The Reader Beat Recap: September 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 August.

City Council Aug. 5: Mayor Devlin presented the mid-year budget report. She reported that the city's spending cuts and revenue-seeking has reduced the $8 million deficit to $5.2 million. "While this is good progress, we recognize that it just represents a fraction of that total deficit and we have much more work to do to close the full amount."

During public comments, former City Councilwoman Susannah Faulkner discussed an ordinance on the agenda that renews the Erie Police Department's subscription for ShotSpotter, a technology that aims to detect and alert law enforcement of gunshots through auditory sensors. Faulkner cited a study by the ACLU of Massachusetts which found that approximately 70 percent of alerts in Boston showed no evidence of gunfire. "If we're able to lay off people, if we're able to end other essential parts of city hall and make cuts all around, then why would we extend $280,000 to a tech company for surveillance?" Faulkner said.

A year-long contract for ShotSpotter subscription services for the Bureau of Police at a cost not to exceed $280,000.00 passed 6-1 with Titus voting no. Schaaf explained her reasoning for supporting the ordinance, "This, to me, is a part of safety," she said. "Chief Lorah mentioned that crimes have been solved, homicides have been solved."

City Council Aug. 19: During public comments, Clayton Bradshaw-Mittal, Ph.D., spoke about the ShotSpotter subscription ordinance. "There's no impact on the root causes of gun violence nor on occurrence of gun violence," said Bradshaw-Mittal. A study from the Chicago Inspector General's office also found that some Chicago Police Department members interacted and perceived individuals differently in areas with a higher frequency of ShotSpotter alerts. Erie High teacher Andrani Foster Samuel spoke about an incident allegedly involving police and a young man who was searched and put in a holding cell. "I'm just really hurt by what happened to him because he's a good kid and his family deserves justice. His mom deserves justice. He deserves justice. He did not deserve to be treated the way he was treated." Mayor Devlin encouraged Samuel to get in touch with her office to file a complaint.

An ordinance appropriating the sum of $280,000 to fund expenditures associated with the City of Erie Police Department ShotSpotter Subscription to improve law enforcement response time to areas where shots were fired passed 5-1, with Titus voting no. Councilman Horton spoke in favor of the ordinance, saying: "I'm not looking at this personally as a permanent fixture in our tool belt, but I think it deserves some merit to consider and see how it goes."

County Council Aug. 25: Constituents discussed the ordinance that allows the public to use mobile devices during county council meetings. "I can appreciate you all taking a look at the Sunshine Act to make sure that we are actually following what we are supposed to be following," constituent Deonte Cooley said. The ordinance approving the temporary unlocking of mobile devices for individuals attending public county council meetings passed 4-3 with Schauerman, Bayle, and Drexel voting no. "The way we have been doing things is definitely not against the sunshine laws," Schauerman said, though the ordinance passed over her objection.

Coming up this month:

City Council: Sept. 2 at 9 a.m.

County Council: Sept. 8 at 6 p.m.

City Council: Sept. 16 at 6:30 p.m.

County Council: Sept. 22 at 6 p.m.