May 27, 2025 • 9 mins
Lima Mayor Sharetta Smith joined Todd Walker on the Tuesday edition of "Lima's Morning News" to discuss a new video the city produced to showcase Dowtown's improvements. They also talked about LPD using drones and taking patrol vehicles home when a shift is over.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It is Tuesday, so we do our city of line
of segment this morning. We are joined over the telephone
by Mayor Sheriita Smith and Mayor. Recently, the city put
out a video on social media and such detailing some
downtown improvements and the future plans. Talk about how that
(00:21):
all came to fruition.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Yes, so, as part of a program through the US
Department of Transportation, we were fortunate to be one of
eleven cities across the country to participate in a program
through the USDLT entitled Thriving Communities, And the video that
(00:46):
was rolled out last week was visiting and showing residents
what some of the plans are that are already underway
in the downtown in terms of streetscape improvements, and it's
really used to be a community engagement and visioning tool
(01:07):
to get individuals to get individuals excited about the changes
that are happening, particularly with the downtown corridor.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Well, obviously a lot of great things are happening there,
and some other things of note that caught my eye.
Some of the things that you guys published or put
out was the use of drones by the police department.
We've talked about that recently with Chief Baker and with
Major Hyle too recently there was a use that doesn't
(01:40):
really mean are come in a high profile like helping
it to chase or something like that, but they were
quite helpful talk about the use of the drones here
recently to help really the community out by shortening some
wait times.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Right, absolutely so shortening wait times and Todd we've been
communicating for a little over a year now about lpd's
intentional use to use technology as a force multiplier, and
so we launched our drone program a little over a
month ago and recently we've used them with crime scene mapping.
(02:19):
We've been able to uh cut the time to close
out cases and have particularly when you are involved in
unfortunately police pursuits. The drone can see where the human
eye cannot and in addition to that, it also uses
thermal imaging and other tools to be able to help
(02:42):
you know, LPD locate suspects and also you know, solve
crimes faster. The other added advantage as well is that
you know you can have the drone locate you know,
suspects without a police officers within the sphere of danger
(03:03):
either no doubt.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
And another thing I guess that has recently become a
thing is patrol cars that are going home with the officer.
Is that right?
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Yeah, So last week we instituted a pilot take home
patrol car program. And what this does is a couple
of things. It increases public safety because the patrol car,
you know, is you know, visible in the neighborhood. But
it also helps us cut costs and wear and tear
(03:38):
on our cruisers in our current environment. You know, our
cruisers are shaired by police officers on all three ships
and they run you know, twenty four hours, seven days
a week, three hundred and sixty five days a year.
Now you know, those cars will accompany you know, the
officers home. It'll help us wear and tear on our
(04:01):
cars and we will not have to replace cars as quickly.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Well. Of course, another high profile thing we just found
out about the ribbon cutting for the pool the new
aquatic center, and that's exciting, but there's also still work
to be done and it needs to be staffed and
this sort of thing. But good to see if things
are coming to the finish line here.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Absolutely, it is exciting that we will be cutting the
ribbon at the Lima Community Aquatic Park on Friday, June
twenty seventh at ten am. As you stated, I will
point out that that is not the opening day, as
hiring is still underway. We are looking for a seasonal
lifeguards concessions hiring that continues. Individuals are able to apply
(04:51):
at Lima, Ohio dot gov.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
I've noticed the work on the alleys, I guess is
now going to start. That's something we don't think about.
Those things deteriorate and we should start to see some
work there.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Yeah, so the public works crews are out not only
patching but also alley repair. We are in the season
now where we are repairing our alleys from any damage
from the winter weather.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
You know, you talked about hiring for the pool, but
on the idea of jobs and things like that, the
city has a lot of different things going on. Sort
of go over those.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Yes, So right now we are filling our summer Parks
and Recreation program seats. Every year we do a seasonal
hiring is a program that starts in June, and so
we're looking for counselors for the summer summer parks program.
