28 Reasons

A Vision For Utica

A flourishing, vibrant downtown driven by the needs of Utica neighborhoods.
Redirect tax dollars into making neighborhoods safer, more walkable, and more productive.
Make Utica attractive for everyone -- all ages, incomes, residents and businesses, people of color, those with special needs, our LGBT neighbors, and more.

How We Achieve This Vision:

A Stronger Utica

Build infrastructure based on local needs, not based on what the federal and state government thinks we need. This will stop the hemorrhaging of city tax dollars. Highway-style neighborhood roads have become too expensive to maintain, hence the potholes.
Reinvest city tax dollars in neighborhood sidewalks, landscaping, and public spaces, not in fruitless free giveaways to out-of-town real estate developers.
Prioritize local businesses instead of job-killing out-of-state giant corporations.
Spend city tax dollars wisely and reduce expenses, instead of waiting for a bailout from the state.
Fix broken zoning laws so property owners can maximize the use of their land. These laws were copied from other cities in the first place, without Utica’s unique needs and character in mind. Updating these laws will increase wealth and raise property values, while keeping housing affordable.

A Safer Utica

Reduce traffic. Kids should be able to ride their bikes to school, to the frozen custard shop, and to their friends’ houses without feeling like speeding out-of-town drivers are endangering their lives.
Match our police officer and firefighter numbers to adjacent cities, fully funded, without a county takeover.
Negligent landlords, vacant properties, and blighted storefronts are magnets for crime. More than just code enforcement, we need a law prohibiting developers from intentionally keeping properties vacant.
Keep crime low. Kids, seniors, residents who have physical disabilities, or those with special needs should be able to get from one end of Utica to the other and never feel in peril.
Work with county, state and federal law enforcement to keep heroin and other drugs out of Utica. Build a coalition of pharmacies, physicians, police, mental health professionals, and citizens to shut down Pill Mills and work to rehabilitate people struggling with addiction.

A Quality Utica

Provide the amenities that encourage people and families to make Utica their lifelong home. These include events for kids and teenagers; affordable housing for young adults; safe and clean playgrounds for young families; accessible amenities for senior citizens; and cultural attractions, entertainment, and fine dining for people and families of all ages.
Build a public park within a 10-minute walking distance for 90% of neighborhoods.
“Right size” our neighborhood streets to make them safer and less expensive, rather than accommodating high-speed “cut-through” drivers.
There is no law, state or federal, protecting our LGBT neighbors from getting fired on Monday because they got married on Sunday. Passing a strong non-discrimination law is good preventative measure as Utica grows.
Pass a strong animal abuse law, banning the sale of “puppy mill” puppies and creating harsh penalties for those who abuse or neglect animals.

A Smarter Utica

Implement a 10-year Smart Budget, and end year-to-year “disaster budgeting.”
Take Utica’s very first inventory of our liabilities, and how the city plans to pay for them (roads, sewers, public buildings, vehicles, etc).
Because Jimmy John’s Field pays no city taxes, let’s leverage this unique addition to Utica to build community wealth by encouraging small business owners to locate downtown.
Retail “big box” stores will be a thing of the past within 20 years. We need to bring the community together to plan for what will become of these large vacant buildings.

An Honest Utica

Pass a law to create strict campaign finance rules. City Council should be accountable to residents, not their political donors.
Publish the city budget online in a searchable, easy-to-digest format with interactive charts, and host a Budget Town Hall to collect resident input on our investment priorities.

A United Utica

Create a robust volunteer service program to assist our seniors, beautify the city, and more, so that Utica residents can be part of making their community great.
Start an online community needs suggestion box -- suggestions for sidewalk repair, better lighting, potholes, blighted properties, etc.
Make Utica a premier destination for all major holiday celebrations, hosting events that attract all ages.
Help neighborhoods start neighborhood associations to address neighborhood-specific issues and to connect residents to volunteer opportunities.