GUELPH POLITICAST #161 - The State of the City 2019

The State of our City remains strong, but there's room for improvement. That's the "too long; didn't read" version of this year's State of the City address. There's been a lot of discussion and analysis about Guthrie's fifth State of the City, but as with past speeches in the last few years, the Guelph Politicast is giving you the chance to hear from the mayor directly.

What's the deal with the State of the City? It's an annual event held by the Guelph Chamber of Commerce so that members, leaders of the business community, can hear from the Mayor of Guelph about his or her goals for the year, and the political and economic standing of the city from the point of the view of City Hall. This year's State of the City was held at the Delta Hotel and Conference Centre on February 4.

Like Throne Speeches or State of the Unions, it’s a good way to get an inside look at the political thinking of our leaders: What’s important to them? What are their priorities? A clear priority this year for Mayor Guthrie was his Task Force on Homelessness and Community Safety. Guthrie said it was his intent to use the State of the City as a call to action to get the business community involved in his initiatives to address poverty and need in Guelph, and you'll hear that directly from the mayor.

But along with getting action on homelessness, Guthrie touches on the forthcoming Community Plan, Guelph’s status as a finalist in the Smart Cities Challenge, the Clair-Maltby Secondary Plan, the upcoming budget, the Transit Service Review, affordable housing, and many references to the NBC sitcom The Office. #NeverForget

So let's get into the State of the City on this week's Guelph Politicast!

The original coverage of the State of the City can be found here.

The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here.

Remember that the Politicast Podbean channel is also the host for podcast versions of Open Sources Guelph. The previous Thursday’s episode of Open Sources will be posted on Mondays.