Don't forget the Cleveland Pops Concert this Saturday!

Please remember to come out and join us on Saturday, August 30th for the greatest Cleveland Pops concert to date!  The City of Elyria and Main Street Elyria are bringing the Cleveland Pops to play an uncanny Superhero-charged concert on historic Ely Square!  Superheroes to Kids in Ohio will be there with Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Supergirl, and all their friends and arch-enemies to entertain and enlighten the kids of Elyria.  Bring your whole family...the children and family activities start at 5:00pm on Ely Square with a chalk-walk, games, and giveaways!  The concert starts at 7:00pm with fireworks to follow!

Cleveland Pops Concert - Saturday, August 30 @ 7:00pm




 Presented by the City of Elyria and Main Street Elyria

 

Young and old, bring your family, your blankets, your lawn chairs – and even your capes – for a colorful, FREE, thoroughly entertaining evening of classical music with a bang, complete with mini-fireworks and superheroes.  Designed to bring out the kid in all of us, children of all ages will be captivated by music featured in your favorite superheroes’ films and TV by many of the great cine-master composers, and directed by super pops conductor Carl Topilow.  And don’t worry, your favorite patriotic tunes will be incorporated, carrying on our tradition of honoring our real heroes.

Your gamma ray strengths will come to life with visits from the likes of Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, Captain America and many more thanks to Super Heroes to Kids in Ohio.  And please, come dressed as your favorite superhero and become eligible to win special prizes!  At this concert you’ll learn what it takes to be a hero and how to know one when you see one!  Family-friendly pre-concert events begin at 5:15pm in Ely Square.  Keith’s Comics will be distributing free comic books.  The Elyria Art Depot will be sponsoring three public art projects for you to participate in including a Superhero Chalkwalk, a Create a Superhero Downtown Mural Challenge, and creating an original piece of Superhero Art that will hang in the square during the concert.

Musicians from the Cleveland Pops will be sponsoring an Instrument Petting Zoo to expose children to musical instruments and food vendors will be available for your dining pleasure.

Special Thanks to the Following Sponsors

Lorain National Bank

Community Foundation of Lorain County
University Hospitals Elyria Medical Center
Sally Hudnutt
Lois Ohlemacher

Lorain County Community College Foundation
Sibley
Neal Hubbard
Mayor Holly C. Brinda

LaFlavour Concert is This Weekend!

Please don't forget that the rescheduled LaFlavour concert in Ely Square is this Saturday, August 24th at 5:00pm! Call Parks and Recreation with any questions at 440-326-1500!

WHY THE CITY OF ELYRIA NEEDS A ¼ PERCENT TEMPORARY TAX INCREASE

Dear Elyrians and Elyria Stakeholders,

 

As active members of the Elyria community and those who are invested in the City’s current and future success, I am writing to ask you to become informed about a very important issue.  The temporary, 4.5 year, one quarter percent (1/4%) income tax increase being proposed by the City Administration and Elyria City Council in the fall 2014 election will generate an estimated $3.2 million annually and will be directed largely to safety services to KEEP ELYRIA SAFE. The Issue, yet to receive a number from the Lorain County Board of Elections, is necessary if we want Elyria to:

·        Maintain 65 front-line firefighters – just enough to meet national safety standards and state auditor recommendations;

·        Sustain a police force of 93, including eight new sworn officers to improve neighborhood safety and address speeding and traffic concerns;

·        Provide a small recruitment incentive stipend to Auxiliary Police to enhance safety (at present they get paid nothing);

·        Fund safety-related equipment, vehicles and capital repairs and emergency road and bridge repairs;

·        Support Police Department crime prevention initiatives including training programs and materials, and surveillance cameras for downtown;

·        Support a Reverse 911 System.     

Since taking office almost three years ago, my administration and I have been working with Elyria City Council and caring citizens like you to better position Elyria for a brighter future.  At the top of the agenda has been finding ways to provide high quality city services at a time when revenue continues to decline.  The repeal of the Estate Tax, a decline in the Local Government Fund from the State of Ohio, and the expiration stimulus funds the City has been relying on to fund firefighter and police officer positions – are all reasons for the revenue decline.  Combined, these reductions represent about $4.45 million annually in the City’s General Fund. 

