 Good evening again. I want to welcome all of you here tonight and Those watching on the Durham television network to this meeting of the Durham City Council and to this state of the city address. I Want to begin Where I began just two months ago when I was sworn in as mayor of this great city During the long political campaign this past year this community came together to forge a vision of our common future and Here is that vision We the people of Durham envision a prosperous innovative green and welcoming city That thrives on diversity and difference the city that puts racial and economic justice at the top of our specific agenda That defends the vulnerable among us the cherishes robust respectful debate on difficult questions That embraces non-violence that embodies the belief that all residents must have an opportunity to share in our newfound prosperity The city that serves as a progressive beacon for the South and the nation It is our job Not just this city council not even mostly the city council, but all of us in this room to make that vision real I Want to dwell for just a moment on the fact that we are getting Precious little help from our state legislature or our federal government in realizing this vision There is a hard truth we must face Despite our best efforts Durham will not reach its true greatness while our state government weakens environmental protections drops teacher pay to the bottom of the heap Refuses to expand Medicaid attacks the right to vote and snatches away the powers of cities to determine our own future We will not reach our true greatness While our federal government cuts housing funding to the bone undercuts our public schools and strikes fear in the hearts of immigrant and refugee families We have to know that we have to stare that reality in the face But okay That's enough of that Once we have stared that reality in the face. We have to put it aside and get to work here at home. I Am out in the community every day. I have talked with hundreds of people since becoming mayor and I know what they want Okay, true The first thing most people want is a selfie with me Which I will say is the most fun thing I've done is mayor so far so I keep those selfies coming But what the people of Durham want is For us to go it alone if necessary to realize our common vision to become that progressive beacon for the South and the nation They want an agenda for action and tonight it is my privilege to lay out that agenda First of the people of Durham want local government that works That is effective that performs the very basic services very very well and pushes every day to improve them What I can report for my six years on the city council is that Durham's 2,500 employees are doing this work at an exceptionally high level As I said am I swearing in we must not take this for granted in an age where government is Constantly under attack it is our job as a city council to defend the institutions of local government Government in Durham is good government our employees are working hard every day to pave our streets Improve the quality of our lakes and streams Respond to fires keep a safe from gun violence build new sidewalks and trails Provide safe clean water and whatever quantity you want it whenever you turn on the tap They do this with a constant eye to your tax dollars and by and large our employees do a tremendous job The mayor and the city council directly hire only three people We hire our city clerk and I want to especially thank tonight our acting city clerk Diana Schreiber Who has done an excellent job filling in over this past month? Thank you Diana We hire a city attorney Patrick Baker whose office does a superb job protecting our city and advancing our interests Thank you Patrick and we hire our city manager Tom Bonfield Tom I want to thank you publicly here tonight for the exceptionally high quality of our workforce and the job that they do every day Both you and Patrick have my full confidence and support. We are so lucky to have you both And while great management is critical It is the people working on the front line who really make our city go and I want to introduce a few of them tonight From the public works Department Maintenance Division. I want to ask administrative coordinator Yvonne Skogans to get to stand Yvonne During the recent ice and snow miss Goggins worked literally day and night to assist our maintenance to staff with any support that they needed She booked hotels for staff. She made arrangements for food for each shift and she handled phone calls All of this while her daughter was in and out of the hospital sick with the flu Miss Goggins your dedication to your colleagues and to this city is impressive and on behalf of the people of this city I offer you our gratitude. Thank you From the solar waste Department, I would ask Michael Cox and Bobby Henry to stand both of these men to performed Exemplary service during the recent snowstorm, which put enormous pressure on the department and its employees Mr. Cox normally works picking up bulky items. Mr. Henry usually works in the yard waste division But during the snowstorm these two men volunteered to come in to insist to assist with a collection of trash and recycling Both of these men worked all weekend to get the job done for the rest of us Fortunately one of our alert residents. Mr. Todd Pagdon is Mr. Pagdon here Great, Mr. Pagdon. We welcome you Mr. Todd Pagdon spotted Mr. Cox performing an exceptional service and tweeted about it Thank You, Mr. Pagdon addressing city