Butler Tech School of the Arts musical group Moon Day opened up the State of the City Address. Two Chandler Hoffert, theater major, Tucker Cowden, Zach Swelbar, both rock band majors made up the group and wrote the lyrics and music for the song, “Rise.”
“When you rise the sun
The feelings makes you want to run
To the broken people
Dreaming, to the sky
Chase through the phases of night
From light til not
Done is the day of the thought
Can you arrange the change in a city so pretty
The time is now, rise to the sun, change has begun to rain
Today
Leave the dust and grind, stand behind, us.
We are the story,
A city of change.
Dreams of broken glass, spread on the ground
That’s the sound, a new start
The streets, the faces the art
The places you go…
Hamilton is going to be bold, beautiful and a magnet for jobs and job seekers, according to the blueprint laid out for the city in the next five years by City Manager Joshua Smith and Mayor Patrick Moeller at the sold-out 2015 State of the City Address held at the Courtyard By Marriott Hamilton Thursday afternoon.
Kenny Craig, president/CEO of the Greater Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, hosts of the event along with the Rotary Club and Kiwanis, said that the sell-out crowd, estimated at over 280 people, was record setting.
“I can honestly say that this is the largest crowd we’ve ever had at our Red Carpet Luncheon,” Craig said. “People must be really excited about they are going to hear today.”
Before Moeller delivered his speech, he asked the crowded room to take a moment of silence for Hamilton police Sgt. Gerald Butler, who lost his life Tuesday night in a car accident. The mayor called him a great officer and family man, then preceded to talk about a boxer, whose career was analogous to what Hamilton is about.
“There was a boxer of Irish decent back in the Depression era his name was James Braddock,” he explained. “He lost a championship bout in 1929, then the Depression really hit. He lost money and was injured and then went on public assistance to help his family.”
Moeller said that Braddock didn’t let defeat ruin him and fought his way back to eventually become champion in 1935, while also paying the government back for the public assistance he received. He added that Hamilton is just like Braddock — after suffering hard times — the city has fought back, too.
“There are comparisons to boxer James Braddock with Hamilton, Ohio,” Moeller explained. “With a solid chin, hard aggressive punch and good character, Hamilton is back on a championship track in 2015.”
Sticking with the sports theme, Moeller remarked how the past year has been a winning 12 months for the city. Last year the mayor said he listed three challenges during the State of the City address: Main Street, the Ohio Casualty Building and the budget.
“All three are progressing, but they’re progressing at different rates of speed,” Moeller said. “Main Street is positively transforming with the help of the city, CORE Fund and private investment. In two months you will see change on Main St., in six months more change and in 12 months or less very significant change. Regarding the budget, we now have an attainable goal of a structurally balanced general fund budget or even a surplus in the year 2016.”
He said the city will continue to work with the owner of the Ohio Casualty Building to find a way to make the property productive for Hamilton.
Smith takes the stage and lays out a blueprint
Moeller introduced Smith as, “the architect of our success,” and “not just that guy from Iowa or Wisconsin.” Smith went through a highlight reel of slides featuring a multiplicity of city projects that have come to fruition.
“For the first time of the six state of the city addresses I’ve had the pleasure of doing with Mayor Moeller, we’ve had a good headline in every month,” Smith explained.
He looked at the parks conservancy (Marcum Park success) and the improvements made to all of the parks in the city including the Spraygrounds. Smith talked about the profitability of the golf courses in the city, which are in the black.
His slideshow presentation went through the headlines highlighting the city’s successes.
“We’ve added 3,000 jobs since 2013,” Smith said.
He spotlighted the jobs coming from Barclays and StarTek and companies that have brought more than $60 million in downtown investment.
“It has just been incredible,” Smith said. “Most people will gauge how a city is doing by how its downtown looks.”
He also discussed the success of many of the city’s infrastructure improvements.
“The first few comments I had with Speaker (John) Boehner was about infrastructure projects,” Smith said. He added that there are three major infrastructure projects in the works that will improve traffic in the eastern and western parts of the city.
The Main Street renaissance and the city’s rebuilt image including: Artspace lofts project, Bike Trail, Meldahl Hyro-electric plant, High Street Cafe, Richards Pizza, Jackson’s Market, RiversEdge Amphitheater, East High Street Corridor improvement project, South Hamilton Crossing, credit card metered parking, Hamilton Mill, Community First Solutions move to downtown and Film Hamilton made the highlight reel. The proposed downtown brewery(Brewworks) is brewing again and should be opened in early 2016. The police department’s recent diverse hiring class and the efficiency of the fire department received a warm response from the audience.
Getting bold in the future
Smith discussed his visit to the St. Louis Museum and how it draws 700,000 people to it each year. A trip to a small city in Spain and its museum, left him thinking why can’t Hamilton have that?
“Why can’t we put art on the parking garage?” Smith asked. “We need some art galleries and more restaurants downtown — it helps the existing restaurants.”
In capping his remarks, Smith talked about the need to be bold. He said Wednesday, as he was fine tuning his speech, he noticed the space behind the Artspace building across from Jackson’s Market.
Smith had a vision. He wants to create a concrete ping pong table, chess board, boccie ball, cornhole, swings for adults and kids and a Gaga Pit (think dodge ball). So he lined up the investors the same day, and thanks to ODW Logistics, the Hamilton Community Foundation and Influx the project will soon be moving from vision to reality.
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