To address this shortfall and keep the City moving forward, we have taken the following proactive steps:

·        Requested a Voluntary Performance Audit by the State Auditor of every department in the City;

·        Made workplace adjustments that have resulted in over $2 million in savings so far  (In both General Fund and Enterprise Funds);   

·        Passed a five-year income tax RENEWAL to help stabilize core services.

·        Developed the City’s first Economic Development Plan to retain, expand and attract businesses and grow our tax base.  The Plan is already partially funded with federal, state and other grants.

·        For more information regarding all of these initiatives, please visit www.cityofelyria.org.

The next step in the financial stabilization process is to pass a small, temporary income tax increase to partially offset the lost stimulus funding ($2.45 million annually) for the fire and police departments and the lost state funding ($2 million annually) that was helping to pay for important safety service-related programs, equipment and repairs.   Without passage of this small, temporary increase, the City of Elyria will be forced to reduce the equivalent of 32 positions – a necessary move to balance the budget that will impact personnel in every department across the City and have a drastic, negative impact on quality of life services to our citizens.

BOTH the recently passed temporary ½ percent income tax renewal and this proposed temporary income tax increase will expire at the same time in June of 2019.  This will allow the citizens of Elyria, City Council and the City administration to assess the needs of the City at that time and re-calibrate the funding sources based on ever-changing state and federal revenue streams and the state of the local economy.

Right now things can go one of two ways for Elyria: good or bad.  Passage of this issue will help keep the positive momentum going and KEEP ELYRIA SAFE and moving in the right direction.   To that end, we hope you will become informed about the need for this issue and share this important information with others.

If you would like to learn more or get involved with the Elyrians First Committee promoting the campaign, please visit them at facebook.com/elyriansfirst.  Or you can call, (440) 371-2285.  Thank you in advance for your consideration. 

Sincerely,

Holly C. Brinda

Mayor

2013 – 2016 City of Elyria Economic Development Plan

August, 2014

Dear Elyrians and Elyria Stakeholders,

Herein please find the 2013 – 2016 City of Elyria Economic Development Plan. The Plan is designed to act as a framework to help guide the City in its efforts to retain, expand and attract businesses, thus sustaining and creating jobs and growing our tax base. It is comprised of goals, objectives and specific strategies through 2016 that improve or expand the public infrastructure; expand the City’s economic development tools, structure, partnerships and plans; aims resources at Elyria’s target industries; creates a more business friendly climate; addresses safety issues; nurtures entrepreneurship and workforce training; and promotes Elyria to the region and the world. Many of the goals and objectives in this document have been aims of my administration since I took office 2.5 years ago. This Plan includes those initiatives as well as some ongoing elements from the Elyria 2015 Plan, and new elements that have emerged.

The plan is a framework and is designed to evolve and change as it becomes more informed by upcoming planning initiatives including but not limited to: (1) thegrant-funded Business District Market Analysis and Redevelopment Plan process for Downtown, Midway and Cleveland Street; (2) the grant-funded Syracuse University Mayors’ Institute Design Project; (3) the Elyria Parks and Recreation Department Master Plan process and the (4) Lorain County MetroParks Master Plan process; (5) Community Development’s Five-Year Consolidated Plan; and (6) the City of Elyria Strategic Plan updating process. All of these planning/design initiatives, complete with public engagement/public input processes, are expected to be completed in the next 18 months and will provide specificity to this framework. As the community and Elyria City Council participate in setting priorities, the plan and the outcomes will become more concrete.

Thank you in advance for your interest and for reviewing this document. I look forward to your input during the upcoming planning processes. As promised, we will also be creating benchmarks and a Report Card to be posted on our website so that you can measure our progress. I look forward to our ongoing dialogue about how working together, we can move Elyria forward.

Sincerely,

 

Holly C. Brinda

Mayor

• 2013 – 2016 City of Elyria Economic Development Plan