Our Civic meeting was held at Heritage Free Will Baptist Church, 575 Obetz Rd., at 6:00pm. Many people were in attendance. President Bruce Miller called the meeting to order. Following the Pledge of Allegiance, Pam Richards opened the meeting with prayer.
Bruce recognized July birthdays and anniversaries. The minutes for the June 10, 2024 meeting were viewed by the group. Bruce made an amendment to #10: The City of Columbus used Minneapolis to compare the homeless populations. Housing costs, rental costs and salaries were some of the criteria used in the comparison. A motion was made to accept the minutes as amended and read:
1st Motion – Bob Dinsdale 2nd Motion – Donna Scaggs
Treasurer Marsha Kessler stated that we had a deposit of $76.00, a debit of $50.00, and a donation of $500.00 from the Olen Corporation. This leaves us with a current balance of $2,236.37. A motion was made to approve her report as stated:
1st Motion – Bill Palmer 2nd Motion – Judy Campbell
Marsha reminded people that annual dues are due in June. If you haven’t paid your dues yet for 2024, you can this month. Without dues, you cannot vote on issues. Civic dues are $5.00 per individual and $25.00 per business, per year.
Bruce noted our Civic’s ‘Donation Box’ and encouraged members to contribute. Funds are needed to help offset upcoming expenses for the IRS, and for National Night Out.
- National Night Out is scheduled for August 6, 2024, at Scioto Southland Recreation Center. The time is 6:00pm-8:00pm. Civic groups and neighborhoods across the United States will celebrate this night by encouraging families, neighborhoods and individuals to come together in celebration of community. A planning meeting will be held this Thursday at the shelter house on the side of our Recreation Center. Time is 5:30pm. All interested individuals are encouraged to attend and participate. Volunteers are needed! As a reminder from President Bruce Miller’s email on 6-3-24, we are ineligible for city funding due to the IRS issue. Volunteers are encouraged to park at the Obetz Rd. parking lot. Donna Scaggs and her team will begin decorating at 3pm on August 6. All other volunteers please report by 5pm.
- President Bruce Miller announced that our Civic group is now officially a 501(C))4 business. All fees, fines & interest payments were waived with a $50.00 payment to the IRS. The (C) 4 designation is specifically designed for Civic groups.
- Oxford House is moving into our area. They have opened 2 group homes; one in the Marion-Franklin neighborhood and one in the Alum Creek/Williams Rd. area. An Oxford employee buys a house and rents it to Oxford. Current neighbors are upset that women appear to be prostituting themselves, and active drug selling has been observed. The group home has no permit. They would like to have at least one house on the South Side by the end of 2024. The City of Columbus is currently not inspecting group homes. The homes are funded by Hollywood celebrities. No onsite treatment is provided. The organization has stated that they’ll sue the neighbors if they complain. It’s been noted that the Columbus Police have been called to each house at least 50 times, and been refused entry each time.
- Bruce next addressed the issues surrounding our Scioto Southland web site. Becky Walcott refuses to relinquish control of our web site. Therefore we need to unfollow her web site. When questioned, Facebook stated they can do nothing, and told us to sue her. Becky has her email and her cell phone # linked to the site.
Curtis Brown and Robert Campbell are pursuing a new web site for our Civic group. Even though we’ve been using Next Door and Facebook, switching to our own web site will have many advantages. Curtis wants to remove the confusion and improve the visibility of our Civic Association. He wants this new site to be a resource for members. (Check out www.sciotosouthland.org and www.sciotosouth.org.) The domain has been purchased, but it’s still a work-in-progress. Curtis and Robert designed the basic framework and paid for everything. (Applause! Applause!) Hopefully it will be up and running by National Night Out.
- Members were reminded that our Area Plan needs to be worked on by the Civic members. The City will come back for our Area Plan once Zone-In is finished. The Plan needs our suggestions and updates. This must be completed down the road.
- Bruce Miller asked the City for the Zone 5 Crime Report for May 2024, specifically for the statistics on Buffalo Court issues. The report was denied, due to “personal information contained” in the report. However, ABC 6 News showed the report on their news story, and all vital information was seen on TV, including addresses. Why were we denied a public record? Members feel it was due to the City’s dislike of us, and that’s also a possible reason our National Night Out money was denied.
- President Bruce Miller next addressed community relations and community gossip, specifically the Kroger rumors. He said the letter that Becky Walcott had is a fraud, as there is no such employee and the ID number is wrong. Our Civic did a news release with Kroger to resolve those rumors. As a Civic group and as individuals, we can be sued for false rumors. People need to verify the source before you put rumors out in public. Several of our members are regularly calling businesses and harassing the employees/owners. These members state they represent our Civic Association. STOP THIS BEHAVIOR IMMEDIATELY!! Enough is enough!
- Bruce Miller announced to the group that he will resign as President due to health reasons. He plans to sell his house and leave the state. His Mother, Connie Miller, will also vacate her Board seat. We have a candidate interested in the President’s position. ‘Robert’s Rules’ doesn’t address this situation. We need to elect a President to take over when Bruce leaves, and we’d like him to have a training period. We can hold an emergency meeting in August, if desired. The City does have a preference on who they’d like to see take over as President, but that means nothing to us. The City refuses to meet with Bruce.
Bruce made a motion to open the floor for nominations for President this evening, according to ‘Robert’s Rules’:
1st Motion — Bruce Miller 2nd Motion – Bill Palmer
The floor was now open for nominations.
Connie Miller nominated Curtis Brown for President:
1st Motion – Connie Miller 2nd Motion – Marsha Kessler
Judy Campbell nominated Phil McMaken for President:
1st Motion – Judy Campbell 2nd Motion – Bill Palmer
Although Phil is not a resident within our Civic boundaries, he could join this evening as a Business member and pay the $25.00 dues. Phil declined the nomination.
Judy Campbell next nominated Reba Jones Dameron for President:
1st Motion – Judy Campbell 2nd Motion – Bill Palmer
Reba declined the nomination.
Brian Humphrey stated that he would be interested in being a Board member. Judy Campbell nominated Brian to be a Board member:
1st Motion – Judy Campbell 2nd Motion – Kaylene Clark
Brian accepts the Board member position.
Members voted on Curtis Brown’s nomination for President:
By voice vote, Curtis was unanimously voted in as Civic President.
According to our ByLaws, the outgoing President replaces the former President on the Board. However, Bruce made a motion to leave Judy Campbell on the Board of Directors:
1st Motion – Brian Humphrey 2nd Motion – Bill Palmer
Our next Civic Association meeting will be held on Monday, September 9, 2024.
A motion was made to adjourn:
1st Motion – Bill Palmer 2nd Motion – Jared McCune
Respectfully Submitted,
Pam Richards, Secretary