TOLEDO, Ohio — Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz will address Toledoans in his annual State of the City address Wednesday night.
It's been a speech where he's touted road projects, Toledo's business sector and downtown renovation in the past.
WTOL 11 reached out to Kapszukiewicz's office to see what his talking points would be, we have not heard back.
But residents have their own thoughts, telling us what he needs to cover.
It may not come as a surprise, but each person WTOL11 spoke with says they are concerned about the violence in the city.
"Violence is very important," resident Annie Walker said.
"Crime is a big topic for the north end," ONE Village Council President, Alfonso Narvaez, said.
They say they're anxious to see if this topic is as important to the mayor as it is to them because they want peace of mind. And right now, they don't have it.
More than half of the 17 homicides so far in 2022 have been in the last month, including the shooting deaths of three juveniles.
"In my neighborhood, we've had three homicides and a domestic situation within a four-week period. So crime is a huge situation right now in our community," Narvaez said.
As the mayor preps for his speech, Toledoans want to know how he's going to fix that community concern.
They say too many people are dying in Toledo's neighborhoods, especially the young people.
"I am always looking for something for the young kids to get involved in. Maybe to take their minds away from things that are not attractive to them that cause the violence," Walker said.
City officials have said people need to speak up if they see something. But residents say that won't happen until people in power like council members, the mayor and police officers spend more time in the neighborhoods that need the help.
"They expect for the neighbors to tell. They ain't going to tell them. If they come out and do some changes, maybe," resident Thomas Watts said. "Try to make friends with the people and kids that are in the neighborhood, maybe they will. They see a lot of stuff."
The State of the City address is not open to the public, but it will be streamed online.
You'll be able to watch it on our WTOL 11 YouTube channel and here on our website.