SAFETY

North Olmsted needs to be a safe community to thrive.

North Olmsted is less safe than it was a decade ago. Vehicle break-ins and theft need to be a top priority of our city’s next mayor. 

Despite inaction in the mayor’s office, city council created a voluntary camera registry to try to give police and residents more tools to catch petty theft. But cameras alone won’t solve the problem. 

Our police and EMS need the tools to succeed. Yet, when they’ve looked to leadership, they’ve been ignored. One example is found in our city’s police fleet. By not replacing cars, worn out vehicles totaling over 100k miles make every 911 call a gamble.

Since late summer of 2020, the mayor’s office has allowed the position of Safety Director to remain vacant.  The absence of leadership has been seen in the disorganized response to the vicious dog attacks and mismanagement during the pandemic. 

Street lighting needs to be expanded and maintained, yet too many lights are burned out and have gone months or years without replacement. And street lights need to be extended to streets without any or too few.

SERVICE

North Olmsted residents pay for and deserve quality city services, including customer service.

Too often residents contact city hall only to be ignored or treated with disrespect.  Whenever there is an issue, you deserve a timely and courteous response.  North Olmsted has been without a professional Safety Director for nearly a year.

When city services such bulk trash or leaf pickup fail to occur, the mayor’s office must do more than shrug their shoulders.  Our city’s next mayor needs to hold contractors accountable to honor the commitments of their contracts.

We need to invest in our streets for the long-term health of our city.  Despite opposition from the Mayor’s office, Council restored $500,000 in cuts to road repairs to preserve our existing and future road maintenance. 

Caring for our seniors must be a priority.  North Olmsted needs to become a senior-friendly city.  This means keeping our city affordable for residents on fixed incomes, helping seniors find ways to maintain and reinvest in their homes and proactively working with charitable organizations to assist those in need and the disabled.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

North Olmsted needs to take direct action to protect and grow our city economy.

We need a mayor taking action to fill our storefronts.  Our city must help solve problems and remove barriers to success.

Remodeling and rebuilding our aging retail and businesses must become a priority.  North OImsted can incentivize renewal with credits for projects that increase employment or generate higher property values. 

Protecting our existing businesses and attracting new companies is essential for our success.  Despite strong opposition from the mayor’s office, city council created small business relief grants for those hurt during the pandemic. 

Our next mayor must directly work with landowners and developers to attract desirable projects to North Olmsted.  Currently, few North Olmsted businesses have ever interacted with the mayor’s office or his staff, except when being fined to generate revenue for the city.

AFFORDABILITY & TAXES

Our Mayor needs to recognize that North Olmsted has high taxes and must work to keep the city affordable for residents

North Olmsted has some of the highest property taxes on the West side of Cuyahoga County.  Our next mayor must work with our schools, county, and local partners to keep our city affordable for residents. 

Our community must be affordable for our seniors and families.  Our next Mayor needs to keep city expenses low as possible while delivering value with the tax dollars available.  

Working with residents to make it easier to reinvest in our homes must be a priority.  Our community housing stock is aging and seniors want to stay in their homes.  Young families want to update and fix their “forever” homes.  The city must fix the existing sidewalk replacement program and expand bulk purchasing programs for home repair and materials.  City regulators are currently blocking home repairs and driving quality contractors out of the city with unreasonable fees and bureaucracy.