Ironton Mayor Bob Cleary plans to form a citizen-based panel to determine what residents want for the city.

Friday, April 27, 2001

Ironton Mayor Bob Cleary plans to form a citizen-based panel to determine what residents want for the city. The core question the group will look at is whether residents want increased taxes or decreased services.

Cleary said he wants to form a committee that will "work together as a team and look at the city’s finances and budget." Cleary said recommendations will be made to city council based from the information generated at the meetings.

"We need to know what the citizens want," Cleary said. He added, "services can be drastically cut," if revenue sources aren’t located.

For now, Cleary said, the city can "hold its own" with the money in the coffers. Cleary said the year 2002, however, has the potential to be bleak for the city. Cleary said the projections for 2002 looks troubling with the potential for deficits unless the city can find additional ways to generate more money.

Loss of industry and business has been cited as the city’s bane as it is still feeling the loss of River Valley Health System and Ironton Iron. Cindy Anderson, the city’s finance director, said as of now, the city’s projected budget and what is really in the coffers is "about online" with projections.

Anderson added the information about income taxes hasn’t been processed yet. She said that information probably won’t be analyzed until the middle of May. Anderson also said she has been tracking the revenue lost from the Ironton Iron and RVHS closings.

In addition to tracking the money lost from the now defunct companies, Anderson said she was also tracking monies lost by other companies in the "trickle down" effect of the closings.

Cleary said he and the committee will spend the next five months looking at the wants of citizens. Cleary said town meetings will be scheduled citywide, so residents have a forum to voice their opinion.

Cleary said plans are in the works to have proposals on the November ballot so residents can make their choice on the fate of the city. He said city administrators will follow the will of the people, leaving the city’s future in the hands of the citizenry.

Cleary said he wants to stress the important of citizen participation. He said, "the meetings are one-hundred percent open to the public."