my name is Gary Lewis chief of police
here in beex is now my honor to
introduce Betsy Lane president of Torah
[Applause]
M good evening I'm Betsy Lane president
of congregation tat Med on behalf of t
met I'm proud to welcome mayor Kesler
members of city council superintendent
fine Library director Heckman chief of
police Lewis and all of you assembled
here
today we value our special relationship
with our city and its leadership and are
delighted to share our space with you
here
today during these fraught times more
than ever we embrace the opportunity to
come together to celebrate our beautiful
Community I hope you enjoy your time
here today that you feel the warmth of a
shared moment with our beckling
neighbors welcome
[Music]
a century ago bexley's story was just
beginning the communities of bullet Park
and Pleasant Ridge had just combined our
now beloved neighborhoods were being
platted and bexley's first High School
class had just graduated a century ago
bexley's Foundation was being laid today
we are caretakers of a legacy preserving
the things about this community that
make Bexley so much more than just a
place on a map while embracing the
opportunity to shape our next 100 years
the legacy of the Bexley Community is
really being a community of purpose a
community that was put together with a
very unique history between a place of
learning with the Capitol University the
Lutheran Village around it and then of
course entrepreneurs and industrialists
from Columbus's Past coming together to
create this very special place Juan
Bexley is critical to Our Success one
beex Le fits exactly who we are as a
community we want to make sure that
everybody in Bexley whether you live in
Bexley or you're visiting Bexley that
you feel a sense of belonging and that
you feel welcomed and one Bexley
provides that opportunity for us to work
as the city the libraries and the
schools to continue that Foundation of
growth for our community and I'm really
thankful for our partners one thing I
appreciate so much about Bexley is they
value education they value learning and
there's a lot of curiosity we are all
working for the same purpose which is to
make Bexley better to empower the citiz
cens of Bexley to have the best life
they can have so working together allows
us to be more strategic we've laid the
groundwork to build on these
relationships to further all of our
missions to have the best of the best
for the community I absolutely love the
people my family was new four years ago
and from day one we've been loved we've
been shown compassion and understanding
I always call the Bexley Community the
trifecta of success we have students
that come to us like sponge is eager and
ready to learn we have amazing staff the
best in the business that provide a
rigorous loving caring supportive
environment and then we've got that
third factor which is really important
our families and our community and the
support that they continue to show us
makes this a really unique place to
maintain the strong Legacy it doesn't
happen overnight and I'm really proud of
the foundation that was set before us we
stand on the shoulders of those that
came before us and that tradition of
Excellence has to continue we do that
through a really robust community-driven
strategic planning process our mission
statement is to learn with curiosity
demonstrate kindness and embrace equity
and that is the DNA and everything that
we do we model that and it allows us to
make sure that that Excellence
continues while we're preserving our
Legacy we're constantly updating and
inmotion we're reimagining spaces and
the ways that we interact with our
environment I think it's vital to have a
consensus built plan to shape the future
of our community we have such limited
resources in terms of our land our space
that it's so important for us to be
really precise about what we intend to
do Landing strategy sets a stage it
provides a consensus from the community
to move forward in development and
knowing that you have the support of the
residents and elected officials and
having a common shared Vision that's a
powerful thing personally I love a good
checklist so it it creates for me a
template for what do I need to be
working on over the coming years
and how can we help to build consensus
around some of these really bold
energizing ideas my dream is that Main
Street continues to be a master class in
urban planning we are being really
purposeful about the improvements we're
making and we have this very long-term
lens as we start to shape the community
even more in the image of I think what
residents want to see it be we've
partnered with our neighbors Tor EMT and
the city to redo the front of the
library and put in an outdoor reading
room that will provide space for outside
Story Time perform performances poetry
Jazz we're going to have books that you
can check out outside Cafe tables and
chairs so that you can go to one of the
many delicious shops here on Main Street
and have lunch and that we can just be a
welcoming space from the sidewalk I
think any good Library should be
reflective and responsive to the
community so anyone that comes through
the door should be able to see thems in
the library and find the tools that they
need because we're responding to their
requests and needs and so our goal is to
try to figure figure out what is it that
they need that they don't know they need
yet and try to be ahead of the curve so
we're looking at things that will
benefit their life make their life a
little easier that they'll never think
that's at the public library and so
they'll come in and use these services
that we're working on and thinking about
whether it's book vending machines or
lockers that you can pick up your holds
up in the north part of Bexley or the
South part of Beckley whether it's a
mobile van that can be at all our
different events and a host of other
services that we're taking a look at
that would be arriving when people need
it in Bexley facilities is a critical
conversation for us on average our
buildings are 84 years of age some of
them over 100 years and our buildings
have served this community really well
but with every passing day the Gap
widens in terms of what those buildings
were designed for and what our students
need today and into the future so it's
really important that we continue to
have engagement with our community to
design what it is that we want for our
students future and we're really out of
the community engagement that we've had
so far I think it's a transformational
opportunity for our students today and
into the next 100 years we will Design
this as a community and I'm excited for
what's possible into the future where we
are today is hopefully only just
scratching the surface of where we're
going to be tomorrow because we're
setting the stage not just for the next
100 Years of Bexley but for the hundreds
of years to follow after that
[Music]
it's sometimes hard to imagine what the
next 100 years will bring but to shape
our future in a way that we can all be
proud of our community needs bright and
inspiring young leaders curious lifelong
Learners and compassionate and engaged
local and Global Citizens bexley's past
has shaped a legacy that's worth
preserving but our future that's up to
all of us
[Music]
all right well that was it uh thanks for
coming just kidding I hear there's
actually a wager on how long I'm going
to speak I want you to know whoever bet
on the long end you guys are going to
win a lot of money so uh buckle up thank
you trata met for hosting us this is
such a beautiful space thank you Betsy
thank you Rabbi Zach this is a a room
that's very special to our community
like you said it was I remember our
first land use strategy we had a public
Workshop here we had a commission
Retreat here uh when we were grilling
our future police chief Gary Lewis along
with some other candidates it was in
this room right here does it kind of
make you sweat bullets Chief when you're
in
here so thank you for this space you
know the Jewish Community is a vital
part of our Beckley community and these
are difficult and uncertain times as
Betsy alluded to and our Beckley
Community stands firm and supporting you
through these times thank you again for
opening your doors to us this evening
let's also take a moment to recognize
our elected officials here tonight
council members Schoolboard members
Auditors all please stand and be
recognized come on stand up you got
this just basically half the audience
that's good um and also if you're an
employee of one of the institutions
presenting here today if you could
please stand and be
recognized come on don't be shy
thank you I also want to thank the
Beckley police Honor Guard uh for being
here with us today and helping to lead
us at the start before we get started
yeah go ahead let's Applause for the
honor
[Applause]
guard before we get started uh I do want
to take a moment to acknowledge the
Legacy and the Deep contributions of
Mayor David Madison and auditor Bill
Harvey who have passed this past year
both were close personal friends of mine
and they gave so much to the city mayor
Madison's life was a master class in
service to our community and I would
like to dedicate this year's address to
them now I want to start by taking a
glimpse at some highlights from 2024 it
was a busy year for a great look back
check out our annual report it's on your
seat uh it has a lot of great
information it was fantastic work by
Megan Meyer and team
but in
2024 the mural Fest energized Main
Street Commonwealth Park began a
transformation the largest development
project in the history of Bexley
launched at 2200 East Main miles of new
water main sewers lined streets paved
sidewalk panels paneled and whole new
infill sidewalks and Denver and Charles
marched into our city the Bexley Police
Department launched new programs and was
more active than
ever these initiatives require a deep
coordination among our partners
throughout the community but most
importantly tight coordination among
City officials I'm really proud of the
collaborative atmosphere and culture
that we've collectively built between my
Administration city council and our
