2019 State of The City Address

peace for city council meeting will now be called to order Madam clerk councilor kadim Joseph CRA Steven CRA here Kilby here laau long here peler here bis president Ponty here pursuant to the open meeting law any person may make an audio or video recording of this public meeting or may transmit the meeting through any medium attendees are therefore advised that such recordings or Transmissions are

being made whether perceived or UNP perceived by those present and are deemed acknowledged and permissible Mr chairman school committee thank you Mr President I'd like to call the order of the for of a school committee to order Madame secretary to please take the role Mr mran Mr cost here Mr H here Mr Cory here Mr Martin here cor at this point if we can all uh salute the flag I pledge allegiance to the flag of

the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all onor guard you may exit the

chamber

for

I think we're all

set at this time I'd like to introduce mayor Jazel Korea

II thank you thank you thank you thank you everyone good evening evening good evening everyone what another important night here in the city of Fall River it's my pleasure to be here tonight pursuant to the provisions of the charter Which authorized require me to deliver the annual state of the city addressed no later than the third Wednesday in March let me start out by thanking all of our elected officials

who are here tonight I also want to thank every single City employee from the clerks to department heads police officers and firefighters School teachers and DCM workers every single one of these people allow our city to function and shine each and every day thank you and please join me in giving them a round of applause I also I also want to extend a warm welcome to our invited guests here

tonight my friends my family my parents and grandmother thank you all so much I love all of you it has been just a little over three years since taking office as your mayor the mayor of the great city of Fall River and as we enter the 2020 budget cycle I want every citizen in business to know that the career Administration remains completely focused in providing you the citizen the renter the veteran

the family the child and the business owner with the city services that you have asked for and the city services that you deserve you elected me to serve as your mayor in hopes that the programs that are important to you would be expanded and the fees and expenses that burden you would be eliminated you asked me to eliminate the $120 trash fee and we did it you asked you asked me to eliminate the

purple bag program and we did it you ask for better city services and a and a commitment to fiscal stability and responsibility and that's what this Administration has delivered and continues to deliver each and every day with a laser focus to provide you services that you deserve and need and tonight once again I am thrilled to report to every citizen and the business community of Fall River

that the state of our city is strong and getting

stronger three short three short years ago this was not the case our city had been plagued by poor fiscal management former leaders of our city even stated that the city was on the brink of receivership my Administration was left with a mere $500,000 in stabilization funds and a negative outlook by the credit rating agency Moody under the leadership of CFO Mary sahti City administrator Kathy Andis and I our

strategy was simple cut costs where we can in areas that do not reduce city services our goal was to eliminate fees and increase as many services as we could and with the cooperation of every department head we were able to implement zerob based budgeting practices for the very first time and eliminate our snow and ice deficit by bringing competition to health insurance contracts and in cooperation with all of

our city unions we have been able to stop a $50 million budget Buster from spiraling out of control Fall River Fall River has defied industry Trends in curbing health insurance costs allowing us to spend those additional savings in many other areas the privatization of trash collection not only led to the Fulfillment of a campaign promise to eliminate the $120 household fee but it

also was an improvement in collection Services we were one of the few if not the only community in the Commonwealth to eliminate not one but two fees and deliver savings to our taxpayers without using any one-time funds these new fiscal policies have allowed the city to begin to refund its stabilization account 3 years ago we had $500,000 and today I'm proud to tell you that we have over $7 million in

Surplus and just last year and just last year the credit and bond rating agency Moody's dropped their negative outlook on the city of Fall River citing better fiscal policies leadership and Redevelopment opportunities in fiscal year 2020 we will focus our efforts on raising new revenues that do not burden our residents and businesses Solar Development marijuana sales billboard fees and electronic advertisement will

all be new revenues that do not come from the taxpayers pockets a new transfer station a new transfer station which was overwhelmingly supported by our citizens will provide trash host fees that will bring in excess of $750,000 annually these fiscal policies these fiscal policies have allowed us to increase the municipal services that are once again important to you we have always been a

community of neighborhoods your neighborhood is a priority everyone deserves a clean and safe neighborhood with exciting improvements my my Administration has worked with Mike Dion and the Community Development agency to bring new PL grounds and park improvements to neighborhoods across our city palaski chw park Griffin Park Patriots playground and many others have all been upgraded we spent over a

million dollars in sidewalk repair many more streets and sidewalks will be upgraded through chapter 90 funds creating a more ADA Compliant accessible and beautiful city for all of us to enjoy this Administration this Administration is prioritized the the restoration of our housing stock in our neighborhoods by investing $3.4 million in home rehab funds and assisted 50 firsttime home buyer funds with grants totaling

