TURNER'S GOALS

"We need someone who has the freedom to look at the structure without commitment to loyalty or tenure," Turner said.
- Timeline: October.
* Focus on crime reduction. Turner wants to lower the time it takes Dayton police to respond to calls, put 50 more officers on the streets, and improve the way police are deployed in neighborhoods.

Turner, who said response times last year averaged between nine and 13 minutes for high priority calls, wants police to arrive on scenes more quickly. The Dayton Police Department lumps response times instead of separating them by kind of call. The mayor said he is working with Police Chief James Newby to make sure the department keeps better records.

Newby issued a memo in July saying the department will use community-based officers to handle calls when backlogs develop. He also said data processing is trying to track response times by kind of call and when that information is compiled, police will define goals for response times at each priority level.

Turner said he plans to pay for new officers through money saved by as yet unidentified budget cuts and - if he gets his wish - the passage of President Clinton's crime bill. There are 364 sworn police officers in the department, including detectives. Turner also said more officers need to be relieved of administrative duties and put on the streets. He doesn't know yet how many should be moved, and says the department needs to do an evaluation.
- Timeline: Response time improvements and administrative changes: early 1995. Adding 50 officers: 1998.
* Cut spending: Turner wants to implement recommendations by the Operations Improvement Task Force, a business team auditing the city's spending. He expects the team to find ways to save $5 million - about the same amount as the city's projected deficit in 1995. The general fund budget is $145 million.

"The budget deficit is the biggest threat to Dayton being rebuilt. We can't invest in neighborhoods or have economic growth if we fail to stop the steady bleeding of the city's savings," Turner said.

Sixty executives, on loan from businesses throughout the region, are working to find ways to offset a projected $40 million deficit by 2000, he said. The group, divided into four teams, will spend at least half its time this summer examining all aspects of the city's operations - from fleet management to the convention center. The recommendations are due in October.
- Timeline: Implement the recommendations by late 1995.
* Focus on neighborhood development: Turner wants to strengthen code enforcement; implement a $3 million to $5 million town center program to renovate neighborhood business districts; overhaul housing strategies to improve the quality of homes in Dayton and reduce the number of abandoned housing units.

Turner plans to set up programs through CityWide Development Corp., a development arm of the city, and the city's Planning Department to coordinate a plan to create theme districts such as art, antique, flea market and ethnic/cultural.

Turner also plans to divert savings that may come from the operations task force's recommendations to neighborhood development corporations that can focus on rehabilitating abandoned housing. He said he didn't know yet how much money could be invested, or how many of Dayton's 7,000 abandoned houses could be renovated.
* Timeline: Have a town center program fully funded and operating in more than three neighborhood districts by 1998. Overhaul housing strategies by 1995.\