Springfield Commissioners Push Back Against Continued Public Frustration, Tide Rolls Anyway
SPRINGFIELD - After a highly volatile commissioner meeting at the beginning of the month, Springfield Mayor Rob Rue attempted to hold back the tides of public backlash over the city's participation in the Welcome program, which has brought tens of thousands of immigrant workers that have displaced heritage Americans.
“The city Commission remains committed to providing a conducive environment for constructive dialogue and engagement for the community, public comments will remain at the beginning of our legislative meeting followed by the passage of the minutes from the previous meeting. Those wanting to speak must fill out a comment card and must be filled out in its complete order and provide a state Driver’s license or State ID that you are residing in Springfield Clark County, those are the folks eligible to speak,” Rue said. “Those determined to provide false information on the comment card will be ineligible to speak at this meeting or the next meeting., We are truly committed to providing an environment where people have an opportunity to provide their ideas, thoughts and concerns pertaining to city business while honoring first amendment principles, the City commission reserves the right to regulate the time, the place and the manner of public comment to ensure proceedings remaining orderly and conducive to public dialogue, while we fully respect the the first amendment rights of all individuals disruptions or any conduct that impedes the orderly proceedings of the meeting will not be tolerated. Should any individual be escorted or asked to leave on three separate occasions they will be notified they are considered trespassed and barred from attending any city commission meetings.”
Despite the statement seemingly seeking to control the nature of public comments, the public remained undeterred and immediately began firing questions at the commission relating to their general inaction and inability to protect the interests of the citizenry.
Beth Donahue, a member of the public who had been attempting to run for an open seat on the commission, took the members to task on prosecutorial oversight of crime in the city.
“Mayor and members of Springfield community, SVDC conducted analysis of the Springfield Police Department arrests and charges with 2023. Data which was obtained from the Clark County and Municipal Court databases,” Donahue said. “A total of 2,644 identities accounted for 3,578 charges. Of these identities, 275 or 78.5% of offenders experienced a single arrest in 2023. 569 or 21.5% of offenders were arrested multiple times in 2023. 72 percent or 1,903 of the offenders had prior arrest with the Springfield Police Department at some point in their lifetime. A substantial portion of criminal activity in Springfield is driven by repeat offenders. First, the Municipal Court prosecutor Debartolo has failed to prosecute offenders with misdemeanor charges successfully. Less than 35% of prosecutor Debartolo's total caseload make it into court. The escalating criminal misdemeanor charges are rarely upgraded to a felony or the grand jury has failed to indict the offender on felony charges. Debartolo’s failures have led to violent offenders serving little to no time or offenders cases becoming dismissed. This means offenders are free to keep committing crimes. There is a direct correlation to the Clark County jail overcrowding and Debartolo's lack of performance with misdemeanor crimes. The county prosecutor Dan Driscoll could attempt a successful prosecution of felony offenders leading offenders to State Prison sentences rather than County jail confinement. Victim protection and witness cooperation is also a driver in reoffending. Witnesses witness intimidation and fear among victims raise serious concerns about the city's ability to ensure victims safety and facilitate witness cooperation. The city has failed to protect its citizens while offenders demand their right to face their accuser. This effect can be seen in the data as over 90% of victims affected by domestic violence related crime have their cases dismissed. The offenders demand to face their accuser and their cases are then dismissed at the prosecutor's request due to the unavailability of the witness. The city does not have a crime problem the city has a reoffender problem which is perpetuated by you, mayor, because you allow Pro prosecutor DeBartolo to keep his job.”
The city commissioners responded to the comment by recommending comments regarding jail overcrowding be taken to the county commissioners, while ignoring the damning statistics on the city prosecutors. Other writers have previously covered the issue of the Springfield justice department failing to prosecute charges, specifically in relation to offenders from the Haitian community in Springfield. Additionally, sources have also covered the city receiving millions in federal grants specifically geared towards 'access to justice.'
Another commenter asked the commissioners about a recent piece of legislation on the agenda, Resolution 05925 Amending Ordinance No. 9190, passed March 12, 1991, and commonly known as the Codified Ordinances of The City of Springfield, Ohio, by amending certain provisions of Chapter 1380 entitled Administration of Vacant Property Registration Program. As well as Resolution 06025 Authorizing the City Manager to enter into a Professional Services Agreement with Hera Property Registry, LLC (“Hera”) to provide vacant property administration registration services at no cost to the City and therein making it revenue neutral. In their work session, the city commissioners discussed the proposed legislation as a way to address abandoned property throughout the city by forcing a property registration and fee payment penalty system for properties that lead to urban blight.