government He tweeted a member of your waste management team would above and beyond the call of duty Can't get the truck downhill so he went by hand This tweet was accompanied by a photo of mr. Cox pulling a roll-up cart up an icy street to the park truck Truck parked at the top of the hill Mr. Pagdon, I'm glad that you were here tonight And I hope that you and mr. Cox will be able to shake hands later this evening Thank you gentlemen for your fabulous service to our community Finally for my general services department cemetery division. I would ask Michael Reynolds and James Herring to stand Both of these men work with people who are experiencing devastating loss Mr. Reynolds and mr. Herring on a daily basis Witness the emotions of people who have lost a spouse A parent or a child and they are present when distraught families leave the cemetery as their loved ones are being buried What very few people know about these men is they are frequently called upon To assist grieving families in a way that is far beyond their normal duties That is they're often called upon to be pallbearers to perform a remarkable act of kindness By giving a grieving family helping a grieving family carry their loved one to a final resting place Mr. Reynolds and mr. Herring we thank you and we salute you These employees are exemplary exemplify All the men and women who are on the front lines of city government every day And we are so lucky to have you in addition to effective and timely government our residents want innovative innovative government And I observe Durham City government constantly pushing to improve Let me give you just one example Excuse me one that isn't glamorous. It's very close to my heart Our solid waste department under the leadership of director Donald Long is constantly taking steps to increase our recycling Decrease what goes into the waste stream and cut down on taxpayers expense for shipping our waste This year new solid waste customers were be re receiving a 65 gallon trash carts and a 95 gallon Recycling cart to encourage more recycling at the department's first reuse rodeo this past spring Durham residents recycled 12,000 pounds of clothing furniture toys and books which went to Trosa the habitat Restore the scrap exchange and welcome, baby And the most exciting innovation of all to me is the upcoming unveiling of our pilot organics recycling program Durham is required to ship our waste and we pay by the pound to do it Food makes up more than a quarter of our waste stream Our pilot permit allows us to compost 3,000 tons of food food and 5,000 tons of yard waste I am confident we can make this pilot work And when we do we can expand food waste collection citywide and begin a serious municipal composting operation Now that's innovation Along with effective and innovative government our residents want us to take care of our civic assets Unfortunately, we can anticipate precious little help on this from Washington despite the political rhetoric So in Durham, we're taking care of it ourselves Our water management department is in the midst of an enormous infrastructure program financed by your water bills over the next five years We have programmed more than 376 million dollars on water and sewer infrastructure projects to ensure that we have a sustainable water supply Water supply for this community for the next 100 years We're also paving 38 lane miles of streets this year. We've got nearly 40 million dollars worth of sidewalk and bike lane projects in the works including projects on 751 old Durham Chapel Hill Road, Hillendale Road, Fayetteville Street Austin Avenue, Avondale Drive, LaSalle Street, North Rocksboro Road and many many more The abandoned downtown rail line which will soon become the two-mile belt line trail is in our possession now and the planning for This crown jewel of our trail system is well underway We need to be adding two miles per year to our trail system for the next ten years You must establish a pipeline of and funding stream to make that happen Also in the infrastructure front on the infrastructure front. I want to talk about our tree canopy Durham is fortunate that we are a city in the shade and that's not to be confused with the shady city That is 52% of our land area is shaded, which is a very high number There are two problems with this however first our tree canopy is rapidly diminishing through development and As some 6,000 large pinnokes planted 80 and 90 years ago are reaching the end of their natural lives In addition our tree canopy is an inequitably distributed if you look at the maps of the 1930s that redlined African-American neighborhoods out of qualifying for mortgages those same neighborhoods are largely bereft of tree canopy I believe deeply that trees like streets and water mains are critical public asset Trees are the foundation of a beautiful healthy neighborhood Durham needs to plant 60,000 trees in the next 20 years and I'm calling on our residents tonight to help us do that an Impressive nonprofit organization in Charlotte has led the tree that trees that city's tree planting in concert with city government there and Charlotte's businesses churches and civic clubs have pitched into a vital civic effort to replenish their tree canopy We are going to do the same thing here in Durham Local tree advocates have formed a new nonprofit organization trees Durham Which will work with the city and keep Durham beautiful to mobilize the same kind of civic commitment to replenishing our tree canopy That Charlotte has enjoyed in the coming weeks