City manager outlines 4 goals for 2020

Steele Mansion hosted the State of the City on Feb. 5 with an address by City Manager Monica Dupee.

Steele Mansion served as host to the 2020 Painesville State of the City on Feb. 5 with the event attended by city and business leaders to hear an address by City Manager Monica Dupee.

Dupee took the stage to discuss the year ahead, laying out four goals Painesville has for the upcoming year.

• Goal 1: Developing a framework/strengthening leadership within the community

Dupee drew attention to a public education program, “So you Want to Run for Office”.

“This event allowed a description of elected official’s responsibility, the ethics that come along with it and the sunshine laws,” she said.

Dupee conveyed the city’s aim in encouraging more civic interaction and interest in local government.

“Leadership doesn’t stop at the council level,” she said. “Internally, we are hosting more training for our supervisors and department heads.”

That training included courses on customer service, difficult conversations, managing multiple priorities and projects, and crisis communication.

• Goal 2: Increased community communication and engagement

Dupee drew attention to the city Communication Director Kathleen Sullivan, who was hired in 2018, and the work she’s done, which included a city website update, implementation of a “strategic social media strategy,” increased exposure through media and press releases, and spearheading the 2018-19 rebranding initiative.

The city manager also underscored their practice of full transparency in regards to administrative policies, police, fire and public utilities.

Dupee expressed a desire to “bridge the perception with reality,” pointing to several negative beliefs.

“The main perceptions are bad schools, that we’re impoverished or dangerous, and that we’re old and stagnant,” she said.

Dupee referenced the Ohio Board of Education school progress report cards.

“Painesville City Local

Schools have worked diligently on their report cards and have made positive progress,” she said.

Painesville Schools registered an overall F grade for the 2017-18 school year. The district’s most recent 201819 grade rose to a D overall, but still maintains an F grade for “progress.”

She said that the administration believes Painesville residents fall into two distinct silos. One silo consists of those deeply invested in the health of the school district and another silo where the residents are principally concerned with the city as a whole.

“By breaking down those barriers we can build a stronger community,” Dupee said.

The city manager’s speech also touched on the perception of major crime within Painesville. According to a chart presentation several crime statistics were lower than their five-year averages in the city.

“There are a few that are up,” she added. “Those are due to proactive police work. We do three times as many traffic stops today than we used to. With this, we have led to more warrant arrests and drug possession (arrests).”

Dupee also thanked residents for approving the 2.5mill additional police levy in November. She provided an update for the surveillance cameras network that will be installed throughout the city beginning in the fall of 2020.

“The police levy allowed the city to work with the school district to hire a second student resource officer,” Dupee said. “The relationships that our SROs build with the children and families are invaluable and has helped break down barriers between our minority community and our police department.”

The levy will also provide resources to hire three additional officers in 2021.

• Goal 3: Strengthening infrastructure

“Strengthening infrastructure to support the city’s mission remains the number one priority of our council,” she said.

The city, which is responsible for 125 miles of lane roads, is in the midst of a multi-year road repaving project.

In 2019, 79 tons of cold patch was applied to city roads in addition to 268 tons of fresh asphalt. This is down 27 percent compared to the year prior, according to Dupee. For 2020, Lake County commissioners granted the city over $97,000 to use for road repairs.

The city’s water rates rose 5 percent in 2019 and will continue to rise by the same rate for an additional four years. This was the first rate raise since 2011.

The increase includes a water infrastructure fee which increased 50 percent in 2019. This infrastructure fee will continue to rise over the same time frame as the water rates, ultimately meeting a 75 percent increase from its original 2019 fee rate.

“Since we are non-profit, we base our rates on the cost to provide the service,” Dupee explained to the crowd. “Even with the increase over the next five years, we are still at or below average for water rates in the state of Ohio.”

• Goal 4: Future growth In 2019, the city passed a unified building code intended to streamline the addition of new businesses while maintaining the public image the city desires. Dupee cited the discussions and input the city had with newly constructed Chipotle Mexican Grill at 7 W. Jackson St. as an example.

An updated comprehensive plan for the city is a main objective in 2020.

“It is the document that captures and articulates the desires of the community goals and is based on community attitudes and preferences,” Dupee said.

Except for a 2006 revision, the city’s comprehensive plan has not been rewritten since 1993.

“It is critical for community planning and development that the comprehensive plan is current,” and that is why we’re doing it in 2020,” she said.

Dupee also used the State of the City to announce that they submitted a video to the HGTV television series “Hometown” for inclusion in the program’s Hometown Takeover event. The program follows a husband and wife who restore homes, businesses, parks and main streets within a small town.

The submission video has not yet been released to the public but was screened for those in attendance.