Mayor Littlefield's 2009 State of the City Speech

This is the complete transcript of Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield's 2009 "State of the City" speech delivered Thursday evening.

There is an often quoted line

Its origin is debatable

Its meaning is ambiguous

It can be taken as either a blessing or a curse

It has never been more applicable than it is today:

"May you live in interesting times."

Whatever your political leanings, whatever your chosen path in life, whatever your economic status......you must admit that we live in interesting times.

Who would have ever thought that things could change so quickly and so dramatically? Looking back now - seeing things in hindsight - it is obvious that the cascade of circumstances last October was not the beginning but it did put an exclamation point on the time, the economic season in which we now struggle that has come to be called:

"The Great Recession"

And in spite of that other line from the first Clinton presidential campaign:

It's (not JUST) the economy - it's more, it's structural. Structural in our culture and structural in our society.

Who would have ever thought that we would see such rapid decline in the futures and fortunes of some of our most basic, most elemental foundational enterprises: our financial giants and our giants of the auto industry - simultaneously.

Who would have ever thought that our mass media the way we communicate with one another would be so affected by the changing environment that the shift from paper and analog to digital would speed from a slow drift into a rapid galactic shift. So that those venerable institutions of the "Third Estate" those pillars of journalism would find themselves challenged by bloggers and Facebook and Twitter
....and revolutionaries in Iran have taken to the streets and - in defiance of all powerful authorities - are broadcasting real time audio and video using cell phones.

The way that we live and work.

The way that we keep and manage our money.

The way that we travel from one place to another.

The way that we get our news and keep our archives of information, the way that we process our thoughts and dreams and fears: All changing.

Interesting Times.

As an observer of urban life and as an active participant in the art and science of building cities for the past four decades, I have never seen such a time. With all that is new on the scene - the unique details of our present situation - it is really not an exaggeration to say that there has never been such a time...certainly nothing like it in recent history.

It is safe to predict that in the future, the near future, the places that we call cities will be very different. This city will be very different.

Now, as we wrestle with "The Great Recession", experts have assessed the state of the nations' infrastructure - our streets and roads and highways, our pipes and treatment plants, our interstates and ports and all that links us together and makes it possible to support our civilization and lifestyle. The findings were not encouraging.

The Urban Land Institute and the consulting firm Ernst & Young - two very capitalistic, private sector oriented institutions - just published their latest assessment of the state of our nations physical infrastructure. The first such report - begun in early 2006 followed the disastrous experience of Hurricane Katrina and collapsed levees in New Orleans ......and work on the second report got underway with the collapse of the Interstate 35 Bridge in Minneapolis still very fresh in the consciousness of the nation.

Looking at the collective condition - considering current conditions and projections, the latest assessment begins with a sobering conclusion:

"In the United States, the road, public transit, and aviation systems have gotten worse, and U.S. water and sewage systems are in the worst shape in 100 years. Repairs are estimated at approximately $2.2 trillion."

While the economic recovery bill signed into law by the President on February 18 included over $132 billion for infrastructure of all kinds - even an $8 billion down payment on high-speed passenger rail - it is still only a beginning.

Other countries on other continents are meeting the present crisis with infrastructure programs of their own, so - as the line goes - we must run faster just to stay even.

Close to home, state and local governments are confronting "a perfect storm of credit crunch, revenue shortfalls and deferred maintenance."

The report goes on to note that in the current economy, those public/private partnerships that proved to be a popular source of capital financing are not so attractive in the light of present day financial circumstances.

The expert writers of Infrastructure 2009 title the document and refer to this particular point in time - this season of change - as the "Pivot Point"

Something is changing - rapidly and dramatically.

Only 100 years ago, the world was still in the horse-and-buggy era. There were no airports, trucks or even many paved roads.

Less than 60 years ago, President Eisenhower embarked on the construction of the Interstate Highway System - fueling growth of previously stunted metropolitan regions and setting in motion the development of a car culture..and something new: urban sprawl.

As recently as 1960, most people who ventured to Europe crossed by boat and nonstop transcontinental jet travel had just started. Sleeper railway cars and grand center-city train stations were still in vogue.

