KENT: The agenda was relatively light Wednesday for the Kent City Council in its final meeting of 2012.
The most-discussed topic of the evening was a motion introduced by Ward 1 Councilman Garrett Ferrara to hold in-depth discussions with the health and safety committee to discuss the city's preparation and resources for dealing with emergencies such as the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newton, Conn., on Dec. 14.
"It's going to boil down to a function of money and preparedness," Ferrara said. "It's important for our citizens to know the city is prepared, and it needs to be a unified, cohesive strategy. It's going to cost money I'm sure, but in talking with people over this past week, there are resources that are available."
Council members Roger Sidoti and Heidi Shaffer expressed strong support for Ferrara's motion and for the idea to bring together emergency personnel, members of the judicial system, police, fire and representatives from Kent State to talk about how the city, its schools and all of its agencies can respond in the event of an emergency of any type.
Shaffer noted that it is often "easy to know what to do during business hours when everyone is in their office," but knowing what to do when emergencies occur at other times is more difficult.
Sidoti pointed out that because "we live in a relatively safe city," there is a tendency to become complacent and not recognize that shootings and other emergencies can occur anywhere.
