June 24, 2025 • 9 mins
Lima Mayor Sharetta Smith joined Todd Walker on Tuesday morning. She talked about addressing traffic concerns, clearing red tape for home building and the process to select a new police chief.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
And with it being Tuesday, we welcome in folks from
the City of Lima.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Today we talk with Mayor Shurita Smith.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
Mayor, good morning, Good morning Todd. How are you.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
I'm doing well, About to get tough to get around
downtown with the Vice President visiting.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
But in the meantime, speaking of traffic.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
That was the subject of a lot of study here
recently by the city and City Council looking at maybe
some ideas to take care of some trouble spots.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Right, this is a focus right now.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
Yeah, So last night, as you alluded to, we had
the first of two city Council workshops that are part
of our Neighborhood Traffic Calling program.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Todd.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
The whole purpose of this program is to get solutions
as to how we are going to keep speeds low
on our neighborhood streets. And so last night, council members
had the opportunity to identify areas in our city where
they've witnessed speeding heard from Speeding from some of our
(01:05):
residents was one identifier. The second identifier was what are
those cut through streets?
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Right?
Speaker 4 (01:12):
And just as a definition is you know what street
though individuals come through to get around trains or other
traffic impediments. And then the third identifier that our consultants
had us look at were what are some of the
engineering solutions that are used in cities across the country
(01:34):
to alleviate some of these neighborhood traffic issues.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
And so we were able to see.
Speaker 4 (01:40):
Demonstrations or examples of speed tables, speed humps, roundabout narrowing
up streets, and all of the engineering tools that are
being used. And so we can expect a second public
workshop in July and a second city council workshop in September.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Do you I don't know if you have the list
with you, but do you recall some of the more
popular complaints certain streets or areas that people brought up?
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Yes, so one the number one street I can tell
you was Nixon Avenue was the number one street which
is over in the Seventh War kind of where the
seventh and fourth Ward intersects off market. We also were
able to identify Saint John's Reese Avenue, Lakewood. So many
(02:32):
of the streets that that you know, we've heard, you
know from residents, we're speeding is an issue. An interesting
thing that we learned from the consultant which is contrary
to what we think in a practical matter is that
traffic signals and stop signs are not traffic calming measures,
and so also learning that we can have the ability
(02:54):
to use targeted educational campaigns. One of the things that
we did hear from council is a concern about inconsistency
of the placement of stop signs, which is why one
of the results that we are anticipating again is a
program really about how to address these issues based on
(03:15):
what the data is presenting. I will encourage the public though,
to come out to the next public workshop in July.
As soon as we have that information, we will begin
to share that.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Yeah, and that's always you know, one of the more
mundane things about being a mayor or a city council
is trying to fix the streets, keep people from speeding,
or do what you can structurally with the infrastructure to
maybe make that better and hopefully all of that comes
to fruition and is successful.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
We're visiting with Lima Mayor Sharita Smith.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
We are about to have a change in leadership with
the police department. Of course, this is not a surprise.
Chief Baker was nearing a retirement that was not negotiable
if you will. It was like he couldn't change his mind.
So Friday will be his last day, right.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Yes, so we will say see you later.
Speaker 4 (04:14):
Now goodbye to Lima Police Chief James Baker, who.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
We call Jim.
Speaker 4 (04:21):
After having served a long career with the Lima Police
Department more than three decades, he is retiring. As you
talked about, he has to retire as part of the
drop program from the state level. We will have a
police chiefs test in August, and so in the interim
(04:45):
I will be appointing Zachary Leland to serve as the
interim police chief until we get the results back from
the police Chief's exam.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Of course, Zach right now is one of the three
main majors who normally would be eligible to be chief himself,
but he's not quite long enough in that job. So
the other two majors, Major Holman and Major Kurt Hyle
are the only two eligible.
Speaker 4 (05:13):
Right, that is correct, And both Major Holman and Major
Howe have scheduled to take the test, and is where
that we can say what we know for sure in
my line of work.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
But we do know for sure that our.
Speaker 4 (05:27):
Next police chief will either be Ron Holman or Curtis Howe.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
So we just have to wait for those results.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
And we anticipate then that could happen sometime in August.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
No, we probably think that that is going to happen
in September because once they take the test, then it
has to also be assessed and evaluated by the Civil
Service Board, and we want to give them some time
to do that.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
All right, Well, we will watch that play out as
we visit with Linma Mayor Sarita Smith. Also recently you
went to Tampa to watch the Rays play at Steinbrenner Stadium. No,
you went for a mayor's conference in Tampa and you
were I think part of the panel to make it
a presentation of what were you talking about with other mayors.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
Yeah, so it was an honor to represent Lima on
the national stage the US Conference of Mayors. This meeting,
we had about two hundred and fifty mayors all across
the country. I had the opportunity to sit on a
panel with the mayor from Scranton as well as a
mayor from one of our California cities as well, to
(06:37):
talk about the value of statewide alliances based on the
work that the City of Lima has been doing as
part of the Ohio Mayor's Alliance, which is our statewide
alliance that consists of cities from Ohio's thirties consists of
mayors from Ohio's thirty largest cities.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
And specifically, you had a a topic that you were
concerned about. I think it was something to do with
government funding for a specific reason.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
What were you talking about?
