Saginaw Mayor’s

2023 State of the City Address

Good morning. I’d like to thank each of you for attending the 2023 State of the City
- State of the County Address. And a special thanks to the Saginaw County Chamber
of Commerce for hosting today’s event.

In attendance this morning are my fellow council members. I cannot say enough
about this group. They are outstanding leaders, hardworking and committed to
this community. I would like to ask them to please stand and be acknowledged:
Mayor Pro Tem Annie Boensch, Council Members Michael Balls, George Copeland,
Michael Flores, Monique Lamar-Silvia, Bill Ostash, Reggie Williams, and our newly
elected member Priscilla Garcia.

I must also recognize our City Manager, Tim Morales, and his management team.
Tim and his team have taken the right actions to promote renewal, restoration,
and, most of all, resiliency. I cannot speak on the State of the City and our recent
accomplishments without acknowledging Tim’s contribution and that of his team.

I’d also like to thank the rest of the city administration and all city employees for
their hard work and commitment to our goals. On behalf of my council colleagues,
I thank every employee for working diligently every day to strengthen our city, grow
our economy, and build unity in our neighborhoods.

It is an honor to stand here today as the mayor of this great city. I have never had
the opportunity to actually talk face-to-face with all of you and present this State
of the City. So, I want to take a moment to thank each of you and our citizens for
allowing me to live my dream as the mayor of this great city. You have put your

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faith and trust in me, and in this city council, to lead Saginaw forward. I promise
you I will continue my commitment to improve the quality of life in Saginaw and to
lay a solid foundation for a better future.

Today is an exciting day in our city. To come together, reflect on our progress and
to look forward to what is next.
We’ve come a long way over the past two years. I’m proud of our team and what
we have accomplished together. Through every twist and turn and challenge we
faced during the pandemic, I can tell you one thing—this team never stopped, we
never wavered.
As I travel the state and talk to my colleagues, elected officials from other cities,
they always ask, "What are you doing in Saginaw?" "How are you getting it done?"
I will tell you they are noticing the transformation that is taking place in our city,
and many of them are trying to duplicate what we are doing here in Saginaw.
So, to answer the question of: what is the state of the City today? If you know me
or have ever heard me speak, you know I continue to say, "It‘s a new season, it’s a
new day, fresh anointing flowing my way. It’s a season of power and prosperity.
It’s a new season, coming to me”—to all of us. I believe that. Things are changing
in Saginaw, and I believe we are succeeding. In a word, I believe the state of the
city is good. I believe we are stepping into that new season.
One year ago, I asked you to dream with me, to imagine the Saginaw we want for
ourselves and future generations. Today, I’ll share the steps we took over the past
year to make that dream a reality—how we got straight to work, day in and day
out, to build our collective future. A future where ALL—not just some—can thrive.

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In order to achieve our dreams for this city, we need a strong, solid foundation and
that has to start at City Hall. When you step back and review where we stand
financially and operationally today and compare it to where we were 10—even just
5 years ago, you will see a big difference. Let’s look at where we are financially.
Our City Manager and his Finance Management team have been able to maintain
a solid financial position by pro-actively managing our expenses and budget,
reviewing every expenditure, and closely monitoring revenues. In 2013, our
General Fund – Fund Balance was barely $270,000. At the completion of FY 2022,
our fund balance was reported at $10.3 million. And once again, our Office of
Management and Budget has worked with city staff to present a balanced budget
to City Council for FY 2023. This is very impressive, and Tim and his Finance
Management team make this look easy, but I remind you we are one of the only
cities in the nation limited by a tax cap and in order to continue to improve our
financial position in the future, there must be constant monitoring and adjustments
to the budget and city operations.
In our Finance Division, I want to compliment the work of our Utility Billing team,
who work daily to assist our residents with their water and sewer payments.
Throughout 2022, this team made hundreds of courtesy calls to our water
customers who were struggling with their payments and in danger of shutoff. Staff
members put customers in touch with partner agencies such as CAC, United Way,
and Michigan Homeowners Assistance Fund to obtain assistance on their
delinquent water bills. Through the extra efforts of this team, many citizens have
received assistance for water and assistance for delinquent taxes, mortgage and
rental assistance. Our water and sewer delinquency rate has dropped significantly over
the past year due to this available assistance. I want to thank our Utility Billing team

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for their extra efforts and all the partner agencies that were there to assist our
residents in need of assistance.