I can remember that very well.

As the report notes:

....So much has changed so fast - literally in a "blink of a baby boomer's lifetime."

Times are different now. Changing times. Challenging times.

Interesting times.

The report proposes a bold and aggressive plan to move future development in new directions.

"It's time to break the mold," Crisis can raise awareness, focus attention, and even spawn opportunity. For the United States, 2009 could mark a pivot point where financial emergency helps steer the nation toward reengineering aging and deteriorating infrastructure. "It's an incredible opportunity to get things right." The country faces a stark choice - either avert its slide from prosperity through greater investment and innovation or hurtle into more gridlock, congestion and potential systemic failure. "If we continue to run our infrastructure into a ditch, we won't be able to get our economy out of its hole".

Interesting times.

What are some of the forces driving and fueling this age of change?

Here are some key points: (and remember that the Urban Land Institute is an organization of free market capitalistic developers - these are not starry eyed idealists or political dreamers)

1. Ninety-five percent of U. S. developers expect the financial crisis to diminish state and local governments' ability to provide infrastructure.

2. Ninety-four percent of U. S. developers surveyed say gas price trends will drive future development patterns

3. Eighty-two percent of U. S. developers expect gas prices to increase.

4. U. S. developers in survey predict strong growth in inner suburbs and central cities.

5. Sixty-five percent of U. S. developers say recent increases in gas prices are influencing their decisions about where to locate future projects. The authors and researchers of the "Pivot Point" report recommended a number of remedies which will require considerable skill and courage.

So why, you might ask, why am I going into all this detail? Why is all this a matter for concern here in Chattanooga?

The simple answer is that we cannot divorce ourselves from the state of the nation or the state of the state.

We must be mindful of the forces at play and the potential effect on our development options for the future. I might add that all of this does underscore one issue that is current in our community.

Throughout all of this discussion on conditions and options and infrastructure needs to support our hopes and dreams for the future is a common thread - and that common thread is that all of this relates to urban planning and the provision of urban services in such fashion that we create sustainable communities.

First, I have to say that this underscores the practicality of retaining and reenergizing a valuable asset for Tennessee by moving the School of Urban Planning from Knoxville to Chattanooga. Given the prognosis for coming years and the likelihood that government must play a greater role in the future of private development - and simply just considering that all that is happening in the developed world today and in the foreseeable future will require professionals with planning training - it certainly is not the time to allow such an important and timely program to lapse. Chattanooga can bring new life to the UT Planning School and the presence of such students and their studies can bring new life to Chattanooga.

It's not as though Chattanooga has not been doing quite well in recent history. Of course, we've had considerable success in economic development over the past year - and it has just been a year since the announcement of Volkswagen and only a little longer since Alstom Power picked our community. We've been doing quite well.

Just last week, I was in Providence RI for the annual gathering of the U. S. Conference of Mayors. Thanks to the efforts of many, we received two honors: We were selected among the finalists for the work of the Mayor's Green Committee on our Climate Action Plan. In addition, we received an honorable mention in awards for city livability for "Go Fest" - our unique celebration for people of all abilities. Coincidentally, I was elected to the Advisory Council of the host organization - a relatively small group of Mayors serving a large association of almost 1300 communities. I have no misconceptions that the honor came to me personally - it came to the City of Chattanooga because of the important achievements for which our whole community has become known.

More than ever before, Chattanooga is being recognized.

Just this week, the City Council approved the structure of city government and the Administrators of the various departments that will serve our community for the upcoming four years. There were no real surprises.

I can say without exaggeration or reservation that Chattanooga is well served by a team of skilled veterans that are quite likely the finest group of professionals that I have ever had the privilege to work with - it is truly a dream team. And none are really new to the job - they've been busy.

For this speech, they each gave me a list of their accomplishments for the past year. It's just too long to even begin to recite in this format. I will give you a few highlights.

In 2008, the Police Department handled 208,246 calls for service, worked 11,414 accidents, produced 122,966 incident reports and arrested more than 15,000 suspected criminals - 14,147 adults and 904 juveniles.

