Mayor delivers State of the City address

By DEB WUETHRICH

Mayor Harvey Schmidt presented a State of the City address (click on Editorials in the menu to read the complete address) on Opinion page on Tuesday, Feb. 16 at 4 p.m. at the Tecumseh Economic Development Department. Mayor Schmidt included the announcement that Consolidated Biscuit Company of Macomb, Ohio, would be bringing a potential 500 jobs to the city among his “reasons to be joyful,” along with reflecting on Tecumseh Products’ 75 years in the community. He also cited the city’s successful efforts in aiding Lenawee Stamping through a negotiation process which created 75 new jobs for the city.

The mayor also looked to the future, stating, “Because we are a progressive community, your City Council and staff have continued the process of developing our Business and Technology Campus on the eastern edge of the city.” Phase I of that development is set to begin in March of 2010. “Our vision is that we will be in a unique position to be ready for whatever comes our way as the economy in Michigan rebounds from the global recession of the past years,” he said.

Mayor Schmidt also spoke of the challenges ahead, such as working at maintaining a balanced budget during a time of state shared revenue reductions and declining property values and spoke of actions such as the voluntary foregoing of pay raises by city employees as providing some savings.
“With sacrifices like this, we have been successful in our efforts to maintain a balanced budget by cutting expenses without reducing services; however it is not clear how long this can be the case,” he said.

The mayor is completing his fifth term as mayor, and began serving as a councilman in 1980. He noted, “There have been a great number of changes in our city throughout these years, but there has also been an overriding constant. That constant is that the citizens of this community are some of the most giving people on the face of the earth. They give their money. They give their time. They give their all to the greater good of the community.”

Following his address, Mayor Schmidt also answered questions, including his view on reasons the city has continued to have a vital downtown. He credits long-time city manager Cal Zorn as having foresight in purchasing land for city parking lots, as well as eliminating downtown parking meters, which has made the downtown customer-friendly.

When the Mayor talks to others outside the community whether from the standpoint of a businessman, elected official or private individual, he tells of Tecumseh’s quality of life, including its relative safety.

“You can walk down the street anytime and not be fearful,” he said. “To me that says a lot about our town, our people who live here and our city administration.
Mayor Schmidt also commented on his upcoming run for the 57th District State Representative seat, with a belief that he can take his abilities and life experience to Lansing and “do some good” for the district.

“I’ve thought a lot about what my life might look like the day after the November 11 election,” he said. “I will be state representative or a guy who lives in Tecumseh and owns a store in Tecumseh; I’ll still be a husband, dad and granddad. You know, life will be good.”