Seven months into his term of office, Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz gave his administration a positive review in a speech on Monday to the Toledo Rotary Club.
He was right to qualify the success of his term of office as “doing better,” rather than “mission accomplished.” Much good has happened but much remains to be even started.
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The mayor cited a unanimous early council vote on the 2018 budget, advancing regional water, creation of 788 jobs, and spending more on street resurfacing than any of the past 20 years, except one.
He cited the transfer of two city parks — Toledo Botanical Garden and Manhattan Marsh — to Metroparks Toledo, though the work on both transfers was done in the previous administration.
Mr. Kapszukiewicz cited his merging of his own departments of Economic Development and Neighborhoods and consolidating the Youth Commission and Board of Community Relations into a new Human Relations Commission. These are inside-baseball moves that help the mayor run his office, but are not really evident to the public in their day-to-day lives.
A major campaign promise was to merge the city’s office of building inspection with that of Lucas County. That one, so far, is out of reach, though the mayor says some changes in procedure have shaved 12 days off the time it takes for plan review.
Mr. Kapszukiewicz put a good spin on his switcheroo in support of a compromise plan for regional water. After finding that the proposed Toledo Area Water Authority was a nonstarter with City Council, Mr. Kapszukiewicz has become an ardent fan of a plan in which Toledo would retain the water treatment system, but turn over rate-setting authority to a regional commission, while retaining override power.
This he portrayed as a real delegation of power, proven by the fact that it will require a city charter change to be approved by Toledo voters in November. Some of the city’s suburban customers aren’t buying it.
The mayor was right to acknowledge that positive winds are at his back: income tax receipts are up and the nation’s population is trending back into urban centers. So far, Toledo is one of only seven of the 100 largest U.S. cities that haven’t seen growth in population since 2010. Said the mayor: “this next census [2020] is going to be a big one.”
Much remains to be done. Where is a finance director, after seven months in office, under a mayor who was elected largely on criticisms of the financial ineptitude of the previous administration?
Where is a plan for early childhood education? This was the mayor’s big-picture idea. He asserted that he would launch a campaign to make it happen, and without city taxpayers footing the bill. So far, the idea is playing hooky.
Mr. Kapszukiewicz noted that he has some 80 new police officers in some stage of hiring and training, well ahead of his four-year goal to increase police staffing from 600 to 660. It’s not just a numbers game, though. An effective police department is visible and able to communicate with the population. That means officers in neighborhoods, maybe more on bikes, maybe with more substations.
While there are many responsibilities on the mayor, one that will yield fruit well into the future is emphasis on encouraging populated, safe, beautiful, and well-served neighborhoods that attract residents who can afford to look elsewhere. That means an all-out war on blight and neglect. The Lucas County Land Bank (chaired by Mayor Kapszukiewicz) is succeeding in its 1,500 demolitions in 1,500 days, and the mayor now has named a director of neighborhoods, Amy Sackman Odum, a former director of community development in Lima. These are good steps and should be followed up by tangible support.
Toledo has a decent, articulate, and visionary mayor. He’s off to a good start, but he must show that he’s adding value to the positive national trends already sweeping Toledo along.
First Published August 1, 2018, 9:00 p.m.