auditor all of your elected officials
truly have a sincere desire to move our
community forward and they have servants
Hearts here to provide an update on
council's legislative accomplishments
over the past year and a Peak at what is
to come is our magnificent council
president Monique lampy
[Applause]
Monique yeah thanks so much ben
appreciate it oh thank you yep
good evening
Bexley how's everyone doing
tonight wonderful um the last time that
I was in this beautiful synagogue was
about two and a half years ago I was at
that Community interview where we would
select bexley's next police chief and
luckily for Bexley we picked Gary Lewis
and he is doing amazing work with our
Police Department thank you chief
last spring I attended the Bexley High
School graduation of my niece at that
time the commencement speaker was Bexley
resident Doug Olen and he told the
seniors that as they embarked on their
next chapter they should strive for
impact not success and two choose
community over
prows your city council strives for a
meaningful impact in this extraordinary
community and we take very seriously the
enormous trust that you have placed in
us to be your local
legislators we are seven individuals
elected to a nonpartisan office who like
to roll up their sleeves get to work on
everyday issues that we can see from our
very front yard from our neighbors yard
from around the corner on the
playgrounds I'm honored to serve with
Danny Hurley Lori Ani Sam Marcelino Troy
Markham Jessica Cad and
Alex in 2024 their city council passed
51 pieces of legislation dealing with a
large variety of issues these included
electric vehicles Chargers around
town appointing some very smart and
experienced residents to many of our
boards and commissions many of whom are
here
tonight we voted to fund life-saving AED
devices and add protective helmet
requirements when our kids are riding
electric bikes or similar vehices around
B we also supported the unification of
Commonwealth East with Commonwealth West
and finally we also passed a
multi-million dollar B budget balanc it
that not only raised our City's
emergency savings AKA our rainy day fund
but we also dedicated significant
dollars to paying offs of the debt
during last week's Council Retreat we
also discussed our priorities for
2025 those issues include things like
City
finances infrastructure police Community
programs safety golf carts green spaces
vexas senior citizens accessive the pl
grounds drones development and our
beloved
arbored as we all navigate
2025 and continue to choose this
extraordinary community in which we live
I urge you to think about all the ways
that you have and you still can support
Bey and make a meaningful impact just
like Doug bman reminded our senors so
whether it's you're supporting your
local businesses because you know your
dollars help them succeed or you're
spreading kindness like it's
confetti or you're giving a Jewish
neighbor a word of support and
encouragement given all that
is please continue to do that we rely on
you we need you and we appreciate you
for striving to make that impact I wish
you all a very happy belated black
history months and happy current women's
history months and I look forward to
serving all of you thank
you thank you
Monique I want to start by talking about
our land use strategy update our update
will wrap this year it's been a robust
public process we've had uh public
surveys multiple workshops over 15
commission meetings to date the landu
strategy envisions new strategies to
activate Main Street including infusing
New Life into the West portion of Maine
bringing energy to areas that are ripe
for Gathering closing the energy gaps on
Main Street with two-sided Commerce
reimagining the south side of Main
Street at Parkview with an expanded
mixed use commercial district and a
reworked Civic
infrastructure our plans bring new
vibrancy to Cassidy by encouraging
two-sided development expanded
commercial areas sidewalk engaging
Commerce it expands on the vision of the
joint Livingston Avenue plan with
strategies for a bustling Livingston
commercial Corridor possible in part due
to a historic amount of funding received
for us $1 13.5 million in federal grants
through our partner The Mid Ohio
Regional Planning Commission whose
director William Murdoch is here with
some staff thank you William for joining
us to the see this project jump into
reality it sets the stage for expanded
housing options for every everyone with
a recommendation on Accessory dwelling
units that we'll be bringing forward to
council to consider sooner rather than
later and so much more a tree canopy
strategy sustainability objectives tools
to better leverage institutional
Partnerships policies for economic
development the list goes on but it's
not the only plan we're working on this
year we'll be launching our process to
update and expand bexley's commercial
design guidelines as part of this
process we're working with
internationally renowned planner and
author Jeff Speck to provide a
walkability study of Beckley with
recommendations and a public talk with
our residents we'll also be launching a
public art and placemaking
plan in part to support all of our
strategic objectives we're entering into
a massive update to our sewer
infrastructure plan it's exciting stuff
we're updating our water main
replacement schedule in tandem with this
and on the Transportation front we're
actively working with link us and with
Kota and I want to recognize kota's CEO
Monica TZ Fowler who's here thank you
for joining us
Monica I lost my place I'm so
starrk uh we're working with link us to
ensure great bus rpid transit service in
Bexley tailored to our unique context
link us also brings funding for expanded
sidewalk and bike space on our Main
Street Bridge investing in the Comm
corridors School link project and
supporting the Livingston Avenue
infrastructure project this is a huge
win for Beckley a network of bike
boulevards is under development it's due
to launch this year the W finding
project has been intense we're exploring
multi-use paths in portions of all of
our commercial
corridors and I'm about to transition to
sustainability but before we do trees
trees are all of these things they are
in infrastructure they are park space
they are sustainability they are
beautification we are revamping our
infill tree program and our community
tree giveaway and we're working on
bringing new tree preservation standards
to council for
consideration a sustainable Backle sets
our community up for the next 100 years
and
Beyond Bly sustainability is under
attack right now but we're not backing
away from it programs will working on
include Community renewable sourced
aggregation we've saved the community
nearly $2 million to date on our current
wind based fully renewable aggregation
program and it's time for us to reup
we're working hard to find the right
solution for you in the next phase of
renewable aggregation last year we
launched Universal recycling every
business tenant every apartment resident
every student has access to recycling in
Bexley we are the first city in Ohio to
accomplish this fully funded by grants
we've launched four new EV charger
locations with a focus on areas that
serve apartment tenants for overnight
charging and our Municipal EV Fleet
continues to grow we're pretty sure we
have the most electrified Fleet in Ohio
bring it if you think you do it's saving
taxpayer money plus they're really fun
to drive for our
crews and we're in the process of
developing a green building code to
bring forward to council helped in part
by a seminar of OSU sustainability
students and while we've long emphasized
sustainability we're in the process of
developing a formalized sustainability
action plan we actually don't have one
to help us move to an even deeper Shade
of
Green speaking of green let's talk about
Parks and Recreation we have the most
vibrant enthusiastic amazing Recreation
and Parks program and we're continuing
to build on this success we're wrapping
up the Jeffrey Park and Woodland
preservation plan to hone this community
Gem and help it to thrive into the
future we're getting ready to reimagine
the Jeffrey park playground and also
bring a natural play area to it we're
going to transform the pool parking lot
it doesn't sound that much fun until you
think about it we're going to slim down
that asphalt footprint move the
dumpsters somewhere else and create a
great place to enjoy our Alum Creek
Creekside where did designing a Four
Season shelter house and nature center
at Jeffrey for year on
programming and I want to pause and
acknowledge the Bexley Bloomers do we
have any Bexley Bloomers in the room I
see some raise your hand these guys are
amazing a volunteer crew of passionate
gardeners thank you for your
transformative help and your
support at Jeffrey Park and Beyond and
just so that they don't run out of
things to do we're putting the finishing
touches on the Commonwealth Arboretum
walk thanks to the support of the beex
Community Foundation we're finalizing
the infrastructure and landscape design
of that unified Commonwealth Park we're
working to build a new Senior Center at
the site of the current temporary space
with double the space for our Dynamic
senior population we're Gathering
funding to install pickle ball lights at
the Jeffrey courts we're building Escape
spot at Schneider along long sought
after amenity for our teenagers and our
teenagers at heart
with the support of ODNR and the beex
Community Foundation we're building a
bridge at Schneider to connect our Tad
Jeffrey natural path to the Alum Creek
Greenway Trail we're partnering with the
bexi public library and our hosts here
at Tata met also with the support of the
BCF to build a wonderful new outdoor
space at the library I have a feeling
we're going to be talking about that a
little bit
more right here right next to us we're
Contin continuing to add new furnishings
and Gathering spaces in our Parks all
along Main Street
we're working with the support of the
beic beautification fund of the BCF to
reimagine the landscape design of the
North Roosevelt medians and the Fair
