During the past months, I’ve mentioned that last year was a “learning year”. The first order of business as a newly-minted Mayor was to understand the structure, policies, and procedures of our City. Equally important was becoming familiar with our departments and our staff as well as becoming fully acquainted with residents’ issues and concerns.

As we enter the new year, we are looking forward to growing our many outstanding events and adding a few more. We will also place additional emphasis on assisting the Downtown Willoughby Organization (DTWO) in order to support the growth o four merchants, restaurants and bars. For our Lakeshore District, we need to develop erosion control strategies for city-owned properties, For our residents living on the lakefront, we will continue to identify funding sources for erosion control measures by assisting in the creation of a Special Improvement District (SID). It would also be the appropriate time to evaluate land-use along our lakefront and begin to develop long-term plans for our shoreline.

Another important task for this year is to refresh our website to make it more user-friendly. This will include better navigation and more resident-requested features. The effort will take months, but we believe better and easier access to important information will make this effort worthwhile. Also, the expansion of our presence on social channels will be a priority in order

Finally, we will be evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of our many Boards, Commissions, and local organizations. I have been approached by many residents asking to become more involved in the city government and this is what makes Willoughby a great place to live, work and raise a family. Being a member of a Board or Commission is an excellent way to become an engaged citizen and we are always in need of community-minded citizens to fill positions within these groups. Specifically, those with planning, financial, business and development experience that will help foster thoughtful decision making. If anyone is interested in becoming a member of any of our Boards, Commissions or local organizations, please feel free to contact me via email at rfiala@willoughbyohio.com or at City Hall at 440.953.4124.

January is a time of New Year Resolutions, so here goes…

The first resolution for City Hall is to fully commit to our other resolutions. Too many of us start the New Year with great intentions to (fill in the blank) exercise more, eat healthier, sleep longer, save more only to quickly give up. Not that any of these are unimportant, we simply get distracted or overwhelmed by other daily obligations. It is a challenge for any of us to commit to and stick with our resolutions, it is a larger effort to keep an entire City focused on common goals and objectives. Understanding this, our New Year’s resolutions include:

• Re-imagining our Historic Downtown as an Arts, Entertainment and Cultural District. The first of its kind in three counties.
• Continuing our efforts in growing our Lakefront District a destination.
• Assisting our manufacturers in attracting a skilled and motivated workforce as well as helping promote the unique services and products they provide.
• Identifying underutilized commercial and manufacturing properties and creating strategies to make them more productive.
• Creating opportunities for new housing near our Historic Downtown.
• Working to create a balance in our merchants and restaurants in the Downtown mix in order to enhance day and evening activity.
• Providing access and activities along our riverfront.

These are ambitious objectives individually, an especially exciting challenge when considered collectively. The effort is more complex given the economic headwinds we face; stagnant revenues and increased expenses. Fortunately, the team assembled at City Hall is equal to the task and anxious to meet the challenge. We are committed to using each of our New Year’s resolutions to enhance the quality of life in our City and stimulate economic growth. This work will be challenging and we will face obstacles as we move forward, but with focus and a healthy work ethic, we expect progress. It will certainly require cooperation and collaboration from all stakeholders, but we are a City known for this.

For me personally, I resolve to exercise more, eat healthier, sleep longer, and save more. I know I will be successful through January, but I cannot guarantee how long after. I can promise our work for the City will be a year-long, intensive effort.

As we near the end of 2018 it is a great time to reflect on the challenges and successes Willoughby encountered in the past months. Change always brings excitement and concern and with a new Mayor, four new councilpersons and four new directors the past year has witnessed the remarkable resilience of our City. The encouragement from our residents for the administration has been overwhelming and has helped the transition to be smooth and effective. Our new councilpersons have eagerly assumed their responsibilities with the support and guidance of the three veteran council members. In all, our city government has continued to function at the same level of excellence expected by our citizens for decades. Collectively we are looking forward to an exciting New Year.

In looking back at 2018 we’ve had an emphasis on “branding” our Historic Downtown as and Arts, Entertainment and Cultural District. The effort was advanced with the creation of the Willoughby Arts Collaborative. This group of volunteers has been working to establish our Downtown as a premier location to experience the arts with the goal to increase traffic for our merchants and continue the success of our bars and restaurants. We have had outstanding cooperation from the downtown stakeholders and we are looking forward to a great collaboration in 2019. The City is also strengthening our relationship with the Fine Arts Association and their wealth of talented students and teachers to provide additional emphasis on the arts. Finally, we are delighted to see the start of construction of Courthouse Square, the much-anticipated residential development adjacent to the Willoughby Municipal Court, and the sale of the former Memorial Junior High School which will be remodeled into office space. We expect these projects will add new life to our city center.

In North Willoughby we have invested in more amenities at Osborne Park and we have been adding banners and flowers to match the character of our downtown. A private developer has started construction on a manufacturing warehouse facility at Lost Nation Airport that will add more jobs for our city and help sustain the airport. Also, we are getting increased interest in new commercial construction along the Lost Nation Corridor and we will continue to solicit others to invest in convenience retail to support the new housing in this area.

Overall this has been another great year for Willoughby. While we have challenges ahead of us we are blessed with dedicated professionals at City Hall, Service, Police and Fire as well as intelligent and cooperative Council members committed to serving their constituents. It is wonderful time of the year to give thanks!