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Residents press council on policing, records access and proposed limits on public comment
Summary
Several residents used public comment to criticize police conduct, allege failures in CPS and county offices, and oppose proposed rule changes limiting public speech at council meetings; council members said speaking time would remain three minutes.
A broad stream of public comment at Canton City Council's June 16 meeting focused on police conduct, access to public records, and proposed changes to rules governing public comment.
Multiple speakers recounted personal grievances. Joshua Brown (introduced at the meeting as Mr. Joshua Brown) alleged repeated problems with Child Protective Services, saying records are falsified and parents are being deprived of their children; he said he has pursued the county commission and FBI. Damon Ford described what he called fabricated evidence in a 2014 indictment that led to an eight-year sentence and asked the council to investigate or refer the matter to federal authorities.
Justin Nicely, a father advocate, handed council members a packet and requested specific police and city records (including a mental health file number, body camera and lobby footage, 9-1-1 logs and chain-of-custody information), saying he had made repeated requests since November 2023 and was seeking written explanations. Kim Bell said she had been discussed by prosecutors and received a summons and expressed hurt and distrust of city processes; Cassandra White spoke about the killing of her son and urged the city to prioritize training over some equipment purchases.
Several speakers, including Skylark Bruce and Steven Esuay, opposed proposals discussed in a council workshop to limit who can speak, how often residents can speak, and to shorten maximum time from three minutes to two. Rules committee chair Member Smith clarified during the meeting that the existing three-minute speaking allotment would remain and explained a prior rule change affecting when the clock starts.
Council response and next steps: City officials and committee chairs offered procedural clarifications (Member Smith for rules; staff for demolition and records-process questions). Several public commenters requested formal investigations or records; council members directed staff to follow up where appropriate. Those requests and allegations require records review and, where applicable, referrals to outside authorities for investigative action.
