MANSFIELD — Crystal Davis Weese spoke of her desire to improve community safety and reduce youth violence when she successfully campaigned for Mansfield City Council in 2025.
Now representing the 3rd Ward, Davis Weese used her platform Tuesday evening to again address the issues during council’s discussion about accepting a $24,772 Project Safe Neighborhoods Grant from the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services.
The funds, obtained as part of a larger Northern Ohio Violent Crime Consortium award, will be used for training and also to cover overtime for the Mansfield Police Department’s crime analytics program.
According to the legislation, it’s similar to a grant awarded last year and requires no match from the city.
Davis Weese, as she did in June when lawmakers voted to accept a $19,084 Project Safe Neighborhoods grant to be used to pay police overtime to “reduce violence throughout the city,” questioned the usage of the money to pay police overtime.
“I know that we can utilize this for overtime. My concern is that we continue to vote for things that are (used to pay) overtime, but I’m not seeing enough things that look like they’re actually doing intervention of youth violence,” said Davis Weese, who later cast the lone vote against accepting the grant.
“These grants are specifically stating that they are (to reduce) neighborhood violence. That’s a concern of mine. This current year, I walked into my classroom to find out that one of my students had been murdered.
“She wasn’t someone who was violent, but she was someone who was killed by somebody who was violent. I just would like to see that we’re doing a bit more.
“I would like to know what we’re utilizing those grants for and how we can put that to good use towards (reducing) violence. Data is good, but as I said (in June), it just seems like we’re doing it after the fact and not (taking) a proactive approach if we’re not seeing some changes in what our violence looks like here,” the lawmaker said.
Neither Safety Service Director Keith Porch nor police Chief Jason Bammann attended the meeting. At-large Councilwoman Shari Robertson, a retired MPD captain, tried to explain the grant.
In the past, Bammann has said the local crime analysis helps direct police efforts toward higher crime areas, including its Community Action Team that began its work in 2022.
The CAT team is largely grant-funded and the unit worked 853 man-hours in 2025. Assistant Chief Michael Napier said in February the team “is one of the largest reasons our violent crime has come down so far.”
Robertson said the NOVCC includes eight cities — Mansfield, Cleveland, Akron, Toledo, Youngstown, Lorain, Elyria and Canton. She said the grant is usually part of a larger award, managed in this case by Toledo and the portion allotted to Mansfield is a sub-award.
Robertson said the Mansfield crime analyst, in addition to the work she does for the city, also pulls compiles for the NOVCC, requiring more of her time.
The retired officer, who once led grant-writing efforts for the MPD, said there are other grants the city could seek aimed at Davis Weese’s concerns.
Davis Weese was not deterred.
“We’ve done several of these (grant) votes. I know what people will say, ‘Oh, you are anti-police.’ I’m not that. If people are working (overtime), they should be paid in every single, solitary way. It just appears to me that we need to put some action in that (prevention) area as opposed to continuously keep placing it in (overtime) is what I am saying,” she said.
“If we’re continuously writing (for grants) and we know that we’re writing for overtime, we know that we are absolutely asking for something for Project Safe Neighborhoods, why would we not additionally be (seeking grants) to create a safe neighborhood in (proactive) ways?” Davis Weese asked.
“I know that there are staffing issues, but there are partnerships that can be done if we’re working with school systems or juvenile systems. All of those things can work together because that’s truly the only way we’re going to be able to stop violence is a collaborative (effort),” she said.
Mayor Jodie Perry said the department’s CAT team works to reduce violent crime, but added she would be willing to schedule conversations with Davis Weese and Bammann about other possible funding sources.
“What I hear you saying is that we should be looking for more proactive grants, and I’m happy to take a look at that with the chief and schedule a conversation and seek suggestions,” Perry said.
City Council on Tuesday evening also:
— approved a resolution honoring recently retired Mansfield Fire Dept. Assistant Chief Chris Speelman.
— voted to allow the Ohio Dept. of Transportation to do highway lighting repairs on a section of Ohio 39 within city limits. Work will be done in 2027 near the Ohio 39 intersection with I-71.
— vote to accept a $50 donation from Nutella for fire department equipment.
— voted to accept a $45,000 grant from the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council to be used for a parking lot at the Trimble Road connection to the B&O Bike Trail. No local match is required.
— gave a first read on the Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport economic development plan introduced to lawmakers on July 21. A local resident who owns a hangar at the airport provided council with a written document titled “A Fair Market-Based Path for Mansfield Lahm’s T-Hangars.” Lawmakers didn’t discuss the document Tuesday, but a vote on the plan is not scheduled until Aug. 18.
— approved an agreement with OneDigital, an Atlanta-based company with many Ohio offices, to provide “professional health benefits consulting, actuarial and underwriting services.” The one-year contract with the “brokerage house” carries a price tag of $50,000 and will be paid by the city’s health insurance fund, comprised of city and employee contributions. OneDigital also works with the City of Ontario and the Village of Lexington, city officials said.
