The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Fresh ideas, changes marked city in 2008
Working with neighboring communities, refocusing schools top priorities in 2019
For Wickliffe, 2018 was a year of changes, a committed focus on the future for the city’s schools, and fresh ideas that seek to connect Wickliffe to the neighboring communities.
The year began with a fresh face at City Hall as John Barbish was elected mayor late last year and began his administration in January.
Primarily a financial planner, Barbish brought a fresh set of eyes into the local governing body that sought to streamline bureaucracy by tightening city purse strings where he could.
Barbish’s administration began by focusing on safety and cleanliness.
Addressing the both aspects, the mayor made efforts to step up building citations that he believes had grown lax in previous terms.
“I didn’t realize there were going to be so many violations on Euclid Avenue, then, I didn’t expect how many phone calls I’d get in reaction that,” he said.
“It was a busy summer. A lot people weren’t happy that they got a letter and had to go to court, but we started to get things cleaned up.”
Wickliffe is known as the “Gateway City” and for many commuters, that gateway is Euclid Avenue which made the main thoroughfare’s condition all the more vital to the state of the city.
“When a young family is looking where to live, they need to see a clean city,” the mayor said.
“There are some homes that have been on Euclid Avenue for 90 years or more that look out of place. You’ll drive down Euclid Avenue and you see a storefront, then a house, then some more storefronts, then maybe another house. It’s kind of clunky. It doesn’t really flow that well.”
To help with the flow, Lake County brought on Monica Drake to act as economic development director for not only Wickliffe, but neighboring Kirtland and Willowick.
Drake spent the beginning of her term highlighting each city’s distinct traits and then highlighting what brings them together.
Zoning has proven to be consistent focus for Drake who agrees with Barbish that Wickliffe needs to fill numerous vacant or underutilized properties.
“This city was at a tipping point,” Drake said.
“Were we going to slip back or revitalize? That’s something we had to ask ourselves, but there’s a lot of energy here to move the city forward.”
A minor step in this forward-moving approach includes the attempts of local non-profit Wickliffe Forever Foundation to potentially rebrand for the city, both in image and motto.
The concern was that “the Gateway City” speaks to Wickliffe’s facilitation to other neighboring cities but not enough on the city’s own attributes.
The foundation has also spearheaded and helped fund the Hometown Heroes Banner program which honors residents and their immediate families who currently or have ever served in the Armed Forces by placing commemorative banners along streetlights and telephone poles throughout the city.
The program was considered a success by Barbish who expects an even larger and more visible presence of the banners in 2019.
The mayor has also discussed replacing all of the city streetlights with LED lighting throughout 2019.
According to Barbish, the $425,000 in funds which the replacements would require could come from a NOPEC grant along with funds already allocated in the city’s streetlight fund. The cost of the replacement would be offset over time by the reduced energy consumption that LED bulbs would demand.
Wickliffe also renegotiated terms with waste disposal company Kimble.
Previously, the private company charged residents for curbside trash disposal and would send past due invoices to City Hall to cover any negligent residents’ outstanding debts.
Starting in 2019, residents will be responsible for covering Kimble’s fees on their own or risk losing its services.
This step is projected to save the city $25,000 a year, according to Barbish.
Going by the Ohio Department of Education’s annual school report cards, Wickliffe Schools has ample room for improvement.
The district’s overall grade was a D, with Wickliffe Elementary and Middle School peaking with an overall grade of C. Wickliffe High School fared worse with an overall grade of D. The high school also earned an F grade for both preparedness for success and progress.
The latter aspect showed high school students “made less progress than expected” with “significant evidence” across English, algebra, geometry, and mathematics I and II versus state expectations, according to ODE records.
The parameters that the ODE use to determine these grades, especially the “preparedness for success,” weigh college placement tests like ACT and SAT heavily.
While ACT participation for the high school was at 54 percent, SAT participation was substantially lower at 4 percent.
Wickliffe Superintendent Joseph Spiccia said he has made concentrated efforts alongside Strategic Innovation Director Julie Ramos to refocus the schools to facilitate a future-ready model.
Their aim is less concerned with state-regulated test results and more on the four E’s which they aim to see every high school graduate become: Employed, Enrolled, Enlisted, or an Entrepreneur.
Spiccia addressed the low testing results and ODE reports in a recent interview with The News-Herald.
“While we still have to do (the tests), none of that, in and of itself, really prepares students well for life after school,” he said.
“The state legislators have created this myth that says, ‘if you pass these certain tests then you’re wellprepared for the world outside of school.’ That’s a myth.
“We need to assess the things we value, rather than valuing the things we can simply assess.”
“This city was at a tipping point. Were we going to slip back or revitalize? That’s something we had to ask ourselves, but there’s a lot of energy here to move the city forward.”
Economic Development Director Monica Drake