海角破解版

A hotel is slated to open on Broadway, the city鈥檚 main street where new sidewalks, lights and signage will go in this year. Violent crime and property crime are down. Changes to the schools as part of the Lorain Promise are in the works. Those were some of the highlights discussed Saturday afternoon at the annual Speak Up and Speak Out event at Lorain City Hall.

About 50 residents showed up to hear the city鈥檚 mayor, police chief and schools CEO answer community questions.

Mayor Chase Ritenauer called 2018 the year of transition and 2019 the year of doing.

鈥淚 see a 2019 where, when you鈥檙e at Rockin鈥� on the River, you鈥檙e downtown for the International Festival, you see a new streetscape that is more fitting for an entertainment district. You see a new hotel, finally a hotel downtown,鈥� said Ritenauer. 鈥淧eople said it couldn鈥檛 be done, it鈥檚 getting done.鈥�

But there鈥檚 plenty of other work to be done including asking residents to renew a 0.25 percent income tax levy in May, amounting to about $2.4 million for the city鈥檚 general fund. The tax first passed in 2005 when Ford closed its Lorain assembly plant.

Ritenauer said he鈥檒l also be working with the Ohio Mayors Alliance to convince Governor Mike DeWine鈥檚 new administration in Columbus to provide more funds for municipal needs including roads, police and demolition of blighted properties.

鈥淚 have been advocating at the state and federal level, though, for a pivot to commercial demolition,鈥� said Ritenauer.  鈥淢any cities have commercial demolition needs that, frankly, there鈥檚 just not the dollars available to pay for.鈥�

Violent and Property Crime Down

Lorain is also short on dollars to pay for police officers. According to Chief Cel Rivera, the city鈥檚 officers are the lowest paid in Lorain County. That makes recruitment and retention a challenge. In the next few weeks the department will lose 19 of its 113 officers, many to other agencies. To help attract new officers, they鈥檙e trying to emphasize recruitment within the city.

鈥淵ou know, and play on the emotions of people who grew up here and understand the community and love the community with the understanding that, hey, it may take a while to catch up to everybody else,鈥� said Rivera. 鈥淏ut we ... pay 100 percent for college tuition so that might entice somebody who wants to go to school.鈥�

Darryl Tucker, managing editor of the Morning Journal, speaks with Lorain Police Chief Cel Rivera. Tucker moderated the Speak Up event. [Annie Wu / ideastream]

The good news is that Lorain鈥檚 violent crime 鈥� murder, robbery, rape and aggravated assault 鈥� is down about 17 percent in the past year. And property crime 鈥� burglary, theft and arson 鈥� is down more than 20 percent. Instead, the number that stands out is 鈥渄ischarging firearms鈥�. Sergeant Orlando Colon describes these incidents as drive-by shootings that hit a house, for example, but not a person. Between 2016 to 2018, 鈥渄ischarging firearms鈥� incidents more than doubled.

鈥淪o yes we have reduced violent crime in the city of Lorain, but it鈥檚 not for the lack of effort of a few determined individuals,鈥� Colon said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e engaging in acts of violence. They鈥檙e just not hitting anybody. Luckily.鈥� 

Addressing the problem is the police department鈥檚 primary focus this year. Chief Rivera said they鈥檙e taking a two-fold approach 鈥� harsh enforcement against violent crimes and outreach to juveniles.

鈥淲e鈥檙e gonna try to identify the kids who are not there yet, who are not shooting but who maybe are not doing well academically,鈥� Rivera said. 鈥淭hey have home situations, and they鈥檙e just looking for some alternatives. They want a sense of belonging; they need resources; they need jobs; they need a pathway to success.鈥�

School CEO Pushes Back Against Criticism

Rivera said the program is a partnership with community groups including the Urban League and El Centro as well as the city鈥檚 schools, which after years of failing grades, is now under the leadership of CEO David Hardy, Jr.

At the Speak Up event, Hardy faced questions critical of his leadership over the past 18 months, including why his children don鈥檛 attend Lorain city schools. But Hardy, who under Ohio law, has the authority of a superintendent and school board, was resolute.

鈥淚 will not apologize for the fact that I am trying to just bring a mirror to the ills that have been a part of our educational system for way too long,鈥� Hardy said.

He pointed to the 93 percent of Lorain high school graduates who went onto Lorain County Community College and had to take remedial math or English and to the writing scores of the district鈥檚 500 third graders who collectively scored two points on a state writing test.

鈥淲hen I see that our athletes are praised to a degree to the detriment of their future academic behaviors, when I realize that we have a Sports Hall of Fame but we don鈥檛 have an Academic Hall of Fame, when we walk into the hallways and there are kids who are asking for tougher classes but are receiving less than tougher classes,鈥� Hardy said the community needs to step up for the kids.

Lorain City Schools CEO David Hardy, Jr. [Annie Wu / ideastream]

This year, the district is looking at academic initiatives, the rigor of the curriculum, and the quality of instruction. It鈥檚 offering pre-K in all 10 elementary schools, and it鈥檚 replaced the Parent Advisory Council with a Chief Family Officer to improve communication between home and school.

鈥溾�婰iterally going to homes, participating in line dancing where they know that families line dance here in Lorain,鈥� Hardy explained, adding, 鈥淲e鈥檙e also moving in the very, very near future to actually meet families at grocery stores on Saturdays and Sundays because we know at some point that鈥檚 where our families will be.鈥�

He said it took at least 15 years to get to this point, and it鈥檚 going to take more than the 18 months he鈥檚 been in this job to turn the district back around. 

The Speak Up and Speak Out event was sponsored by the Lorain Negro Business & Professional Women鈥檚 Club, the Lorain County Section of the National Council of Negro Women, and the Lorain chapter of the NAACP.