In 2008, the Fire Department started providing EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) level care to all citizens in need - providing intravenous injections and life saving medications at the scene of an emergency. A new state-of-the-art, LEED certified fire hall has been constructed in East Chattanooga - Station 4 - replacing an outdated and dilapidated facility and providing a modern compliment to the adjacent new county school. The department has also secured the design and is beginning construction on our new super station at Enterprise South - to serve Volkswagen and the surrounding community.

Both "Blue Services" - as we call them - are growing. Both have graduated academies of new recruits and will continue to add to their numbers and training as Chattanooga grows.

The Public Works Department has done what they do best - they have kept the city and its expensive and vital basic infrastructure clean and in good working order. The Land Development Office has stayed on top of the permitting process and soon will have the long-discussed on-line process operational. The Waste Resources Division achieved National Biosolids Partnership certification - the 1st in Tennessee and only the 23rd in the nation - and received the KY-TN Biosolids Award for 2008. We are completing work on a very expensive and long-delayed project that was supposed to be completed in 2003 - that will turn biosolids into a safe and marketable fertilizer. The Traffic Department has continued to keep up with a demanding schedule; Installing and upgrading dozens of new traffic signals, designing new intersections and roundabouts, while repairing, replacing or removing more than 15,000 signs, repainting almost 2 million feet of street centerlines and stripes.

In other related activities, through the efforts of our environmental specialists, we achieved Tree City USA status for the 19th consecutive year. We planted 620 trees as part of the Take Root initiative. We completed the Climate Action Plan with 47 recommended specific items. We added the fifth recycle convenience center at Brainerd Road. On that note, recycle center participation increased 55% to 110,000 in 2008. Curbside and convenience center recycling increased 29% to almost 4000 tons in 2008.

With great pride, we learned just a few days ago that the Tennessee Society of Professional Engineers (TSPE) has selected Chattanooga City Engineer Bill Payne as the 2009 Outstanding Engineer of the Year for the state of Tennessee. This is a remarkable achievement for Bill and a credit to our whole community.

The Faith-Based and Community Partnerships Office has worked closely with 8 agencies and organizations in raising $369,000 for programs and projects. This office has been our center of operations for our Summer Youth Employment Program working with Hamilton County and others to provide employment opportunities for 699 teens and young adults.

The Finance Department succeeded in obtaining an upgrade in the city's bond rating issued by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services from "AA" to AA+" - a very significant achievement in today's financial climate and one that pays dividends to taxpayers in lower interest charges. They also secured the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2008 from the Government Finance Officer's Association.

Our Human Services Department continued it's unbroken 12 year run in earning the distinction of being a National Head Start Program of Excellence - one of only twenty-five such programs in the United States.

Our sometimes controversial Internal Audit Division continued their course and direction in following professional standards and guidelines as promulgated by the United States Comptroller and the Institute of Internal Auditors. The division issued seventeen audit reports and conducted eleven post audit reviews during calendar year 2008. These results can be found posted on the city's web site. Significantly, the division passed its first peer review in March of 2009.

During 2008, the Office of Multicultural Affairs conducted a number of interesting and successful community outreach events - including several district gatherings under the title of "Sweet Diversity" - one of the more successful ideas that the city has ever attempted ( I must confess that I was doubtful) which combines the old Southern tradition of a "Dinner on the Grounds" with an opportunity for people from a wide variety of countries and cultures to learn about each other by sampling desserts from all over the world. Believe me, it does work. The OMA also sponsored and produced our second "Power of One" luncheon featuring speaker Eric Metaxas - author of "Amazing Grace" the story of William Wilberforce who waged a life-long, but ultimately successful political battle to end the slave trade in England - decades before the American Civil War. The office is now preparing for our third "Power of One" with speaker Bill Strickland - a man who has brought imagination, entrepreneurialism and hope to inner city youth through the creative application of the principals of private enterprise. If you haven't bought your ticket or your table yet, it's time. Don't miss this opportunity to be inspired.

