By Rev. Donald L. Perryman, Ph.D.
The Truth Contributor
Everyone wants a piece of the pie, but not everyone is willing to help bake it. – Unknown
Growing up in the 1960s and 1970s era of cultural pride, African American educators like the late iconic Emory Leverette drummed into us what is now known as the principle of self-determination. We were taught to boldly speak up, speak out and speak for ourselves rather than risk having our voices silenced or someone else misspeaking on our behalf.
I would later understand that teaching as Kujichagulia, the second principle of Nguzo Saba—the cultural philosophy resulting from our African value system of defining ourselves, naming ourselves, creating for ourselves, speaking for ourselves.
Fortunately, the African American community, which has perpetually lagged behind others in terms of resources, has a rare opportunity to provide input and be heard by engaging in the Lucas County Board of Commissioners’ strategic plan.
Engagement in this strategic planning process provides a platform to speak up, out and for ourselves regarding the investments the Board of Lucas County Commissioners should make in the future while ensuring that its budgeting decisions reflect a more diverse set of perspectives.
In addition, engagement gives the African American community the power to shape its own future, assures county government spending aligns with our priorities, and demands that government become more responsive to our needs.
In this week’s article, Lucas County Commissioner Lisa Sobecki and I discuss the Board’s current attempt to foster an approach to a more responsive and equitable governance system that better serves all of its citizens.
Perryman: Good afternoon, Commissioner. This is the Board’s first strategic plan. Why is this planning process important?
Sobecki: This is very important because it gives us long-term goals, priorities, projects, investments, processes and day-to-day operations; it provides a focus and a reporting mechanism.
I envision it as a reporting mechanism that keeps us on track. If we had this strategic plan, say, had years ago, it would’ve driven us to this day of fully executing and being prepared financially in so many different regards to various projects. For example, like building the jail, of which we are close but yet so far.
Perryman: Does it give you a framework on which to base future decisions?
Sobecki: Yes. It always happens with any business you have coming down the pike that we can look at our strategic plan and see where this fits. In essence, the strategic plan is a process to prioritize our spending.
Perryman: What is the primary vision for the strategic plan, and what specific goals are you hoping to achieve?
Sobecki: I want to avoid getting in front of the plan since it still needs to be finalized and brought to us. That’s why it’s been very important that the first phase, the Experience Management Institute (EXMI), came, interviewed all of us individually as county commissionersand spoke with our administrative team. The next layer was our directors and then our community focus groups. They had many community focus groups anywhere from business, our union leaders, some of our church leaders, and our 21 jurisdictions within Lucas County. Right now, the staff is taking a survey.
The last part of this is the most important: Our community input survey went live yesterday on our Facebook, website, Instagram, and LinkedIn so that people could take it. I am asking different entities to help me communicate that message to our community.
Perryman: Do you have any mechanisms to ensure that whatever feedback you get is not only heard but actively incorporated into the decision-making processes? Also, how will you guarantee that you reach underrepresented or marginalized communities so that their voices are included?
Sobecki: The company we hired, EXMI, has extensive experience around very diverse areas, and that was something that I knew when I spoke with them before we even brought them on. EXMI just did The Toledo Public Schools’ second strategic plan, so they are very aware of our community and its history, as well as the foresight to ensure we reach all those diverse areas. We also have urban, suburban and rural areas encompassing all the different varieties of diversity in Lucas County.
Perryman: How will Lucas County hold itself accountable if specific goals in the plan are not met?
Sobecki: Like anything, there are elections every four or every two years, so that’s how the community will hold us responsible. I’m not so concerned about that because we’ve done an excellent job of being transparent and reporting to our community. More importantly, though, we often compare ourselves to Fort Wayne, Indiana.
When Fort Wayne developed its strategic plan, it really bolstered its economic development, workforce and population, which have increased somewhat. So, having that plan is truly important.
Perryman: Well, you don’t want to wing it day to day, year to year, decade to decade.
Sobecki: I also want to point out that our county commissioners have done some amazing things. If you look at our footprint here in Toledo and what they’ve done, the investment in the convention center, that’s economic development. The investment in 5th/3rd Field has been economic development. The investment in The Huntington Center resulted in economic development. Our strategic plan will be able to drive us to those next big things.
Perryman: So much attention has been concentrated on downtown economic development. What about healthcare, infrastructure and affordable housing? Also, in my long-term experience in Toledo, I’ve found that the city and county don’t often collaborate with nonprofits to achieve strategic goals other than to carve out a minuscule funding niche for them. Do you plan to collaborate with any nonprofits or nongovernment organizations to achieve these strategic goals?
Sobecki: I’ve collaborated with nonprofits from day one in my office. I held a round-table conversation with several public nonprofits to discuss how the state went into its capital budget time. I said, “Listen, we have to come together with one, two, or three top items that all of us can collectively support each other. The state’s having conversations around these capital one-time funds and then the regular capital dollars.”
