Columbus, OH – FULL TEXT OF 2009 STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS:
Thank you Dr. Harris for your introduction and for the wonderful work you're
doing on behalf of our kids at Columbus City Schools. Thank you also to
Representative Weddington for hosting us here in your district and for your
work at the Statehouse. I also want to thank Principal Monique Jacquet for
allowing us to be here tonight at East High School. Thanks to the Columbus
Police Honor Guard and the Fort Hayes Metropolitan Singers for that wonderful
rendition of our national anthem. And I want to salute the fine young man who
spoke earlier, David Elliott for the example he is setting for his classmates
and for young people across Columbus.Perhaps someday David can deliver the
State of the City Address, and I can introduce him.
I want to recognize my partners at City Hall, Columbus City Council President
Mike Mentel, President Pro Tem Hearcel Craig, Councilmembers Andy Ginther,
Troy Miller, Eileen Paley, Charleta Tavares and Priscilla Tyson, City Auditor
Hugh Dorrian and City Attorney Rick Pfeiffer. I also want to thank the
members of my cabinet and staff, especially my Chief of Staff, Mike Reese.
Thanks also to Franklin County commissioners Paula Brooks, Marilyn Brown, and
John O'Grady, and to all our elected officials here tonight.
I also want to thank my wife, Columbus' First Lady, Frankie Coleman, for all
her love and support, as well as my wonderful children: Justin, Kimberly and
John David. I'm so proud of all of you.
East High School, the home of the East High Tigers, is historic in Columbus,
an incubator of leaders, provider of talent, and contributor to our great
city. Through these halls walked the great Jack Gibbs, who was more than a
principal, a father to thousands of young people, a taskmaster in this
community and a civic leader in his own right. Through these halls walked
such noted graduates as James Thurber, the famed Columbus writer; Bill
Willis, the NFL and College Football Hall of Famer; Phillip Michael Thomas,
better known as Rico Tubbs on Miami Vice; basketball legends such as
Granville Waiters, Ed Ratliff and Dwight Lamar.
This has also been a source of political leadership, State Treasurer Kevin
Boyce, City Councilmembers Hearcel Craig and Troy Miller, State Senator Ray
Miller, and of course the most important graduate, Frankie Coleman, known
then as Frankie Young. This school isn't just a building. It is a cathedral
where minds and lives have been shaped since World War I. This $28 million
renovation is symbolic of what we are trying to accomplish in Columbus,
building for the future.
East High School anchors the east end of Long Street that cuts through the
King-Lincoln district. The Lincoln Theater, which will open this summer, is
the west anchor of the King-Lincoln District. It too isn't just a building.
It is an economic foundation of bringing the area back with jobs and will
stimulate a neighborhood revitalization. This neighborhood has been through
tough times, but because of these efforts, it is on its way back.
While there is progress, our entire city is now going through the most
difficult period of our lifetimes. Every day we are faced with more bad
economic news: financial markets in a tailspin, credit all dried up, company
after company laying off thousands of employees, a dead housing market as
vacant and abandoned buildings multiply, bankruptcies soar, food pantries are
empty because demand is so high. The real measure of these tough times is
their effect on real people's lives: the pain of a parent who can't afford to
send a child to college, the helplessness of facing home foreclosure, the
fruitless search for a job at a time when there are none.
We live in a global crisis, a national crisis, a state crisis and yes, a
crisis right here in Columbus. This crisis has led to some very difficult
decisions: layoffs of excellent city employees, the closure of recreation
centers and swimming pools, significant reductions in yard waste and bulk
trash collection, salary cuts, severe cuts to many quality programs. I have
little doubt that more difficult choices lie ahead.
But even in these difficult times, the state of our city is strong. I say
this not because I am expected to, but because our strength is reflected in
our greatest asset, our people. We are the result of generations of
responsible growth, cooperation, innovation and shared sacrifice. We are an
open community that values diversity and nurtures innovative ideas. We value
hard work, strength of character and perseverance through every challenge, no
matter how great. You see, we will get through this crisis, and we will come
out of it a better city.