Avenue medians and the college and the
Livingston
entryway you know I keep on mentioning
the Bexley Community Foundation and in
truth I'm not mentioning them enough so
much of what we do is Possible only
because of their phenomenal support the
BCF is a pivotal partner in the projects
that we're working on to set the stage
for bexley's next next 100 years I want
to recognize chair Sheila St with us
tonight director H Rasin and the whole
BCF team let's take a quick look at some
of the great work that the BCF has been
up to greetings from the Bexley
Community Foundation a catalyst for
positive change in our beautiful
Community together we enhance the
quality of life for all residents of
Bexley established in 2010 our
foundation is a proud embodiment of the
spirit of our community reflecting its
diverse collaborative and
forward-thinking nature what started
almost 15 years ago as a Grassroots
effort to give where you live has grown
into one of the most impactful
organizations in our hometown today we
are proud to share that the Bexley
Community Foundation has 17 designated
funds and has reinvested over $5.3
million into our Bexley Community
proving that a small gift can make a big
difference thanks to our incredible
donors we are thrilled to share that we
have reached many Milestones since our
founding in 2010 5 $3 million in total
Grants awarded to our community
including two Capital campaigns the
Jeffree Mansion Expansion Project and
year of the parks the BCF has awarded
over 250 grants ranging from $500 to
$1.75 million all in support of bexy
based organizations these grants fund
projects that touch every corner of our
community including the Arts youth
programming support of our neighbors in
need community events outdoor
recreational spaces our parks
Commonwealth Havenwood and Schneider
beautification and our Bexley orbitum
Jeffrey Mansion and so much more our
work is rooted in the belief that
everyone should have the opportunity to
thrive and we're committed to making
this Vision a reality for our community
by partnering with us you're joining a
legacy of impact and empowerment
ensuring that Bexley remains a vibrant
Innovative and inclusive community for
generations to come join us together we
can build a better Bexley one project at
a time to learn more more apply for a
grant or donate to the Bexley Community
Foundation please visit Bexley community
foundation.org that video was only made
a month ago but Bexley Community
Foundation has now awarded $5.5 million
in Grants so there you go uh save the
date for the BCF annual gathering on
April 30th I'll be there and we have a
little surprise up our sleeves leading
up to
it what could it be uh the BCF funds so
much more than what we're even going to
talk about today uh the capital an Frank
Exhibit that you recently came through
the Now Music Festival there darns
summer food and cards for can's program
the Bexley Farmers Market which launches
again in May so many other uh things
throughout our community funded through
the BCF the BCF is also a crucial
partner in our community events and boy
do we have a season coming up including
a main a great Main Event season and a
dynamic jazz in the park series another
another iteration of the mural Fest will
be marching to Main Street and this year
we're adding with the Bexley um I'm
sorry with the bexi Chamber of Commerce
we are adding an Arts Festival component
to the Labor Day block party in Brewfest
this bigger than ever combined event is
getting a new umbrella name we're
bringing back
Summerfest there we go
there main event is going to continue to
hop this year as the Fitzgerald
development rises from the ground
bringing restaurants medical office and
over 230 apartment build units to Main
Street by 2026 cohatch is set to open
soon and New Uses are coming in all
sorts of areas throughout the city with
all of this going on the Bexley Chamber
of Commerce has been more active than
ever under the leadership of Brian Drury
here with us today acting as a support
system for businesses new and old and
launching some exciting new programs
let's here from the chamber the Bexley
Area Chamber delivers real impact to our
local business Community hi I'm Brian
Drury executive director of the Bexley
chamber and I'm thrilled to share that
the chamber has had one of the most
successful years in our long
history did you know that 78% of the
local consumers feel more confident
shopping at businesses that are members
of the local
chamber our members understand the
benefit of the chamber as 2024 before
had been a tremendous year of growth our
chamber has almost 350 members as we're
ready to grow
more because of our growth in 2024 the
Bexley Area Chamber of Commerce is a big
deal out of 355 Statewide chamber
members we're in the top 30 of new
memberships in
2024 even though we're one of the
smallest
markets let's take a look at a few
things we did this year
the official giant scissors of the
Bexley chamber were busy this year in
partnership with the city of Bexley we
helped open a bunch of new business this
past year you might think cutting a big
ribbon with a giant pair of scissors is
a bit silly but it's also an important
reminder of how hard it is to run a
small business it's no surprise that the
bexy area is an amazing Community we see
that come to life when we connect our
businesses and residents at various
events we host throughout the year with
24 events this past year and thousands
of people showing up it was a great year
for the
chamber speaking of events the taste of
Bexley our signature event continues to
be one of the most celebrated local
events of the Year this past year was no
exception the taste of Bexley saw a
record number of participating member
businesses and ticket attendees with
hundreds of our friends and neighbors
enjoying food fun music and more we're
planning for the next Taste of Bexley to
be an even more more
epic we relaunched our women in business
event series that help celebrates our
diverse member businesses our business
Community is strengthened by our diverse
leaders and our women in business event
series that has been selling out stay
tuned for more events like this
throughout the year that celebrates the
diversity of our business
members one of the more exciting things
we did this past year was launch our
small business grant program two of our
members pedals that inspire fire and
tasty Nigeria were the first recipients
of these small business grants our small
business grants can be used for General
business operations that help our
members continue to
thrive the chamber is not all business
all the time we create opportunities for
our members to get back to the community
that they benefit you might see our
members refilling curbside pantries
stocking books in our little libraries
and volunteering throughout the
city don't worry we also had time for
some fun we March some parades serve
beer at Brewfest dance along with their
neighbors at porchfest and into the
woods and make certain to take time to
show our outer Town visitors what Bexley
is all
about 2024 was a busy year for the
chamber and 2025 will be no different so
what's next for the chamber 2025 and
Beyond is all about the chamber being
reinvented while we won't create a Brian
Drury clone the board hasn't fully ruled
that out yet
all kidding aside 2025 is poised to be a
pivotal year for the Chamber of Commerce
there'll be more events a brand new
state-of-the-art website that you've
been asking for we'll be adding creative
new ways for our members to drive
customers to their businesses through
unique marketing initiatives we'll
provide our members with new ways to cut
costs and run their businesses more
effectively ultimately the chamber will
deliver more value to our members than
you have ever seen before there has
never been a better time to be a member
of the beex area chamber than right
now lastly we could not do without our
amazing public Partners the city of
Bexley the Bexley Community Foundation
the Bexley police department and the
Bexley Public Library thank you very
much for your continued support and
thank you to the beex are Community
here's to a successful
2025 man now that I know there's an AI
Brian I love
it everything we're talking about this
is all only possible when we're covering
the basics that our community keeps our
community running these core functions
are what we spend most of our energy and
time on and for good reason here are
some highlights of our year ahead we
know that the top priority of our local
government function is to keep Bexley
safe our Police Department continues to
lead the region and this year we will
continue with expanded community
policing programs a newly remodeled and
expanded Dispatch Center that's coming
online deploying Next Generation
software so our officers have quick
access to Reliable data in the field
flock cameras are now online helping us
to provide better and faster response to
Serious criminal
violations and our project tailight has
been live and active for SE several
years and is only growing in its use and
today we're announcing a new program
stolen shamelessly from the city of
Dublin called slow down Bexley they
don't call it slow down be we call it
slowdown Bexley slowdown Bexley is the
next Generation version of our
neighborhood speed Reduction Program it
combines public awareness marketing
resources an open data dashboard of
speed studies and a publicized response
Paradigm to help us bring down the speed
of vehicles in our neighborhood this is
incredibly important um speed is
becoming more of an issue distracted
driving we'll be launching slowdown
Bexley this spring and I want to thank
Advocate Lee Nathans for his tireless
work to expand our public AED program
Lee Nathans is with us right over there
there you are
[Applause]
Le our first public ad is now live here
on Main Street right in front of the
library parking lot and we are expanding
soon to other public spaces along Maine
and to parks in the coming months
another critical function is our
management of the city's extensive
infrastructure
we're bringing 7300 ft of new water
mains to bexy this summer and we're
launching a galvanized waterline
