Mayor Buddy Dyer's
State of the City Address
January 24, 2005
Council Chambers

Thank you for that warm applause and introduction. City Commissioners, County Commissioners, distinguished guests and fellow citizens here and at home -- we are gathered this morning for you to hear my report on the state of our great city.

We come together after a year in which we faced as a community and a state unparelled threats as a result of Mother Nature. While we face millions of dollars in clean up costs, we were blessed by the fact that we did not have the loss of life that some of our sister cities in Florida had as a result of Charley, Francis, Ivan and Jeanne.

The storms caused all of us to reflect on what is important in our lives, in our communities and in our families. And our city came together with neighbor helping neighbor and our city employees worked tirelessly to get our city back to normal. With the worst of times upon us, the best in all of us here in Orlando came to light and I cannot tell you how proud I was to represent this community when interviewed by reporters from around the nation as we faced these weather disasters.

I wanted to start by simply saying thank you to all of you here today, listening or watching at home and to our city workers for seeing us through those difficult days.

I speak to you today as I did one year ago, with our nation at war and some of our own city employees on leave serving overseas.

Let me say thank you to those families from our city that have loved ones standing a post overseas in our armed forces so that we may meet in this hall today. Words cannot express the gratitude we owe your sons and daughters and especially those men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice this past year so that we may remain safe and secure here at home. They and their sacrifice should never be forgotten.

I would also like to take a moment to recognize some of our finest local heroes and the department they serve. This year, Fire Chief Bob Bowman and the dedicated men and women who serve the citizens of Orlando under his leadership will help the Orlando Fire Department celebrate 120 years of outstanding service. I know I speak for this entire community when I say how proud we are of the history of this fire department and the generations of fire fighters who have served us through 12 decades … and I deliver our sincerest thank you.

Next month I will start my third year in office.

I do so having been faced with: three different budget deficits, something that hasn’t happened in the city’s history; three hurricanes in one season, which has not happened to the city in recent memory; and economic times and conditions that have caused me to have to tell those who supported me, both here in City Hall and in the State Legislature, that I cannot give them the raises they believe they deserve…tough and challenging times.

I am here to report to you today that we have met those challenges head on. While many cities would simply maintain the status quo, hunker down and wait for better economic times, or take the beaten path of raising taxes at a time when people can least afford an increase, we faced these challenges and not only met them without raising property taxes, but have moved our city forward in ways that many did not think possible even in good economic times.

Just take a look at what we have done for our neighborhoods. While unemployment has been high these past two years, interest rates have been at an all time low. As a result your City Council authorized the sale of $25 million dollars in bonds to fund the backlog of neighborhood capital construction projects that I found when I took office. We did so because these projects will not get any cheaper, the cost of borrowing money will never be this cheap and because I along with your commission did not want one more generation of kids to go through the Smith Center without a new swimming pool. Right, Commissioner Page.

There will be a new pool at the Smith Center for the kids who live in that neighborhood. Our neighbors in Rosemont and College Park will get new community centers and the Dover Shores Community Center will get a new addition for its area residents. We are spending the money to complete the revitalization and renovation of Lake Eola. We maintained our commitment to provide the matching funds for the Hope VI project in Parramore. And we are working with Commissioner Lynum to address the recreational needs of the families who live in Ivey Lane and Rock Lake. We needed to keep Orlando moving forward and we did so by being smart and taking advantage of market conditions in these difficult economic times.


And, with the help of our city council, not only have we balanced the city budget, but in the last two fiscal years we have managed those budgets to a general fund surplus. Through a combination of cost saving measures, operating efficiencies and prudent management by our city staff and Cabinet, we reduced our projected expenditures by $6 million during the last budget year. Coupled with a slight increase in sales tax revenues and a change in the state revenue sharing formula we received an additional $2 million dollars giving us an $8 million dollar surplus.

This surplus will allow us to do two things that will help move our city forward. First, we will use $5 million dollars of the surplus to wipe out all of the non-reimbursable hurricane expenses leaving the City free and clear of the costs of the hurricanes. Second, I have asked that the remaining $3 million dollars of the budget surplus be directed to the Capital Improvement Program fund, which was established to finance capital projects. When I took office we had a gap in this fund of almost $21 million. In other words, prior to my taking office, the City had capital projects in progress but was $21 million short on cash available to pay for those projects. In the last 21 months we have closed that gap to $7 million dollars. With the additional $3 million from the surplus we will have closed the gap to $4 million dollars…all because your city staff, managers, and Cabinet and council have shown outstanding leadership in managing city departments in a prudent fashion and I would ask that all of you give them a hand for being outstanding stewards of your cities financial resources.

