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Distinguished members of the
Westland City Council, Boards and Commissions, elected and
appointed officials, friends and colleagues, members of the
business community, respected Guests, and most importantly;
Citizens of Westland.
Good Evening.
It is with great pleasure that I present to you the 2007 State
of the City Address for the City of Westland.
Tonight, I will not only share with you the significant strides
we are making to strengthen and further develop our All American
City, but I will also discuss where we have been, where we are
today and most importantly, where we are going in the future.
But before I begin, I would like to make an important
introduction… and that is… my main supporter…I love her with all
my heart and soul…my wife, Sherri.
As I reflected on what I would say tonight, the first thought
that came to mind was: what a year. The good news is Sherri
still talks to me…Although; I’ve had to remind her a few times
that she signed on for “better or worse.”
Here is a quick story….I remember the night. It was right after
the filing deadline in last years election…Mayor Cicirelli had
just filed to run for the upcoming vacant Judge position at the
18th district court, where she is doing a great job by the way.
I waited until just after desert and I slipped in the “Oh, by
the way, there is a chance that I may have the opportunity to
serve as Mayor in a few months…Now keep in mind that Sherri was
about 6months pregnant with our third child at the time…Well of
course, Sherri threw the desert at me….No just kidding…She is
and has always been my biggest supporter. I could not serve as
your Mayor if she wasn’t such a great wife and wonderful mother.
Thanks honey…I love you.
Next, I want to thank my Colleagues on the Westland City Council
who I had the honor and privilege to serve with for over five
years. We went through a lot together. Most of us came to the
council at about the same time and worked, for the most part, as
a team moving the city in a positive direction. We have been
through several budgets together, several crisis, study
sessions, events, an incinerator and countless other votes,
issues and concerns. I respect each and every one of you and I
look forward to continuing a great working relationship with you
now and in the future. Folks, your Westland City Council is
working hard for you; let’s give them a round of applause.
Now that brings us to tonight. I stand before you tonight as the
8th Mayor of our great city and report to you that the State of
the City is Strong.
While there is no doubt that our great State of Michigan is
facing some of the toughest economic challenges of our time. Our
All American City is strong. We are weathering the storm and we
are moving forward…
While other cities are cutting services and laying off
employees, we are standing strong. Other cities have closed
their public pools or shortened hours at their libraries. Other
cities have eliminated proven programs such as Youth Assistance
or DARE. Other cities have cut public safety while Westland’s
Police and Fire Departments are fully manned, well equipped with
new vehicles and the latest technology and doing a great job.
Our Senior Resource Dept is the envy of surrounding communities.
Our Friendship Center is second to none, we continue to expand
our Senior Programs and have recently purchased a new top of the
line bus that will play a major role in transportation here at
the Friendship center. We are standing strong…and we are moving
forward.
At a time when the City of Westland needs strong representation
in Lansing more than ever before as the State Legislature works
to repair the States broken financial model, Westland has the
good fortune of having two of our finest, both highly respected
in their respective houses, both serving key appointments on
important committees, both have formed great working
relationships with House and Senate leadership, working hard for
us every day, State Senator Glenn Anderson and State
Representative Richard Leblanc…Let’s stand up and show them are
appreciation.
In my first days in office I sat down with Mr. Anderson and Mr.
Leblanc and pledged to have a great working relationship with
both. For our city to move ahead we need to build relationships
and work together, toward the same goal, and that’s what we are
doing…working together to move our city forward.
The Westland City Council recently voted unanimously to accept
my proposed 2007-2008 Budget. We worked together, the
administration, the City Council, our team of dedicated
Directors and our great city employees to adopt a balanced 60
million dollar budget that protects approximately two million
dollars in fund balance and equally importantly protects the
jobs of all our union employees. We have found ways to tighten
our belts, live within our means and maintain the great service
that you, the citizens of Westland, expect and deserve.
While the city is faced with rising expenses such as health care
and fuel costs, we are continuously looking for ways to operate
more efficiently and save taxpayer dollars. The city is
currently negotiating with alternative suppliers of natural gas
in an effort to save money. We are implementing innovative new
approaches in vehicle maintenance to get more miles out of the
city fleet. We are more aggressively marketing City services
that bring in general fund dollars like the Westland Municipal
Golf Course, the Mike Modano Ice Arena, the Concrete Jungle
skateboard park and the Bailey Pool. We are on the verge of
expanding the Westland transfer Site to take advantage of
potential revenue streams from emerging recycling opportunities.
We will soon be able to bring in revenue from recycling items
such as; paper, cardboard, used motor oil, old computer monitors
and even abandoned tires and rims that our city crews pick up on
the side of the roads. The City is also currently exploring a
curbside recycling program with the goal of ultimately saving
money on our solid waste disposal. Other cities are sitting back
waiting for things to get better…Westland is moving forward.
