Thread by @MayorMemphis

In Whitehaven for tonight’s State of the City speech, where we'll discuss three things:
— What we’ve done in three years
— What we’re doing, with some new announcements
— Where we’re going — together

Follow along on this thread, or watch live here: livestream.com/accounts/25133…

Thanks to Faith Morris of the @NCRMuseum for leading tonight’s program, Pastor Ivory Jackson for the invocation, and @MEM_Council Member Patrice Robinson for the welcome.

Thank you to Dr. Vincent Hunter, principal of the great Whitehaven High, for giving the introduction tonight on behalf of all of the educators in our community.

Three years ago this month, I stood and took the oath of office for what has been the honor of my life — being your mayor.

My standing there was a choice you made —you wanted change in how the @CityOfMemphis operated.

We accepted your challenge.

Let’s start with what we’ve done — together, and with your help.

The best way to do that is a quick list of what’s up and what’s down. You’ll find there’s a common theme to almost all of these: We’ve made a lot of progress — and we have so much more work ahead of us.

↗Jobs are up — 18,000 more Memphians working today than when I took office.

↘Poverty is down — 17% since 2014

↗Police officers hires are up — We’ve hired more in the past 17 months than in the entire preceding six years.

↘Police officers leaving @MEM_PoliceDept are down

↘ Gun crime and violent crime are down — I know it doesn’t *feel* like crime is down, but we have encouraging signs. In 2018, our major violent crime rate dropped by a little over 4% — and gun crimes alone dropped 16%. The work to reduce violent crime remains our No. 1 focus.

↗ Development is up — Some $15 billion in recent, current, and future development is happening in Greater Memphis area, and for the first time in decades, more of that is happening *inside* our city limits than in the suburbs.

↗ What we do for our youth is up. Consider this:

↗ The number of roads paved is up — Now, we all hate potholes. You do, and I do. But instead of ignoring them, we’re tackling them in two ways:

↘ Homelessness is down
↗ Prosecution of violent crime is up
↗ Affordable housing units are up
↘ 911 answer times are down
↗ Our animal shelter’s live release rate is up
↗ Our bond rating is up
↘ Our tax rate is down
↗ Mentors and Memphians reading to kids are up

↗ Minority business spending is up — We can’t change this on our own, but we are leading in making ours a more equitable economy.

Our MWBE spend has doubled, and one of our minority business initiatives was recently called “a brilliant path for equitable urbanization.”

And, I’ll share something that doesn’t really fit as an “up” or a “down” — frankly, it’s more important to our future than to be defined that way.

It’s universal, needs-based Pre-K.

Because we worked with the @MEM_Council, it’s soon to be a reality in Memphis.

For these reasons, and for so many more, I say this tonight about the state of the city we all love: Memphis has momentum.

That brings us to the second part of my speech — what we’re doing now.

As much as we celebrate what’s happening *Downtown*, it’s just as important what’s happening *down the street*.

Ours is a neighborhoods-first administration. And instead of just saying that, we’re incorporating that philosophy into the long-term plan for our city, Memphis 3.0.

Tonight, I’m announcing a pair of initiatives that will put our money where our mouth is — that will ensure Memphis 3.0 isn’t just another plan that collects dust on a shelf at City Hall.

One is the Memphis Community Catalyst Fund.

To further our investment in our core city and our neighborhoods, we’re also announcing tonight a grouping of eight private investment opportunities in properties either owned by the @CityOfMemphis or our partners.

These properties include:

As we work to improve @CityOfMemphis services, we’re partnering with a major technology company to pilot machine learning that could lead to us scanning our own streets for potholes and filling them even faster. Crews are coming next month to work on the pilot project.

As we stand here tonight in Whitehaven, I couldn’t leave without sharing some good news on one specific street: Construction on the long-awaited improvements to Elvis Presley Boulevard will start this spring.

We need Memphians and the private sector to help make ours a more equitable economy, so we’re launching a program that can help: buy901.net

Of course, nothing is on our minds more than our ongoing, decades-old challenge with violent crime. We are heading in the right direction.

Finally, let’s talk about where we’re going: My vision for how Memphis, in its third century, will continue this momentum.

In closing, let me just say this.

I’m excited to continue the change. I’m exciting to continue to attack our challenges. I’m excited to work together to build the Memphis we all want.

Read tonight’s speech in full here: memphistn.gov/news/what_s_ne…
Watch it here: livestream.com/accounts/25133…