2010 State of the City Speech

Distinguished members of the Westland City Council, Westland board and Commission Members, elected and appointed officials, members of the Westland business community, friends and colleagues, respected guests, and most importantly; the great citizens of Westland…Thank you – all of you – for joining us this evening and welcome to the pride of Westland….The home of the Rockets!!  John Glenn High School…

First, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Wayne-Westland Community Schools Superintendent Greg Baracy and the Wayne Westland School Board for allowing us to spotlight this incredible High School tonight and for the use of these hallowed halls to deliver my 2010 State of the City Address.  I really appreciate the great working relationship that we share and will do anything in my power to help improve our schools…because, lets face it, you will never be a world-class city without world-class schools… Dr. Baracy…These are tough times and you have had to make some tough decisions…Hold your head high, I think you are doing a great job.

 I would also like to thank David Ingham, the Principal here at John Glenn and his dynamic duel, Assistant Principals Adam Martin and Marva Foster. Let’s give them all a big round of applause for the leadership they provide day in and day out to their students…..

It feels really good coming back to John Glenn. This will be my second State of the city address from this stage. We were here back in 2008…Things look about the same…but Chef Tony tells me the spread he is laying out back in the media center is out of this world, so make sure you join us following the speech….

It was in this school about 25 years ago that I met my wife Sherri…We didn’t get married right away, we got married 11years ago this December….I think it took a while for me to grow on her….But she had me right away….I told her on the one and only date we went on in High School that she better be careful because she was the type of girl that I would marry someday…..I know what you are thinking…..it didn’t work!

In all seriousness, I am extremely blessed to be married to a great woman. Sherri is a great wife, an incredible mother, an extremely talented teacher, a very stylish first lady and my best friend….Sherri it is your unyielding support and confidence in me that allows me to not only be a dedicated Mayor to our city, but also the husband and father that I am today…Sherri will you join me on stage…

Ladies and gentlemen… it is with great honor that I present to you the 2010 State of the City address for the City of Westland.

Westland is – like many of you – my hometown. This is the place where I was born, where I went to school, where I played hockey as a kid, this is where I am raising my family, this is where my son plays hockey and my girls cheerlead and dance,….this is where my heart is and I know yours is too. Our All American city will turn 45 next year. Westland was founded in 1966 on the principles of Pride, Progress and Promise and we remain true to those principles today as we work together to ensure a prosperous future for our families…, our proud city… and our great state.

I stand before you tonight, as the 8^th Mayor of our great city and report to you that the state of the city… our city… your city…..is strong, its growing, its prospering, it’s getting better, we are starting to reinvent ourselves, we are leaders, we are becoming the premier destination in Wayne county for families that want clean safe neighborhoods, world class schools, great shopping, top notch public safety, the state of Michigan’s best senior resource department, 18 incredible parks….has anyone seen the Play Planet and H20 Zone on a hot summer day?, a restaurant for every taste, we are business friendly, we have pride in our city, we continue to make progress and the future for Westland is full of promise…..AND THAT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN….Is why they call us The All American City!!

Westland remains in strong financial health. There is no doubt that the revenues coming into the city have continued to decrease over the last several years. When we sat down to put this year’s budget together our auditors were forecasting a 3.5 million dollar deficit that would also use all of our rainy day fund balance… And next year was worse... as the deficient soared to 12 million dollars… Ladies and Gentlemen, I want to acknowledge the Westland city council…I ask that those Council members in attendance please stand. These folks work hard for you every day, let’s give them a big round of applause……I wanted to honor the council members because… you heard me mention the deficits….Now when you are looking at numbers like that, it’s easy to panic, it’s easy to point fingers and it’s easy to just bury your head in the sand. But, that’s not what happened. My administration created a partnership with the Council and went to work…. We sat down with our employee groups and worked out concessions. We negotiated an early retirement program that would allow the city to bring our number of employees down to meet our revenue streams but still deliver the quality service our residents expect and deserve. Through retirements, attrition and a minimal amount of layoffs, full time staff was reduced by 69 positions. Next we moved all employees to a more cost effective insurance plan and implemented a self insurance policy to keep costs in line. We negotiated lower wages for new hires and pension reforms that will save the city and its residents millions of dollars moving forward. The downturn of the economy has been tough, there is no doubt about that, but it gave us the opportunity to redefine how the city delivers service. It has made us leaner and more efficient. These actions along with multiple other cost saving measures being implemented resulted in the City’s first multi year balanced budget. On April 1^st, I delivered to Council a 55 million dollar, 2yr balanced budget that protected close to 2 million dollars in fund balance. After working with Council and applying several more, of what they like to call hack and slash cost saving measures, I am proud to say the budget was approved unanimously. I would like to thank all of the employee groups for their help in making this possible. I think it is also worth noting that both the Police and Fire unions were under contract, but still meet us at the table and agreed to concessions as well that helped us eliminate those huge deficits. Let’s give all of our employee groups a big hand!