replacement Loan program pending Council
approval we're launching the aquahawk
system this spring so that residents can
monitor their water consumption in real
time and get alerts on any possible
leaks and we're finalizing the details
on a one-time grant program for
residents who have experienced water
leaks and Stark increases in their water
bills we're going to PVE over 2 million
two million not two million two miles of
streets this summer install over 1,000
sidewalk panels continue bringing
sidewalks to places where we don't have
sidewalks today and sewers that
glamorous most invisible but one of our
most important infrastructure systems
continued investment in our sewers is
necessary to help prevent flooding and
properties and to obtain better water
quality along our Regal Regional water
ways we're lining 4,100 ft of sewers
this summer but most importantly we're
planning deeply for the future launching
a largescale refresh of our sewer plan
to set the stage for future investments
in critical systemic upgrades all of
this work is leading to an overall
refresh of our long-term capital plan we
haven't updated it since about 10 years
ago the updated Capital plan will help
us create a refresh strategy for
investment and funding to ensure sure
our infrastructure remains Rock Solid
for years to
come and this type of planning and
financial stewardship it's it's just
what we do for many years now we've
prioritized as Monique said paying down
debt and we've been very selective about
what and how we've borrowed as a result
we have the lowest debt burden on our
general fund in our modern history and
in a scant few years we will be debt
free in the general fund at the same
time we are building up strategic
reserves for infrastructure
environmental remediation and even
starting to set aside funds for the next
Beckle pool hopefully not needed for
some time but we're doing all of this on
the back of a budget that has been
unwaveringly balanced year-over-year
since
2012 as I wrap up here I want to
encourage your involvement in a project
that is very important to me and to
other institutions here in this room the
one Bexley Project's goal is simple to
ensure that Bexley is welcoming to
everybody everybody who lives Works
visits and plays in
Bexley but especially to populations
that have been marginalized in our
community at a time when the concept of
inclusion is under attack our Bexley
Community is unapologetically committed
to it we want you to be involved sign up
for the weekly text from one Bexley
grab a yarned sign to show your support
we have some here you can grab attend an
event such as the one Beckley Gathering
or the story slam or one of the many
events that we have on the calendar
throughout the year keep connected stay
in touch get
involved believe it or not there's more
we're working on than we've even covered
here keep a prized sign up for the
Bexley blast weekly email it's the best
way to get information about what's
going on in the city
during a time when it seems like
National R rhetoric is engineered to
divide and isolate we have our local
community our local Bexley Community
it's the
antidote to the justifiable frustration
that many of us feel with the tempo of
society today a community that's strong
that's United it's future forward it's a
thing to be
celebrated and I do believe that at our
best that is US
Bexley the state of the community is
bold Innovative connected
walkable tree shaded active
catary chalk full of more events than
you could possibly attend and most
importantly focused on setting the table
for the next 100 years so here's to the
many brighter Generations ations to come
thank
you Bexley is leafy familyfriendly it's
a beautiful neighborhood a great place
for a stroll a place to learn a place to
play and Bexley has a bright future
building on these strengths but not
everyone has been able to participate in
our community literally deed
restrictions and National lending
standards made it impossible for amilies
of color to live in Bexley well into the
1960s and even Beyond red lining was so
powerful in Bexley that few of any
students of color graduated throughout
the 60s 7s and the 80s and the culture
that surrounded that exclusion has
carried forth in a number of way since
that in seemingly innocent ways like
face your legitimacy and belonging on
how many generations of your family came
before you when there are families of
color that structurally could never
belong to that Sav flag or in bigger
more threatening ways including racist
taunts and tropes that percolate from
the dinner table conversations to the
classroom or the historical Legacy of
profiling that continues to cast a
shadow over everyday interactions or the
fact that historically Blue Line
communities like Bexley have been much
slower to diversify than communities
form since that time showing the long
lasting Heritage of structural racism
because of this Legacy We Believe
believe that we need to be intentional
and purposeful in building a true sense
of belonging in Bexley today we have the
opportunity and resources to continue
making positive change to be a better
version of ourselves to recognize our
past and inform our future it won't
happen by accident it won't happen
without you without all of us working
together to rewrite the Playbook
introducing the one Beckley project
one Bexley is an intentional purposeful
program to craft a Bexley that is
welcoming to all and creates a sense of
belonging for all community members and
visitors one Bexley has a direct support
of the city of Bexley the Bexley City
School District the Bley public library
and passionate residents who know that
this mindset is vital to our future one
Bexley is community focused inclusive
allyship in action disruptive
coming creating home future forward and
it takes all of us join us for
conversations for education for events
for
training and one Bexley do
[Music]
us good evening
everyone uh I am Jason fine I am the
superintendent of Bexley City Schools I
have the greatest job in the world I
think this is a great example of that uh
Ben Kessler in the preparation he said
let me go first I'll get the standing
ovation then you go and then we'll bring
up Ben Heckman and it'll be a roaring
Standing Ovation for Ben uh but I am so
thankful to be here this is my fourth
year as superintendent and like I said
it is the greatest job in the world uh
I'm going to share a little bit about
why uh this evening the first thing that
we need will be a thank you uh to our
friends uh here at tat EMT it is
critical that uh we thank our partners
and it's also critical for the
superintendent to make sure that names
are spelled correctly luckily Rabbi Zach
I think has exited uh I misspelled Rabbi
Zach but that breeds opportunity
challenges bring uh breed opportunity it
allows us to talk more about this
partnership and we're really thankful
Betsy and Rabbi Zach Rabbi is one of the
first folks that I met once I got the
job and he continues to answer the phone
when we are in need for of guidance and
support and we're so thankful for that
partnership uh but we really appreciate
this beautiful space uh for this evening
I also want to thank our incredible
Board of Education uh I if you've heard
me speak you've heard me say this before
we are really lucky in Bexley same as
our our city council our Bexley board of
education is world class we have five
individuals that fight for students
fight for staff and uh fight to make
sure that we are continuing to provide a
really important worldclass experience
for our students I want to acknowledge
our board members that are here some
could not be here I see Dr Baker in the
space I see Patrick King in the space I
think I saw Mike Carter in the space uh
vice president Joanne Pickrel is in the
space and then our president uh Victoria
power she is going to speak with us a
little bit later uh it is hard to be a
board member in 2025 it is thankless uh
and they do it incredibly well and I'm
so thankful to go along the journey with
our five uh board members uh and I learn
something from them every day uh about
what it means to continue to fight for
students and fight for kids uh during a
time that can be very uncertain so we're
thankful uh for our Advocates who serve
on the board I want to talk briefly I
know there is a time limit uh as we go
through this uh you heard us talk in
that video we talked about a strategic
plan I couldn't be more proud of our
strategic plan strategic plan we're in
year year two of three I'm not going to
get into all the specifics but I think
there are some critical components
number one this was a community-driven
plan that was created uh two years ago
we had over 3,000 data points we had
several Community engagement sessions it
is not the superintendent strategic plan
it is not the Board of Education uh
strategic plan it is a community-driven
strategic plan that has a lot of really
important things that is The Guiding
Light that continues to push us forward
every day the mission statement you
heard me talk in the video you see it
also uh up here learn with curiosity
demonstrate kindness and embrace Equity
those three areas of focus are critical
it makes up the DNA of who we are who we
must be and we lean on that mission and
our vision and our values when we make
really challenging decisions uh and it
is critical that we continue to do so
also in our strategic plan you can find
it on our website you will see that
everything that we do there are three
main areas of focus we're not going to
get into those as uh when we look at
teaching and learning and culture and
our facilities everything that we do is
built on the foundation of uh diversity
Equity inclusion and a sense of
belonging and and welcoming uh in our
community so we're really thankful for
the work we're in year two of three we
just gave a community update at our last
board meeting and again you can find
those updates
online a tradition of Excellence I
believe is uh what we're known for when
it comes to academics in Bexley and I
couldn't be more proud of the of the
successes that that we have uh as a
district and ultimately what we want we