On a slightly less colorful, but still totally necessary note of responsibility, the OMA has received and handled 253 compliance calls regarding complaints about potential equal rights issues - including federal Title VI and issues related to the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The Department of Neighborhood Services and Community Development conducted over 8400 inspections and 9000 re-inspections focusing on residential structures, abandoned vehicles, litter, illegal dumping and overgrowth. They demolished 28 blighting structures, started eight new neighborhood associations, provided $85,000 to fund 32 Neighborhood Partners Projects and graduated 16 new leaders from their Neighborhood Leadership Institute. If they weren't already busy enough, this department is central in securing and effectively utilizing much of the new stimulus funding coming from the federal government.

The Department of Parks and Recreation is involved with our community and particularly our youth in an intimate and important way. They provide a dimension to our urban environment that sets us apart as a city of significance. The big story, however, for this department at the present time is those wonderful new parks and softball facilities at Warner Park and the new hidden jewel at Summit. Most of you haven't seen what has been done out there near Collegedale on the site of the old landfill - talk about making a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Prepare to be dazzled.

The Department of Education Arts and Culture is one of the smallest departments in terms of overall staffing and total budget. However, they shoulder responsibility for two of our greatest public treasures - Memorial Auditorium and the Tivoli Theater. What they might lack in terms of overall resources, they make up in energy and imagination. This department programs and produces events of all sizes and sorts. They manage community civic centers in Brainerd, East Brainerd and Hixson. They invent programs and activities that entertain and make our citizens lives more full and fulfilling.

I'm proud of all these departments and the almost 2500 employees that serve the entire region - not just the city. There is more and I apologize to all those people and programs and activities that are literally too numerous to mention.

Simply, let it be noted and underlined and highlighted.....

You are well served by the departments and the professional administrators that lead them. Chattanooga has never been in better hands - especially in these challenging and interesting times.

So, you might ask, "What's next".

What's next is a new order of things.

"It must be considered that there is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle than to initiate a new order of things."

Niccolo Machiavelli (500 Years Ago)

He went on to say:

"For the reformer has enemies in all those who profit by the old order, and only lukewarm defenders in all those who would profit by the new order, this lack of support arising partly from fear of adversaries who have the laws in their favor and partly from the doubting nature of mankind as most do not truly believe in anything new until they have had the actual experience of it."

Old order / New order

Interesting Times, indeed

Political critic and writer Mark B. Cohen, in a review of the impact of the late visionary Marshall McLuhan, notes that McLuhan's classic work on the impact of mass communication, "The Medium is the Massage" ( a text that I carried around a lot back during my college years) ....that book begins and ends with quotes from Albert North Whitehead:

First: "The major advances in civilization are processes that all but wreck the societies in which they occur".

Last: "it is the business of the future to be dangerous"

I've just returned from speaking to a gathering of the Georgia Municipal Association in Savannah - invited down (at their expense) to talk about Chattanooga's environmental successes. It's a story that I never tire of telling.

Anyway, I sat in on another session which featured some rather impressive experts on a panel. The subject - as for much of the conference - was about the future.

The moderator asked at the end for each to summarize with a "Big Idea"

Craig Lesser, Managing Partner of Pendleton Consulting Group suggested that the future will belong to those governments that learn to manage and maneuver in the world of international investment - those that learn that they now have the ability to compete globally, and have the courage to do so.

Ray Christman, Retired President and CEO of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta, said that for local governments the future must be about determining how services can be delivered most effectively and efficiently. He suggested that local governments should merge functions and perhaps even consolidate governments.

The most moving and somewhat startling "Big Idea" was offered by Michael Thurmond, Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Labor. He spoke eloquently and knowingly about the "Power of Public Education". The only black individual on the panel and son of several generations of sharecroppers, the Commissioner related how public education that he received in Georgia had - in a single generation - moved his family (and him personally) from sharecropper to lawyer, to legislator to Labor Commissioner. Although not a "new idea" he stressed that quality public education will remain the dominant "big idea" that can move cultures and communities to new and better lifestyles.

Think of that - an entire family lifted out of poverty and illiteracy in a single generation by the power of knowledge. With that in mind, rest assured that we remain committed to upgrading and improving our library. The study and work of our task force laid a strong foundation and we plan to move with all deliberate speed to make sure that this important institution - a joint city/county operation - is second to none.

So ....what is the state of the city....our city.

