Colorado Springs mayor gives annual State of the City address Thursday

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers spoke to his constituents and delivered a State of the City address Thursday morning.

It's Suthers' sixth State of the City speech, and it comes in a year that has seen big changes due to COVID-19 and calls for more police accountability.

Watch the speech below:

"Last year, I said that the state of our city was good," he said. "This year, given the pandemic and the economic downturn, I think it's excellent."

Because of the pandemic, the speech was not held at The Broadmoor, its traditional location. Instead, Suthers delivered his remarks at The Pinery, a gathering spot just west of downtown. An audience of around 100 wore masks and sat in spaced-out chairs to observe social distancing.

The mayor said Colorado Springs is showing remarkable resiliency by recovering from the pandemic better than most other cities.

"That's partly because we haven't been hit as hard as other cities," he said. "Out citizens have done a great job of following the advice of health officials to limit the spread of the virus."

Suthers said that while some aspects of the local economy -- such as tourism -- have been slow to recover, other aspects are booming.

"Construction has had a 60% increase in use tax revenue," he said. "Hotel construction has continued, Amazon has continued to build its new distribution center at the airport, new construction along Interquest Parkway hasn't slowed and nearly every other construction project has finished or is still on schedule."

The mayor said he'd like to see more state support for transportation funding, among other needs.

"We're starting to get our fair share when we weren't, historically," he said. "I have a good relationship with the governor but I'd like to see the state legislature step up and do more. U.S. 24 and Powers Boulevard are all going to need improvements in the next decade or we're going to be in trouble."

Suthers asked for voters to support measure 2-A on the November ballot as a way to help speed up the city's economic recovery process.

"Under TABOR -- the Taxpayer Bill of Rights -- any decline in revenue during a year also decreases the base for growth and revenue in future years, even if the economy improves. It could take us as long as four years to get back to where we were in 2019."

Suthers said voting yes on 2-A will counteract the potential lost revenue, and failure would force the city to cut services.

"And it requires no tax increase whatsoever," he said. "It just allows us to use 2019 as a base instead of 2020 when we know we'll have less revenue. The City Council agrees with me on this."

On the issue of police accountability, he praised the council for going through 800 applicants for 11 positions on the newly-created citizen review committee.

"We have a racial and philosophical balance," he said. "It remains to be seen how the group will work together, but I'm optimistic. What I hope for is a much better dialogue between the police department and the community as a whole."

Suthers also handed out several awards during his address.

Spirit of the Springs Lifetime Achievement Award: William (Bill) Hybl, a longtime civic leader as well as an Army veteran, former city prosecutor and state lawmaker, and executive for the U.S. Olympic Committee, The Broadmoor and the El Pomar Foundation.

Spirit of the Springs Award: El Paso County Public Health Director Susan Wheelan, County Medical Director Dr. Robin Johnson, and Deputy Medical Director Dr. Leon Kelly for their leadership roles during the pandemic.

City Employee of the Year: Pedro Laumbach, a former local TV news photographer who joined the city's Neighborhood Services department in 2017 and has been promoted twice for his dedication and hard work.

To read the mayor's entire State of the City address, visit: https://coloradosprings.gov/stateofthecity2020.