Meet Frank Bertone

In sum, I bring the following skills and attributes to the role of City Council:

Leadership, Community Focus, Business Minded, Strength and Stability – I am a long-term Powell resident who understands our issues, challenges and opportunities.  I bring necessary public policy, financial acumen, accountability and solutions oriented leadership experience to the City Council seat. 

Experience – over the past eight years, I have sought to deliver positive, solutions oriented leadership to the opportunities and challenges facing our community in the following roles –

• Mayor and Councilman
• Operations Committee Chair and representative
• Development Committee Chair and representative
• Finance Committee representative

 Financial Preparedness & Accountability – I advocate for sound financial planning and goal setting for our community.  My goal is to ensure Powell’s current and long-term viability. The recently enacted tax modification will greatly assist the City with its impending and long-term capital funding needs, but will require sound planning and execution to maximize it’s impact. The financial health and well-being of our community is the fabric of effort. Without a dedicated focus on sound fiscal management, much of what we desire to see in our community will not occur.

 Other attributes:

• Integrity – honest and intentional with behaviors, actions and words
• Consistent decision making skills
• Accountable – for actions and decisions
• Ethical – No conflicts of interest, I aim to serve and represent the City’s best interest
• Service oriented – I take pride in serving my community and aim to serve ALL members of our community, not just those who share my views
• Goal oriented – successful communities have a clear sense of direction and a widely shared vision. I advocate a local government that is effective, efficient and priority driven.
• Protect small businesses
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Priorities

Like many of you, I find Powell to be an exceptional place to live and my goal is to maintain the existing services and small-town atmosphere. I believe that successful planning leads to successful execution and while there are many other items that can attract our attention, I aim to focus and prioritize my attention on the following items:

• Traffic enhancements and improvements
• Economic Development
• Expand recreational services, programming and cultural events
• Financial Management of City resources
• Focus on the City’s organizational restructure
• Public Safety

Specifics on each goal:

• Traffic – our Keep Powell Moving plans are the foundation for which we will aim to improve traffic flows in and around the downtown district. This plan was completed a number of years ago and we’ve experienced some successful implementations as a result. However, this plan should be reviewed and connected to the City’s Capital Improvement Plan to align finances and execution. We’ve increased our paving budget over the past budget cycle and with the additional financial resources we anticipate in 2022, we plan to continue with the increased paving budget to maintain the city’s road system. Traffic modes are broader than just automobiles and in response we are also planning to invest additional financial resources towards our bike paths, downtown parking and directional signage. New traffic signals have been implemented over the last couple of years which have improved public safety while improving traffic flows. We will continue to execute our annual sidewalk, storm sewer & curb inlet repairs with our annual street maintenance program. When and where possible, we will aim to coordinate our efforts with other surrounding communities and partners. The wide array of improvements will require the City to continually seek feedback from the residents and business community to proactively address long-term transportation needs while balancing our community charm.
• Expand recreational services, programming and continue to augment our growing arts & entertainment programming for all residents within the community. This would include additional wellness programming, park amenities and usage of the Village Green for musical and cultural programming.  Rebrand of Parks & Rec to Department of Quality of Life to emphasize a broader appeal to our community. Much of the City’s parks and rec programming has been historically dedicated towards our youth. Our community profile is much broader these days and our programming must adapt. We are working to allocate additional resources to help us frame future offerings, while also repurposing some of our existing classes and park amenities. In addition, the City has been working hard to diversify our entertainment programming to reflect the growth in the community.
• Economic and Business Development Growth – Protect our small businesses from the impacts of Covid-19. Deliberately manage public resources and invest in needed capital improvement projects. We will continue to work on attracting new business ventures that will align with our community and assist in our long-term development. We will also continue to seek development partners that align with our Comprehensive Plan development areas. The efforts may also involve potential annexations and possible redevelopment. These decisions impact our infrastructure and careful analysis of the benefits is critical.
• Financial Management – In the spring of 2021, the voters of Powell approved a modified income tax structure. The success of this ballot measure positions the City to deliver much needed capital improvements. The residents are anticipating a positive return on their investment. Council and administration will continue to closely monitor trends in revenues and expenses and discuss policies to address any necessary public improvements. Council and administration will also continue to assess the impact of future development efforts and ensure that these efforts align with our vision and support our financial future. Each and everyone of us monitors our household finances with a measure of scrutiny and the City is no different. We must continue to consider the future and assess our position to support the City’s long term growth with continued diligent planning & usage of the City Budget, Bond Packages, Grants and New Development funds while continuing to deliver quality services. The financial health and well-being of our community is the fabric of efforts. Without a dedicated focus on sound fiscal management, much of what we desire to see in our community will not occur.
• Public Safety – we have faced some unprecedented public health challenges since early 2020. The City has been vigilant with staff, event planning and community safeguards to ensure public health is maintained. We will continue to monitor and partner with the Delaware County Public Health District to maintain the public well-being. Our Public Safety personnel are among the best in Ohio and we aim to focus on the needs outlined in our 5-year public safety strategic plan including staffing and capital needs.

