Mayor Yemi delivers 2024 State of the City address at City Hall

Mayor Yemi Mobolade today delivered his 2024 State of the City address at City Hall. The main theme, "Road to Our Future," provided a recap of work accomplished by the City over the last year in five strategic priority areas, including the highlights below:

Public Safety

• The Police Department expects to reach full authorized strength of 819 officers by early next year. By the end of 2024, the department expects to have hired 130 new officers this year alone. It also launched a new 'drone as a first responder' pilot program.
• The Fire Department broke ground on Fire Station 24 on the north side and opened Fire Station 25 in the southeast. It has responded to 24 wildland fires, to date, this year, and has mitigated 1,400 acres and worked with 3,600 residents who participated in its chipping program.

Infrastructure

• More than 6,000 requests to fill potholes were received through the City's GoCOSapp. Crews have filled 73,000 potholes across the city in 2024, which is 8,000 more filled by this time last year.
• In 2024, the 2C Road Improvement Programhas repaved 162 miles, replaced 152,000 feet of concrete curb and gutter, and installed 600 pedestrian ramps. 2C is a dedicated sales tax that can only be used to repave roads and fix the concrete next to them.
• The Circle Drive Bridge replacementis one of many capital improvement projects taking place this year. It is replacing four of the 10 longest bridges in Colorado Springs and making them safer, more accessible and pedestrian friendly.
• This year, to date, the Keep it Clean COSprogram has cleaned up more than 2,900 tons of debris, filling more than 89 dump trucks full of trash, including 1,300 discarded tires and 1,100 shopping carts. City crews have also removed 10,000-plus graffiti tags and cleared more than 3,000 abandoned vehicles.
• The Colorado Springs Airport is expanding its air service and nonstop flight options, achieving record-breaking traffic. It has also invested more than $36 million of federal grants and airport revenue on a three-year terminal modernization project called Elevate COS.
• The Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Department has focused on accessibility, including the grand opening of the city's first fully-accessible dog park in historic downtown Antlers Park. It has also made major safety upgrades to Memorial Park, including new lights, security gates and wireless cameras. The park's basketball court will soon be resurfaced thanks to a grant secured by local nonprofit, Hillside Connection.

Housing Solutions

• The Common Sense Institute, an independent, nonpartisan, Colorado-based research organization, identified a shortage of 27,000 housing units in Colorado Springs.
• The City continues to explore innovative building practices that could help address the identified housing shortage.
• The City has allocated $1.6 million in Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds to 1,194 housing units that are either under construction or ready to lease.

Economic Vitality

• In 2023, Colorado Springs saw its economy grow by 8.5 percent. That is almost 4 billion dollars. And over the last five years, the city's economy has grown by 30 percent.
• Peak Innovation Park, a business park at the Colorado Springs Airport that is home to Amazon and a growing number of defense companies, is estimated to add $1.9 billion to the local economy in 2025 alone.
• Since 2023, the City approved a record 12 economic development agreements, resulting in an estimated 1,700 jobs retained, 3,000 new jobs, $1.6 billion dollars in private investment and $125 million dollars in projected new City revenue.

Community Activation

• Pikes Peak Rising - a mental health initiative championed by First Lady Abbey Mobolade - launched this year. Its primary goal is to address the mental health crisis by raising awareness of and providing easier access to mental health resources. El Paso County Public Health has partnered with the initiative and launched Pikes Peak Rising 360, the State's first public web portal for mental health resources.
• Over 700 neighborhood gatherings have been held across the city in 100 percent of neighborhoods. The goal is for 1,000 gatherings to be registered this year on ColoradoSprings.gov/1000gatherings.

Mayor Yemi also recognized several community members for their contributions and highlighted the City's Strategic Plan, which was released earlier this summer. Looking to the future, the mayor addressed three focus areas to include good governance, addressing crime and homelessness response. This included an announcement of Aimee Cox as the City's new Chief Housing and Homelessness Response Officer. Cox served the City in various roles from 2002-2017, including as Community Development Manager. She was one of the first architects of the city's homeless response, and she has a 20-year track record of maximizing existing resources and collaborating with faith leaders, nonprofits, businesses and builders to create safe places for people to go.

For additional information on the State of the City, visit https://coloradosprings.gov/stateofCOS.

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