Speaker 4 (07:09):
Yeah, so I issued a resolution urging members of the
US Conference of Mayors to support a change in Community
Development Block grant rules that will help us cut some
of the red tape. What I'm specifically asking for is
there is a designation called a NURSA, which is a
(07:30):
neighborhood stabilization revitalization area.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
Say that ten times. But if you go.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
Through an application process with hood and carve out these
areas NURSA areas, then you can cut some of the
red tape in terms of CDBG reporting for your funding.
And we know where we are with the housing crisis.
We know across the country we're more than three million
(07:59):
houses shore. Here in Lima, we're not quite there, but
we do have a housing shortage of an affordability, the issue,
a quality issue, and what this will allow us to
do is build faster, be more efficient, and again cut
some of the red tape to be able to get
the funding for revitalization of our neighborhoods.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
I'm happy to.
Speaker 4 (08:21):
Report that the resolution was approved by the Housing Committee
and so it will be sent to HUD.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
And when we talk about a house a home building
in that sense with those areas that would open it
up for private development quicker or is this a public
built facility you're trying to clear the way for or
some combination thereof.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
It can be public or private.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
And so just to kind of simplify it a little bit,
in our current environment, if we go into you know,
rehab a home, we have to certify with HUD that
all of the occupants of that home are low moderate
income in order to be eligible for that funding. Or
if we go to build a home, we have to
certify with HUD that the in buyer is going to
(09:07):
be low to moderate income. The NURSA allows us to
carve out an area based on census tracks and say
as long as what we're doing is within these boundaries,
then we can build or rehab and there's no certification
for that individual home. It helps you get to mix
use mixed income neighborhoods quicker again, faster, cutting out some
(09:30):
of that red tape.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Absolutely a tool.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
That we can use to continue our momentum with public
private partnerships, get some private developers to come in and
help us build, get it read.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Red tape is always a good thing, mayor hopefully that
will come to fruition and to help things out.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
We appreciate you coming in this morning.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
Thank you Ta
And with it being Tuesday, we welcome in folks from
the City of Lima.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Today we talk with Mayor Shurita Smith.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
Mayor, good morning, Good morning Todd. How are you.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
I'm doing well, About to get tough to get around
downtown with the Vice President visiting.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
But in the meantime, speaking of traffic.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
That was the subject of a lot of study here
recently by the city and City Council looking at maybe
some ideas to take care of some trouble spots.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Right, this is a focus right now.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
Yeah, So last night, as you alluded to, we had
the first of two city Council workshops that are part
of our Neighborhood Traffic Calling program.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Todd.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
The whole purpose of this program is to get solutions
as to how we are going to keep speeds low
on our neighborhood streets. And so last night, council members
had the opportunity to identify areas in our city where
they've witnessed speeding heard from Speeding from some of our
(01:05):
residents was one identifier. The second identifier was what are
those cut through streets?
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Right?
Speaker 4 (01:12):
And just as a definition is you know what street
though individuals come through to get around trains or other
traffic impediments. And then the third identifier that our consultants
had us look at were what are some of the
engineering solutions that are used in cities across the country
(01:34):
to alleviate some of these neighborhood traffic issues.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
And so we were able to see.
Speaker 4 (01:40):
Demonstrations or examples of speed tables, speed humps, roundabout narrowing
up streets, and all of the engineering tools that are
being used. And so we can expect a second public
workshop in July and a second city council workshop in September.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Do you I don't know if you have the list
with you, but do you recall some of the more
popular complaints certain streets or areas that people brought up?
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Yes, so one the number one street I can tell
you was Nixon Avenue was the number one street which
is over in the Seventh War kind of where the
seventh and fourth Ward intersects off market. We also were
able to identify Saint John's Reese Avenue, Lakewood. So many
(02:32):
of the streets that that you know, we've heard, you
know from residents, we're speeding is an issue. An interesting
thing that we learned from the consultant which is contrary
to what we think in a practical matter is that
traffic signals and stop signs are not traffic calming measures,
and so also learning that we can have the ability
(02:54):
to use targeted educational campaigns. One of the things that
we did hear from council is a concern about inconsistency
of the placement of stop signs, which is why one
of the results that we are anticipating again is a
program really about how to address these issues based on
(03:15):
what the data is presenting. I will encourage the public though,
to come out to the next public workshop in July.
