The mayor expressed pride in his first term. "The things that we've embarked upon from 2016 forward are working," he said, beginning with getting a tax on sweetened beverages to pay for 6,000 pre-K seats, the rebuild of city facilities and creating community schools.
Kenney can play the long game. When he was straining to get the sweetened beverage tax passed to pay for anti-poverty programs, he said he didn't expect to be around by the time the results took hold. But he decided he couldn't wait for the state and federal government on issues like affordable housing and school funding, so the city has taken the task on itself.
"When it comes to whether we let our kids flounder for another generation or we take the bull by the horns and make sure our kids are educated, shame on us if we don't," said the mayor, who lists increased school funding and restoring local control in the report on his "signature accomplishments."
Kenney also highlights criminal justice reform and welcoming immigrants in his report. But there have been disappointments too. "The one thing I think we should have addressed earlier and we didn't is the opioid crisis but now we're full steam into that, he admitted. The biggest disappointment, however, has been the increase in gun violence.
That's why the final major decision of his first term may have the largest consequences for his second. "The selection of the next police commissioner is going to be a monumental one," Kenney promised, "and I'm confident we'll make the right decision and have the right person in place to address the systemic issues of violence, sexual abuse, sexual harassment."
The second term, he says, will build on the policies of the first but he's also working on some new initiatives.