But along the way, much will be required of each of us. We will be called
upon to do things differently than we have in the past. We cannot stop
planning for tomorrow just because it is difficult today. We must maintain a
long view toward prosperity for our people. Tough times are a test of our
self-confidence and our ability to endure the long run. I don't want to see
any of us hanging our heads, shuffling our feet, and feeling sorry for
ourselves. Because it's not about how hard we fall in tough times. It's about
how tall we stand in the face of adversity. Because a crisis is just a chance
to show that our city's backbone is made of steel. We must have the steely
resolve to do what is necessary to get through this crisis, while never
lowering our sights in the process.
That is why I have fought so hard for economic recovery dollars for our city.
I am fighting for every dollar from the White House, from the Statehouse,
from Congress. For two months, my staff and I have been working to position
the state, Columbus and our community partners for the maximum allowable
funds from President Obama's stimulus package. We will work together with our
community partners to make the most of this one-time money, and beginning
next week, I will convene a Columbus Economic Recovery Alliance to facilitate
this effort. These stimulus dollars can help us in three critical areas:
first, our youth; second, those who have lost their jobs and need retraining;
and third, public safety.
Under the previous administration in Washington, summer jobs for youth were
virtually eliminated. As a result, unemployment in Columbus spiked last
summer. We stepped up with the Franklin County Commissioners to partially
fill the void and put a thousand teens to work last summer. We've got to give
our young people a chance to do something constructive during the summer
months, rather than standing around on a street corner. Now under a new
president, we have already seen greater investment in our young people.
Through the Central Ohio Workforce Investment Council, we will receive
economic stimulus money in the amount of $6 million. We are proud to announce
that with these new revenues, we will use half of it to hire approximately
2,500 youth this summer. That means more young people will get a job this
summer than at any time since the 1990s. At a time when some of our
recreation centers will be closed, this will help give thousands of young
people a chance to grow and learn in a work environment, and put a little
money in their pockets.
The remaining $3 million will allow us to continue to invest in unemployed
workers who have lost their jobs, giving them the training they need to join
today's workforce in green jobs, in technology, in health care and in other
fields that will be part of a new economy. Thank you to Suzanne Coleman
Tolbert, the jobs lady, and everyone else at COWIC. Thanks also to our other
partners in this effort: the Franklin County Commissioners, United Way, the
Chamber of Commerce and Columbus City Schools.
I have called for sacrifice in these troubled times. This economic crisis
forced us to lay off hundreds of employees and temporarily lay off 1,300
more. We eliminated raises for all city employees under my control, and we
froze hundreds of positions. In addition, we gave layoff notices to 27 police
recruits three days before they were to graduate. Under the layoff plan,
these recruits would be unemployed tomorrow. I had hoped to see voluntary
sacrifice from our employee unions so that more layoffs would not be
necessary. I know there were many employees who wanted to sacrifice. I was
very disappointed that only one union, the firefighters, agreed to make such
a sacrifice. Our city labor leaders, and all of us, need to know that in
times like these, we must ask what we can do for others rather than ask
what's in it for me.
Nevertheless, we didn't give up on these recruits. I went all the way to the
White House to fund this class so that these brave men and women could
graduate. President Obama's stimulus package is already working right here in
Columbus. Because of it, these recruits will serve their city as Columbus
police officers. Thank you, Mr. President.
These stimulus dollars are important, but they will not address our long-term
budget difficulties. To solve that problem we must execute a three-part plan
that focuses on jobs, reform and revenue.
First let me talk about jobs. Jobs do not appear magically from the sky. They
are the result of public-private partnerships. Last year, we fought through a
national recession and entered into 25 development deals, representing $309
million in private sector development, retaining 9,500 jobs and creating
about 6,500 jobs for the next three years. Net Jets, Children's Hospital, NWD
Investments and Tech Center South were the headliners, providing our city
$6.5 million in future revenue.
And we've made so much progress Downtown. As the economic engine of our
region, we brought 3,000 new jobs Downtown. As a regional center of
entertainment and vitality, we are well on our way with the River South
District, the Arena District, the greatest urban park in the nation, Scioto
Mile, and our new baseball stadium, Huntington Park, which will open this
spring. As a neighborhood, we're building 5,000 new condos and apartments
Downtown, not only for people who can afford it and our young professionals,
but also for our most vulnerable.
