City hears public testimony for Toledo Recovery Plan
Aug. 5—City officials heard testimony from members of the public about how to spend the more than $180 million Toledo will receive from the American Rescue Plan Act at a virtual webinar Wednesday.
The virtual event was the second of six meetings the city plans to hold to seek public input for the Toledo Recovery Plan before it presents a final proposal to city council.
Ideas from the public Tuesday ranged from using the funds to take care of homeless residents to universal pre-kindergarten to developing more community hubs. Others expressed the need to address climate change, provide more mental health resources, and increase the city's stock of affordable housing.
The city has listed five categories under its priorities: youth, parks, and recreation; safe and livable neighborhoods; job creation and economic development; green and healthy housing, and avoiding cuts in city services. Wednesday's meeting focused on getting input from the public regarding each of the categories the city hopes to prioritize.
Under the category of youth, parks, and recreation, Toledo Lucas County Homelessness Board Executive Director Rachel Gagnon voiced support for universal pre-K and the positive social determinants research suggests it develops.
"Study after study has shown it's the easiest way to get ahead of housing instability, housing insecurity later in life," Ms. Gagnon said. "So, if that's one of the focuses that the city is looking at, I would be a strong proponent of that."
Community member John Jones agreed.
"I really want to underscore the need for a comprehensive community-based approach to early education," Mr. Jones said at the meeting. "Getting our kids off to a strong start is crucial ...The impacts we see later in life as it relates to workforce development, poverty issues, housing issues, food insecurity, all of those different things, it really begins at the early stages of life. So we've got to get our kids off to a strong start."
Discussing job creation and economic development, Artisha Lawson argued a holistic, thoughtful approach must be implemented to ensure the money goes toward sustainable solutions.
"If we're going to look at job creation, we also need to look at that steps that are needed in order to earn a living wage," she said. "What are those soft skills? Typing, maybe it's a GED. There's a lot of additional wraparound projects and services that are needed in order for someone to first have that opportunity."
Ms. Lawson also contended filling in "need gaps" in communities around Toledo would be a good investment, and also an opportunity to sprout new local businesses.
"There are neighborhoods that don't have grocery stores," she said. "Maybe there's entrepreneurs out there that have a community garden that they want to scale up into an actual store."
The city's next meeting will take place in person on Aug. 10 at Whitmer High School from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. City officials and members of the Toledo Recovery Plan Task Force are asking the public to weigh in on how the city should spend its stimulus by filling out a survey at www.toledo.oh.gov/recovery.
Doni Miller, chief executive officer of the Neighborhood Health Association, who hosted Wednesday's virtual meeting, expressed the importance of engaging in this opportunity she said might be once in a lifetime.
"One hundred and eighty million is an awful lot of money, and this opportunity I guarantee you, will not come back to us anytime soon," she said. "So, share with us your thoughts around the thing you've always wanted to happen in this community. Talk to us about that."
First Published August 4, 2021, 6:01pm
