State of the City - The Decade of San Antonio: A Big City transforming into a Great City 1/28/10

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• published: 29 Jan 2010
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Mayor Julián Castro presented his first State of the City Address on Thursday, January 28, 2010, and proclaimed San Antonio as a city on the move that will vault forward economically in the coming decade. "This is the decade of San Antonio, the decade of our emergence as an economic powerhouse nationally and internationally," Castro said. "We'll get there by building up brainpower and opportunity, making vibrant our public spaces, and getting the fundamentals of city government right." Mayor Castro told a record crowd of more than 900 business and community leaders that his administration will not hide from the city's most difficult issues, which include raising the educational attainment level of the local workforce and investing in the city's urban core. "Great cities are defined by their downtowns. San Antonio must invest in downtown and make it a magnet for residents and visitors alike," Castro said. "In these next few years, we will put a new streetcar system on the ground, redevelop our beloved Hemisfair, and enhance our Riverwalk to breathe new life into our downtown." On Jobs: "The top priority for 2010 is creating jobs for San Antonians. Our city has fared better than most American communities during this downturn, but we must work to fare better. 20,000 net new jobs in 2010 is the goal." Green Economy: "We must embrace new economic opportunities. San Antonio can and should become a leader in the green economy by investing in green job training, incentivizing green manufacturing and leading the way in the use of renewables to meet our energy needs." Transcript of Speech: [ Applause ] Thank you. Thank you very much for that introduction, Carri. You've already shown in your short time wonderful leadership here at the Chamber. I want to thank you and Richard Perez and all the folks at the Chamber for your tremendous leadership in the city. I particularly enjoyed the opportunity to work with ya'll as we expand the Mentoring Matters initiatives, and make sure that most folks have had the opportunity to reach their dreams. And I want to thank all of ya'll for being here. Carri mentioned that there are over 900 folks here, and when they told me that yesterday, I thought that this event must have been billed as “C.P.S. Energy, Behind-the-Scenes.” [ Laughter ] Or something to draw folks here. But really, I believe that there is tremendous energy here in San Antonio in 2010. I believe that 2010 marks the beginning of the decade of San Antonio. This is the decade that we will emerge as an economic powerhouse across the nation and across the world, a place that people are looking toward for leadership, a place that people are taking notice of, a place that is in perfect position to seize the opportunity of tomorrow. It has been my absolute privilege to serve as your mayor for the last seven months. These days have been exciting ones, they've been long ones, but they've been well worthwhile because of the work of many, many folks, a couple of which I'd like to just recognize right now. The first is, and I'd like to ask them all to stand up, the best city council that we've had in years, our San Antonio city council, please, if you would, stand up. I see Councilwoman Cisneros, Councilwoman Taylor, Councilwoman Ramos, Councilman Cortez, Councilman Medina, Councilman Lopez, Councilman Rodriguez, Councilman Williams, Councilwoman Chan, and Councilman Clamp. Thank ya'll very much. I was, of course, not in office for four years, and in that time we had one of the best mayors in America, Phil Hardberger, who did a wonderful job of laying out a vision and a foundation for us to build on, and I'd like to recognize him as well. Thank you very much, Mayor Hardberger, for being here. [ Applause ] Everybody says that we have the best city manager in America, and seven months ago I got a chance to start testing that for myself, and I got to tell you, it's the truth. Sheryl Sculley has done an absolutely wonderful job as city manager, and she's really, and I think that Phil would agree with this, she is the reason that we look so good being mayor. I hope she'll stand up and be recognized. Thank you very much, Sheryl, for your work. [ Applause ] I remember coming to a couple of chamber events over the last few years, and Nelson Wolff would always tell this joke about being -- I don't know whether it was him not being the old mayor anymore or the young mayor, or I guess being about the same age as Phil. These days I know that I'm the young mayor, and he's the older county judge but has been a terrific partner and collaborator and one of the reasons that our city does so well. Thank you very much, Nelson, for your leadership. I'd like to recognize you as well. [ Applause ] And then I want to recognize my own staff. I see many of them here from Robbie Greenblum who couldn’t be here today to Jaime Castillo, Frances Gonzalez, Jed Maebius. I see Christian Archer, Roland Garza, Sarah McLor