So today I'm proud to announce that the City of Columbus is a partner in our
newest housing venture where we will build 100 housing units for the
no-income and the low-income of our city in the northeast corner of Downtown.
This will be called the Commons at Buckingham. You see, Downtown is
everybody's neighborhood, no matter your wealth, no matter your background.
Thanks to the National Church Residences, the Community Shelter Board,
Rebuilding Lives and HUD for their partnership.
We have also transformed a potential eyesore in the abandoned Lazarus
building into a jobs center and the largest green rehab building in the
nation. With all these successful efforts, there has been one thing that has
held us back from reaching our fullest potential, the big elephant in the
room, City Center. Once a flourishing retail center, it sat silent with no
possibility of coming alive again in its current form. So we will tear it
down and create a new vision called Columbus Commons. The Columbus Commons
will transform our Downtown, turning one of the largest vacant and abandoned
buildings in the nation into a community treasure and creating some 2,000
jobs in the process. Unlike City Center, Columbus Commons will be open and
interconnected with the surrounding area. The Columbus Commons is the
centerpiece of the Mile on High, the plan I announced last year designed to
bring back retail, office jobs, restaurants and density along the spine of
our city, High Street. It will be at the heart of a vibrant Downtown, with
people shopping and dining along High Street, living and working in
residential and office spaces and gathering in an open green space in the
center. I believe that Downtown parks promote downtown jobs.
Another partner, the Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks System, has
also stepped up in a dynamic way to help us develop the Whittier Peninsula in
the Downtown Market. This is a partnership I value because from this
relationship grew a better bike trail system and many new exciting plans we
will announce soon. With the opening of the first urban nature center in the
heart of a major American city, the Grange Audubon Center will be open to all
families in just a few months. For the first time kids can come to the center
of the city to experience and learn that nature is not just something they
see on the Discovery Channel.
Innovation and entrepreneurialism will leapfrog Columbus into greater
prosperity. It is no accident that Forbes Magazine recognized us as the No. 1
up-and-coming tech city in all of America. And this is largely due to our
friends at Battelle. One of our finest assets in Columbus, Battelle is the
largest contractor in the country for research, development, energy, health,
and science with the federal government. Battelle's work has resulted in
dozens of spinoff businesses and hundreds of jobs in Columbus. Just last
month, Battelle announced it will invest more than $200 million in new
Central Ohio facilities, setting the stage for further development. Battelle
will add about 200 lab and technology jobs in the region over the next three
years.
Technology continues to prosper here. Another great company, Sterling
Commerce, our region's largest software company and our country's biggest
developer of logistics software, entered into an agreement with the city to
keep almost 800 good jobs here in Columbus. With its industry-leading
products and global customer base this is the type of company we want in
Columbus.
Our work does not stop there. It is easy to develop a green field in the
outer edges of our city. But it is extraordinary to take a brownfield in the
middle of our city and convert it into something productive. I often say,
grow outward with a plan; grow inward with a passion. And that passion is
reflected in the final phase of the development at Gowdy Field. Because of
our work, Gowdy Field, once a landfill and an unusable blight, is the site of
Time Warner Headquarters and some 700 jobs. Tonight I am proud to announce
that the James Cancer Center will construct a new medical office building
this November, which will be home to another 130 new, high-paying health care
jobs in 2010. Thank you to Dr. Gordon Gee and to Dr. Michael Caligiuri,
director of OSU Comprehensive Cancer Center, for joining us on this
successful effort.
These job announcements show we are moving in the right direction, but we
still have a long way to go. And we cannot get there alone. We need our banks
and financial institutions to step up. Too many of our businesses have been
unable to access bank loans. Our banks and financial institutions have
received $350 billion in bailout money from the federal government. Still,
people cannot get a loan to buy a house. Banks in Ohio received more than
$7.5 billion in bailout money. And still, small business owners cannot get a
loan to keep their doors open. Our Home Again program is designed to
transform vacant and abandoned properties into homes again. But it will not
be successful if, for every house we save, five additional abandoned
properties appear on the block, or if for every job we create or retain, five
jobs are lost because employers cannot get a loan. So to our banks and
financial institutions: While you may be counting on your bailout money, we
are counting on you.