and months I will be seeking the support of business partners to anchor the work of trees Durham so that we can activate the people Or of Durham who are ready to plant trees and Then there is the biggest infrastructure project not just in Durham, but in the history of North Carolina That we can finally begin to feel Just within our grasp The Durham Orange light rail is an 18 mile 18 station rail line running from NCCU To downtown Durham to Duke Hospital and eventually all the way to UNC Hospital Connecting the largest employers in our region along the busiest roads in our region This is a two point five billion dollar project Half of it to be paid for by the federal government if we can just jump the last couple of hurdles The president's infrastructure's plan could kill this project. It's true, but given what we know about Congress so far I think it's much more likely that our Herculean local efforts over the last decade will finally result in the approval of this light rail line and not long after of the commuter rail line to Raleigh if not there are 140 when there are 140,000 more people living just in Durham alone 20 years from now We will be stuck in gridlock forever on 15501 and I 40 We need this light rail to assure a reasonable quality of life for our grandchildren and children and that's why I work on it a lot In addition to government that is effective and innovative and provides superb infrastructure We need government that is transparent and accessible. I'm constantly impressed by the level of transparency of Durham's government especially during times of controversy But despite our best efforts, there are still many people who feel left out of any direct participation in Durham's local government To remedy that we will be asking our city staff to spend the next fiscal year Planning for a process of participatory budgeting which will aim to bring thousands of people into direct participation in our budget Especially those who have been historically disenfranchised. I want to thank particularly mayor pro tem Jillian Johnson for her proactive work on this issue as well as our remarkable budget director Bertha Johnson and her staff for taking up the challenge I know we can do participatory budgeting in Durham, and I know we can do it. Well So far tonight I've been talking about aspects of local government that usually fly below the radar Now I want to turn to elements of our agenda for action which are top of mind in our civic culture, and I want to start with affordable housing Let me begin by explaining the magnitude of the problem 15,000 households in Durham are what is called severely housing housing housing burden That is they're paying more than 50% of their income in housing in half of those families Are living on an income of less than $20,000 for a family of four Now think a minute about these 7,500 families and Think a minute about your family and imagine trying to live on that and then you will understand Durham's affordable housing challenge What's more? 20 people are moving to Durham every day That's enough to fill up one of those new four-story apartment buildings every single month The Washington Post just published an article about the fastest growing cities in the nation during the past five years Looking at per capita in migration There are only three cities in the country which had more in migrants than Durham during that time Now there's a lot to like about that People want to move here because we have a wonderful quality of life something we should all be very proud of What's more in these rankings? Durham is very unusual because we're among the top set not only among the top ten cities overall But we're among the top ten cities in the nation in attracting whites African-Americans and Asians alike. That's an incredible tribute to our embrace of all people But all that in migration is driving gentrification with tremendous speed and power I want to say clearly that we cannot stop those forces But we can make a difference with a strong program of affordable housing and I want to tell you how First I want to tell you what we're doing now because the city council has been working hard on this issue for several years We've subsidized a hundred and forty rental units in the mixed income loss at Southside on South Roxburgh Road We supported the Durham Housing Authority and it's coming redevelopment of 336 units of Daymark Court and Maureen Road communities to keep them permanently affordable The Housing Authority has built a 20 unit goalie point affordable housing community including 12 units for formerly homeless people with disabilities CASA has built a 22 unit Denson apartments on Guest Road to house homeless veterans and Recently purchased 70 units on Maplewood to keep them permanently affordable as well All of this with the financial support of the city With the city support the Durham community land trustees has renovated nine affordable units on Piedmont Street The Witted School has been redeveloped with 79 affordable units for seniors and Housing for New Hope's rapid rehousing program found homes for 184 homeless families last year Also the year before last the federal government certified Durham is having effectively ended veterans homelessness That is if a veteran becomes homeless in Durham and reports him or herself to the VA that Veteran will be rehoused within 30 days Last year last year as well the city funded the housing authorities $4 million purchase of the 19 acre Fayette Place site at the top of Fayetteville Street The eventual home