DAYTON, Ohio — Last year wasn’t easy for the people of Dayton —Mayor Nan Whaley knows that. And in her 2020 State of the City speech, she vowed the city will emerge stronger this year.
- The mayor believes her plan will help to lead Dayton away from tragedy
- She highlighted several issues, including gun violence, tornado damage, blighted properties, education, economic inequality and segregation
- She announced the Dayton Stronger campaign to help the healing process
“With one crisis after another, 2019 was certainly the most challenging year I have faced as your mayor,” Whaley said.
She opened her State of the City speech by going back — back into one of the toughest years in recent memory for the city of Dayton.
2019 was marred with immense tornado destruction, a KKK rally downtown, and a tragic mass shooting in the heart of the city that left a total of 10 people dead.
To Whaley, the only year comparably worse was 1913, the year of the historic flooding that nearly sunk Dayton altogether.
“In 1913, Dayton was brought to the brink of destruction,” Whaley said. “And today our city is flooded once again.”
But no matter what was thrown at them, the people of Dayton showed they would not be defeated.
"Our community has responded to all of the events of last year with so much courage, grit, and resiliency,” she said. “It has been simply amazing to see so much beauty from our response. Dayton has done what Dayton does best — we took care of each other.”
Looking forward in 2020, Whaley said the first step to rebounding and recovering as a city is to heal.
“It’s okay to not be okay,” Whaley said. “As a community, we have a great deal of healing to do.”
To encourage that progress, the city will be rolling out a new campaign called Dayton Stronger.
“We wanted to have one place and an opportunity for the community to heal together, to serve together and connect,” she said.
DaytonStronger.org will combine DaytonHeals and MVStrong into one platform. She said keeping the community united is the best way to heal and move forward and away from the tragic events of 2019.
Another focus of Whaley’s for 2020 will be to work in neighborhoods dealing with lingering tornado damage or deteriorating abandoned properties.
“Everyone in Dayton deserves to live in a safe, affordable, well-maintained neighborhood,” Whaley said.
Whaley said she understands these issues can’t be fixed overnight, but if the community can continue to chip away, Dayton will become stronger than ever.
“We have lots of work to do. We still got a lot done last year, even when we were faced with these challenges. We’re still gonna work on investing in our neighborhoods, and we still have a lot to do when it comes to equity in our community,” she said.