What Did You Think of Reed's State of the City Address?

“Four years ago, I pledged to make the City of Atlanta a safer, stronger, more prosperous city,” said Reed. “Despite the most difficult financial realities we have faced in generations, we worked through the hardships and have set Atlanta on a fundamentally different path. Today, the city is experiencing record lows in violent crime, attracting businesses and jobs for our residents, and maintaining a strong fiscal foundation.”

During his State of the City address, Reed also voiced his commitment to elevating Atlanta’s reputation as the technology hub of the Southeast. This week, Reed is leading a delegation of Atlanta’s tech leaders to Silicon Valley in an effort to attract investment for promising Atlanta startups.

During his speech, Reed highlighted major accomplishments of his first term in office which effectively restored the financial foundation of the city and improved public safety. These included:

• Four years of balanced budgets – with no property tax increases – that resulted in growing the city’s cash reserves from $7.4 million in 2010 to $135 million dollars;
• Fulfilled commitment to providing the Atlanta Police Department with full complement of personnel by meeting long-standing goal of 2,000 officers;
• Continued development and expansion of the Atlanta BeltLine;
• Reopened 33 recreational centers and created four Centers of Hope that currently serve more than 1,000 Atlanta youth each week;
• Announced the launch of ATL311 Center, which provide residents with a single point-of-entry for requests and information.

“The business decisions that we make and the hard decisions that we make, affect real people’s lives that we have stewardship for,” stated Reed. “While we have accomplished much together, I look to moving our city forward.”

Take a peek at the attached video of Reed's State of the City address and share your thoughts below on what the mayor had to say.