Brian Gates is the current Ward 1 councilman. He is seeking election to his third term.
An Admiral King High School graduate, Gates has studied at Albion College and Ohio State University. He is an ordained deacon of Heritage Presbyterian Church and works as a childcare worker for Lorain County.
Gates said he wants to continue progress on two issues in Lorain, and revisit another.
Lorain’s roads and sewers are old and in need of repair, Gates said.
“Thankfully, we have begun addressing these issues, as anyone trying to currently drive through our city can attest,” he said.
Lorain has about $50 million in repairs planned or underway, with much more planned for the next three to four years, Gates said.
Lorain also must find a way to address our deteriorating housing stock, Gates said.
“This is a serious problem that affects our city’s appearance, as well as adversely affecting our home values,” he said. “This is another area where we have seen progress, which I plan to push to continue. Through the county land bank and other measures, we have torn down 146 homes with more to come. We have stepped up our code enforcement with close to 4000 inspections being completed by the nuisance task force. We have also implemented several measures to address this issue in the long term, most notably point of sale inspections, which are designed to eliminate the current shell game being played by large property owners with substandard properties.”
Gates said he wants to revisit requirements for local hiring on public project.
“The current guidelines of 25 percent local employees on projects of over $2,000,000 are woefully inadequate,” Gates said. “Studies have shown that when you employ locally, the money spent on wages cycles through the community many times over, thus boosting local businesses such as restaurants and stores. With as many construction projects as we have planned it should be a priority to keep these wages in the pockets of our own residents.”
Gates said he has a proven track record of decision-making and problem-solving which has set the city of Lorain on an optimistic path forward. Lorain has benefited from a number of developments, including a balanced city budget, job creation at businesses in the city and new potential as electric lines are removed from the city’s waterfront, he adi.
“I have shown during my first four years on city council the ability to make wise and difficult decisions that are necessary to finally move our city in a positive direction,” he said.
-- Richard Payerchin, Morning Journal article from Oct. 22, 2013
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