That is not say that we do not face budget challenges in the years ahead. For the first time in our city’s history we now develop and review budget projections far into the city’s future. While not perfect, it allows us to make some assumptions and review commitments based on future revenues and expenditures. Those projections while subject to change, indicate that our projected expenditures still outpace our revenues by as much as $20 million dollars annually.

The chief reason for this imbalance is the growth in our public safety budgets following the terrorist attacks on September 11th. Like many cities, Orlando added police and fire personnel and equipment to our public safety ranks at a time when many believed that the federal government would help with the costs associated with the post 9/11 world we now live in. Those dollars have not been forthcoming from the Federal Government leaving many cities, including ours, with double-digit growth in public safety budgets while our revenues remain flat.

Our first challenge for this year will be to address with certainty this systemic budget issue we face and we need to do it without eliminating people or raising property taxes. We now have a budget team in place led by our budget director Deborah Girard, who arrives at work each day never seeing problems, but always seeing opportunities. With her leadership and that of our Cabinet I am confident in our ability to present to this City Council a balanced budget this July that addresses this systemic challenge for this year as well as years to come.

This past year our City was recognized twice for the quality of budget and performance information we provide.

This Department received a Certificate of Achievement from the International City/County Management Association for our use of performance data in strategic and management decision-making. This is the second year in a row that they have received this award.

The City also received the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association. This recognition is given to governments that produce high-quality budget documents that demonstrate the use of budgeting best practices and effective communication with decision-makers and citizens.

With their assistance we will meet this budget challenge and in doing so maintain the level of services that our citizens have come to expect.

Second, our city like any city needs to grow and expand as our region grows and expands. As County Mayor Crotty has said we need smart growth … and it needs to be done in conjunction with a solid planning process with our neighboring cities and our county. We must ensure that new developments provide the infrastructure we need as a city to maintain our outstanding levels of service to our citizens. New firehouses and public safety facilities, new roads and new schools need to be a part of any development plan presented to the city and a revenue source identified and provided as a method to cover the costs of City growth in the future.

Ten years ago the City of Orlando and Orange County entered into a Joint Planning Agreement which outlined where and how the two governments would deal with annexation issues, borders and boundaries and where and how public safety services would be provided. In 2005, this agreement will reach its expiration.

We should not see this as an end to intergovernmental cooperation, but as an opportunity to improve upon the way we will work together to plan for future growth. We need to understand that our city will move forward only when our county is standing with us. Our county and city will not move forward in the present atmosphere of unhealthy competition, our city and county will thrive when we reach consensus through a new Joint Planning Agreement. I know we can iron out a new agreement by the end of the year.

On this issue, as we do on most issues, Mayor Crotty and I agree. We need a new, strong Joint Planning Agreement that recognizes the commitment that the county has made to areas of our region and clearly enunciates a planning and growth strategy for both government entities. That is why today I am happy to announce that both Mayor Crotty and I will direct city and county staff to begin working on a new Joint Planning Agreement. Our ability to maintain a level of consensus and cooperation between our city and our county is absolutely essential to our continued growth and development and on behalf of the City of Orlando I want to take this opportunity to thank Mayor Crotty for his leadership on this issue.

And, as we look toward the future to plan for growth, we would be remiss if we did not examine the most important issue to sustaining our region’s quality of life and economic vitality – water. As this vital resource becomes increasingly limited, and thereby more valuable, we have a vital responsibility to manage our water assets to maximize the public benefit today and tomorrow. No matter who handles the day-to-day administration of services, responsibility for protecting our water assets resides here in City Hall.

I am committed to protecting the environment, ensuring that we have high quality, affordable water supplies, working with our neighbors to help secure their future, and creating financial stability … and the board of the Orlando Utilities Commission is equally committed. We have agreed to work together over the next few months to determine the most efficient way to manage our water resources in the best interest of this community. This may mean that water resources, including drinking water, waste water and reclaimed water are consolidated in a City department, within OUC, or within a separate public entity dedicated to protecting our water resources and environment.

While we have just begun the evaluation process, I am confident that the City, working in conjunction with OUC, will reach the best solution for our citizens and the environment.

Third, our city has grown the last ten years within the boundaries of the present Joint Planning Agreement and while we have been committed to the growth and benefits it brings to our city we need to redouble our commitment to providing our citizens with the level of public safety they expect and deserve. We already have a new public safety facility in the planning phase and my third goal for this year will be to bring to this city council a plan for the development and completion of three new fire stations for the Lake Nona area, the Mall of Millennia site and Baldwin Park. Under the guidance and leadership of Fire Chief Bowman our city maintains a fire service insurance rating of class 2, which means our citizens enjoy the benefits of fire service that is ranked within the top 1% nationally. We provide lower insurance rates for our community and maintain outstanding service. But as we grow, to maintain that level of service, we need to be committed to ensuring that we have the neighborhood firehouses our department needs to reach all areas of the city in less than five minutes. Now is the time, even in these tight economic circumstances to find the dollars we need to ensure our public safety future.

