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EAST LIVERPOOL -- For the City of East Liverpool, 2024 was a year of renaissance, revitalization and progress.
The city experienced a revival of hometown pride as efforts amp up to increase the ambiance, aesthetics and attitude surrounding the city.
Mayor Bobby Smith said one of the biggest accomplishments he saw was the outpouring of support for East Liverpool from the Gov. Mike DeWine all the way down to the homeless.
Safety Service Director Bill Jones said he sees the positivity toward the city that has arisen since the first of the year from the residents, especially among the volunteers who have been active in the city such as the Garden Club and the newly formed Beautification Society, who Jones said has done a wonderful job in the city.
"Those accomplishments aren't by us, but working in the city for 33 years, this is the most positive I have seen throughout that time," Jones said. "The volunteerism from the residents, from the groups like the Rotary, the Kiwanis, all those, they are all pulling together to make East Liverpool a better community."
Smith and Jones both quickly agreed they see and hear a tremendous increase in hometown pride no matter where they are.
"We just can't expound enough on the positivity from the residents and the residents of surrounding areas that are putting Herculean effort into the community," Jones said.
Smith said it isn't just from the residents, but also people from California and other locations, former residents, chipping into help on such projects like the Thompson Park Pool, which nearly closed in 2024 due to lack of funding, to cover operating expenses. Donations which came in from residents and former residents along with a $35,000 donation from the East Liverpool City Hospital Women's Auxiliary enabled the city to keep the pool open.
Jones noted a huge positive change in the city's employees.
"We couldn't have done the things that we have done without them," Jones said. "They are the ones that are helping turn this around, from the Street Department to the Refuse Department, Fire, Police, all those employees are really helping to turn East Liverpool around."
Jones is excited about the partnership developing between the city and the Career Tech students in the landscaping program who have been developing their skills by volunteering on some of the projects throughout the city.
Smith and Jones, who just came into their offices in 2024, said they see the successful carrying on of projects like True North moving to East Liverpool and the renovation of the Thompson Building as accomplishments started under a previous administration they support as work begins on the projects.
Jones noted the Thompson Building project has been in the works for years as multiple organizations in the community and county worked to gain the funding to preserve it by renovating it into a multi-use structure while still maintaining its historical structure.
"We can't wait to see that come to fruition," Jones said.
"It's game changing," Smith said.
Jones said he feels he hasn't held his office long enough to have any major accomplishment under his belt yet.
Smith noted that when it comes to planned projects, he is excited about the state Route 39 rehabilitation project which has 14 different organizations contributing funds toward the estimated $41 million project. Smith noted that some of the legwork for the project was started under the previous administration.
Another upcoming project Smith is excited about is the America 250 project which involves 250 cities across Ohio being selected by on historical significance and other factors to be one of the America 250 cities to celebrate the country's 250th birthday.
Smith has been working on obtaining funding to get a welcome/education center at the Point of Beginning at the state line hopefully before the America 250 event. Steve Barlow of the Mahoning County Chapter Sons of the American Legion is heading up the project.
Another project which is not a city project, but Smith and Jones said they support, is the Revolutionary War Memorial which will be put up by Sixth and Washington streets.
Jones said he is very happy they picked East Liverpool for the location of the Memorial and hopes it's ready for the America 250.
Other notable events that happened in the city include DeWine visiting East Liverpool to announce the funding for the True North move into the BOSS Building, the Thompson Building being almost ready to be under restoration and the city being recognized as part of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail for it being the point of beginning for the explorers expedition out west.
Another highlight for the city administration was the opening of multiple specialty shops in the downtown area which will help lead to developing East Liverpool as a destination spot, a goal of Smith and Jones.
Jones said he is hoping to see more specialty shops come to the downtown area. A developer, according to Smith, is looking to purchase the small building on the diamond in the downtown area for a mix use building for apartments and specialty shops.
