2012 Los Angeles StateoftheCity
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Los Angeles StateOfTheCity 2012
Good Afternoon. I would like to thank Paramount Pictures for hosting us in this lovely venue today.
President Wesson; Members of the City Council; City Controller Greuel; City Attorney Trutanich; School Board President Garcia; Superintendent Deasy; members of the School Board; commissioners; community leaders; distinguished guests; fellow Angelenos
This is my second to last report to you on the state of Los Angeles. My final term as Mayor will come to a close in 14 short months. Or as some would say, in 14 long months.
Now, don’t go getting wistful on me. Here’s what I say: I say we don’t have a moment to lose. I say, in the coming 14 months, we’re going to wake up each and every morning reminding ourselves of the need for speed.
And not only that. Every single day, we are going to go to work with a determination to look forward, not back. Satchel Paige said it best: “Never look back. They may be gaining on you!” Angelenos, we’re not looking back—that’s not what we do—and we don’t have a moment to lose
In the coming months, we’re not just going to finish how we started. We’re going to finish what we started. I promised you the day I took office that my administration would be characterized by our willingness to think big and take on our biggest challenges. You have my word. As long as I’m your Mayor, we’re going to dig deep, double down and bring home big results. Because we must.
Over the last two years, our economy has been growing – that’s the good news. But that growth has been tenuous and uneven. How do you describe the human dimensions of a 13% unemployment rate? A rate which dramatically undercounts the problem, especially in our most vulnerable neighborhoods.
And this is where it all starts. We have to do everything we can to accelerate the recovery—house by house, block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood—to put people back to work.
That’s why, as President of the US Conference of Mayors, I have travelled to Washington DC frequently in the last year. It’s simple. If we are going to move the needle on jobs, LA needs a productive partner inside the Beltway.
And I have a message to Congress: LA matters. New York matters. Chicago matters. Cities matter.
Cities represent the hopes and dreams of America, the ideas and ideals of the people. Cities and metro regions are driving the US economy and powering our nation’s recovery. That’s right. From downtown to the suburbs, over 90% of the nation’s economic output and 85% of our country’s jobs are being generated in cities.
Yet, over the last three years, cities have done more with considerably less. We’ve balanced painful budgets. Cities have withstood and absorbed a Great Retreat from Washington and Sacramento. Less money for cops. The elimination of community redevelopment. A realignment of our criminal justice system that places even greater pressures on local government.
So we’ve gone to Washington with a message: Cities are doing our part, now we need Congress to do theirs. We need Congress to act on jobs. We need Congress to pass a Transportation Bill – to make the smart investments we need in transportation, infrastructure and workforce development.
And we need Congress to support innovative policies like America Fast Forward. It’s a straightforward idea. Help local governments speed up the construction of locally-funded road and rail projects with low-interest financing.