$439,000 these grants these grants have leveraged over $8.7 million of private mortgage funds we continue to work with the new reward that we recently got from the Attorney General's office to revitalize abandoned property throughout all of our neighborhoods and in the next few months in just a couple months we will cut the ribbon on a brand new Senior Center on Alden Street a newly reorganized a newly

reorganized Department of Community maintenance is no longer focused on trash collection but rather fixing streets fixing potholes and fixing sidewalks this past year we launched our Citywide street sweeping program bringing street sweepers into neighborhoods that they had never been before and in fy2020 we'll expand this program with regularly scheduled routes throughout all of our city this is what

we deserve a clean safe City our infrastructure is strong and getting stronger over the span over the span of my first and second term in office Fall River certainly move forward with economic development job creation and job skill training my Administration took the success of Amazon and South Coast Marketplace and leveraged their success to grow many new small businesses Canned Heat the ren the Red

Hen Troy City Brewery Mission cold brew and so many other small businesses are opening up every single week a storefront a storefront for program a loan program and Grant funds for all these new expanding businesses combined with unprecedented cooperation from State agencies has led to an economic boom in Fall River blun Seafood Millstone medical raw Seafoods corber hats have all chosen to expand in our

city these big and small expansions have put thousands of people back to work in our city and region despite the negativity despite the negativity promoted by the few these businesses are living proof that our local economy is strong and existing businesses have faith in my administration's ability to help them succeed our strong partnership with the ma the Massachusetts office of Business

Development and our Workforce Training Services are providing these businesses what they need to make it here our city has our city Workforce training group is helping Charlie and Owen merrow resurrect a proud tradition of apparel and textile manufacturing to create a new tech and textile industry that will allow Fall River to once again compete on a world stage a permanent a permanent skills

Training Center at marrow will train the ne the necessary skills to fill the 40 plus jobs that they have available right now Route 79 South has been complet Ed and Route 79 North will become a Boulevard connecting our city to our Waterfront and in just a few weeks the cooling towers and chimes at Brighton point will be demolished making way for sweeping views and 300 acres of industrial Waterfront development

creating many more thousands of jobs my Administration is ensuring that we will be part of the wind energy economy we possess the greatest Waterfront of any Gateway City in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts however for decades it has been been underutilized my Administration is proposing that we create a working Waterfront as well as a hospitality and entertainment destination some of the greatest

waterfronts in the country follow this model we have identified several parcels and several wind energy companies that are prepared to transform our region into a wind energy leader creating thousands of high-paying jobs for our citizens and generations to come a new a new a new stronger a new stronger revitalized Redevelopment Authority is poised to reshape our Waterfront our downtown and our biopark we have entered

a new era of economic development in the city of Fall River the era of economic development for the many not the

few the Redevelopment Authority will redevelop Weaver's Co and working with our federal ederal delegation we will take down the old Brightman Street Bridge allowing use of waver Co for wind energy development and never for L Workforce training Workforce training led by BCTC the workforce investment board Bristol Community College and UMass will allow for the creation of thousands of high

paying new jobs jobs like underwater welders electricians project managers and labor in addition to becoming a working Waterfront by Leading the wind energy sector we will take advantage of the hospitality and entertainment opportunities that exist on our Waterfront capitalizing on the boating community under the direction of Harbor Master Bob Smith completing and developing the City Pier adding more

restaurants and venues like the narrow Center for the Arts Bone Heads live and of course Battleship Cove economic development in 2019 and Beyond continue means continuing to upgrade our streets and our sidewalks thanks to the city council and their support we have committed over $10 million to our streets Skate Program today we see the results of some of those streetscapes we see the results on Bank Street and

perchas Street and East Main Street we will begin to totally upgrade Bedford Street creating a downtown corridor from portugalia Marketplace to Battleship Cove my vision is to totally reinvigorate this area with trolley Services between our Main Street and our Waterfront in addition to bed Street we are upgrading Columbia Street North and South Main Street New Boston Road and fully re reconstructing William S canning

