I'm the managing director here at Hartford Stage.

We're so honored that the mayor and his team decided to get the annual city of the city address here.

And to be at Hartford Stage, really just representing all the incredible arts organizations in Hartford, from Real Art Ways, to Theater Works, to CT Improv, to the Wadsworth, to the Bushnell, and on and on.

I have left out several.

I'm thrilled that we are here.

It is so important what's going on in our city, and we want to make the very best of everything here in downtown Hartford.

So we're glad you came out on a Monday night.

I have the honor then of introducing TJ Clark, the council president, to kick us off this evening.

Thank you for being here.

Thank you very much.

Good evening to everyone.

Uh thank you for gathering here today.

Uh we're looking forward, we kick everything off.

We'd like to introduce uh our Steam Council colleagues that we have here, uh, Councilwoman Mirla Rosetti, Councilman John Gale, we have our Thomas City Clerk here at Loosa, our council majority leader, uh, Kelly Villadu, Councilman Alex Thomas, and Councilwoman Marilyn Rosetti, uh, friends and family.

I'm sorry.

What did I say?

It's the light.

Rosado.

How did I mess that up?

I think the two R's.

Um, as you are, as you know that the mayor is start over again.

Uh the mayor is required to deliver an annual state of the city, and we are thankful that he has selected this location uh to do so.

And with that said, I would like to introduce our 68th mayor of the city of Hartford, Mayor Arun Auralapala.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you to all of the council colleagues for all that you do for our city.

Thank you to the Hartford Stage for hosting us.

We as a city are so fortunate to have a cultural institution like this in the heart of our city, and it is part just one part of an incredible array of institutions that I like to say is among the best of any art scene in any mid-sized city in America.

And we're so proud of it.

And I will say that is why we created the Office of Arts, Culture, and Entertainment to be able to connect and foster the incredible art scene we have in the city and to be able to tell the story of the cultural institutions that make this city special.

I also want to say thank you to the Hartford Parking Authority for allowing Hartford residents to park for free tonight.

Their board was out there with their staff invests, they were going above and beyond.

And to me, that is indicative of the city and the love that the city employees put into the city.

We have incredible city employees all across the city of Hartford.

And I just wanted before I start asked everybody who works for the city of Hartford, would you just say it for a moment and be recognized?

Well, as I begin my third state of the city, I've got to start by saying this.

It is the privilege of a lifetime to get to serve this city in good times and in difficult times.

And Hartford, we've have had some very difficult times in the last few weeks.

I want to start tonight by talking about Everett Walker and Stephen Jones and the tragic incidents that took their lives.

Let me start by saying something that shouldn't be divisive.

Their lives mattered.

They are sons, they are brothers.

Mr.

Walker's case, a husband and father.

They are children of God.

And we mourn their loss, we search for answers, and we commit ourselves to doing better.

As a father and a resident of the city, I'm deeply hurt and angry.

And just like this community, I want real accountability.

But as mayor of the city, I know real accountability only comes from a process that is transparent.

And that is the work that we are doing.

I know that too often in the past, you've been asked for your understanding and your patience.

Instead, I would simply ask for your confidence that we will make sure that justice is served and that we will work entirely to ensure that tragedies like this are prevented in the future.

Hartford, the only way through this pain, the only way forward is through this pain.

But we must rise to meet this challenge and every challenge together as one Hartford.

Together, we must dream of a better and brighter future for our city.

To provide quality housing for all, to build a brighter future for all of Hartford's children, and to ensure safer, stronger neighborhoods all across the city.

Let's start by talking about public safety and the threats that come from outside.

People often say to me, it must be hard to stay hopeful as a mayor when you've got to highlight this president.

And they're right.

But when I feel down, when I feel the weight of the deep divisions of our society and the cruelty and chaos of Trump administration, I focus on the things that are special to me close to home.

I look at my wife, my kids, and each of you who I have the honor to serve.

And I'm reminded that despite all of the things that are wrong in America today, there is so much right in the city of Hartford because there's so much fight in the people of Hartford.

Make no mistake about it.

We will combat Trump's cruelty and chaos with community, compassion, and courage.

And we'll do it together.

Friends, today is a very special day for me.

Not just because I get to give this state in the city to all of you.

Today happens to be my mom's 70th birthday.

You know, my mom has lived quite a life in her 70 years.

Started in a town in the north of Sri Lanka.

She was part of an ethnic minority, and she was forced to flee her homeland.

And she moved to England, where she married my dad, but they couldn't legally stay there, and so they moved to Zimbabwe where they had me.

Uh and the three of us came to America together.

And when we came to this country, our legal status was unknown.

Our future we were unsure of.