Ladies and gentlemen, the state of the city is good.

These are interesting times,

Challenging times

Times of great opportunity and perhaps dangerous times

Times of change and times when we really have no choice but to change

It is a time when the national debate will swirl around the role of government and the proper employment of the private sector.

It is a time when our financial foundations have been shaken and we are struggling to gain new footing.

It is a time when we can move ahead as a community and make greater strides toward that often stated goal of being the best midsize city in America.....or we can shrink back, allow ourselves to be frightened by the prospects of the future and rest somewhat comfortably in just being another place blessed with opportunity but lacking the courage to grasp it.

What's next? Well we do have important questions that must be addressed regarding the provision of adequate urban services - services to sustain and support our new growing population. And we have the question of urban growth boundaries - an issue that was debated and decided almost a decade ago - but an issue that is more current now than ever - an issue that relates back to the infrastructure questions and the desired future structure of our society that were the subject of the "Pivot Point" report that I mentioned in the beginning.

There is no lack of vision. Fortunately, Chattanooga has become the mecca of the concept of visioning. So it is time to once again practice what we now preach to others.

It's time to dream big dreams, see new visions and make those visions our new reality.

I keep a framed quote on my wall. It is from "Atlas Shrugged" - that long, long novel which is - most of all - a thesis on the superiority of capitalism:

Throughout the centuries there were men (and women) who took first steps, down new roads, armed with nothing but their own vision. ... Ayn Rand

Toward that end, it is not so much a question of "What's next?" as "Who's next?"

And that brings me finally to our rising young leadership in Chattanooga.

Shortly after the American Civil War, as the nation - and particularly the South - began to recover, Henry Grady, renowned publisher of The Atlanta Constitution and Atlanta civic leader, went on a national speaking tour promoting the concept of a "New South". His speeches are legendary - particularly the one delivered to the New England Club in New York delivered December 22, 1886.

In it he spoke of the rise of a New South "not through protest against the Old, but because of new conditions, new adjustments, and if you please, new ideas and aspirations." Grady goes on to say, "Age does not endow all things with strength and virtue, nor are all new things to be despised."

Grady's most colorful and poetic line - and probably most quoted - speaks that "from the ashes...left us in 1864 we have raised a brave and beautiful city; that somehow or other we have caught the sunshine in the bricks and mortar of our homes."

Though the language is somewhat archaic by our present day standards, and the present circumstances are certainly not as tragic or challenging as the aftermath of civil war, the concept remains true -

Successful communities must meet challenging and interesting times with a spirit of energy, enthusiasm and optimism. - and - those qualities are found most often in the young.

Among our greatest assets as a community - (something of a new asset in the sense that in the past it was an all-too-often-overlooked resource) - is a group of interested, engaged and increasingly organized young men and women. Some of them have adopted a title of "Young Professionals", but even those who might be more independent are a reason for us older citizens to be encouraged and optimistic about the future of Chattanooga.

There is a survey underway that is really more than a survey - it promises to be a new movement, a new direction. In a sense, it is a recap of Chattanooga Venture and Vision 2000 updated and fitted out with new ways, new media for gathering ideas and impressions - new ways to debate and seek consensus on how we go about the process of "raising a brave and beautiful city" - a city worthy of the setting that God gave us and a city worthy of talented young people that soon will inherit all that has been accomplished, so far.

It's called "Stand" and it calls for "Many Voices: One Vision: a Greater Community" It requires a few minutes of your time. I recommend it to you. It's a worthwhile investment.

Let me close by saying that in these "interesting times" the state of the City is good, but we have only reached a benchmark beyond which we can progress - a foundation for a new and more prosperous and hopeful city.

In the last 25 years we have become the "Most Transformed City in America". We have become somewhat famous for that.

In the last year, we have received blessings that - previously - we could only dream of - and we have obtained a foothold on the ladder of progress that we might not have imagined to be possible only a short time ago.

In spite of the economy, in spite of these interesting times, it is a good time to be in Chattanooga and I can say to you with absolute certainty that the future can be bright that if we respond with energy and enthusiasm and youthful vigor,

The best is yet to come.

May God continue to bless our city.