City Manager: Dayton Recovery Plan - Inclusion, Imagination, Investment

There’s been a conversation going on in Dayton over the past year–a discussion involving neighbors, businesspeople, community activists, elected leaders, city planners and administrators, financial analysts, and many others. 

What’s the topic of that special conversation? Well, nothing more than the future of our city and an extraordinary opportunity to have a giant, positive impact on that future. 

You may have already heard a few things about the Dayton Recovery Plan–a roadmap for helping our city emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, made possible by the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and its $138 million grant to the City of Dayton.

Here are the priorities identified in the plan developed under my direction and adopted by the City Commission, following the community conversation involving meetings, a survey and other participation opportunities:

  • Demolition of up to 1,000 blighted properties throughout Dayton;
  • Park enhancements and eight additional spray parks (in addition to park improvements made possible by the voter-approved Issue 9 measure in 2016);
  • Housing construction and renovation in targeted areas;
  • Sidewalk/curb repairs and tree lawn upgrades in targeted areas;
  • Support for black- and brown-owned businesses, economic development and job creation;
  • Investment in essential City services and City facilities.

The plan provides a framework for infusion of ARPA funding into targeted areas and focus neighborhoods:  Wolf Creek, Edgemont, Carillon, Miami Chapel, Five Oaks, Old North Dayton, Twin Towers and the Wright Factory Site in West Dayton, as well as other special investments across Dayton, all with a goal of disrupting multi-generational poverty, income, and health disparities, while enhancing the city as a community attracting further, ongoing investment. 

An opportunity of this magnitude calls for what we might call a series of “I-words”:  Inclusion (a broad community conversation); Imagination (creative problem-solving); and Investment (strategic, data-driven actions that can make a difference). 

Though there’s currently a lull in the conversation, there is still much work going on to ensure the prudent finalization and then implementation of the Dayton Recovery Plan. That work involves evaluating available data to guide important decisions—for example, examination (on a case-by-case basis) of structure conditions, tax delinquencies, ownership status and more when making housing renovation plans, or analysis of neighborhood population data and trends to help determine new spray park locations. 

During 2021, the City solicited applications from community groups and local businesses to apply for a portion of the recovery funds to address community needs. There were 93 eligible applications, with 42 recommended for potential funding. We expect the successful applications to be announced by the time spring flowers are in full bloom and awards to be finalized by mid-2022.

For more information on the Dayton Recovery Plan, visit the daytonohio.gov/arpa.

Jun 30

[ARCHIVED] Police: Serving the community, so many ways

The original item was published from June 30, 2022 3:49 PM to June 30, 2022 3:50 PM

Dayton Police Uniform Patch

We see the uniform, we see the badge, and we probably notice the gun they carry. But as with nearly any situation or group of people, there is much more than meets the eye.

Have you looked at the face of the man or woman who wakes up every day and makes a decision to protect perfect strangers?

If you look at a bodycam video of Dayton Officer Thadeu Holloway, you would see blood dripping onto the camera lens from a gunshot wound on the side of his head after he was shot by a fraud suspect (an incident occurring in September of 2021 that resulted in Officer Holloway being recognized nationally for exemplary policing work).

If you listen to the audio from that scene, you would hear Officer Holloway communicating with innocent bystanders, telling them to stay where they were because the suspect still had a gun--and then thanking them for being cooperative. You would hear Officer Holloway refuse to leave to get needed medical attention because the scene needed to be secured and the suspect needed first aid as well.

Sure, you might say, “That was all over the news and that’s only one officer and one incident.”

There are more…Do you know about Officer Hargraves, who plucked a distressed man from the edge a bridge, preventing him from jumping? How about Officers Ishmael and Wiesman, who were first to arrive on a fire scene and found a frantic mother whose baby was still inside the burning building? They went inside the home, guided by the mother, and rescued the child from a certain death.

Then there’s Officer Olinger, who saved a trapped car accident victim’s life by putting a tourniquet on his badly damaged arm, giving firefighters time to carefully remove the man from the twisted vehicle. You should also know about Officers Murphy and Urekar, who put a woman in their cruiser and rushed her to the hospital when her EpiPen wasn’t alleviating a serious allergic reaction. Oh, and they made sure her car got to the hospital, so it was there when she was released.

And though there was no media coverage, please be aware that Officer Webster apprehended a man moments after he tried to kidnap a woman at gunpoint, and that Officers Speelman and Betsinger helped a mom get her autistic teenager home safely and then retrieved her keys from a roof, where the teen had thrown them.

Then there are the detectives who spend years on investigating and bringing cases to trial, such as Detective Dulaney, who worked to bring justice to a number of scammers who took advantage of residents after the tornadoes of 2019. Or how about Detective Phillips who worked tirelessly to put a drug dealer responsible for four overdose deaths in prison?

In 2021, more than 40 Dayton officers (and some civilians) worked together as a team on a gun reduction initiative, succeeding in removing more than 100 guns from our streets and making 191 felony arrests. The efforts were targeted at those taking part in the most violent crimes.

These law enforcement professionals didn’t know any of the people they saved or helped or sought justice for. They don’t put on the badge for recognition, and they don’t carry a gun because they want to use it. I hope when you see the badge, you will also see the face of the man or woman who wakes up every morning and makes a decision to protect perfect strangers.

When recruiting new officers, the Dayton Police Department seeks people who value fairness and service above all else. We’re looking for recruits now; the application period ends July 31. The potential for job specialization and growth toward leadership positions is plentiful—recruits are sometimes surprised by the scope of skills and interests that police work can involve. I encourage anyone interested to look into this opportunity. Information is available at joindaytonpd.com.