Wilmington mayor pushes for financial incentives in speech
Mayor Bill Saffo wants to extend the financial incentives already afforded to large businesses in Wilmington to the smaller sector.
"Small businesses generate the majority of jobs for workers in this country, and we must do everything we can to help those businesses," Saffo said during the annual State of the City address Monday night.
In about a half hour, Saffo praised the city's efforts in 2011 and outlined plans for this year.
After the talk, he said the city had been criticized for offering financial perks to large businesses that create a certain number of jobs and invest millions. The council plans to direct the city manager to come up with a small business incentives plan and to develop a way to make it easier to open new businesses or start a project in the city.
"Like the private sector, cities must be able to grow to be successful," Saffo said during his speech. "At the pace which economic development moves today, it is very important that we have a sufficient and effective process in place to approve projects."
Much like last year's speech, Saffo's address Monday focused on the struggling economy and its impact to the city.
"We know the revaluation of property throughout New Hanover County will have a significant impact on the city's budget, and we will face difficult choices as we set next year's budget," he said.
Saffo said he hopes to reinstate money in the budget for future repairs to the Riverwalk, one of the city's main attractions.
"This public investment has become one of our community's most popular attractions," he said. "In the future, we will need to make necessary repairs and improvements to sustain it."
The city finished a 900-foot section of the Riverwalk from Conlon Pier to Nutt Street last year, making it now just more than a mile long.
The council chambers were filled with local and state dignitaries, including all of the city council members, who sat in the front row. New Hanover County Commissioners also attended the speech, with the exception of Brian Berger, who was arrested last week on a charge of failing to appear at a court hearing and is scheduled to be back in court Tuesday.
"It was good to see the county people here," Saffo said after the speech.
Though tensions have been high between county and city officials since the city council voted to involuntarily annex an apartment project that the county commissioners previously denied, Commissioner Rick Catlin praised Saffo's speech.
"It was a positive speech," he said. "He always does a good job."
Looking forward, Saffo also said he hopes to continue improving transportation.
He announced that the long-awaited $6.5 million widening project of Randall Parkway from College Road to Independence Boulevard is expected to start construction this fall.
Saffo praised the convention center but made no mention of the city's need for an adjacent hotel. The city has been working on an agreement with a developer to build an upscale hotel next to the newly opened center.
The mayor made a point of recognizing local residents who give back to the community, including Tracy Wilkes, with the DREAMS Center for Arts Education, who helped lead and raise money to remodel the facility that provides art education for children in need, as well as Fred "Sweetcorn" Johnson, who brought recognition and honor to several hundred black Union soldiers buried in the federal veterans' cemetery on Market Street.
"I think the city is doing well, and it's going to continue," Johnson said after the mayor's speech, adding he missed the first part. "I was here at the right time when he called my name," he said with a laugh.
Posted:
January 30, 2012 by
Katie Guess | with
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