Good afternoon, and welcome to the Hippodrome State Theatre for Gainesville‟s annual State of the City address. Thank you for joining me today in looking back over the progress we‟ve made this year and looking ahead to our future.
Before we get started, I‟d like to recognize the rest of the City Commission, as well as each of the Charter Officers who are with us today. I‟d ask each of the commissioners and charter officers to stand when I call their names, and for all of us to hold our applause until all of them are standing.
Mayor Pro Tem Jeanna Mastrodicasa and Commissioners Thomas Hawkins, Scherwin Henry, Lauren Poe, Warren Nielsen, and Randy Wells
City Manager Russ Blackburn, General Manager of Utilities Bob Hunzinger, City Attorney Marion Radson, City Auditor Brent Godshalk, City Clerk Kurt Lannon, and Equal Opportunity Director Cecil Howard
I‟d also like to thank the Hippodrome for hosting us today in this beautiful downtown location.
As mayor, one of my key responsibilities is to keep Gainesville moving forward. As I thought about the best way to capture the challenges of the past year and our success in addressing them, I was happy to see the theme of “Gainesville in Motion,” chosen for our yearly exhibition of local photography.
These citizen-artists exemplify the creative spirit that defines our city. They hold a talent to which we can all aspire: the ability to look at the world around them and find the beauty in a singular moment. Each of this year‟s 219 entries from 89 local photographers captures the movement of our city in different ways. Some display the evidence of our growing presence as an international hub of high-tech development, while others focus on the natural wonders that make our city so unique.
Gainesville‟s artistic community is just one more reason why our city is such a remarkable place to live, work and play. Today I have the pleasure of unveiling the grand prize winner for the Second Annual Gainesville Photography Contest. The piece is entitled “Night of Fire,” by Fred Wasmer. I commend all of this year‟s award winners and especially, Mr. Wasmer for this excellent work of art.
This grand prize photograph serves as an allegory not only for Gainesville‟s physical and natural beauty, but for the economic storms that our city has weathered for the past few years. I think it‟s fitting that we opened today‟s address with a celebration of local talent in a building dedicated to the arts, because this one moment represents the larger state of our city.
When I took office as your new Mayor, I knew we would face real challenges in the year ahead. At the same time, I was confident that the values of progress and innovation that have defined and shaped our community over the years would provide the guidance needed to move our city forward.
It was with these values in mind that we entered this year‟s budget process. In spite of the sound fiscal management our city has practiced in the past, we still faced a projected budget shortfall of $8.3 million within the combined fiscal year 2011 and 2012 budgets. We were certainly not the only city in the state confronted with this challenge. In fact, municipalities across the nation have grappled with the harsh reality of shrinking revenues over the past years. Gainesville in particular had cut over $10 million in spending headed into this budgetary cycle.
It‟s safe to say that the low-hanging fruit had been harvested. We were left with few choices for balancing the budget, and none of them were easy.
But we didn‟t duck the tough choices, and we didn‟t turn away from the values that have brought our city ongoing recognition as one of the top places to live, work, and play. We looked at our options and once again asserted that afterschool care should be accessible for all of our citizens, and that where you live shouldn‟t hamper your access to high-quality public facilities or transportation. We take pride in our city‟s reputation as a leader in the medical field, but we also know that these innovations do not benefit all of our citizens unless everyone can be reached quickly by well-trained teams of emergency responders.
With these priorities in mind we began looking for ways to cut costs while continuing to provide the professional level of service that we have all come to expect from our local government. We saved city taxpayers nearly one hundred thousand dollars through a carefully-managed purchasing strategy with our award-winning traffic management system. We found ways of sharing resources between departments, and doing more with less. And yes, we made tough choices that cut staff positions in city government. We will need to re-examine some of the cuts we made to be sure that they do not have unforeseen negative consequences. In particular we need to restore funding for the afterschool program so that these children do not end up in the criminal justice system or face other harm. We also encountered difficulties beyond the scope of our budget. When the pastor of a local church announced last July that his congregation would hold what he called „International Burn a Koran Day,‟ I quickly denounced the plan. But what we hoped would be a local issue soon became much larger as news outlets from around the world flocked to Gainesville and the story took on a life of its own.