I also want to point out the fact that our Office of Management and Budget and
Finance Division have both received national recognition each year over the past
decade from the Government Finance Officers Association. We have developed a
commitment to accountability, accuracy, and transparency. We do not
compromise our standards and commitment to excellence, and we have remained
transparent over the past decade with our finances and our budgetary practices.

There is a fresh anointing flowing our way. I’ve been asked what I mean when I say
there is a fresh anointing? Fresh anointing is something we say a lot in church, but
I believe it applies to our city. Fresh anointing is a fresh outpouring to experience
more joy, more power. It’s the ability to do things in a new way, to go beyond our
regular limits and do things better.

We’re doing it differently throughout the city. Collectively, we are building a

vibrant and livable city. Let’s look at city operations and the new ways we are
delivering core services, building secure neighborhoods and enhancing our
infrastructure to improve the quality of life in our city.

We know that better roads enhance travel and safety in our neighborhoods and
ultimately lead to the long-term greater good of our community. In 2022, we were
able to improve almost 16 lane miles of roads, including major reconstruction along
portions of W. Holland Avenue, Lapeer Avenue, E. Remington Street, and
Wadsworth Avenue. We also completed over $1.5 million in preventative
maintenance on the Holland and Genesee Avenue Bridges.

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In an effort to inform citizens of road construction, closures, and the impact on
travel throughout Saginaw, we launched an interactive road construction map and
project dashboard on our website to help residents and travelers navigate the City’s
planned road repairs. I want to thank our Engineering Division and our Technical
Services team for their efforts to make it a little easier to navigate through Saginaw
during the construction season.

We know we must be progressive and look to the future to attract new residents
and visitors to our city. In our downtown area, we continued to make strides to
improve parking as we near completion of a new surface parking lot in the
downtown area. We also completed the installation of 6 electric vehicle charging
stations throughout downtown and old town. I’ve heard from many travelers who
were headed up north and stopped here to recharge their vehicle. They’re taking
the opportunity to explore our city while they recharge and enjoy some of the
stores, restaurants, and other sites around Saginaw.

Saginaw has some of the finest quality water in the country. We provide safe,
clean, reliable, drinking water to our city residents, as well as to our 20 wholesale
customer communities in Saginaw County and portions of Bay and Tuscola
Counties. In 2022, our Water Treatment Division treated and delivered 6.1 billion
gallons of drinking water and performed thousands of quality tests to ensure your
drinking water is safe. But with the age of some of our infrastructure, we knew
investment in the future would be necessary to continue providing high-quality
drinking water. This past fall, we hosted a press conference with EPA Regional
Administrator Debra Shore and Senior Advisor to President Biden and White House
Infrastructure Coordinator Mitch Landrieu, along with several other state and local
elected officials to announce $15 million in federal funds awarded to the City of
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Saginaw to fund an elevated water storage project. After 2 to 5 minutes without
power, the system pressure drops to a level of concern and will result in the
requirement to issue a boil water notice for health and safety concerns.
Constructing an elevated storage tower will ensure that the City is able to maintain
future compliance and greatly increase reliability of the City’s overall water system.
Our city and our residents will benefit from this federal investment for years to
come. I want to thank the federal government, Congressman Dan Kildee, and the
State of Michigan for this allocation. I also want to recognize the staff at the Water
Treatment Plant for their hard work by putting this project together. They did
outstanding work in the planning process and submitted the request for funding
that ultimately resulted in the award of these funds.

