City to pay for police at 2 patriotic parades

Some council members had wanted to work out an agreement with the vets.
By ERIC GROSSO
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NEWTON FALLS -- Last year, city council passed an ordinance that made organizations responsible to pay for police officers used for traffic control and security for those organizations' events.
After its meeting Monday, however, council is again footing the bill for some of those events.
The city will pay for police at the city's annual Memorial Day and Fourth of July parades this year.
Last Saturday, the Parade Committee, made up of members of Veterans of Foreign Wars and AMVETS organizations, voted not to march in the Memorial Day Parade if council did not change their current ordinance.
No council representatives attended the meeting.
Council member Eric Thompson first motioned to rescind an ordinance passed last month that allocated $3,500 from the city's general fund toward mosquito spraying. The motion called for the suspension of regular meeting rules.
Thompson said he wanted the money to be used to pay for police officers at the parades, but he first had to rescind the ordinance made last month to get the money put back into the general fund.
How voting went
The motion to rescind passed 4-1, with Councilman Ralph Gillespie casting the dissenting vote.
Thompson then made motions to suspend meeting rules and for the city to pay police officers to provide traffic control and security at the parades.
"We needed to get this done. I even offered to give the veterans my checks from city council to cover the costs but was told I couldn't do that," Thompson said.
The motion passed 3-2 with Gillespie and council member Catie Karl-Moran voting against the new ordinance and against suspending meeting rules.
"It's completely out of line to do this right now while we're already trying to work out a solution," Karl-Moran said.
Mayor Thomas Moorehead said the issue would have been placed on the agenda at the next regular meeting after the city had enough time to work out an amicable solution with the Parade Committee.
Council members Steve Marcum and Eric Thompson both said they were unaware of any talks between parade organizers and city officials.
The cost for security at the 32nd annual Memorial Day parade was estimated at $650, but there was no amount given for the Fourth of July parade.