As soon as we have that information, we will begin
to share that.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Yeah, and that's always you know, one of the more
mundane things about being a mayor or a city council
is trying to fix the streets, keep people from speeding,
or do what you can structurally with the infrastructure to
maybe make that better and hopefully all of that comes
to fruition and is successful.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
We're visiting with Lima Mayor Sharita Smith.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
We are about to have a change in leadership with
the police department. Of course, this is not a surprise.
Chief Baker was nearing a retirement that was not negotiable
if you will. It was like he couldn't change his mind.
So Friday will be his last day, right.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Yes, so we will say see you later.
Speaker 4 (04:14):
Now goodbye to Lima Police Chief James Baker, who.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
We call Jim.
Speaker 4 (04:21):
After having served a long career with the Lima Police
Department more than three decades, he is retiring. As you
talked about, he has to retire as part of the
drop program from the state level. We will have a
police chiefs test in August, and so in the interim
(04:45):
I will be appointing Zachary Leland to serve as the
interim police chief until we get the results back from
the police Chief's exam.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Of course, Zach right now is one of the three
main majors who normally would be eligible to be chief himself,
but he's not quite long enough in that job. So
the other two majors, Major Holman and Major Kurt Hyle
are the only two eligible.
Speaker 4 (05:13):
Right, that is correct, And both Major Holman and Major
Howe have scheduled to take the test, and is where
that we can say what we know for sure in
my line of work.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
But we do know for sure that our.
Speaker 4 (05:27):
Next police chief will either be Ron Holman or Curtis Howe.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
So we just have to wait for those results.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
And we anticipate then that could happen sometime in August.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
No, we probably think that that is going to happen
in September because once they take the test, then it
has to also be assessed and evaluated by the Civil
Service Board, and we want to give them some time
to do that.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
All right, Well, we will watch that play out as
we visit with Linma Mayor Sarita Smith. Also recently you
went to Tampa to watch the Rays play at Steinbrenner Stadium. No,
you went for a mayor's conference in Tampa and you
were I think part of the panel to make it
a presentation of what were you talking about with other mayors.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
Yeah, so it was an honor to represent Lima on
the national stage the US Conference of Mayors. This meeting,
we had about two hundred and fifty mayors all across
the country. I had the opportunity to sit on a
panel with the mayor from Scranton as well as a
mayor from one of our California cities as well, to
(06:37):
talk about the value of statewide alliances based on the
work that the City of Lima has been doing as
part of the Ohio Mayor's Alliance, which is our statewide
alliance that consists of cities from Ohio's thirties consists of
mayors from Ohio's thirty largest cities.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
And specifically, you had a a topic that you were
concerned about. I think it was something to do with
government funding for a specific reason.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
What were you talking about?
Speaker 4 (07:09):
Yeah, so I issued a resolution urging members of the
US Conference of Mayors to support a change in Community
Development Block grant rules that will help us cut some
of the red tape. What I'm specifically asking for is
there is a designation called a NURSA, which is a
(07:30):
neighborhood stabilization revitalization area.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
Say that ten times. But if you go.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
Through an application process with hood and carve out these
areas NURSA areas, then you can cut some of the
red tape in terms of CDBG reporting for your funding.
And we know where we are with the housing crisis.
We know across the country we're more than three million
(07:59):
houses shore. Here in Lima, we're not quite there, but
we do have a housing shortage of an affordability, the issue,
a quality issue, and what this will allow us to
do is build faster, be more efficient, and again cut
some of the red tape to be able to get
the funding for revitalization of our neighborhoods.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
I'm happy to.
Speaker 4 (08:21):
Report that the resolution was approved by the Housing Committee
and so it will be sent to HUD.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
And when we talk about a house a home building
in that sense with those areas that would open it
up for private development quicker or is this a public
built facility you're trying to clear the way for or
some combination thereof.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
It can be public or private.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
And so just to kind of simplify it a little bit,
in our current environment, if we go into you know,
rehab a home, we have to certify with HUD that
all of the occupants of that home are low moderate
income in order to be eligible for that funding. Or
if we go to build a home, we have to
certify with HUD that the in buyer is going to
(09:07):
be low to moderate income. The NURSA allows us to
carve out an area based on census tracks and say
as long as what we're doing is within these boundaries,
then we can build or rehab and there's no certification
for that individual home. It helps you get to mix
use mixed income neighborhoods quicker again, faster, cutting out some
(09:30):
of that red tape.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Absolutely a tool.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
That we can use to continue our momentum with public
private partnerships, get some private developers to come in and
help us build, get it read.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Red tape is always a good thing, mayor hopefully that
will come to fruition and to help things out.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
We appreciate you coming in this morning.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
Thank you Ta
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.