Highlights of Lakewood Mayor Meghan George's State Of The City Address

LAKEWOOD, OH —Lakewood Mayor Meghan George delivered the State of the City address Tuesday night at the new Cove Community Center.

George was sworn in as Mayor of Lakewood on January 1, 2020, though this was her first in-person State of the City address due to the pandemic.

Here are some of the highlights:

On former Mayor Madeline Cain, who passed away on April 4:

"For those of you who knew her, you would remember her warm smile and her sound character. Madeline had a lifetime of public service. As mayor, she remained steadfast in her commitment to human services and was successful in expanding those services that will be provided here today in the new Cove Community Center. Thank you Madeline for leading the way. "

On the new Cove Community Center:

"Taking on such a large-scale project in the midst of a pandemic has been a huge undertaking. But we knew the importance of this building and the services provided by Human Services, and are proud of this beautiful space. We are excited to have this facility open and to start serving the community of Lakewood."

On the state of the city of Lakewood:

"I'm happy to report that our city is healthy, strong and our future is bright. Lakewood is truly a special place. It's a community where all are welcome and all can find a home. Our city celebrates diversity and offers an opportunity for families and people from all walks of life to experience a high quality of life in an affordable manner. This is one of the things that makes Lakewood different, it is part of our city's values and character. Lakewood is a place for everyone and we want to keep it a place for everyone."

"We are very fortunate to have so many inviting parks and other community assets that contribute to make Lakewood welcoming for all. Today, we are excited to celebrate the Grand Opening of another important public asset for Lakewood (the Cove Community Center)."

On using federal relief dollars during the early months of the pandemic:

"Even though we were dealing with challenges that no one else had seen prior, we knew everyone else was facing the same uncertainty and hardships and we saw how our community pulled together as one to get through the worst parts of the pandemic."

"One thing that the pandemic did provide our city was a unique opportunity to leverage federal relief dollars to address key municipal challenges that included using funds for immediate emergency needs through our programs for residential rent relief, small business assistance and homelessness prevention. Those (Lakewood) programs acted rapidly to get dollars into the hands of the people who needed them most, and did so faster than almost any other community in our state."

"Lakewood leveraged our relief funds to keep 227 small businesses open and over 1400 residents in their homes. Can you imagine how different Detroit Avenue or Madison Avenue would look without those 227 businesses?"

On Using American Rescue Plan Act funds:

"Lakewood rightly takes pride in our historic character, but having a historic community also means that key parts of our municipal infrastructure are very old and in serious need of major upgrades."

"By leveraging a large portion of the ARPA dollars to address those infrastructure costs, we have been able to reduce previously approved rate increases. This puts real dollars back in the hands of every ratepayer, now and in future years. The savings we will accrue by making this move add up over time and will allow us to keep our services strong, our bond ratings high and our community affordable for people from all walks of life."

On crime and safety:

"Lakewood is fortunate in how safe that we are. Police Chief Kevin Kaucheck recently released the police department's annual report. Although the national trend on crime is increasing dramatically, the report shows that crime in Lakewood is either flat or falling compared with five years ago.

"My administration's approach to crime is strategic. We provide our officers with the tools and equipment they need to play their part in keeping Lakewood safe. Over the past year, that meant new tools, equipment and vehicles, as well as 40 new specialized cameras that our officers use to track crime."

"However, we must also have an appropriate response to incidents, which includes: prevention, fund and support effective youth programming and prevention strategies, invest in recreation assets such as our pools and recreational facilities."

"Enforcement: (We must also) continue to support robust community policing strategies, continue our investments in crisis intervention training and continue investments into technology to help solve crimes."

"Partnership and advocacy: The city cannot address these issues alone. We need to continue working with state legislators on policies that will reduce the ability for criminals to obtain guns."

"Community Accountability: We will continue to work with community partners to ensure that our parks and public spaces remain active."

"We need to continue to work with police and the Anti-Racism Task Force on appropriate responses that include everyone."

On recent and future developments within the city:

"This year we will break ground on major improvements to Foster Pool that will make one of Lakewood's most used and cherished public facilities better than ever. Recently, we've made significant investments to Madison Park, Clifton Prado Park, Wagar Park and Kauffman Park. We've completed safety improvements Detroit/Sloane intersection."

"We are currently working with Cuyahoga County, the city of Rocky River and the Cleveland Metroparks on how to improve the pedestrian connections between our two communities, including to repurpose excess traffic lanes on the Lake Clifton Bridge to create a scenic overlook. If COVID-19 taught us anything, it's how essential having many high quality, outdoor recreation spaces and parks are to a healthy community."

"With that in mind, we are currently exploring two potentially transformative projects that would add public access along our greatest natural asset, Lake Erie. The first is a planning process to determine whether we can add a public pier, to provide better direct access to the lake. The second is an effort with Cuyahoga County to assess the feasibility of adding a multi-use trail with a focus on the area in front of the Gold Coast neighborhood."

"With both projects in the early stages, they are very promising and my administration will make every effort to vet them and explore creative ways that we or other partners might finance their design and implementation."