1990-01-23 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

I I I Council Meeting Minutes January 23, 1990 Page 2 Special Order of Business, continued Benke presented the following 1990 State of the City Address: First of all I would like to welcome all of you at City Hall and in the cable audience to the 1990 State of the City Address. It is my honor and privilege as Mayor to make this statement on an annual basis. This year I think it is especially heartwarming for me, having come along with two of our incumbent Councilmembers to re- election for another two-year term. Not only are we wrapping up the 1980's, but also launching new terms on the Council and a new decade here in the City of New Brighton. However, before we get too far into the 1990's I would like to start with a brief retrospective of the 1980's, because I think what's happened in the 1980 I S sets a 1 arge part of our agenda for the 1990's. First of all, we have to remember that in the 1980's, and as long as I have been on the Council, we have been dealing with a Federal Government, led first by President Carter and then by Pres i dent Reagan. They bas i ca 11 y came into offi ce on an ant i- government/anti-establishment platform. For the last twelve years, we have been dealing with efforts to reduce the size of government at the Federal 1 eve 1 and wi th an effort to reduce the amount of involvement of the Federal level in City and State activity, l've seen what I would call an abdication of leadership from that level. Consequently, we at the City and State levels have had to pickup a greater share of that burden. That burden carri es over now and establishes the climate for the 1990's. Without doubt I think we are now in a period of rapid change. More rapid than we are used to and we haven't come through the 1980's without rapid change. Who would have believed, even six months or nine months ago, the wondrous events that are happening in Europe, Who would have believed only a few months ago we would invade Panama to go after General Noriega. We are dealing today with drug problems. We read the newspapers almost daily about crack babies, and just recently, Washington Mayor Berry. From the weakest to the strongest, drugs pervade our whole society. The economy in these coming 1990's will also pay the price for the 1980's. After years of deficits, after years of rhetoric and avoiding the reality of the budget, we are now starting to face some crises. All of a sudden, too, there is a positive change with Glasnost and Perestroika. We are now talking about sudden defense budget changes that may, in fact, finally give us a chance to deal with some of those budget issues. Special Order of Business Mayor's State of City Address