TOLEDO, Ohio — Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz will deliver his State of the City address on Wednesday at 5 p.m., almost a year after addressing rising gun violence in 2022's address.
Randall Carter, the pastor of Resurrection Baptist Church on Nebraska Avenue, chose to open the church's doors to local violence reduction groups for the address because of the violence going on in his city.
The city of Toledo has seen six homicides in 2023, three of which were teenage victims.
"We have to really bear down and find out what's going on with our youth, and the murders and killings that are going on with our young people," Carter said.
Residents are hoping to hear about the city's forward progress to give hope in the face of homicide numbers that have been over 60 since 2020.
Toledo City Council member John Hobbs III offered his support for the mayor and the progress of the city.
"Our Mayor, his administration, they're working as hard as they possibly can to make our city better, and so it is important that we also do our part to help our city," Hobbs said.
Hobbs acknowledged the rise in gun violence and said the city should engage young people more and offer more resources as a countermeasure.
"These are the things we can do, instead of criticizing and saying what they aren't doing, we have an opportunity to impact our kids. And when we do that, it'll make some of them put the guns down," Hobbs said.
Lifelong Toledo resident Elaine Hunter said it's important to keep kids occupied and said the city is making investments in the right areas like the Wayman Palmer YMCA and Frederick Douglass Center. But it shouldn't stop there, she said.
"Something that doesn't necessarily involve physical activity," Hunter said. "I'm a big proponent of the library. All different sorts of things."
The State of the City address is scheduled for Wednesday at 5 p.m. at the Frederick Douglass Center.