State Of Lakewood Address: City Must Look Forward, Be Resilient

LAKEWOOD, OH — In his eighth State of the City address, Mayor Mike Summers broke from his previous speeches and chose to take a forward look at Lakewood's future. "We are not here to predict the future, we are only here to acknowledge it," he told a crowded room in Lakewood City Hall before launching into a detailed examination of the so-called "mega forces" that will change the city's future.

Summers noted that there are several "mega forces" that are already exerting their influence on local government, including: state and federal policies, environmental and regulatory forces, transportation, healthcare, public safety, energy reliability, economic and market forces, population dynamics and technology.

He spent time addressing each issue, though his focus on population dynamics was short-lived and technology was largely covered in other subjects. The first and most pressing of the issues was environmental and regulatory forces.

A Contemporary Storm Sewer System

“Over the next year, we will spend significant time and energy, sharing discussing and finalizing this comprehensive storm management plan," Summers said. That's largely because of an EPA mandate.

The city has one year to compile and submit a detailed plan explaining how the municipal storm sewer system will become compliant with the Clean Water Act of 1972.

Lakewood's sewer system was originally built shortly after the beginning of the 20th century, and empties overflow into Lake Erie. Acceptable at the time, contemporary regulations have made the city's sewer system antiquated. Summers, and the EPA, have both said it's time for an upgrade.

However, paying for the engineering and construction of a revamped sewer system will require a major push by the city. Residents have already felt part of this push in their pocketbooks, when sewer rates were increased to help pay for millions of dollars in sewer upgrades.

Loss of Funds

Increased sewer rates served as a good segue for a discussion about state and federal policies, particularly the gradual atrophying of local government funds. Since 2013, Lakewood has lost more than $3 million in annual funds from both the state and federal governments, Summers said.

For some cities, that loss blew a hole in annual budgets and crippled some city services. In Lakewood, it has been a worrisome and growing burden, but not necessarily a debilitating one.

One tactic to combat the loss of these funds is to bind together, not resident-to-resident, but mayor-to-mayor. Summers advocated on behalf of regional and national coalitions of mayors. He said the groups could serve as benchmarks for each city, think tanks for policies and joint lobbying muscle.

Still, "there's no cavalry coming," he said, echoing a phrase popular with Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish, who was in attendance.

Safety and Security In 2018

One of the more hot-button topics during the State of the City address was policing of neighborhoods. Lakewood has seen an uptick in violent carjackings in recent months, with some victims losing their cars at gunpoint. The city has twice issued statements on the crime trend, both times providing safety tips to residents.

Summers built off of those statements, adding that the city, over the next two years, is planning to add about 30 more surveillance cameras to its existing 45. At one point, he even showed a matrix of all the city's cameras on one slide. It was an impressive, if 1984-ish, display.

"The nature of the threats we are facing are more compelling than ever," Summers said, while adding that he wants to maintain the size and effectiveness of the city's police force.

He also wants residents to feel comfortable reporting strange incidents to police. The city will be rolling out new reporting tools for citizens in the near future, he said.

"We must leverage each other and work in partnership with our citizens," he said, a plea for more community policing.

Life After the Hospital

A topic that likely would have been more controversial a year or two ago was healthcare. Summers took a macro approach to the topic, speaking about his visits to other cities and learning about the issues facing many communities around the nation. One of the biggest and most pressing is healthcare.

People have trouble navigating the byzantine web of follow-up and specialty care, the mayor said. He also noted that lifestyle choices (think: smoking, alcohol, etc.) can account for a majority of ailments.

The city is partnering with nonprofit groups to bring resources to residents and investing in a data program to help identify possible problems and allocate resources to their solutions. Summers said the city has invested $50,000 in the data enterprise.

Everything Else

Much of the rest of the speech was focused on the future and regional issues that could have an impact on the city. Topics included a possible hyperloop between Cleveland and Chicago (which Summers said was vital to the development of Northeast Ohio); the possibility of microgrids for energy, utilizing solar power in some neighborhoods; Millennials being attracted to the community of Lakewood and more.

Summers also talked about the development of Detroit and Belle, saying it was the city's second opportunity at a Gold Coast-like important development. He said talks were still being had on what could populate that space, since traditional retail appears to be withering on the vine and more employees are working from home.

One final point of interest, one largely based on the speculation around autonomous cars, was the possibility of using Lakewood's grid system to encourage testing of automatic vehicles. Summers seemed to think Lakewood was uniquely qualified to serve as a test pilot city for such a development. While purely speculative, it does serve as an interesting thought point about the possible changes in store for the city. Which, after all, was the point of his speech.

Video from this year's speech is at the top of this article.

Photo from Rick Uldricks, Patch