Mayor’s Office

Mayor David E. Anderson is the chief executive officer of the City of Willoughby. He oversees the affairs of the municipality and supervises all departments and divisions. The Mayor also serves as the Director of Public Safety and oversees the enforcement of all laws and ordinances of the City of Willoughby.

Mayor Anderson was first elected in 1991 and is now serving his 20th year as Mayor.

The Mayor’s office issues certificates of recognition for solicitors wishing to do business door-to-door in Willoughby. Contact Peggy Kostelnik for more information.

Past issues of the Mayor's Report can be viewed here on our Vimeo channel.

News

Fiscal Review Task Force Report Available.

The Fiscal Review Task Force, made up of ten Willoughby residents appointed by council and the mayor, was convened to examine the current financial position of the City and to make recommendations on ways to reduce expenses and/or increase revenue. The members brought experience from all walks of life and their insight will help the council and administration plan not only next year's budget but into the future as well. Their report can be found here.

Staff
Mayor David E. Anderson One Public Square Willoughby, Ohio 44094 (440) 953-4124	Peggy Kostelnik Assistant to the Mayor One Public Square Willoughby, Ohio 44094 (440) 953-4124

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	Solicitor Certificate of Recognition

Mayor’s Report

Mayor David E. Anderson

Just a short follow up to last month's column. I reported that there may have been some increase in the number of burglaries and thefts last year in our city, but that I didn't expect it to be a sharp increase. According to the yearend report from our Police Department, Willoughby did see a sharp increase in both burglaries (home break-ins) and thefts (things taken from unlocked autos, shoplifting, etc.)

The burglaries are the most disconcerting. We experienced pockets of these incidents in a number of areas in the city. Our detectives regularly meet with detectives from adjoining cities to compare notes and work together to solve these types of crimes. Many times, however, the culprits live in the same area. Almost without exception, these crimes are committed by criminals that are drug addicts looking for a short term fix by pawning stolen items. Our police department was successful at making several arrests for these crimes, and continues to work to solve the rest.

The vast majority of thefts in our city are from unlocked automobiles. It is very easy for someone to run down a street in the early morning hours and check for unlocked vehicles. Almost all of these are preventable. We must all be cognizant of the rise in these types of thefts and lock our automobiles at all times.

The other increase in thefts in the city involved shoplifters. This increase is also due to increased drug usage, along with the poor economy. More of these crimes are being discovered today due to better electronic surveillance by store security to catch the thieves.

Please understand that these crimes are not unique to Willoughby. All of our contiguous cities and townships are experiencing the same thing. As I mentioned last month, we hear more about this in Willoughby than other cities due to our reporting of these crimes on Facebook and Twitter. We feel it is important to make people aware of what is going on in the city.

Willoughby remains a very safe place to live and work. However we must all take responsibility to lock our houses, garages, sheds and automobiles in an effort to make it as difficult as possible for these criminals to operate in our community.