Residents and regular commenters criticize council's time change and raise oversight concerns during public comment

The Delaware County Council heard an extended public‑comment period at its May 20 meeting in which several residents criticized the council's change to daytime meetings and raised separate concerns about county operations.

Charles (Charles/Charlie Alexander) told the council the change of meeting times and other procedural steps were designed to limit public participation and accused the council of misusing opioid funds to pay apparently excessive kiosk rental fees. He asked, "Who is making that money out of our opioid dollars?" and alleged potential kickbacks.

Kimberly Brown criticized personnel decisions and appointments, questioned pay structures for non‑full‑time employees (citing a reported $48/hour and an $87,000 annual figure for a purported part‑time position) and said the jail at George W. Hill is "unsafe," asserting prisoners were "running the jail." Francis Earl Reed III used his three minutes to deliver a long statement alleging prosecutorial misconduct and political motives involving past county officials and the district attorney's office.

Several commenters—Dan Valdistapena and Jim Coyne among them—praised the council's work while also expressing concern about the mix of changes. Council staff and the solicitor responded to procedural questions: Solicitor Aubrey explained the three‑minute rule and that the clerk and solicitor would monitor timing; a council member clarified the personnel item cited was a compensation adjustment to raise some non‑full‑time workers to a $15/hour minimum, not an annual raise.

No formal policy changes were adopted on the record regarding meeting times or the other allegations at this session; those concerns were recorded for follow‑up outside the public‑comment period.