It has been an honor to serve this great city as your Mayor, and together we have accomplished a great deal. A sense of pride and excitement about our future has been restored, and we have much about which to be very proud as a community. Consider a few of our major victories:
Together with the County, we now have a coordinated effort for community and economic development that's been called a model for the entire Commonwealth, and already paying rich dividends.
We have taken our city away from the brink of bankruptcy, and turned a $7 million deficit into a $7.5 million surplus. And we've done it while keeping taxes in check.
We've beefed up codes enforcement, added cops on the streets, and focused our efforts to make our neighborhoods cleaner and safer. Major crimes are down 35% compared to one year ago.
Investment in the downtown core has never been higher, and we are already capitalizing on a revitalization strategy focused on the arts & entertainment in a community rich in cultural assets.
We've brought more than 1,000 new, good-paying jobs into Reading, with hundreds more on the way.
We've made City Hall more citizen-friendly, with a single phone number for people to get the answers they need.
We've helped form dozens of new neighborhood groups which are working to improve the quality of life throughout our City.
We fought an illegal scheme to give Antietam Lake to developers, returning millions of dollars to the City and ensuring its preservation as a restored recreation area and County Park.
Ours is a record of many great successes, but there's more to do as we continue down the path of recovery and into a brighter future. Big change takes time. The old approach of political bickering got our city into a mess -- and we must continue the fight for positive change that is breeding not just hope and optimism, but also real results.
I hope to count on your support in 2007, and invite you to join our campaign for positive change.
You've seen what we have accomplished together -- and with momentum building every day, I am more certain than ever that from this day forward, the sun will rise over the Pagoda on a City that will be better than it was the day before.
I sincerely thank you for your support.
The content of this web site is authorized by Tom McMahon, and paid for by Friends of Tom McMahon, a political committee registered with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
