ATHENS, Ohio — A member of Athens City Council introduced a draft resolution to guide future actions on world events, following council’s adoption of a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Council member Micah McCarey, At-Large, formally introduced the draft resolution, “A Resolution Offering Guidance for Addressing Local Impacts of Global Crises,” to the Athens City Council Committee of the Whole’s Feb. 26 meeting.
Council must “decide when council will and will not consider future resolutions commenting on active conflicts,” McCarey said.
On a 4–2 vote, council passed Resolution R-02-24 at its Feb. 19 meeting. The resolution, introduced by Michael Wood, 3rd Ward, called for “an immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Israel and occupied Palestine.” That action followed several weeks of community comment and organizing and contentious deliberation at council meetings — especially after the city attorney advised council not to adopt the resolution.
“What we’ve essentially learned from our law office’s opinion is that by changing precedent by introducing a resolution calling for a ceasefire, we open the door to council being asked to offer similar resolutions on any kind of active conflicts,” McCarey said. “We might need to as a council decide on some sort of criteria on which we would wish to make that determination. And that may … end up being when we see that an active conflict has been declared a formal genocide, that we would consider that.”
McCarey’s resolution refers to the city’s new partnership with the Strong Cities Network, “in order to facilitate different initiatives that will be demonstrated to help combat polarization,” he said.
Athens is one of 22 cities nationwide participating in the international Strong Cities Network, an initiative launched by the United Nations in 2015 to combat extremism, “pool resources and build a community of cities to inspire local action on a global scale.”
“Our city council and our city administration are seriously seeing this as an opportunity to address the diversity, inclusion of diversity, inclusion, issue of polarization, hate and extremism,” McCarey said. “Our primary tools for doing that, at the moment, are the ongoing work of our Athens Community Relations Commission and this new partnership with the Strong Cities Network.”
McCarey said he did not intend on bringing the resolution at the council’s next meeting. “I know that our Athens community relations commission and other bodies would like some time to further give input on this,” he said.
McCarey said that he didn’t know “how we might pursue another option of commenting [on conflicts and issues] outside of resolution, but I think it’s worth considering.”
Councilman Alan Swank, 4th Ward, voiced concern over the proposed resolution and instead suggested the council perform a general review of its current rules and procedures — especially for resolutions.
“When it comes to global impacts — or local impacts of global crises — is what I was suggesting that we identify a procedure for [via the proposed resolution],” McCarey said.
Swank, one of two council members who voted against the ceasefire resolution, read a statement on the proposed resolution. He questioned the origins of McCarey’s resolution and language regarding Strong Cities and the wisdom of the ceasefire resolution, saying there have been “threats directed at council during the past three meetings,” as well as “hate emails;” and that “the recently passed resolution has done more harm than good.”
Swank suggested McCarey may have drafted the ordinance as “a second chance effort” in the event that the ceasefire resolution didn’t pass. The Strong Cities resolution was initially drafted before last week’s ceasefire vote, dated Feb. 14.
Councilwoman Solveig Spjeldnes, 1st Ward, said she appreciated Swank’s statement and also spoke in favor of McCarey’s proposed resolution as a means to establish guidelines for future resolutions. She agreed with Swank that procedural changes may also be necessary to explore. Like Swank, Spjeldnes voted against the ceasefire resolution.
In a records request by the Independent for the “threats” and “hate emails,” Spjeldnes and Swank cited the same email as threatening for suggesting the council members may lose votes in their elections because of their action regarding the ceasefire resolution.
They both cited a paragraph that stated: “I fear the backlash you all will face come elections will be devastating. If you all do not pass a resolution, I am not sure how the public will react, but I will be angry for sure and I think others will share my view.”
In another “nasty” email, Spjeldnes noted that a woman wrote to her: “I will make sure to remember this at the next election. I refuse to be represented by such a short-sighted individual who cares more about the university and students than long-term residents of the community.”
Councilwoman Jessica Thomas, At-Large, also said she is in favor of McCarey’s proposed resolution as a way to establish guidance.
ORCA update
On Feb. 26, council also heard from Jessie Powers, executive director Outdoor Recreation Council of Appalachia, a council of governments whose members include the city of Athens. ORCA manages the Baileys Trail System.
In January, the county commissioners voted against paying the county’s ORCA membership this year, citing budget cuts and saying that they never intended to pay dues for more than three years.
ORCA’s bylaws contain no expiration date for member dues, Powers said.
“It’s kind of hitting us a little bit off guard that at year three … we find ourselves in this predicament where [the county does] not have the means to support us at this time,” Powers said.
Though the loss of the county’s money adds some uncertainty to ORCA’s future, the organization “has not been totally reliant on membership dues since 2021 to cover operations,” Powers said. “We’ve been funding staff through grants and other things. We can cover expenses through the end of 2024.”
The city’s ORCA membership is contingent upon the county’s participation, which prompted Patterson to suggest that council consider updating its agreement with ORCA and the county, in order for the city to continue its support.
“I would like council to consider amending that to remove that contingency to where we continue to support and recognize the fact that the value of a mountain bike, trail running, birdwatching, nature-loving — whatever you want to call it — operation such as the Baileys Trail System is beneficial to the entire region,” Patterson said.
Swank suggested discussing the contingency clause in the next committee of the whole meeting in two weeks, to have it in effect by April.
Athens City Council’s next Committee of the Whole meeting will be Monday, March 11 at 7 p.m. in Athens City Hall, Council Chambers, third floor, 8 E. Washington St. Meetings are also available online.
Regular session is the first and third Mondays of the month; committee meetings are the second and fourth Mondays.