But it's because of my parents' sacrifices that I am able to stand here before you as your 68th mayor.

And that is just one of the many stories that all together create the fabric of this great city.

Interwoven destinies of many people from many continents who came here to Hartford, made this their home, and then worked to make the city special.

Sacrifices like those made by Beverly Redd, who's here with us today.

As many of you know, Beverly is the president of the West Indian Social Club, which brings together the West Indian diaspora and creates a sense of belonging and community here in Hartford.

She's also president of the Upper Albany Merchants Association, which helps foster small businesses along the Ave.

It reminds me of the sacrifices made by cousins, Diana Virata and Michelle Castro.

Can you guys stand up wherever you are?

They're here with us tonight somewhere.

Oh, there we go.

They're the owners.

It creates an incredible.

Now it's getting more applause.

It creates an incredible community for our city.

And my chief of staff will tell you it's got the best crumb cake in town.

Dan and Michelle, I want to thank you for being with us tonight, but for building your story right here in Hartford.

Look, Hartford is a city that has literally been built by immigrants.

A city that two years ago elected an immigrant to be its mayor.

We're a city that will never forget what immigrant families mean to our community or stop fighting for immigrant families to thrive in this city.

So to every immigrant who's come here in search of a better life, I want to tell you tonight that in spite of Donald Trump's chaos, you are loved.

You are valued.

We will fight alongside you every single day.

We didn't ask for this.

We prioritize education, that we prioritize health, mental well-being of the most vulnerable of our residents.

That's why we created the city's very first office of violence prevention.

So we could better coordinate community response to public safety, addressing violence in creative ways, and not just focusing on the aftermath, but working on preventing violence.

With the help of our city's Office of Violence Prevention, Robert has turned his life around.

Through our programs, he's connected with a peer mentor and life coach, was a participant in the community violence intervention and protection initiative.

Robert is now a student at Goodwin University.

He's got a full-time job, and he's proud to give back to his family.

So in the midst of federal cuts to violence prevention programs, we funded a hospital-based violence intervention program to ensure that those who have been impacted by gun violence are met with the resources they need to heal from that trauma immediately, without perpetuating future cycles of violence.

And we created a public safety safety dashboard so that all of our residents can access neighborhood level data on public safety.

After they went a decade without pay pay increases.

And provides an additional $5 million in forgivable loans to build small businesses along Albany Ave, Barbara Street, Park Street, and May Black.

I hear North End residents talk all the time about when Barbara Street was a Mecca of black-owned businesses.

And my neighbors in Frog Hollow talk about when Park Street was the cultural hub for Puerto Ricans from all over New England.

Our small business investment fund is about investing in that incredible potential that neighborhoods already have.

You may wonder what's going in there.

Well, I'm pleased to announce tonight that a beautiful new sit-down restaurant serving wood-fired sole cuisine called 29 Markle is coming to the north end of Hartford to bring upscale dining and live entertainment with it.

Joining us tonight is Chef Damon from 29 Markle.

Family of Stanley Jones, the family of Will Bowen, the Amendment, your police have gone down on your watch.

And all you've given us is empty words.

All you've given these families is a directive to be fair.

To be patient.

All of your done.

What literally you have to say?

We appreciate your advocacy.

I'm going to be available.

I'm going to be available after this if you want to speak.

We've got a public safety form if you want to come to it on Friday.

I want to be clear about something.

And look, there's a range of folks who feel a lot of different deep feelings about this people.

And that is natural.

There should be pain.

There should be grief.

There should be anger.

And there are ways in which we can do that as a community.

As a city, we are only going to be as strong as the person sitting next to it.

And this is a collection of incredibly beautiful and strong people in this world.

And my my greatest hope, we're not going to sweep anything under the rug, just you know.

The city of Hartford has the most accountable and transparent process when it comes to police shootings of any city and state.

Nothing's getting stuck under the rug.

There's a process.

And to hold on to each other's hands instead of taking sides, hold on to each other's hands and draw closer as a city.

Why did you I was in the middle of I was about to talk about um historic investment in the north end of Hartford?

And I know I know that is a difficult transition to make.

We also this year set an ambitious goal in dealing with disconnected youth.

As some of you may remember a few years ago, the Dalio Foundation released a report saying that 53% of Hartford's youth were disconnected or at risk of becoming disconnected.

And we set a goal today this year, working with our Hartford Youth Opportunity Youth Collaborative to cut that number in half over the next five years by bringing together all of our youth serving nonprofits to ensure that not a single young person slips beneath the cracks.

And then what's not it?

We're working on building a brighter future for all of our children starting at birth.

Quality affordable child care is out of reach for far too many families.

Only 38% of our families with children ages zero to three are currently being served served by the existing child care slots in our city.

