 story it has definitely been famously hot in Columbia this summer and Mayor Steve Benjamin recently donated fans for the fan the heat initiative and he encourages others to do the same. We encourage anybody within the sound of our voice if you have a need reach out to Columbia Police Department this this is part of a much larger comprehensive effort around community policing just making sure we continue to build a bond of trust between our police department and all the great work they're doing in the community. Mayor Steve Benjamin and city council members recently joined officials from the county and SCDOT to announce a new Hawke signal at the intersection of Millwood and House Streets. This Hawke signal will increase pedestrian safety for our citizens. I truly believe that the improvement with this Hawke traffic signal in addition the over half a million dollars investment that's going to come to this stretch of road behind me is going to save lives. Columbia City Manager Teresa Wilson recently conducted a presentation for officials from across the state of South Carolina at the annual summer South Carolina City County Managers Association meeting. She unveiled a new resiliency knowledge center and was joined by Harry Tinsley who's the emergency management director for the city of Columbia. I was asked to speak regarding some of our experiences but also a project venture that I developed through my Liberty Fellowship which is an opportunity I think to create that environment even more so for my peers and myself to collaborate on ideas. During the sunny days we like to say all along so that when these crisis moments happen we have the opportunity to work together even better by establishing a portal a resiliency knowledge network was kind of my idea to help us share ideas across the state. Right now we're trying to take a leadership role and step up because we were affected by 2015 flood and we learned a lot we were we were squeezed a lot we had a lot of things to deal with so there are some experiences that we have their experiences that folks have on the coast with the hurricanes and disasters that come in so we want to coordinate and hopefully foster an environment where people will want to share their experiences what is work best for you there are there are procedures or methods that people use or certain entities use that we can share those experiences together and collaborate. School may be out but summer reading is still definitely in full effect City Manager Teresa Wilson recently attended a session at W. Perry Middle School and was a guest reader for students there. So proud that in our community I could just be a small part of things that our educators are doing every single day and probably don't even get the recognition for but what an amazing opportunity for kids to stay engaged in the summer months and that in our school district in our inner city of Richland School District one that they are able to provide these opportunities for these young people. The city of Columbia is proud to once again partner with the Columbia Urban League for the STEP program. This program provides youth employment during the summer months at various city departments. My mom heard about this from a friend of hers so you know one summer she just bought back an application she asked if I want to do that like yeah it should be pretty fun for me and I really like it a lot it really helps me out have something to do over the summer instead of being in the house they do a lot with the city I didn't know that they were over so many parks and pools and buildings but I've learned a lot from being here and I love it. City Hall is always excited about welcoming new people to visit especially young people. Recently Mayor Pro Tem Tamika Iza Divine greeted and conducted a government session with students with the Ram Foundation. I always get excited when we have young people who want to come to their city hall and understand what we do and why we do it. It's so important that we train them young so they can be engaged and understand their city. Well that wraps up this episode of City View where we bring you an inside view of the city of Columbia. Be sure to stay tuned to City TV for the latest news and information. Visit our website at columbiasc.gov and you can always follow us on our social media platforms on Facebook Twitter and Instagram. Make sure you stay connected with the city and remember we are Columbia. Hey there Mayor Steve Benjamin here. Thanks for watching this video. Make sure you give it a like right below the video and don't forget to subscribe. Also while you're here be sure to check out one of our other videos or follow on our social media platforms. Thanks again and remember we are Columbia.