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Mayor’s State Of The City Address Highlights Highs And Lows The City Is Facing
Mayor Buckhorn gives State of the City address.
BY KENYA WOODARD Sentinel Feature Writer
Mayor Bob Buckhorn
delivered his annual State of the City address in downtown Tampa Tuesday, touting the city’s wins, praising its em- ployees, and pointing out its challenges.
Addressing a crowd of hundreds at Kiley Garden near Curtis Hixon Park, Mayor Buckhorn rattled off a list of successes made over the last year, including “massive rede- velopment” in West Tampa, commercial building in Ybor City, and “safer and stronger” neighborhoods in East Tampa.
The above is proof that the city has bounced back from the recession, he said.
“We brought this city back from rock bottom,” he said. “We rose up from the ashes.”
In quick succession, the mayor named a number of wins he’s accumulated since his election to office six years
ago; including unemployment in the city dropping by half and pouring more than $24 million into updating comput- ing infrastructure and technol- ogy upgrades.
Additionally, more than $11 billion in projects has been permitted and more minority and women-owned businesses are working on city projects, he said.
Such growth has attracted the eye of major corporations with some – including Bristol- Myers Squibb – expanding and relocating their operations to Tampa, he said.
“Tampa has become a place, not a pass-through,” he said.
Moving forward, it’s im- perative that “no neighbor- hood is left behind,” Mayor Buckhorn said.
To ensure that doesn’t hap- pen, the city has installed 92 miles of new bike lanes and 45 miles of new sidewalks, opened 10 new parks, and built three new fire stations with another soon to open, he said.
“Tampa neighborhoods are engaged and prepared to work together for what lies ahead,” he said.
The city’s future is bright, but there are some challenges that will require the mayor and City Council to make “tough
choices” in the future.
Tampa still is experiencing
the effects of the recession. Most outstanding is that city revenues likely won’t return to pre-recession levels until 2019.
Additionally, the city has increased its staffing by just two since he took office.
Officials have found ways to do more with less “with the leanest and hardest-working team,” Buckhorn said.
The city’s final chapter is yet to be written and, Mayor Buckhorn implored the audi- ence to join with him in the last two years of his term to make Tampa “the place where the best and brightest want to be.”
“I intend to finish strong,” he said.
Reactions from local lead- ers were mixed, with some praising Buckhorn’s mes- sage and delivery and others criticizing his failure to high- light successes and advance- ment on the city’s eastside.
Former state Sen. Arthe- nia Joyner, whom Buck- horn acknowledged during his speech, called the mayor’s oratorical skills “phenome- nal.”
“The man is a born leader with a vision that we’ve seen materialize,” she said.
City Council member Frank Reddick, who repre- sents East Tampa, said he was disappointed that the mayor’s
reference to his district was limited to policing.
“What disturbed me the most is when you think of the African-American community the only good you can think is we bring in the police to re- duce the crime,” he said. “There’s no economic develop- ment from the mayor’s stand- point in this community.”
Reddick said Buckhorn should have highlighted the city’s recent partnership with the Community Development Corporation to build afford- able housing in East Tampa.
The councilman said he’s hopeful that Mayor Buck- horn will include more posi- tivity about East Tampa in future speeches.
FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2017 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 7-A