Fourth, we need to put the finishing touches on our downtown renaissance.

As I sought this office for the first time two years ago, I asked all of you to imagine a great city with a downtown that has restaurants and retail, a vibrant performing arts center, and professional sports drawing in citizens from not just our city or Orange County but throughout the entire central Florida region.

Downtown currently has more than $1.4 billion in construction projects under way and proposed… combined they total 3,600 residential units, 391,000 square feet in retail space and just under 1 million square feet in office space. For the first time people want to work, play and live in downtown Orlando and that as all of you know is the first step to ensuring the future of any downtown.

Simply look out your windows and you will see the rebirth and rebound of our downtown as it ebbs and flows with construction traffic and cranes, and the progress we have made in our journey to build the great city I have asked you to imagine.

And in the process let me just take a minute to say thank you to our city council members who have embraced much of what we have done and have always been there to move our agenda forward.

Your expectations for our City are high, but not higher than mine. When I came into office, I found opportunities to use our healthy real estate market to the City’s advantage.

We have had great success in helping along the rebirth of our downtown core. The Premier Trade Plaza project is a tremendous success on its own, and is a symbol of what we have managed to do in our downtown.

On the north parking lot of City Hall a new tower is emerging for the expansion of CNL, one of our largest downtown employers. The 55 West project, will rise from the site of Church Street Market and the City’s Pine Street garage. The recently approved UCF Film and Digital Media School is now located in the Expo Center and at buildout will house 3,500 students for classes. Our City Council approved the selection of Lincoln Property and Dynetech Corporation’s proposal to redevelop the City’s parking lot #2 on Washington St. and Magnolia Avenue.

We have reached an agreement with a development group to build the first grocery store in our core in decades. This unique project will rise on the south side of Lake Eola and will include residential condominiums above the 29,000 square foot Publix store. A full service grocery store is one of the key pieces of the puzzle in making downtown the 24-hour City we all envision and takes us one step closer to creating a neighborhood where a car is not necessary.

As we head toward the city’s part in the completion of our downtown renaissance I am happy to announce that your City Council will consider a memorandum of understanding at our Council meeting on February 7th that will facilitate the development of the Penney’s block on Orange Avenue between Jefferson and Washington streets. The city had under design an 800 space parking facility on West Washington. In an effort to facilitate the development of the entire block, it is my hope that our city council will vote to approve an agreement to build a new 2,300 space parking garage that will provide parking for the existing Penny’s building and a new 32 story office condominium project to be built on top of the new city garage. This new project will feature retail on the first floor and will preserve and enhance the outer facades of the buildings on Orange Ave.

And this project has no city incentives contained in the agreement. The city will build the garage and any additional costs associated with building a garage that can withstand a 32-story tower will be borne by the developer…some guy named Cameron Kuhn. And before I go on, let me thank Mark NeJame and Rob Yeager for helping Orlando revitalize another City block.

Our parking project and office tower will provide further impetus for the development of a new residential tower currently being planned to rise from the corner of Garland and Washington.

Speaking of residential towers, I can also report to you today that your city council will consider a memorandum of understanding at the February 21st meeting to build two new 37 story residential towers on Rosalind Avenue overlooking Lake Eola. This project exhibits a magnificent architectural design and is sure to become a recognizable icon on our new City skyline.

These two announcements today represent over $400 million dollars in new construction for our downtown…putting us just under $2 billion dollars in new construction planned for your downtown core in just under two years.

All of these projects conceptualized during the past two years reflect our aggressive style of pushing forward on an agenda to make our downtown the most livable in America and create and build that great city I asked all of us to envision when I ran for Mayor.

Great cities in the 21st Century know they must develop partnerships with great Universities in order to develop the high wage economy of the mind that every city now covets. To complete our renaissance we have applied cement to an already good relationship with the University of Central Florida and today I am happy to report that our relationship with UCF has never been better. Under the guidance and leadership of UCF President John Hitt UCF has become an outstanding asset for our community and region.

President Hitt recently used the phrase “University of Central Florida Downtown Campus” and I can tell you that we at the City of Orlando intend to do everything we can to make that phrase a reality in the coming years.

