Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx’s first State of the City address was part pep talk, part lobbying.
Foxx said Charlotte has faced many challenges, but has shown its ability to push forward and thrive in the face of economic adversity.
“In fact, I cannot think of another city in the United States that has had such success over the past year,” he said Tuesday.
When Foxx took office, the area’s unemployment rate was nearing 13 percent. “We said we would work as hard as ever to grow jobs in Charlotte, and we have done so, bringing 8,500 new jobs to Charlotte in areas as diverse as energy, financial services, manufacturing, and healthcare,” he said.
Foxx said that with a better business climate, an improved quality of living and stronger relationships with federal and state governments, Charlotte is in a better state than it was a year ago.
“Our collective response so far has been to use the current economic crisis as an opportunity to pick up the pace,” he said.
Accomplishments in the area of transportation include a third parallel runway being added to Charlotte/Douglas International Airport.
Governor Beverly Perdue also signed a construction contract that will complete I-485 by 2015, a year before construction was initially slated to begin.
On the business end, Electrolux moving to Charlotte marked the largest corporate headquarters relocation since 1984. “Clearly, we are working hard to bring jobs to this city,” Foxx said.
“While we are working with $200 million less than last fiscal year, we have stayed within our means. We have not raised property taxes, and through our dedicating funding stream for capitol projects we still managed to put our second largest bond package in this city’s history on the ballot this fall. We are gratified that voters responded so positively to it and supported it overwhelmingly.”
The city is taking steps to address its need for more affordable housing, which includes increasing the budgeted allocation for affordable housing from $10 million to $15 million and supporting the creation of Moore Place, which will provide shelter and assistance to the chronically homeless.
“As long as we have men women and children sleeping on our streets, we will have more work to do. But I am pleased that we are moving the dial forward on this issue,” said Foxx.
Foxx said that although the city has made some great moves in the right direction, there is still a lot more work to do. He said keeping the positive momentum going will take pursuing what he called the three C’s – consolidate, collaborate and children.
Foxx said he plans to pursue candid conversations with county and city officials about government consolidation.
He said the process will be long and challenging, but the end result will be worthwhile and one that he believes the community will support. “We’ve got a number of things to think about, but it doesn’t start unless there is a conversation,” he said.
In meantime, he is exploring partial consolidation and ways local governments can work closer together.
This year, in an unprecedented move, City Council assisted Mecklenburg County to limit the number of libraries that were closed.
“If things would have gone as they were slated to go, this community would have gone from 24 libraries to eight. Because if the actions of city council and other surrounding municipalities, and the county commission, we were able to keep 21 libraries open and doing business,” said Foxx. “That’s a victory for this community.”
Foxx said in the future, he wants council members to be prepared to step up for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools as well.
“Education is one of the top issues, if not the top issue, for this community going forward. We need to be engaged in that conversation,” he said.
He called on his colleagues to support the school district’s legislative agenda. “They are looking to loosen some of the reins on spending on dollars that they are given by the state, and we ought to support that,” he said.
Foxx said council should be willing to promote longer school days and longer school years, if necessary.
“Whatever it takes to get our kids to be competitive in the future,” he said.
| Published Wednesday, December 8, 2010 10:10 am |
by Michaela L. Duckett, For The Charlotte Post