want our students when they exit our
walls to be wildly successful in
whatever it is that they choose to do
and we're really thankful for the work
that we do and we can't do it alone
we'll talk about that a little bit later
but you can see some of the things that
uh academically we take great pride in
knowing that our students are are
finding opportunities to engage with
rigorous content and building
connections with their staff members
with the trusted adult in the classroom
and they do find really uh or have
success uh through that worldclass
experience we also know that there's
more to the story the rest of the story
uh you can see up here and I know some
of this may be uh tough to read but 88%
this is a fascinating uh I think this
says a lot about who we are in Bexley
88% of our students participate in an
extracurricular uh activity and a lot of
those 88% of our students part are
participating in multiple and think that
sets us apart there are lots of
opportunities for our students to be
successful in the classroom and outside
of the classroom and really thankful for
for those opportunities a couple of
things that I want to highlight because
I think it's pretty cool uh we've had
five state champions in the last
calendar year we've had two in the last
couple weeks uh Maya BS is a three-time
state champ in tennis uh she could
become the first girl ever in Ohio to uh
foreat uh Henry lassard is a freshman uh
he he's a sophomore this year he's
getting ready this season to embark on a
repeat of a State title in tennis I told
city council the other day if you want
to shot the title in tennis it runs
through Bexley we're really uh thankful
for our our tennis success Jackson monus
is a two-time uh swimming champ in uh
Bexley and he just repeated last week at
our swim and dive competition he is a
sophomore it's fascinating how we keep
these young students keep uh finding
success Marius Garcia is is a defending
state champion in wrestling first uh
state champion wrestling in over 50
years he is going for a repeat of that
title this Saturday uh we just had our
first ever female swimming state champ
in Katie Drummond that happened last uh
Friday Sandy salowski was also our D2
coach of the year in arts we've got Gabe
Adler he finished in the top 25 of our
state Governor uh artistic award Zeke
Moses just performed at our last Board
of Education meeting he uh just was
awarded the state champion in our poetry
out loud Championship Maddie lafalot is
uh one out of a hundred students across
the nation to be named a Disney dreamer
uh so she's headed to Disney to learn uh
from many of those who came before her
of how to be a great leader xanad do
which was our performance last year
received several Awards including Sammy
Ross best actress in a supporting role
and we continue to have several uh
performances at the state and National
level with all of our musical uh
entities and we're really proud of that
work but I think that's important piece
of the rest of the story and that our
students find other opportunities in the
classroom and outside the classroom uh
to Blossom and to find something that is
important for them the other piece
that's really important for our success
is the people behind uh the walls or in
inside the classrooms the number one
indicator of success and this is
research-based the number one indicator
of success of Any Given child's success
in a school setting is the classroom
teach teacher so it is critical when we
are constantly looking to recruit hire
and retain that process is really
important for us and we run a really
consistent and Equitable approach to
find the best and you all know that our
teachers typically find their forever
Home in Bexley and it's because we work
hard to find the best and they want to
stay here because of you all and because
of our great students uh and we're
really thankful for that the number two
indicator of success in any given's
child's experience is the building
leader so leadership matters building
principle ship matters and in 2025 it's
not easy to find great administrators
that want to get into this because it's
tough and it's challenging so we're
really thankful we've got uh you see up
there Dr uh Justin dennon he just
presented his dissertation uh received
his Doctorate he was invited to a
National Conference to uh share his
dissertation on restorative practices uh
you see uh Jerome price in the middle
Jerome price if you're a parent in our
community you've seen communication
lately he's just been named our Middle
School principal he's going to replace
uh Mr coddle who's going to move to the
high school uh Jerome price is a
superstar he has been to a national uh
conference recently presenting on
culture which is one of our goals in our
strategic plan and then you've got Brad
petett who is our director of Technology
another component of our strategic plan
presenting at a national level and
bringing in a lot of support here uh
through our our technology department I
want to talk briefly you heard me talk
about facilities facilities is critical
we're at a critical moment uh as we take
a look at our facilities and just like
our strategic planning process this has
been a really important process for our
community as a community-driven process
we've held 12 Community engagement
sessions we've held 24 building team
meetings and we've had many many more
meetings where we've had an opportunity
to get feedback from you
and you can still provide feedback
anytime you can go to the top of our
website our homepage there is a a link
at the top uh where you can give
feedback about facilities or anything
it's an easy way to access us you can
also always email us but this has been
an important process for us to Pro to to
determine as a community what it is that
we want for our
future you uh saw in the video why now
uh as we take a look I think it's really
important that I mentioned earlier that
the Strategic plan has directed us to
take a look at our facilities this has
been a conversation in Bexley long
before I arrived long before this
strategic uh plan uh but I'm really
proud of the work that we did as a
community to put it into uh action and
that's why we're taking a look at it you
heard me say on the video our buildings
have served this community really well
but the Gap continues to widen from the
design of these buildings on average 85
years ago to what our students need
today and into the future so that's why
this is a really important critical
moment in our community's time to
determine what it is that we need uh as
a community for our students so that we
make sure that we're planning for their
future and not our past uh I also want
to make sure that we understand and I
say this a lot we've learned through
this process through our three phases
that there is no zero cost option we
know that our aging facilities are a
concern and we know that it's going to
cost money we have we have looked at
what it's going to cost in 0 to 5 years
6 to 10 years and 11 to 15 years we have
that information we have that in our
website if you want to take a look at
that uh so we have to determine are we
going to repair are we going to renovate
we going to rebuild and those are
conversations that we're having we
appreciate the feedback that we've
received from our
community you can see that we're in the
middle of our third and final phase of
our facilities planning process we're in
a year and a half uh we're about a year
and a half in of the facilities process
process you can see that we are at the
decisions phase that is a really
important phase uh our architectural
team that we're working with Perkinson
will and Moody Nolan they're going to
present to our Board of Education in the
spring a final plan the Board of
Education will take that information
we'll work with our court team and they
will make some decisions Kyle Smith is
going to talk a little bit about that uh
uh in a in a few moments as to how that
might be
funded I also want to comment on
something I think is really exciting and
that is uh the recent purchase of close
to 30 Acres at Cassidy Avenue I believe
in my heart that this is a potential for
transformational change in our community
we did not make this decision lightly uh
and I also want to reiterate that this
was driven from the Strategic plan you
can see up on the uh slide that our goal
2.2 directed us to explore Partnerships
and potential Acquisitions of land to
help us solve the problem that we're
current facing which is a lack of uh
facilities for our students who are
participating uh in these types of
events so I'm really proud of the vision
of our community to help us see this and
we have worked really closely really
hard with uh parks and wreck with
Capital University with the JCC uh with
Columbus uh City to try and find space
and we don't have enough and if you have
a child that has participating in these
activities you know that their mental
health and well-being is impacted when
they are eating uh dinner at 1: p.m. and
then they have an hour or two or four of
homework time we want to provide
opportunities and spaces for our
community and for our students that will
help eliminate some of that chaos so
we're really proud of that work I want
to talk quickly about phase zero this
will be a phased in approach we do not
know what Cassidy will look like you are
going to help us decide that just like
we've proven that we want your feedback
in the strategic planning process just
like we've proven that we want your
feedback in the facilities planning
process we want your assistance and your
feedback and helping us determine what
Cassie Avenue will look like this is a
long-term process this is to help us for
the next 100 years that's why we're
really proud and really excited about
what's possible for the next 100 as it
comes to the city purchase phase zero uh
is an opportunity for us to take a look
at what can we do in real time to get
that space up and running at the minimum
level to have it safe have it playable
and uh spread out some of the needs from
our community you will be informed on
every step of the way but we will not
design what Cassidy Avenue looks like
