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Girard officer Mat Jamison to be nominated for Medal of Valor
GIRARD
The city will nominate police officer Mat Jamison for the state Medal of Valor for alerting and evacuating the residents of a duplex that had caught fire.
Jamison had been patrolling the neighborhood when he saw a fire burning on the back of a South Davis Street duplex March 9. He ran inside to help the two adults and three children who had been unaware of the fire.
The property was a total loss.
Police Chief John Norman commended Jamison for risking his life to help the residents get out safely before the blaze intensified.
“We’re so proud to have him in the police department,” he said.
Mayor James Melfi presented a city proclamation to Jamison at Monday night’s council meeting.
Jessica Juillerat and her three sons, who were evacuated from the duplex by Jamison, attended the proclamation ceremony. The three young boys wore “We [heart] Officer Jamison” shirts, with a blue heart.
Girard police officers lined the back wall of the city chambers along with Pat and Dave Leo. They are the parents of Justin Leo, a Girard officer who died in the line of duty in October 2017.
Jamison is not a stranger to being called a hero. When Leo was shot, Jamison fired back to stop the shooter from harming anybody else.
“We all need to appreciate it, to see Mat engage in not just one, but two acts of heroism in 18 months,” said Councilman William Ryser.
Council members praised Norman and the officers for their work.
In other police business, the city swore in part-time police officer Justin Asente, a graduate of Girard High School and Youngstown State University. He will be paid $15 an hour working no more than 29 hours per week.
Melfi announced that the city is applying for a $300,000 Community Housing Impact and Preservation federal grant. The funding is used to improve infrastructure and housing in low-income areas.
The city was awarded a $350,000 CHIP grant in 2017, and applied with Niles and Hubbard for the federal funding that year.
City council also gave a round of first readings Monday for ordinances to increase the salaries of the city auditor, city councilmen, the public service director and the mayor, and introduced legislation to increase the salary of the council president.
Exact figures for increases haven’t been proposed yet, but are planned to be discussed at the finance committee meeting April 8.
Council also proposed authorizing the public service director to advertise for bids for paving certain streets this year.
The proposed portions of streets to be paved are Abby and Smithsonian streets; Reeds Court; Maple, Amherst, Glendale, Gary, Powers avenues; Cheyenne Drive and the Tod Park parking lot with an estimated project cost of $350,000. The city is applying for grants for next year’s road program.