25th annual Speak Up, Speak Out sees officials answer residents questions, concerns

LORAIN — A longstanding community forum that started on the heels of Y2K continued on Saturday. The 25th annual Speak Up, Speak Out forum, sponsored by the Lorain NAACP, Lorain County Section of the National Council of Negro Women and the Lorain Club of the Negro Business and Professional Women's Club, continued its tradition of inviting public officials to answer questions from community members on Saturday. Like year's past, the mayor and police chief fielded the bulk of residents' concerns, with some questions bringing national politics to the local level. Mayor Jack Bradley and Chief Jim McCann addressed concerns on whether the city had a protocol in place if Donald Trump were to change immigration policies in the United State. Throughout his campaign, the president-elect highlighted plans for mass deportation of illegal immigrants, and restricting legal immigration pathways. Lorain has a number of undocumented and legal immigrants in its city — in part giving it the moniker of the International City. Bradley said his administration has not developed a protocol, and plans to see what steps Trump's administration takes in their second term. He said under Trump's first term, there were not "serious issues" with local police assisting on immigration issues, and Lorain police officers will not be actively looking for someone who may be in the country illegally. McCann echoed the mayor's sentiment: Lorain police are not ICE agents or border patrol. "We work for the people of Lorain and we do not go out and look for illegal immigrants," McCann said. He said the department must notify federal immigration authorities if a suspect of a violent crime, such as assault or menacing, is here illegally. Residents also asked what Lorain police were doing to build trust in marginalized neighborhoods. McCann highlighted the department's use-of-force citizens advisory committee, which reviews incidents involving Lorain officers and the public and makes suggestions to his administrative staff. There is also a community relations unit which talks to residents in barber shops, schools and at local events. His police department releases reports and records as it is able, but reminded residents that their work is "not black and white." "I want our guys, our department — your department — to be aggressive to help quell the violence, especially involving juveniles," he said. Violent crimes have been on the decline since police began taking that aggressive approach but there is still work to do, McCann said. That work falls not only to officers, but to the parents of kids in the community, he said. "One of the issues is parents are not parenting," he said. "That's one of the problems we have in Lorain and other cities like Lorain. I'm not sure what LPD can do with that … but we're losing the battle with our kids." Bradley and McCann also touched on changes to city ordinances allowing Auxiliary officers to issue parking tickets; the hiring of Larry Swanger as its new animal control officer and whether the city would start charging money for body camera footage. Recently, Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill allowing cities to charge up to $750 per video record request from police. McCann said his department does not have a policy in place, but recognized the department cannot go from not charging someone to a draconian measure. He said the department has three fulltime staff members doing nothing but body camera requests — and fielding requests from Australia and Great Britain for hours of footage to upload to YouTube channels. Bradley gave a brief update on several brownfield sites in the city. The StoveWorks site will see money from the Lorain County Land Bank to see its cleanup move forward, while Lorain expects another $6.5 million in grant funds to go into cleaning St. Joseph Community Center. Touching on problems facing the city's youth, Rebecca Jones, Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Services Board of Lorain County child and adolescent services director, answered a question on the resources available for children. "I know youth are in crisis and parents are struggling, I'm a counselor by trade, but if people don't have hope and a reason to believe their life can be something, why would I follow the rules and do the right thing if I have no hope for a better tomorrow, she said. The MHARS board works with Lorain Schools' wraparound department and provides a coordinator for the Educational Service Center of Lorain County for suicide prevention services, helping individual districts and buildings create support plans to fit their students' needs. Part of those preventative services include peer-to-peer youth suicide prevention training through a partnership with the Lorain Rotary, she said. She said school counselors are not the only answer — solid prevention and support for parents are key. Tonya Birney, MHARS' director of prevention services, agreed. She said she is working with Lorain County Public Health and others to implement a peer-led violence prevention model, and is working to create Spanish-language interventions and surveys to see when students are at risk of mental health or substance abuse issues. Mark Johnson, MHARS board chief of behavioral health services, gave an update on the city's Crisis Receiving Center. The first of its kind in Ohio, the 29,000-square-foot-space will provide around-the-clock access to behavioral health care and detoxification services. It is on Broadway next to the Nord Center (now Riveon Mental Health and Recovery), and plans to open later this year. While many of the questions on Saturday focused on the city, Lorain Schools staff also fielded community concerns. Christa Lokiec, director of communications and community relations, discussed the district's implementation of the state's no cellphone rule. Ohio schools are required to have a policy governing cellphone use by students during school hours by July 1, 2025. Lorain Schools already implemented its policy at the start of this school year: Away for the day. Its policy requires students to have their phones out of sight — in their backpacks or lockers — throughout class. Initially, the district discussed a lockbox or bag so students could not access their phone at all, but that has not been needed, she said. Tony Dimacchia, Lorain Schools director of operations and an at-large council member, said the majority of the students comply with the rule and understand why it was put in place. Dimacchia fielded a question about the district's purchase of the former health department building on West Erie Avenue. In December 2023 the district bought the space at 1144 W. Erie Ave. from the city for $200,000. Eventually, it plans to move administrative offices there to free up additional classroom space at the high school, he explained. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.