City Council moves ahead

At last Tuesday’s regular meeting of Circleville City Council, Council member Sheri Theis noted a potential conflict in dates with the next regular meeting scheduled two weeks ahead on Tuesday, June 18. She explained the plans for the unveiling of the new city statuettes at Main and Court will also be held on that date, and will take place at 6 p.m. She encouraged everyone to attend the unveiling and to not make plans for other committee meetings on that date.

Mayor Michelle Blanton briefed the committee on the “Under Housed” panel discussion that was held at the library concerning homelessness.

An article on this subject was in Tuesday’s edition. She encouraged everyone to pay attention to this issue and stated that more conversation on the topic would certainly be coming.

Blanton also informed the council that the job opening for the City’s police chief had been posted on the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police’s (OACP) website. She encouraged everyone to spread the word on this as anyone interested in applying for the position will need to apply through the OACP website. The City’s HR Department will not accept or process any applications.

Regarding police matters, Blanton also introduced a new idea to improve the city’s police force, and she went on to describe several agencies that administer accreditation programs. The U.S. Department of Justice has a Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) which promotes community policing and offers a Law Enforcement Agency (LEA) accreditation.

This program is more oriented towards large city police departments. For smaller cities, the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) also offers accreditation programs, with fewer requirements which will save the smaller cities significant administrative effort. And finally, on March 21, 2024, Governor DeWine announced the new Ohio Collaborative Law Enforcement Accreditation Program, led by the Ohio Collaborative Community Police Advisory Board.

Blanton stated that there were costs and benefits associated with being accredited. Council member Theis asked is this was in the idea stage or the implementation stage. Blanton replied that this idea is currently in the former, the idea stage, and that no official action has been taken.

Council also formally approved a recommendation from the Strategic Planning Committee that the Arborist position within the Service Department be created. The cost of the position will be covered by a $1 Million grant received by the City to cover the costs of the program for 5 years.

Council also approved an ordinance that would allow and officially create four part-time positions within the police department. The benefit of these part-time positions is that they save on the costs of benefits and workers’ compensation costs.