This fall, local law enforcement also saw an increase in reports of sex-related crimes.
Though the legalization of marijuana didn’t become a reality in Athens this Fall Semester, plenty of other events took place in the city.
After the election in November, new Athens City Council members will join Mayor-elect Steve Patterson in January. Several city council conflicts were resolved this fall. Several new businesses popped up, and some crime was still prevalent.
Crimes in Athens
Ohio University saw an increase in sex-related crimes, with a total of 16 cases reported to the OU Police Department by the end of Fall Semester.
Arrests connected to the Athens Halloween Block Party seemed to decrease this year with some departments. The Athens Police Department made 12 arrests fewer this year compared to 2014.
The Ohio Department of Public Safety Investigative Unit charged 63 people on Oct. 31, all related to alcohol offenses. The Athens County Emergency Medical Services responded to 43 calls for service, with 38 of them from the block party. Of those, 24 transports were made to O’Bleness Memorial Hospital.
The November election
In an unopposed mayoral race, Patterson was elected Athens' new mayor. Councilwoman Jennifer Cochran, D-At Large, was reelected to her seat on council, while newcomers Pete Kotses and Pat McGee, a local lawyer at Student Legal Services, joined the body, as well. McGee, who received 23 percent of the total vote, is the city's first independent councilman in decades. Cochran won about 25 percent of the vote and Kotses won 27.
Athens residents were faced with three ballot issues to vote on this election year. Issue 3, which would have legalized recreational and medical marijuana in Ohio, didn't pass in the county or in the state. Voters in Athens County overwhelmingly rejected Issue 3, with about 64 percent of residents voting against the issue and about 36 percent voting for it.
Issue 2 did pass, which is designed to limit the power of monopolies in elections and was geared toward limiting Issue 3 if it had passed. Ohio voters also passed Issue 1, which will reform the way legislative districts are drawn in Ohio.
City council
For the majority of the semester, Athens City Council members discussed how non-union employees should accrue vacation time. About 14 weeks after the issue first arose, council members passed a vacation ordinance.
The ordinance affects the vacation time non-union employees can accrue. Employees who had a large amount of vacation time saved up have five years to use the time. A minimum of one-fifth of time must be used each year during the five-year allotment period.
Council also had a first this fall. Nearly a year after Athens City Council reached out to Ohio University’s Student Senate, members of the two bodies finally met in person.
Council and Student Senate addressed problems that affect Athens residents and OU students, such as trash fines and Number Fest. Although neither group offered any concrete solutions during the one-hour meeting, the two groups are looking to collaborate in the future, according to a previous Post report.
New businesses
This fall also saw the arrival of a new storefront and a restaurant for students and residents to utilize.
OMG! Rotisserie, 139 Columbus Road, has a vast menu featuring the popular soul food traditions with healthy, locally owned produce.
The two owners, a couple who also own the Burrito Buggy, decided to try their luck at owning a restaurant after the burrito’s success.
“We are an interracial couple," co-owner Sheldon Andrus said in a previous Post report. "I’m from New Orleans, and (co-owner) Bethany is from Athens, and she has mastered the art of cooking soul food. We decided to cook soul food because no one here gets it on a regular basis.”
After eating at OMG! Rotisserie, students and residents can head over to Honey, a new lingerie and adult store that opened in August.
Meredith Allen, a previous employee of Kismet, decided to open Honey after the Union Street fire destroyed Kismet.
“I want it to be about female empowerment,” Allen said in a previous Post report. “You don’t need a boyfriend to wear lingerie. Whether you’re going out at night or to a business meeting, it’s about loving your body. We’ve got a college kid on a budget and the professor who goes out.”
Fall Semester also marked the one-year anniversary of the fire that took out a few Union Street storefronts and student apartments.
“I hate to say it, but if the fire had not happened, Honey wouldn’t — I wouldn’t be here,” Allen said in a previous Post report. “It definitely sparked it for me to do it because I didn’t have anything to do.”
@Fair3Julia
Jf311013@ohio.edu
