Making Downtown Dayton is a top priority for local leaders. This week, county and city leaders hosted a joint meeting laying recommendations to accomplish this goal.
For about a year, U.S. Rep. Mike Turner (R-Dayton) has spearheaded a Downtown Dayton Working Group. He said it has one objective.
"In order for downtown (Dayton) to continue to be a place where people can work, live, play, visit and invest and grow, that downtown needs to be a place where people feel safe," Turner said.
Four committees comprise this work group: kustice and policing, social services, intergovernmental coordination, and the downtown business community. Earlier this week, each laid out recommendations to reduce crime and violence. They included creating a specific court that will only hear cases involving downtown offenders and the city and county defining which properties each government is responsible for keeping secure. They also want more help for people needing housing and or mental health services, and for a new fund to attract new businesses.
Turner, state representatives, Montgomery County Commissioners as well as Dayton City Commissioners emphasized the downtown area is the economic engine driving the city’s overall success.
However, City Commissioner Darryl Fairchild cautioned his colleagues to not be short-sighted by believing only downtown Dayton is perceived to be unsafe.
"When an incident, critical incident, gets reported on Dayton Daily News or WHIO, they make no distinction. Of whether it occurred in the central business district or not," said Fairchild. "All of Dayton is perceived to be unsafe. And so to focus narrowly on downtown without recognizing that the neighborhood issues and violence that occurs there is just short-sighted."
Others want more details on how these recommendations will be funded.
According to event organizers, this was the first time in a decade Montgomery County and Dayton leaders convened to discuss challenges impacting the city.
