Mayor Tom Henry is giving his State of the City address at noon today, and, unlike the speeches of predecessor Graham Richard, it will be a real State of the City address. Richard preferred to give a series of smaller speeches tailored to the audience -- economic development issues at the Chamber of Commerce, neighborhood issues at a southside gathering and so on.
I know the reason for Richard's way -- bringing government closer to the people and all that -- but I still prefer the old-fashioned way Henry is going back to. The State of the City address -- like its state and national counterparts -- is supposed to give us all a sense of where we are and what we need, as seen by the chief executive. That gives us all something to chew over and write letters to the editor about. Richard's speeches tended to fall through the cracks, each given a minute or two on TV and a few paragraphs in the newspapers. Today's speech, by contrast, will be carried live by WANE and WPTA both and will get extensive ink and radio air time.