We’re making changes in every area of our operations and it’s having a big impact
throughout our city. This year, the HR team negotiated a new Healthcare Program
with retirees that substantially reduced not only annual costs but significantly
reduced Retiree Healthcare Unfunded Liability from $312 million to $156 million—
that’s a reduction of $156 million.

I also want to highlight the work of our HR team to recruit and attract the best
talent to the city. In the current job market, we realized we had to go above and
beyond when it comes to hiring—we want the best serving you, our citizens. In
June, the city hosted an interactive job fair and open house at City Hall. Our Council
Chambers was filled with over 100 potential hires who visited City Hall and
participated in the 3-hour event. In addition, for positions requiring a commercial
driver's license, the City now offers Class A CDL training to provide those employees
with the necessary training to obtain a Class A CDL. The new CDL Program, which

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would cost $4,000-6,000 to complete, has successfully trained 8 City employees.
That’s a FRESH way of doing things!

Throughout 2022, there were a lot of FRESH, new enhancements taking place at
our Fire Department. We have a new fire training building that allows our fire
fighters to train in a controlled live fire environment. With 11 live fire training
instructors, not only has our entire fire staff received this fire training, but we have
delivered this training to several other firefighters from around the area. The Fire
Department also upgraded its Fire Apparatus Fleet with the purchase of a new
engine. 2022 was also the first year for the completion of the Fire Department’s
High School Fire Academy program. The Fire Department, in partnership with Delta
College and the Saginaw ISD, trained 7 high school seniors with the opportunity to
become certified firefighters upon their graduation. 6 of the 7 participants received
their State of Michigan Firefighter I and II certification at the conclusion of the
academy.

Our City Clerk—Elections Division worked hard throughout this year to conduct two
elections in 2022—the August primary, and the November general election. With
record-breaking turnout during the November election, the process ran very
smoothly. This didn't just happen with a few days’ preparation. Our City Clerk’s
office worked hard over the past year to educate residents and offer additional
assistance on the voter registration process. They worked to ensure every poll
worker was trained to secure your vote and ensure ballot accuracy.

We’re working for you, Saginaw, in a fresh, new way. But, as your Mayor and a City
Council member for almost 10 years, I do acknowledge that we face many
challenges here in Saginaw.

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Like every city in this nation, Saginaw must fight harder than ever to overcome
rising crime and violence in our city. But I can assure you that the safety of our
citizens continues to be a key priority for all members of the City Council. Our Police
Department remains focused on preventing and solving crimes and prosecuting
offenders. This is made possible due to our strong partnerships with Michigan
State Police, County Sheriff’s Office, Department of Corrections, and the Saginaw
County Prosecutor’s Office.

I want to highlight the work of our Police Department’s Victim Services Unit. The
City of Saginaw is one of the few departments in this region to offer this service to
our victims affected by crime and crisis circumstances. Saginaw’s Victim Services
Unit was recently recognized by the International Association of Police Chiefs and
featured in their monthly magazine to highlight the Saginaw VSD and their efforts
to revitalize relationships within the community.

Our Police Department is also working to become a fully accredited agency with
the Michigan Law Enforcement Accreditation Commission. The accreditation
process will further enhance the department’s professional development and
ensure its methods, policies, procedures, and daily operations are in compliance
with the best practices or “standards” in the law enforcement arena. I applaud the
Saginaw Police for their efforts to connect with our community and provide the
highest quality of service to our citizens.

As you drive through certain areas of our city, you can see that we also continue to
battle blight and illegal dumping. Our SCENIC/Code Enforcement Division has done
an outstanding job over the past few years to attack the blight and build stronger,
safer neighborhoods; however, we made a concerted effort this year to do more.

