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On July 5th, when most people were outside walking off their Fourth of July holiday food, the City Council members of North Olmsted were tackling a bigger bite, as they decided the fate of North Olmsted City Dispatch. In a vote of 4-3, the decision was made to move the Dispatch to Chagrin Valley starting in 2023.
After several hours of passionate speeches and testimony against the move, the 4 board members who voted yes, gave prepared speeches as to why the move was being made. However, that is not where this story ends, as a whole new chapter is set to begin.
Class of 2019 North Olmsted High School Graduate Riley Vertosnik, is perhaps one of the greatest hockey players to come out of North Olmsted. This time instead of fighting off defensemen as he aims for the net, he is shooting for a much bigger goal. He is leading a charge alongside fellow resident Alejandro Chock to keep the dispatch here.
Thursday night at North Olmsted park, they both organized a protest / petition signing to keep the dispatch in North Olmsted. By the time I arrived on the scene, several hundreds of irate people had lined up to sign the petition.
I spoke with Vertosnik on why the need for the petition and what they hoped to achieve with it, “I believe the petition will help to hold the council members accountable for neglecting what the people of North Olmsted spoke about for several hours that night against the move”, said Vertosnik
Chock went on to explain the purpose of the petition, “ the purpose is to get this issue on the ballot in November and have the residents of North Olmsted get the chance to have their voice heard after the council gets their chance to review and repeal. If they don’t repeal, this petition should put it on the ballot.”
In order for it to reach the ballot, it needs 700 signatures, which is roughly 10% of the registered voters who voted several of these members into council this past November. If Thursday night was any indication, they should not have any problems reaching those 700 signatures.
Chock went on to discuss his displeasure and concern with the move, “It is to my understanding that most, if not all members of the dispatch will not be moving to Chagrin Valley, and will then be out of work. We are going to lose a lot of local expertise, people who know the streets, neighborhoods and where everything is. You need that quick reaction time when lives our on the line.”
Vertosnik is also concerned over the safety and had to this to share, “the safety is the biggest issue here. They need to know local landmarks and the area, if not, people can die. If you call in and let them know there is an accident in front of the big building in front of Walmart, a veteran of North Olmsted dispatch will know that right away, a Chagrin Valley member will not. This move could cause people to lose their lives and livelihoods.”
This story, just like every big game, has two sides to it and we reached out to councilman Chris Glassburn for comment, but did not hear back.
Chris Scarl gave an incredible speech in favor of the move, and I would recommend giving that part a listen.
We do want to point out several positives of the move according to mayor Nicole Dailey Jones who gave a passionate speech on the North Olmsted Facebook a few days ago.
Her points for why the move is a good thing, can be found listed below.
- All employees have been offered a job working for Chagrin Valley Dispatch and will receive a $2 an hour raise.
- A signing bonus and a better healthcare package then North Olmsted offers.
If you want to see the video of the meeting that took place with an hour straight of passionate speeches against the move, you can here.
Disclaimer We publish stories that are in the interest of North Olmsted residents. Any story that even begins to hint towards politics is not our first choice. However, if we can publish a story without showing bias, we will.
