Precious Grundy | The Lima News
LIMA — City officials and many community members gathered for Lima’s council meeting Monday evening.
The Lima Police Department gave an annual report for 2022. Major John Bishop spoke of the biggest event of the year, the promotion of Chief Angel Cortes. Bishop said the chief of police made changes to the way the department watches over the city.
“His first priority was to reduce crime and improve the quality of life,” said Bishop. “He said if we can do those two things, we can do a great job for the city so that has been our focus.”
Bishop said the department began to shift the way they assigned their officers.
“We went from more of a problem base (where we would move the officers to where the issue was) to actually having officers assigned to specific areas so they can take ownership and know what was going on,” said Bishop. “It gives them ownership of the neighborhood and direct communication with the people in the neighborhood. We are going back to community-oriented policing and I think it is working well.”
Bishop also said LPD is using more technology in their department.
“We are trying to move forward with a lot of technologies that allow our officers to respond to crimes faster and handle the issues in a more timely manner for the citizens,” said Bishop.
In addition to the annual reports, the council approved two housing programs. The City of Lima created a program to address the needs of seniors and disabled community members. According to the ordinance, the Safe at Home Program will provide a five-year forgivable loan of up to $7,500 for accessibility modification.
Council approved the Better Together Home Repair Program, which utilizes a repayable loan to address home code violations. Violations include health and safety, windows, doors, roofs and more. The new Microenterprise Program was approved to help business owners with a one-year forgivable loan of up to $5,000.
Council also approved the mayor to enter an agreement with the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America. The NACA will host a three-day event to assist community members in obtaining homeownership.
“The last few ordinances we just passed all have to do with improving the housing quality in our neighborhoods and giving homeowners some extra tools to update their homes,” said Third Ward Council Member Carla Thompson.
“I appreciate that we are putting some of this money back into our community and back into the homes. I appreciate the administration’s efforts to make it more accessible to more of our citizens. I just want to highlight that and encourage our citizens to reach out and take advantage of these programs.”
Reach Precious Grundy at 567-242-0351.