of affordable housing along with jobs for the people who live there and two months ago The council voted to provide two free acres of land next to Durham station and up to $3.8 million to support the construction of 80 affordable units on this key downtown site Adding up the Durham Housing Authority budget the redevelopment budgets for Daymark Court and Maureen Road Communities and the city's expenditure on other affordable housing projects more than 80 million dollars more than 80 million dollars will be spent in Durham in 2018 to support the construction and maintenance of affordable housing All of this is leveraged by you the taxpayer by the by a two cent levy on our tax rate That is if you own a $200,000 house in Durham You are paying $40 a year in taxes to help build a home for someone else and you are leveraging all this investment So we're doing a lot But we need to do more With limited resources and limitless need We must focus on the most critical goals and the most critical goal is to support the Durham Housing Authority in its redevelopment efforts Let me explain why I will tell you That every other affordable housing strategy Pails in importance when compared to this one why Durham's 14 public housing communities and their housing choice vouchers together Offers subsidizing offers subsidized housing to some 12,000 people or one out of almost 20 people in Durham and The average income of Housing Authority families is just $13,000 per year So if the Housing Authority doesn't succeed Nothing else we do to increase affordable housing in Durham will matter This is where the big numbers of people are and these are our neediest people the Housing Authority Under the direction of of new director Anthony Scott who is here with us tonight Has taken on the challenge of aggressively redeveloping its aging properties beginning this year with the 336 units at Damar Court and Maureen Road But there are several other large DHA housing communities and will take millions to redevelop them Most of this money will be private capital or tax credit equity, but to leverage these funds The Housing Authority will need the financial support of the city and it is critically important that we provide that funding Further as we develop the largest housing authority properties of the next few years. We must strive to make them mixed income communities Right now the nearly 1000 residents of McDougal Terrace, for example are bearing the double burden of poverty Not only are they poor as individuals, but nearly everyone in that community is poor as well So there are few committed community resources available to help everybody rise I believe we can develop these communities as mixed income communities and It is morally imperative and it is the law that anyone who lives in these communities now will be able to continue to live there After redevelopment we can do this. It will be hard, but we can do it We can also do something else very hard on the housing front We can end children's homelessness in Durham in the next few years and we can provide Significantly more permanent supportive housing for our chronically homeless population I will be meeting soon with our homeless service providers to map out a strategy for endings children's homelessness Unlike our homeless veterans the federal government provides no vouchers for families with children So we've got to do it ourselves the Durham way. Let's take on this challenge as only Durham can The recent difficult situation with a homeless encampment and downtown Durham just off highway 147 Points out the need for more permanent supportive housing for those homeless people living outside most of them with mental health and addiction challenges We have affordable housing developers who are prepared to build these homes with the supportive city funds But what we don't have now is the ability to provide the supportive services that will really make these homes permanent To that end I'll be convening discussions soon with county government and Commissioner Wendy Jacobson who is here tonight and I have already started these discussions and with alliance our local mental health manager We'll get the housing. We will get the housing built if the county and alliance can provide the services Again, we can do this in Durham We have other critical affordable housing goals as well most use publicly owned land downtown to leverage affordable housing We must develop an effective strategy for inducing developers to contribute to our affordable housing since state law prevents us from acquiring that Participation we must help low-income homeowners affected by venture gentrification stay in their homes We must fund the work of our outstanding nonprofits including CASA habitat for humanity and the Durham community land trustees Which recently purchased 54 units in Eastern which it needs to renovate We must support this work so that these units can be kept permanently affordable I Want to mention one more affordable housing project as well And that is the teacher housing proposal that is now before our county commissioners This effort is a partnership among Durham public schools, which has done any of the land CASA the nonprofit which will manage and own the housing and the state employees credit union foundation Which is providing a zero interest loan to support the project The result will be 24 units of rental housing for new public school teachers right across from Los Grove Middle School This housing will be rented at well below market rental market rents And it will