Thursday afternoon Cassie Franklin, Mayor of Everett, Washington delivered her fifth “State of the City” address since being elected Mayor in 2018. Here’s the full video.
Here is the complete printed version of the State of the City address by Mayor Franklin.
State of Everett 2023 speech_3.9.23 final
During the speech Mayor Franklin introduced five new Mayoral Directives
Mayoral directive 2023 – 01: Violence Prevention and Reduction
In 2021, our city saw significant increases in reports of shots fired, drive-by shootings, firearm theft and gang-related cases. These trends continued in 2022, with a 41% increase in shots fired calls and a 33% increase in firearm thefts. In mid-December alone, there were four separate shooting incidents in a 24-hour period that resulted in one death and four injuries. Despite ongoing efforts to curb this violence, it’s persisting, and we cannot let it continue.
2023-01_Violence Prevention and Reduction mayoral directive
Mayoral directive 2023 – 02: Behavioral Health
Untreated behavioral health conditions can make it very difficult for individuals to manage their day to day lives, including maintaining healthy relationships, employment, a safe place to live and other essential components of adult life. For the community, it can be equally challenging and even frightening to encounter individuals that are displaying erratic and sometimes threatening behavior on the street. Residents and business owners throughout the city, especially in the downtown core, have expressed frustrations and concerns about damage to store fronts, drug paraphernalia left in the alleyways and more.
2023-02_Behavioral Health mayoral directive
Mayoral directive 2023 – 03: Housing Choices for All
Everett is anticipating major growth over the next 20 years; the city’s population is expected to increase by 66,000 people (58% increase). To address the current housing shortage and accommodate this new growth, Everett will need to add 36,000 more homes. Though the City of Everett has made progress encouraging building throughout the city, the supply of housing isn’t keeping pace with the current need, let alone this anticipated population jump. This housing shortage is also contributing to increased housing costs, which puts renters at greater risk of falling behind and becoming homeless.
2023-03_Housing Choices for All mayoral directive
Mayoral directive 2023 – 04: Climate Action and Sustainability
The region is projected to encounter serious changes to its climate that will exacerbate existing concerns and introduce new challenges related to the City’s quality of life. Air pollution from these emissions could lead to increased rates of asthma and other pulmonary diseases. Significant changes in temperature, like heat waves, are expected to occur making droughts, wildfires and heat-related deaths more prevalent. Big increases in sea level could put us at greater risk during storm surge events – a higher water level translates puts more of the city as risk of property damage and danger during major storm events. Great increases in precipitation, combined with higher sea levels, will increase the risk of flooding for the community as well, especially near the lower Snohomish River.
2023-04_Climate Action and Sustainability mayoral directive
Mayoral directive 2023 – 05: Prosperous City
Right now, many local small businesses are struggling to succeed. These businesses are pillars of our community, and we want them to succeed – so we must find ways to provide support, connecting them with the resources they need to prosper.
2023-05_Prosperous City mayoral directive
March 9, 2023
Everett Government