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There were several staffing changes in this department in 2022. We have added
an Electrical Inspector, two new Code Enforcement Inspectors, and I’m pleased to
announce we now have an Environmental Enforcement Officer who is dedicated to
addressing the blight and debris in our city. Our new Environmental Enforcement
Officer will enhance our efforts to diminish blight and clean up the debris in our
city. We also now have a Director of Economic and Business Development who
will oversee our Inspections Division and Planning and Zoning. We 're excited about
the talent we have in this department, with an enhanced focus to promote
development in Saginaw while still building stronger, safer neighborhoods.

There is a fresh anointing in our city. There’s a change. It truly is a season of power,
Saginaw. It’s a season of growth.

It’s clear to see that we are a city experiencing growth and development. This past
year, our development partners at Saginaw Future worked on 20 projects in the
City of Saginaw that generated 202 new jobs and retained 174 with a total
investment of more than $19 million. There were 10 expansions and 10 attractions
or new business start-ups that led to more than 312,000 sq. ft. of new construction
or renovations.

I attended MANY ribbon cutting celebrations this year, and each one is significant.
It’s a sign that our future is about growth. To each investor who believed in our
city and our vision—thank you. I also want to thank our development partners at
Saginaw Future for their efforts to enhance development in our city. The
investment and growth we are experiencing in our city is a tribute to working
together and finding creative ways to encourage new development.

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I also want to highlight the work of the Saginaw Economic Development
Corporation in 2022. In 2022, the SEDC allocated $745,000 in new loans to existing
businesses, startups, and expanding businesses. Over the past year, the SEDC has
provided small business owners with numerous opportunities for networking,
education, expansion, and investment. The SEDC also partnered with the DDA and
the City of Saginaw this year to host the “We love Saginaw Businesses” Trunk or
Treat event. This special event was an opportunity for local business owners to
promote their business, show their support of the community, and put a smile on
the face of hundreds of trick-or-treaters of all ages.

We should all have ambitious goals for our city. As we continue in this season of
growth and expansion, we as a city must have a well-thought-out plan to create a
vision of what we want to look like in the future. In 2022, we approved the 5-Year
City of Saginaw Master Plan. The Master Plan is a blueprint for the city’s future
and serves as a roadmap to guide the City’s decision-making. As a member of the
City's Planning Commission, I understand the importance of the Master Plan. The
plan can only be developed through comprehensive surveys and studies of present
conditions and opportunities for future growth within the City. The Master Plan
becomes the basis for all development decisions and helps to establish regulations
to control the extent and layout of development within the City. Approving this
plan came with delays and extensions to ensure this plan truly represented the
needs of our community. When it came time to approve the Master Plan this past
July, we postponed the approval to allow more time to examine and analyze how
the plan would impact zoning in the city, our residents and future developments.
We took the time to receive more input from our residents and ensure this plan
was focused on community-centered redevelopment and revitalization. The final

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plan was approved in October and underscores our commitment to local quality of
life. The vision of this Master Plan outlines a bright course for the future of
Saginaw.

It IS a season of power and prosperity.

When I say prosperity, we must think about the true definition of prosperity. I
believe that true and sustainable prosperity is shared prosperity. True prosperity
is the ability to use the power you’ve been given to meet the needs of others.

We understood the transformative power that has been granted to the City of
Saginaw through American Rescue Plan Act funds. We as a council knew we had
the opportunity to deliver rapid-response aid while also pursuing bold, longer-term
initiatives to unravel deep inequities in our community.

This year has been all about ARPA. Early in the spring, the 15 member ARPA
Advisory Committee began meeting to discuss and plan recommendations for the
use of these funds. I am grateful for the work and commitment of each committee
member. Their advice and guidance through this process was essential. In May, we
launched our online funding proposal portal for 6 weeks for residents, nonprofits,
and businesses to submit ideas and formal applications for the use of ARPA funds.
This was a wonderful opportunity for the community to be engaged and provide
input on the effective distribution of ARPA funds. We wanted everyone to feel they
were involved and heard throughout this process. In the end, over 400 proposals
were submitted, with the total amount of requests totaling nearly $290 million. The
Advisory Committee members sacrificed many precious hours throughout the
summer to review and analyze every proposal submitted in the portal. In August,

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the final recommendations were presented to City Council, and it was then up to
council to make final funding allocations.

