(From the Ohio Mayors Alliance)

The Ohio Mayors Alliance, a bipartisan coalition of mayors in Ohio’s 31 largest cities, held its annual membership meeting at the National Veterans Memorial and Museum in Columbus. During the meeting, the mayors outlined the organization’s policy and legislative priorities for next year, including consistent state funding to support local public safety costs.

“We look forward to working with our partners in the state legislature to ensure that our state and our local communities thrive,” said Findlay Mayor and OMA Board Member Christina Muryn. “Cities play such an important role in driving regional growth and supporting Ohio’s statewide economic success, but more collaboration is necessary on issues such as public safety, housing, and economic development.”

The first recommendation from the bipartisan mayors’ group is to establish a new, dedicated state funding stream to support local public safety needs. The fund would be allocated to local governments with full time police departments by formula and would be directed to helping address the rising costs of critical public safety needs in Ohio’s local communities.

“The largest budgetary expense for most cities throughout Ohio is public safety and those costs continue to increase every year, especially for hiring, attracting, and retaining talented public safety personnel,” said Cleveland Mayor and OMA Board Member Justin Bibb. “Providing state funding support would go a long way to help our cities improve public safety and support our first responders.”

In addition to a dedicated public safety fund for local communities, the Ohio Mayors Alliance also proposed:

• • the establishment of a state commission on home rule;

• • a state program to incentivize pro-growth housing policies;

• • more local regulatory protections on products such marijuana and tobacco sales; and

• support for a range of state economic development initiatives and programs that support local communities.