A new ordinance introduced at a Whitehall City Council meeting in the wake of a dispute involving the police union would bar the city from blocking communications with any person or entity – but some city council members were wary of the draft legislation.
The proposed ordinance, introduced at the Dec. 9 meeting, is sponsored by Ward 1 Council member Gerald Dixon, who was sworn in for another term prior to the meeting and just hours after he was released from jail on police charges he sexually abused several boys dating back to 1996. Dixon denies the charges.
The legislation was proposed in response to accusations that top Whitehall city officials blocked incoming emails from Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge #9, which represents city police officers.
The FOP has filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Columbus against the city over the email block. The suit is ongoing.
The proposed legislation would stop the city from impeding, inhibiting, or prohibiting any communications between City Council and any other person or entity, whether internal or external to the city, according to a draft of the legislation.
Whitehall Mayor Michael Bivens voiced opposition to the legislation, saying it would affect other city charter amendments and that it was overly broad. Bivens also questioned Dixon’s motives in introducing the legislation.
Amy Harcar, an at-large city council member, expressed concerns over the draft legislation being placed for a first reading. She said she’d like more time to research how it would be implemented and the potential impacts. Other council members stated they’d also need more time to research.
Council members discuss $44.9 million budget for 2026
In other business at their Dec. 9 meeting, city council members briefly discussed some of the appropriations for the city’s proposed 2026 budget.
Among the expenditures in the nearly $45 million budget for next year are $10.8 million for the police division, nearly $7 million for the fire division, $10.6 million for building maintenance, and $904,000 for the mayor’s office.
The budget also calls for an increase in the salary for the public safety director – from $30,000 to $54,900. Council members said this increase was because the public safety director position was changing from part-time to full-time.
The budget also includes $165,500 for the newly established Department of Neighborhoods, which will be under the purview of the mayor. The money includes salaries for a director for the department, an assistant, and training. Some of the duties of the director would include handling landlord-tenant issues, coordinating community events at the neighborhood level, facilitating better communication with residents, and increasing community engagement and attendance at town halls, according to minutes from previous meetings.
Council President Pro-Tempore Larry Morrison questioned the overall cost of the new neighborhoods department as well as the $90,000 salary that would be paid to the director. Dixon, who voted against the establishment of the department along with Morrison in September, has previously said that the duties and responsibilities for the position overlap with existing positions.
City council will be voting on the budget at their meeting on Dec. 16.
Reporter Shahid Meighan can be reached at smeighan@dispatch.com, at ShahidMeighan on X, and at shahidthereporter.dispatch.com on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Whitehall City Council debates proposed ban on blocking communications
Reporting by Shahid Meighan, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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