MANSFIELD — Rev. El Akuchie had a busy Tuesday night in his final meeting as chair of Mansfield City Council’s claims committee.
Shari Robertson, his successor come January, will still have her hands full.
Council approved five citizen damage claims totaling $3,531.99 on Tuesday, the final session for Akuchie, who is bowing out as the 3rd Ward representative.
Claim amounts ranged from a low of $250 for a car tire to a high of $1,500 for unspecified vehicle damages. One of the claims dated back to October 2023 and the most recent occurred seven months ago.
Three of the claims involved damage to vehicles. One was for a sewer backup and the other was for a house rain gutter damaged by city crews.
To be fair to lawmakers, it’s not their job to investigate claims. That rests on the city administration to look into such allegations and the law director’s office to gauge the city’s liability.
At-large Councilman David Falquette said, “I appreciate the fact we finally got back on track and started doing claims again. Do we know … does this clean up 2025 or is this just a good start for working on 2025?”
Akuchie responded, “It’s just a start.”
Robertson, the current vice chair of the claims committee and also an At-large council member, said she believed there are nine or 10 more that the law director’s office is working on now.
“Hopefully, at the beginning of next year, we can get those and then we should be caught up,” Robertson said.
“Is that right?” she asked Deputy Law Director David Madden.
“That’s correct,” Madden said.
(Below is the City of Mansfield livestream from Tuesday night’s City Council meeting. Claims were discussed during caucus, beginning at 39:27 on the video.)
City Council on Tuesday also:
— heard Mayor Jodie Perry said fireworks will go on as planned at midnight on New Year’s Eve in Central Park. The traditional “ball drop” will not happen due to the Main Street Corridor Improvement Project.
“The fireworks will still go on. It would have a great to have a layer of snow, but not be zero degrees like it was last year,” the mayor said.
Perry also said her annual “State of the City” remarks will be delivered in January.
— heard Safety Service Director Keith Porch say the fire department recently added two new training devices. One is a forcible-entry training door and the other is a fire extinguisher trainer.
He said the first training device was a steel door on a frame that allows firefighters to practice “defeating” a locked door and gain entry during times of fire or emergency. He said law enforcement officers would also be trained.
Porch said fire Chief Dan Crow obtained the fire extinguisher trainer to work with local businesses and residents.
“Everyone knows what a fire extinguisher is, but until you actually have a fire and you’re fumbling around to use it properly … that’s another matter,” Porch said. “I thought it was a fantastic idea.”
— heard Finance Director Kelly Converse say the city has closed the books through November. She said general fund revenue is at 96 percent of the 2025 budget with 92 percent of the year complete.
Converse said the water fund and the sewer fund are down compared to this point in 2024.
“The water department is at 85 percent of their budget and they are down 5 percent over last year,” Converse said. “The sewer fund is at 91 percent of their budget and they are down 1 percent over last year.”
She said no departments are running ahead of budget in terms of expenses.
In terms of income tax revenue, Converse said the city is at 92 percent of anticipated and budgeted revenue, which is down 2 percent from last year.
“We are going to be really reviewing trends and what happened this year when we set the revenue for the final budget. So you will see some changes coming in that regard,” the finance director said.
— approved the city’s 2026 temporary budget proposed by Perry and Finance Director Kelly Converse. The temporary budget had to be approved by the end of December and the final plan approved by the end of March.
— honored Akuchie and 1st Ward Councilwoman Laura Burns during their final meetings as council members.
— approved a tax increment financing that will help eventually pay to improve a portion of Possum Run Road near the intersection of I-71 and Ohio 13.
— approved ordinance raising the salaries for council members representing the 1st Ward, 3rd Ward, 5th Ward and At-large council seats that begin Jan. 1, 2026. Those elected officials will earn annual salaries of $9,263 in 2026, $9,541 in 2027, $9,899 in 2028 and $10,270 in 2029.
The salaries for 2026 and 2027 match what had been previously approved and 3.75 percent annual increases begin in 2028, according to Falquette. Under Ohio law, such salaries must be set after an election and before the term begins.
— approved ordinances establishing council’s 12 standing committees, president pro tempore, city council clerk and assistant clerk. Council members made the selections on Dec. 11 during a joint Republican-Democratic caucus at the Ohio State Reformatory.
— voted to appropriate $50,000 from the unappropriated Safety Services PRIDE Services fun based on actual and anticipated revenue through Dec. 31.
— voted to accept the donation of a police K9 vest for K9 Maxx in the Mansfield Police Department, valued at $1,800.
— voted to enter into an annual software maintenance agreement for $92,249.23 with Superion-Central Square to continue ongoing services related with the city’s safety forces.
