LIMA — When David Berger first took the oath of office to become Lima’s mayor, the fall of the Berlin Wall was barely a month old.
Since then, he has seen the city through economic ups and downs, threats of closures at places such as Joint Systems Manufacturing Center and the then-BP oil refinery, and changes in the city’s landscape, with the new Lima Senior High School as a prime example. Nearly three decades later, Berger is seeing many reasons to be optimistic about Lima’s future.
“It’s an amazingly good fact that for going on two years now, we have had an economy that is so strong that we now have a surplus of jobs,” he said. “For 26 of the 28 years I’ve been in office, that has not been the case.”
Born in Mansfield, Berger, 62, originally came to Lima in 1977 to become the executive director of a non-profit that was renovating houses in the city. From there, he decided to run for mayor in 1989 and held that position since winning that first election.
If Berger is one of the top two vote-getters in Tuesdays primary, he advances to the November general election for a shot at his eighth term in office.
Crime
Berger hails the 2015 revival of community oriented policing as a means for community members, especially minorities, to foster positive relationships with the Lima Police Department while also having officers in place in needed areas.
“There have been four established, with a couple more being planned,” he said. “Those are being placed in areas determined to be hot spots. It’s all based upon data generated by the Lima Police Department where they’re seeing need based on criminal activity.”
While Berger commends the work of the department to reduce crime in Lima, he acknowledged the city has had a gang problem for years.
“It’s a long-standing issue, and it’s hard for me to hear Derry Glenn argue that there’s not a gang problem, because there is,” he said. “There has been a battle among young men and women, where the women are often facilitators rather than active combatants. But there’s no question that they are there and involved in drug dealing and violence between each other.”
Housing
Berger has expressed concern over the potential loss of $1.2 million in federal Community Development Block Grant and HOME Investment Partnerships Program funding, for which the city currently qualifies. President Donald Trump’s proposed budget calls for the elimination of these grant programs.
“The threat is real, but it is not absolute, so the intention is to work with others to preserve that in the federal budget,” Berger said. “They are essential to us being able to address some of our most severe problems.”
Last year, the city used $500,000 in HOME funds to leverage investments for a $17.3 million renovation of the National Bank building on Town Square to be used for low-income and market-rate housing.
Berger also advocated for a landlord registration list to better hold landlords accountable for maintaining their properties. That issue will be discussed by Lima City Council’s Neighborhood Concerns Committee during its May 8 meeting.
Economic development
While Lima has dealt with dire economic situations in the past, that is not the case now, Berger said.
“This is the best economy locally in the last 40 years, with employers of all shapes and sizes looking for talent,” he said. “It’s driven by two things. It’s driven by the growth in the economy, a natural, good growth, and it’s also driven by the wave of retirements taking place in the baby boomer generation, and that will be a fact of life for the next 25 years.”
Berger noted that for 26 years, his administration focused on bringing in and retaining jobs in the city. Now, with jobs available, his focus has shifted to workforce development.
“People have to be ready to step in, meaning they have to be drug free,” he said. “Even on non-skilled jobs, you have to have people that can show up to work on time and other minimal expectations.”
Berger also worked to promote educational and training opportunities in vocational certification and post-secondary education. Additionally, efforts are under way to show high school students in the area what opportunities are available for them locally upon graduation.
“We need to talk about these opportunities,” Berger said. “There have been inventions in the last few years, like MakerFest and Home Field Advantage. There are efforts to get kids plugged into Ohio Means Jobs if they’re a senior at one of our area high schools and don’t plan on going to college. The effort is to get them plugged into a job to where and when they graduate from high school, they have a direction. It’s not a flash in the pan, not a single year event. We’re looking at the next generation of opportunity for our community.”
Berger noted that expanding the workforce must include minorities, which he said is the reason why he is continuing to advocate for a complete list rule when evaluating candidates going through the Civil Service examination process. Currently, the 10 highest testing candidates are available to be interviewed per open position in the city. Berger wants to expand that to every candidate that passes the test.
“If we’re going to get to a place where our level of minority participation in the workforce reflects our community, the rules need to be changed,” he said. “There is no reason not to be able to talk to everyone on the list.”
.neFileBlock {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
padding-bottom: 5px;
padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
font-size: 85%;
}