“I am here to talk about… the Haitian flop house and I want to know why you allowed that house that Mr Estrup just said ‘we're saving great old homes’ why didn't you save that one,” another commenter said. “Why didn't you go to…the Haitian Flop House when there was 60 plus Haitians living there, when the toilets had been taken out, when there were people using the bathroom down open sewer lines, why didn't you do your job? Was that house on the vacant property registry? Is it on there now? That's been going on for over a year and it was just condemned on December 6. What took so long, that's my question. Also, Logan Cobbs, why do you need a vendor like Hera to collect the vacant homes, is that something you're not capable of doing? Do you guys delegate everything you do to other people? Are any of you capable of doing anything on your own? That's what we pay you for. We don't pay you to delegate.”
Other public comments scrutinized again the commissioners level of attention during public comments. Still, some members of the public attempted to defend the commissioners actions, with comments on the importance of DEI, accusations of racism within the community and one commentor spiraling into a strawman comment equating the Haitian influx to that of Santa Claus leaving presents on peoples property and accusing citizens of requesting illegal actions of the board by pushing back against the migrant workforce which has allegedly displace native workers.
As has been previously covered, the city's participation in the Welcome initiative is entirely voluntary, which the commissioners can end, should they choose. The strategies outlined within the Welcome program are designed to create direct pipelines between staffing agencies and immigrant laborers, which leave out native workers from the exchange and advertisements of jobs posted. This has been done to facilitate, as the Welcome program has stated, a more 'diverse' population within the rustbelt more reflective of the general country and help staff government contracts with cheaper labor. Leaving the Welcome Springfield initiative would not constitute a violation of any law.
Mayor Rue issued a dissenting opinion to the citizen comments, stating he believed there were plenty of jobs for everyone if they 'wanted to work' and that his main concern was the 'pain' of the Haitians who have been brought in under a temporary status but have now become integral to the economic success of new manufacturers who have preferred to import foreign labor through staffing agencies under the Welcome Springfield initiative.
"I just want to say as speaking directly towards the executive order from the president relative to the temporary protective status for individuals from Haiti I offer this as mayor as one one of five Commissioners and for Springfield Ohio. Springfield's grown by 25% in three years thanks to 10 to 12,000 Haitian immigrants who have entered legally under the immigration parole program and qualify for the temporary protective status until February 3rd 26 as previously understood. They have strengthened our local economy by filling key roles in manufacturing and health care even as their rapid arrival has strained Public Services, we've never denied that. I firmly believe in protecting our Southern border and our borders and reforming our immigration policies. Hasty changes and Swift deportation will cause hardworking immigrants to be lost. it will cause chaos and negatively impacting our community that's as a concern as somebody that faces other constituents face to face, when I see people in pain and concern it concerns me. While with Those who commit crimes must be held accountable and face deportation many other immigrants pay taxes and bolster our community. The policy of the previous Federal Administration lacked accountability, forcing us to manage an influx rather than promote integration, healthy integration. I encourage this Administration to reform Federal immigration policies in a way that protects our borders, ensures fairness and enriches our nation while also giving immigrants seeking to become productive citizens a clear path forward instead of facing immediate deportation. These individuals are given a sense of hope. They were given a sense of hope and a sense of security through the temporary protective status. The temporary protective status policy these individuals um which they've given that hope uh they must, we must understand as United States citizens that this temporary protective status has been embraced by several administrations several administrations the United States must continue to be a beacon of hope and a torch bearer of democracy. That's what I believe when I see people in pain I I get concerned and so this is my statement. I believe it's fair and it's from me. I'm not speaking for the five Commissioners but I am speaking as mayor of the city. We have had a concern we have a concern of influx we have a housing strain those things were never ignored. But I do believe that people have been brought here have been given a sense of hope and it's hard to see that hope dashed. I think there's plenty of jobs for everybody that wants a job in the United States there's plenty of jobs, if you want to work, you can find a job.”
Some sources have placed the Haitian influx closer to 20,000, with the actual figures not known as some may still be awaiting confirmation of TPS validation.
The City Commission is required to meet at least 48 times each year. No more than 14 days may pass without a meeting of the body. Meetings of the City Commission are held in the Forum of City Hall on Tuesday evenings. These legislative meetings begin at 7:00 p.m.
