Dear Fellow Citizens, I really hope you like this new website that we just recently launched. This Mayor’s Message is the first in a series of communications I will post here, with each featuring important subjects for our community. If you would like to receive future Mayor’s Messages by email, please click Receive by email and just follow the prompts.

Despite all the bad economic news we’ve all been hearing, many good things have been happening in Trotwood lately. If you haven’t heard, cities can apply for federal dollars through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, otherwise known as the Stimulus Act.

We have already been notified that we will receive $437,912 COPS grant funding two Police Officers for three years, a nearly $150,000 in technology upgrades for Police operations, and nearly $800,000 for the resurfacing of Olive Road from Free Pike to State Route 49. Our staff has been working very hard to submit applications for these and other public projects, and we soon hope to have more good news to report.

But we also have to acknowledge some tough news. You may have heard recently that due to the economic downturn we were forced to ask our employees to accept a 7.5% voluntary wage reduction and an 80-hour furlough. While no one is happy with this unfortunate situation, it is a clear indicator of the true difficulties facing our city, community, region and nation.

Few other periods in our city’s history have posed challenges as serious as those now facing us. As we all know, when faced with difficult financial challenges sound financial management becomes more important than ever. In finalizing the City’s 2009 budget, the City Council and I made every effort to balance our budget while maintaining strong city services, and without sacrificing our top priority; public safety.

We have a nationally recognized Police force that everyone should be proud of. In fact, our Police Department was recently awarded its third National Re-accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA).  This award keeps them in an elite group of less than 10% of the nation’s police agencies to have ever achieved this official distinction. Meanwhile, demand has been steadily rising for our award winning fire prevention, fire protection and emergency medical services. Since 2001, Trotwood Fire & Rescue has been handling an average 9% increase in calls every year. 2008 alone brought in a record 5,796 calls, including 4,059 medical-based and 1,324 fire responses that added up to an average of 16 calls per day.

City Council and I will continue to keep public safety our major priority for this great community, and we want everyone to know that your safety is our primary concern.

While we all hear all kinds of bad news stories every day, there are many bright spots that we need to keep in mind. Just one is our Trotwood Madison City Schools. Thanks to our community-generated $76,000,000 investment, our school system is showing clear signs of being a community-wide success. Our High School is now rated ‘Effective’ by the State of Ohio, which is only one level down from an ‘Excellent’ rating. Our elementary schools are now all rated ‘Continuous Improvement’. And our middle school ‘YES’ (Youth Engaged In Success) mentoring program recently received four national awards from the U.S. Department of Education.

For these and many other success stories our school system deserves our full and continuing support. Particularly since schools are the first sign of a community’s stability, and knowing that any organization looking to invest in our community will first look at our education system.

We have many other reasons to be optimistic and hopeful about Trotwood‘s future. City Council and I want you to know that numerous economic development projects are going forward, despite this bad economy.

Despite the unpredictable auto industry, James Group of Ohio Logistics is going strong, currently employing about 175 employees at this successful GM parts distribution center. James Group is responsible for shipping these parts nationwide and all around the world, and with GM expected to successfully emerge from bankruptcy very soon this major Trotwood employer’s future looks good indeed.

Another recent bright spot shows major improvement in our troubled national housing market, which registered an amazing 11% increase in new home sales for June. An upcoming local housing project should directly benefit from that trend.

Broadmoor Plaza should be getting a new lease on life with senior housing units being built there in the near future. This major retail-housing redevelopment in Olde Town will include demolition of the Elder-Beerman and red barn buildings, as well as the full remodeling of Trotwood Foodtown and its adjacent businesses.

In step with the continued positive growth of the health care industry, the newly opened Nenonene Health Center is giving a boost to our Salem Avenue Corridor redevelopment efforts. This private-public investment is a state-of-the-art facility featuring an urgent care, pharmacy, and specialty doctors’ offices.

Reflecting another potential bright spot along Salem Avenue, we recently selected a new partner for our former Salem Mall site. Stonehenge, a redevelopment consulting firm is creating a market-driven development plan for the site, which hopefully will lead to a major private-public sector project that will transform it into a robust city center again.

But with continuing high unemployment and other hardships and difficulties facing our families, employees and employers, we as a community have to adapt to make these challenging times opportunities for change.

My vision for Trotwood is that we have to evolve into a vibrant city during this early part of the 21st century and beyond. I believe our community must be: A city where everyone can live learn and work, enjoy community life, and develop and share their talents; A city of livable, walk-able neighborhoods and a vibrant town center that is truly a destination enjoyed by visitors near and far; and A city building on and leveraging its strengths for the new knowledge economy, where people, business and technology become one.

Although nearly every community in America is enduring very tough times, successful cities have always been revitalized from their strengths. We must pursue any opportunity to share our resources with others. By using our community’s advantages to promote local and regional alliances, we can enhance our economic tax position and reduce our tax burden. Most importantly, we must continue to work closely with our federal, state and local governmental partners to ensure all levels of government are acting as one towards improving the lives of everyone in the region.

Our economic challenges will not disappear overnight, but we can turn them into real opportunities. It is my belief that Trotwood must transition from an economy based largely on retail and traditional manufacturing. But first we must focus on getting new economy industries and their high value jobs to come to Trotwood. Only then will consumer amenities like retail, restaurants, and entertainment follow. We must strive to attract leading new industry clusters, including: Knowledge based information technology Transportation
Alternative energy
Logistics and distribution
Education
Advanced manufacturing
Health care and medical services


Now is the time for us to use our assets to seek these new opportunities. With a renewed vigor that sets a new tone for our city and our region. Because the pace of change has gotten much faster we must move with a greater sense of urgency. If we move forward with a stronger, more aggressive business approach we can, and will achieve positive economic results. That is why we must seize the moment with passion, imagination, hard work and dedication as we work to make our city a greater place to live, work and play.

Thank you for allowing me to serve as your Mayor. And thank you for believing in Trotwood. May God bless you, the City of Trotwood, our state and our nation.