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

By far the most informed speaker last night was former Alliance councilman, law director and chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals Mike Ogline.

Ogline offered the original legislation as a councilman back in 2003.

His focus at Monday's joint committee meeting was that single family R-1 zoned areas of Alliance was like Schwartz said was designed to provide Alliance with stable family only neighborhoods.

Ogline ticked off the multiplicity of other living arrangements that folks wanting to live in Alliance could avail themselves of under different zoning designations under Alliance's code.

For any Alliance resident who wants a concise and yet comprehensive understanding of the ordinance should by all means watch Ogline make his highly skilled and knowledgeable presentation.



THOMAS MOUSHEY
CHAIRMAN - ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS (ZBOA)

Chairman Moushey explains how the ZBOA works with appeals made on unwanted implementation enforcement of the ordinance in the context of appellants wanting to expand the definition of what single family (R-1) means and he addresses other problems that the ZBOA deals with.

He also responded to Scott Brown's point about what the focus of zoning ordinances ought to be which is says occupancy and not the ownership factor.



CHERLYN BRIDGES

Ms. Bridges hails from Hartville and it is the SCPR's understanding that she is the realtor who was involved in Scott Brown's and four others' negotiation to purchase the Inwood Road property for their five MMU student-daughters.

Her focus was (as this is the SCPR's take and words; not her exact words) "get used to it Alliance residents, you are going to have to live with students in your R-1 zoned neighborhoods" and "that's a good thing because they make positive contributions in communities where they live."



HALEY RODDY - A MUU STUDENT

Ms. Roddy of Medina, Ohio summed up her approach in say "This is a college town."

Is council considering the needs of MUU students who after their second year are permitted to live off campus seems to be the thrust of her query.

See council members responses in this video.




JOHN FRAZIER - A MUU OFFICIAL

In a "leave no stone unturned" fashion, Councilwoman Jakmides prevailed upon Mount Union University to send an official to last night's proceeding.

And that official, University Vice President and Dean of Students John Frazier, had some important information that clarified the university's position on the student rental housing matter to council members and stakeholders, to wit:



Committee members at the end of the session went on to affirm that they recommended that council maintain the ordinance as it exists

And during the regular council meeting council voted 6 to 1 to affirm that council was not going to take up legislation to change the ordinance from what currently exists.

Councilwoman Cherry, who wanted to abstain because she was unaware of the contents of the joint committee discussion was not permitted by the rest of council, was the "no" vote.


After the meeting the SCPR interviewed both Councilman Dordea and Councilwoman Jakmides.

COUNCILMAN LARRY DORDEA



COUNCILWOMAN JULIE JAKMIDES
(ALSO REFLECTS ON PAST AND ANTICIPATES FUTURE COUNCIL WORK)



The SCPR thinks that Alliance council's way of handling the two issues before them was impressive in the sense that they made abundant time and space available to all stakeholders to express themselves and to be heard in a non-adversarial way.

Quite a contrast to what the SCPR sees in the attitude of at least a majority of the council members in North Canton.

As far as quality of city councils is concerned, going from North Canton to Alliance is clearly to the SCPR a case of "going from the 'outhouse' to the 'penthouse.'''

Members of North Canton City Council absorb the lessons to be learned from Alliance's council if they care about demonstrating in their deliberations they too want to be be thought of as being citizen friendly.

A SCPR "hat's off" to Alliance City Council: "Stark County's premier city council," to wit: