Good Afternoon, and Welcome to the Hippodrome State Theatre for Gainesville‟S Annual State of the City Address. Thank You
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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.