 Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming to the stage our mayor who they are in Castro Thank you so much Everybody needs to get their copy first of all good afternoon and David, I want to thank you HVHC vision works Davis vision for The fantastic investment that you're making right here in San Antonio adding jobs and prosperity to our economy Let's give them a big round of applause for their great effort and don't worry my power point is only about four times longer than David's I I Wanted to thank so many folks in this room But let me start off by saying that I know that it's been an extraordinary year for San Antonio since we were last here and That because of that I've been called a lot of things But one thing I never get tired of being called And that's the husband of Erica Castro My beautiful wife Erica is here today. She took off a day of work from school teaching Third fourth and fifth graders. Please give her a round of applause She's been a great wife a great mother and a great teacher Throughout the years the other day I I Got a message from someone who apparently had seen Me on TV and he said You know, you think you're all that but you have a face that only a mother could love I Almost sent him back an email saying oh you must have seen Joaquin on TV I wanted to recognize my mother Rosie who is here today And who was a few months away from retirement at Palo Alto College? So the guy had half of it right my mother's always been great. I Also want to thank all of you And particularly folks who have helped to ensure prosperity for San Antonio. I wanted to start off by Asking my council colleagues. I believe all ten of them are here today to please stand up so that we can recognize their efforts I know they're spread out Thank y'all You know these folks work 50 or 60 hours at a rate I think of about a dollar 50 an hour if that they represent More than 125,000 people each now after redistricting and they do a tremendous job. I want to Particularly recognize one of my colleagues who Won't be joining us for the next term But has made an indelible impact on the forward progress of our city over these last four years he's done so by Bringing a balanced approach to the council a vision for economic growth and an understanding of how to work with others Let's recognize councilman Reed Williams for doing a great job over these last four years Thank You Reed for your leadership. I also know like you do that as Folks who sit up there on the dice on Thursday said we wouldn't be anywhere without a fantastic city staff And we're fortunate because we have the best city manager in the United States of America and Cheryl Scully She's here today. Thank you Cheryl for your continued excellent work on our behalf For several years now part of San Antonio's secret to success Has been a city and a county government that work well with the business community So that everyone is on the same page moving in the same direction ensuring that we make the right investments and Have the right vision a big part of that now since the year 2001 has been Nelson Wolf as our county judge. I want to thank Nelson for his great leadership over at the county and Thank you for being here It's also true that San Antonio has some of the best utilities in all of the United States We have the largest municipally owned utility that services both electric and gas customers and Doyle Benabee couldn't be here today But let's thank him for his great stewardship of CPS energy and everything that he's done there to keep it going and keep it improving That also goes for our water utility These are challenging times for cities across the nation when it comes to the basic services of city government but here in San Antonio we have a stellar track record of both conserving as we ought to and also ensuring that we add water resources so that No one ever has to wonder whether San Antonio is going to have enough water to meet its business and residential needs for the future We have Robert Puente to thank for that these last few years. Let's recognize him for his great work and finally it wouldn't be complete without an infusion of energy and of talent from our young people and so Let's just recognize and thank one more time the drum line from Roosevelt High School as well as our KIPP students For their excellence and for adding some energy to us here today Well It is an exciting time to be in San Antonio Just this morning Forbes put us again on a list of the best places to find good jobs in the United States Our unemployment rate is lower than it has been in several years Our city continues to be one of the fastest growing cities in the United States in fact between 2010 and 2011 only the cities of New York and Houston grew by more people than San Antonio and as David knows every great city or great company Begins with a dream That vision is turned into concrete goals and with hard work Those goals become achievements And those achievements become propellants that move a city forward and make it greater still Almost three years ago more than 5,000 San Antonians came together to chart a course For the next ten years in San Antonio We asked what kind of city do we want to be in? 2020 and San Antonio's answered They said that we want to create in San Antonio a brainpower community that is the liveliest city in the United States There were a lot of words on paper a lot of numbers a lot of goals that were set The good news is That there was also the belief that we could get that actually done and in 2012 San Antonio took enormous strides To achieving those goals In May the voters of San Antonio supported the largest bond issue in San Antonio history $596 million to our roads our sidewalks our parks our libraries our fire stations From Hemis Bear Park to Piercelle Park from Housman Road to 30 million dollars for the interchanges at 281 and 1604 San Antonians showed that they understand That we have to invest in ourselves in all of those infrastructure Matters that add up to a great quality of life in San Antonio and then in November The voters of San Antonio said something else They said they recognize that San Antonio will take a backseat to no one When it comes to ensuring that our children get a great education in this city The voters of San Antonio said We recognize San