AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Calling Austin “the strongest in the country,” Austin Mayor Steve Adler gave his annual State of the City address Monday afternoon at City Hall.
Speaking in the City Council chambers to a COVID-limited audience, Adler opened his remarks with a thanks to the city’s first responders, including four public servants who have passed away in the last month – APD Senior
Sgt. Steve Urias and Officer Randy Boyd, as well as Officer Lewis "Andy" Traylor, and AFD firefighter Rodney Kelley.
Adler went on to thank many other front-line workers, including Austin Public Health, teachers and school administrators, medical and healthcare workers, and musicians, artists, and those in the hospitality industry - among those hit the hardest by the pandemic.
"If there was nothing else accomplished in my words this evening, then let it be that we recognize that we should look at everyone around us and say 'thank you'," said Adler. "We have shared and survived incredible odds. All of us. Together. We have, each of us, earned the appreciation of the entire community, and we have, each of us, incurred a debt and an obligation to appreciate what those around us have weathered and done for us. Together. This is what 'community' is all about."
Adler highlighted economic achievements, including adding jobs in 14 of the last 15 months, while posting an unemployment rate of 4.2% - the lowest among the 25 largest cities in the country. Adler says Austin ranks as the second-best performing major job market since the beginning of the pandemic, and is the safest of the four biggest cities in Texas and ranks among the five safest big cities in the entire country.
"Despite all that is good around us, there are some who want to polarize and divide our community with misinformation," said Adler. "While we should be celebrating our shared successes, there are those who seem to seek out ways to foster fear and engender hate. It’s almost as if creating a climate and a movement that seeks to separate and divide us from one another has become a pastime or a sport. The proliferation of bad information, some unknowing and some intended to misinform results in the successes of our city often being lost, twisted, turned, hidden, and drowned out by calls for divisiveness and self-doubt."
Adler focused on three key challenges facing the city - COVID-19 and vaccinations, public safety and policing, and homelessness.
On COVID-19, Adler calls the Delta variant the city's most "immediate challenge," with some 90 percent of the people in the area's intensive care units who are unvaccinated.
"That is why as Mayor, I will do everything I can do, together with the County Judge and my colleagues on the Council, to use every power we have, for however long we can, to fight to keep our children safe, our workplaces safe for our employees, and our businesses and events open," said Adler. "I will continue to work toward a vaccine mandate for city employees or, alternatively, a testing mandate that allows waivers for those that voluntarily choose to get vaccinated. I believe the city should lead by example."
On public safety and policing, Adler again emphasized a statement from APD interim chief Joseph Chacon that Austin ranks as one of the five safest big cities in the country. "Yet, there are some in the city working really hard to convince you otherwise," said Adler. "And their efforts, following the national political debate and the use of yet another 'law and order' frame to organize politically, have left our community, again, polarized and divided. There is a political advantage being sought by those creating the false perception that Austin is unsafe."
Adler disputed the claim that City Council members "defunded" the APD budget by $150 million in August 2020. "Let me clearly speak for myself, and I believe for everyone on the council, I respect and support the officers of the Austin Police Department," said Adler. "I believe they are among the best officers in the country, which is why I have always supported paying them at the very top of the comparable salary scales."
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"Every individual officer I have come to know personally is a credit to their profession, someone I trust and believe has the ability to help keep our community safe in a just and fair way, each is someone I respect," said Adler. "I believe that in today’s world there is a need for cities like Austin to have strong, professional, and well-supported police forces. I do not believe that all our officers are out to do harm."
Adler wrapped his remarks with one of the city's largest challenges - homelessness - highlighting what he called a "lack of accurate information" that "results in increased divisions in our city."
The mayor recognized voters' passage of Proposition B in May, which reinstated the city's ban on public camping - but said we need to learn from cities that have tried and failed by spending too much of their dollars on immediate and temporary answers.
"I believe most people in this city agree that we need to meet this challenge, remove the tents, house and support the people, and accomplish this in a way that invests our dollars in long-term solutions," said Adler.
Adler wrapped up his remarks by highlighting Austin as a "magical place," and calling on Austinites to redouble efforts to "stay true to who we are."
"Now is the moment for us to show the world and ourselves -- we are still Austin," said Adler.