Friends,
It has been my honor to serve you as Mayor for the last 7+ years. When I first ran in 2017, I said it was going to take three terms to accomplish everything my team and I wanted to do. I am proud to report that under my stewardship, city finances are stable, jobs are up, crime is down, and neighborhoods are being revitalized.
In 2018, we did a 5-year budget and discovered that we had inherited projected shortfalls of $11 million, $17 million, and $23 million. Many people thought we were headed for Act 47, but I was determined not to let that happen. With our creativity and sound financial practices, we turned it around. There are 11 criteria that must be met for the Commonwealth to take a city into Act 47, and the City does not meet even one.
Rather than pass these deficits on to taxpayers in the form of tax increases, we developed a 5-year financial management plan and set a multi-faceted strategy into motion. Thanks to cost-cutting measures and new revenue, in 2023, we turned a projected $17 million deficit into a $243,000 surplus. And in 2024, the projected $23 million deficit into a $2 million surplus! And we did it without raising taxes the last six years or using funding from the prepayment of the water lease the last two years. In fact, we still have $6.5 million of that funding left. We:
- Established LERTA, resulting in $379 million being invested in homes and businesses
- Paid down half the city’s debt, saving taxpayers $86.3 million
- Earned additional investment income
- Provided $15 million for housing, $14 million for public safety, $12 million for infrastructure, $8 million for parks and trails, and $2.9 million for permanent supportive housing
- Secured $120 million in grants from Harrisburg and Washington, D.C. for equipment, technology, projects, and salaries.
- Provided loans and direct support to 500+ businesses from small start-ups to larger companies
- Started Flagship Fund that awarded grants to 159 small businesses
- Invested tens of millions of dollars to grow Erie businesses and expand our economy
As a result, the City of Erie sits in its strongest financial position in decades, and residents have not seen a city property tax increase for six years or an income tax increase for seven years.
Since 2021, we helped to add 2,000 more employees and 400 more employers paying earned income tax and local services tax! This equates to an additional $2.5 million in annual revenue with a record low jobless rate of 3-4% in 2024.
Working closely with the Erie Police Department, we have:
- Decreased homicides by 57% and shootings by 67%
- Solved 100% of homicides in the last 3 years
- Reinstated the Crisis, Juvenile, and K-9 Units
- Deployed body-worn cameras, ShotSpotter, a real-time crime center, and license plate readers on all 38 frontline vehicles
- Expanded the Police Athletic League (PAL) and Community Outreach Program (COP) from 35 students in 1 school with 6 officers to more than 1,700 students in 29 locations with 120 officers.
We’ve partnered with our Fire Chiefs to:
- Renovate our six fire houses with improvements totaling nearly $1 million to-date
- Acquire and put into service four new fire trucks totaling over $3.7 million with a fifth on order at a cost of $1.8 million.
We support our youth by funding free after-school and summer youth programs at all the community centers and through the City’s free summer rec program offering golf, tennis, swimming, youth theater, dance, basketball, and more.
In terms of revitalizing neighborhoods, our Love Your Block Team, Public Works, and Code Enforcement:
- Removed 180,000 pounds of trash and debris
- Completed 184 projects and 288 repairs
- Installed 389 new features and 66 landscaping projects
- Saved residents more than $183,000 in labor costs.
- Addressed 68 code violations
- Installed 45 new hand railings, 29 new mailboxes, and 24 house numbers
- Completed 67 community clean-ups and 8 beautification projects
And in collaboration with the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Erie and the Land Bank:
- Demolished 200 blighted properties
- Repaired/rehabilitated 184 properties
- Acquired 88 properties
Through Cultures, Arts, Festivals, and Events of Erie (CAFE), our team has:
- Brought back Lights Over Lake Erie
- Continued Sounds of Summer concerts at six senior centers
- Created the 814 concert series, bringing music to six parks
- Transformed CelebrateErie into a celebration of all things local.
As you can see, we have implemented several new initiatives to achieve our Vision of Erie as a Community of Choice where we celebrate our:
- Rich Cultural Diversity
- Welcoming, Vibrant Neighborhoods
- World-class Downtown and Bayfront
- Excellent Education for Everyone
- Abundance of Family-sustaining Jobs
My team and I are developing a parks and recreation plan, housing strategy, safe streets plan to reduce traffic fatalities, and a second 5-year financial management plan, all of which would be implemented in my final term
We will build on our success by continuing to:
- Strengthen the City’s finances
- Reduce blight and crime
- Increase grants and loans to businesses
- Add more housing and jobs
- Improve streets
- Grow youth programs
- Update firehouses, apparatus, and equipment
- Transform the Miller Bros property into a public safety complex
- Improve our parks, leveraging $4 million in ARP funding
- Secure grant funding
I have an amazing team, and we are passionate about completing our 12-year strategy to leave a legacy for the future.
I believe the City’s best days lie ahead and that we are on the right track to realizing our vision. With your help, I know we can succeed.
I love this job because I love serving you. My commitment is stronger than ever. In fact, though City Council increased the Mayor’s salary from $95,000 to $120,000, I will not accept the increase and pledge to use that $25,000/year to help our residents and business owners.
Together, we can Build Opportunity. Restore Hope. Transform Erie. I respectfully ask for your vote for Mayor in the Democratic primary on May 20.
-Joe Schember
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