Elyria mayor touts progress, highlights challenges in annual address

ELYRIA — During his third annual Mayor's Address, Elyria Mayor Kevin Brubaker acknowledged that Elyria faces serious financial challenges, but said he felt the city was moving in the right direction. Brubaker said Tuesday the city was making progress in providing affordable housing, keeping neighborhoods safe and attracting and retaining business after years of economic flight. As in previous years, the address was held at Lorain County Community College and hosted in a partnership between the Lorain County Chamber of Commerce and the Elyria Rotary Club. Elyria saw an increase in its economic capacity in 2025, with millions of dollars in investment, numerous businesses opening or expanding and a 6 percent increase in the city's income tax revenue. This boost in revenue did help the city forestall looming issues stemming from a growing budget deficit, but Brubaker said the city needed to do more to address those budget concerns. Based on the 2026 budget passed this month, Elyria anticipates spending about $8 million more than it brings into its general fund, which covers most day-to-day spending. When the current budget was approved earlier this month, Finance Director Ted Pileski said that the city needed to cut deficit spending or risk exhausting much of the $12 million in carryover cash it brought into the year. Brubaker said that he, Pileski and Safety Service Director Chris Pyanowski are constantly reviewing budgets and purchase orders to ensure that the city is not spending money on what Brubaker calls "wish list items." "So we talk about our budget, we understand from administration, we understand from the Finance Director's Office, the Law Director's Office, that we have a budget that we have to pay attention to, and we have revenue that we have to pay attention to," he said. "If we do what we did last year, we will be in great shape. If we (don't), we will have to see where the budget is in the second quarter, third quarter or fourth quarter and where we can make adjustments." Along with watching its budget carefully, Brubaker said that the best way to improve the city's finances was to continue to grow economically to bring in more revenue. Brubaker cited many successes in that realm in 2025, touting the expansion and development projects in the city. He credited his economic development team, led by Assistant Safety Service Director Dawn Calvert, with bringing them to fruition. He pointed to the seven new small businesses that opened in The Shoppes on Broad, a recently renovated shopping center at 374 Broad St., as well as other businesses located throughout the city. Elyria is still working to see the completion of several large redevelopment projects that Brubaker has prioritized since he took office — the first and foremost of which is the dilapidated Midway Mall. The mall is owned by the Lorain County Port Authority, and a potential sale to a company which had promised to redevelop the property fell through in 2025, much to the dismay of Elyrians. Brubaker said that while he did not have any news that he could provide regarding a new sale of the mall, he did believe that a sale could be close and that the Port Authority was in contact with interested parties. Some redevelopment did come to the long underused Midway Mall area in 2025 though, including the opening of the McGregor Foundation's Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, or PACE, facility. The facility will provide medical and social services to seniors from across the county and create approximately 40 jobs. During his address, Brubaker presented the key to the city to McGregor President and CEO Ann Coln and additional staff who made the project possible. Next, McGregor and CHN Housing Partners plan to build McGregor Landing, a 115-unit, affordable independent living apartment building for seniors that will be built next to the PACE center. Brubaker said that this project would join with other forthcoming affordable housing apartments in the city, along with an expanding market of single-family homes being built in the city. Foster Senior Lofts will also offer affordable housing to seniors, and the project is nearing completion. Pivotal Housing Partners and the Elyria Community Partnership plan to give tours of the 40-unit senior housing development next week. Affordable apartments which will be available for all ages are also planned for the Midway Mall area and could bring more than 200 units. To attract young and old people to Elyria, and to serve current residents, Brubaker said that shoring up the city's safety forces has been a major goal of his administration. The mayor handed over the presentation to Police Chief James Welsh to provide a recap of how the city has sought to make its neighborhoods safer. Welsh said that Elyria had a 75 percent reduction in homicides in the past year, going from five homicides in 2024 to one in 2025. He said that active policing programs like the Neighborhood Impact Unit have reduced all violent crime, bringing shootings down 30 percent. "A safe community is the foundation of opportunity and growth," Welsh said. "When residents feel safe, families thrive. When families thrive, businesses grow. And when businesses grow, the entire community benefits. The men and women of the Elyria Police Department remain committed to ensuring Elyria is a place where people feel confident to live, work, invest and raise their family." On a longer time scale, Elyria has reduced overdoses almost as dramatically, going from 21 fatal drug overdoses in 2021 to 12 in 2025, a reduction of 43 percent. "While even one life lost is too many, these numbers represent lives saved and families who did not receive that devastating phone call," Welsh said. "This progress reflects the coordinated efforts of our police officers, firefighters, healthcare partners and community organizations working together to address addiction and save lives. Let me be clear.; we will continue to support those who need help, and we will continue to aggressively pursue those who profit by selling this poison in our neighborhoods." In conclusion, Brubaker, a Democrat, said that his administration would "work across the aisle" and cooperate with county, state and federal agencies to draw investment in infrastructure, safety forces and economic development. "We are going to continue strengthening our neighborhoods through police and fire collaboration, between new housing development (and) renovations to housing," he said. "... We are in a good position as a city. We are not, as I said, where we need to be. We are getting there, but we still have a lot of work to do." Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.