We have many members of the Westland Boards and Commissions here
in the audience tonight. They play a very important part in
shaping Westland’s future. These are the folks that work behind
the scenes to keep things moving forward. The Members of the
Westland DDA, the Downtown Development Authority, for example
have recently put out a request for proposals for developers to
create design concepts for the redevelopment of our downtown
target area: Ford Rd between Central City Pkwy and Wayne Rd.
While the economy is slowing down we know that this is the
perfect time to do the groundwork on finding out what it is
going to take to redevelop this area, find out what will work
and ultimately decide what we would like to see there.
Developers tell us everyday that most cities do not know what
they want. They tell us to tell them what we want and they will
find a way to do it. I applaud the DDA's initiative and by
moving this project forward the City will be ahead of the game
as the Michigan economy starts to improve over the next few
years.
The Westland Economic Development Corporation, otherwise known
as the TIFA board, has issued a similar request for proposal, or
RFP, for the redevelopment of the Sam’s Club/Best Buy properties
on the north side of Westland Mall. The city has grown tired of
waiting for someone to come in and fill these big boxes. This
RFP will call for plans where developers will take them down and
redevelop the sites into something more attractive, something
that contributes to the community and enhances our major
shopping and dining district.
The TIFA board is also currently looking at creating a wireless
internet district around the Westland Mall area. If this program
moves forward, Westland diners and shoppers will be able to
connect free to the internet at any location in the area. You
will also see the TIFA Board implement the next phase of our
street lighting project on Nankin Blvd from Warren to Wayne Rd.
Some cities are sitting back waiting to see how things turn
out….Westland is moving forward.
I want to take a minute to recognize a very important
organization in our community. The Westland Chamber of Commerce.
I know a lot of their members are here tonight as well as their
President Lori Brist and members of their executive board. You
may have noticed that since January, the city in cooperation
with the Westland Chamber of Commerce have welcomed countless
new businesses to Westland and celebrated their efforts with
ribbon cuttings that are broadcast on our local government
access channel, WLND. It is my hope that the citizens of
Westland will patronize these establishments and give them the
necessary support to help these businesses grow and prosper.
Since January alone, these new businesses have brought over 250
new, good paying jobs to our City of Westland. Join me in
letting these business owners know that when they decide to open
a business in our town, it’s a big deal!
Likewise, the city must do its part in making sure that these
new businesses and our longtime business establishments prosper.
The Business community is part of the community, a vital part. I
believe that you can not have a prospering community without a
viable business community; they just go hand in hand. To prove
the commitment on behalf of the city to its local businesses I
will direct each of my department heads to look to do business
with Westland businesses whenever possible. We have a diverse
business community, and most of the products and services used
by the city can be purchased locally. I will even go as far as
making it easier for local businesses to become part of our
procurement process. All I ask is that the local businesses
offer the city a quality product or service at a competitive
price. In the past the city has asked potential bidders to go to
a complicated regionalize website and register their company to
join the bidding process. Business owners have told us that the
site is burdensome and very impersonal. I will ask the City
Purchaser to go out and knock on the doors of our local
businesses and sign them up personally. I think we can even go
so far as to get them in the system when we issue the
certificate of occupancy when they open their doors. If we want
our city to grow and prosper we need to do business right here
in Westland.
While it is important for our businesses to succeed it is even
more important for our neighborhoods to continue to thrive. As I
have traveled through the neighborhoods over the last year or so
there was one issue that continued to manifest itself. As the
Michigan economy has suffered of late, the rate of foreclosed or
bank owned homes has been on the rise. With these foreclosures
came the problem of property maintenance. You know what I am
talking about. These are the one or two homes in your
neighborhood that are vacant and the grass is over a foot high
or in some cases even higher. The residents of Westland for the
most part, pride themselves on the maintenance of their yards.
These overgrown lawns are blight and have caused nuisance
problems. The City has tried it’s best to handle the maintenance
of these homes with Court workers, police program workers and
even our Dept of public service workers. While giving it a
valiant effort these folks have been unable to keep up with the
demand. The Administration and the Westland City Council knew
that this was a problem and that it was affecting a good
majority of our neighborhoods. I am here tonight to tell you
that we have stepped up to the plate and just last night passed
a new ordinance that will help us battle this new problem. We
have passed an ordinance that will allow the city to come in and
cut this grass when it hits the eight inch mark. This ordinance
will allow for the city to contract out the grass cutting at
these vacant homes so it can be handled efficiently and
professionally. We will also make the city whole by adding the
costs to the property owner’s tax bills or by placing a lien
against the property. We know that our homes are our biggest
investment and these unmaintained homes negatively affect our
property values. I believe that this ordinance will allow us to
address this issue immediately…Working together we can find
solutions to problems and… move our city forward.
