Board of Lucas County Commissioners Announce Citizens Task Force to Confront Concerns about Public Transportation

TOLEDO, OH – The Board of Lucas County Commissioners today announced the community members who will serve on the task force charged with reviewing the future long-term funding and sustainability of public transportation services in the greater Toledo area.

The members of the task force are: Kim Cutcher, Local Initiatives Support Corp. Executive Director; Cheri Budzynski, Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP; G. Opie Rollison, Marshall Melhorn; Rev. Otis Gordon, Warren A.M.E. Church Senior Pastor and Certified Public Accountant; Doni Miller, Neighborhood Health Association Chief Executive Officer; Angie Goodnight, Information and Community Outreach Coordinator for Ability Center of Greater Toledo; Michael Hampton,      Getting Ahead While Getting Out; Dan Rogers, Cherry Street Mission Ministries President and CEO; Bruce Baumhower, President of United Auto Workers Local 12; Sam Melden, Director of Metro Region Volunteer Services for ProMedica;  Alexis Hayman-Staples, Toledo Pride/Collingwood Arts Center Executive Director; Drew Williams, University of Toledo Student Government President; Duke Wheeler, Wheeler Farms; Joe Luzar, Vice President Business Development at The Mosser Group; Adele Jasion, accountant/owner of Gilmore Jasion Mahler, LTD; Demetria Simpson, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Lucas Metropolitan Housing Authority; Guisselle Mendoza, President of Latino Alliance of Northwest Ohio, and Frank Szollosi,  National Wildlife Federation’s Regional Outreach Coordinator.

The Commissioners believe public transportation is vital to the economy and viability of our community. The task force will therefore be charged with an examination of transportation needs in the Greater Toledo area and the development of recommendations that will promote the most connective and efficient transit system going forward.  

Mayor and Commissioners Announce Members of the Toledo-Lucas County Complete Count Committee 

TOLEDO, OH – The Lucas County Board of Commissioners and Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz today announced the citizens who will be serving on the Toledo-Lucas County Complete Count Committee, which is charged with ensuring that there will be a comprehensive enumeration of all residents of Toledo and Lucas County during the upcoming 2020 decennial census.

Complete count committees are commissions organized by local governments to raise awareness of and facilitate a higher self-response rate to the census and are comprised of representatives from civic organizations, faith-based groups, educators, the business community, labor, and other community stakeholders. 

The members of the committee are: U.S. Representative Marcy Kaptur; Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz; Gary L. Byers, Lucas County Commissioner; Pete Gerken, Lucas County Commissioner; Tina Skeldon Wozniak, Lucas County Commissioner; Mark Reiter, Lucas County Public Information Officer; Ignazio Messina, City of Toledo Director of Communication; Brian Dicken, Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce; Shannon Lands, Toledo-Lucas County Health Department; Barbara J. Petee, ProMedica; Jeff Dempsey, Mercy Health; Doni Miller, Neighborhood Health Association; Dr. Donald Perryman, Center for Hope Church; Dr. S. Masheer Rehman, United Muslim Association of Toledo; Willie Perryman,  Project Coordinator JFS/CSEA/OMJ Transition Services; Margie Traband, University of Toledo Office of Government Relations; Dr. May Ann Gawalek, Lourdes University; Meg Adams, Toledo Edison; Rhonda Sewell, Toledo Lucas County Public Library; Brittany Ford, Welcome Toledo-Lucas County; Anita Martinez Folger, Adelante; Patty Hernandez, Advocates for Basic Legal Equality; Anneliese Grytafey, Toledo Community Foundation; Marie Flannery, Fair Housing Center; Brad Toft, YMCA/JCC; Bill Farnsel, Neighborworks; Wendy Pestrue, United Way of Greater Toledo; Cheryl Grice, Pathway; Regina Russell, Area Office on Aging; George Tucker, Greater Northwest Ohio AFL-CIO; Kevin Dalton, Toledo Federation of Teachers, and Steve Kowalik, AFSCME.

The Toledo-Lucas County Complete Count Committee is comprised of elected officials, educators, and leaders of civic organizations, faith-based groups, labor, and the business community. They will help support the upcoming census count and strive to encourage citizens to promptly respond to complete census forms in a timely manner.

The results of the 2020 Census will be instrumental in determining Ohio’s Congressional delegation and the allocation of federal funds to address future transportation needs as well as assist local governments as they establish education, healthcare, transportation, social services, and emergency response priorities.

Recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Program (SNAP) will receive full February benefits early

TOLEDO, OH. – Due to the federal government shutdown, Lucas County recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will be receiving February benefits early.
For people who received SNAP benefits in January and are scheduled to receive SNAP in February, their February benefits will be available on their Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card on January 16. This will be their benefit for the entire month of February and no additional food dollars will be added in February. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has instructed the Ohio Department of Job and Services to issue February benefits early because of a provision in the expired federal spending bill that allows the USDA to continue to fund some of its programs for 30 days beyond when the department had to shut down. To comply with that rule, the USDA is working with each state to load February SNAP benefits onto recipients’ cards now rather than the beginning of February, when they would normally be available.

SNAP-participating customers are being encouraged to plan their purchases carefully so that they will have money available to meet their food needs through the end of February.

Welcome Toledo-Lucas County wins award in the Gateways for Growth Challenge Round III

Toledo, OH – New American Economy and Welcoming America have selected Welcome Toledo-Lucas County (Welcome TLC) to receive a Gateways for Growth Challenge award in the third year of the initiative.

