Mayor Delivers State of the City Address

Delivered by Mayor Nancy R. Rotering to the Highland Park City Council.

Like many of you, at the beginning of each New Year, I feel a sense of fresh beginning and hopefulness about the infinite possibilities that lie ahead. Together, we plan and achieve great things for our city. With an eye to the future, I present the 2015 State of the City.

Working together, we build coalitions and find solutions to meet the needs and achieve the hopes of our community. With each project, we face opportunity and embrace thoughtful change. This is evident as we focus on our core priorities of fiscal stability, public safety and investment in our infrastructure. We join together to support business development, meet the needs of our most vulnerable community members, celebrate the arts and preserve our natural resources. Be proud of these achievements, borne out of more than 120 work goals developed at the beginning of last year from City Council policy, resident feedback and staff recommendations.

Over many months our City staff, my council colleagues, and I work as a team to create our budget – the most important policy statement we make. We are fiscally responsible with your dollars and plan for the coming year and the future with an eye on potential challenges and opportunities. I am proud to say that we approved a balanced operating budget for the fourth year in a row and with healthy reserves, our financial house is in order. The strength of Highland Park’s financial condition was recently re-affirmed by Moody’s with our continued Aaa bond rating, a rating held by only a handful of cities in Illinois.

Through strong partnerships with our dedicated police and fire departments, public safety is robust and highly effective both on a day-to-day basis and during the Ravinia Festival summer season, when more than 600,000 people come to town to celebrate the arts. City-wide infrastructure investment means we plan and build for a safe and healthy today and years to come.

Our Department of Public Works crew works hand in hand with us, meeting our daily and long term infrastructure needs. They said “it couldn’t be done,” but new sidewalks were added for the second year in a row, filling in decades-old dangerous gaps on major roads. This means safer streets for all of us, from our kids to our seniors. It also means we have created attractive and connected neighborhoods for families and businesses to grow. In response to dialogue with residents, we are plowing all City sidewalks for the first time this winter, another example of how responsive public works enhances our community. Long-awaited upgrades to the City’s water treatment plant are complete, on time and on budget, ensuring the highest quality drinking water for our residents and customers for decades to come.

The economic outlook is positive in Highland Park, with increased development, jobs, improved sales tax revenues and enhanced vibrancy in our city. New businesses continue to open and the city’s retail occupancy rate is at a pre-recession high. I welcomed hundreds of community leaders, real estate professionals, businesses and business prospects to the City’s Annual Business Summit. This event provides an excellent opportunity to review economic trends, discuss the local economy, enhance business retention and attraction and facilitate economic growth within Highland Park.

Based on conversations at the Business Summit, I will be hosting an upcoming technology roundtable that will focus on furthering Highland Park’s appeal to this growing sector.

In 2014, our Leadership Alliance of Lake County (LALC) convened four quarterly breakfasts fostering important partnerships among regional leaders. An organization that I created in 2013, LALC brings hundreds of regional leaders together to address human service needs through business and economic development, ensuring that these interests in Lake County are identified and addressed. We have examined a broad range of topics including the demand for seamless regional transit and the importance of civic engagement by major businesses, all focusing on regional economic opportunities and meeting the needs of our vulnerable populations.

Last fall, inspired by the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ (USCM) National Call to Action against bullying and the Elm Place Project Citizen students, I convened representatives from the City of Highland Park, our sister governments, agencies and not-for-profit organizations to join together to promote an on-going and unified message about bullying awareness, prevention and intervention. This Anti-bullying Initiative recognizes that bullying knows no bounds, and can have detrimental impacts on all ages, genders, races and economic groups. We are coming together and addressing it in many forums. Each organization has planned activities, events and dialogues focused on the message ‘We Stand Together’. Building on our success, an expansion into Lake County is underway with a Mayors’ roundtable and a region-wide introduction planned at our spring LALC meeting. Standing together, we will make a difference.

In our own community, as State resources continue to vacillate, we work to meet the human service needs of our neighbors. In 2013, I created the Human Services Task Force, a group of over 250 volunteers ranging in age from 17-85. We assessed needs and inventoried services available. A comprehensive human services plan was created and immediate outcomes led to creatively addressing various service issues, including an all-community invitation for schools, civic groups, faith-based organizations and businesses to adopt the Moraine Township food pantry throughout the year (ensuring a consistent supply of food year-round), finding financial support for free medical care, identifying specific housing and transit opportunities, and so on. Access to affordable legal services was also identified as a clear need, particularly for our senior and immigrant populations.

The Highland Park/Highwood Legal Aid Clinic will soon open to meet this need and will provide pro bono services for and by community members.

Recognizing that our students are our future leaders, the City has taken an active role in connecting students with opportunities for experiential learning that engages students in critical thinking, problem solving and decision-making.

Through a partnership with North Shore School District 112, all third graders visit City Hall to meet with the mayor and participate in a mock city council meeting. Our City of Highland Park Student Commissioner program offers high school juniors and seniors representation on our various boards, commissions and task forces. Our community benefits from the unique perspective each student provides as they work on policy-related matters and projects. In the coming weeks, high school students will have a new opportunity through a student internship program. Pairing students with local businesses, This program will provide an ‘open door’ to a career or future job, and give our students and employers an edge while building a pipeline of talent for our community and beyond.

Our community is driven by a collective desire to work together to shape our future, starting with fresh thinking and appreciating our city as a place where new ideas and approaches make a tangible difference in what we do and how we evolve as a community. I love that our residents care about each other and care about our city. You call and write, and your input is vital to our vibrancy and progress. Hearing from you is my favorite part of this job. Anne Frank said, “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” I could not agree more.

We are a team. Thank you to my Council colleagues and our staff. Your dedication and hard work is appreciated and impactful. And most of all, thank you to our residents, our sister governments, partner organizations and our businesses. Our community is strong thanks to your passion and our partnership.

Thank you.

Nancy R. Rotering,

Mayor