Message from Mayor Kapszukiewicz
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I packed a lot of information into the
speech
, which we held at the beautiful and historic Waite High School. We have many things to be proud of and a number of great things on the horizon, but I also did not sugarcoat our challenges. Here are some highlights from the speech:
- We closed the city’s books on 2018 with an $8.5 million surplus and a rainy day fund that now has $21 million. That is up from $1.4 million in 2013.
- We created the framework for a regional water commission that will be fair and equitable for Toledoans and our suburban neighbors.
- Overall crime is down, including a nearly 11 percent decrease in burglaries, a 20 percent drop in robberies, and a 23 percent decline in arson.
- We now have more police officers on the streets and Toledo's newest police and fire classes are the most diverse the city has had in more than 35 years.
- Our police will soon begin using a technology called ShotSpotter to detect the sound of gunshots and immediately alert police to the incident’s location.
- We resurfaced more miles of streets in 2018 than any year since 1999 with one exception, which was 2013.
- There will be city-wide LED lights illuminating our streets by 2021.
- A community paramedicine program, thanks to a partnership with Mercy Health, has taken shape in Toledo to save cost and serve the public.
- We started a bike share program that will relaunch on March 29.
- We honored Rondell Thomas, Chris McBrayer, Clyde Phillips, and Earl Mack with the inaugural Our City, Our Future Award for their help to calm and unite a crowd in July after a police shooting.
I also announced several exciting initiatives that will take shape this year:
- We will soon display "Key Performance Indicators" on our web site and in locations like our police stations and water department lobby to continuously show our progress or shortcomings in a real effort to be as transparent as possible
- We are working with the University of Toledo to tackle the opioid crisis and proactively interact with people struggling with addiction.
- Toledo will have a new priority for code enforcement professionals that requires homes with chipping or peeling paint to be painted or sided or property owners will be held accountable.
- As members of the Northwest Ohio Aggregation Coalition, which was created in 2002, residents of our region will be able to choose to power their homes with 100 percent renewable energies.
- We will soon launch a wellness and weight loss challenge, which we have dubbed "Take it Off Toledo."
- A partnership with Metroparks Toledo will allow us to plant 250,000 new trees over five years.
Finally, I promised that we will achieve universal prekindergarten access for all four-year-olds in Toledo, with the initial pilot program starting this year. We are raising private money - from individual donors, local private sector businesses, foundations, and endowments - to invest in important educational outcomes.
Again, I want to thank all Toledoans for their support as we continue to make our city a better community. We have made a lot of progress in Toledo over the past year but we still have work to do, and this privately-funded educational initiative will make Toledo an even better place to live and work.
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Watch the latest installment in the Toledo Police VLOG series now on YouTube.
Released this week, the VLOG highlights the recent Battle of the Badges basketball game against the Toledo Fire & Rescue Department.
Members of the part-time Toledo Police "Social Media Team" create the VLOGs to increase community engagement through social media.
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The newest Toledo Police officers will soon be on the streets responding to calls for service.
Thirty-eight members of the 65th Toledo Police Academy have successfully completed basic peace officer training and will take their oaths of office during a graduation ceremony at Friday at the University of Toledo.
The new officers will continue to learn over the next four-months during field training. After completion of the field training program, they will be regularly evaluated for a year-long probationary period.
The 65th Toledo Police Academy class, which began on July 27, 2018, has the distinction of being the most diverse class in decades. Nearly 30 percent of the graduating class is female and about 40 percent are people of color. In addition, more than one quarter of the class are United States military veterans and almost 50 percent of the class have college degrees, including three officers with advanced degrees – one juris doctorate and two masters degrees.
The next scheduled academy class will begin in July. Recruiting efforts are ongoing for the 2020 academy class, with the application and testing phase opening this June. Those interested in a career with TPD should fill out an interest card at
TPDhire.com
.
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Total Membership Sign-ups: 254
Total number of trips: 286
Total miles ridden: 510.6
Total ride time: 150 hours, 11 minutes
Carbon reduced: 450.26 lbs
Calories burned: 20,424
Money saved versus driving: $296
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Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments Public Transportation Meetings
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“On the Move: 2045 Transportation Plan – Update 2020" is the update of the Toledo region’s long-range transportation plan. The plan is the prioritized list of projects, initiatives, and policies that will guide transportation investments in the Toledo metropolitan area (Lucas and Wood counties in Ohio, and southern Monroe County in Michigan). The meetings will be:
- Noon to 1:30 p.m., Friday, March 8 at the United Way of Greater Toledo, 424 Jackson St.
- 6 to 8 p.m., Thursday, March 14 at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza, 300 Martin Luther King Jr Dr.
- 6:30 to 8 p.m., Monday, April 1 at the Sanger Branch Library, 3030 Central Ave.
- 6:30 to 8 p.m., Thursday, April 11 at the Adelante Center, 520 Broadway.
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Northwest Ohio Litter Summit
Please join the Ohio Department of Transportation and Keep Ohio Beautiful for the Northwest Ohio Litter Summit. The summit will take place on
Wednesday March 6
, at University of Toledo's Nitschke Hall.
To register and find out more about the summit, please click
this link
. The conference is free.
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The 2nd Annual celebration for
Toledo 2019 International Women's Day
is 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Friday, March 8.
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By The Numbers
(year to date)
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11,661
potholes filled
87
water main breaks repaired
254,896
feet of sanitary sewers cleaned
3,254
feet of storm sewers cleaned
1,102
fire runs
8,229
EMS runs
1,417
vehicles towed
26,019
tons of salt used for 2018-19 season
57,347
cubic yards of leaves collected during 2018-19 program
206
trees trimmed
660
illegal signs removed
1,340
building inspections
1,271
contractor licenses
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The Nautical Mile concept is a 5-mile, multi-use recreational path that connects the parks and neighborhoods along both the east and west banks of the Maumee River from the Craig Street Bridge to the Anthony Wayne Bridge and Middlegrounds Metropark.
This video
was released during the State of the City this week.
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Project Goals:
- Activate the waterfront and create a focal point and amenity for the region
- Improve connectivity with adjacent neighborhoods, parks and downtown
- Increase recreational opportunities and open space downtown
- Increase property values and development opportunities in downtown and surrounding neighborhoods.
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Toledo In The News
Hundreds attended the event, which included more than a dozen activities designed to inspire youth.
Mayor announces million-pound weight loss challenge
Time to break a sweat, Toledo. Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz during his Thursday
state of the city address
announced “Take it off, Toledo,” an initiative to encourage residents to lose a collective one million pounds. Mr. Kapszukiewicz said the program, modeled after a similar effort in Oklahoma City a decade ago, challenges Toledoans to make better choices and live longer, healthier lives.
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