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Mayor praises mutual-aid response to Marquis Apartments fire and cites lower crime rates, urges investment in facilities
Summary
The mayor commended University Heights firefighters and regional partners for stopping a major fire at the under-construction Marquis Apartments, cited a 20% drop in several crimes in 2024, and reiterated the city's need for new police and fire facilities.
Mayor (name not specified) marked the January fire at the under-construction Marquis Apartments as a demonstration of local emergency response capability and used the incident to press for investments in new public-safety facilities.
Recalling the Jan. 14, 2025 blaze, the mayor credited the University Heights Fire Department and neighboring departments for preventing the fire from spreading to nearby buildings, including the historic Cedar Lee Theater and Heights High School. "It wasn't just a miracle that nobody was killed or hurt. It was the teamwork of all of our local fire departments," the mayor said.
The mayor said the University Heights Police Department reported a drop in several crimes in 2024, including assault, vandalism, theft, fraud and drug and weapon offenses, which he described as "down 20% last year." He credited the police for community engagement programs and for responding to a bank robbery in the city in 2024.
Why it matters: the mayor framed emergency response and lower crime statistics as evidence of strengthened safety services while arguing that aging police and fire facilities and staffing discussions must factor into budget and borrowing choices. He emphasized trade-offs between capital projects and personnel raises or staffing levels, saying officers and firefighters would prefer raises to a new building if the choice came at the cost of colleagues' jobs.
Details and context: the mayor thanked Chief Bob Perko and Chief Dustin Rogers by name for departmental leadership. He described mutual-aid coordination during the Marquis Apartments incident and said the city's ladder truck response arrived with Cleveland Heights units. He also urged investment in a new police station, new fire station and a renovated or expanded city hall with accessibility improvements, noting current city hall lacks an elevator and that public meetings have not been held there since 2019.
What was not decided: the address recorded the mayor's views and praise for the departments' response; no formal council vote on facility construction or staffing occurred during the speech.