Antonio is competing in a 21st century global economy Where education matters more than it ever has in the history of humankind You know last year when I was here I Think I gave my staff a Heart attack when I said that I Was going to stake my entire mayoral tenure on the fact that we would pass pre-k for SA I'm glad that worked out It worked out Because folks believe in the young people of our city and Since November 6th under the leadership of our city manager and a fantastic board of directors for pre-k for SA We've made tremendous strides. In fact several the pre-k for SA board members are here today And I'd like them to stand up and be recognized for their efforts The pre-k for SA board will be charged with the stewardship of this Stellar initiative for the next few years and I want to thank them for it Just last evening the Northeast Independent School District became the fifth school district to say yes They will participate in pre-k for SA Northeast SA ISD Harlandale Southwest and South San have now said yes And I want every single district to say the same thing in the coming weeks When I brought up the issue of education a few years ago in 2009 I Think it intrigued a lot of people I think there were folks who had watched San Antonio politics and policy for many years that Had heard folks talk about Doing something in the education realm, but you know what a lot of folks said Julian You'd be better to spend your your time on something that you can actually see the results of It's never going to happen At least not when you're mayor Well, I have a message for everyone. You know what it is happening in San Antonio It's happening in high school classes around our city where our high school graduation rate has gone up significantly in just the last Few years. It's happening in college classrooms in our city So far our college enrollment from 2010 to 2011 Went up by seven point seven percent more than 11,000 person jump in the number of folks and rolling in college We kicked off cafe college just a few years ago to encourage students to go and get the information in the resources they need To get the confidence they need To apply to college and then matriculate and I'm happy to say that Since September of 2010 We've had more than 21,000 students across San Antonio Take advantage of cafe college and make a difference in the trajectory of their future the fact is that This is not just dry statistics These young folks are the future of the city they have real faces and real stories one of those students is a young woman who couldn't be here today because She's at Wellesley Her name is Estefania Lamas Estefania came to San Antonio with her parents from Mexico when she was six years old and Graduated from MacArthur During her time at MacArthur She recognized that she needed a little bit more help figuring out how she could take advantage of the opportunities in front of her So she marched on Down to cafe college and she met Rebecca Gonzales one of the counselors there Rebecca helped her get all the information that she needed Gave her great advice and Today she's thousands of miles away in Massachusetts, but she's on our mind here Her parents have joined us today and let's give them a big round of applause Amado and Oralia Lamas are with us Congratulations to them I know they must be very proud of their daughter. I want you to know that San Antonio is very proud of you and of her The fact is that Estefania's story is one that's more and more common in our city Just a few months ago the 80-20 foundation started by Graham Weston reported on the results of a study that he had commissioned to look at Brain gain across the nation In many cities like San Antonio People think that we experience a brain drain That the best and the brightest leave our city never to come back What the study found was absolutely? Eye-opening it found that out of the top hundred metros that San Antonio ranks number six For the number of folks with a degree who are coming to San Antonio that we have one of the largest brain gains in the nation not brain drains the dreams that we have for San Antonio of creating a Generation of well-educated young people ready to take on the world and compete against anyone Whether they're in San Francisco or New York or Shanghai or Anywhere else Those aren't just dreams Those things are happening right now in front of us One of the other things that's happening in our city is that all of San Antonio is beginning to prosper In 2010 councilwoman Ivy Taylor and I kicked off the east side reinvestment summits with the idea that If San Antonio is going to prosper in the 21st century, it's only going to do so if every single sector of Our city is investment ready and is able to grow We understood that for too long the east side had been neglected under invested in a place where people Wouldn't think about living or working and that that had to change I'm pleased to say that as part of that effort a Powerful coalition of folks from around the community has gathered From our housing authority to st. Phillips College to the city to a whole host of community residents and so far They're producing results We want a promised neighborhood grant We want a choice neighborhood grant We've seen an improvement in the quality of life of the east side and identified catalytic projects that can make a real difference in spurring investment in that part of town and Again, it gave us the opportunity to link Uplifting our neighborhoods With uplifting the young people who live there. I Want to particularly thank Councilwoman Taylor for her leadership as well as Tony Van Buren and Tony Leverett and Our San Antonio housing authority CEO Lourdes Castro Amidus, let's give them a round of applause for their work on the east side promise of neighborhood Although this endeavor hasn't been happening that long. It's already producing results the fact is that chronic absenteeism is already down and Attendance is up Parents are more engaged than they've ever been they've already logged more than 24,000 volunteer hours as part of the east side promised neighborhood effort There are 283 children be a between the ages of two and five that today have a medical home They have a doctor that they can go to because of the east side promised neighborhood there are also 685 at-risk