Using words such as “disgusting,” “disappointed” and “angry,” Toledo City Council members sounded off Tuesday about the police officers who were disciplined after forcefully wrestling two women to the ground during a January traffic stop.
“The system again has failed our young people,” Councilman Cerssandra McPherson said during the council comment portion of the meeting. “Our young people are dying, and then they see something like this on TV, and how do you think they feel? Like they don’t have a chance,” she said.
Ms. McPherson was visibly angry when she spoke at the conclusion of the meeting in which she referenced the Jan. 1 incident when Officers Adam Hobbs and Ashlyn Pluff were involved in a violent altercation with the two women they pulled over. Seen on a police camera video, one woman was yanked out of the car by an officer, and both were eventually wrestled to the ground.
The officers were suspended after an internal investigation that determined they had violated department rules.
Councilman Tiffany Preston Whitman intends to address the issue at the May 23 Safety Committee hearing.
“I hope we take that time to express our concerns and be clear about the things we expect to see in our law enforcement,” Ms. Preston Whitman said.
With a daughter who is the same age as the women who were pulled over, Councilman Vanice Williams said she worries for her daughter’s safety should an officer who “decides to exert their power over a young lady” pull her daughter over.
“TPD has been making strides to be better, and this took them 20 steps back,” Ms. Williams said, noting that she believes race was a significant factor in the situation.
“If they were two white women, this would not have happened,” she said.
The two women are Black.
Food initiative
Prior to the public comment, councilmen also acted on several agenda items including two healthy food proposals under way to address Toledo’s food desert in and around downtown. By a unanimous vote of 12-0, council approved spending $500,000 in federal relief funds for the construction of a food systems, education, and incubation hub at the Erie Street Market.
The project involves a partnership agreement between the Center for Innovative Food Technology, Opportunity Kitchen, and the Economic and Community Development Institute.
Early renderings of the 25,000-square-foot proposed facility depict several food incubators, a smart kitchen, and an auditorium.
The project could be completed in 2026, according to Sandy Spang, the city’s deputy director of economic development, who presented information about the proposal at the May 9 agenda review. She also presented information at the May 8 joint meeting of the Toledo City Council Regional Growth, Development and Small Business Enterprise Committee and the Health Promotion and Access Committee.
The project could cost a total of $12 million, and in addition to the city’s allocation, other funding sources include $1.1 in federal money and tax credits, she has said.
Council also approved by a unanimous vote of 12-0 a proposal to allocate $350,000 in federal relief funds to support a Healthy Corner Store Food Initiative through the Toledo Lucas County Health Department, which would provide healthy food to areas of low-income and low-access.
The pilot program would allow the owners of independent neighborhood markets to apply for a $10,000 grant to carry healthy prepared foods and produce in their stores, Ms. Spang said.
Conversations with store operators to determine their obstacles in carrying healthy foods along with a needs assessment for providing such food in the stores led to the development of the program, Ms. Spang told council at the agenda review.
To be eligible, a business must be in good standing with the city relative to code compliance, which includes licensing, she said.
Toledo leaders would also like to see a grocery store built in central Toledo as part of the initiative, and plans could be under way to financially entice a developer to make it happen.
The grocery construction incentive would provide $150,000 to a developer to construct a 10,000-square-foot grocery in the Collingwood Green neighborhood near Nebraska Avenue and Division Street. The proposal was presented at the committee hearings, but it did not appear on the agenda.
Council President Matt Cherry said the proposal would be presented to council at its next agenda meeting.
First Published May 17, 2023, 12:10 a.m.
