Mayor Updates Lions on City of Lorain Issues

Mayor Chase Ritenauer spoke to the Lions at their Thursday, October 13 luncheon and provided a great summary of what the current issues and challenges the city faces.  "This is probably the toughest job I will have in my entire life, public or private sector" the Mayor commented.  But he outlined the strategies and solutions with great optimism about the future of Lorain.  Financing improvements is one of the critical problems.  He said it's easy to find developers interested in the river and lakefront properties, and even the Broadway sites, but to make projects viable, public financing and abatements are needed, especially federal funding.  State funding cuts to local governments in 2011 have resulted in a 3-4 million dollar loss annually to the city budget.  But there are good projects underway and on the way, such as re-surfacing Broadway, East & West Erie, and others.  The Mayor spent time answering questions and was pleased to receive another "Lorain Lions Lighthouse Pin."