|
I want to begin this week by thanking Toledo City Council for its partnership and collaboration in passing the 2023 budget last Tuesday. You can see the complete budget here.
Public officials serve residents best when they work together — not when they bicker with one another — and that was the spirit with which City Council and my administration approached this year’s budget. This was reflected in both the accomplishments achieved in the budget, and ultimately, by the overwhelming margin it passed City Council.
The list of investments made in the budget is truly impressive: we continue to grow the size of the police force, improve neighborhood parks, demolish blighted structures, and resurface a record-setting amount of residential roads, just to name a few things. This year will also see us break ground on a brand-new YMCA for the Warren Sherman neighborhood and invest in programs & technology that will help us fight gun violence.
The investments we’re making in our city are truly transformational, and yet we’ve been able to do so while also making sure that taxpayer dollars are being spent prudently.
Nowhere is this better demonstrated than by comparing the size of our current rainy day fund to what it was just a few years ago.
By the end of 2023, our rainy day fund is projected to have at least $43.5 million — four times larger than the $10.7 million in the rainy day fund in 2017, the year I was first elected mayor. To be able to make the massive investments we’ve made in roads and police, in particular, while quadrupling the size of our rainy day fund is a credit to the steady leadership of our Finance Dept and City Council.
Even more remarkable is the fact that the City had a *negative* rainy day fund of $16.7 million as recently as 2009. This was explained at the time as the result of the economic hardship caused by the housing collapse, but while that was certainly a traumatic period for our country, it pales in comparison to what we just went through with the economic impacts of COVID-19.
So to be in such strong financial shape, even in the aftermath of the pandemic, is quite an accomplishment, indeed.
Also this week, I am looking forward to interviewing the finalists for the position of Chief of Police. The interviews will be conducted Thursday & Friday, and I’m excited to report that a group of roughly 70 community leaders will also be participating in the process. This kind of public input is crucial in building the trust that is so badly needed between police and the citizens they serve, and it is one of the reasons I’m so confident that a great Chief will emerge from this process.
Finally, I look forward to (virtually) seeing everyone this afternoon for the March edition of Wednesdays with Wade! Our special guest will be Council Member John Hobs III, representing District One. Council Member Hobbs is part of the "City Council Takeover" of the Wednesdays WIth Wade series. We look forward to him joining us.
Have a wonderful week, Toledo!
|