without you so that's a really important
piece the next piece I'm G to bring up a
superstar Kyle Smith is our treasur uh
and I am really thankful I talk about
our Board of Education we don't function
to the level we function without a a
Treasurer like Kyle Smith he is
phenomenal he is a man of great
integrity and he is not your typical
Treasurer I love all Treasures but I
love this one because he understands the
need of students and when we're talking
about what students need he does a
phenomenal job of identifying ways that
we can support those students by being
fiscally responsible with great
integrity and stewardship and I'm really
thankful Kyle's going to talk to you a
moment about some of the things that's
happening in our district let's give up
for Kyle
[Applause]
Smith mayor permission slow
[Laughter]
down thank you Dr fine um he he recent
just talked about our our facil
facilities uh and communities like
Bexley um have very little options to uh
Finance their facilities uh other than
internal and for us we've been talking
about two major uh options one through
bonds with property taxes similar to
operational levies um and another uh
option is the income tax which you can
do with uh what's called certificate of
participation so just want to delay the
the foundation and ground uh groundw for
potential options when it comes to
facilities findings one reason Bexley is
not able to really rely on state funding
is uh really represented in the py graph
above with the green slip uh which is
the state support for school districts
um that also translates into facility uh
assistance but um as we are good
stewards we believe in your tax dollars
of income tax and property tax we're at
a moment in time where we believe it's
important to be good stewards of um the
dollars that you PID to the state as
inform form of state income tax that
green slipper comes to back back to
Bexley um the the state is in a banian
budget cycle uh the the governor's
proposal which will which will probably
go through some several iterations uh in
the House and Senate uh but that
proposal is calling for Budget
reductions for buxing City Schools um so
again so not only are we uh trying to be
good stewards of your local tax dollars
but we feel it's important to advocate
for the dollars that we receive from the
state and um we try to protect every
dollar that we Cur
receive make sure I didn't go too far a
year ago when I stood in front of you
this chart looked uh massively different
uh that orange line was dipping below
zero this community shown support to its
schools over many decades but more
specifically uh with issue 36 and we're
appreciative of that um in issue 36 is a
different funding model for beex schools
typically you see that uh darker blue
line as Flatline because of House Bill
920 for school districts and property
taxes but the incremental Levy is
something new whereas that lighter Blue
Line increases uh the incremental Levy
uh increases as well over a 5year period
so it's new it's exciting but also part
of that um I guess agreement that we've
had with the um Community is we' spend a
little bit we' spin into our reserves so
that orange line still does decrease um
with the the notion that as we ask for
your dollars over time uh we don't need
as much as we would uh previously in
this 11 Cycles uh next I'd like to bring
uh our board
president good evening everyone thanks
so much um it's really an honor to serve
as the president of the Bexley City
Schools Board of Education um I'm really
grateful for everybody for being here
tonight to all the speakers to the our
hosts in this beautiful space um I'm
super grateful to our
uh superintendent and our treasur who
work incredibly hard every single day
and to the board members that I serve
with we have a very strong board and
it's uh I think I feel very fortunate
and I think the city should feel very
fortunate for that um this event has
been primarily focused on the successes
of 24 which is really uplifting and and
I'm I'm really grateful for everything
that's going on here in Bexley and all
the hard work that all of you are doing
um Kyle Smith talked about District
financials Financial stewardship
Financial stability and I'm going to
pick up the theme and talk just briefly
about something that's happening right
now in our state budget process that
Kile mentioned uh that's ongoing in our
Ohio legislature specifically about
Appropriations and funding of public
schools the legislature is currently
determining the state budget for the
next two fiscal years which will start
on July 1 the governor's proposal has
been introduced as House Bill 96 that
proposal includes continuing the phase
in of the fair school funding plan which
is very good news and very important for
our public schools in
Ohio but as proposed as Kyle has
mentioned the Appropriations for public
schools in Ohio will be reduced from
current amounts Ohio's nonpartisan
legislative Service Commission has
determined that under the budget
proposal that is currently being
discussed the revenue loss to Bexley
City Schools will be over
$318,000 in those two years these
reductions put pressure on our School
District budget and our board is doing
what we can to prevent that reduction at
our school board meeting tomorrow
tomorrow night the board will discuss
and act on a proposed resolution the
treasurer Smith and I have prepared
asking the Ohio general assembly and the
governor to commit to fully funding the
fair school funding plan without these
Cuts I hope you will also consider
reaching out to your elected officials
our elected officials representative
daral and Senator Craig to let them know
how you feel I have their contact
information with me tonight if you want
to get that from me we are so grateful
for the support that our community has
shown to us we hope that you uh are
grateful for what the Bexley City
Schools does uh as a heartbeat in the
center of our community thank you so
much and I want the prize for the
shortest talk
thank thank
you we are really thankful for uh all
that Victoria and the rest of the board
uh continues to offer Victoria is dialed
in on all the legislation that that
heads our way and there is a lot I'm
sure you've all been keeping up to date
we're really thankful for uh your
willingness and your commitment and I
agree uh the hardest working uh board
president in the state and Beyond I want
to just uh show one last thing and then
we're going to wrap it up and hand it to
the reason we're all here Ben
Heckman uh we can't do what we do
without you and Kyle mentioned it this
community has shown a continued support
of our schools and it matters it it is
shown and we are so thankful and you
heard me in the video talk about the
trifecta of success these partners that
you see on the screen are great examples
of why we're able to do the things that
we do we are unique bexy is unique we
can't do the things that I shared in the
first handful of slides without the
support of this community so we're
really thankful for our beex the
Education Foundation I'm going to share
a video uh as I'm exiting the stage of
their impact they do a phenomenal job of
making sure that our students have those
opportunities that don't happen without
uh their work and dedication we're so
thankful for our Bexley Education
Foundation the city of Bexley mayor
Kessler our city council members all of
the leaders within uh uh the city of
Bexley I am really impressed and really
thankful for the partnership that we
have uh I was just talking to another
superintendent in uh Central Ohio today
talking about a major Gap that they're
experiencing uh between their
partnership with the city and the
schools and I can't imagine what the job
would be without that partnership and
I'm really thankful that that continues
to be strong and I love our quarterly
meetings where we put uh president of
city city council Monique uh Victoria
chief of police the mayor uh Mike with
parks and wreck uh Ben Heckman Brian
Drury it's a really important
opportunity for us to make sure we are
uh connected and informed of what's
Happening throughout the uh the city
parks and recx I mentioned Mike really
thankful for that piece uh I never
realized how much uh involvement would
be needed to make sure that our students
have access to these important resources
we're thankful for Mike and his team uh
Chief Lewis in the Bexley Police
Department I too the first time I was in
here uh had an opportunity to uh clearly
choose uh the greatest uh Chief in uh
Ohio and I'm thankful for that that
partnership is strong it continues to
strengthen and uh we really appreciate
your support uh and when we are in need
of uh Chief Lewis and his team they
answer the phone they are immediate
response uh and we are so thankful we
appreciate that uh ju Beckley you saw
that video that is critical and that was
born uh a couple years ago uh from an
important need and La Baker and Steve
Shapiro uh that doesn't happen if we
don't have Ben Heckman and Ben Kesler in
moments of Crisis stepping up to the
plate communicating with the schools to
find out what can we do to support our
students what can we do to support our
community and what can we do to support
uh our visitors to our community so
we're really thankful for one Bexley and
then lastly the community organizations
I feel like you're all part of the
organizations we look at uh bmpa we look
at darn we look at erbs uh Bexley Pride
uh the diverse learning PTO we have
building
PTO uh there are many many more those
are the organizations that continue to
support and lift our students up and
allow them uh to continue to to find
great experiences and experience that
worldclass experience that we're we're
we're looking for so we're thankful that
you've given us a little bit of time to
brag on the work that's happening we
still have a lot of work ahead of us
we're not where we want to be we're
going to continue to push we want to
continue to be excellent as we push to
the next uh several years and Beyond on
to the 100 years uh but we are thankful
and I hope you've heard tonight that we
can't be successful without you we
appreciate all that you've done if you
want to stay tuned I know the Bexley
