2007 Message from Mayor Jim Smith
INTERVIEW with MAYOR JIM SMITH by TV8 WAYNE DAWSON and STEPAHNIE SCHAEFER, 6-15-99
The centerpiece of Vice President Al Gore's agenda is called Better America Bonds.
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| Avon's Mayor Jim Smith is interviewed by Wayne Dawson and Stephanie Schaefer. |
STEPHANIE: Joining us this morning is Avon Mayor Jim Smith who has some doubts about this big plan.
MAYOR JIM SMITH: Well, the part of the plan that lets you buy park land with interest-free bonds is a good idea. This gives communities the ability to put an issue on the ballot ... to buy green space. The richer communities will do this ...
[Gore] also wants to stifle some of the highway money that would go to the suburbs. This is a bad idea ...
WAYNE: You guys have a lot of vacant land out in Avon ... You have an alternate to the Vice President's proposal ...
MAYOR JIM SMITH: You've got to be pro-active. Five years ago we downsized the amount of houses per acre. We used to be 2.2 houses per acre ... We went to 1.8 homes [per acre]. We went from 18 units in an apartment to 12; and we went from 12 condominius per acre to 8 ...
We did this somewhat ahead of the development ... It's very difficult to do this unless you're ahead of the game ... We have approximately 3000 approved lots in the City ...
As far as residents moving out [to Avon], we don't try to attract them ... People just want bigger lots.
WAYNE: You feel so helpless when you live in a suburb ... and there's more development. You came out there because you like the greenspace, and all of a sudden that greenspace is leaving ...
MAYOR JIM SMITH: When you buy a 100 by 150-foot lot, that's what you get. You can't expect the person who's owned that property ... to say 'I don't want to sell my property.' ...
The [Vice President's] bond idea actually makes people put their money where their mouths are. If you want the greenspace you're going to have to pay for the greenspace ...
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| Mayor Jim Smith comments on Vice President Al Gore's Better America Bonds. |
The idea of making it difficult for people to get out to the suburbs is not a good idea ... One of the largest growth areas in our economy is small business ... A gentleman or lady has his business in Cleveland. You make it so difficult for him to to get in and out that eventually he moves his business out to the suburbs.
Everybody wants to get to their "country club." That's where the greenspace is at. People want to play golf ... That gentleman or lady who drives back and forth to Cleveland is going to say 'I can't get in there anymore.' ...
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Source: LorainCounty.com, LLC
Avon 2007 General Election
The following are the 2007 General Election Avon Candidates/Issues as released by the Lorain County Board of Elections.
Council At Large (Elect 3)
Kevin Patrick Flanigan, II 1,764
Brian Parsons 1,395
Web Site: www.ParsonsForAvon.com
Clinton S. Pelfrey 1,861
Craig Witherspoon 1,950 New Council President
1st Ward Council: Bryan K. Jensen 742
2nd Ward Council: Dennis McBride 622
3rd Ward Council: Timothy Nickum (deceased)
replaced by Mark Yonchak on 11-5-07
4th Ward Council: Daniel C. Urban 608
Avon Local School District (Elect 2)
Rudolph Chavez 976
Web Site: www.myspace.com/chavezforavonschools
Ruth Ann Keller 1,574
Mary Angela Marsiglia 1,587
Kevin J. Romanchok 1,710
Issues
#29 Avon Replacement and Decrease/ 1.90 mills, Street Improvements, 5 years
No. 29 For: 2,647 Against: 1,072
#30 Avon Charter Amendment Ordinance No. 71-07, Amending Article XIII, Sections 7(a) and 7(c) entitled "General Provisions - Charter Review"
This amendment gives the Charter Review Selection Committee sole authority regarding selection of Charter Review Commission members and removes approval by City Council. [In effect this gives the Mayor the power to appoint the Charter Review Commission because the majority of the members of the Selection Committee are appointed by the Mayor. If this charter amendment is defeated, Council will continue to appoint the Charter Review Commission.]
No. 30 For: 2,319 Against: 899
#31 Avon Charter Amendment Ordinance No. 72-07, Amending Article IV, Section 3(a) entitled "President of Council - Separate Office"
This Charter amendment has the Council President selected from the At Large Councilpersons by Council as a Whole. [At present, the Council President is selected by the vote of the people.]
No. 31, For: 2,555 Against: 857
#32 Avon Charter Amendment Ordinance No. 73-07, Amending Article VIII, Section 5 entitled "Public Bidding"
[Raises the no-bid limit from $5,000 to $10,000]
No. 32, For: 2,072 Against: 1,389
#33 Avon Charter Amendment Ordinance No. 74-07, Amending Article V, Section 4 entitled "Director of Public Safety"
This Charter Amendment removes the following language: "The Director of Public Safety shall make all necessary rules and regulations for the government of the Department of Public Safety." [In effect, this allows other persons, such as the Police Chief and Fire Chief to make the rules, although no line of responsibility is spelled out.]
No. 33, For: 2,559 Against: 913
#34 Avon Charter Amendment Ordinance No. 75-07, Amending Article VI, Section 3 concerning Civil Service Commission
The general law of Ohio, except the Constitution, shall not apply to the civil service of this city.
No. 34, For: 2,161 Against: 1,058
#35 Avon Amendment Resolution No R-27-07, Amendment to Section 880.03(a) of Codified Ordinances and Section 880.29(a) Relating to rate of income tax and income tax credit in order to provide funding for a new recreational facility and declaring an emergency
No. 35, For: 2,171 Against: 1,557
2007 Lorain County Issues
#24 Lorain County Renewal/ 0.60 mill, Mental Health
No. 24, For: 37,965 Against: 21,029
#25 Lorain County Referendum on Ordinance No. 07-150, County Sales Tax
No. 25, For: 11,568 Against: 46,280
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To Our Residents:
On November 6th [2007] you will be asked to vote on two issues -- a .25% income tax for a recreation complex and the replacement of a two mill street levy. I am writing to give you information on each issue.
As you may know, a recreation complex is being proposed for the City of Avon. The first phase of the project would see the construction of a 65-67,000 square foot recreation center and indoor swimming pool, built in partnership with the Y.M.C.A. of Greater Cleveland.
In November we will be asking Avon residents to approve a .25% income tax to help finance this project (Ballot Issue #35). This tax will only affect people working in the City of Avon. The only exception to this would be for those working in an area that does not have a workplace tax or has a tax less than 1.5%. There will be no tax paid on pensions, dividends, interest, annuities, etc.
By partnering with the Y.M.C.A. and having funding through this income tax, we will be able to provide a first class facility comparable to those available in other cities. There will be programs for everyone from children through senior citizens.
The Y.M.C.A. will contribute $5.5 million to the project and will operate the center, assuming all operating expenses and saving Avon residents significant costs. During a survey taken approximately four years ago, this was an amenity desired by over 85% of those asked.
The center will also have baseball fields, one of which will be home to a professional baseball team from the Frontier League. In later phases we will add an outdoor pool with slides, indoor hockey and indoor and outdoor soccer. By partnering with the Y.M.C.A. and obtaining the long-term agreement with the minor league baseball team, we will be able to accomplish all of the above at a very reasonable cost for the City and its residents.
We also have on the ballot a replacement levy for the Street Department (Ballot Issue #29). We are proposing the replacement of a 2 mill levy with a 1.9 mill levy. With inflation, asking for replacement of two mills would produce more money than actually needed. The 1.9 mills is appropriate. This levy has been used to fund our Street Department over the last several years and will continue to be used in order to provide salting, snow plowing, patching of streets and the newly implemented service of picking up and mulching tree branches.
James A. Smith, Mayor, City of Avon
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