From that group, I went with this same group of folks. We did a fly-in to Washington, D.C., in May, to talk about those different opportunities on the federal side that we can collectively wrap our arms around and support each other. In this example, if TARTA stands successful, guess what? I’m successful as a county commissioner because people were able to get transportation to their jobs or the doctor’s, so we have healthy people who can go to work.
If the Metroparks continues to be successful and we gravitate around them, look at the waterfront and what they’re doing there. They are literally setting the foundation for economic development growth in Toledo and Lucas County. We’d be fools for not supporting them because economic development growth will continue.
When businesses are looking for expansion, why are we rated top in Site Selection Magazine two years in a row? It’s because of things like that. It’s a rewiring of our mindset here in Toledo and in Lucas County as a whole. It is having a vision and collectively getting together around it.
Perryman: Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty; how are you funding the strategic plan?
Sobecki: We are funding the strategic plan through our budget. So, I thank the taxpayers for the dollars they provide to Lucas County through their hard work. I’ve talked to many people, and on average, they’ve paid for their strategic plans. I’ve heard anywhere from $2 million to half a million dollars. Still, we’ve invested around $200,000 in our strategic plan to do all four phases.
Perryman: Okay, now let’s discuss the bigger picture regarding the county budget. When you complete the strategic plan, how will you decide what percentage of your annual budget is allocated to each priority area? Say, how much for economic development and affordable housing? I’m also hoping for economic inequality. How will you decide what percentage of that budget will go to each area?
Sobecki: First, it will be based on the dollar amount within our budget and the State of Ohio’s new general assembly, which begins in January. If the marijuana money can go into our safety forces, sheriff’s or other areas, that might give us some more flexibility in our overall dollars.
Is it around housing? Mental health? Education? I know there’s lots of conversations about universal preschool. Are they going to take away our local government funds or deplete those local government funds?
Since John Kasich and Mike DeWine took office, they have taken our Lucas County people’s tax dollars and sent them to Columbus. We have lost $100 million to put in a rainy day fund on which they have not spent one penny. We have gone through a global pandemic, tornadoes and the recession. None of those dollars have ever been spent.
So, my question would be back to the State of Ohio: when will you release those taxpayer dollars down there that you keep holding onto? Think about what we could’ve done with $100 million. We could’ve been putting it up for housing, we could’ve been looking at universal preschool, we could’ve been with some money to tuck back in a piggybank to be able to build a jail, but no, our hard-earned taxpayer dollars went to Columbus, and they stayed down in Columbus. So, we’re stuck, in a lot of regards, with crumbs.
Perryman: My questions attempt to express the anxiety of our residents, who are concerned that this budget is utilized efficiently and effectively to meet the needs of all of its residents. Yes, we understand what the state has done, but some local people and groups get overlooked more than others. So, how can we be sure that the planning process will be utilized efficiently and effectively to meet the needs of all of Lucas County’s residents?
Sobecki: Sure. I’ve actually heard the phrase coined, “We have to pick losers and winners.” But, I look at what the commissioners have done around housing. I look at the work of what we’ve done within the Junction Avenue area. See the work we did there by Franklin Avenue when we did the housing there. I look at what the county commissioners have done with the YWCA, with the ARPA dollars that we had there, and at what we do with our community funding and the resources we have that can help, for example, through Jobs and Family Services.
We might have a small pot of money, but the Lucas County Commissioners have really spent money in areas that are some of our most needed and often get overlooked by our state government in many different ways.
Perryman: Will there be opportunities for some of the marginalized groups or their representatives to review and provide input on the budget allocation as a part of the strategic planning process?
Sobecki: This is an excellent opportunity for people to fill out the survey, and we can capture that within the survey. I don’t want to get ahead of the strategic plan coming out, but if there are people who are in our community in those marginalized areas, as you say, who feel that they have been left out, this is their opportunity to talk to us through a confidential, anonymous process because we want people to think that they have a safe place to be able to express themselves and that we will capture it as we go through putting the plan together.
Perryman: What’s the next step to ensure that ordinary people can have input?
Sobecki: The next step is for them to fill out the survey. If you go to Lucas County, on our Facebook page, The Board of Lucas County Commissioners, or they can visit our website. If they are Instagrammers, they can find us on Instagram, and if they’re part of LinkedIn, feel free to go onto LinkedIn.
Perryman: Alright, Lisa. I wanted to understand the plans, objectives, some of the processes, and hopefully the long-term impact, and let the citizens understand how their input could help shape the future of Lucas County.
Sobecki: I’m excited to see the output of this.
Perryman: Thank you.
Contact Rev. Donald Perryman, PhD, at drdlperryman@centerofhopebaptist.org