Mayor Dickens delivers 2nd annual ‘State of the City’ address

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens delivered his second annual “State of the City” address Tuesday.

WATCH THE FULL SPEECH BELOW:

During the speech, the mayor highlighted some of his administration’s successes in 2022 and his vision for 2023. He’s calling 2023 “The Year of the Youth.”

The mayor asked the audience to support organizations that serve our youth, and he asked corporate executives in the room to make a pledge to hire interns this summer.

“I mean it, Atlanta. Will you show up for our young people this year?”

“Yeah!” the audience replied.

Dickens touted his success in creating affordable housing. He also recognized a special guest, a woman known as “Ms. Peaches.” He said he’s planning to present her with the Phoenix Award because of her success drawing attention to the plight of people in the dilapidated Forest Cove Apartments.

Dickens also announced a new effort to help offset rising property values.

“A pilot program to freeze property taxes for 100 low-income seniors for the next 20 years, and that’s just the start,” Dickens said.

Despite protests over the city’s future Public Safety Training Center which have, at times, turned violent toward construction crews and law enforcement officers, Mayor Dickens made clear his commitment to the project.

“Our firefighters will finally have a vehicle course to learn to drive those trucks through our neighborhoods to deliver life-saving care,” said the mayor. “Our police will have a training course that will prepare them to address active shooters and domestic violence situations.”

A large number of police officers stood guard outside and inside the Marriott Marquis hotel to prevent any potential disruptions by protesters. No disruptions were reported.

RELATED: Read the mayor’s 2022 State of the City address here

Some other key issues discussed during the speech included:

• Crime Reduction/Public Safety
• Infrastructure
• Technology

RELATED: Atlanta Mayor Dickens discusses teen curfew, police training center during Q&A

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