TOLEDO, Ohio - The City of Toledo is moving in the right direction. That was the message Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz delivered Thursday during his State of the City address.
Speaking from Waite High School, Mayor Kapszukiewicz listed a number of ways the city has improved over the last year.
"We've resurfaced more miles of road than we've done any time in the last 20 years, crime is down, the size of our police force is growing, our rainy day fund went from a little over a million to over 21 million. We didn't have to transfer money from Peter to pay Paul, in fact we had an $8.5 million surplus," Kapszukiewicz said.
He also touted his administration's relationship with Toledo City Council and the voter's approval of the Regional Water Authority last November as positives during his last twelve months in office.
The Mayor also pointed out a number of challenges the City still faces, like an increase in gun violence, a high poverty rate and the need for more infrastructure projects like road resurfacing.
To continue his message of governmental transparency, the Mayor announced a program of performance indicators that would be used to measure efficiency in a number of City functions.
"This year you are going to see key performance indicators all over City of Toledo platforms ... We're going to measure the things that we do and you're going to see which ones we get right and which ones we get wrong," The Mayor said.
Kapszukiewicz expressed his focus on continuing to improve the city, acknowledging the challenges that lie ahead.
"Are we going to be satisfied with how far we've come or are we going to make the tough decisions and dig down and do what it takes to finish the job? I think we choose the latter."