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Residents criticize limits on public comment, allege property liens and discriminatory inspections; request masked open‑carry ban
Summary
Speakers at the Citizens Forum raised multiple grievances about the city's public‑comment procedures, alleged an illegal Medicaid lien on private property, criticized building‑department enforcement in Black neighborhoods, and requested an ordinance to ban masked open carry of firearms.
Multiple residents used the Citizens Forum to register complaints about how public comment is handled at council meetings, to report personal property and enforcement grievances, and to request new local ordinances.
Linda Kamhi (identified in the transcript as a citizen speaker) said she had signed up to speak at a prior meeting but was not allowed under what she described as the mayor’s “new policy this year limiting public comment.” Kamhi also asserted that “in 2024, Aftab was absent for 7 of the 40 citizen forums, which is 17.5% of public comment,” and asked why voters should support a mayor who does not attend forums regularly.
A different speaker described a property dispute he said began after his mother’s hospice stay: he said a city lien tied to Medicaid was placed on his property and had grown to about $19,000. The speaker said he had paperwork showing the hospice agreed to pay for part of the stay and asked council to help remove what he called “illegal debt” from his property; council staff (Noah) was asked to follow up.
Sanford Poole, introduced by staff, accused the building department and law department of disproportionately citing and pressuring residents in Black neighborhoods, saying officials use fines and title demands to transfer property to developers. Poole framed the practice as racially targeted and urged council to stop what he described as exploitation of poor residents.
Eric Ruffin described an incident on a bridge where he said he was forced to draw his firearm after being targeted and told the council: “Anyone carrying an open firearm should be man enough to not have a mask. Anyone that wants to openly carry, you should not ... cover your face.” He asked council to consider an ordinance barring people who openly carry firearms from covering their faces. City staff responded at the forum that several ordinances are under consideration and asked Ruffin to share his information with staff member Chaka to aid drafting and follow up.
Speakers also raised concerns about vacant building registration fees, maintenance fines and potholes; one speaker asked council not to use the railway trust to fund the proposed program and urged the council to let the City on Track plan proceed without diversion of those funds.
The items raised in public comment generated no formal votes at the meeting; staff were asked repeatedly to collect follow‑up information for later council consideration.