But while each initial report from our city sought to outdo the last in describing the plans of the Dove World Outreach Center, the real story from amidst this ordeal was the reaction of Gainesville‟s citizens. While my experience with our city led me to expect that members of different faiths would come together to denounce the inflammatory rhetoric of Dove World‟s senior pastor, it was the extra steps that our community took to celebrate the faith and heritage of our Muslim brothers and sisters that finally made the world stop and take notice. When the eyes of the world were upon us, you, the citizens expressed our city‟s true character. I would like to take this moment to thank each of you, as well as the employees of the city, county, and each of the other divisions that worked with us during this difficult time.
Similarly, the Office of Equal Opportunity has been working locally through its Dismantling Racism programs to broaden our efforts to eliminate discrimination for any reason. The Equal Opportunity office also sought solutions to an issue that faces our youngest citizens: the gap between socioeconomic classes in educational outcomes. Their response to this difficult problem was a partnership between the City of Gainesville and the Alachua County Public Schools Foundation to create the Gainesville Enrichment Mentoring program. I am proud to be a participant in this renewed effort, as are other city employees and commissioners, and I look forward to seeing it grow and benefit more of our city‟s children.
You see, the obstacles of the past year were not easy to overcome, but we addressed them head on and moved forward because we are committed to making this city great. We are committed to providing the constituent services that brought us a number one ranking from livability.com among all of America‟s college towns. USA Today ranked Gainesville at number five in its list of the top 10 smallest cities. And according to portfolio.com, we‟re the fourteenth smartest city nation-wide and the smartest in the state.
What each of these organizations realized, is that in the midst of the difficulties we have faced, we have seen growth. Gainesville leads the way in the state in per capita job creation and has the lowest state- wide unemployment, and I am committed to continuing this process by working hand in hand with local businesses and stakeholders. One of these stakeholders is the Community Redevelopment Agency, which opened its new headquarters on Northwest Fifth Avenue this year to positive reviews from neighborhood leaders. This new building represents a tangible commitment by our city to revitalizing this neighborhood and preserving its historic legacy, but it also allowed the CRA to transfer the $3,000 per month it was paying in rent into a long-term investment. The first floor of the new building also includes space for a private business that will provide an ongoing source of income for the CRA and function as an anchor for economic development in the newly-refurbished Fifth Avenue corridor.
The CRA also played a vital role in the planning of Innovation Square by working in coordination with the University of Florida, Shands, the City of Gainesville, and private investors. When completed, this project will revolutionize Gainesville‟s economy by creating an estimated 3,000 jobs in high-tech fields. It will help us realize economist Richard Florida‟s prediction of a 17.7 percent increase in “creative class” jobs in the Gainesville area, the highest of any US metro region.
Quality economic development relies upon an adequate system for connecting workers and consumers with new businesses. The City of Gainesville is committed to providing safe and reliable transportation options that fit the needs of all of its citizens.
One of the main players in accomplishing this extensive task is Gainesville‟s Regional Transit System. This year we expanded RTS ridership to the amazing total of nearly 9.4 million riders, a feat that was accomplished through our long-standing partnership with the University of Florida and some of the area‟s largest employers. We instituted a new route to connect UF and the Gainesville Regional Airport that travels through the heart of downtown. One of my goals is to continue improving RTS service, especially in East Gainesville.
And even if you don‟t ride the bus yourself, you are benefiting from the exceptional service RTS provides. It only takes a quick glance at the bus stops packed with students, faculty, and staff from the University of Florida and Santa Fe College to realize that our city would grind to a halt if each trip through public transit was replaced by an individual in a car. This is why the commission and I support the efforts of groups like Start the Bus, an initiative by our state‟s colleges that provides for the same rights as university students to levy a charge on each credit hour for transportation funding. We‟ve made the passage of this bill one of our top priorities for the upcoming legislative session and I would like to personally thank our legislators who have expressed their support for this bill. I look forward to working with them to make this dream a reality and to partnering with Santa Fe College to expand future transit options.
