MIAMI – City of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez gave his State of the City address Tuesday morning at Smathers Plaza.
In the purest Miami fashion, Suarez walked out to Gloria Estefan’s hit song, “Get on Your Feet,” opening his speech by calling the city resolute, yet resilient.
“While other cities raised taxes, we cut them. While other cities penalized new industries, we welcomed them. While other cities defunded their police, we invested in them. (The) state of the city is strong,” Suarez said.
Of many major announcements in the address, Suarez introduced a new chief technology officer to coordinate the effort to bring jobs in technology to the city.
“Drawing owners and executives of tech companies is not enough. We need to put our people first by building and investing in a workplace development pipeline,” he said.
Suarez also announced the launch of a smartphone app called E START to help people apply for permits for new businesses, a chief wellness officer and the receipt of $14 million in federal funding toward rental assistance for Miamians.
“We are not New York, we are not Chicago, we’re not San Francisco,” Suarez said. “We are Miami and Miami we will stay.”