CH mayor's speech sets agenda for 2010

Cleveland Heights Mayor Ed Kelley gave the following speech at the Jan. 4, 2010 Cleveland Heights City Council Meeting. The Heights Observer prints it here with his permission.

I would like to thank the voters of Cleveland Heights for re-electing me. Thank you.

I would like to thank my family for all their support during the last campaign and the last sixteen years on Cleveland Heights City Council. Without your love and support I could not serve on this City Council.

To my wife Mary Beth, thank you for your continued support and guidance on my journey. To my friend and lifetime supporter Brendan Ring, thank you for swearing me in tonight. But more importantly, thank you for your sage advice and the use of Nighttown Restaurant as my office and my home away from home. Thank you to Dennis Wilcox and Cheryl Stephens for your nominations.

To my colleagues in City Council, specifically Bonnie Caplan, Mark Tumeo,  and Cheryl Stephens. Congratulations on your outstanding election victory in a crowded field of ten. To Vice Mayor Phyllis Evans, Councilman Ken Montlack  and Councilman Dennis Wilcox, I look forward to working with you again for at least another two years.

These two years that are ahead will set the course for Cleveland Heights for many years into the future.

As a new decade begins, we as a city council and every city employee must be prepared to meet our challenges head on, and give an effort of two hundred percent.  We must be proactive and not reactive. The status quo is not good enough and should not be accepted as we move forward.

Some of our challenges for the next two years are:

A. Financial - we must continue to focus on our financial situation. Revenues and expenditures need to be monitored weekly. Our block grant funding needs to continue and not be cut or eliminated.

B. Public Safety - we must support our police and fire, and make sure they have the proper equipment and training to do their jobs. We must make sure that we have full complement of policeman. More importantly, our residents (young and old) must step up and call the police when things do not seem right in our neighborhoods, business areas, on their streets, and in our parks. We need our residents to join together with our police and this City Council and other key city personnel to take back our streets.

C. Continue to make Cleveland Heights the most diverse community in the United States.  Finally, we need a zero tolerance with respect to crime in Cleveland  Heights.  Criminals need to know that criminal activity in any form is not acceptable. If you commit a crime in Cleveland Heights, you will be caught, you will be prosecuted, and you will be found guilty. More importantly, we as a city need to hold our Juvenile Court and its Judges and Magistrates more accountable.

D. Economic Development - it is time to review our development department to see how they can be more user friendly. We need to reach out to our merchants, property owners, the SIDS and others and help them through these tough economic times. We must also look to help locate new business opportunities for our city. It is definitely time to meet with the owners of Severance Town Center to improve the look and feel of Severance, and discuss opportunities to fill some vacancies, and we must explore other opportunities at Severance Town Center.

E. Housing - we must continue to support housing programs that support our housing stock (both old and new). We must successfully compete to bring new residents into Cleveland Heights with the new job opportunities available in University Circle Inc. especially from the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals and the VA facility.

F. We must work with those people from the Federal Government handling our census.  Surely residents of Cleveland Heights need to be counted.

G. Recreation - we must continue and expand our recreational opportunities and the use of our parks and our community center for our children, our families, and our seniors.

H. Municipal Services - we must develop capital plans for equipment and infrastructure.  More importantly, every pothole in town needs to be filled immediately after this winter season.

I. Technology - our technology needs a complete overhaul. Our award-winning web site, the way we conduct business such as selling recreation passes, income tax payments, water and sewer bills, needs to be brought into the 21st century.  We must become more user-friendly. The hardware and software is available and it should be purchased and implemented for all departments. 

Mr. Downey, our city manager, this needs to be one of your first priorities.

J. Regionalism - instead of being a buzz-word, we must explore and develop other additional opportunities with other cities, our schools, the arts community, our nonprofits, and our churches, synagogues and temples. There is no reason that our fire services cannot be merged with other cities to provide maximum service to all in need. We already have joint dispatch and mutual aid. This makes good sense.

To our friends at University Circle, we need to continue to collaborate and grow together in this new decade. We appreciate, and we are proud to have the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, Case Western Reserve, and other nonprofits from UCI as our neighbors. But there is no reason we can’t do more together for the benefit of all.

K. To our schools: public, private and parochial, to the arts community, to our local nonprofits, and to the churches, synagogues and temples, the City of Cleveland Heights stands willing and able to assist you during these tough economic times. The economy is improving, and we need to stand ready and able to provide and expand services to those we serve. Let us all work together for strong positive results.

Cleveland Heights in 2010 continues to be one of the most desirable cities in the state of Ohio. I am grateful and humbled to be re-elected mayor of our city for the seventh time. I was born and raised in Cleveland Heights. I have watched Cleveland Heights grow and evolve. I feel privileged to be able to play a part in the continued success of this great city. I promise to you that I will continue to work hard as your mayor. I will continue to serve all the residents of Cleveland Heights with passion, dedication and commitment. The best is yet to come! Thank you very much.