Drivers in the city have also seen shorter trip times as our traffic management system has come online. Morning commutes decreased by an average of 14% on Archer Road, 32% on 13th Street, and an amazing figure of 45% on 34th Street between 16th Avenue and Williston Road. In addition to transporting drivers to their destination along these corridors more quickly, this reduction in travel time will reduce auto emissions and pollution.
Another goal in overhauling our traffic management system was increased energy efficiency. By upgrading from standard to LED lights in each of our signals, we will save $200 per month per traffic light. With over 150 signals in Gainesville, the savings add up quickly, and we‟re on track to save $360,000 per year! As your mayor, I am committed to searching for small changes like these that make a big difference and save taxpayer dollars while decreasing our city‟s carbon footprint.
We‟ve worked to move Gainesville forward in the area of sustainability in larger ways as well. I saw the impact of our work in this area last month when I attended the National League of Cities conference in Denver and heard various cities and solar installers refer to Gainesville as “Feed-In Tariff Town” after our first-in-the-nation program to expand solar power production.
It proves that our efforts are bringing both recognition and investment in green technologies to our city, and spurring economic growth from within. Since enacting the Feed-In Tariff in October 2008, our solar capacity has increased by 1200%! We have seen an expansion in the number of solar contractors in the area as well as an increase in demand for electricians and roofers.
This past year, the City Commission charged management at GRU to find ways to make this program even more successful. In the end, we opened additional capacity each year for systems that produce less than 10 kilowatts of energy and updated the registration process to ensure that our yearly goals were met.
Because that‟s one of the great things about our utility here in Gainesville: you‟re not just consumers, you‟re citizens. We have what‟s called a municipal owned utility, which means that it‟s owned by you, the rate payers, and managed by your elected representatives. With your support, we‟ve put policies in place to increase conservation and expand renewable energy. And we‟ve done all of this while working to remain one of the strongest-rated public utilities in the nation by three of the national bond rating agencies.
The services GRU provides to the community also extend beyond those traditionally associated with utilities. Members of GRU‟s staff played a critical role in working with our Local Intergovernmental Team to communicate with our citizens and develop a response to the EPA‟s plan for cleaning the Koppers Superfund Site.
We can all agree that the time has come for the decontamination of this site, and an end to the negative effects of the Koppers Corporation on this city.
As your mayor, I will continue using every avenue available to ensure a proper cleanup, as I did last year when I worked successfully with Senator Bill Nelson‟s office to extend the public comment period on the EPA‟s mitigation plan. In the year ahead, I will work with our federal legislative delegation, and state and local agencies to ensure that progress is made in cleaning this site. As recently as last Friday I met with Bob Perciasepe, the Deputy Director of the EPA, at the US Conference of Mayors to express our city‟s concerns. The EPA is aware at the highest levels of the City of Gainesville and our concerns about the Koppers Superfund site.
But back to our governmental services and another serious note. I would like to take this opportunity to let Major Rick Hanna, his wife Marlene, and his entire family, know that our thoughts and prayers are with him as recovers.
Chief Jones and Major Hanna have led the way in restoring community confidence in the Gainesville Police Department and have strengthened our commitment to community oriented policing. As these changes have taken effect, we have seen a reduction in the crime rates in our city.
Similarly, on a bus tour of Southwest Gainesville in the recently annexed SW 20th Avenue area, an apartment manager reported much quicker response times after annexation. This confirms the value of our citizens having their own police department where we can determine how to provide for public safety in keeping with Gainesville‟s character. Any attempt to abolish this integral part of our city is an attack on our home rule. In short, we must save GPD. As Chief Jones worked to make our police department more accessible, I also moved to make my own office more open to the public by harnessing technologies like Twitter and Facebook. What I enjoy most about using these social media tools is that they act as a two-way street. They allow me to gain valuable feedback from citizens about how the city performs while informing them of important programs and upcoming issues.
We have faced the challenges of the past year head on, and moved Gainesville forward through innovative thinking and proven strategies gathered from cities across the nation. But the successes we have engineered, even in light of these difficult times, are not the pinnacle of our city‟s potential. I look forward to continuing the work we started over the past year while still pressing onward and shaping Gainesville into a model of progress in the twenty-first century.
