 Hello and welcome to City View, where we give you an inside view of the City of Columbia. I'm your host, Alicia Utsi. In our top story, our City Council members were recently sworn in. Three City Council members who were either recently re-elected and one newly elected council member were sworn in in January. City Manager, members of the staff and friends, I want to thank all of you for the recent election, and I see many of you in the audience today that participated vitally. It means a lot to me to be able to continue to serve. Thank you for your support. Thank you all for giving support and lending support. I must say to you unequivocally and unalteredly, the first four years were amazing. They were insightful. Life is beautiful, life is great. Campaigned as long as we did, you reconnect with old friends, you meet new friends, you go to a lot of neighborhood association meetings, forums. You get out there, you get to know your wonderful city. Once again this year, the City of Columbia celebrated the Dr. Martin Luther King Commemoration. The ceremony was held at King Park and started with a wreath laying ceremony hosted by the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. It is my esteem pleasure to welcome you to the 10th remembrance of our wreath laying here on Hardin Street, which is also Martin Luther King Boulevard in the City of Columbia. Thinking about this day and what it means to us, is it is not lost on us, the members of City Council, that we are here today to celebrate the life and the legacy of a trailblazer. Someone who without him and his tireless efforts, most of us would not be in the positions we are here today. Following the wreath laying ceremony, the 32nd annual city celebration and commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. started at King Park at 4 p.m. City officials along with community leaders gathered for this annual commemoration celebration. Just 37 years ago in this country it wasn't always popular actually to have a King holiday. So many people in this room had to fight to make sure that nationally that this day would indeed be a nationally recognized holiday and to know that we were ahead of the curve because the leadership of our great City Council members then, led of course by Councilor W. Cromarty, that this has become a standard event and to see so many of our citizens come out to not take a day off, not only take a day off but to come out and commemorate what it means to be a Colombian, what it means to be a South Carolinian, what it means to be an American is incredibly important and humbling. Mayor Steve Benjamin was the key speaker at the Mayor's Roundtable Luncheon that was recently held in conjunction and partnership with the North Columbia Business Association. Recently a utility line tree trimming public meeting was held and hosted by the City's Forestry and Beautification Division. This public meeting was held in order to give citizens information about upcoming tree trimming activities planned in their neighborhoods. Columbia Compass and the Planning and Development Services Department have kicked off 2020 in high gear. Columbia Compass public meetings were hosted by Planning and Development Services staff earlier this month. These public meetings gave citizens a chance to give feedback and their input on current Columbia Compass plan for a long-term plan for our city. Thank you for watching. Stay tuned to City TV right here on Spectrum 1301 and also follow us on our social media platforms, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and you can also follow us and check out our City YouTube channel for more videos and programs from the City of Columbia. As always visit our website on a 24-hour basis and you can also contact public relations, media and marketing by calling 545-3020 or email us at pio at columbiasc.gov 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.