The second path to economic recovery is to continue to make government more
efficient. This has been a priority of mine since I took office. Our
employees pay more for their health insurance. Our fleet, facilities, real
estate and construction divisions are consolidated. We've sold off excess
vehicles. We've auctioned off surplus property. We've centralized technology.
We've conserved energy in our buildings. But we must do more.
While we have cut to the core, we must not let a good economic crisis go to
waste. We must use this crisis to achieve greater reforms in government. With
City Council and Auditor Dorrian, I have charged the Economic Advisory
Committee to tell us how we can keep delivering quality neighborhood services
while making government leaner. And I want to thank Chairman Bob Howarth and
all the members of the committee for their hard work over the last year.
Some options we're exploring include:
- selling off more supplies and more land
- merging more city operations
- offering private sponsorship
- getting employee benefits in line with the market
- as well as many others.
We will reform internal operations and do whatever we must do to better run
our city. We cannot do things the way we have in the past just because it's
the way we've done it and expect we will improve in the future. One way to do
this is with a new Chief of Police, which I will announce soon. Some of the
qualities we are looking for include:
- Leading from the front and learning from the officers on the street.
- Reaching out to the community and listening to the people.
- Trying new ideas in fighting crime. They work in other parts of the nation
and they will work here, too.
- Managing the police budget to make the most of every tax dollar because we
have fewer of them.
- Promoting a new generation of police leadership within the ranks.
- and diversifying the police force so that our Division of Police reflects
the diversity of our city.
I look forward to working with our next chief on all these issues and more.
While our reforms have brought positive results, many of our cuts are
starting to hurt. We have cut things that have served this city well: the
police Strike Force, recreation centers, the Columbus Urban Growth
Corporation, the Office of Education. Our nonuniformed General Fund workforce
is down 30 percent from when I took office. Yard waste, cut. Convention
marketing, cut. Social services, cut. Community Crime Patrol, cut. Swimming
pools, cut. Salaries, including my own and those of our other elected
officials, cut.
And this isn't the first year we've made tough decisions. I've been cutting
since I took office. Since I've been Mayor, we've cut each and every year. In
fact, our budget is now $155 million less than the cost of business as usual
since I took office. In other words, since the year 2000, we've cut almost
the equivalent of the entire general fund budget of the City of Akron. Even
without this recession, we would still be required to close a substantial gap
for this year's budget. Columbus, we cannot cut our way to prosperity.
We are at the crossroads. We can be the city of continued prosperity for the
21st Century or we can fall behind. The City of Columbus has not had a major
new revenue source in 27 years. In 1982 a Republican named Tom Moody fought
to update the city's income tax. His task was not easy. The nation was in a
deep recession. People were pessimistic and anxious. But the citizens of
Columbus wanted a brighter future for themselves and their children. Mayor
Moody's tough decisions followed in the footsteps of another Republican
mayor, Jim Rhodes, who convinced Columbus voters to support our first income
tax. We cannot continue to run an effective 21st Century city on a budget
model that's almost three decades old.
With conservative budgeting and strong management practices, Columbus has
been able to operate without harming essential services, up until this year.
We are cutting into the bone and could face more cuts this year. And so we
now face our last resort: raising new revenue. We have not yet determined the
form or the source of the new revenue, but unless the city receives new
revenue, we will be forced to make more cuts cuts that will make the
decisions of the past month seem trivial. Without new revenue we could face a
2010 general fund deficit of $30 to $50 million. That's on top of the nearly
$100 million gap we closed this year. To put that in context, in order to
save $40 million we would have to shut down the entire Department of
Recreation and Parks, lay off 200 police officers, abolish Code Enforcement,
and go to every-other-week for refuse pickup. Our residents deserve better.
We must fight crime and fight fires to protect our people. We must deliver
core services for our neighborhoods. We must have great parks and open up and
maintain our recreation centers for our youth. We must have code enforcement
to ward off blight and neglect. We must have regular trash collection to keep
our streets clean. And we must have snow removal to keep our streets clear. I
await the Economic Advisory Committee for their counsel and advice over the
coming weeks. That's what our citizens deserve.
