Ward Meetings Return to Avon Lake

Mayor Greg Zilka is making good on one of his campaign proposals and reinstating ward meetings in Avon Lake.

“I proposed them in the summer,” Zilka said referring to his time on the campaign trail.

Former mayor Rob Berner instituted ward meetings in his first term. The meetings, which included the mayor and the ward representative on council, allowed for residents of the city’s four wards to meet with the city leaders to discuss concerns or share ideas.

The ward meetings discontinued after K.C. Zuber took over the mayor’s office.

“It was a very effective thing Rob had done and I was surprised they weren’t continued,” Zilka said.

Zilka, each ward representative, David Owad, Glen Eisenhardt, Joe Reitz and Tom Lescher will be at each meeting which will run from 7 p.m. – 9 p.m. (See schedule below.)

The mayor, who attended all but one ward meeting when he was the council president, said while most people who attended the meetings were upset or had a concern, others attended because they were new in town and wanted to get a feel of what was going on in their ward.

The meetings will include a brief presentation by each department, followed by a question and answer session. As an example, Zilka said, a warning if there had been a flurry of break-ins. Time will be allocated to let residents address specific issues with department heads.

Zilka is hoping for an exchange of ideas between city leaders and residents.

“It’s an opportunity for department heads and residents to get pointers from each other and share information,” Zilka said. He noted that the idea of a recreation center came out of ward meeting. The concept was eventually placed on a ballot and failed.

Ward meeting dates:

• Ward 1 - Feb. 15 – , Representative Rob James
• Ward 2 - Feb. 22 – Learwood Middle School, Representative Jennifer Fenderbosch
• Ward 3 - March 14 – , Representative Larry Meiners
• Ward 4 - March 21 – Troy Intermediate, Representative David Kos