Launched in December 2015, the Gateways for Growth Challenge is a competitive opportunity for local communities to receive tailored research, direct technical assistance, and matching grants from New American Economy and Welcoming America to develop multi-sector plans for welcoming and integrating immigrants.

“We launched the Welcome TLC initiative five years ago because we realized the value of immigrants and refugees and the potential they bring to Toledo and Lucas County. Toledo-Lucas County has a unique immigrant population and history that has served us well in the past and will continue to serve us well in the future,” the Lucas County Commissioners said.

“This is another step in Welcome TLC’s leadership in including Toledo-Lucas County’s small but growing and diverse immigrant population in our regional talent and economic development strategies,” said Mechelle Zarou and Reem Subei, Welcome TLC’s Co-Chairs. “Especially in this era of misinformation on immigration, Toledo’s immigrant community is to be celebrated and welcomed and we continue to work to put our region on the map nationally.”

Following a rigorous application process, Welcome TLC and 12 other communities were selected for the third round of the Gateways for Growth Challenge. This year’s awardees, alongside Welcome TLC, include Bowling Green, Kentucky, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Charlotte, North Carolina, Flint, Michigan, Lexington, Kentucky, Lowell, Massachusetts, Memphis, Tennessee, Northern Kentucky, Roanoke, Virginia, San Antonio, Texas, and Wayne County, Michigan.

In applying for the Gateways for Growth Challenge, Welcome TLC demonstrated a strong commitment to develop a concrete strategy that ensure all residents have access to the tools and support they need to succeed and contribute to their communities, and to highlight the contributions immigrants are already making locally. Foreign-born residents account for about seven percent of Toledo’s population and more than nine percent of Lucas County’s population.

Welcome TLC will receive tailored research assistance from the Gateways for Growth Challenge to update a study on the demographics and economic impact of immigrants and refugees in Toledo. 

In 2014, the Lucas County Commissioners launched the Welcome Toledo-Lucas County Initiative in partnership with LISC Toledo with resolutions of support from Lucas County and the City of Toledo. Welcome TLC is governed by a Steering Committee of cross-sector community partners and leaders, including immigrants, refugees, and people of diverse cultures that is focused on community outreach, language access, legal services, and workforce and economic development. More information on Welcome TLC can be found on their Facebook page www.facebook.com/WelcomeTLC and on LISC Toledo’s webpage www.lisc.org/toledo/our-work/welcome-toledo-lucas-county.

Commissioner Tina Skeldon Wozniak elected President of the Board of Lucas County Commissioners
Commissioner Wozniak elected to one-year term as President

TOLEDO, OH – Lucas County Commissioner Tina Skeldon Wozniak was selected Tuesday by a unanimous vote of the three-member Board of Commissioners to serve as board President for 2019. She will serve a one-year term.

“We will work collaboratively with staff, labor unions, and elected officials to address budget challenges while continuing to deliver great public service to the citizens of Lucas County. We will continue to utilize innovation to create efficiencies in county operations while staying committed to key capital improvements projects in downtown and within our county operations. Look for exciting developments to happen in 2019 that will benefit our residents and community as a whole,” Commissioner Wozniak said.  

Commissioner Wozniak previously served as president from 2005 through 2008 and 2015 through 2016. She is currently in her 17th year as a Lucas County Commissioner.

Lucas County Commissioner Pete Gerken re-elected to CCAO Board of Directors

Toledo, OH – Lucas County Commissioner Pete Gerken was re-elected Monday to the County Commissioners Association of Ohio (CCAO) Board of Directors at the association’s annual winter conference in Columbus. 

He will serve a second two-year term on the Board of Directors. In addition, Commissioner Gerken is the co-chair of the Water Quality Task Force.

The County Commissioners Association of Ohio advances effective county government through legislative advocacy, education and training, technical assistance and research, quality enterprise service programs, and greater citizen awareness and understanding of government.

Lucas County Board of Commissioners files lawsuit in national prescription opiate litigation

MacArthur Safety + Justice Challenge

In April of 2016, Lucas County was awarded a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation $1.75 million grant to reform Lucas County's criminal justice system. The Safety + Justice challenge allows Lucas County to implement meaningful reform in our criminal justice system as we address fundamental questions about community safety, the use of jails, and justice for all. 
 
Learn more about Lucas County's efforts to ensure that our criminal justice system works for all residents at the Safety & Justice Challenge website.

View the MacArthur Safety +Justice Challenge 2017 Annual Report  

 
Nutrient Source Inventory Tool

The Lucas County Commissioners, the City of Toledo, and the Toledo/Lucas County Sustainability Commission is proud to announce the unveiling of the Western Lake Erie Nutrient Source Inventory Tool.

The Western Lake Erie Nutrient Source Inventory (NSI) is an interactive map showing sources of nutrients in the western Lake Erie watershed. The NSI looks at urban and rural sources of runoff throughout the Western Lake Erie Basin that is contributing to harmful algal blooms. The map will be an important tool in the initiative to reduce phosphorus amounts in Lake Erie by 40 percent

Nutrient Source Inventory Tool

Lucas County 2017 Budget

The Lucas County Commissioners passed a $600 million budget on Tuesday, December 13, 2016.

Clink the link below to see the full presentation.

2017 Budget Presentation
 

Toledo Seagate Convention Centre Market and Revenue Study

The Lucas County Commissioners hosted Development Strategies, Inc., for the public presentation of the Toledo Seagate Convention Centre Market and Revenue Study.

Click the link below to view the full presentation.

Toledo Seagate Convention Centre Market and Revenue Study

 

 

Lucas County is Committed to a Clean Lake Erie