“The challenge will be to build on this momentum and keep our city moving forward in the days ahead,” she told a large audience at City Hall. “I think we are well positioned for this challenge.”
During her address, Whaley said job growth in the Dayton region is at its highest level in 18 years, and income tax revenue increased sharply last year.
Federal labor data show about 385,000 people in the Dayton metro area were employed in December, the most since June 2008. The city collected nearly $4.8 million more in income taxes in 2015, up 4.5 percent from the previous year.
Whaley said 2015 was a very productive year and 2016 will be too.
Phil Parker, president and CEO of the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce, said he agrees with the common themes of the mayor’s address, and multiple key growth initiatives are taking off.
He said Tech Town projects are succeeding, downtown housing is hot, the Dayton Arcade has new hope and the outdoor music pavilion is big news.
“We see great possibilities in front of us for Dayton,” Parker said.
The city has made customer satisfaction a top priority and will continue to improve services and how staff interact with citizens, she said.
The city has sworn in Shelley Dickstein as its new city manager, who has the right experience and credentials to move Dayton forward, Whaley has said.
Whaley cited an article from the March issue of the Atlantic magazine, which explores attributes cities need to effectively reinvent themselves.
The article says key resources and assets successful cities share include downtowns; research universities; distinctive schools; good community colleges; open and inclusive policies; craft breweries; and big plans.
Whaley outlined how she thinks the city of Dayton checks all of these important boxes.
Dayton’s downtown is attracting new development and the city has seen an explosion of new breweries and taprooms.
The city's Welcome Dayton initiative is a national model for creating open communities. Sinclair Community College boasts one of the largest campuses in the United States.
Wright State University and the University of Dayton both have research institutes.
As for big plans, Whaley said a new preschool demo program will be tested this fall that hopefully can be expanded across the city and region. She said one-third of Dayton children are not enrolled in preschool, which means many will never catch up.
To retain and add jobs, the city is constructing a $7.6 million hangar at the Dayton International Airport for PSA Airlines, which will keep the air carrier headquartered in this area, said Whaley.
Also, she said the city is working to bring a new state-of-the-art music venue — called Levitt Pavilion — to Dave Hall Plaza downtown to host free outdoor concerts, which could open in 2018.
Dayton’s neighborhoods are showing signs of renewal with the city spending millions of dollars removing blight and tearing down eyesores, Whaley said.
Whaley said the city continues to assist projects seeking to revive abandoned and underutilized properties, and also it is investing more than $57 million in infrastructure that will support economic growth.
Major projects include the $10.1 million replacement of the Webster Street bridge, which when complete in late 2017 will feature wider lanes and sidewalks and decorative pylons, said Steve Finke, deputy director of public works.
The $3 million reconstruction of Warren Street will give it the same profile as Brown Street, including wider lanes and bike path.
The city soon will seek bids to reconstruct Keowee Street between Helena Street and the bridge north of Stanley Avenue.
Keowee will get new sidewalks, curbs, lighting and bike paths. That part of the city has a variety of empty commercial and industrial facilities.
“The hope is to improve the road and improve lighting and other things so we can attract development up there,” Finke said.
She also drew attention to a reduction in crime in 2014. In November, Dayton police Chief Richard Biehl said gun violence in the city had climbed significantly.
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