By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
On the eve of the November General Election, the Bucyrus City Council didn’t pass up the opportunity to stress the importance of the income tax levy — and they had the perfect man to use as an example.
Though it has been three days since the incident, Bucyrus Police Chief Dave Koepke still has a few bandages across the right side of his face and he was starting to sport a nice shiner on his right eye. Koepke had been assaulted when he responded to a shoplifter complaint at CVS Friday.
Councilman John Walker was the first to use Koepke as a reason behind passing the income tax levy. He pointed to the Bucyrus police chief during Monday night’s special Council meeting.
“(That’s) what happens when they come to your home,” said Walker. “It’s not a problem until they come to your back door and then it’s a problem.”
Law Director Rob Ratliff wasn’t afraid to use Koepke’s incident as an example, either. He said to look at the picture of the police chief, his white uniform shirt covered in blood, that had been making the rounds on Facebook.
“If you think because we are a small town and isolated from violence,” said Ratliff, then think again. “It didn’t have to be Chief Koepke that got pushed into a wall.”
It could have been a kid or someone’s grandmother,” Ratliff said.
“The only thing that stands between us and people like that are the few—very few—(police officers),” he stressed.
He said they needed to show that, as a city and as a group of citizens, they won’t accept that type of behavior.
Koepke thanked everyone that had sent “thousands of heartfelt wishes for his health.” He refused to make the assault about him, however.
“The individual that assaulted me personally—he assaulted all the citizens of Bucyrus,” Koepke said.
He rejected the belief that this was a police or fire campaign. Rather, it was a citizens’ campaign.
“We’re proud to serve you — they’re your uniforms,” Koepke said. “It’s your police department and your fire department.”
Ultimately, he argued, it would be the citizens’ decision on how strong they wanted the departments to be.
Council member Bill O’Rourke explained that the levy would amount to .50 cents for every $100 earned. Council member Monica Sack added that the levy wouldn’t affect retirement or Social Security income.
“We need that (the levy) worse than anyone can imagine,” stated Mayor Roger Moore.
Bucyrus seventh grader Sarah Lipscomb attended the meeting to inform Council about her plan to bring Safety Town back to Bucyrus. Lipscomb is a Girl Scout working towards earning her Silver Award.
“This is a big goal of Chief Keller and I,” said Koepke. He saw a need in the community for Safety Town, especially after recent accidents with children on bicycles. “It’s great to see Sarah carrying the torch for that program.”
Ratliff informed Council that a video conference had been scheduled with the Ohio Liquor Control Commission concerning Dillinger’s request for a change to its liquor permit. Ratliff and Koepke have met with Dillinger’s to discuss concerns about the area. Dillinger’s has requested a change to its liquor permit that will allow it to extend its hours for selling liquor from 1 a.m. to 2:30 a.m.
Koepke reported that they have asked Dillinger’s to cooperate in securing the building with video recording. The police chief said between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m. the department regularly handles signature calls for service around the square. Felony violence often happens in that area of town. He didn’t blame Dillinger’s or other establishments for the problems but rather the patrons that caused the problems.
Ratliff informed Council that if they had no objections then the Liquor Board would continue with its process. In a vote of 5-2, Council withdrew its request for a hearing.
Council passed one piece of legislation Monday night. Ordinance 35-2013 transferred $22,000 within the Sewage Disposal Fund. This was money that was appropriated but not needed for the Spring Street Project. Instead, it was moved to Sewage Disposal Operations and Maintenance/Contractual Services in order to pay the electric bill through the end of the year.
A public meeting for residents and property owners on Walnut Street to discuss the Walnut Street Waterline project has been scheduled for 6 p.m. on Nov. 12 in Council Chambers.