students in The east side neighborhoods who have gone to extended classroom hours To help ensure that they're academically successful and better prepared for the future We've come a long way But we also have a long way to go When you elected me mayor you elected me to be to be the mayor of everyone The truth is that we all have to work For the benefit of everyone The east side promised neighborhood Is physically located in one area? But its impact can be enormous for all of San Antonio what we learned there We can apply on the west side the north side the south side Everywhere that San Antonio needs it and I'm confident That when the year 2020 comes all of us will be proud of the progress that it has made Success is not only happening on the east side. It's happening throughout our city a Few years ago People didn't think that downtown whatever prosper Sure, we had a great Riverwalk and So many restaurants there and a lot of places for people to visit but when you actually Walk up to the street level After seven o'clock at night. There was nothing going on Not many folks live downtown and When we decided to focus on making this the decade of downtown a lot of folks said Well, we've seen that before There have been revitalization efforts Every big city in the United States at some point has tried to Re-invigorate their downtown I Don't think it's going to happen The fact is that by the close of this year more than 2,500 new housing units will go up in our downtown area Invigorating downtown changing its landscape Ladies and gentlemen the decade of downtown is happening and it's happening right now in 2013 The downtown of 2020 will not be recognizable To your eyes today ribbon-cutting after ribbon-cutting will happen this year and in the years to come because The city working with the private sector has incentivized downtown development Making sure that in our urban core instead of folks getting a headache and Dismissing the idea of a more costly development. We made it easier by implementing saws fee waivers by offering tax incentives by offering direct incentives by ensuring that Development services fast tracks project in the urban core of our city the upside of that is that downtown belongs to everyone Whether it's Hemisphere Park or The performing arts center that Mayor Hardburger and Mayor Wolf work so well on or the River project all of those amenities make downtown and San Antonio a vastly more appealing place to live and to work and to visit and As San Antonio Garner's attention around the nation and around the world what we do there is as important as any job announcement that we make Great cities have great downtowns and we need to continue to make that investment It's easy as you see these housing units go up to think that this is just a bunch of Young folks and maybe some empty nesters that maybe the downtown life is not for you Actually, it is The fact is that people from across the city are beginning to move into the downtown area and two of them are here today Tony and Erica Almazan moved from their Stone Oak house along with their Twins Luca and Paloma who are going to turn for this June and a 19 month old baby named Valentina They moved from Stone Oak to the st. Benedict's lofts We wanted our children to have the most authentic San Antonio experience and there was no better neighborhood than downtown to offer that to our family Tony and Erica are here with us today And I want them to stand up and be recognized because they're part of the decade of downtown that you see happening in front of you today the question going forward is How does San Antonio maintain its momentum I Want you to think for a second about your own experience think about the cities in your lifetime that have been described as growing as hot as the next big thing The truth is that over the years there have been many of them from the West Coast to the East Coast The even other cities in Texas San Antonio has a long and rich history We're not about being the next big thing We're about ensuring that San Antonio is a wonderful place to live to work to visit and to invest for the long term and They're Important things that we need to get done in this year 2013 To ensure that we set ourselves on that trajectory if I've learned anything over the last few years I've learned that leadership matters Whether it's leadership of a company leadership at the city leadership at a nonprofit or Leadership in a family The person who was providing the vision and the drive and ensuring that others are doing their jobs is spectacularly important to ensuring success Over the last three years. I have had the privilege of working with the city manager Who is the best in the nation? Who's one of the first ones to get there in the morning and one of the last ones to leave at night? Who's available to take a phone call at 6 30 in the morning or at 11 30 at night? Someone who has a real love for what she does and a passion That I share with her for making San Antonio the greatest city in the nation And this year the council and I have the opportunity to extend her contract So that Cheryl is our great city manager for the feet for the next few years to come and we will do it in 2013 it's also true that over the last few years CPS energy has been an invaluable partner in Ensuring that the basic quality of life needs are met in our community. I was reminded of this just last night We had winds that exceeded 40 miles an hour and there was a power outage that affected thousands of homes in our city And you know what happens when the power goes out you immediately want to know how you're going to get it back on Over the year CPS energy has been one of the most respected municipal power companies in the United States But just a few years ago We found that CPS had Lost a little bit of its direction That it was on the brink of an over investing in a nuclear project that by now would have cost San Antonio hundreds of millions of dollars Without any power being produced Under the leadership of Doyle Benabe CPS energy has turned around. It's on the right course Over the last few years. It's created almost 200 jobs in the new energy economy and it'll create hundreds more With the agreement it struck up with OCI solar and others Yesterday at the CPS energy board of trustees We announced that