My name is Kevin Bilkie. I have been a member of the Macedonia City Council for the last 4 years. I want to thank all of you who have supported me over that time. I am a proud parent of 2 girls who both attend Ledgeview Elementary. I am a member of the Ledgeview PTA Board, a Swim Parent to my daughters on the Macedonia Manta Rays Swim Team, and a coach in the NHAA softball league.
During my time on Council, I have served as the city’s Financial Chair, the Vice-President of Council, and the representative to the Parks Board. I am also a member of the Joint Economic Development District with Northfield Center.
I hope I have proven my worth to all of the residents of Macedonia during my time in office. On November 5th, 2019, I am again asking for your vote to serve this community.
I believe it is extremely important that we elect people who will best serve our small city. One that will be financially responsible, accountable, and someone who puts the needs of the whole above their own personal interests. I believe I am still that person!
In 2015, I ran on the promise to fix the roads of Macedonia. I am very proud to say that at the conclusion of my 4 years as a member of Council, the city has paved over 50 roads.
We have developed a Roads Maintenance Program to ensure that our roads will never fall into such disrepair ever again.
The Refund Program that was developed alongside the Roads Maintenance Program has maximized the city’s income tax collection. The city was able to pave over 50 roads, but because of the Refund Program, those cost were not passed onto the residents of Macedonia.
I also promised that I would be a champion of the Parks of Macedonia. There is much more work to be done, but here is a highlight of the improvements over the last 4 years.
– Improved Trails at Longwood Park
– Improved Baseball Fields at Sugarbush & Longwood Parks
– Addition of Lights to ‘Field A’ at Longwood Park and dugouts to all 4 fields
– A New Driveway and Improvements to the Pavilion at Sugarbush Park
– New Grass Cutting & Field Management equipment for all Parks
– Support for the creation of Veterans’ Memorial Park
The Macedonia Family Recreation Center has also gone through a transformation over the last 4 years. If you haven’t been there in awhile, I highly recommend that you check out these improvements.
– New Locker Rooms for Families
– New Men’s & Women’s Locker Rooms
– New equipment throughout the facility, including new weights, spin bikes, and treadmills.
– New color scheme with inspirational quotes throughout the facility
– New maintenance equipment for the indoor pool & hot tub
– New coating for the base of the pools
Those are just some the some of the highlights that have I have supported to better our community’s Parks & our Family Recreation Center.
I love boasting about the improvements to our roads, parks, and recreation center, but I feel that my greatest accomplishment over the last four years was stopping the nonsense and vastly improving the Teamwork on the City Council.
Without a Team, none of those accomplishments listed would have been possible. Four years ago, I walked into a bees nest, today I am very proud to say, I would walk away with honey.
The dynamic of Council in 2019 is still made up of 5 individuals. But, instead of all the finger pointing and the political posturing, we now show a great amount of respect towards each other. The opinions of each member of Council are not dismissed by a majority, but heard and appreciated.
The Teamwork did not end with the members of Council, but spread throughout city. Council has once again started working with the administration to Better Macedonia. We listened to the Department Heads, who have multiple years of experience, and have made decisions based on their expertise and not our own personal agendas.
This resulted in new plow trucks and maintenance trucks, as well as replacing old, unsafe and outdated equipment for the Service Department.
We will add a new 911 emergency system as well as body cams and in-car computers to help ensure safety for our officers and the public.
We will replace an outdated K-9 unit and have already replaced our deteriorating fleet of vehicles for our Police Department.
We replaced a Ladder Truck that was 28 years old and a Squad Truck, as well as, improved the exhaust system in the fire house and are in a position now to provide turn-out gear for our Fire Department.
The teamwork has also spread to Northfield Center and Sagamore Hills. The joint effort to combine and absorb the firefighting duties of those towns was finally accomplished after years of talking about it, saving money in equipment and man power for all three towns.
Our tax dollars have helped Better Macedonia in many ways. In turn, our city has become one of the most sought after places to live in the greater Cleveland/Akron area. Our home values have improved and our home sales are less then 3 weeks on the market.
This city was able to accomplish so much over the last four years. Moving forward, we still have much to do, but Council and the Administration has laid the foundation for those improvements on solid ground.
On November 5th, with your vote of confidence, I can continue working for the residents of Macedonia.
I hope that if reelected, that my next 4 years are as successful as the first four.
A Vote for Bilkie is a Vote for:
- Better Services to Seniors
- We have programs that currently help with gutter cleaning, trash pick-up and snow removal. I would like to be able to add Transportation to/from Doctor Appointments to that list. It is a needed service that could help our seniors improve their quality of life, and bring peace of mind to their caregivers and families.
- Better Relationships with the Nordonia Area
- We started the process with providing Fire Services to Northfield Center and Sagamore Hills. We can and should keep finding ways to reduce spending by combining other services with our neighboring cities.
- Better Usage of our Tax Dollars
- I will not support any income tax increase or tax credit reduction moving forward. The city has been maxed out on taxes.
- I will continue to strive utilize every dollar that is brought into this city for purposes that benefit the whole.
- Better Beautification of the City
- Many areas can be beautified. We have had good starts at city hall with the lights, Veterans Memorial Park, and the hanging lights. I would like to see, and push for, more beautification projects in the future.
Thank you for your Time.
Kevin M. Bilkie