2010 was a year of milestones for the City of Westland. Along with the 2yr year balanced budget, the city celebrated the 1yr anniversary of our award winning curbside recycling program. And what a year it was! Westland residents recycled over 12 million pounds of trash! An average of 519 lbs per household was recycled; this is up from the 93 lbs per household we were collecting annually at the drop off site. That is a 458% increase! …Great job Westland!  With an unbelievable 80% participation rate, this very successful program has effectively cut our solid waste that goes to the landfill by over a third.

And we are not done yet….for you super recyclers… we have now made available a second 96 gallon container that can be delivered to your house free of charge by calling the Westland DPS Department.

The other side of this remarkable program is the economic impact it is having on our local economy. By partnering with Recycle Bank, the nation’s leading recycling rewards company, over 36,000 Recycle Bank discounts and gift cards were redeemed which pumped hundreds of thousands of dollars back into the economy. Top local reward partners for the year were: Olga’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, Palace Supermarket, Malarkey’s Irish Pub, Alexander the Greats and Ashley’s Bar and Grill.

The early success of this program soon garnered national attention as the City of Westland and Recycle Bank were honored in Washington DC by the US Conference of Mayors with its 2010 Excellence in Public Private Partnership Award. Joining us tonight from Recycle Bank is Dwayne Maladecki, who also happens to be a Westland resident. Let’s give him a hand for his help too.

While the very successful curbside recycling program was the cornerstone of our Westland Mission: Green initiative, it was only the beginning of our long range plan to create a vibrant, sustainable community. Westland also took a look at the city operations from an energy conservation standpoint, and with a $731,000 Federal grant, the city is in the process of completing an overhaul of the heating and cooling systems at the Mike Modano Ice Arena, The Bailey Recreation Center and the Westland Police Department. These upgrades are expected to reduce the City’s energy costs by 28% or $125,000.

The City also celebrated sustainability by creating our first community garden in a partnership with DTE Energy and volunteers harvested several thousand pounds of fresh produce that was distributed through Gleaners food banks to residents all throughout southeast Michigan.

Westland residents also enjoyed a new farmers market that was a unique partnership between the City of Westland Parks and Recreation Department, Westland Shopping Center and the Westland TIFA Board. This exciting event grew each week and featured farmers from all across Michigan.

These efforts, amongst others, led SEMCOG (the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments) to name the City of Westland as the Metro Detroit areas first sustainable community in its coveted Sustainable Community Recognition Program.

At last year’s State of the City address I made mention of a 2Million dollar neighborhood stabilization grant the city received. At the time, I said money would be used to acquire blighted homes for demolition and rehabbing, with the major focus being the Norwayne community. I’m proud to say that we have already put that money to use and have obligated 100% of the funds.

 To date… we have acquired 58 properties, demolished 22, rehabilitated 26 homes, and reconstructed 5 homes in partnership with Habitat for Humanity, and we are joined by their talented Executive Director Mrs. Alice Dent. Let’s give Mrs. Dent and her team a warm welcome as well.  Westland officials were also on hand recently when we raised the walls on our first project in conjunction with the Wayne Westland Community Schools Building Trades Program.

2010 has also been a busy year for the City of Westland’s Economic Development team as we continued efforts to attract new business to the City… In March, the City of Westland hosted “Eggs and Opportunities”; at the popular Leo’s Coney Island and invited Real Estate Developers, Brokers, Investors and Commercial real estate professionals for an Insider’s look at Development Opportunities in our All American City. Information on prime properties and locations, available economic incentives and an overview of the City’s streamlined permitting process was presented and the formation of our new “Fast Track” team was announced. The Fast Track Team is a committee made up of the Mayor, The City Council President, the Chairmen of the Planning Commission and the Zoning Board of Appeals along with the Economic Development Director, the City Planner and the Director of the Building Department. This team of decision makers can be assembled quickly to meet with potential developers with the goal to give Westland the competitive advantage in this new marketplace, “because we know when dealing with developers, time is money”.

The City of Westland has also partnered with the Michigan Small Business and Technology Center to provide assistance for startup ventures and will also be partnering with the Schoolcraft College Business Development Center and the Westland Chamber of Commerce to host informative seminars, geared towards aspiring entrepreneurs, teaching the How-to’s of business along with free business consulting, assistance with government contracting and employee training.

Tonight… with the holiday season fast approaching, the City of Westland will be launching the 2010 “Shop and Dine” campaign. This program is a key part of the economic development departments strategy geared towards branding the Westland Shopping and Dining District as a destination for Shoppers in southeast Michigan and to promote the long term retention of these coveted retailers and dining establishments.  As we leave here tonight our Shop and Dine campaign will be beginning to hit the airwaves and popular cable stations….let’s have a listen….

