The state of LR
Mayor Mark Stodola delivered his second State of the City Address today at the Willie Hinton Resource Center. At the top of the agenda: fighting crime, including the announcement of a $1.8 million dollar project that would locate a new police substation in the old Safeway store at Cedar and 12th.
Among the crime statistics Stodola had to crow over: 10.6 percent reduction in violent crime in 2007 (and a 26.83 percent reduction so far this year); 2.45 percent reduction in property crimes, and a 9.63 percent reduction in burglaries. All that, and the hiring of 44 new police officers since the last SotC Address.
Further down the bill, Stodola found time to talk about the record $400 million in construction investment the city has seen in the last year, code enforcement, community renovation/rehabilitation projects in the inner city, the need for more community resource hubs like the Hinton Center, and ongoing commitment to big-ticket parks and recreation projects like the Riverfront playground, the Bill Clark Wetlands Park and a downtown "pocket park" on Broadway.
Stodola said that he intends "to talk straight and honestly to our citizens about how tight our revenue sources are," and let them know that continuing improvements to the city will require finding additional revenue, which has been elusive in recent years. To find that extra funding, Stodola promised to work with city board to make city operations "as lean as an Olympic marathon runner."
-- David Koon
Comments
It is sad but telling that almost any Blog news about LR City Hall generates zero to small interest amongst the bloggers. It indicates a massive weariness, pessimism and apathy about the governance of the capital city. Markham at Broadway has become one of the least relevant corners in the state. What's it gonna take?
Posted by: Sanford![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/arkansasblog/nav-commenters.gif)
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May 1, 2008 11:07 PM
The standard treatment to deal with a problem is that you first have to admit that you have a problem. As the city's supposedly progressive paper and blog you might expect that to start here but all we get is the party line.
Usually with denial you have to hit rock bottom first. They haven't screwed up the city bad enough yet to make people mad enough to think it is important. Our blessing is also our curse. Little is such a beautiful, pleasant city it is hard to screw up badly enough. Problem is all or our wonderful potential is wasted to benefit a few.
Turning War Memorial park into a mid-town blight and danger zone might just do it. Traffic out west is just about to come to a stand still. There is hope that we could get a real disaster soon. But, we will probably just bounce along one step ahead of success.
Posted by: Fletch![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/arkansasblog/nav-commenters.gif)
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May 2, 2008 08:43 AM