Who is ready for some reading material???? Weve decided so there are no questions asked or assumptions made that we would post exactly how City Council was addressed. You will find what Janae used as her draft to address Council. Its a long one! NO JOURNALISTS OR PROFESSIONAL WRITER HERE. We will attach in the newsfeed the letter from the NAACP. Thank You again and always for your support! Hello Members of Council and fellow citizens. I appreciate your time. I am Janae Tentler, a Barberton Alum, and previous resident to the City of Barberton. I still bleed purple even thou life events, and family careers took me to another place in the County. Ive came to notice over the last few weeks that there are plenty out there that are like me; Barberton raised, had to move, however purple is still in their blood. My former young childhood friend,classmate, and then a Police Officer to my current town of Akron is one of the many who was Barberton raised, Barberton Alum where he was a talented BHS Soccer player, and then his career took him to a different residing city, but still remained a Magic.I am speaking of Justin Winebrenner. I could go on forever of the memories of Justin, growing up in the neighborhood with him, but Ill save us the time. I want to say however that, I have never been more proud and humbled to be a Magic, as I have in these last few weeks. The tragic passing of Officer Justin Winebrenner has brought this community together, whether we still reside here or not and whether you personally knew Justin Winebrenner or not. There is no question,in the Magic City, we love and honor our own.. With honor being said, I stand before you and on behalf of Megan Gwyn, Joel Green, Shelly Freshwater, David Beach, who are fellow FB administrators and another 17,000 supporters from the community and beyond, to ask you, City Council to place and pass legislation for the Bridge that connects Robinson Ave to the downtown area of the City to receive a name. I also ask that when naming the bridge that it be called the Justin Winebrenner Memorial Bridge in honor of our hometown Hero. We understand that the final decision will come from the County of Summit as they own the Bridge. Since the Bridge is here in Barberton we need you, Barberton City Council to pass resolution in naming the bridge before proceeding to County Council. As I would personally not be fully against seeing the bridge named after anyone that was previously mentioned in the past, such as MLK, Walter Steele, Ester Ryan, Vincent Gerek, Robert Krska, Howard Woodford and OC Barber . They all were heroes or were influential within the community in their own way. This is not to take away from them. However, as you can see by the outpouring support in the community and even into other States across the Country, naming the bridge after Justin Winebrenner is the right thing to do, in which the community is supporting, and not a general memorial or valor bridge. Social media has taken the idea of Megan Gwyns and went full force due to the love and respect this community has for Justin and the entire Winebrenner family. Within a matter of 24hrs there were over 7000 local supporters for naming the bridge after Justin Winebrenner. Naming the bridge after Justin Winebrenner has recent benefits and is obviously fresh on everyones heart and minds. At this current time, there is not a resident in this City that doesnt know about Justin and the tragedy that happened Nov 16th 2014. A majority of the current residents had Justins Father, Mr. Robert Winebrenner as one of their police officers and DARE Officer. His mother Lori Winebrenner as many residents knew, had the most generous heart, worked for the City for many years and fought a public battle with cancer. When we take our children across that bridge with the name Justin Winebrenner across it, and they ask, Mom or Dad who was Justin Winebrenner?, I can promise you that at this current day in time and history, a high percentage of this town can properly educate their child on who Justin Winebrenner is and will remain to us a hero. I can only imagine how Justins daughter Charlee will be when driving over that bridge with her friends as she grows up. Knowing that so many in this town knew her daddy was so influential to so many in this town and how he filled our hearts. Right now, we can all pass on a little bit of Justin Winebrenner, his heroism, and memory.. By naming the bridge after Justin Winebrenner we support and stand by what was in his blood. The Thin Blue Line the Oath he took when he became a police officer, what he knew growing up in the Magic City by his fathers side. We make sure that we will never forget Justin Winebrenner and he lives on forever. I would also like to take a brief moment, to discuss some of the previous names and concerns from the last time naming of the bridge was brought to the table. The first, is that the local governing agencies do not name streets and bridges .Along with the city does not want to begin a chain reaction of naming roadways and bridges in town. There are currently two roads in the area that are named after heroes from this town. There is a stretch of road on State Route 619 from Wooster Rd N to Lockwood Rd named after local military hero, Howard Woodford. In the New Haven development just off of Fairland, we shall find Krska Place after a beloved city worker Robert Krska. Also, that being said, ultimately the City will not be naming this bridge, the County of Summit will be. We are respectfully here for your acceptance of the name before heading to County Council as requested. The second item I would like to address is naming after Rev. Martin Luther King. As you are all aware, and why we are here tonight, there was a petition from the last time the bridge naming was addressed. The petition in which Sandra Gotto stood before you with 600 signatures collected from other citizens to name the bridge after a local hero. I stand before you with an answer to those 600 citizens, along with another 17000 supporters across the country. As previous stated, naming the Bridge after Justin Winebrenner is not to diminish or take anything away from other local heroes and the influential Dr. King. We have spoken with and received blessing from Akron and State President of the NAACP, Ophelia Averitt. As you know, she works hard for the African American Community as she seeks to carry out and honor the legacy of Dr. King and his visions for our Country. Ms Averitt had a previous engagement and could not attend this evening to address Council herself, but did send the following statement: Please see Letter in another post in newsfeed I feel that as I stand here representing my peers, that we have addressed any concerns that has been brought up and spoken of. We have also given facts to any opposition concerns that were spoken of in the past and at this current time. Timing has been a question, but with the blessing from the Winebrenner family, and all the wonderful supporters out there, now is the time to start this process. I am hoping and relying on City Council to do what they are elected to do. That is to be community leaders and keep the best interest of the citizens in the forefront. I am confident that you City Council will stand by your oaths, just as the same as Justin Winebrenner stood by his oath. By doing so, we hope that you will listen to the 17000 supporters and that they mean something to you, just as Justin meant to all of them. Dont leave this group of supporters in limbo. Please listen to their request so they can move forward to County Council to honor the memory of Justin Winebrenner and that he lives on forever.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 18:38:45 +0000
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