Equity Coalition of Erie

Jasmine and I (Ken) have sent our messages to Tom McClelland, Bayfront Parkway Project manager, and David Brennan, Erie City Councilmember, to request more transparency in the project’s process. We believe the Erie community deserves to have access to the meetings that serve to transform our iconic public dock for future generations. At the moment, the December 17th Peer-Review Committee meeting has been postponed. We will be keeping our eyes open for future developments with the project!

Hello everyone we have a Call of action for everyone to send a email and tell our members of Congress to "Pass COVID-19 Relief Now, before Current aid expires at the end of 2020."

PENNDOT is having a Peer Review Committee Meeting on the Bayfront Parkway Project on December 17. The meeting is not planning to be open to the public. But we as tax payers and City residents can change that by emailing and making a phone call. The two individuals we call and email will be the Project manager Tom McClelland and Council person Dave Brennan of the Erie City Council. Please let PENNDOT and CITY COUNCIL know you want this meeting to be open to the public. I have... already emailed them both and I encourage emails and phone calls. Let's annoy them into doing their jobs and make sure we are heard. I will share my emails in the comments so people can copy and paste with their information. Project Manager at PENNDOT, Tom McClelland his email is [email protected] and his phone number is (814) 678-7081 Erie City Council Member Dave Brennan email is [email protected] and his phone number is (814) 602-1566

Along with members of Erie County United, Erie DSA, and many more concerned individuals, we’re calling for action by City of Erie Government, Mayor Joe Schember, and #ErieCityCouncil to formally address and condemn the blatant disrespect and unacceptable dismissiveness of Councilman Ed Brzezinski toward Councilwoman Liz Allen. We will not allow arrogant misogyny and the complicity of male members of Erie City Council to continue as usual. Women deserve to be treated with resp...ect in every facet of life; being respected as a colleague and equal in public service is absolutely no exception. You’re not even there, or Everybody knows you’re a nut, will not be an acceptable way to represent disagreements in our community, and calling a woman a broad is disgusting, vulgar language that our community should not be comfortable with. ECE would like to see that Ed Brzezinski makes a formal apology for his absurd behavior toward his equal. Read the statement here: https://www.goerie.com//erie-city-government-m/6469556002/

Mayor Schember what are you hiding? One thing I will say about the Erie Times News, nothing gets them moving faster than something that smacks as access to inf...ormation, violation of Sunshine Laws etc. "The city of Erie wants a judge to support its contention that the city should not have to turn over documents to the Erie Times-News regarding the Erie Bureau of Police’s use of force when interacting with citizens. The newspaper requested the information in June via the state’s Right To Know Law, and the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records recently issued an order stating that some of that information should be made public. Deputy City Solicitor Catherine Doyle, representing Mayor Joe Schember’s administration, filed a petition for review in Erie County Common Pleas Court on Wednesday, arguing that the information should be exempt from the Pennsylvania law governing public records. The city wants the court to reject the Times-News' assertion that the records are public, despite the fact the Office of Open Records in Harrisburg ruled on Oct. 19 that the city must comply with the newspaper’s request for some police use-of-force information... A hearing has yet to be scheduled regarding the city's petition. The Office of Open Records, the state government agency that administers Pennsylvania’s Right to Know Law, also rejected a city request to reconsider its October ruling in favor of the Times-News' position.... The city’s court petition centers around use-of-force information the newspaper requested on June 17 regarding police use of force in the wake of a disturbance in downtown Erie late May 30 and early May 31 that followed a peaceful protest over systemic racism and the death of George Floyd, a Black man who was killed by a white officer while in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25.... The Office of Open Records, on Oct. 19, granted the newspaper’s request, in part, for use-of-force information regarding the downtown disturbance in May and city police use-of-force documentation generated between Jan. 1, 2019, and June 17. In its written opinion on the newspaper’s request, the Office of Open Records stated that the issue of whether some of the information sought by the newspaper relates to criminal investigations as part of police incident reports should be examined by an appeals officer in Erie County District Attorney Jack Daneri’s office, because the OOR does not have jurisdiction to hear appeals related to criminal investigative records. That review is underway. However, the Office of Open Records also ruled that the city did not meet its burden of proof regarding whether there are other relevant records to disclose, including use-of-force records from noncriminal investigations, and that the city did not sufficiently establish that use-of-force records are even included within employees’ personnel files. The Office of Open Records wrote that the city failed to meet its burden of proof to withhold these records from disclosure to the Times-News. Doyle, on behalf of the city, asked the Office of Open Records on Nov. 3 to reconsider its October decision granting the Times-News access to some use of force information. The Office of Open Records denied that request on Nov. 17. https://www.goerie.com//city-files-court-peti/6354446002/