Earlier you heard me talk about the success of our Mission green initiative. Well, tonight we are going to take it one step farther. While we are proud to be known as one of Michigan’s greenest cities, we also want to be known as one of Michigan’s healthiest cities. With the goal to be Michigan’s healthiest city….tonight… I am announcing that in January I will be kicking off a “Pass Port to a healthy city” campaign. With the goal of giving every resident the tools and opportunities to create and enjoy a healthy lifestyle. The program will consist of education, exercise and a healthy diet and we will be hosting several events throughout the year to keep all of us on the right track. This program will be geared toward all residents and aspects of this program will be incorporated into current annual city events...With Childhood obesity on the rise and Americans living longer now than ever before, The time for action is now….I’m pleased to announce our first partner on this healthy campaign will be St. Mary’s Hospital and with us tonight is their incredible CEO Mr. Dave Spivey. We will be looking for additional private public partnerships to bring the goal of Making Westland, the healthiest city in Michigan to a reality.

Another goal of my administration moving forward will be to make Westland a total Walkable community. I believe that to create a healthier community we must become more pedestrian friendly.  If you turn your program over you will see a map of the city of Westland and it shows the current sidewalk network. If you look at the legend you will see that currently the city is connected by 352 miles (approx 75%) of developed sidewalks. My goal would be to complete the network of 124 miles (approx 25%) in the next 5 years. If a community is walkable, that means it is bikable, as well as joggable. My administration will make it a priority to seek out grants and potential funding sources to make a walkable Westland a reality.

Earlier I spoke about milestones. 2010 has been a milestone year for the City of Westland in the Social Media field. Just this past week, the city signed up its 1000 follower on Westland’s face book page. In an effort to keep residents informed of real time information regarding the city we have also added Nixle, Twitter and LinkedIn to our social media portfolio. The City’s Website www.cityofwestland.com has been improved to be more user friendly and the new eco friendly e-version of the Insider, the city’s monthly newsletter has proven to be a hit. All of the city’s social media outlets can be reached via the homepage of the city’s website.

Tonight while we are here we want to take a moment to spotlight a special city employee. Every organization has that special employee that always goes above and beyond and Westland is no different. Westland has an employee that has been with the City since 1995. He was promoted to a supervisor position in 2005. He was very instrumental in the construction of the Play Planet, prepping the land, organizing the volunteers and overseeing the entire project, from the ground up. He also played an important role in the building of the H20 Zone spray ground. He did all of the mechanical work and site preparations. He has become an expert maintaining the mechanical room and filtration system. He actually invented a flow meter for the system and Raindrop, the company that built the park has implemented his invention into their new projects. He can be found any day of the week working side by side with his crews, he is a veteran of the US Army and a longtime Westland resident.

Ladies and gentlemen, Terry Martin is the 2010 City of Westland employee of the year. Terry come on up!

As we are speaking of employees, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that we lost a dear friend earlier this year. Longtime City Attorney Angelo Plakas lost a battle to cancer and we miss him dearly. Angelo had probably attended the last 30 state of the city speeches and its a good bet that everyone in attendance tonight considered him a friend, so... we hope he is looking down on us tonight with a smile. With that said, we were very fortunate that Angelo introduced us to a very talented attorney who has become the new City Attorney, and I speaking of Jim Fausone. Jim has stepped right in and he and his staff are doing an incredible job.

Well, as I wrap up tonight, you may be thinking “He talked about everything BUT Central City Park”…. In my three previous State of the City addresses we have talked about the progress or lack of progress or what the park will look like some day. Well, I’m sure most of you know that work has finally begun on remediating the park and restoring the amenities. The question I get now is what is the park going to look like when it’s done. Well instead of telling you, tonight we thought we would show you…..but before we do, I want to thank everybody that helped get us here today. There are so many I can’t name them all but I especially want to thank Wayne County Executive Bob Ficano, and Assistant County Executive Alan Helmkamp, who is here tonight, County Commissioner Joan Gephardt, Senator Anderson, Representative Leblanc, Council President Jim Godbout and the entire City Council, Jim Fausone, Dan Fredendall and Beth Vens from the MDNRE who is also here with us tonight.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you for allowing me the honor, the privilege and the responsibility to serve as your Mayor. I also want to thank the hard working staff in my office, Deputy Mayor Jade Smith, Lorrie Reddy and Shannon Ackron and my entire team of dedicated Directors and the hardworking employees of the City of Westland for they all play a major role in making our city the ALL AMERICAN CITY

Ladies and Gentlemen the NEW CENTRAL CITY PARK…….

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