WARREN — City council advanced a new three-year contract with police officers during Wednesday’s council meeting.

The agreement with the police union covers regular “blue” officers and ranked “gold” officers.

It would increase the number of uniformed officers from 44 to 53 if fully staffed, with projected costs of about $373,535 over three years at current levels, but rising toward $450,000 once ranks reach 53, according to the county auditor.

Under the pay provisions, officers would receive a 35-cent equity adjustment followed by wage increases of 3% in the first year, 4% in the second and 4% in the third.

Lateral transfers would credit incoming officers’ prior years of service in Ohio, other states or federal law enforcement for wages, vacation and sick leave accrual, with retroactive adjustments for those hired before ratification taking effect in January 2026.

Also at the meeting, Mayor Doug Franklin updated council on the Credible Messengers program, which is part of the city’s Police Community Trust initiative to address youth violence through trusted community voices. The mayor said he has received about 20 potential volunteers following a recent meeting at Restoration Christian Fellowship.

He credited Bishop Joseph Walker and a Trumbull County Family Court administrator for advancing the initiative.

Councilman Michael O’Brien, D-at Large, praised the approach.

“We can read the newspaper… but to stop and try to address this violence… I think that’s the action that we should take,” O’Brien said.

Franklin also announced that Warren received the 2026 Community Revitalization Award for Historical Preservation from the Mahoning Valley Historical Society for the restoration of the City Hall campus.

He called the project a preservation of community identity and civic pride. The mayor thanked council for funding support, along with City Engineer Paul Makosy. The award will be presented June 23.

During public comments, resident Kristin Pishotti urged council to take steps against large scale data centers as she said there should be concerns over water and energy consumption, noise, farmland loss and limited benefits to the residents where centers are built.

Pishotti, a representative of Conserve Ohio, gave praise to Councilwoman Helen Rucker, D-at Large, and Councilman Ron White, D-7th Ward, for raising the issue at a previous council meeting where they introduced legislation to ban data centers.

“We need responsive, effective city and state government leadership to safeguard the residents,” Pishotti said.

Ken Beechler, another resident, told council there needs to be stronger code enforcement on property maintenance that addresses overgrown grass, uninspected rental units and blighted buildings. He passed around a list to council identifying areas around the city where he said some of the problems exist.

Deidre Goliday of the Mentoring Moms Parents Program talked about reviving the program and announced an event for fathers on June 20 at Packard Park. She said her work as a community health worker sees her addressing issues like infant mortality, family barriers and offering support for mothers and fathers. Council also heard from Carrie Biery of Logan’s Landing, who donated a communication board for Packard Park to assist children that are nonverbal.

Legislative Committee Chair Greg Thumm made mention of a resolution for consideration that would allow the law director to prepare an ordinance for redistricting the city’s seven wards. Public meetings on redistricting have been taking place for the past seven months in all of the wards.