Even as we venture ahead on the cutting edge of reform, I am confident in our city‟s ability to move forward by the guidance of others‟ successes. We did this when instituting our first-in-the-nation Solar Feed-In Tariff, but for the next undertaking we won‟t even have to leave the country.
The University of Florida has based plans for Innovation Square on the successful Tech Square project in Atlanta. Situated on 40 acres in the heart of Gainesville, the former Shands AGH site is the perfect location for this new live, work, and play environment. With over one million square feet of proposed space, Innovation Square is a tremendous undertaking that will not be finished over night. I am confident, though, that the steps that we have taken, and will take in the year ahead, will set the stage for the completion of this project.
As your mayor, I support updating our city‟s zoning to create the kind of density necessary for the success of Innovation Square while preserving the historic neighborhoods surrounding the site. I‟ll also work with GRU to ensure that the infrastructure in the area is updated to service the additional capacity that will accompany the completion of Innovation Square. I‟d like to thank the University of Florida and Shands again for their work in getting this project underway and look forward to continuing our partnership as construction progresses. This project will be a major component of our Gainesville Innovation Zone and is consistent with the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce‟s innovation Gainesville initiative. It will nurture the necessary features for a creative economy that promises to bring good jobs with good wages. We will also move forward with our plans to implement Bus Rapid Transit here in Gainesville. Bus Rapid Transit is less costly than light rail, but provides the many of the same benefits for users and local businesses. And all of this while giving us the flexibility to make future changes and upgrades to the system.
Cities like Eugene, Oregon have already implemented Bus Rapid Transit, and we can model our approach on their successes. Eugene is a university community of 150,000 residents inside of a metropolitan area of 250,000, much like Gainesville. They first implemented Bus Rapid Transit in early 2007 and are now working to expand upon the initial phase to provide high-quality transit to even more of their citizens. In the year ahead, I will lead the effort to formulate a concrete proposal for Gainesville‟s Bus Rapid Transit system. We have a unique opportunity in planning this corridor to connect the most important economic drivers and activity centers in our city along a single path. Bus Rapid Transit will be a critical tool for linking the University of Florida and Shands with the downtown area, and the growing presence of Innovation Square.
Planning early for the future will also allow us to fully realize Bus Rapid Transit‟s role as a driver of economic growth, especially along Waldo Road. By constructing Bus Rapid Transit stations similarly to light rail facilities, cities have provided the public investment necessary to allow Bus Rapid Transit to act as a tool for economic growth similar to light rail. This in turn could spur as much as six dollars in private investments for each dollar of public investment.
These are a few examples of our city‟s recent accomplishments and future challenges, but there are many more.
We are the city… that values our arts and culture as crucial to our quality of life and to economic development. that is seeing buildings rise downtown in difficult economic times.
We are the city… that is placing a higher priority on street maintenance that seeks to further conservation of energy and water. that is constructing a senior recreation center and new facilities at Cone Park on the eastside.
And we are the city that is building a One-Stop Center to serve our homeless population and funding programs that provide a warm bed on a cold night.
Because you, the citizens, are what make this city great. It is your ability to find opportunity in the face of difficulty; solutions in the midst of hardship; and unity even as some attempted to divide us.
In summary, innovative economic development, renewable energy and conservation, environmental protection, equality and a celebration of diversity, and mentoring, are all efforts to build a better community and a better future for our city‟s children.
I would like to begin to close with a poem by a woman named Will Allen Dromgoole:
An old man, going a lone highway, Came at the evening, cold and gray, To chasm, vast and deep and wide, Through which was flowing a sullen tide. The old man crossed in the twilight dim; The sullen stream had no fears for him; But he turned when safe on the other side And built a bridge to span the tide.
"Old man," said a fellow pilgrim near, "You are wasting strength with building here; Your journey will end with the ending day; You never again must pass this way; You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide -- Why build you the bridge at the eventide?" The builder lifted his old gray head: "Good friend, in the path I have come," he said, "There followeth after me today A youth whose feet must pass this way. This chasm that has been naught to me To that fair-haired youth may a pit-fall be, He, too, must cross in the twilight dim; Good friend, I am building the bridge for him."
Gainesville, let‟s keep moving forward. Let‟s keep building that bridge to the future. And Gainesville, thank you for the honor of serving as your mayor.