We held several Special Meetings to discuss each one of our Expenditure Focus
Areas and worked hard to address the key issues that negatively affect our city. We
took steps to provide housing rehabilitation programs that will have a positive
impact on the stability of our community, address the ongoing blight in the city and
the need for environmental cleanup, and provide residents easy access to healthier
food options.

In December, we rolled out the Home Rehabilitation program utilizing ARPA funds
to provide home rehabilitation assistance to qualified applicants. Phase I of this
program included $1 million in ARPA funds for furnace replacements for our
residents. Phase II will begin in April and will include roof replacements.

We also took steps to address mental health and the treatment available for our
community. We know we have many in our community who are not getting the
treatment they require. $5 million in ARPA funds were allocated to assist with
funding a Behavioral Health Clinic, to be located in the City of Saginaw, in
cooperation with the Saginaw County Health Department. We believe this
Behavioral Health Clinic will begin to fill the void in our community for mental
health care.

At our January Strategic Planning Session, we allocated over $19 million from the
ARPA Revenue Replacement Fund to support critical city infrastructure projects
that affect the community at large. Council also approved the final expenditure
focus areas of Youth and Development and Workforce Development. We
understand the need to reach our youth as well as build and train our workforce.

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Many of our current community centers and non-profits lack the resources to
provide adequate programs and the one-on-one attention that is required. With
these funds, we believe these organizations can adjust their current operations and
implement more impactful programs for residents. We now begin the critical task
of working with these organizations to ensure all expenditures are within ARPA
eligibility guidelines.

I’ve said it before and I will say it again, ARPA funding provided a once-in-a-
generation opportunity to build on key priorities as expressed by our residents, and
invest in Saginaw’s people, neighborhoods, and businesses. With over $290 million
in requests from our community, it was a very challenging task. In the end, we
believe we have invested in the programs, services, and infrastructure that will
make the biggest difference to improve the quality of life for every single Saginaw
resident now and in the future.

I may shock some of you by saying this, but millions of dollars in ARPA funding is
not the answer to solve all the problems facing Saginaw. We must all come
together to move this city forward, to create a better community, one we want to
call home.

Many of you provided input and filled our Council Chambers over the past year,
sharing your ideas, goals, and plans to build a more solid, secure community. It was
wonderful to see our Chambers filled and the interest from our residents. Now
that many of the decisions on ARPA funding have been finalized, I hope that same
love for our community will continue.

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In my state of the city speech in 2021, I encouraged all of you to go out of your way
to love. We need to return to that--let’s show a little extra love to one another and
to our city.

Now the work begins.

All of us should be absolutely determined to see our recent progress continue so

that future generations will know that in 2023, every choice we made, big or small,
was made to create a better and brighter Saginaw.

Every day, everywhere in Saginaw, there are opportunities for each one of us to do
our part and become involved.

• Join and support your neighborhood association

• Apply to participate on a city board or commission

• Volunteer for a worthwhile cause in our city

• Simply support our community by attending one of the hundreds of fun,

educational and entertaining events taking place almost daily throughout
our city.
In conclusion, I hope you feel as proud as I do as we look back over what we have
accomplished in 2022. There is a lot to feel good about.

I remain confident that our best days are ahead of us. This doesn’t mean there
won’t be challenging or difficult decisions to make in the coming years. But I'm
more confident than ever in our city administration, in the members of our city
council, and extremely confident in the citizens of this city that we will overcome
any obstacle or challenge before us. I am convinced that the progress we’ve

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witnessed in 2022, and the steps we are taking in 2023, will help ensure that we
are on the right path to a prosperous future and that we have positioned ourselves
to successfully travel that path.

It’s a new season, Saginaw. it’s a new day. Let’s all come together, do our part, and
create a better and brighter Saginaw.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the City and County of Saginaw, Michigan.

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