Boulevard blighted property blighted property and city tax possessions must also be redeveloped just take a look at what is happening at the King Philip Mill as that Mill comes down a new neighborhood will rise eliminating the public safety hazard as well as opening up the neighbor to cook Pond like King Philip Mill we will turn over the old police station and the new Chrome site to the private sector for

development next month we will move forward on plans to revitalize the armory on Bank Street which will complement the hundreds of new market rate housing units that are filling up all over our city 44 new units on Bank Street 200 new units on Alden Street and many more market rate units coming to our downtown in addition to expanding market rate housing this Administration has ensured Project based hous housing

does not expand while still protecting those residents who need housing assistance most this past December the Housing Authority amended their plan to give a preference to the many residents at Riverview Towers through negotiations and compromises reached with the building owner at juki Tim Barrow from the housing authority and my office we have protected the residents that are here in our community

businesses are opening up and people are moving in and as we get closer to 2023 and the completion of a connection to Boston via train our city will transform even more this is just the beginning of our economic comeback our economy is strong and getting stronger the safety the safety of every member of our community is a top priority of this Administration I believe our Administration in this city council has

taken more action to improve the Staffing and equipment in all our Public Safety departments than any Administration in the last decade in the last three years in the last 3 years we have increased the Staffing level of our Police Department added new police and animal control vehicles added new positions including a crime analyst added new dispatchers added new radios and tasers added mobile cameras and a

command unit increase community policing and now we will add even more police positions and increase overtime to completely saturate and overpower crime in our city we will give we will give our police officers a much deserved raise and Ensure that each officer and their family knows that we have their back and we want them to return home safely after every single shift we are so fortunate we are so

fortunate to have the best police chief chief in the entire state of Massachusetts Chief Al dupare under his leadership under his leadership our police department will continue to thrive as a city we encounter challenges all urban communities face including including intolerance bigotry and hate crimes we will vigorously protect the rights of all of our citizens against these evils however there is no question

that we have one of the best police forces in the state and one of the few that is both state and nationally accredited in 2018 we saw decreases in property crimes robbery motor theft vehicle arson and violent crime and in 2019 and Beyond we are committed to continuing to provide our officers with new tools to better do their job increase Manpower and overtime to better fight crime our Police Department our Police

Department is strong and getting stronger the fire department the fire department has seen an unprecedented amount of support first and foremost Chief Lynch has led the department to be the Envy of the state chief your commitment to this department is not only honorable but gives me a sense of security each and every day thank you for your commitment I also I also want to thank Union president Jason Burns for his

constant support and advocation for a fully upgraded fire department thank you Jason in the last three years and into the 2020 budget we were able to purchase through grants and bonds the following for our fire department 68 new breathing apparatus 104 sets of Fire protective gear Gear washers and dryers our first ever rescue boat four new engines a heavy rescue a platform ladder truck and

a command unit two new ambulances a fifth medical rescue news state-of-the-art radio fire alarm equipment a ladder truck that's currently being built and we will purchase purch a second set of gear for our firefighters to continue the fight against firefighter related cancers in addition in addition to this much-needed safety equipment we have sustain sustainably absorbed all safer Grant

firefighters and pending contract negotiations we will have the opportunity for the first time in a long time to bring that department from 175 to 19 five

firefighters our fire department is strong and getting stronger an Ever improving education system combined with a new dery high school is a top priority of this Administration education for all means more school funding and access to Workforce training programs that focus on educating youth Youth and adults in traditional ways as well as job training we took a fiscally challenged system and

met an exceeded net School spending we erase net School spending shortfalls and and will provide over $7 million more in school funding in the 20120 budget we successfully we successfully guided a compromise for the Atlantis Charter School in addition to building a new dery high school we will build new diamond high school we have funded and facilitated a relationship between the resiliency

