As a retired Massillon police officer and detective, I have dedicated my life to the safety of our community. And as mayor, safety is one of the focus areas of my administration.
Over the last several years, speeding has been a big problem throughout the city. I campaigned on bringing back the traffic division of the Massillon Police Department to patrol our streets, especially residential neighborhoods. Earlier this year, we assigned an officer specifically to do this. We intend to assign a second police officer in the future.
Two officers patrolling our streets and enforcing traffic laws, in addition to our patrol division, is a start, but they cannot be everywhere. As a complement to patrolled areas, the city of Massillon recently installed speed tables in areas where we receive a high volume of speeding complaints. These devices act as traffic calming devices that force drivers to slow down.
Currently, there are speed tables on Lake Avenue and Burd Avenue on the northeast side of town and Main Avenue on the west side. We have received numerous calls from residents of these areas saying they have noticed a significant drop in speeding, which is the designed intent of the speed tables. Before winter arrives, the speed tables will be removed and reinstalled in the spring. We have to remove them each winter so our Street Department can plow the streets.
Last year, we also brought back the animal control officer. This position was eliminated over 10 years ago due to financial constraints but never returned once finances improved.
The city’s animal control officer responds to dog complaints; coordinates our trap, neuter, return program for stray cats; and works with our citizens to ensure proper animal safety protocols. This position reports to the director of public service and safety but works closely with our police department, law department and code enforcement office to increase animal safety measures in our neighborhoods.
Another aspect of neighborhood safety is effectively addressing code violations, especially vacant and blighted housing units.
Since I took office, we have increased staff in our code enforcement division to four code officers, upgraded computer software connecting multiple city departments for increased efficiency and accountability, and purchased laptops and mobile printers so that code vehicles also serve as mobile offices in the field.
Earlier this year, my office asked Massillon City Council to adopt the International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC) as an additional tool for our code enforcement staff to improve our community. The adoption of the IPMC has already been beneficial in correcting code violations because it provides the necessary enforcement procedures and penalties that a lot of our existing city ordinances lacked.
We are also getting more proactive when it comes to tax-delinquent, vacant housing units. More often than we initially anticipated, code staff come across vacant homes that have been abandoned for a variety of reasons. These abandoned houses pose safety issues, as they are breeding grounds for criminal activity and adventurous youth.
The city of Massillon is being more proactive in addressing these problems by working with the Stark County Land Bank to acquire these tax-delinquent structures for either demolition or rehabilitation.
Sometimes these problem structures just sit idle for years. By utilizing the programs offered by the Stark County Regional Planning Commission and the Stark County Land Reutilization Corporation, we can effectively improve our neighborhoods one house at a time.
Jamie Slutz is the mayor of Massillon.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: From police patrol to blighted houses, how Massillon is prioritizing safety | Opinion
Reporting by Jamie Slutz / The Repository
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