And I know firsthand what a strain this can put on families.

Investing in child care is one of the best investments we can make as a society.

When kids have access to high quality child care, it positively impacts their intellectual and social abilities and sets them up for success in adulthood.

Studies show that the public save seven times their original investment per child, pays off at a rate of seven dollars and sixteen cents for every dollar the public invests.

Investing failing to make investment in our young people.

And now, thanks to Governor Lamont's early childhood initiatives, we have an opportunity to chart a new path for the city of Hartsbury.

And so I'm proud to announce today for the first time that we're working with our partners at the state to make Hartford the very first city in the state of Connecticut to offer universal child care in the coming years.

It won't happen overnight, but our department of children, families, youth, and the mayor's administration are committed to making this a goal in the coming years.

Getting this done will create incredible opportunities for all of our young people.

And we know that they can't end with early job.

Some of you have seen the news and seen conversations around the board of that.

And let me say this read the top lines.

You know that the city can't pay for this out of our rainy day fund, which we've saved 10 years, cut salaries, positions, and see firefighters and public works employees go without races, fail to invest in roads and infrastructure in the way we'd like to in the city.

You know that we can't pay for it with taxes.

26% tax increase on our residents would be unsustainable.

And so we've got to work together to find a solution out for the city.

And it may require more accountability and transparency than we've had in the past.

But superintendent and I committed to each other that we would try to do that collaboratively in the days and weeks ahead.

And I appreciate that, Legend.

A group of people that need to be held accountable.

Bad landlords in the city.

I want to talk to you for a moment about the rising cost of housing because it is hurting our families so much.

Too many families can't afford the cost of housing, and too many of our families are in substandard housing with landlords who live out of state and fail to make the investment savings.

And so when I came into office, I created a problem landlord's task force.

And then we created a problem landlord's list.

And we named by name the landlords who were causing the most harm in our city and brought with it real accountability and focus enforcement on those landlords.

And what we saw was real success.

Within just one year, 92% of the owner units owned by the landlords we'd made were either transferred ownership or were in process of being fixed up.

That's incredible progress.

And so last December, we announced our second problem landlords list.

We talked about the statue of our first one.

And we also announced that we'd be working more closely with the state's attorney to tee up divorced landlords for criminal prosecution to ensure they know that they cannot get away with it here in the city of Hartford.

I'll tell you what happened.

Within three hours, one of the biggest landlords on that list called up our staff and asked, he was panicked.

He asked, What can I do to make sure I'm off this list next time?

And started to get to work on fixing up his properties.

It shows what we can do when we refuse to accept the status quo when we go to battle for the most vulnerable of our residents each and every day.

But believe me when I say that no city will work more aggressively or innovatively than the city of Hartford to meet the moment.

It starts with utilizing the land that city only owns.

Last summer I created a vacant task force, vacant lots task force.

And over the last several months, we've been working collaboratively across city uh departments and within community groups to pinpoint where we can take lots that have sat in the city's books for decades and turn them into home ownership opportunities to build generational wealth for our residents.

Then in partnership with Governor Lamont, we've launched a $4 million pilot program, the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act, which will take those vacant lots, couple them with local developers, and build home ownership for residents at 120% of area median income and below.

Over the coming years, we're going to turn vacant empty lots that have been sources of blight and crime to create the sources of generational wealth creation and home ownership for our residents in our neighborhoods.

And we believe that all residents should be able to achieve the dreams of homeownership.

So we're exploring groundbreaking ways to expand that dream here in Hartford.

We're working to develop a rent-to-own model that'll allow for renters to turn their monthly rent into equity after 15 years so they can own a condo.

We're also working to make Section 8 vouchers available for mortgage payments, generating historic opportunities for Section 8 voucher holders in this city.

Taking together these two initiatives will allow more renters to gain control of their housing futures and to build wealth for generations of Hartford residents to come.

And building housing over the sea of surface parking lots that have left our South End and North End disconnected from our downtown for decades.

But none of this is possible if we don't make it easier to get shovels in the ground.

And so in the course of this administration, we've worked to cut permit times by more than half in the city and are working to speed up the plan review process.

We know that building more housing is the best way to make housing affordable to all.

We're the first city to mass produce an electric car about a hundred years before Elon Musk.

We're the city that Mark Twain moved to, and the city that gave birth to JP Morgan, Catherine Hepburn.

But to me, it's not our history that defines us or that makes us great.

It's our present.

If we can work together no matter what you see out of Washington, I hope that when you look at the city of Hartford, you see a city full of promise and hope.

We can soar together, and if we can do all that, Hartford, there's nothing that we can't do.

So I am so proud to be your mayor.

Good night.