blast goes out at 5:00 P PM every Friday
we've got the Thursday slot at 5:00 P
p.m sometime 6 p.m. uh but we hope that
you'll consider joining and uh accessing
our school newsletter you can scan the
QR code to get signed up you can also
visit our website you can email me
anytime we want people informed
we want people engaged and we want to
make sure people have access to
transparent information so that you are
comfortable and understanding of what
the schools are doing because you're
such an important partner huge thank you
for being here tonight thank you for
giving us a little bit of time I want to
share an important video from our
friends at one I'm sorry at the Bexley
Education Foundation uh we are so
thankful for the work that they do as
well so let's give it up for the Bexley
Education Foundation more than 40 years
ago a group of Bexley parents and
Community leaders envisioned how private
support could strengthen public
education in Bexley today the beex
Education Foundation is a model for
other communities wanting to mobilize
private resources to enhance their
schools thanks to the remarkable
generosity of those who care deeply for
our schools the foundation has channeled
over 8 million to the Bexley City School
District the impact of the foundation
can be seen in the classrooms and other
learning Gathering and Performing spaces
across the district the foundation is a
leading fun of technology in the school
districts and our grants and programs
have upgraded facilities supported all
areas of the curriculum and brought the
diverse voices of Scholars scientists
authors and artists into the classroom
Foundation funding has provided bexi
students with inspiration and
opportunities including the initial
purchase of Chromebooks in 2020 so that
every student could have their own
School issued device most importantly
our commitment to nurturing and
supporting students across the school
district is a powerful force it ensures
that all students have a strong
Foundation future success I want to be
like a soccer player mostly because I've
I look up to a lot of the Bexley kids
when they're playing it just inspires me
to be a better player and like work hard
every day when I grow up I want to be a
songwriter because um it sounds fun and
also I just like singing being an art
teacher sounds fun maybe I kind of want
to be um a music producer thinking about
being an actor because I feel like
that's one of the things I do best I
really want to be an author when I grow
up so in like third grade I wrote the
most terrible story ever and ever since
then I wanted to be an author I think
I'm going to go into design or marketing
or Communications maybe um I'm thinking
about pursuing a degree in industrial
design now I'm looking into majoring in
political science first and then going
on to get my law degree I've really
taken what beex has given me and I have
as dad would like to say taken it a step
forward because we have a great
education system here I enjoy the idea
of either being able to help people or
just understanding like all the concepts
that go into law and all the different
practices of law um I feel like Bexley
is a very strong academic environment
and you know everyone in this school is
very motivated and good at what they do
we invite you to join us in investing in
the potential of all bexi students to
learn more about the work of the
foundation visit our website Bexley
education foundation.org
all right I'm the last
one so you've made it that far um I want
to uh everyone has thanked Rabbi Zach
and Betsy for being in the space but
we're actually neighbors so when I say
it it means more so thank you for having
us be here we we've been working very
closely together on some projects that
we'll talk about a little later um I
also want to say I'm really feeling the
vibe and the lights in this room so like
let's close it out together on this
quiet night um I want to say how
wonderful it is to be here and to talk
with all of you uh as I was having a
conversation with some other Library
directors I was like ah I have a state
of the community I have to present
they're not asked to do anything like
this and so I think that speaks to the
unique weakness of our community and the
expectation that we're all going to be
together um and it is a a great honor to
be here because I love talking about the
library um I also want to thank people
who helped bring the state of the
community together Megan Meyer where's
Megan oh great she just stepped out
that's excellent okay great so when she
comes back in we're going to have to do
that like we didn't do
it uh Anon Natalie waterer for help
putting this together tonight
no Megan yet all right cool um so I want
to start off here we're going to talk
about the five strategic priorities we
talked about the Strategic plan last
year um all right cool uh connected
community at the library we are all
about bringing people together uh
whether it is uh resources books ideas
experts uh or fun we want it all and
even if you can't physically come to the
library we want to make sure that we can
bring the library to you um and so
there's another famous
Ben in that picture I hear he makes an
appearance from time to time we might
hear from him later uh and and that's
what we're about we're physically
located in the center of the community
and so we're all about bringing folks
together um and at the heart of that is
the user centered experience uh on my
wall in my office service first Above
All Else uh going through Library school
I can tell you we could have the
greatest collection in the world with
all the things you would ever want and
if there's rude people behind that in
front of it no one will go there and
there's ton of options so Service First
above all else is what we we cherish at
the library we want to make sure that we
have the greatest collection and the
most helpful staff when you need it uh
and there
are things the services and programs
that we think about and we are always
thinking about how the users of the
library would like it or not like it and
that's foremost in our mind when making
changes um it needs to be accessible and
so when we use the word accessible we
mean access to resources uh physically
in our building getting around to make
it easier to get to the places that you
uh want to get to um and it also means
access to your local government so one
night at 1: in the morning I woke up in
a in a sweaty fever pitch and I had this
vision of a Civic
Center and last year I had a terrible
drawing of and look now it's real I
brought it to life Civic Center uh right
now we have information for how you can
get a hold of your um elected officials
so that we want to make sure you have
that easy access to what's going on in
your community and your elected
officials uh streaming programs and
podcast so if you're not able to make it
to the library accessibility of bringing
it to you um here we are helping with
the devices this is Meg speaking in
Russian helping to get a patron on their
Kindle so so that the the talent of the
staff is incredible uh strategic
Partnerships this is something that
makes uh Bey what it is the library what
it is um you know tonight we've had some
great Partners here uh the mayor and
Jason um there are things going on that
may make it hard to be a mayor and a
superintendent maybe a library director
soon I'm sure we're on the list uh and
so seeing them in meetings um I can't I
can't show enough respect and pride and
working with them um I was at a great
event uh last Friday two Fridays ago um
and I was walking out with Dr L and Dr L
goes you know the more I hang out in
this neighborhood and I learn that this
community everybody's on the same page
it's really refreshing and you can't say
that about a lot of other places and I
think that speaks tremendously to our
Partnerships um and so those
Partnerships with the school board and
the city and Parks and R and the service
department cuz we love those guys at the
service department uh as well as just
our partnership last year for our
birthday with Johnson's and gramarcy
books and jeppis Pizza Plus and then of
course this one here seven son we had
our own beer last year I mean that is
maybe the best partnership you could
come up
with underneath all of this is an
incredible staff it's an an outstanding
Library staff that I get to work with
it's an honor to work with them um and
together with the friends of the library
sponsoring a lot of fun activities and
the library board and the support of the
board we try to do a lot of fun things
that encourage people to find their
passion at the library and follow their
passion um in the center here we have uh
Thanks A Latte for being you we just
started a Kudos program so if you see
someone uh one of your staff members
doing a great job you can go on to a
little portal that we have type up what
they did that was great and just
acknowledge them for doing a great job
with others um it's a fun thing uh that
same thing happens with incident reports
in the library and everyone reads the
incident reports about what has happened
in the building so it's like a positive
version of that and then if they've gone
above and beyond you can click a little
box and you can go over to kitties and
get one free item thanks to the Friends
supporting this project you can get
their delicious sandwiches or coffee uh
and so it's just another great way to
talk about how we support each other and
build the culture cuz we're all
responsible in building the culture in
our community
and at at work wherever we work
including the library um so that is a
great thing I have the honor of working
with the best staff ever uh projects in
2024 uh we had our birthday which we'll
get to and then these are some other fun
ones here aeds we uh we had some great
AED training we did some active shooter
training um I know what gunfire in the
library sounds like that was offsetting
upsetting and off-putting uh but we now
know what to do thanks to the
partnership with the police and how that
is going to work um we got some new
carpet in the qrr keeping the vibe we
got some new traction uh with visibility
