The Reader Beat Recap: August 2026

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.

Council discussed a resolution to execute an agreement between the City of Erie and Erie County Re-Entry Support Services Agency, whereby the City would make available $65,000 of funding from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to carry out the designated activity outlined in the amended FY24 CDBG plan.

City Council July 15: City council presented honors to the Mercyhurst Prep Baseball Team as they were the state runner-up this season. Councilwoman Schaaf honored Erie native Cliff Crosby on behalf of city council for his NFL career and public service work.

Before public comments, President Titus addressed constituents, assuring the audience that city council has heard their concerns and frustrations. They announced that some ordinances were still under review by the city solicitor but will be addressed by council in the future, including the rules of council that set a clear code of conduct and decorum policy. Titus also addressed the possibility of the citizen review board.

Constituents continued to speak out against police violence, referencing the arrest of Sparks. Rie Witherow (40 Under 40 Class of 2025) expressed frustration with a seeming lack of dialogue between city officials and their constituents, citing dozens of disregarded emails within the past two years.

Other constituents voiced concerns about defense manufacturing in Erie after Mayor Devlin and County Executive Vogel attended the Defense and Innovation Summit earlier in the week.

County Council July 21: During public comments, Cyndi Treiber condemned the excessive use of force against those arrested in Erie County and subpar medical care after arrests. Constituent Jen Paulson added to Treiber's statements, discussing a $1.1 million settlement between Erie County and an inmate who was allegedly beaten by corrections officers.

Malcolm Pullium tied this treatment back to Sparks, as well as the death of Marchello Woodard at the hands of his parole officer last year. "I'm willing to meet with anybody to create a policy to create change because we can't keep going through this same cycle of what we went through," Pullium said.

County Executive Vogel announced in her report that she, Mayor Devlin, Bishop John Crosby, and Warden Holman met to discuss Sparks and police conduct.

An ordinance approving the temporary unlocking of mobile devices for individuals attending public meetings of Erie County Council in order to facilitate public access and recording rights consistent with the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act had its first reading and was not voted on.

Coming up this month:

City Council: Aug. 5 at 9 a.m.

City Council: Aug. 19 at 6:30 p.m.

County Council: Aug. 25 at 6 p.m.