Preparatory Academy and People Incorporated a partnership that has yielded a community Training Center to train students that may have otherwise failed and instead now have a skill and an opportunity at a successful job whether it's a new dery high school or job training programs or vocational programs offered at Diamond every single citizen will have have an opportunity and a chance to make it

here our school system our school system is strong and getting stronger Fall River Fall River has always been mindful of the sacrifices that our veterans have made they are very much a part of the very fabric of our community a replica of the Vietnam memorial wall will be a Ed at Bicentennial Park using private donations and the city's commitment of $300,000 we can augment our wonderful

tribute to all of our veterans and make this spectacular addition to The Monuments already present there in addition in addition we have remodeled and upgraded the veteran Center on Pine Street and I want to thank Ray ha his staff and the so many volunteers who do their part in giving back to our veterans some of my some of my proudest moments as mayor have been honoring honoring

these outstanding individuals and their families I want I want everyone to know that we've accomplished so much together and we will continue this great progress we have many priorities ranging from Economic Development to Public Safety to fiscal management and you've heard tonight that we've improved in many of these areas and as we continue to make progress in all of these areas there are few that continue to be

challenges drug abuse a very important issue to me a national disease that has crippled and ruined the lives of many I need everyone's help in tackling this issue together we have made a positive impact on many lives through the efforts of the mayor's Opia task force my Administration has has launched initiatives like project reconnect which has allowed police officers and providers to connect and help people who

are experiencing substance abuse disorder we organize monthly events like The Help Center at City Hall to help destigmatize and provide treatment to those in need on behalf of the city under the opice of Judge Macy a national lawsuit has been filed against big pharmaceutical companies which will give our city a national voice on this issue as well as an opportunity to receive significant funds to combat the opiate

crisis joining us here tonight is proof that there is hope for the fight against the opiate crisis Josh gono is here tonight in the audience Josh Josh is Josh is 31 years old he's a lifelong resident of the city of Fall River and he's had a drug addiction since he was 19 he overdosed twice but through project reconnect I'm proud to share with all of you all of our citizens that he now in recovery

he wanted to be here tonight to share his success and to give hope to many others out there still struggling with this disease our programs have helped Josh and will continue to help many others we will work together with nonprofits like jri and stepping stone to continue to address issues of homelessness and mental health in the coming months the fight against these issues continues and

we stand ready and willing to take on any enemy or challenge in order in order to continue in order to continue all this great progress we need a network of relationships both public and private through which we can make our voices heard and our needs felt as I look around this room tonight I see many of our elected officials I know we have not always gotten long and I know some

of you are not happy with the recent developments but for the good of the city and adhering to your oath please put differences aside to get even more great things done for the citizens of our great

City to this end thank you thank you thank to this to this end I reaffirm my sincere desire to cooperate with all elected officials and most of all our city council and school committee my door is open to all of you please participate with me in a constructive manner to advance the interests of the city and its people for for my part I will make a genuine effort to build trust and to be

inclusive there is no doubt that the city has has progressed over the last 3 years and I'm excited about the future of our beautiful city this is just the beginning and there is much more to come I pledge to continue to devote all of my energy to making Fall River great but I have not done it alone and I cannot do it alone I need your support your help and cooperation whatever we do we must

do together the goals are set the tools are in place and the destination is known now we must follow the path the path that this Administration has laid out over the last three years so once again so once again I attest to you the citizen the taxpayer the student the family the veteran the senior that the state of our city is strong and getting stronger thank you God bless all of you

thank you God bless the city of Fall River have a great night thank you

good

you ready you want to you want to Jour your meeting first

yeah Mr chairman you want to Jour your meeting Mr chairman now yeah is there a motion to adjourn the for of a school we could have order in the council chamber so we can adjourn please just for one more moment please thank you Mr chairman is there a motion to adjourn forward school committee made by Mr Agia second by Mr hler roll call please Mr CA yes Mr H Mr Cory yes Mr

Martin yes may care is there a motion to juring the council motion has been made by councelor Steven CRA seconded by Council along all those in favor oppose the eyes have it council is adjourned full this full meeting is adjourned we're going to uh take a about uh 20 minute 6:30 we'll resume our committee on finance at that