New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu has delivered his traditional State of the City address, focusing on the challenges and progress made in the 10 years since Hurricane Katrina. The speech had a more personal tone than those in past years.
Several filmed testimonials from residents talking with Mayor Landrieu about their Katrina experiences preceded the speech.
And the mayor fond of citing best practices philosophies and administration details spent time introducing people who have overcome adversity.
And he says the city has quietly passed a milestone.
“Nearly 10 years after Katrina we’re no longer recovering. We’re not rebuilding. Now we’re creating.”
Landrieu says crime remains a problem, along with budget demands from jail operations to firefighters’ pensions.
But he ended with a nod to the future.
“And now as we march towards 2018 and our 300th anniversary as a city we’ve got to finish strong. Finish stronger. Get better, tougher, smarter. The world deserves a better New Orleans. It’s time for us to claim it. It’s time for us to own it, to accept the awesome responsibility that history has laid at our doorstep. It is our moment.”
It was Landrieu’s first State of the City in his second and final term, which ends in the city’s tri-centennial.
