Last week I delivered my annual State of the City speech, and generally speaking, the report on Toledo’s progress was a positive one.
Under the Toledo Recovery Plan, we are adding 100 additional police officers to the streets, replacing every customer-side lead service line in the city, building over 600 new units of housing, funding over 100 summer youth programs, building a new YMCA, and spending millions of dollars fighting blight, demolishing vacant homes, improving parks and fixing sidewalks.
This isn’t simply a list of far-away dreams; City Council has already allocated $64.6 million of Toledo’s $180 million total to this important work.
What’s more, the investments from the Toledo Recovery Plan are being layered on top of the strong foundation we have built over the past 4 years — record-setting road resurfacing, award-winning job creation, and a budget reserve 10-times larger than it was just 7 short years ago.
But while Toledo has much to celebrate, it has its share of challenges, too. Nowhere is this more true than in the area of gun violence, which we have seen far too much of, especially over the past few weeks.
Even though the amount of gun violence we have seen this year is less than what we saw in 2021, no one can be satisfied with the violence of the past few weeks. It is unacceptable, and we all have a role in making sure it doesn’t continue.
While I was giving my State of the City speech, I received an invitation from the White House to attend a roundtable discussion on Friday about using American Rescue Plan (ARP) dollars to promote public safety. I was invited because the White House wanted to highlight how Toledo is using ARP dollars to grow the size of the police force, expand ShotSpotter technology, purchase more security cameras, and invest in grassroots safety initiatives.
It was an honor for Toledo’s strategy to be held up as an example of how cities should invest ARP money. The one-on-one conversation I had with President Biden was productive and useful.
It also served as a reminder that the challenges we face in Toledo are being faced by cities all over the country, and that we all have to work together to build the future we want for ourselves and our children.
Have a great week, Toledo.
Original source can be found here.
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