Smith, community look ahead to State of City
City stakeholders expressed similar optimism ahead of the address.
"The Mayor has done a wonderful job leading our city," Central District developer Tracie Sanchez said via email. "Lima is becoming a vibrant destination spot with new shops, restaurants, an amphitheater and housing. There is a lot of private and public investment happening in Lima, which can only be done with cooperation and partnerships with the administration."
In past addresses, Smith has presented facts about the progress of development projects, police and fire funding and recruiting, affordable housing and safety throughout the city's neighborhoods.
The mayor is happy to keep the message consistent, though.
"Something you will hear is how we have been focused on making sure we take care of those things we heard from our residents that they wanted us to focus on and for me, that matters most," Smith said.
Councilmen Thomas Jones and Derry Glenn expect similar themes in the address.
"I expect the mayor to speak about all the innovation and groundbreaking activities that we have going on here," Jones said. "I'm excited about the community as a whole, especially the vision for a new project at the former VFW building. I believe (Smith) has a lot of great news according to the different ordinances we have voted on in the past year."
"I want to hear about the great things going on in the city, from the swimming pool to the economic development dealing with housing issues that we've been working on very hard," Glenn added. "That's what I'm excited about. To hear that she cares about the city and to see her walking the wards is a win-win situation for us in council."
While the Lima Community Aquatic Center is still set to open in May, the city has seen a number of projects open in the past year, including Spring and Main, the new Dunkin' on Bellefontaine Avenue and the Fitness Court along the Ottawa River Bikeway.
In addition to the aquatic center's opening, Smith said the city is looking forward to the start of projects like the aforementioned VFW and Riverfront One projects, the start of a new traffic calming program, investments into the Arctaris fund and state funding for housing.
It is all about improving the quality of life for residents.
"I've said before that community development is economic development," Smith said. "When cities focus on things that matter to residents — when they focus on improving livability, we make ourselves more attractive."
Sanchez echoed those sentiments.
"It is important moving forward that private and public sectors collaborate together to enhance business development," she said. "We are all much better working together with a long-term vision of what we want our city to be. I believe we all have the same vision for our city to be a town we are all proud of and where future generations will want to raise their families and work."
That is the ultimate goal of Smith's agenda.
"Every dollar and every effort that we make towards improving the quality of life in this community and making Lima better really points back to wanting to ensure that our city is prepared for future generations. In this State of the City, you will see an intense focus on who we are doing this work for. And that is our young people."
Smith, who is up for re-election in November, is the only candidate to file to run in this May's primary, as of 5 p.m. Tuesday prior to the Wednesday, Feb. 5 deadline.
The State of the City address is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6 at Lima Senior High School's Joe Henderson Auditorium, 1 Spartan Way.
For more information or to reserve seating, visit bit.ly/42HnQHP.
Reach Jacob Espinosa at 567-242-0399.
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