Summer in the City 2026 program focuses on building youth engagement through activities

Notes

SCENE: Committee met in council chambers, Room 300, Cincinnati City Hall, 801 Plum St., led by Council Member Scotty Johnson. There were several audience members, stakeholders in issues that were discussed. The meeting convened at 9:30 a.m. and adjourned at 10:51 a.m.

Committee members

Council Member Scotty Johnson, chair

Council Member Jan-Michele Kearney, vice chair

Council Member Anna Albi

Council Member Jeff Cramerding

Council Member Ryan James

Council Member Mark Jeffreys

Council Member Evan Nolan 

Council Member Meeka Owens

10 minutes: Enhanced Street Takeover Ordinance

65 minutes: Presentation – Cincinnati Recreation Commission Summer in the City 2026

02 minutes: Public comment

[Times spent have been rounded to the nearest minute]

Street Takeover Ordinance

“I guess people are not getting the message that this is not the place where we’re going to tolerate street takeovers,” said Council Member Scotty Johnson, the committee’s chairperson, responding to a reported street takeover in the area of Paycor Stadium on Monday night. Police made as many as six or seven arrests, he said.

The enhanced ordinance, brought forward by several council members and led by Council Member Mark Jeffreys, modifies, amends and updates the traffic code of the Cincinnati Municipal Code to deal with street takeovers. The ordinance would require several new wrinkles, including that vehicles involved in street racing be impounded for at least six months and that any modification to those vehicles be removed.

The legislation is an emergency ordinance – meaning the ordinance becomes effective immediately once City Council approves it. Council was expected to approve it during its regular session June 3.

“I really wish that we could have put some more meat in this legislation,” Johnson said. “I would have liked to have seen people lose their car for a year” and to have their driver’s license suspended for a year as well, he said. “Somebody is going to get killed. This is nothing to be played with … This is not the town for you to come to be reckless, driving like an idiot.” 

The call for an updated ordinance came in reaction to an incident in March that involved police and the Cincinnati Police Department’s Civil Disturbance Response Team. It resulted in dozens of arrests and the impounding of more than 60 vehicles.

“This ordinance is about prevention more than anything,” Jeffreys said.

Existing penalties were not enough to deter street racing incidents, stunt driving and street takeovers. The updated ordinance allows for the six-month impoundment of vehicles under a civil penalty, which is under council’s control. He said the six-month impoundment provision works, mentioning that Louisville has a similar ordinance.

“It’s not anyone’s right to use a car to terrorize neighborhoods,” Jeffreys said.

Council Member Ryan James said, “I hope this is a loud and clear shot-call to folks who want to put our residents in harm’s way.”

Council Member Anna Albi called the ordinance “one major step forward.”

Cramerding called the problem systemic and called on all parts of government to work together to stop street takeovers, saying they will “escalate until it stops.”

The committee unanimously advanced the ordinance to the full council for passage.

Presentation Cincinnati Recreation Commission Summer in the City 2026

The Cincinnati Recreation Commission (CRC) Summer in the City 2026 program focuses on building youth engagement through a series of actions that include expanded access to job skills and income, safe spaces to gather when “peak evening hours are the highest risk period for youth,” and programs designed to reduce violence and build positive relationships between youth and their communities, according to a presentation by CRC Director Daniel Betts.

Betts said the periods when young people are most likely to get into trouble are 3 to 6 p.m. during the academic year and Friday and Saturday nights during summer, when teenagers are hanging out.

The CRC summer program is built around four main ideas that have worked:

• Rec @ Nite: Safe Weekend Spaces for Teens (CRC has invested around $650,000). The focus is on youth ages 12 to 17 in “high-need neighborhoods” on Saturdays, June through August, from 5 to 10 p.m. Sites have been expanded from two to four (Evanston and Winton Hills are added for this year; Hirsch and Lincoln centers are the others). More than 2,300 young people were served via the two sites in 2024, and CRC is expecting to double that number this summer with the added sites.

