Lima mayor proposes structure focused on housing
LIMA — Mayor Sharetta Smith presented members of Lima’s council with a restructuring plan Monday night to tackle long-term problems in the city.
Smith went over results she received after working with a team of physicists, community and civic leaders to develop recommendations that can provide strategic guidance for her administration over the next four years.
First, she went over the good.
“Lima unemployment has been relatively stable at 5% unemployment, continues adding 2,200 jobs in a 10-mile radius and just was awarded for being one of 50 cities named as a smart city for innovation,” Smith said.
The but was there too. Citing numerous unflattering figures, the mayor made it clear the city must make departmental charges. In doing so, she said the vision and goals of several agencies must change.
One of those is to change the Department of Community Development to the Department of Housing and Neighborhoods.
“We need to do a better job of reorganizing our government around a shared vision and strategy, but also effectively communicating with our various stakeholders about our services, our goals, our objectives, as well as the progress that we are going to make,” Smith said. “This main change will allow us to strategically focus more on housing and neighborhood, and I’m also asking for a director and a deputy director within that department.”
In addition to that change, she also asked for a workforce and small business development director and a communications director.
Her speech was popular amongst the councilors, with Peggy Ehora, Carla Thompson and Tony Wilkerson touting her courage to be straight-forward at such an early point in her administration.
Councilors Jamie Dixon and Derry Glenn each praised her for her vision and pointed to their own previous similar comments about finding solutions to solve the lose problems.
Perhaps councilman Todd Gordon summed up the council’s response to her presentation best.
”Madame Mayor, I am hearing great things about you everywhere I go. I just want to say you are doing a great job, and you’re winning people over we never thought you could win over,” Gordon said. “The communication coming out of your office is much appreciated by many.”
The council voted 8-0 to schedule a council of the whole meeting for March 8 to hear more discussion on Smith’s plan.
Smith
Reach Joe Gilroy at 567-242-0398 or on Twitter @TLNJoeGilroy.