The State of the City Alexandria Mayor Jacques M. Roy delivered his State of the City address on Friday, Aug. 29. And while he certainly hit the high spots of the good things going on here in our home and gave credit to all who have helped bring us to this moment in time, my take on our State of the City is a bit different. The Mayor talked about national and international events and how those events are, to say the least, trying. He reminded us to be thankful for living in a pluralistic society that – even with all its problems – leads the world in applying the rule of law and avoiding barbarism. I am thankful. I am thankful that in the midst of a nation and a world filled with recession, strife, war, terrorism, and such, Mayor Roy’s leadership has helped to create an oasis of peace and prosperity for Alexandria citizens. We’re not perfect. Alexandria is not perfect. We all recognize that. But if you look out your front window, beyond the city limits, state boundaries, and across the oceans, Alexandria is a good place to be. Though I doubt the mayor would ever say it, much of that is because of his vision and his leadership over the past eight years. When the recession hit, Mayor Roy had his team devise an austerity plan to keep from straining the city’s finances while also managing to avoid layoffs and pay cuts for employees. These are people he lives with and understands have families to support and could not afford to lose a job or some pay in those trying times. So though it was termed an “austerity” plan, it was nothing compared to the fate of some cities across this nation who did not plan, did not tighten their belt and who ended up laying off hundreds and hundreds of people at the worst possible time for those people to be looking for a new job. Alexandria has actually flourished in spite of this global financial crisis. Mayor Roy’s ability to see the big picture, his conservative yet creative financial approach has put this City far ahead of the curve as this nation continues to try to rebound from the financial traumas ensuing since 2008. We will be moving beyond this recession well ahead of other cities. While much of the country will be playing catch up, Mayor Roy has positioned Alexandria to continue forward progress at a rate that will astound many bureaucrats still mired in a murky economy. The Mayor was the spark for the development of the Specially Planned Redevelopment Corridors (SPARC) project. This project over the past 5 years has pumped $136 million into infrastructure improvements during a time when many cities – some much bigger and with larger revenue bases -- were cutting jobs, cutting budgets and cutting all improvement projects. The Mayor inherited a utility problem and met it head on. He turned a lemon into sweet, sweet lemonade for all Alexandrians. He educated himself about the extremely complicated energy industry, brought together local and national experts and pushed his staff to help conceive and implement a $125 million Alexandria Utility Sustainability Plan (AUSP). This award-winning project will save electrical utility ratepayers millions of dollars in the future and because it creates a diverse energy base will also stabilize energy costs over the next two decades and beyond. It is becoming a national model to follow. The Mayor led the charge to improve our quality of life through park improvements when other cities were closing parks. When Hurricane Gustav hit and flooded many parts of our City, Mayor Roy was there, in the rain, assessing the damages and turning his mind toward plans for mitigating as much as possible any such future flooding problems. Drainage improvements have been a priority and he has pushed, not only City resources, but also parish, state and regional resources as well to help address the flooding issue. He has tackled societal issues as well. He reinvigorated and empowered the Alexandria Human Relations Commission charging them with bringing us together as a city. And we have responded. The Commission took on the task of helping to raise funds and citizens donated to bring a Holocaust Memorial to life. Next, the group is preparing to raise funds for a Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial that will also celebrate the contributions of local people who contributed to the Civil Rights Movement. Mayor Roy pushed for diversity within city operations by creating the Diversity in Action program. He created SafeAlex and charged that organization with grassroots efforts to help empower citizens to help make Alexandria a cleaner, healthier and safer place to live. SafeAlex now also is an award-winning program destined to become a national model. The mayor has pushed for a well-equipped, well-trained and well-staffed police department and selected a leader in Chief Loren Lampert who is utilizing all the crime-fighting tools available including SafeAlex and most importantly, the community. Citizens are the first defense against crime and Alexandrians are embracing the role by working with the police, policing themselves, watching their neighborhoods and giving police the information they need to do their jobs even more efficiently and effectively. And crime is down – across the board. That doesn’t mean Alexandria is crime-free. No city is. But it means as long as we do our part and the police continue the level of policing they employ we are, for the most part, safe. If Mayor Roy were asked how this came about he would point to Chief Lampert and his leadership staff. That is true. But it is also true that the Mayor has been the person to help ensure police had what they needed, got more when it was necessary and pushed to empower citizens to help lead ourselves to a greater level of safety. In the middle of all of this, Mayor Roy fought for our future. He fought to bring more educational opportunities to our workforce and our children. Mayor Roy has long recognized that the single most important investment this City can make is in its people – in human capital. Without an educated workforce, the City and its citizens will not prosper. So now, after much work, the Central Louisiana Technical and Community College will be built in downtown Alexandria – where the mayor strongly believes it belongs. Not only will this $30 million project bring jobs with it, it will bring a return on investment in our people, our workforce and our future that will impact Alexandria to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. Mayor Roy saw a need for recreational programming and zoo funding and devised a Recreational Plan to enhance and improve recreational programming, cultural programming, park facilities and zoo support, which in turn will again enhance and improve our quality of life. It was not hard to see. And citizens, at a time when many cities could not pass any taxes, responded to his vision by passing a 6-mill tax. Our State of the City is such that we have millions of dollars in surplus funds. Our bond rating has improved twice even amidst the recession and is now one of the highest in the state. Both as a former editorial page editor and reporter who was charged with honestly assessing and critiquing his performance and leadership and now as a member of his staff who continues to honestly assess his plans, projects and vision, it is critical I take this opportunity to point out his tremendous role in the State of our City. Yes, as Mayor Roy pointed out in his State of the City speech, there are many people to credit and it is credit well deserved. But I refuse to leave out the one person who leads the charge each and every day, who has the vision and who is capable of taking Alexandria onto the next plateau and beyond – Mayor Jacques M. Roy. It is good to be an Alexandrian. I am privileged to have witnessed the leadership of Mayor Roy. I am excited to see where he will take us next. As I look out my front window, I see a bright future.
Posted on: Sat, 30 Aug 2014 03:23:22 +0000
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