INTRO

As I come before you today to address the state of our city, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that Lorain’s potential is even greater than I imagined.  When I think of our great city, I think of pride, progress and unlimited potential.  In fact, when you call the City of Lorain, MY staff now answers “It’s a great day in the City of Lorain.” We say this with pride because it’s our citizens, the people who work and live in this city, as well as its rich history, which makes it so great.  When I made the decision to run for Mayor, I ran with the focus of ensuring safety for our citizens, creating and retaining jobs and the overall strengthening of our neighborhoods.  

Safety

Early this year we witnessed crimes that made front-page headlines.  Fortunately, within the first few weeks in office, I had been working diligently with the Police Department and the Chief of Police to put forth a multifaceted approach to addressing safety in our community.  In concert with First Energy, we are identifying all the streetlights that are in need of repair.  We are estimating that there are between 100 and 250 lights that need to be addressed.  This effort will be in collaboration with City Council, Lorain neighborhood watch council, and the Fire Department where they will identify these light posts with a ribbon enabling First Energy to make the repairs at no additional cost to the city.  Recently during a community meeting about crime, a Member of Council expressed an idea that I have been talking about for some time – and that is asking citizens to join us in lighting up Lorain by turning on our porch lights at night.  Although it seems simple in concept, until you are out at night and see a community that is well lit, you cannot appreciate its impact. 

Lighting our streets and our neighborhoods helps our police and neighbors be more proactive in recognizing situations in order to prevent crime.  After all, a well-lit, safe community is good for business and residents but uninviting for criminals.  And although our Police Department has performed their duty extremely well, when crime does occur, our department has responded.  Examples of their response include identifying and apprehending the murderer of Mr. Jose Gonzalez, apprehending a burglary ring that also assaulted and robbed Mr. and Mrs.  Boone after a night of birthday celebration, and apprehending burglary suspects on  East 36th St. after a neighbor phoned police to report suspicious characters behind homes.  (Join me in giving a round of applause for our Police Department and the difficult job they do.) We must go from being reactive to being proactive when it comes to our safety. 

We as a community must reduce the opportunities to be victims by taking simple steps, such as keeping a watchful eye on your surroundings and phoning police about suspicious behavior, to be proactive.  In response to the tragedy at the Gonzales Market, we are directing Community Development and the Lorain Police to devise a plan that offers assistance and financing for digital surveillance cameras for small business owners like the Gonzales’ and to also add additional crime deterrents.  Lorain will fight back and will no longer be a victim of crime. 

Strengthening our neighborhoods/curb appeal

This new administration will be known for its partnerships and the ability to create win-win solutions.  Lorain can take pride in the fact that they have many organizations like the Rotary Club and community leaders that are willing to go above and beyond the call of duty to make this a great city.  Case and point:  The Rose Garden at Lakeview Park.  Members of council as well as community leaders were concerned about the deterioration of the Rose Garden.  These leaders got together with the Metro Parks and partnered with Lorain and the community, which blossomed into Lorain County Metro Parks investing over 2.7 million dollars in Lakeview Park in 2007.  And if you haven’t been to Lakeview Park lately, you are truly missing what I call one of the greatest transformations of Lorain.  By calling on business leaders like Bob Campana and working with Dan Martin and the Board of Lorain County Metro Parks, this was truly a partnership made in Heaven. 

In 2007, the City and Charleston Village objected to the removal of established trees on 2nd Street beneath the power lines.  Unfortunately, we were unable to save the trees, but something magnificent is taking place.  Through the partnership of Charleston Village, neighbors, the City of Lorain, corporate sponsors, and the unbelievable talents of chainsaw sculptor Bud Emerson, we are transforming tree stumps into works of art.  (Note: Sponsorship opportunities are still available).

Centurytel:  A great community Company that experienced a tragedy with the loss of an employee’s son, Eric Barnes, in Iraq.  Centuryel sponsored an amazing Eagle Sculpture in memory of a fallen Hero.

We have success building in Lorain, projects such as:

-The Premier Soccer Academy – Hosting the World Youth Soccer Tournament in Aug. 2008.

-The City and Port Authority Joint Committee – Working with The Staubuach Company to stop talking about developing our Waterfront and start taking action to develop our Waterfront.

St. Joseph Community Center- Full effort with South Shore CDC, Lorain County, CHP, LCCC, City of Lorain with State and Federal Agencies building success in Central Lorain.

The Pipe Yard- The home of Cleveland State Baseball and the 1st annual Andrew “Rube” Foster night, A tribute to Rube Foster, Ernie Nimmons and the Professional Negro baseball League.

Deerfield and Lighthouse Village Shopping Commons - Bringing a new Lowe’s Home Improvement store and Applebee’s with much more to come.

IRG – An incredible partner in Development.  Continuing to bring new employers to Lorain as well as helping us meet the needs of existing businesses to retain them in Lorain.