Other than Smith being sworn in as mayor and Jones as the safety service director, there wasn't any major employee or operation changes in 2024. The police department did hire enough officers to be able to put an officer on the Columbiana County Drug Task Force, which has led to multiple drug search warrants being served, multiple arrests and charges and a variety of drugs confiscated.
Smith and Jones have agreed when it comes to any operational changes to leave it up to the department heads (the chiefs) to determine what's best for their departments.
Some of the challenges faced by the city in 2024 included challenges that have been ongoing for some time such as the lawsuit by former police officer Chris Green. The council rejected one settlement offer provided to the city by Green's attorney earlier in the year. After the lawsuit had been ongoing for years and costing the city over $300, 000 in legal fees and more the longer it goes, the City Council reluctantly wrapped up the year by agreeing to a second settlement offered by Green.
Smith said society issues such as homelessness and some lawlessness were a challenge. He also said he was finding it challenging to maintain funding for the pool and the cemetery, both of which he feels the city needs. He was disappointed with the failure of the cemetery levy in November's General Election. He said he sees the same challenges carrying over into 2025.
Jones feels one of the biggest challenges they faced and overcame was the lack of any transition between the last administration to the current one following the election.
"The mayor and myself we are both learning on the fly even though we're familiar with how governments run, there are a lot of things we didn't know about these offices, what projects were in play and what needed done," Jones said. "Without that transition, we have been learning on the fly and that's kind of hampered us. We probably could have accomplished more if we would have had a better transition."
Jones felt the lack of a transition and the previous administration's failure to meet with them to tell them what projects were going on and what needs done for them, started them out behind the eight ball, but they didn't let that stop them and have found their way and overcame that. He said he does feel that if there was a transition they could be further along than what they are and have accomplished more.
The city wrapped up 2024 with a tree lighting ceremony in the diamond with a new tree purchased with funds raised by resident Jeni Jackson. The Diamond had more Christmas decorations out on display than it had in many years.
Smith said in early 2025 he anticipates work to begin on the Thompson Building.
He said he also looks forward to the tearing down of 30 dilapidated/condemned homes and hopes to continue that momentum which will help clean up the city. He said he also looks forward to the opening of a Shell Gas Station on Mulberry Avenue in the East End.
Jones for 2025 said he looks to see continuation of projects like the bike trail, bringing in new specialty business and continuing to develop downtown.
"Our goals are to continue to support our employees, because it's going to be our employees who turn this town around," Jones said. "Once our administration took over last year, we had some of the best kept roads during winter travel. I think our employees did a much better job than surrounding areas," Jones said. He attributed that to not micromanaging the departments and letting the department heads do their jobs.
Jones also noted that the most activity he had seen downtown in a long time was in 2024 with all the events held in the downtown area, such as First Fridays on Fifth and Party in the Diamond.
Jones said he hasn't seen that much activity downtown in years and that is positive. There seems to be a lot more activity downtown now. For the first time in years, Jones said he found himself saying it was hard to find a parking spot downtown.
Smith noted working with the county offices and OMEGA is helping make a difference as well.
Smith noted he and Jones have an open-door policy and are there to discuss issues with residents, listen to their complaints and do their best to help the residents and fix the issues.
"Basically 2025 is just to continue what we are doing now," Jones said. "We want to continue to do a good job for our residents, keep our roads clean, keep our potholes patched and continue to look for money to start replacing some of these city streets. Our main goal is to always look for different ways to improve the city."
Smith and Jones thanked the residents for their support and said they appreciate the residents in supporting them while they try to make East Liverpool better and thanked the county officials for welcoming and supporting them. They also expressed their gratitude to their assistants who play a big role in the city, Robin Tokorcheck, office manager to the mayor and Jennifer Barrett, office manager to safety service. Jones praised Barrett for her ability to market the city and Tokorcheck for her knowledge and experience. Jones said Tokorcheck has been an undervalued employee for as long as she has worked there and is the lynchpin that holds everything together.