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Residents urge action on City leadership, policing and neighborhood disinvestment during public comments
Summary
Multiple residents pressed the Commission on leadership and policing concerns, including calls from speakers to remove the City Manager rather than allow retirement; the City Manager responded with data on police and fire academy diversity and reiterated outreach efforts.
During the public-comment period several residents urged the Commission to address concerns about City leadership, policing practices, and neighborhood disinvestment. Speakers Kenya Akbar and Assad Sankara-Jabar urged the Commission to reconsider City Manager Shelley Dickstein’s announced retirement timeline and to remove her from the position. Zakiya Sankara-Jabar and Rodney Stark raised related concerns about transparency, downtown-focused development and equity impacts on West Dayton.
City Manager Shelley Dickstein responded to concerns about workforce diversity and outreach, citing that the 2025 Police Academy class was 56% ethnically and gender diverse and that the 2025 Fire Academy class was 59% ethnically and gender diverse; she also cited the City's participation in the national 30x30 Initiative and affirmed continued community engagement. The minutes record citizen concerns and the administration’s response but do not show formal motions to remove the City Manager.
