“I remember so clearly the first time someone asked me if I was running for mayor, and I said yes out loud. I mean, like that was scary. Saying yes, has led me here to this moment with all of you, and I would do it all over again,” said Mayor Danene Sorace at her final 2025 State of the City address, Tuesday evening at the Ware Center.
Elected in 2017 and reelected in 2021, Sorace has decided to end her term as mayor, as she will not be running for re-election. Sorace opened the address by thanking her family, city employees, and ended with a special thank you for her husband, Christian. Sorace highlighted all the work that has been accomplished and what still needs to be done in Lancaster.
Housing
An interim housing initiative was launched in 2021, to build 2,000 new housing units over the next five years, 15% would be affordable. Currently, 600 units have been built and 13% are affordable. There are an additional 950 houses in the pipeline, but after all the work to get the units through land development there is uncertainty about them being built due to various finance reasons, including tariffs.
Clay Street Shelter
Sorace noted the big achievement of establishing the Clay Street shelter, detailing how the $3.2 million project took over two years to create. Fundraising is still going on as there are no long term committed funds for operating the shelter.
Commissioner Alice Yoder is spearheading a county-wide strategic plan to build capacity in other communities around the county. “We learned when the shelter was operating on Prince Street that over 80% of the residents or the people who are staying in the shelter were residents of Lancaster County. They’re from all over the county. The city alone cannot provide services for the entire county.”
Public Safety
Calls to the police bureau have gone down over time, reflecting the impact of the city’s proactive efforts. After a comprehensive staffing study that was done last year, the city has reduced the target number of officers to 128, down from 145. Over the past years, recruitment efforts have gone up and the bureau is seeking more recruits for officers and cadets. The city added a new police social worker to the team. The bureau is also on its way to becoming an accredited police agency for the first time.
Home Rule
“Last November, voters in Lancaster overwhelmingly adopted the city’s new home rule charter, and this indeed was a historic moment.” Sorace thanked the Home Rule Study Commission members for working hard to find a better path for the city government. The passage of the charter comes with a to-do list of work that needs to be done, the transition committee met with City Solicitor Barry Handwerger to discuss this work.
Water and the City of Lancaster
Sorace addressed the significant challenges the city faces with water because of the old infrastructure. The city is trying to replace the 6.2-mile water main. It would cost $60 million dollars to replace it.
Another challenge is perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), or forever chemicals, found in the water. While the city is under state guidelines, the Biden administration set new regulations to reduce the threshold to zero. This is caught up in litigation and the city is waiting on the Trump administration’s response. The city has been doing its own testing to figure out where the PFAS are coming from and discovered they originated upstream of the Conestoga Treatment Plant. The cost to fix the problem is $80 million.