Doyle will stay with us in San Antonio up to two years Providing that great leadership making sure that CPS energy remains the best municipal utility in the entire United States And we want to thank Doyle for his work It's also important though That government understand that it's only part of the equation As you know the success of our city is due to the hard work of so many people Waking up early Staying at work late Entrepreneurs small business owners folks who make the engines of our local economy grow Almost three-quarters of the jobs in this city are housed in small businesses At the same time over the years San Antonio has been excellent at recruiting Companies from outside the city Whether it was AT&T long ago Or Petco or a whole number of others We've been one of the best What we haven't done as well is to focus on how we can incentivize and grow the businesses that are already here How we can create the next generation of Graham Weston's of Jim Liningers of Lisa Wong's of Johnny Adnan this is Folks who will take a company in San Antonio work their heart out and add to our job base Organically grow That's why this summer will have the opportunity at the council to approve something that we're calling cafe commerce one place in San Antonio at our downtown public library where any small business only owner any Entrepreneur or any person with a dream of starting a business can go and get the information And the resources the market data and the assistance that they need To start their business So that small businesses around San Antonio have the support they need to grow and to produce more jobs for our local economy in 2013 and beyond Now we know That the city doesn't need to reinvent the engine reinvent the wheel We know that whether it's auction or the UTS a small business center Or a whole host of others that there are already folks that are working in the small business space and doing a great job of it that's why we're going to put out an RFP for someone to operate cafe commerce and Consolidate as much as possible the services that are offered there so that instead of dividing or Needlessly superfluously adding to what's out there We make something that's stronger and that works better for the perspective business owner With pre-k for SA San Antonio made a big statement about the future of its young people those young folks who are going to start the centers In the fall of 2013 I figured that they're going to graduate Well, I guess in about 14 years Maybe I'll have some gray hair by then But what about the folks who are here now What about the fact that San Antonio has one of the largest aggregations of people between the ages of 1825 what do we do with our young people who? May have had the dream of going to a university or may not have wanted to go to a university that have the talent and the skills and the desire To get a good job to be able to provide for their family and to add To the skill level of the workforce here at home We know that in this 21st century global economy More than 60% of the jobs out there require post-secondary education Whether that's a university degree an associate's degree or Some sort of technical training that makes one employable for many years now San Antonio has had a constellation of players doing workforce development Many of them doing it very well from our Alamo area academies to project quest to Other efforts to produce firm specific human capital 2013 needs to be the year where we recognize that San Antonio must close the skills gap If we want to succeed in 21st century industries like aerospace and automotive manufacturing and the new energy economy and information technology We have to collaborate and have One primary effort to ensure that there is a talented pipeline of young people Who are ready to take on those jobs of the future? Our goal should be that no employer Whether it's Toyota or Boeing or Rackspace or any other employer that would look at San Antonio to invest in That no employer ever have to wonder whether they're going to find the skill workforce They need because they're going to get it right here in San Antonio, Texas one of the things that San Antonio has always faced has been this inveterate challenge of Ensuring that we have enough water To meet our needs Now over the last 20 years the San Antonio water system has done a better job than most at ensuring the answer is yes by conservation By diversifying off of the Edwards aquifer 2013 is an important year because for the first time in a long time. We have the opportunity to actually add up to 50,000 acre feet of water To our portfolio And I believe that if we can do that at a reasonable price a Reasonable cost per acre foot that we should take the opportunity To add to our water portfolio and ensure that no one ever has to wonder whether there's going to be enough water to meet Their business needs or anything else going into the future We can lead on water and be a model for the rest of the nation and doing it so a few years ago now Y'all elected me as mayor of the city Which has been the greatest honor of my life and when I was elected I knew that I Might be the first mayor in a quarter of a century To have the opportunity to see a fifth year in office It's something that allows you to think past The horizon of just four years It's something that allows all of us not just to plan For the future, but to do the hard work that it takes to be successful It's an honor that I take very seriously I'm reminded that in the Old Testament it says that to everything there's a season and A time for every purpose under heaven a Time to be born and a time to die a Time to plant seeds and a time To pull out that which is planted This is the time for San Antonio to continue to invest in itself to plant those seeds and also To enjoy the fruit of our labors It's happening right now in San Antonio America is watching our city it You might wonder what does that mean? It means Progress It means prosperity It means the future It means us Let's work together from whatever corner of the city we come from on whatever for whatever political perspective Whatever we aspire to be We can work together in 2013 to create in San Antonio the most prosperous most successful Most envied best city in the United States of America. Thank you all very much