be a terrific teacher recruiting tool for our public schools Right now the remaining obstacle to county is county approval of transfer to the land of the land to CASA And I urge our county commissioners to act on this soon This is affordable housing for teachers that requires no city funding no county funding No tax credit and will provide below market rent rate for new teachers and can be a model For other housing that we build in this community. Let's make this happen As this massive affordable housing agenda moves forward it will require more taxpayer funding I Believe we are close to the time We will need a bond issue to fund redevelopment one of more of our housing authority communities And I will look to our city administration for their advice on this timing In addition I'm thrilled to announce publicly tonight some important quiet work that has been going on during the past few months dr. Fail win former longtime president of Durham Technical Community College and now and for the past 10 years perhaps vice president for Durham and regional affairs at Duke University has brought together financial institutions Non-profit housing developers and city staff to work towards the creation of a public private partnership To support an affordable housing trust fund in Durham It is my hope and belief that we can create such a fund capitalized with at least 15 million dollars With a city to provide perhaps 10 of the funds at risk capital and the rest of the funds to come through Very low or zero interest loan funds from the university and the private sector Dr. Wynn is here tonight and sir. I would ask you to please rise Dr. Wynn you're retiring this year from duke And I want to thank you publicly for your extraordinary service to our community in so many roles You already leave an outsized legacy, but it is my fervent hope that this housing trust fund will be the crowning achievement of that legacy Thank you for your leadership Taking on the affordable housing issue in Durham is a moral imperative Our embrace of our most vulnerable communities Carries that same moral force To that end I want to repeat the words I spoke on the night I was sworn in as your mayor because Frankly, I don't think I can improve on them First If you are a refugee who has come to this country in flight from Somalia or Iraq or Syria We welcome you here in Durham with open arms If you are a gender non-conforming kid is trying to figure it out We embrace you here in Durham We want you and we love you If you are a member of the Islamic faith under attack by our president Know that you have a welcoming home here in Durham If you are a transgender person come to Durham We just don't care what bathroom you choose And I want to speak especially today to the members of our Latinx community I'm going to start with a song that I learned in Sunday school when I was a kid A poem by the Jewish poet Emma Lazarus set to music and it goes like this Excuse me in advance for my singing Give me your tired your poor Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free The wretched refuse of your teeming shores Send these the homeless tempest toss to me I lift my lamp beside the golden door These words as you know are inscribed at the base of the Statue of Liberty She who lifts her lamp beside the golden door The door which my great grandparents and probably yours came through as they entered this country Today in Durham, two church congregations are keeping the golden door open For the past seven months, St. John's Missionary Baptist Church and the School for Conversion Have been hosting Pastor Jose Chicas in Sanctuary And for the past two months, Sunwell Oliver Bruno has been in Sanctuary at Citywell United Methodist Church Both of these men have been threatened with deportation back to dangerous situations in their country of origin Both have loving families here Both are constructive members of our community While ICE agents have the legal authority to enter a church to apprehend someone To date ICE has not invaded the sanctity of a church to make an arrest And so these two church congregations in an act of commitment and courage Have chosen to offer sanctuary to these two good men This is hard work Members of the congregation of the broader community are helping to provide meals, laundry service, and a constant hosting presence at the church There are 40 immigrants in church sanctuary across the United States Two of them are here in Durham The families of Sr. Oliver Bruno and Pastor Chicas are here with us tonight Julia, Daniel, Sandra, Ezekiel, Oscar, Darwin, por favor, levantarse My friends, my friends, are welcome in Durham Welcome to your husbands and fathers while seeking sanctuary in our city Engramos a las iglesias que les ofrecen refugio, los alimentan y los apoyan Te engramos por tu valor Te damos la bienvenida a Durham con los brazos abiertos y corazones abiertos In Durham we welcome you with open arms and open hearts. Thank you We also honor those inside City Hall and out Who are doing the day-to-day work of welcoming our immigrant neighbors and bringing them out of the shadows I thank El Centro Hispano under the extraordinary leadership of Pilar Rocha Goldberg for implementing the faith ID that is now held by 3 000 Of our undocumented neighbors, and I thank our police department public schools and other agencies for recognizing that ID Chief Davis, I thank you for your humane and sensible policy on traffic checkpoints And for your recent reform of our u visa certification policies, which I believe will