►
From YouTube: State of the City, 2007
Description
Here is the State of the City address delivered by Mayor A.J. Holloway on Feb. 12, 2007.
A
Once
again,
we'd
like
to
thank
you
for
coming
to
the
Biloxi
Chamber
Biloxi
Bay,
Chamber
of
Commerce
state
of
the
city
address
and
Tommy
Triplett.
Thank
you
for
the
pictures.
We
appreciate
that
and
if
you
would
please
look
at
the
sponsors
on
the
back
of
your
of
your
sheets
and
those
people
helped
make
it
possible.
B
Good
morning,
I'm
honored
to
be
here
today
and
would
like
to
thank
the
Black
Sea
Base
chamber
of
commerce
for
allowing
me
to
introduce
our
speaker
this
morning.
As
many
of
you
know,
my
grandfather,
Jerry
O'keefe,
a
great
man
to
both
his
family
and
community,
served
as
mayor
of
this
city
for
two
terms
in
the
70s.
Our
speaker
today
is
also
a
great
man
currently
serving
in
his
fourth
term,
a
man
who
has
earned
the
respect
of
many
in
his
leading
Biloxi
to
a
brighter
future.
C
C
C
The
great
things
we
have
in
store
I
want
to
make
sure
that
you
appreciate
just
how
much
and
how
far
we've
come
in
a
532
days
since
Katrina
won't
the
breeze,
remove
them
and,
like
you,
I'm
growing
weary
of
talking
about
and
looking
at
the
brief.
We
have
hauled
away
more
than
2.8
million
cubic
yards
of
debris.
C
C
C
C
C
Luxor
was
one
of
four
schools
in
the
entire
state
to
be
recognized
as
a
top
performer
for
the
old
506
school
year.
In
the
year
of
the
hurricane,
our
students
were
nominated
as
a
national
Blue
Ribbon
winners,
I
congratulate
dr.
Tisdale,
the
school
board,
faculty
staff
and
the
students
from
this
achievement.
C
Today,
employment
in
our
casino
resort
industry
is
that
pre-katrina
levels
I
congratulate
the
people
in
the
industry
who
helped
make
this
happen,
but
also
want
to
thank
our
city
teams
to
give
you
an
idea
of
the
work
that
goes
on
in
the
front
end.
The
reopening
of
the
voter
Raja
loan
required
our
fire
department
to
Robo,
see
the
testing
of
6970
72
smoke.
Detectors
throughout
the
resort
multiply
that
times
the
seven
resorts
that
are
open
today
and
all
done
in
a
10
to
12
month
time
frame.
C
C
C
The
city's
three
largest
revenue
sources,
Gaming
sales
and
property
taxes
in
that
order,
we're
down
24%
overall
from
pre-katrina
levels,
Gaming
alone
was
off.
45%
and
sales
tax
were
down
twenty
four
percent
and
the
Katrina
recovery
push
the
total
cost
of
city
services
off
the
chart,
passing
100
million
dollars
in
the
past
year,
given
all
of
these
numbers
I'm
optimistic
about
what
I'm,
seeing
in
our
economy,
in
spite
of
revenues
being
down
and
expenditures
up
the
city
and
at
FY
6
in
good
financial
condition.
C
That's
because
we
suspended
many
of
the
capital
projects
that
were
going
going
or
planned
4:06.
We
restricted
normal
operating
expenses.
Where
we
could.
We
took
advantage
of
the
help
offered
by
the
federal
and
state
governments,
and
we
fought
to
maximize
our
insurance
recovery.
In
fact,
when
you
figure
in
the
insurance
money
that
ten
million
dollar
business
interruption
policy
we
bought
two
months
before
Katrina
meant
that
our
gaming
revenue
was
actually
a
little
of
pre-katrina
levels
and
if
you
include
all
of
the
insurance
money,
our
overall
revenue
was
only
three
percent
off.
C
We
actually
were
able
to
recover.
Ninety
nine
point:
four
percent
of
our
forty
million
dollars
in
insurance
coverage
for
the
record.
We
have
now
gone
fifteen
years
without
raising
your
city
property
taxes
and
with
your
approval,
I'm
going
to
do
my
best
to
keep
that
promise
for
at
least
another
six
years.
C
In
the
past
several
months,
we've
been
seeing
record
levels
of
gaming
revenue
in
flexi
sales
taxes
or
at
85%
of
they
post
on
pre-storm
level.
