Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan sees his city headed for a brighter future, and, in his first official state of the city address, he talked about some new ideas and plans for getting there.
Mayor Horrigan discussed implementing “Quick Response Teams” to help get people into addiction treatment: “A medic, a police officer, and a counselor will address [overdose] victims and their families to try to get them into services right away.”
He says such teams are in use in the Cincinnati suburb of Colerain. And that they show how effective the approach can be in achieving overall reductions in drug-related ambulance calls and hospitalizations numbers. “They’ve had some pretty good measurable statistics where you can get a 35 (percent drop in overdoses) and 80 percent” increase in people getting into treatment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bTfna21ZG8
The mayor also announced the Akron Growth Council — an advisory group for economic development, a downtown innovation center called the “Bits & Atoms" and the securing of $10 million in grants to boost Akron’s urban core.
After his prepared remarks, Mayor Horrigan took questions from the audience. Asked whether he'll push for an income-tax increase, he said that has to be considered, noting the decline in city revenue in recent years.
Horrigan said he will "seek the wisdom" of the people of Akron and talking with as many community leaders, stake holderss and residents as possible to get their thoughts on what should be done regarding the income tax.
