Mayor Kim Wolfe's State of the City

Dave Traube

Wolfe’s State of the City Story

For a city that has been named among the unhealthiest and most depressed in the nation, its mayor sure seems to be an optimist.

Huntington Mayor Kim Wolfe gave his second State of the City speech earlier this month and, in a positively-themed presentation, updated the public on how the city of Huntington should progress in the upcoming year.

The first point Wolfe discussed was fiscal responsibility. This was an update of the city’s finances and review of the partnerships with local employers that were formed in Wolf’s first year as mayor. He also underscored the city’s commitment to employees despite an impending budget cut.

Obviously, it was important that Wolfe focused on the successes that he and his administration experienced in the first year in public office, even including the way the city responded to being labeled as a very unhealthy city late in 2009.

“We viewed this as an opportunity to showcase our community and the resilience of our people,” Wolfe said. “As a result of the show (Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution), Huntington has a kitchen that provides free cooking classes to our residents.”

An open and capable city government was another topic the mayor spoke about at length. Wolfe said he plans to invest time and resources into programs that would help the employees meet the needs of the citizens of Huntington.

“Training our employees has often gone neglected in times of economic hardship,” Wolfe said. “We believe that investing in our people is critical.”

In his 2009 address, Wolfe promoted the open houses he had been conducting in neighborhoods around town. The mayor said he believed they would serve a good purpose by allowing him to interact with the people of the city.

He did not mention the open houses this year, but instead said that he was responding to the needs of the citizens by creating a Citizen Support Center on the city’s Web site that would allow visitors to get answers to important questions about the city.

“From an administrative perspective, it (the new Web site feature) creates the opportunity for our office to have greater accountability when responding to needs.”

Budget concerns were highlighted by proposed spending cuts that tough economic times bring to the city, but Wolfe also explained that projects were still being paid off in an efficient manner and various sources of income continued to be pursued.

“We released the names of millions of dollars worth of delinquent municipal service and refuse fee accounts,” Wolfe said. “Such action has resulted in swift payment or new payment on these aged accounts.”

Wolfe finished his State of the City speech with a call for unity on the part of citizens and action on the part of city officials, all in hopes of forming a successful and healthy community.

“We will transmit this city, not only not less but greater, better, and more beautiful than it was transmitted to us.”