This
trend
is
going
to
mean
more
about
tourist
amenities,
building
back,
which
means
more
jobs
and
stabilizing
our
taxes.
I
drive
the
same
streets
in
biloxi
that
all
of
you
do
I
see
the
bearing
blocks
of
land
on
Point,
cadet,
back
Bay,
Eagle,
Point
Sunkist,
and
the
empty
lots
on
Front.
C
We
need
to
face
the
fact
that
point
cadet
would
never
look
the
way
it
did
before.
The
fact
is
based
on
their
preliminary
flood.
Elevations
FEMA
is
going
to
declare
the
majority
of
Point
cadet
to
be
in
a
flood
zone
area.
This
mean
new
home
construction
would
have
to
be
elevated,
driving
up
the
cost
of
constructions.
Even
more
so
often
over
the
past
several
weeks
and
months,
people
have
wondered
where
we
go
from
here.
C
Some
have
wondered
if
we
have
a
plan,
others
have
said
it
looks
like
we
have
too
many
plans,
sometimes
like
the
diversity
of
the
opinions
here
in
Block.
C
will
never
change.
Regardless
of
what
crisis
we
go
through.
Just
talk
about
whether
we
have
a
plan
reminds
me
of
one
of
the
most
common
questions
that
visitors
have
at
Disneyworld
every
day
in
a
Magic
Kingdom
they
have
a
parade
down.
Main
Street
des
native
workers
will
tell
you
that
the
most
frequent
question
asked
is:
what
time
does
the
11
o'clock
parade
begin?.
C
What
they're
really
asking
is
what
time
does
11
o'clock
trade
get
to
me?
It's
all
about
communications,
I
was
doing
the
state
of
the
city
luncheon
at
this
time.
Last
year,
a
mere
six
months
after
Katrina
that
I
announced
the
reviving
of
the
Renaissance
initiatives,
we're
going
back
to
look
at
our
past.
What
was
working
and
let
that
die,
let
that
be
the
guide
for
our
future.
I
asked
for
a
realistic
plan
with
a
realistic
timetable
and
a
realistic
price
tag
more
than
2-hundred
block
scenes.
C
C
C
Hundreds
of
reviving
the
Renaissance
books
had
been
mailed
to
residents
throughout
the
city,
and
we
may
have
an
abbreviated
version
version
through
24,000
mailboxes
in
a
city
on
the
first
anniversary
of
the
storm.
So
when
people
ask
about
a
plan,
yes,
we
have
a
plan,
it's
a
plan
that
came
from
our
citizen
and
there's
nothing
Mickey
Mouse
about
it,
and
it's
not
Fantasyland,
and
today
I'm
here
to
tell
you
that's
already
taken
shape
in
the
city.
C
The
revival
of
the
Renaissance
is
underway
in
coming
to
a
street
corner
near
you.
In
fact,
the
Biloxi
Housing
Authority
is
going
to
be
restoring
dozens
of
streets
in
its
neighborhood
and
building
on
restored
more
than
100
1500
homes.
Along
the
way,
the
Housing
Authority
has
been
approved
for
41
million
dollars
in
federal
funding
to
improve
existing,
create
new,
affordable
housing
in
Biloxi
that
hopes
six
project
that
we're
so
proud
of
before
the
storm.
What
families
had
always
just
moved
in
before
Katrina
came
along.
C
C
C
chairman
Delmar
Robertson,
and
the
staff
whom
these
accomplishments
I'm
glad
to
see
that
the
leadership
of
Keesler
Air
Force
Base,
is
here
today
several
months
ago,
Kieffer
unveiled
a
new
hurricane
on
him,
the
spirit
of
Biloxi,
and
when
you
talk
about
housing,
just
look
at
what
keister
is
doing
right
now.
The
base
is
on
the
verge
of
the
largest
residential
housing
project
in
the
history
of
the
United
States
Air
Force.
This
288
million
dollar
undertaking
will
see
1067
new
housing
units
and
all
work
on.
C
C
C
Since
the
storm,
our
Community
Development
Department
has
issued
more
than
8500
permits
involving
storm
repairs,
new
residential
and
commercial
construction.
We
save
residents
nearly
a
hundred
and
sixty
thousand
dollars
by
waiving
fees
on
storm
repairs.
That
saves
you
and
your
neighbors
anywhere
from
twenty
five
to
two
hundred
fifty
dollars
or
more
in
permit
fees.
