Dave Says the State of the City is ‘Optimistic’ :Dave’s Diary

The annual State of the City Report was served up for city business leaders at the recent Chamber of Commerce luncheon.  Over turkey and dressing, (de-lish by the way!) five members of the current city council gave an overview of the city’s top priorities as established by last year’s citizen survey.Gone are the days of a council committee for every topic to come along.  The focus now is on:

1.) Public Safety

2.) The Built Environment

3.) Public Trust & Accountability

4.) Economic Development

5.) Partnership & Development

With those areas selected for focus, progress to me seems inevitable.

I have likened the turnabout to the city acting as a railroad company.  We’ve been marking time for years, waiting to chug off in a positive new direction but we didn’t have a map.  Now the city has or is developing plans that will guide us as we head out to lay tracks in our five targeted directions.

We still have challenges, we still have problems, but we also have ideas, imagination and a unifying sense of optimism that we haven’t had in several years.  That's why I say t

he State of the City is OPTOMISTIC!