• Pools – All 24 swimming pools will be open citywide with a full complement of lifeguards (CRC investment has been $2 million)
• Summer Camps – Day as well as specialty. Camp enrollment now is at about 85%, Betts said. (CRC investment has been $1 million)
• Youth 2 Work – 250 youth and young adults will be hired, including for the police and fire cadet programs and a Teen Concert. (This is the second year for this event, Betts said, noting an announcement about the headliner is coming soon.)
• All told, the city, through CRC, is investing $3.65 million for these programs

Cincinnati Parks Director Jason Barron said his department is back again this year with open skating at the Sawyer Point rink with a DJ on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from June 5 through Aug. 28 (except June 12-13). Parks also will purchase 100 sets of skates (free rentals) and will offer skating events throughout the city. The parks department will feature a skating event to coincide with major city events.

Cincinnati Parks also is offering several neighborhood free family friendly events, including a concert and boxing at Ezzard Charles Park, a Seasongood Square Back to School Carnival and Movie Nights @ Sawyer Point.

Finally, summer camps featuring nature-based activities for children ages 3 1/2 to 15 have started. City Parks will hire as many as 12 teens through the CRC Youth 2 Work program.

“When people say there’s nothing for youth to do in this city, that’s just not true,” Johnson said. 

Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney, committee vice chair, reminded the room that Albi has challenged council colleagues to skate with teens at Sawyer Point on Friday evening, June 5.

Betts also mentioned that CRC will support a Hamilton County Juvenile Court initiative requiring youth accused of committing non-violent offenses to get a library card, a CRC membership, and show their grade report to the court before trial. CRC also will be rolling out a customized special events pop-up van to visit neighborhoods that don’t have a rec center but do have parks where young people hang out.

Albi said she has spoken with faith groups and organizations that plan to bring young people to some of the free summer events offered through CRC and Cincinnati Parks.

According to the presentation given to the committee, Cincinnati Police Lt. Col. Matthew Hammer shared Interim Chief Adam Hennie’s 90-day vision for the summer, which includes an expanded bike unit (up to 16 in Over The Rhine and the Central Business Sector) and walking patrols, updated arrest reports and procedures around pre-trial appearances, formalized partnerships with the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office and Ohio State Highway Patrol, a newly created standalone SWAT unit, the continued use of the Youth Curfew Center, the continued use of the 24/7 Crime Center, and the expanded use of drones.

Of the new SWAT unit, Hammer said, “We hope we don’t need it.”

Hours spent on walking patrols increased by more than 446% from April 2025 to April 2026, according to the presentation. Expansion of bike and walking patrols has not weakened other spot patrols, Hammer said.

Right now, 90% of the city is covered by an average of 61 drone flights per day, he said.

Johnson, responding to the CRC presentation, said, “I think it’s crystal clear that everybody’s got a role to play in this, making sure Cincinnati is as safe as possible during the summer and every day, year-round.” Citizens also have a responsibility, he said: “If you see something, say something.” To parents, grandparents and guardians, he said, “You have a role to play in making sure you know what young people are engaged in, what they’re doing, and who they’re with.” 

Jeffreys asked how the Cincinnati Police Department (CPD) is handling curfews. CPD is continuing to monitor public safety challenges around curfew, Hammer said in response. Officers did see compliance in the aftermath of the Taste of Cincinnati, he said, but compliance is not always guaranteed.

The use of drones has been helpful for officer safety in helping gather information that can reduce officer-armed citizen encounters. Drones will likely lead to a reduction in use-of-force encounters because of the information drones can provide, he said.

The committee filed the report.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:51 a.m.

PUBLIC COMMENT

Earnest Davis, executive director, Mantle Center for health capacity, invited council members to an event focused on financial and mental health on June 23. His organization helps neighborhood councils create quality-of-life committees. Avondale and Roselawn already have quality-of-life committees focused on nuisance issues as opposed to paying attention to their “death gap” (life expectancy of people living in those neighborhoods versus other neighborhoods). Councils in neighborhoods where there is lower life expectancy vis-à-vis other neighborhoods have been invited, he said.

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