Bringing Jobs to Toledo!
We all know how the economy is going. A lot of businesses are closing, and people are losing their jobs. Things seem like they are going to continue like this for a while. There are, however, several resources that Toledo has not used yet. We have a waterway that is being underused. Lake Erie can be used both for transportation and relaxation. There is access to Fort Wayne, Indiana going south on the river, and it reaches the Atlantic Ocean via the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway. There are also several empty factories throughout Toledo. Some still have their old equipment in that can be refurbished. This will reduce start up costs for businesses to open in Toledo
Tax Relief for Businesses and Consumers!
I have also developed a revolutionary new tax break system. Businesses tend to leave at the end of their tax break. This may be caused by, what I will call, Tax Shock. For example, a person would not step into a very hot shower. To prevent shock from such a high temperature, they may have the water running at a warm temperature, and gradually increase the temperature to a comfortable level. That is how my tax break system will work. Under the current system, a company may pay a low percentage, or no percentage, of tax for 50 years, and then go out of business close to when they would have to start paying taxes. In my system, if the business had a 50 year tax break, and a total tax of 20%, they would pay 1% of 20% (.05%) for the first 6 months, and 2% of 20% (.1%) for the next 6 months, until they were paying the total 20% of taxes.
Downtown Waterfront Development!
Another idea to bring jobs into Toledo is a waterfront multi-use facility. The primary use of this facility is entertainment. This would entail using the waterfront property for recreational boating, whether it is paddle boating or motor boating, as well as an indoor / outdoor laser tag / paintball arena. There would be some retailers and restaurants in this facility as well. Movie theaters would also be included.
Tax Relief for Businesses and Consumers!
I have also developed a revolutionary new tax break system. Businesses tend to leave at the end of their tax break. This may be caused by, what I will call, Tax Shock. For example, a person would not step into a very hot shower. To prevent shock from such a high temperature, they may have the water running at a warm temperature, and gradually increase the temperature to a comfortable level. That is how my tax break system will work. Under the current system, a company may pay a low percentage, or no percentage, of tax for 50 years, and then go out of business close to when they would have to start paying taxes. In my system, if the business had a 50 year tax break, and a total tax of 20%, they would pay 1% of 20% (.05%) for the first 6 months, and 2% of 20% (.1%) for the next 6 months, until they were paying the total 20% of taxes.
Downtown Waterfront Development!
Another idea to bring jobs into Toledo is a waterfront multi-use facility. The primary use of this facility is entertainment. This would entail using the waterfront property for recreational boating, whether it is paddle boating or motor boating, as well as an indoor / outdoor laser tag / paintball arena. There would be some retailers and restaurants in this facility as well. Movie theaters would also be included.
Safety of Toledo Residents!
With the cutting of the police force, people need to pull together and create safety programs to reduce crime. I am not advocating vigilante justice, but I do believe that the neighborhoods can put forth efforts to reduce crime. I plan on meeting with each neighborhood and creating a neighborhood watch program for each neighborhood. These programs would be responsible for producing a report of the crime that occurs in the neighborhood, along with the police response time. These reports would be presented in a meeting of the watch leaders once a month. They would then compile a report based upon all of the smaller reports, and then submitted to a high ranking police officer to use as he sees fit. This mass report would also be viewable online..
Budget Oversite and Review!
There is a lot of money being wasted by the city departments. These departments are not being as efficient as possible. I have witnessed a Toledo City worker that was supposed to be mowing the lawn at a park. This worker was sitting on a swing for three hours. This kind of inefficiency is not acceptable, and not just an isolated incident. I believe that there is a way for people to keep tabs and increase the productivity of the city departments.