River Bend / Colorado Industrial Park -  The continuing expansion of Camaco and the hopeful addition of Olgelby Norton.

Lorain Growth Corporation- Working with Lorain to be a leader in innovation.  I encouraged Lorain Growth to establish a Sustainability Council similar to the Tourism council they established last year to work with us on specific issues such as “attracting energy manufacturing jobs of the future through a Ohio advanced energy portfolio standard.”  Working in support of Gov. Strickland’s Energy, Jobs and progress plan.  This afternoon the Lt. Gov. Chief of staff, Lauren Goode, will speak about Ohio’s wind generation programs and the Governor’s stimulus package at Jackalope Lakeside.  We will no longer follow the pack, but lead the charge in brining innovation to Lorain

It is going to take partnerships that create opportunities to move this city forward, and I intend to be instrumental in cultivating those partnerships.   

Teamwork and Partnerships

Having the right team is crucial to any successful organization.  As you all know, since I first announced my administrative team, we have had to rethink how the team was structured to ensure we would have success.  The splitting of the Safety Service director position makes a lot of sense organizationally as well as functionally.  I envision a full time Safety Director who would work with the community, police department, fire department and building department to address the crime, safety and housing issues.  The City has building codes on the books that have not been effectively managed or enforced.  With Phil Dore as our Safety Director, he brings a wealth of knowledge and experience.  His skills as a former Fire Chief will be invaluable.  Robert Gilchrist would be my Service Director, formerly a Commissioner with the City of Toledo.  He brings extensive background in economic development.  Richard Romero, Chief Deputy Safety Service Director, previously Executive Director of the Multicultural Business Center, has a vast background in marketing, Community and Government Relations.  Ken Shawver, Deputy Safety Service Director, has many years of experience in the public sector, as well as Union and Management at U.S. Steel.  Along with Chase Ritenauer, Liz Foster and Debbie Alves, we have a first class team.

Doing City Business Smarter

In working with the various departments we are in the process of setting up standards and procedures.  For example, each department has been handling their own purchasing needs so I believe an individual dedicated to purchasing brings sound business practices to City Hall.  The concept is volume purchasing and price control that will not only save the City money, but will eliminate each department from having to handle individual purchasing. 

The hours formerly spent by department heads doing their own purchasing would now be utilized in the better management of their workforce, thereby improving the overall efficiency. 

While this is certainly a start at saving valuable taxpayer money, it is not where I intend to stop.  The City’s purchasing will undoubtedly be streamlined and more accountable. 

Creating/Maintaining Jobs

No State of the City Address would be complete without talking about jobs.  Lorain will be a business friendly community.  To do so we must market the City to companies and corporations by illustrating Lorain’s strengths.  Further, we must change our mentality and the way of thinking when it comes to attracting jobs.  This new administration and council must work hand in hand with potential businesses looking to locate or expand in Lorain.  Far too often we adopt a negative “can’t do” approach with potential businesses looking to come to Lorain.  Now more than ever we must maintain an open mind and be willing to have serious, meaningful discussions with any potential business owner or developer.  IN TIMES OF ECONOMIC DROUGHT, MANY MAY LOOK AT THE LAKE AS HALF EMPTY . . . I LOOK AT IT AS HALF FULL!!!!!

We talk about Collaborations. . .  we have them:

US Senator Sherrod Brown

Team Lorain County

Congresswoman Betty Sutton

Chamber of Commerce

Governor Ted Strickland

Lorain Growth Corporation

Lt. Gov. and Dept. of Development Director Lee Fisher

Dr. Church - LCCC

State Representative Joe Koziura

Lorain County Commissioners

LCS and Dr. Cheryl Atkinson

State Senator Sue Morano, Just to name a few

. . .  and if we haven’t talked to you yet . . .  don’t worry, we will!!!

Conclusion

It will take a commitment from all of us to become ambassadors of this City by changing the current images that are portrayed and begin having citizens take pride in our history and the enormous potential which this great City has to offer.   We need to start focusing on the successes and addressing the issues with an attitude that looks for solutions and opportunities, rather than promoting a negative attitude toward our City.  With that being said, I have several goals aimed at moving our City Forward.  One of my goals I am seeking to achieve includes but is not limited to:  the attraction and retention of businesses.  To tackle this issue, I intend to survey our current business community in order to gauge their overall needs and concerns.  I feel that this will be a more effective way of working with our business community. 

Above all, it is imperative that this administration and city council work together on every possible front in order to move the city forward.  I look forward to taking on the upcoming challenges and working in collaboration with my colleagues on council to provide the very best possible service to the citizens of Lorain.  I take my responsibility as the steward of the City of Lorain very seriously, and I will exercise whatever avenues and options exist to continue to move Lorain forward in 2008 and beyond.  I thank you in advance for joining me in the transformation of our beautiful City and your assistance as WE…TOGETHER..MOVE LORAIN FORWARD!

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