C
Right
now
we
have
19
residential
subdivisions
under
review,
which
will
account
for
more
than
350
new
Lots
for
new
homes.
In
addition
to
that,
we're
currently
reviewing
Bella
V,
a
mixed-use
development
that
straddles
the
current
northern
boundary
of
the
city.
The
1,400
acres
of
this
project
has
a
total
of
5,500
housing
units,
Katrina
claimed
6,000
homes
and
businesses
in
Block.
C
and
those
projects
that
I
just
mentioned
account
for
nearly
8500
housing
units.
I
realized
that
affordable
housing
is
the
biggest
challenge
facing
this
city.
C
C
Today,
that
budget
is
53
million
dollars
with
another
60
million
dollars
working
its
way
through
the
FEMA
pipeline,
we're
investing
as
much
as
10
million
dollars
in
repairs
and
improvements
at
Point,
cadet,
marina
and
the
blocks
of
small
craft.
All
our
work
is
going
to
make
these
facilities
better
than
they
were
before
the
storm.
C
C
Mdot
plans
to
have
the
first
two
lanes
of
Luxy
Bay
Bridge,
opened
nine
months
from
today,
you'll
see
more
lighting
on
u.s.
90.
It
was
only
a
matter
of
weeks.
After
Katrina
we
had
good
again
a
good
many
of
the
streetlights
restored
in
the
center
median
now
we're
in
volcano
project
that
will
see
all
of
the
scenic
highway
lit.
It's
got
to
be
better
than
it
was
before
Hurricane
Katrina
Kaba
street,
a
project
that
was
running
several
months
ahead
of
schedule
before
Katrina
is
expected
to
be
completed
within
90
days
ahead
of
schedule
under
budget.
C
C
C
More
use
is
a
temporary
community
center,
I,
say
temporary,
because
the
improvements
were
going
to
be
making
such
as
adding
an
elevator
or
going
to
help
accommodate
the
future
long
term
use
of
this
facility
which
to
house
our
senior
citizens
activities
architect.
David
Hardy
assured
me
that
this
temporary
community
center
would
be
ready
to
host
activities
by
the
end
of
this
year
and
there's
even
better
news
for
the
property
across
the
street
from
the
temporary
coast
community.
South
a
number
of
you
in
this
room
responded
to
a
survey
we
conducted
before
the
storm.
C
It
will
house
a
new
and
larger
community
center
on
his
first
two
floors,
able
to
accommodate
the
larger
carnival
balls
that
have
been
forced
to
move
to
the
Coliseum
and
on
the
third
floor,
business
will
find
the
flux
of
library,
along
with
research
in
multimedia
rooms,
in
the
labyrinth,
in
valuable
genealogical
archives
which
have
been
restored
since
the
storm
we're
hiring
an
architect
the
same
architect
on
rest.
He
was
doing
working
on
the
restoration
of
Bauval
to
help
us
restore
the
old
brick
house,
one
of
our
surviving
landmarks.
C
We're
also
going
to
take
steps
to
restore
our
signature
or
landmark
the
Biloxi
lighthouse,
which
has
stood
so
proudly
since
Katrina.
All
these
ideas
are
not
things.
I
dreamed
up.
The
ideas
come
from.
The
pages
was
reviving
the
Renaissance
Court.
They
came
from
you
and
by
combining
uses
of
buildings
we
become
eligible
for
ninety
percent
funding
from
FEMA.
C
So
you
see,
the
real
reviving
of
the
Renaissance
will
be
the
same
things
that
you
were
seeing
before
the
storm:
improved
city
services
and
facilities,
safe
and
clean
neighborhoods,
state
of
the
art,
schools
and
boulevards
and
neighborhood
streets
that
moved
traffic
and
reigned
effectively.
In
short,
you'll
see
the
return
to
an
excellent
quality
of
life
that
you
so
rightly
expect
and
so
richly
deserved.
C
As
we
move
to
the
future,
we'll
be
guided
by
our
past.
That's
been
my
consistent
message
before
and
after
August
29th
205.
The
Carver
Street
project
is
a
perfect
example
of
following
through
on
smart
growth.
This
project
helps
move
traffic
and
a
safe
and
efficient
manner,
its
well
landscaped,
well-lit
and
pedestrian
friendly.
It
creates
opportunities
for
small
business
people
which
creates
jobs
and
enhances
our
tax
base
to
those
of
you
who
worked
on
the
or
TR
I
promise
that
your
work
would
not
have
been
in
vain.