help keep our city safer And help those undocumented immigrants who assist in the solution of violent crime find a permanent home in this community I thank our newest council member Javier Caballero For taking initiative in her first few weeks in office to begin to educate all of us in local government About how we can improve Spanish language access for all And I thank my council colleagues for appointing Javier who I believe to be The first latina office holder in our city's history as we review the state of our city tonight This is a moment in which we can all take pride At the same time as we search for immigrant justice We keep the need for racial justice ever at the forefront of our work As we know so well the enslavement of african americans is our great national sin It's legacy still with us an open wound. We all must strive to heal Black lives matter and we must work every day to make sure they matter here in Durham I will say I will say on behalf of my city council colleagues that we try hard to review to view every issue through a racial equity lens I have been through several racial equity trainings But during the past two years myself and I want to compliment city manager tom bonfield For initiating racial equity training for these city's staffs for the city's entire senior management team And i'm proud of the fact that 150 more city employees are getting racial equity training this year tonight I want to talk about two new initiatives that will be undertaking in the coming months That I believe will help affirm by our actions that black lives matter in Durham First we will be establishing along with the county a joint city county committee on confederate monuments and memorials I grew up during segregation in lynchburg virginia. I attended robert e lee junior high school I often had my birthday parties on the battlefield at apematics And over my brother's bed in the bedroom. We shared was a picture of stonewall jackson falling at chancellorsville While my parents were civil rights liberals I was also steeped in the traditions of the confederacy And yet you know As I know that the confederate monuments across the south must come down There are a public glorification of the defenders of slavery and yet and we cannot let that stand To that end beginning in may our committee on confederate monuments will be charged with engaging the Durham community in an expansive and transparent public process Regarding public monuments and other remnants to confederacy present in Durham The committee will propose to the county commission a plan of disposition For the confederate monument torn down outside the old courthouse As well as the base of that monument that remains We'll also propose to the city council and county commission The plan for the disposition of any other confederate monuments and remnants that we have on public lands in our communities However As my city council colleague mark anthony middleton has so eloquently expressed The most damaging legacy of enslavement isn't the symbolism of statues It is the ongoing effects of racial discrimination the daily lives of our african-american residents Many of the inequalities that plague us here in Durham are the direct result of long history of institutional and structural racism It is important for us to learn to see the ways In which racism has shaped our institutions and to begin that work that needs to be done to change and repair these lasting impacts Racial equity work in cities like ballamore seattle and charlottesville has led to the implementation of scholarship programs for low-income residents public art Honoring african-american history and increased investment in housing education and youth initiatives Some of the work that needs to be done is internal to the city government I am proud that through our human resources department The city of durham has already began working with a government alliance on race racial equity To begin to begin critical conversations within city government about structural racism and how to combat it Even more important though than what happens in city government Is the need for our entire community to continue to face the daily realities of racial inequality And how we are going to change that To lift up and expand the work of community groups in this arena Our most important task is to engage with the community To that end I will be asking our city council in the next month To great to create the city's first racial equity task force To be to be chaired by our mayor pro tem jillian johnson Over the following 12 months the task force will engage with a broader Durham community To learn more about the racially inequitable circumstances that exist in our cities To research interventions and remedies and make recommendations to the city council for how to move forward I know this work will serve us well Now I want to talk about for a moment about one of the most important areas of our racial justice work The kind of policing that we do in Durham and about the city's significant efforts to apply our racial equity framework to our policing I want you to know that we are assertively recruiting african-american and latinx officers To serve on the Durham police force that we are training every new recruited racial equity de-escalation and procedural justice And training every veteran officer in racial equity as well That we are requiring written consent to any consent search of a home or car Durham's policy in this regard puts us in the national forefront of progressive policies on searches