Mayor’s vision for Lorain is a promising one

Lorain Mayor Jack Bradley delivered his first State of the City address Feb. 27 which focused on his vision, and it certainly looks promising.

The Lorain County Chamber of Commerce and the Lorain Rotary Club hosted Bradley’s talk with a record 265 people in attendance on the fourth-floor of the Ariel on Broadway Event Center and Rooftop, the rejuvenated hotel complex at 301 Broadway.

Bradley opened his speech by saying, “It is a great day in the city of Lorain.”

Now, almost two months into his first term, he spoke on his vision for the International City.

Bradley wants a vibrant and equitable city, where there is affordable housing, early childhood education and economic development, where everyone thrives, where everyone feels a deep sense of belonging in Lorain, to Lorain and to one another.

Bradley vowed his administration will work on at least three key initiatives in 2020.

He wants up to 100 people ages 16 to 24 working in Lorain this summer under his new “Mayor’s Summer Youth Program.”

And Rockin’ on the River co-founder Bob Earley has committed to helping the program and Bradley asked those attending to lend their aid hiring young people this year.

Bradley wants this to be a cooperative effort between the city and local businesses and industries, and we believe this could work.

His administration is negotiating with the French Creek YMCA to reopen the Oakwood Park pool in South Lorain in a cooperative venture.

City leaders are hopeful that all children have an opportunity to learn how to at least float before they enter kindergarten.

Bradley is working on a reentry program for citizens returning to Lorain from prison.

By creating a coalition of community resources, he believes it can help prevent people from returning to a life of crime and become productive members of the community.

Details are expected to emerge in coming weeks.

Since taking office Jan. 1, Bradley recounted his experience getting to know City Hall, safety forces and pressing issues.

He introduced Lorain police Chief James McCann, who last year succeeded Chief Cel Rivera, the long-tenured chief who became a local influence in law enforcement and the community in general.

The mayor said McCann is a good man and he is no-nonsense when it comes to running the police department.

Bradley hopes to build a strong relationship between law enforcement and the community, and believes it can with communication, coordination and collaboration between the safety forces and the citizens.

He also discussed that gun safety is a concern in Lorain, and there must be efforts to keep guns out of the hands of children and young adults by taking firearms off the streets, neighborhoods and in schools.

We agree with Bradley that children need to learn and grow in a community free from fear and harm, especially at school.

Bradley’s speech was just three days after Lorain City Schools announced a 14-yearold student brought a loaded pistol to General Johnnie Wilson Middle School.

No one was hurt and the student said he had no intent to harm anyone, but had found the weapon Feb. 21 on the way to school.

Recounting his first days in office, Bradley heard rumors Republic Steel could bring 1,000 jobs to the city.

While in Washington for the winter meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Bradley consulted U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman, but they had no confirmed details.

In Lorain, Bradley met with Republic Steel Senior Vice President Elizabeth Evans.

Unfortunately, Evans said based upon the uncertainty of the tariff situations, Republic was not prepared to fire up their furnaces, but the company certainly was open to working with the city to provide jobs for residents.

Bradley said one request Republic made was not to shut off its water again.

The administration learned the city shut off Republic Steel’s water in 2018 for allegedly not paying the bill.

But as it turned out, an audit revealed that Republic actually had overpaid the bill and the shut off should never have occurred.

Bradley said he promised Republic that in the future, they city would work with the company and that this would never happen again as long as he was mayor.

As for water, the new administration continues examining utility rates for water and sewer services, which has become a flashpoint issue in the city so far this year.

Bradley said he hopes to have an announcement soon about cutting water bills.

That would make a host of residents very happy.

Bradley’s vision for the International City is sound, and we believe he will accomplish his goals.