One example is the new downtown location of the School of Film and Digital Media. Another was the formation of the Orlando Performing Arts Planning Board charged with designing a performing arts center that will include: the University of Central Florida’s Arts programs downtown. UCF President Hitt, Mayor Crotty and I sit as ex-officio members of the group. Jim Seneff of CNL and Dick Nunis who now is the Chairman of the UCF Board of Trustees are serving as Vice Chairs and Jim Pugh, President of Epoch Properties, is chairing this effort. In the past these efforts have been led by UCF or the Mayor. This group truly represents a collegial effort by the entire community, including UCF, to pull together to get this project out of the ground.

On this issue I am happy to report that Chairman Pugh and his Co-Chairs released a Request for Qualifications last week to move the project forward. The RFQ has been developed in an effort to formally and publicly look for a firm or firms that will take responsibility for helping the board finance, develop, create, design, and build a new Performing Arts Center for our city, for our county and for our region. From start to finish the RFQ process will take fourteen weeks and my hope is that in April we will convene a public meeting at the Bob Carr for the purpose of announcing the selection of the firm, provide them with an opportunity to review their plans and process as we move forward to building a new regional center here in Orlando.

This year we will successfully complete our downtown core renaissance.

But the measure of our success will not come in just the rebirth of our downtown core.
The fifth and final goal for the year ahead is to recognize that if we are to succeed as a city we must demonstrate our ability to bridge our core downtown with Thornton Park on the east side and Parramore on the west side.

Commissioner Lynum is right when she points out that few ideas that have surfaced for Parramore are new, what is new is the resolve I have to work with her to ensure that the time for talk has passed and the time for action is at hand. Next year I will stand before you and tell you that the first priority we must have, to build or restore housing in Parramore has begun. That we have broken ground on new restaurants and retail for Parramore and that we are planning to eventually blend our neighborhoods with new and innovative transportation modes.

Work has already begun on the Carver Court Hope VI project and the Parramore Pond project, two new code enforcement officers have been assigned just to Parramore and in the coming weeks we will announce a new Parramore initiative led by Police Chief Mike McCoy and aimed at the eradication of drugs and prostitution. We are permanently focused on making Parramore a livable neighborhood for her residents and second to none in our city.


And within the confines and parameters of Parramore and to the west are the sporting venues that are identifiable with our city. These venues have served us well for many years but now are in need of replacement or renovation.

It is clear that we must renovate the existing home for our anchor tenant at the Orlando Arena, the Orlando Magic.

The present configuration does not lend itself to producing the revenues they need to survive as a franchise. But more importantly we need to refocus our efforts and design a community around the Arena that will support not only those who drive in for concerts and games, but the students who will attend the Film and Digital Media School and Florida A&M University Law School; as well as the those neighbors who live in and around the area.

There is one relocation that does need to happen. If we are going to build or refurbish the Arena for the Magic and improve the surrounding neighborhood we can most certainly find the funds necessary to build a new permanent building for the Nap Ford Charter School in Parramore and that new Nap Ford Charter School should be second to none in Orange County.

Our other venue, the Citrus Bowl can be an incredible economic engine for our city and the neighborhood surrounding that area, but we must accept the fact that the Citrus Bowl is in need of an overhaul.

Plans by our partner, UCF, to explore building their own stadium should not cast a dark shadow over our plans to refurbish the Citrus Bowl. We will continue to provide UCF the opportunity to make the Citrus Bowl their permanent home. But the University will make that decision based on what is best for their football program and for the students at UCF. We must, as a community, recognize and commit to the rehabilitation of the Citrus Bowl not for a client or customer using the facility today, but because the Citrus Bowl represents a tremendous opportunity for a bright economic future and is in desperate need of restoration and rehabilitation.

We will continue to explore every idea for funding for the Citrus Bowl and when we find that formula and complete the project, the Citrus Bowl will be one of the pre-eminent sports facilities in the nation, surrounded by a vibrant and thriving neighborhood.


Two years ago I ran for Mayor and talked of building a great city, of ensuring that our children would have access to pre-k classrooms…and they do…that the city would have a living wage…and it does…that we would embark on a journey to build a new performing arts center…and we have …that skilled laborers would have access to bid on construction projects…and they do…that we would act boldly to revitalize our downtown … and we have…that we would not cut our public safety budgets…and we have not…and that we would not raise property taxes at a time when our economy is in a downturn.

My friends we have raised expectations and awareness. You hold your city government to a higher standard as a result of the work we have done and you should. Please know that while we have accomplished much … I know there is still much to be done.

On this 24th day of January, 2005 my fellow citizens and distinguished guests here today, after three hurricanes and three budget deficits I can report to you what many of my colleagues in Florida cannot, that while we have challenges we must meet in the coming months, the state of our city is sound financially, that we are well on our way to building the great city I asked us to envision and I truly believe that our best days as a city are ahead of us.

Thank you and God Bless Orlando.

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