(05:54):
In addition to that, we are hiring for grounds crew
to take care of our Baseball Diamond and other park
areas as well as concessions for park areas as well. Also,
we are going into our third year of the Gen
(06:14):
Next Makers Camp. This is the hands on STEM workshop
for teens. Sign ups are available now and when we
talk about teens, we're talking about really the pre teen
So this is for kids ages ten to through thirteen
and it's a program that is going to run July
twenty first through the twenty fourth from nine am to
(06:37):
three pm at the Bradfield Center and it is completely
free of charge. In addition to that, we also have
several students that will be assigned to their summer internships
through the Gen Next Summer Internship Program and this is
the program for individuals age sixteen through twenty four. So
(06:58):
busy summer connecting young people to jobs, talent and summer opportunities.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Well, another opportunity that you have talked about is the
possibility of passenger rail being restored across the state and
Lima maybe being part of that, and I know that's
something you continue to push. Do we have any developments there?
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Well, right now where we are is we are championing
the line that will run from Fort Wayne through Lima, Chicago,
and Pittsburgh, which is called the Midwest Connect Passenger Rail
Corridor line. We were able to advance to the second
round of the federal rail Administration program, but it requires
(07:47):
a ten percent match from state government, and so we
are advocating for a seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars
line item in the fiscal year twenty six twenty seven budget,
which will be Ohio share of that program. And so
we've been working with the Mid Ohio Regional Planning Commission,
(08:09):
the City of Fort Wayne, Indiana, as well as other
entities across the state, asking line of Allen County residents
to call our state legislature and advocate for that seven
hundred and fifty thousand dollars line item.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
That could be very interesting if it ever comes to fruition.
And the final thing to talk about, we're about to
dive into the summer season here and the Amphitheater is
going to become busy and a lot of things happening
downtown for the summer, so it's about to get exciting.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
It is going to get exciting, and so the first
concert that we have is Ian Munsick will be back
on June seventh. Tickets are on sale for that concert.
Individuals can purchase tickets online on at pangopavilion dot com.
But then on June eleventh, it'll be an opening concert
(09:06):
for the Curtain Call series and we will be kicking
off with the Beer Bear Boys and that is a
concert that is free of charge, and so the full
schedule again can be seen at pangopavilion dot com. And
we're just really looking forward to music and entertainment, good
family fund in our downtown this summer.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
All right, mayor good stuff. We appreciate your time.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Thanks, thank you, Tob
It is Tuesday, so we do our city of line
of segment this morning. We are joined over the telephone
by Mayor Sheriita Smith and Mayor. Recently, the city put
out a video on social media and such detailing some
downtown improvements and the future plans. Talk about how that
(00:21):
all came to fruition.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Yes, so, as part of a program through the US
Department of Transportation, we were fortunate to be one of
eleven cities across the country to participate in a program
through the USDLT entitled Thriving Communities, And the video that
(00:46):
was rolled out last week was visiting and showing residents
what some of the plans are that are already underway
in the downtown in terms of streetscape improvements, and it's
really used to be a community engagement and visioning tool
(01:07):
to get individuals to get individuals excited about the changes
that are happening, particularly with the downtown corridor.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Well, obviously a lot of great things are happening there,
and some other things of note that caught my eye.
Some of the things that you guys published or put
out was the use of drones by the police department.
We've talked about that recently with Chief Baker and with
Major Hyle too recently there was a use that doesn't
(01:40):
really mean are come in a high profile like helping
it to chase or something like that, but they were
quite helpful talk about the use of the drones here
recently to help really the community out by shortening some
wait times.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Right, absolutely so shortening wait times and Todd we've been
communicating for a little over a year now about lpd's
intentional use to use technology as a force multiplier, and
so we launched our drone program a little over a
month ago and recently we've used them with crime scene mapping.
(02:19):
We've been able to uh cut the time to close
out cases and have particularly when you are involved in
unfortunately police pursuits. The drone can see where the human
eye cannot and in addition to that, it also uses
thermal imaging and other tools to be able to help
(02:42):
you know, LPD locate suspects and also you know, solve
crimes faster. The other added advantage as well is that
you know you can have the drone locate you know,
suspects without a police officers within the sphere of danger
(03:03):
either no doubt.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
And another thing I guess that has recently become a
thing is patrol cars that are going home with the officer.
Is that right?