Powell is a fantastic, growing community with a very bright future.  It’s important for us to maintain our perspective in the eyes of new development and focus on the best interest of our community.  We realize the City is growing rapidly with developers maintaining a high level of interest in our community.  We must keep an eye on smart growth. We must ask questions beyond the obvious to properly assess the affect upon our community. Thus, with the many development possibilities within the City and surrounding area, a mindful approach to zoning and annexation is important. 

 Accomplishments

The last 8 years have been a great experience to learn and validate the many great qualities, services, amenities and people of our exceptional City. We have accomplished much but we have much more to do and I am seeking your support to make that happen.

Solid planning leads to successful execution. The City’s Comprehensive Plan laid out the vision and foundation for the Keep Powell Moving Initiative. We have taken several steps and planned future steps to improve traffic circulation, add parking, increase walkability and bicycling in our City.

Here’s a quick listing of completed Traffic, Bike Path & Road Circulation improvements:

• 4-Corner Left Turn restrictions
• Liberty & Seldom Seen light installation and widening.
• Liberty & Grace Drive traffic light installation.
• Paving of Sawmill Parkway from Seldom Seen to Hard Rd. through public grants.
• State Rt. 750 widening and shared-use path
• Sawmill Parkway & State Rt. 750
• Rutherford Road Surface and Bike Path Connections
• Over 3 miles of Bike Path connections completed since 2017
• Village Club Traffic Light Install
• Galloway Drive Traffic Light Install
• Grace Drive & Olentangy Traffic Light Install
• Bunker Lane Traffic Light Install
• Deceleration Lane added to Sawmill Parkway & Woods of Big Bear Farms
• Murphy Parkway extension
• Queue cutter at the downtown rail crossing to assist with traffic flow and commuter safety
• Liberty & Rutherford Road shared-used bike path connections

Future improvements in planning stages:

• Keep Powell Moving Downtown Street Connectivity
• Local & Regional sign enhancements to direct traffic
• Continue coordination and planning with regional partners (Liberty Twp, ODOT, Delaware County)

Other accomplishments:

• Successfully placed the City on a solid Capital Improvement model and funding
• Successfully leveraged the City’s ‘AAA’ bond rating & low interest rates to refinance portions of the city’s debt, reducing the debt service by more than $8.85 million over the life of the bonds within the Liberty CIFA & Powell CIFAs, this saved the residents within these areas thousands of dollars in special assessment fees
• Continue to reshape, rebrand and retool the staffing model within the City Administration with the hiring of our new City Manager, Community Development Director, Finance Director, HR Partner
• Established the City’s DORA
• Judiciously navigated pending or imminent litigation
• Opened Seldom Seen Park
• Expanded the usage of the City’s Community Improvement Corporation (CIC)
• Coordinate with the CIC to provide Covid relief grants to 31 Powell based businesses
• Successfully outsource key functions such as our annual roads maintenance survey creating a cost savings
• Successfully executed and reported the key findings from the City’s biennial survey
• Established the Powell Community Chamber Band for our growing Arts and Entertainment programming
• Successfully recruited new business to Powell
• Enhanced our partnership with Liberty Township