MANSFIELD — The City of Mansfield is partnering with AFSCME Local 3088 to participate Friday in the 22nd annual Make A Difference Day Food Drive.
Mayor Jodie Perry made the announcement Tuesday evening during a City Council meeting, encouraging lawmakers and the public to participate in the event outside the DLX restaurant at 28 N. Main St. from 7 to 10 a.m.
The project, headed by community organizer Doc Stumbo, is aimed at restocking food pantries at Wayfinders at 124 W. Third St. and Catholic Charities on 523 Park Ave. East.
“We encourage (donations), particularly council, because we are doing an internal drive. If you can bring food in, you can drop it off on the first floor, you can bring it up, and we’ll get it down there,” Perry said.
“Or drop it off (Friday) morning,” Perry said. “Doc always likes to see people down there.”
Stumbo said this week that nonperishable food, toiletries and paper products are needed, as well as cash donations.
“There’s a greater need this year than I’ve seen in past years,” Stumbo said. “If you can donate one can or a few cans, it adds up.”
For more information, call Stumbo at 419-524-0733 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
In other activity at City Council on Tuesday:
— Perry told lawmakers work on the city’s 2026 financial budget has begun.
“We are internally working on the budget, so that will be coming your way on the second meeting in November,” she said. “We have worked with (Finance Director Kelly Converse), and with the change in the software, things started a little bit later.
“But we are hot and heavy through our meetings with department heads right now, so that should be coming your way soon.”
— The mayor also announced the city is in the process of selecting a consultant to do a “countywide and citywide comprehensive land-use plan.” It is working with the City of Shelby on the plan.
“When we talk about where do we want future business expansion going, things like that, that is where the land-use plan is going to be essential,” Perry said. “We’ve had some really good consultants respond that have had great success in other communities.”
She said it would be a year-long process with “lots of public input.”
— Perry also reminded residents the citywide “Trick or Treat” in Mansfield is planned Thursday, Oct. 30, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. “If you want to participate, just put the front light on.”
— Mansfield resident Matthew Schuster, during the public participation portion of the council meeting, reiterated his desire the planned city budget include additional police officers to help reduce crime.
The Wolfe Avenue resident, who spoke to lawmakers in October 2024, repeated his belief the budget should allow for 120 sworn officers in a city the size of Mansfield. The MPD is currently budgeted for 88 officers.
Schuster has said the national average is 2.5 police officers per 1,000 residents and that Mansfield is at 1.7 per 1,000. According to online FBI data, the average city in the midwest in 2019 had 2.2 officers per 1,000 residents.
The population of Mansfield for 2025 is estimated to be 47,828, according to U.S. Census data.
“I feel like I’m largely being ignored, because this is an important issue,” Schuster told council. “In our neighborhood, in the last year, I’ve probably called 9-1-1 three or four different times. My wife has (heard) gunshots.
“(There are kids) out here destroying property. The last response time that we had was 20 minutes. It took a group of us neighbors to run off the kids,” Schuster said.
“With all the stuff going downtown, it’s going to look nice, but the behavior is not changing because we need a strong police presence. We need more guys, we need more (police). We need more vehicles on the street.
“We need patrols in our neighborhoods. Because not only is it going to help our brave men and women combat the crime, but that presence is also going to deter the crime,” Schuster said.
— Also during public participation, Mansfield resident John Fernyak, owner of Engwiller Properties, thanked the mayor for pulling a proposal to sell half of the Mansfield Municipal Parking lot to Park National Bank, which had planned to build a new regional office on the site.
He also credited the city for other steps it had taken to improve downtown business opportunities, including converting Mulberry and Diamond streets to two-way traffic, a conversion that will also be seen on Main Street once the ongoing improvement project is complete.
Fernyak also suggested the mayor remove downtown parking meters, which he said would make downtown businesses competitive with shopping malls and strip malls. He also said a parking garage in the downtown would be a good idea.
The next City Council meeting will be Wednesday, Nov. 5. A few years ago, lawmakers moved the normal Tuesday meeting to the day after elections.
