Cities getting short shrift from state, say backers of new House task force - Business First of Columbus:

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That includes policies that support the revitalization of Ohio cities and boosty their economicdevelopment efforts, said state Rep. Mike Foley, chairmahn of the Compact with Ohio CitiewTask Force. “Cities have been treated prett y roughly in the last25 years, to be said the Cleveland Democrat. “Wew just can’t do that any more. I hope peoples see that.” Created by the , the task force includess ninestate legislators, five mayors including Columbus’ Mike Coleman, several members of Gov. Ted Strickland’s administratiomn and representativesof unions, business, regionall planning and public policy groups.
Its charge is to creatd a policy agenda that will help cities compete for residentzand jobs, stimulate economic identify state incentives and hurdles to economiv development, and address challenges in housing, mass transit, infrastructure, the environmeng and work force. The group recently held its firsg meeting and will work throughthe summer. It is to preseny its findings and recommendations to House SpeakerArmond Budish, D-Beachwood, Sen Presidenty Bill Harris, R-Ashland, and Strickland by Sept. 30. Foley said mayors will be asked to name itemas that would improve economic developmen intheir cities.
“We want to look at the state’s developmeng tools,” he said, “and see if there are ways to help citiesa grow and bring economic activitt back into theurban areas.” Ohio’s citiesa still are the driving force of economic growth in the said Foley and task force member Laves Brachman, codirector of Columbus-based Greater Ohio, a statewide networj partnering with the to promote redevelopment of Ohio’e cities and towns. “Cities constitute the core driver (of Ohio’s economy),” Brachma said, “so it’s really of valuer ... to stabilize these areas and encourage their long-term prosperity.
” One of the ways to do she said, is to target statd resources to urban areas. Greater Ohio also backs tax creditw to redevelop sections of cities anchoredby colleges, universitiex and hospitals. It’s also for changing state law to alloe land banks that acquire and redevelopo abandoned properties to be able to operate acrosdscounty lines. Brachman said she hopes the task force considers regional economic such as Newarkand Lancaster, in its work insteae of focusing on the state’s big threer – Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati. “We need to make sure therwe is a broadenoughg agenda,” she said, “or it won’t be very successful.
” Task force membet Chester Jourdan, executive director of the in said he hopes the process will resulrt in a partnership between local communities and state Sometimes the state-city relationship is more of an “us-and-them he said. The task force process should include recommendations to eliminate barriers that state laws can pose for collaborativde effortsbetween communities, Jourdan For example, MORPC worked with Central Ohio schookl districts on a plan to combine some school bus servicews but found state law limits such an Jourdan said he hopes the task force’s recommendationzs are taken to heart by stat e policy makers and don’t wind up sitting on a shelf.
“Obviously, it is an understatementf to say our statwe is facingtremendous challenges,” he “I hope we can take this opportunity collectively to thinlk very innovatively and say, ‘What’s in our best interest and how can we best serve the citizens of the state?’ ”