In the past year as a result Total searches of cars have followed by 44 percent, which means hundreds of people mostly African-american and latinx youth are being spared jail in criminal records In addition to these actions, I want to offer tonight For the second time my sincere sincere thanks to chief davis for the reform She has instituted in the police department reforms that are aimed that are aimed to build trust in the community And especially in communities of color These include the expectation that drug possession and other small offenses for people under 21 Will be referred to Durham's misdemeanor court rather than criminalized The chiefs work with song to make sure the transgender youth are treated with respect by officers and the patient Non-confrontational way in which the department has been dealing with public demonstrations chief davis. I thank you The work of the police The work of the police department is very difficult last year in Durham 244 people were shot with a gun not shot at Actually shot and 24 of these 244 shootings resulted in a homicide Some of the most important work police work is fighting violent crime And some is providing the providing the daily service to our community that I see every time I ride along with one of our officers on a saturday night So tonight I want to recognize the outstanding work of two officers and first i'm going to ask corporal jj barra zandat to stand Thank you for being here How am I doing on your name? Pretty good During our recent snowstorm corporal barra zandat was dispatched to a call on dear burn drive The first person on the scene he spotted two women one in her 60s Clinging to the door jam of a fully submerged car The woman women were waist deep in the freezing water waving their arms and calling for help Corporal barra zandat jumped into the icy creek He reached the car and guided both women to safety saving their lives And my favorite part of the story corporal barra zandat then went back home took a hot shower and returned to duty Thank you, sir for your swift Officer erin ellerman. Would you please stand? Officer ellerman encountered a very different situation on march 20th of last year an unknown man entered a home on burnett street And shot a 51 year old man and his 79 year old mother who later died of her wounds The the suspect stole the man's car and the next day officer spotted the stolen vehicle and attempted to stop it The driver refused to stop and officer ellerman took over as the lead on the chase Which went through district one and district two before the escaping driver crashed into a tree and officers took the three occupants into custody As the as the car burst into flames Officer ellerman maintained a professional composer Composure as she directed the chase and helped make the arrests at the chaotic scene that ensued Officer ellerman. Thank you for your courage For your composure and for keeping our city safe This is the state of this is the state of the city address. So what tonight is the state of our city? Here's what it is We are a welcoming city We are a diversity And a prosperous city Determined that our prosperity will be shared We are a welcoming city a diversity and a prosperous city Determined that our prosperity will be shared We know that 20 of our residents mostly people of color do not share in our prosperity and we are committed to change that I want to thank andre pettigrew the city's new director of the office of economic and workforce development For offering me the term shared prosperity to describe the economy. We want to build in durham Mr. Pettigrew and his staff are now in the process of developing a new economic development plan for durham One that will emphasize homegrown businesses and especially inclusion and development Of minority and women owned businesses in our economic activity This will require a strategic refocusing of city resources and it will require that city government take the lead We must do this if we are serious about shared prosperity One other way we begin we can begin to share prosperity in durham is to attack the issue of food insecurity 50 000 people in durham are food insecure of durham public schools 33 000 students Two-thirds of them are on free or reduced lunch Recently i've been meeting with representatives of some of the many wonderful organizations working on this issue And there are many of them in this city And in the coming months i'll be issuing a call for a food security Summit to flesh out an action plan and make it real Durham needs a food security coordinator and i will be working with the city manager The nonprofits and the representatives of county government to get this position funded Let's become known as the city where we eat in the best restaurants And we do the best job of feeding all of our residents Let's create an economy in durham around food security and food justice To tell you about another way we can share prosperity in durham. Let me tell you about the work of our innovation team Last year the city of durham became one of just 25 cities in the world To have received a grant from bloomberg philanthropies to create an innovation team This is quite an honor as most other cities in this program Such as los angeles and paris have much larger populations The innovation team has prioritized the voices stories and experiences of residents In thinking creatively about its current focus area Which is how to increase economic opportunity for residents with criminal records In its first six months the team has conducted