Ottawa debuts new top 10 priorities for future

Anyone considering running for public office in Ottawa next year now knows what’s on the public’s mind.

More than 100 residents and organizers gathered together for the city’s third town meeting to share ideas and create a top 10 list of priorities for the city.

Mayor Bob Eschbach helped kick off the festivities asking for “bold ideas” to guide the city’s future and recalled the first meeting 20 years ago that helped kickstart his initial mayoral campaign.

The event was sponsored by the Ottawa Area Chamber of Commerce and Industry and attendees were glad to have their voices heard and to give input regarding Ottawa’s future.

Jason Callaway, 61, said he noted jobs were pressing concern among his group as well as a recreational center, which wound up being the top contender of the night.

“Anything like this is good for the community,” Callaway said of the event. “Anytime you get people together and talking it’s a good thing. You’re not going to have any issues solved if you don’t get people together talking about them and this is a nice avenue for that.”

Callaway engaged in spirited discussion among his group to come up with their priorities, which were then added to a larger list and voted among the entire room.

Gertie Barron, 21, also sat at his table and spoke for more professional jobs to attract a younger crowd.

A desire to attract younger and more diverse people was another common priority.

“I think it’s a cool idea,” Barron said of the event. “I wish there would have been more young, diverse people here. Looking around its middle-aged, white, old, retired people. But I think it’s a good idea and I’m glad the city and Chamber sponsored it. I think they’ll make a lot of improvements.”

The priorities were chiseled down to 12 top items, instead of 10 as some shared the same number of votes, including: Rec and civic center for events, downtown revitalization and riverfront, retain youth for professional and vocational jobs, increase passenger rail, decrease blighted homes and buildings, canal improvement, increased input from youth and diverse populations, increase green energy, over and underpasses for railroads, reduce noise, decrease property taxes and a senior community center/housing.

It was a mix of old and new priorities and Chamber Executive Director Boyd Palmer said it’s a sign that things are on the right path.

“If you look at all of them in total I think it’s sending a message of 'keep doing what you’re doing but do it faster.' I think that’s a message you get out of here because a lot of these things were on past lists but the message is let’s complete them and keep moving forward,” Palmer said.

Palmer said it was also made clear to look into offering more for the youth and seniors in the area.

A desire for “more jobs” and “quality jobs” took the top spot in both 1998 and 2004, but was replaced with quality jobs specifically for youth this year.

Palmer said he believes that’s indicative of the city’s previous work in bringing new factories and jobs to the area.

He also noted some of the priorities will be a little harder. He was surprised to find decreasing in property taxes lower on the list but also noted: “that’ll be tough for us.”

Additionally, increasing passenger rail will be a struggle, but noted the city does have a rail committee looking into research.

“That would be utopia if we had that. If we had rail here we wouldn’t have our industries having trouble finding jobs because people could commute here,” Palmer said.

“It’s something that if it’s here it’s going to be in the future. It’s not going to happen now, unfortunately,” he added.

The festivities were also good for meeting city officials that took part both as participants and facilitators, which assisted the individual groups.

Attendees were able to share ideas directly with Eschbach, Commissioner James Less and Economic Development Director Reed Wilson.

City Engineer Dave Noble also acted as a facilitator and said the event was a great opportunity to hear from the public.

“It went really well. A lot of people had ideas that I would have never thought of,” Noble said. “I think that’s the entire point. You hear from the whole community and they come up with great ideas that haven’t been thought of before.”

And the ideas that didn’t make the official top 12 will not be tossed into the trash.

Palmer said they’ll still be refined with the other ideas and put into a written document that the city can use as a guide. Some of the ideas lower on the list may still receive attention and come to fruition later.

He added that he hopes it's not the last the public hears of the list and that it is talked about during election season.

“That’s what this is for. We’re going to have a new administration in 2019. Here’s the list of what the community wants. This is what you better do,” Palmer said. “We’ll see if the people who are running campaign on any of these issues. That’s going to be interesting.”

Ottawa's Top 12

1. Rec and civic center for events, 80 votes.

2. Downtown revitalization and riverfront, 63 votes.

3. Retain youth for professional and vocational jobs, 33 votes.

4. Increase passenger rail, 30 votes.

5. Decrease blighted homes and buildings, 29 votes.

6. Canal improvement, 26 votes.

7. Increased input from youth and diverse populations, 26 votes.

8. Increase green energy, 25 votes.

9. Over and underpasses for railroads, 22 votes.

10. Reduce noise, 16 votes.

11. Decrease property taxes, 15 votes.

12. Senior community center/housing, 15 votes.

Other priorities considered:

Increase disability access, 13 votes.

Volunteer clearinghouse, 13 votes.

Need one waste hauler, 11 votes.

City history research center, 11 votes.

Increased maintenance of city property, 10 votes.

Increase downtown shopping hours, 10 votes.

Children's museum, 10 votes.

City create a budget to review the city's comprehensive plan, 10 votes.

Increase focus local input vs. tourist input, nine votes.

Increase local education ratings, eight votes.

Increase local services for higher skill level, eight votes.

Countywide sales tax for schools, seven votes.

Bring USS LST-325 to Ottawa in 2021, six votes.