Councilman Dan Demint (R) had originally voted against the ordinance on April 14th, but he was among the votes to restore it on May 12th.

After the original vote, Demint had emailed me an explanation of his action on April 23rd where he included his Facebook post on the day of the vote detailing his thoughts about the legislation.

He wrote that he was “on the fence about this legislation…but I couldn’t get on board with the ‘penalties’ section.”

Demint’s email to me:

From: Dan DeMint Dan.DeMint@chillicotheoh.gov

Subject: Potential Mayor Veto

Date: April 23, 2025 at 09:16:51 EDT

To: Scioto Post kcoleman@sciotopost.com

Good Morning, Kevin!

Dan Demint here. As you may know, I was one of three members of Council to vote "no" on the camping legislation nine days ago. That legislation had been up for discussion for almost three months. So, that means I had a lot of time to gather information, get input from many people (including some folks who've been in the struggle), and think about how I would vote, and why.

I shared a post on Facebook the day of the vote detailing my thoughts about the legislation, which I will attach to this email. In a nutshell, I was very much on the fence about this legislation because in my mind, the legislation was mostly good and certainly necessary, but I couldn't get on board with the "penalties" section.

I did attempt to sell Council on a "non-criminal penalties" version of the legislation, but that didn't go through. Still, the language was written so that it does offer built in safety measures for campers on public property, as well as a mandatory accompanying social services resource officer for a situation where a camp will have to be cleared. Also, an officer is not mandated to issue a ticket or any other charge for an individual who doesn't abide by the posted law. It allows for officer discretion.

Legislation is necessary and this legislation is better than nothing, which is where we're at currently. It can always be amended at any time in the future. I still don't like that the option is there for any kind of criminal penalty (this includes tickets), but I believe that CPD brass will use their discretion in a compassionate manner.

I fully support and respect Council's decision to pass this legislation, even if I don't exactly see it the same way. I'm reaching out to let you know that if this legislation comes back to Council due to veto action, I will be voting to respect the will of my fellow Council members. In the meantime, we will be working on solving housing issues and providing support for local homeless advocates and organizations.

Thanks so much!

Dan Demint

6th Ward Councilman

Dan.DeMint@chillicotheoh.gov

Read Demint’s “Long Read“ of his April 14th Facebook post that he shared with me in the article on the Scioto Post.

Jennie James