The Reader Beat aims to cover city and county council meetings as well as other important government and community-related meetings. The following is a summary of each meeting for the month of July.
City Council July 1: The first meeting of the month began with a presentation led by Executive Director of Bayfront East Side Taskforce (BEST) Marcia Farrell. Farrell proposed projects with Infinite Erie to both develop green space and the area along the lower blocks of Parade Street, building affordable housing and single-family homes for ownership.
Following the presentation and a private executive session, public comments addressed a variety of recent issues, including a comment Councilman Ed Brzezinski made toward a female reporter that constituents condemned as inappropriate after the previous city council meeting (with Corporate News Director for Lilly Broadcasting and Erie News Now Scott MacDowell speaking in her defense) and a video of the recent arrest of Keven Sparks, who was hit by a police car while riding an e-bike; the video appears to show an officer repeatedly punching Sparks as he was arrested on the ground…