Residents press Cincinnati City Council on behavioral-health care, city spending and ICE partnerships

At the Cincinnati City Council meeting’s Citizens Forum, several residents urged the council to take action on a range of concerns, from a personal injury claim against a behavioral-health provider to calls for divestment from companies the speakers said enable human-rights abuses.

Carol Cunningham, identified by the clerk as a public commenter, told council she was tripped by a case manager named Emily Bender three years ago and said the agency’s current case manager, Andrew DuPont, had not addressed ongoing problems. "I have no phone, I had no food...they have sent me representatives lacking professional care of job performance," Cunningham said, and added she needed an attorney to resolve the situation.

Aiko Kimura urged the city to "divest from genocide of Palestinians" and to stop partnerships with weapons manufacturers, arguing recent U.S. arms sales have contributed to civilian casualties overseas. Jonathan Norman similarly called on the city to limit its infrastructure and facility use by ICE and to end contracts that he said can be weaponized against people.

Other public commenters raised local concerns. Stefan Prior objected to a proposed $420,000 allocation tied in the agenda to the Immigrants and Refugee Law Center, saying the funds would not help tenants and questioning a prior large award to a local CDC. Sanford Poole criticized city decisions including layoffs and property sales and said he believed some city departments had targeted Black and brown residents.

A remote commenter, Mike Eulhorn, compared satellite-broadband billing practices to what he characterized as recurring charges by the local water utility for customers not using service and asked the city to investigate. He left a contact number during his remarks.

The clerk closed the Citizens Forum and the council recessed until the 2 p.m. business meeting.