To the Citizens of Oakwood

We would like to sincerely thank you for the support you have given us. We have received so many kind words of encouragement from you and greatly appreciate your voice to keep us in our jobs.

We look forward to continuing our service to the Oakwood Community for many years to come.

Your Oakwood Public Safety Dispatchers,

Laurie Heisey
Pat Knight
Cherie Muceus
Rochelle Shockey
Jim Waitzman

RE: Oakwood Public Safety Dispatch decision

On Monday evening, Sept. 17, Oakwood City Council voted to retain the Oakwood Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP).  This decision was made by a unanimous vote on the following motion:

Therefore, it was moved by Mr. Blumensheid and seconded by Mr. Castleman that in regard to the county-wide dispatch issue, council accept the recommendation of the city manager and staff to not participate; that the county be informed the city will not be joining; that the city manager be directed to prepare for an upgrade to the Oakwood dispatch center as part of the 2008 Budget; and that the city manager pursue an arrangement whereby the county-wide PSAP will serve as Oakwood’s backup center.

In January of this year, City Council decided that Oakwood would retain a 24-hour information station even if we joined the county-wide dispatch center.  After taking into account all of the costs associated with joining the county-wide center, including the personnel costs for operating the 24-hour information station, and comparing them to the costs for upgrading and retaining our own PSAP, we found that Oakwood’s annual cost savings would be approximately $100,000.

Although Public Safety Director Alex Bebris and I have full confidence in the ability of dispatchers working in the county-wide center to swiftly and properly dispatch emergency services in response to 911 calls, we recognize that some of the “personal touch” that we can offer our small community with our own dispatchers would be lost.  Over the last ten months, we listened to our citizens and found that this “personal touch” is extremely important; this was a major factor in our recommendation and in council’s decision.

As clearly stated in the motion above, Oakwood City Council has directed staff to pursue an arrangement whereby the county-wide dispatch center can serve as Oakwood’s backup.  We will need backup in the event of equipment failures and when an incident generates multiple 911 cell phone calls.

It is our intention to continue attending the Policy Committee, Technical Advisory Committee and Chief’s Committee meetings where work on establishing the county-wide PSAP will continue over the upcoming months.  However, since we will not be a primary participant, we will attend in a non-voting capacity.  At the September 17 Oakwood Council Meeting, I stated publicly my highest regard for Sheriff Dave Vore, County Administrator Deborah Feldman, County Commissioner Dan Foley and Project Manager Mike Ratcliff for all they have done in working towards establishment of a county-wide PSAP.  Chief Bebris and I are fully convinced that the county-wide center will be constructed and operated in a first-class manner and recognize the benefits it will offer throughout Montgomery County and beyond. Although Oakwood will not be a direct participant at this time, we stand ready to assist in any way we can and, as a city that will look to the county-wide PSAP as our back-up, welcome any opportunities provided to us to stay closely involved in the PSAP development process.

We must also recognize the work efforts of the Dayton Regional Network headed by Miamisburg Mayor Dick Church and Dayton Daily News President and CEO Doug Franklin for their efforts in continually looking for ways in which our Dayton region can work more closely together to address the many challenges that lie on our doorstep.  Their work is critically important to us all and deserves our full support and active participation.

In closing, I extend a sincere thank you to the citizens and businesses of Oakwood for allowing city staff and council to carefully study this issue over the past 10 months.With very few exceptions, the Oakwood community gave us the time needed to gather all of the information necessary to thoroughly and properly understand the pros and cons of joining the PSAP.  This made it possible for us to make a sound recommendation and for council to make a responsible decision for our city.

Norbert S. Klopsch
City Manager

More information needed before informed decision can be made

I attended the August 27 meeting of the Oakwood City Council and found it to be a helpful start in the process of sharing information about the presence of public and Section 8 housing in the Oakwood area.

Some of the information shared was of a background nature on the DMHA and other presentations explained Ohio and U.S. laws on housing discrimination.

Following several formal presentations a number of citizens made statements or asked questions. There were a few underlying themes in the citizen input: safety/security and property values. While safety and security concerns include the subject of crime, they are broader than that and include perceived safety and security.

Many examples were given from personal experiences both in the Oakwood area and in other areas of the Miami Valley.  Generally these were anecdotal in nature — some were positive; some were horrendous.

After the meeting and some time for reflection, my questions are: what objective studies have been done on the relationship between public and Section 8 housing and the following factors: crime, property values, and residents’ perceptions of safety and security? And, what are the results of those studies?

Chief Bebris presented statistics showing a decline in crimes from 2005 to 2006, but we also heard from another gentleman (Mr. McCarthy?) associated with a fair housing organization that “25 years is not a lot of time” to see the impacts of public housing.  So, perhaps we should not expect to see an effect over 1 to 2 year’s time. Again, it would be helpful to know what actual studies have shown is the pace of change.  I wouldn’t expect neighborhoods to change their character immediately, but perhaps they do.

Reference was also made to the example of Parkside and the significant crime problem that arose in that area. Several speakers and Council members disavowed
Parkside as a valid example and said that it is acknowledged to be a failed model of subsidized low-income housing.  I believe that the proponents of Parkside and similar communities in other cities were not stupid, nor were they malicious.  I believe that indeed, they were using the best wisdom they had, to do something with the very best intentions.

Today’s model is “dispersal and decentralization” because as Mr. Johnson from DMHA stated, they have found that dispersal and decentralization “lead to less activity at those sites and they are easier to manage”. I am sure that this is the best wisdom available today. Unfortunately, it appears it may be 25 years before we know the full consequences of today’s wisdom.

Therein lies, I think, the heart of the matter.  We all make decisions based on what we know today, not what we’ll know tomorrow or next year or 25 years from now.  We can only make informed decisions, however, if we have information.  I applaud our community leaders’ steps to ensure that the citizenry have the information they need to make informed decisions — decisions about where they live, where they send their children to school, where they invest their capital in rental properties, and so on.  Without information we are simply left with our perceptions, and those perceptions become our reality because we will base our decisions and our actions on them.  I also thank Mr. Winkler for his contribution to beginning the process of exchange of information.

If there are objective studies that answer the questions about effects of public and Section 8 housing on crime, property values, and residents’ perceptions of safety and security, making them available to the citizens of our community would be a helpful next step.  Can our city leaders undertake to do this?

E.M. Butterworth
Oakwood

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October 2, 2007
Volume 16, No. 40

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