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Yeah, So last week we instituted a pilot take home
patrol car program. And what this does is a couple
of things. It increases public safety because the patrol car,
you know, is you know, visible in the neighborhood. But
it also helps us cut costs and wear and tear
(03:38):
on our cruisers in our current environment. You know, our
cruisers are shaired by police officers on all three ships
and they run you know, twenty four hours, seven days
a week, three hundred and sixty five days a year.
Now you know, those cars will accompany you know, the
officers home. It'll help us wear and tear on our
(04:01):
cars and we will not have to replace cars as quickly.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Well. Of course, another high profile thing we just found
out about the ribbon cutting for the pool the new
aquatic center, and that's exciting, but there's also still work
to be done and it needs to be staffed and
this sort of thing. But good to see if things
are coming to the finish line here.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Absolutely, it is exciting that we will be cutting the
ribbon at the Lima Community Aquatic Park on Friday, June
twenty seventh at ten am. As you stated, I will
point out that that is not the opening day, as
hiring is still underway. We are looking for a seasonal
lifeguards concessions hiring that continues. Individuals are able to apply
(04:51):
at Lima, Ohio dot gov.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
I've noticed the work on the alleys, I guess is
now going to start. That's something we don't think about.
Those things deteriorate and we should start to see some
work there.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Yeah, so the public works crews are out not only
patching but also alley repair. We are in the season
now where we are repairing our alleys from any damage
from the winter weather.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
You know, you talked about hiring for the pool, but
on the idea of jobs and things like that, the
city has a lot of different things going on. Sort
of go over those.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Yes, So right now we are filling our summer Parks
and Recreation program seats. Every year we do a seasonal
hiring is a program that starts in June, and so
we're looking for counselors for the summer summer parks program.
(05:54):
In addition to that, we are hiring for grounds crew
to take care of our Baseball Diamond and other park
areas as well as concessions for park areas as well. Also,
we are going into our third year of the Gen
(06:14):
Next Makers Camp. This is the hands on STEM workshop
for teens. Sign ups are available now and when we
talk about teens, we're talking about really the pre teen
So this is for kids ages ten to through thirteen
and it's a program that is going to run July
twenty first through the twenty fourth from nine am to
(06:37):
three pm at the Bradfield Center and it is completely
free of charge. In addition to that, we also have
several students that will be assigned to their summer internships
through the Gen Next Summer Internship Program and this is
the program for individuals age sixteen through twenty four. So
(06:58):
busy summer connecting young people to jobs, talent and summer opportunities.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Well, another opportunity that you have talked about is the
possibility of passenger rail being restored across the state and
Lima maybe being part of that, and I know that's
something you continue to push. Do we have any developments there?
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Well, right now where we are is we are championing
the line that will run from Fort Wayne through Lima, Chicago,
and Pittsburgh, which is called the Midwest Connect Passenger Rail
Corridor line. We were able to advance to the second
round of the federal rail Administration program, but it requires
(07:47):
a ten percent match from state government, and so we
are advocating for a seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars
line item in the fiscal year twenty six twenty seven budget,
which will be Ohio share of that program. And so
we've been working with the Mid Ohio Regional Planning Commission,
(08:09):
the City of Fort Wayne, Indiana, as well as other
entities across the state, asking line of Allen County residents
to call our state legislature and advocate for that seven
hundred and fifty thousand dollars line item.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
That could be very interesting if it ever comes to fruition.
And the final thing to talk about, we're about to
dive into the summer season here and the Amphitheater is
going to become busy and a lot of things happening
downtown for the summer, so it's about to get exciting.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
It is going to get exciting, and so the first
concert that we have is Ian Munsick will be back
on June seventh. Tickets are on sale for that concert.
Individuals can purchase tickets online on at pangopavilion dot com.
But then on June eleventh, it'll be an opening concert
(09:06):
for the Curtain Call series and we will be kicking
off with the Beer Bear Boys and that is a
concert that is free of charge, and so the full
schedule again can be seen at pangopavilion dot com. And
we're just really looking forward to music and entertainment, good
family fund in our downtown this summer.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
All right, mayor good stuff. We appreciate your time.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Thanks, thank you, Tob
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