That's what our citizens demand. But it isn't free. A couple of weekends ago,
I read a column by Joe Hallett in the Dispatch. He said we live in an era of
"new standards of responsibility." Joe said, "If you want it, you have to pay
for it." He said, "Government services and programs cost money, and they're
not getting cheaper. If you want to continue getting them, be prepared to pay
more. If you don't want to pay more, be prepared for the services and
programs to be cut or ceased, and then don't complain about it." He went on
to say, "Punish politicians who tell you otherwise, because they're lying.
You can't have more for less."
I feel that part of my job is to tell you not just what you want to hear, but
also what you need to hear. I know this is a difficult time to say it's time
for new revenue. But the consequence of inaction is so enormous, the quality
of life in Columbus as we know it is at stake. We are not the federal
government. We cannot borrow money against the future for current-day
operations. We cannot use money intended for infrastructure projects for
salaries and services. Not only would that go against city law, but it's bad
financial management. So I ask for your help.
Our team will review the recommendations of the Economic Advisory committee
and hold public meetings to get your feedback. But I am committed to our plan
of more jobs, more reform, and new revenue.
We know what's bad about this economic crisis. But what's good about this
crisis is that we learn something about ourselves in how we respond to it.
Tough times reveal true character. Some cower from the fear of uncertainty.
Others think only of themselves. I understand that, but I do not accept it.
While some believe we should sit on our hands and do nothing, I say we should
use our hands to build for the future. Now is the time to stand up for our
city, because this is a city worth fighting for. We are in a new era of
courage, responsibility and sacrifice.
When I asked our unions to step up, the Columbus Firefighters went beyond the
call of duty and voluntarily gave up their pay raises. They are not only
saving lives, but by sacrificing, they are also saving millions of dollars
and hundreds of jobs, including their own. It is easy to lead in times of
comfort and convenience, but it takes courage to set aside one's self
interest in favor of a broader community purpose. That is why I will nominate
them for the Profiles in Courage Award, administered by the John F. Kennedy
library. This prestigious national award is for public officials who stand up
for a broader community interest beyond their own self-interest. I believe
these firefighters deserve strong consideration for reminding us all what it
means to go beyond the call of duty in difficult times.
Our citizens are stepping up too. Bishop Jerry Pierce and Brian Hall of
Miracle Cathedral, City of Mercy, also went above and beyond the call of duty
on one of the coldest nights of the winter last month, braving the arctic
temperatures from 9 p.m. until after midnight, visiting every homeless camp
in the city to offer shelter and temporary housing.
Our doctors are stepping up too at Physicians Free Clinic, run by the
Columbus Medical Association, where they provide primary and specialty care
to our most vulnerable residents. Hundreds of doctors and people from the
community are volunteering their time, seeing up to 90 patients every Monday
evening at Columbus Public Health. They represent the best of their
profession.
Nonprofits and foundations have also stepped up to help fill the void left by
the closing of recreation centers. Thanks to a grant from The Columbus
Foundation made just today, Campfire USA will undertake the operation of one
of our closed rec centers.
Many people, institutions and organizations are stepping up in this time of
crisis. This is who we are, and this is why I love this city, and this is why
I love this job. Hope and aspiration will lift us to our fullest potential.
But it is our community's perseverance, our willpower, that will break
through the wall of this economic crisis.
My father went to college at the age of 15. He grew up in a small southern
Indiana town along the Ohio River called Madison. He was taught in the same
one-room building through all his years of school. It meant something in
those days to overcome the odds when you had no money, no chance for success,
in a little town where black folks could not even walk on the same sidewalk
as white folks. My grandmother was a maid in a hotel she could not stay in
herself. And my grandfather was a janitor for the public library. It meant
something when challenge after challenge was overcome to go on to medical
school and then graduate to become a doctor. The task seemed insurmountable.
It was my father's hope and his aspiration that allowed him to achieve his
fullest potential.
Knowing this, I once asked my dad, a man of few words, what really made the
difference. He said only one word: "Perseverance." In difficult times like
these, I often go back to that one word: "perseverance," the willpower to do
what is necessary to achieve. We will come through this crisis a stronger
city. But that means we must make tough choices today, while always keeping
our eyes on prosperity for tomorrow.
Thank you and God Bless each of you.