Write a commentOswego Mayor Billy Barlow delivered the 2016 State of the City on Monday night, combining the speech with his official 100 Day Address. The official 100 day mark for the new administration was on Saturday, but the Mayor addressed the Common Council and public Monday night during the Common Council meeting highlighting several accomplishments within the first 100 days and emphasizing the amount of momentum and energy City government currently has.
“When I decided to run for Mayor, I ran because I felt the City needed a drastic change. We needed a jolt of energy and we needed a “Can-Do” attitude. And when I won the election, I vouched to myself and to the residents of this City, that I would use the same amount of energy and passion it took to win an election, to represent and move our City forward, because the leadership in City Hall was stagnant and absent for far too long and it showed. It is also precisely the reason why we entered the New Year with incredible momentum and with the help of the Common Council we have carried that momentum through the first 100 days and have made considerable progress in several different areas”, said Barlow.
Mayor Barlow touched briefly on some changes at City Hall, like passing a resolution to accept credit and debit cards throughout City Government, creating a new City website and taking unprecedented steps to ensure government transparency by creating a bi-partisan ethics board. He also stressed the importance of creating and improving relationships with key State and Federal representatives and agencies like Assemblyman Barclay, Senator Ritchie, Congressman Katko, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer and expressed how helpful and cooperative DOT Commissioner Matt Driscoll and the NYS DOT have been in his first months in office.
Barlow dove more in-depth to some significant changes and victories they’ve tallied in the first few months, touching on reaching out for financial assistance with the City’s $85 Million Consent Decree, establishing a new Code Enforcement office, streamlining the City’s building and permitting process, engaging in a waterfront feasibility study, restructuring the Community Development office and encouraging the Department of Public Works to focus on customer service and quicker response time to constituent requests.
Mayor Barlow closed his address by previewing what they face ahead and noting plenty of work still needs to be done. Barlow said "We will present a plan to help recover and rebuild our City’s infrastructure and neglected buildings and equipment. We will look for and consider reforming and restructuring fees with the intent to ease the burden on our taxpaying homeowners. We must make a serious attempt to capture the available Downtown Revitalization Initiative Funding from Governor Cuomo that was passed in the State budget and focus on developing our waterfront and utilizing our natural resources.”
Finally, the Mayor mentioned how honored we was to serve the City of Oswego and how much he is enjoying the new job. “We are 100 days in and have already accomplished a lot and we must keep working hard. I for one, can’t wait to get to City Hall everyday to serve this community and I look forward to what I know we will accomplish together for the City of Oswego,” Barlow concluded.