in-depth interviews and focus groups with nearly 100 residents with criminal records In addition to meeting with dozens of other service providers and individuals from the criminal justice system If you are listening today and you are a resident with a criminal record Struggling to find work or housing I invite you to stop by city hall and visit with the innovation team In the new in the city's new iLab so they can hear your story. They want to hear from you The expectation for the iTeam is that their work culminates not in a series of recommendations But rather in a list of promising and actionable initiatives that the city will prototype and test Ideas that show positive results will be scaled and implemented through no public private partnerships and city matching funds The recent durham driver amnesty program is one example of the kind of ideas we can expect to see more from the iTeam This initiative arose in quick response to stories from residents about the difficulty they heard Finding work Due to a suspended or revoked license The team submitted a public data request to the dmv and learned that listen to this Over 46,000 Durham county residents have a revoked or suspended license To address this alarming problem the team partnered with the district attorney and community organizations to create an amnesty program To address some of the legal and financial barriers to getting their license back For people whose license had been revoked more than 18 months before for reasons not involving duis To increase participation the team designed a novel application process that made it easier for residents to apply They didn't need to take time off from work. They didn't need to stand in long lines at the courthouse They could simply apply by text or email and over 2000 people did so During just the two-week pilot period I'm happy to report the outcomes from this new approach The district attorney recently dismissed more than 2000 old charges for more than 450 Durham residents The team also identified over $250,000 in fines and fees Obed by more than 500 residents that they are working with community partners to address There's a promising first step in this project in our city's larger ambitions to advance shared prosperity I know That the action agenda I have spread before you tonight is an ambitious one And I didn't even talk about our bus system or our youth programs or parks and rack or a lot more A lot more really important things But if we are serious about sharing prosperity in Durham, we must take up this agenda We are a city known for our grit Our determination in the face of adversity our comeback from economic decline And from the and from the flight of our manufacturing base Our own history as much to teach us about the work we have to do now On April 10th 2019 Durham will celebrate its sesquicentennial nice word 150 years after our incorporation on land donated by dr. Bartlett Durham for a railroad depot Soon with the advice of our city staff We will be initiating a sesquicentennial task force to guide us as we plan that celebration This is our chance to face our history head on the good and the bad And to uplift and celebrate through storytelling and the arts Those heroes in our past whom we need to honor and memorialize. I think it's going to be awesome In anticipation of that year of celebrating our common history Tonight it is my honor to appoint Durham's first public historian When this person left the city council City manager bonfield lamented the loss of his valuable history lessons that he would offer us occasionally on city council nights And so we are officially bringing him back in a new role Councilmember eddie davis will you please stand Eddie Eddie has agreed to take on this one year term as Durham's first public historian And no one is better suited than he for this honor In this role eddie has agreed to present many history lessons at our city council meetings once a month on his schedule And he will make himself available to available to civic organizations scout troops churches and others who might want some valuable lesson in Durham history Thank you councilmember davis for taking on this next chapter in your civic life Here again here again is the state of our city tonight We're a welcoming diverse and prosperous city determined that our prosperity be shared In order to make that shared prosperity a reality everyone within the sound of my voice Must pitch in So I appeal to you to find your own way to advocate and serve Serve on the board of your favorite nonprofit organize your neighborhood Take on a job in the pta write a blog on the issue you care about most March in a protest Mentor a young person Fundraise for the cause closest to your heart get your church involved in social action register voters If you are a young person raising a family in Durham I once again challenge you as I did the night that I was sworn in To do the thing that's going to make the most difference of all in the long run Our kids need to go to school together if we're going to have the kind of society that we want Send your kids to Durham public schools Get involved in our schools and fight for them In the two months that I have been mayor people have come up to me over and over with the same question It's a fabulous question. How can I help? That's how Advocate and serve find your own way to do that We can make shared prosperity a reality in the bull city Together let's make the city we love a city for all Thank you. Thank you, and we are now in a five minute recess