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Friday, March 29, 2024

State of the City praises Gainesville progress, says there’s still work to do

<p>From left: City Manager Russ Blackburn, Mayor Ed Braddy, and interim General Manager for Utilities Kathy Viehe answer questions from the press after the state of the city address Wednesday afternoon.</p>

From left: City Manager Russ Blackburn, Mayor Ed Braddy, and interim General Manager for Utilities Kathy Viehe answer questions from the press after the state of the city address Wednesday afternoon.

In his State of the City address Wednesday, Mayor Ed Braddy said things are looking up for Gainesville.

The meeting, which began at noon in the Gainesville Police Department’s Hall of Heroes, gave residents the opportunity to see what city officials have been up to since last spring.

“Much has been done over the past year, and much remains to be done going forward,” Braddy said. “I am pleased to report that the state of our city is stronger than it was a year ago and growing stronger each day.”

The city’s partnership with UF has supported economic development through joint efforts on projects like the Innovation Square, said city manager Russ Blackburn.

“The university has been and continues to be an important part of the city in many areas, including consistent funding for transit services, which meet the need of university students,” he said.

The city also strengthened its partnership with Santa Fe College by finalizing an agreement that will allow the college’s Center for Innovation and Economic Development to manage the Gainesville Technology Entrepreneurship Center, Blackburn said. 

The center is a community-based program that will provide young companies with tools, training and infrastructure as they grow.

The redesigned city website received a lot of attention from officials, including Braddy and Commissioner At-Large Lauren Poe. The new website is part of the openGNV initiative, which aims to provide residents with access to public records, statistics and financial information, such as how the city is spending tax dollars.

“In 2014 we became unmistakably more transparent,” Braddy said.

The website is also aimed at enabling participation from Gainesville residents through tools such as the new virtual town hall.

The various construction sites around the city were brought up as some of 2014’s accomplishments.

Blackburn also gave a shout-out to the Butler Plaza construction and the two new UF Health hospitals currently underway.

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“It’s clear that you can see Gainesville is on fire,” Blackburn said. “There are a lot of things happening in our community.”

Braddy also praised the teamwork of the Commission.

“Our Commission is one of the most politically diverse in the state of Florida,” he said. “In this time of political cynicism and partisan sniping, this Commission has charted a different path.”

Still, Braddy said there is much to do this year, citing high GRU electricity rates as needing attention.

“By definition a livable community cannot be an unaffordable one, and we cannot be a city of opportunity if a growing number of our citizens are struggling to keep the lights on,” Braddy said. “We need a better year in 2015, not only because the commission wants it, but because the citizens need it.”

[A version of this story ran on page 1 on 1/29/2015 under the headline “State of the City praises progress but still work to do"]

 

From left: City Manager Russ Blackburn, Mayor Ed Braddy, and interim General Manager for Utilities Kathy Viehe answer questions from the press after the state of the city address Wednesday afternoon.

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