Athens City Council discusses response to tension in Springfield, hears disability rights advocates

Photo via: TNP Staff

Athens City Council met Monday night to hear from Mayor Steve Patterson about how Athens can provide mutual aid to Springfield, Ohio, in the wake of bomb threats plaguing the city. The meeting closed out with the council hearing from members of the public about their concerns regarding accessibility in Athens during the public forum period. 

Patterson used his time during the communications section to describe his meeting that day with several other Ohio mayors in Springfield, Ohio. In the wake of former President Donald Trump and vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance’s comments about Haitian migrants in Springfield eating cats and dogs, the city, local schools and city buildings have faced numerous bomb threats forcing people to evacuate. 

At the meeting, mayors from all over Ohio and former governor Bob Taft expressed support to Springfield Mayor Rob Rue, going so far as offering to lend police and firefighters to Springfield to assist their forces in handling the new strain placed on the city’s resources. 

“Cities protect other cities,” Patterson said to close out his statement. He explained that to provide support to Springfield, the cities would need to establish a memorandum of understanding stating what the expectations would be from each party before Athens could send out officers.

If Springfield called on Athens for mutual aid, police officers would likely take on the burden of clerical work to leave Springfield’s officers more time to respond to the growing number of calls from the community. However, this responsibility would most likely fall on cities such as Dayton and Cincinnati which are closer to Springfield and have larger police forces and fire departments at their disposal. 

Toward the end of the meeting, civilians were given the opportunity to speak on legislative items and city services not discussed in the meeting, at which point multiple speakers came up to advocate for accessibility accommodations in Athens. 

David McNelly, Chair of the Disabilities Commission, took the stand to speak about his experiences with Athens’ inaccessibility and failure to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. 

As a wheelchair user navigating Athens’ brick roads, McNelly recalled instances where he got stuck on a curb cut because it was too thick and not ADA compliant. 

“This is a current systemic failure that’s happening in the city of Athens…I think things are slipping through the cracks and we need to address this,” McNelly said. 

McNelly cited the Disabilities Commission’s main goal as working toward an ADA transition plan, which is a plan identifying physical obstacles preventing people with disabilities from accessing certain facilities and modes of transportation. He identified multiple ways the city could work toward implementing that plan: fixing Athens’ curb cuts and crosswalks to make them ADA compliant, passing legislation for a 10-year plan outlining how the city will address its accessibility issues, appointing a designated ADA advisor overseeing city happenings and ensuring they act in accordance with the ADA and passing legislation including a $30,000 matching grant. 

McNelly’s concerns were echoed by speaker Michelle Hahn, a fellow member of the Disabilities Commission who emphasized the importance of adhering to ADA standards because the Department of Justice can enforce ADA regulations. 

“It means we're going against the law there,” Hahn said.“The ADA was signed in 1990, that's 34 years we've been out of compliance.”  

The council acknowledged the concerns expressed by members of the public but did not make comment on the implementation of the plans put forth. 

The next Athens City Council general meeting will be on Monday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. 

In other business:

• The council passed ordinance 0-48-24 to amend the Athens City Code to update the city’s floodplain maps to comply with federal regulations. 

• The council passed ordinances 0-77-24, 0-78-24 and 0-79-24 regarding the building on the corner of Court Street and Union Street that was formerly Follett’s University Bookstore. 

• Ordinance 0-77-24 approved the petition plan and articles of incorporation for the building to participate in the Property Assessed Clean Energy Programs that would update the property and make it energy efficient. 

• Ordinance 0-78-24 approved the acquisition of necessary materials for the building. 

• Ordinance 0-79-24 approved the levying of special assessments in compliance with the Athens Energy Special Improvement District. 

• The council passed ordinance 0-80-24 granting a special right-of-way use permit to an Athens resident. 

• The council passed ordinance 0-81-24 affirming the service safety director’s easements with the state needed for the construction of city sewer system improvements. 

• Mr. Shay Myers was appointed to the Board of Zoning Appeals.