DAYTON — The city of Dayton said it has a problem on Gettysburg Avenue with reckless driving and it’s been going on for years.
People who live and work along Gettysburg want something done so a meeting was held on Thursday night that was attended by around two dozen people.
However, city manager Shelley Dickstein would not let News Center 7′s Brandon Lewis in the meeting to hear people’s concern.
News Center 7 observed the meeting through a glass door. People looked to be respectful and did not seem to be upset. After the meeting, city leaders said they want to come up with temporary and permanent solutions for what’s happening.
When News Center 7 arrived at the meeting that was held at St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church, the city manager and Dayton’s mayor said it was a private event and the media could not record video of the meeting.
News Center 7′s Brandon Lewis asked Dickstein, “For full transparency, why wasn’t the media allowed to come in tonight?” She responded by saying, “It’s important to note this was an invite only meeting. We were very cognitive of inviting only those neighborhood leaders who represent neighborhoods, groups of neighborhoods as well as those business owners and community stakeholder to have a very authentic and very forthright conversation and that was the idea.”
She continued by saying, “Sometimes when there is media in the room, it intimidates and dampens some of the input our citizens provide,”
Dayton’s mayor Jeffrey Mims, Jr. said the purpose was to find out how to prevent fatal crashes.
“The issues is several types of driving, doing donuts in the middle of the street, excessive speed, running through red lights, firing up your car and your engine,” Mims Jr. said.
The mayor and city manager said the Gettysburg Avenue problems are a priority. The city manager said the city saw a jump in reckless driving on Gettysburg when the pandemic hit.
The mayor said some people at the meeting recommend modifying traffic Patterson and looking into ways to impound cars for reckless driving.
Despite all the talk, there was no clear direction on what, if anything, the city will do in the short time on Gettysburg.
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