There is an important neighborhood in Westland that needs our
help. I am talking about the Norwayne Subdivision. This area of
town is easy to overlook as it is made up mostly of rental
housing, duplexes and older single family homes. Well, I don’t
know if you noticed but over the last couple of years, we are
starting to make progress in this neighborhood. Outside housing
investors have come into the area and have started to renovate
some of the old duplexes. In some cases they are doing total
reconstructs. We are even seeing some of the old housing start
to come down and new quality single family homes are being
constructed in their place. We have two great schools in this
area; Lincoln Elementary and Jefferson-Barnes Elementary. With
the good things starting to happen in this area, I felt it was
time for the City to get involved. In the 2007-2008 recently
adopted budget, the city will use Federal funds to reconstruct
Dorsey Rd. between Venoy and Merriman Roads. This is the first
major street project in this area in years. The City will also
complete sewer updates at the same time. The private sector is
stepping up to the plate in the Norwayne area and the City will
too.
I have more good news for Norwayne as well. Recently talks have
been initiated to create a satellite operation of the William P.
Faust Public Library at the Dorsey Center. The Dorsey Center is
a city owned building right in the heart of the Norwayne area.
While details are still being worked out, the intention is to
create a children’s library with all new books and computers.
Once again….we are moving the city forward.
As we talk about the future of the City of Westland, we must
stop to reflect on an important issue that we are facing right
now. Westland Central City Park. As you know, the Park has been
closed for some time now for environmental testing. In fact, my
first task after taking over the office of the mayor was to
order it fenced off until we could be certain of the problems we
were facing. I can tell you that from my first conversations
with County and State officials right up to conversations held
in the last week, that everyone is involved with this project.
The City, Wayne County and the MDEQ are committed to taking care
of the problem and getting our park back in operation as quickly
as possible. I have been encouraged by the cooperation at all
levels. The testing has been completed and as we await the
results, I have had city workers maintain the appearance of the
park as we work towards its reopening. While the park will have
to remain closed for the near future, I want to remind folks
that we will be having the annual fireworks at this location on
Wednesday July 4th; we will just ask that you watch them from
beyond the parks perimeter. We appreciate your patience and
promise to move swiftly once the test results have been
determined.
The silver lining in the closure of Central City Park has been
the opportunity to focus on our 17 other parks here in Westland.
Parks and Recreation crews have been able to spend a little more
time in the other parks this year and I think you will find our
parks to be in better shape than they have been in years.
As most of you know, my background is one of business. I grew up
in a family owned business and later owned and operated my own
business. I have come to realize that managing a city is very
much like running a business; both taxpayers and customers will
judge the value of services and if they don’t measure up, they
vote against it, or simply shop elsewhere. My job as mayor is to
see that the residents of Westland get the services they need
because the need exists – not because we in government are doing
them some kind of favor. Taxpayers deserve a full dollars worth
of service for EVERY hard-earned tax dollar they pay. And they
deserve professionalism right along with it. That is the very
foundation of my new V.I.R Program that stands for “Very
Important Resident”. Under this program, the concerns of
residents will be handled efficiently, and in a timely
professional manner because Westland residents deserve nothing
less. The program also requires that City Officials wear proper
business attire and credentials while serving our residents.
Every job that is currently funded in the City of Westland from
the Police Officers, Fire Fighters, Parks and Recreation crews,
to the clerical staff on down, was created to fill a need by the
residents of The City of Westland. We know that and we will not
lose site of that. A second program recently implemented is
known as the Citizen Complaint Program. Under this program all
calls to City Departments regarding Citizen Concerns are
documented and forwarded to the Mayors office at the end of each
business day. The Departments are to document the time and date
of the call, the nature of the complaint, who spoke to the
resident and what action was taken to service the resident. This
process allows me the opportunity to manage citizen concerns,
track trends, and make sure that the Departments are following
up and servicing the residents. A few surprised residents have
even received calls from me just checking to make sure that they
were taken care of professionally and courteously. This last
program resulted in the ordinance change regarding the high
grass at our vacated homes that you heard me mention earlier.
These programs are a reminder that Westland would not be what it
is today without our residents and why we are here.
As I close tonight, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank
you for allowing me the honor, the privilege, and the
responsibility of addressing all of you this evening. I also
want to thank my hard working staff, my dedicated team of
Directors and the very hard working employees of Westland for
they too play a major role in making our great City what it is
today.
Let me be clear that I am well aware of the challenges that face
us as we forge ahead in further developing our All American
City. But let me also be clear that Westland is full of
growth…Full of promise….Full of life…..and Westland is Strong.
That is the state of our city.
Goodnight and God Bless |
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