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Sheffield Lake Mayor Dennis Bring, Sheffield Mayor John Hunter, Avon Lake Mayor Greg Zil-ka and Avon Mayor Bryan Jensen.
Avon Mayor Bryan Jensen joined with Avon Lake Mayor Greg Zilka, Sheffield Lake Mayor Dennis Bring and Sheffield Lake Mayor John Hunter in welcoming about 200 guests to their annual State of the Cities Luncheon last Thursday at Tom’s Country Place in Avon.
The Mayors kept the good natured event lively as they swapped neighborly jabs at one another while also recognizing those that serve on their staffs and on their safety service forces.
Mayor Jensen led off his program with a slide show that featured the traffic roundabout that is proposed for the Mills Road-Route 83 intersection at the Avon and North Ridgeville border.
Avon Mayor Bryan Jensen and Avon Lake Mayor Greg Zilka are well-known as friendly rivals. They rarely miss a chance to poke good-natured fun, and last week’s State of the Cities Luncheon at Tom’s Country Place served up an irresistible chance for Mayor Jensen to draw a laugh. He said he got a strange call about a Chick-fil-A coming to Avon. “That’s not true,” said Jensen with a smile, referring all questions on the matter to Zilka as the image above appeared on his power point screen.
He also good-naturedly kidded Mayor Zilka about rumors of a Chik-fil-A restaurant coming to the area.
Mayor Zilka said the troubling opioid epidemic is something that has touched far too many families. He suggested a grass-roots approach to addressing the subject. “Sit down and have dinner with your kids,” he said. “Talk to them.” By staying in the loop within your own family circles, tragedies can be averted.
Mayor Zilka also thanked his police and firefighters, reporting that the responsibilities of these public servants have grown with the community.
Sheffield Lake Mayor Dennis Bring thanked his residents for approving an income tax increase to offset state funding cuts. And Sheffield Mayor John Hunter talked about his community’s role as an interstate crossroads. Over 70,000 cars pass through Sheffield daily at the Rt. 254 exchange. About 40 per cent of those stopped by law enforcement are issued citations.
On a serious note, Mayor Jensen thanked Mayor Zilka for the attention he has brought to the opiate addiction problem in the area.
The luncheon was hosted by the West Shore Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by University Hospitals.
Click here to view entire gallery.
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- Sheffield Mayor John Hunter with Avon City Council Members Mary Berges and Tammy Holtzmeier and former Avon Mayor Jim Smith.
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- Emcee Linda Hamman of sponsor University Hospitals welcomes guests to the 2017 State of the Cities Luncheon at Tom’s Country Place.
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- Mayor Jensen gestures toward his power point display of the traffic roundabout proposed for Mills and Route 83 at the Avon-North Ridgeville border.
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- Avon Lake Mayor Greg Zilka laments the tragic numbers of the opioid epidemic on our commu-nities. “Sit down with your kids. Have dinner with them. Talk to them,” suggest the Mayor as a grassroots approach that can make a difference.
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- John and Leisa Mullins, Mayor Jensen, and John’s brother, Brad Mullins, were recognized as people doing something positive through their nonprofit Lakeshore Ballet Theater and Brad’s superhero event that he brought to Avon.
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- Robbie Anderson (left) of State Farm joined with Mayors Jensen, Zilka, Hunter and Bring in signing a Pledge not to Text and Drive as part of the Power of More 2017 Chamber Safety Pledge.
