La Porte is making a clean sweep for a better future, and it’s taking a team effort to make it happen.
La Porte City officials, city employees, businesses owners and administration, La Porte Economic Advancement Partnership (LEAP), and its members gathered with the public to hear from La Porte Mayor Tom Dermody at the State of the City address.
At the address, Dermody applauded those who are striving to make a positive impact on the city and its community.
“It’s been exciting times. I’m very proud to be a part of this team that has made a lot of this happen,” Dermody said. “We still have work to do, and we all get that. We are driving every day.”
Dermody said the first few years of his term have been interesting because of the pandemic and the city trying to figure out how to handle it.
“Every day despite the pandemic, our team went to work to make La Porte a better place for our residents,” Dermody said. “I’m so honored to be a part of that team with our city council members, our clerk-treasurer, our department heads, and our employees who go out and work every day."
Dermody spoke about the city priorities, including infrastructure, housing, public services, economic development, and quality of life. He explained that the water and wastewater systems are being upgraded, roads are being repaired and replaced, sidewalks and trails are being extended, trees are being downed and replanted, and fiber is being installed so all residents have access to the internet.
Part of Dermody’s presentation included photos that illustrated all the positive impacts throughout the city. He mentioned a handful of companies making investments in the city to demolish blight and remove contaminants to build new housing.
“If we are going to be 30,000 people by 2030, we have to have housing of all types to make sure that is happening - affordable housing to high-end housing to everything in between,” Dermody said.
Dermody commended the city’s code enforcement team that has set a new standard with residential and industrial buildings.
“La Porte is no longer a dumping ground for anybody,” Dermody said.
Regarding the public services, Dermody said the city council is working hard to retain the firefighters and police officers of the city. The council has made a commitment to those employees.
“It’s about keeping our best and brightest and making sure they stay in La Porte,” Dermody said.
Dermody said the best thing that happened during the pandemic was the public transportation in La Porte. This year close to 30,000 trips have been made transporting residents.
With all the success La Porte has seen, Dermody said economic development must continue to grow.
He thanked LEAP for the collaboration that has happened. He said businesses and industries are coming to La Porte and companies are also improving services and cleaning up properties.
“That brings us to: What are we going to do to keep them here? That’s quality of life,” Dermody said.
The parks department and the city have received generous support from the Healthcare Foundation of La Porte, which has donated funding to help keep residents safe and healthy. Dermody said LakeFest is just the beginning of future events for families.
“We want not only our residents to believe that La Porte is a special place, but we want statewide for everyone to know that La Porte is the place to be,” Dermody said.
Along with the state of the city address, LEAP Executive Director Bert Cook thanked three board members, Laura Francesconi, Steve Kring, and Sarah Brown, as they have completed their terms.
“The La Porte Economic Advancement Partnership has experienced significant positive changes in recent years. We have grown in size, grown our membership, and grown our revenue,” Cook said. “None of this would have been possible without the tremendous leadership of our board of directors.”
Cook also presented two awards to LEAP Ambassadors of the Year, Selah Brooks and Brittany Smith. The annual award is given to individuals who have gone above and beyond with their service to LEAP.
“Brittany Smith has been the one person that we could call anytime with a request for help. She has made her service as an ambassador a priority, and she consistently rose to any challenge,” Cook said. “Selah Brooks has perfect attendance at all our LEAP events this year. He can always be found networking and representing our organization. He is a high-energy young leader in LaPorte and will no doubt be a force for change in this community long into the future.”
Both Ambassadors of the Year are also members of the Young Professional Network.
For more information about La Porte, visit cityoflaporte.com. For more information about LEAP, visit laportepartnership.com.