strips going down the stairs to the
youth services area we reconfigured the
tech center to make it more userfriendly
uh if anyone is using our app we totally
revamped our app mayor I know you're on
the app all the time the new app is
great uh so and our website has been
refreshed and Westerville Library number
18 join the Consortium so now you can
get stuff from Westerville Ian not that
we need
to but you can yes Dad I know that's
where you live uh so um also last year
we did the 100th birthday was such a
magnificent event thanks to all of our
partners we had music um and uh author
events banners parties with cake and ice
cream and pizza and drinks um and then
September 30th was made into perpetuity
Beckley Public Library day so thanks to
the mayor we're going to have a ton of
fun doing all of those things uh so a
big thank you for our our celebratory
100th birthday um it was really a great
year and we're excited to be able to um
focus on some of our other projects as
we head into our 101st year um last year
I talked to you about the Strategic plan
and this year uh after the state of the
community last year we finished up our
our Equity statement um which was a full
staff effort and we're very very proud
and so I want to share just a little bit
of it uh we have two quotes one from
Dwight Eisenhower and Tony Morrison and
I because of course those two would come
together beautifully uh and so Dwight
says the libraries of America are and
must ever Remain the home of free and
inquiring minds to them our citizens of
all ages and races of all Creeds and
Persuasions must be able to turn with
clear
confidence that there they can freely
seek the whole truth unvarnished by
fashion and uncompromised by expediency
that starts it off we believe that
reading about listening to and learning
from diverse perspectives leads to a
more creative resilient and caring
Community will actively cultivate and
sustain an accessible environment that
welcomes diverse voices and perspectives
and up on the screen you can see that
we're going to actively work to develop
and maintain an inclusive respectful
environment that Fosters Mutual trust
humility and Care both in the library
and our community reduce inequitable
social economic and barriers through
library programs collection spaces
resources materials Services policies
practices and Staffing and we're going
to lead uh in fostering open
conversations and strategic Partnerships
to address Community challenges and
opportunities and then we end with a
great quote from Tony Morrison about
libraries being a sign of a great
civilization so we are very proud of
that and we believe it's very
important oh you guys love this slide
2024 numbers we had uh nearly 500,000
checkouts both physical and electronic
you guys love um your electronic
checkouts they are on the rise they are
now 20% of our
checkouts um we had over
77,000 uh computer sessions so people
that need access to the internet over
400 personalized pick so if you have
books that you want an expert to pick
out for you to read come and see us at
the library we'll get you set up uh we
had just over 8,000 people use our
meeting rooms last year uh 581 youth
programs with just shy of about 19,000
attendees uh and our adult programs had
about 14,000 people come to uh we had
over 140 book of librarian sessions and
I'm most proud that notary appointments
we had 420 of them now if anyone's been
p paying attention we beat Columbus last
year but that's neither here nor there
cuz we're not in competition maybe a
little bit uh we have exciting upcoming
projects for
2025 of course in partnership with Tor
EMT and the city we are working on the
outdoor reading room uh we are uh
waiting for a couple pieces to put the
bid together and take it out to bid so
that we can work to get the front of the
library and the pocket park the reading
room room in between our two buildings
just literally right here you can take a
look at the driveway when you leave
we've got better things in store for
that we're very excited for that I know
everybody loves a good elevator
modernization but if you've been to the
library it was down for about a 100 days
not that I kept a tally and we are
working to get that updated so that if
it goes down again it will be so that it
won't go down for another 20 years so
we're working on that
um during our great literacy nights we
took polls on for what unique
circulating items we should have yard
games one though we may get a metal
detector so the treasure in the backyard
you can find by checking it out at the
library um and then we have been doing
some really great things in the terms of
streaming programs and so we are
speaking at a number of conferences
national conferences around the country
sharing what we've learned here so that
they can um go to other communities and
that's how we can have an impact uh
we're also making those streaming
programs available to anyone so if
they're in a library district that is
not as friendly they can get the
resources that they need from our
programming and we're taking a look at
the book vending machines and the book
lockers and maybe a book or event mobile
so keep an eye out for those fun things
want to highlight two really fun
upcoming events uh in
2025 uh writers and residents uh we are
announcing our first writers and
Resident uh Cynthia omoa she is a Ghan
American poet National speaker and
teaching artist she received her MFA
from the new school where she was cited
for excellence and poetry uh we have
been working on this project she is
going to come and bring uh exciting
creativity not to just writing programs
which she'll be hosting uh but also
larger programs for everyone about
writing and books uh and then she's
hopefully going to give a lot of
creativity uh to our programming um
brainstorming uh the other exciting
thing that we have which I think is up
there is called listen Columbus uh this
is going to be an online streaming
database of local musicians and their
music so if you want to go see a band at
the Rumba Room Rumba Cafe that tells you
how long I've been there it's been a
while um you can go and listen to local
music it's going to preserve uh places
here uh the the venues it's going to
work with musicians and you'll be able
to get a bunch of local uh music here at
the Beckley Public Library so also very
exciting to what we have going
on uh other fun projects we have the
bigger than me uh project coming up on
March 23rd from 3:00 to 4: this was an
incredible partnership with uh Ohio
State and the Bexley Public Library um
every child has an epic story uh we
worked with uh various departments at
Ohio State to work with families to
capture their unique story so what do
they know about their family uh where
did they come from and what is their
story and then they've written that down
with multimedia art and digitization
they're bringing their story to life and
it's going to be published into a book
so this is an incredible program we are
piloting this with Ohio State and we're
working on it to be able to take it to
other libraries so that every child
story and family story can be captured
uh so come and see the products of that
hard work on the 23rd of March um and
then of course uh color our world is our
summer Community read that starts May
31st and will happen all summer uh and
that'll be an exciting time we do that
every year
um and so as we enter our 101st year of
existence um the library is strong I've
never actually said that at any of these
presentations uh the library is strong
because of our people those who came
before us as we learned last year left
us a strong Foundation as their legacy
and now the incredibly talented staff of
today can build for tomorrow and of
course none of that can happen without
the wonderful people that make up this
community with your support we're able
to do this work good work and a good
Library reflects and embodies the values
of the community it serves so I end
tonight with a Bedrock
commitment and one that we all take very
seriously at the library but to best
illustrate this point I need a little
help from another famous Ben just the B
are just winning
tonight in
1778 Farmers living about 30 miles
Southwest of Boston petitioned the
Massachusetts state legislature to be
incorporated as a new town when they get
to the state house they get news that
Ben Franklin has talked the French into
coming and allying with us to win the
Revolutionary War well that's what would
happen they were so excited about this
they decided to change their name to the
town of Franklin instead of exer now a
year later one of the towns people got a
really smart idea and they wrote Ben
Franklin and said we need a new bell for
our church steeple and we think that
since we named ourselves after you and
you're a well-to-do
printer uh why don't you send us a
bell now instead Ben Franklin sent them
books on moral philosophy and just
government from his own personal
collection along with the notes saying
please accept these books instead of a
bell
because sense being preferable to sound
and currently today there is a lot of
sound and not a lot of
sense and we're not here to tell you
what sense is but we are here to help
you make sense of what's going on so
coming into the library getting your
information your resources to determine
what you think is going on to make up
your own mind and not have someone tell
you what to think that is our commitment
to this community we're going to
continue to fight for that I know that
we'll have other supporters in this room
uh we are grateful for that uh your
access to information and know what's
going on is the most important thing I
know Ben Franklin said it was the
Bedrock and why he thought the
Revolution was even successful uccessful
was because these Farmers had access to
books and that's what made the
difference so our library your library
we are here to continue on that um
journey I want to thank you guys for
being here I want to thank Megan Meyer
for pulling all this
together um thank you so much I don't
know if there's oh yeah thank you it is
an honor being your library um and
everyone have a great night be safe
thank you