Mayor’s State of the City Address highlights city’s accomplishments
At a packed Ruthe Jackson Center, Mayor Charles England delivered his annual State of the City Address Thursday night at a reception hosted by the Grand Prairie Chamber of Commerce.
The mayor’s speech highlighted the city’s Top Accomplishments, Top Goals 2009-2010.
He pointed out that Grand Prairie is one of the fastest growing cities in the country, selected by Money Magazine as one of the best places to live and the city’s park system was selected as the best in the nation. That brought the audience to their feet for a standing ovation for Parks Director Rick Herold.
Mayor England noted that there were challenges for the city in 2009. Because of the difficult financial environment, the city had to “really tighten our belts.”
But he added, “I can tell you, we’re in better shape than most of the cities in the metroplex.”
He went on to thank Council Members Jim Swafford and Greg Giessner, members of the Finance Committee, along with city staff members, for their work “cutting where we had to cut to make sure our budget balanced in ’09.”
“We’re not out of the woods in ’10,” Mayor England said. “But, I think we’ve got the right kind of budget, we’re doing the right kind of things.”
