LIMA, Ohio (WLIO) - Lima Mayor Sharetta Smith delivered her State of the City address Thursday evening.
The event began with the presentation of colors, followed by the national anthem performed by the Lima Concert Band Brass Quintet. A musical performance of "A Million Dreams" by Heritage Harmonics followed. When Mayor Smith addressed the crowd, she highlighted the city's accomplishments over the past year and shared what lies ahead.
"I am most proud that we remain focused on what we've heard from residents matter of most of them, which is the five pillars under our Better Together plan. You know, you can talk numbers all day about the number of businesses you've been able to help, about the number of new homeowners you've been able to create, through our down payment assistance programs, opportunities for young people to start their first job here at home. But we're responding to what we hear our residents want, and we're working diligently to make sure that we get those things done. I will say to the community to keep being vocal and also understand that, as a local government, many times, we have to balance interests, and so we don't always please everyone. In fact, some of my mentors tell me, 'if everybody's happy you're not doing your job,' but please understand that we're listening intensely. We're doing our very best to make our City one that all of us can be proud of, that we want to live in, but also we want to tell everybody we know, hey, come live in Lima," Smith said.
She also expressed her enthusiasm for the community aquatic center, which is set to open around Memorial Day.
