Mayor delivers final State of the City address

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Photo by Heather Davidson
Photo by Heather Davidson

Mayor of Waterloo Brenda Halloran delivered the annual State of The City address at RIM Park last Friday, focusing mostly on the cityโ€™s finances.

She also updated Waterloo on the various projects and pursuits that the city has taken under her administration.

โ€œFor me personally, one of my favourite projects has been the supportive housing of Waterloo, building apartments for homeless people,โ€ Halloran said.

โ€œAnother was getting the skate park built for our kids, adding to our outdoor facilities,โ€ she continued. โ€œIn addition, getting our uptown square built, making a focal point for our uptown core.”

โ€œThereโ€™s a lot that Iโ€™m proud of.โ€

Another key message was about local steps taken to improve environmental initiatives in Waterloo. The city is moving towards its goal of reducing carbon emissions six per cent by 2020, while still pushing for economic growth by encouraging new infrastructure development and small business growth.

Halloran has been Waterlooโ€™s mayor since 2006 and was re-elected in 2010.

However, she has decided not to run again for mayor in this fallโ€™s upcoming election. Instead, with eight months left to go in her term, mayor Halloran is finalizing her administrationโ€™s current projects and looking forward to leaving the city in good shape for the next mayor.

โ€œWeโ€™re focusing on finishing the termโ€™s projects off and ensuring that the next person who steps into the mayorโ€™s chair finds everything put together,โ€ she shared.

โ€œWeโ€™ve got a lot of projects in the midst of being developed. Hopefully there will be one big announcement within the next month.โ€

The State of the City also included a special guest speaker, Ryan Jobby, who was the cityโ€™s mayor of the day.
Jobby, a local fifth-grader was one of many local students who applied for the chance to shadow mayor Halloran for the day.

He said that as mayor, he would work on sharing his insights on the city as a local youth.

โ€œWell, this is just one thing Iโ€™m going to remember for a long time,โ€ said Jobby on his thoughts about being mayor for the day. โ€œThis is just the beginning of my interest in politics.โ€

Halloran shared her sentiments on her time working with the city as mayor and the legacy she will be leaving behind this fall.

โ€œItโ€™s been an honour and a privilege to be mayor,โ€ said Halloran.

โ€œIโ€™m very proud of this community.โ€


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