01/20/2009 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 1/20/2009 to come to work every day and work with the other fire fighters. It's not a career, it's a calling. When the Fire Chief said that we have exceptional people that will do the job to the best of their ability, he was absolutely right. But that doesn't mean it is being done safely. He cannot emphasize enough what is being done is not safe, and the people will be affected daily by the decisions that are made here. They are being asked to do their job with less men. They are professionals, and they will do their job to the best of their ability. But he believes .fire fighters and citizens will be hurt by this. 7} David Firment, 4678 Michael Avenue, expressed concerns about the city's financial condition. He asked to be brought up-to-date with what occurred regarding a mayor's court when it was discussed in 2002 and what the process would be to begin a mayor's court. Law Director Dubelko explained that in 2002 the administration and Council took a look at that issue when the city had a financial challenge. Only the Mayor can establish a Mayor's court, but that would have to be done with the assistance of City Council to establish the structure--to hire the employees, to purchase software programs. He believes the Finance Director looked at it from. a cost perspective and thought that it would be close to a half million dollars just to start it up. If you do it, it must be done legally. He thinks it was not pursued further because of the start-up costs. In addition, he knows that some people were concerned about the issue of justice. He has experience with those courts and feels sometimes justice is sacrificed over the need to bring in revenues to the community. Also, mayors' courts have long been disfavored in the State of Ohio. They go back to the l9`h, Century and Chief Justice Moyer has for years campaigned against them. So, any community that goes down the path of starting a mayor's court; could be out of business the next day or in a very short period of time. It's a risky venture for any community to put in the kind of money it takes to start the process without knowing how long it would last and with the possibility of sacrifeing justice by having that court. This has been an issue looked at by the Ohio Supreme Court. The notion of having magistrates is because the courts have held that there is a close financial connection of a mayor of a community sitting as the magistrate and determining fines which might deprive defendants of their due process rights. Mr. Firment felt this was about safety anal saving lives as the revenue would allow the city to bring back firemen. Councilman Ryan, who served as city Prosecutor for three years and Assistant Prosecutor for twenty-five years, said he agreed with Mr. Dubelko. He explained that the Rocky River court does not get the remaining $100. It is actually portioned out with much of it going to the State of Ollia and other funds. It's not quite as easy as it appears. Councilman CCareau commented that there was another issue at the time as the construction of a new courthouse in Rocky River was just beginning. The mechanism by which. they paid for the borrowing which built the courthouse was part of the revenue generated from the tickets that were going through the normal ticket process. North Olmsted would have had to pay its share even if it began the mayor's court. 8) Matt Peters, 32869 Sorrento Lane, Avon Lake, a member of the fire fighters local. He thinks the fire fighters were probably wrong in their initial approach in focusing about the layoffs. As a member of the Fire Dept., it's his duty and he has sworn an oath to serve and protect the people of North Olmsted. He has worked. in this town for 21 years, 13 years as a .fire fighter. He cares a lot about the people and. the town. It's more important 10