TOLEDO, Ohio — Fresh off election day, Toledoans were ready once again to be heard.
More than a dozen people took advantage of city council's annual Democracy Day open forum to share what they want to be improved or changed in Toledo.
"I think that it's a good community that will afford people at least that mouthpiece,” said Toledo resident Kim Axe.
Democracy Day, held Wednesday inside of council's chambers in One Government Center, has been around since 2017. It was originally approved by a vote following a citizen-led ballot initiative in 2016.
According to the Toledo City Charter, a summary of the meeting must be sent to "the Toledo members of the Ohio Legislature, the leaders of the Ohio House and Senate, and Toledo's U. S. congressional delegation."
Haley Turco, a student at the University of Toledo, said Democracy Day is important for allowing citizens an open forum to speak directly to the people who represent them.
"I think there are a lot of issues that still need to be addressed," Turco said. "Personally, I use Tarta so I feel like it needs to be reformed a little bit."
People at the meeting talked about everything from gerrymandering to Ukraine to corporate greed and the plans to expand I-475.
The forum does not mean city council endorses or agrees with what was said, but council member George Sarantou said it's important for the legislative body to listen and for the community to be heard.
"We are there to really listen to what people are fearful of, of what people are happy about, what people would like to see changes in the community and I thought it was a very good session,” Sarantou said.
