Government Meeting 1/3: State of the City address

Huntington Mayor Steve Williams delivered his first State of City address  Friday at city hall.

Williams laid out his plan for improving Huntington and discussed what the new budget would cover.

This year's budget is a $1 million increase from last year's, making it $43 million, but will not include extra taxing or fees for residents.

The budget will help with Williams' main goal of making Huntington a better place in all aspects.

Some of Williams' plans include beautification of Huntington, adding art and gardens in various places, adding more business and revenue opportunities, and increasing tourism to the area.

Williams also appointed new people and organizations within the city. Two new organizations are the Mayor's Council for the Arts and an office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting. New positions in each department amounted to a total of 11.

Although Williams strayed from his prepared speech, he was able to present his plans for the city efficiently and with personality.

The mayor also recognized the city's employees for the work they do for the city. Organizations that received a special mention included the fire department and the Huntington Police Department.

With 46 percent of the Huntington community being renters, Williams said he will meet with landlords in the city to make sure all rental properties are safe for renters.

He also stressed the significance of his new beautification plan. Within this plan, the city will be cracking down on shabby or junky residents in Huntington. Williams said that residents must take responsibility of their homes.

"Indoor furniture doesn't belong outside, junk cars don't belong in the front yard," Williams said.

With Huntington being one of the most unfit and obese cities in the country, Williams said that it is important to focus on physical fitness in the city.

He will be taking an active role in this by having "Mayor's Walks," which will encourage residents to take action in becoming more healthy.

Williams said this, along with his other plans, can help Huntington go from the bottom to the top.

Huntington State of the City address- Extra Credit

Mayor Steve Williams gave his first State of the City address Friday at Huntington City Hall.

Williams spoke about several topics such as the city budget, instilling art into the Huntington community and a beautification plan. 

At the beginning of the address, Williams seemed to stick to his prepared speech pretty well, but about midway through he began straying quite a bit. By the end, it was as if he threw the prepared speech out the window.

The address lasted about 49 minutes.

Mayor Steve Williams gives his State of the City address Friday at City Hall.

State of the Union prediction results: Mostly correct, with a fewsurprises (Assignment #9)

In his fourth State of the Union address, President Barak Obama mentioned several of the things I predicted he would in my previous blog and gave Americans a speech that was both what was expected and full of surprises.

Topics I predicted he would bring up included: American unity, the economy, the deficit and fiscal cliff, ending of George W. Bush’s tax breaks, health care, gay rights, immigration reform and gun rights.

Obama mentioned all but one of these topics in some way. The topic Obama did not discuss was Bush’s tax breaks coming to an end. Although, taxing was a topic he did speak about.

The economy was the most prevalent topic of the address. Obama spoke about the country’s deficit and his ideas of how to fix it. These were the topics Americans wanted to hear about the most according to NBC News. 

Education was a major topic Obama discussed. His ideas ranged all the way from pre-school to higher education.

He stated that all American children should have the same opportunities to be successful, and it starts with pre-school. Another plan relating to education Obama discussed was altering the high school curriculum to better prepare students for higher education. Finally, he proposed the idea of making higher education more affordable so more Americans can take advantage of schooling and be more successful in life. 

Health care and immigration reform combined took up a large chunk of Obama’s address. He elaborated his ideas for both topics, and urged Congress to follow behind him to make these ideas reality.

There was a small mention of gay rights and equality, but Obama did not spend time sharing details of his ideas concerning this. The mention was tied to women and gay military personnel. 

Obama kept his theme of American unity from his inauguration speech from January 21, 2013. The theme was present in most of the topics Obama spoke about.

Finally, Obama closed with the topic of gun control. Because this is such a controversial topic right now, it made sense that he would leave this for the end, and leave his audience with an emotional reaction. 

As I predicted, there were some surprises in Obama’s address. 

One of of these included climate change. Obama stated that Americans should believe what science shows us, and live in a more efficient way that will help decrease destruction of the planet. He cited natural disasters, fires and other tragedies in the last 15 years and related them directly to climate change. 

A second surprising topic was Obama's proposal to raise minimum wage amounts to $9.00 an hour. 

Cyber attacks was another topic that surprisingly came up. Although, with the recent hacking of The New York Times, it may not have been quite as big of a shock for others as I personally thought it was.

Obama also unveiled his “Fix it First” plan to Congress and the country. Obama stressed the idea of fixing the country in all aspects possible. 

Overall, I think Obama gave Americans the address they wanted to hear. He laid out his plan for the year clearly for Congress and the citizens of the United States.  He also gave Americans new topics  to think about as the new year pans out before us.

As a percentage, Obama spoke about 95 percent of the topics I guessed he would. However, I was only able to guess an estimate of 70 percent of his topics. There were some topics I did not see coming or I simply overlooked. 

Obama's fourth State of the Union address was successful and gave Congress and American citizens much to anticipate this year.

State of the Union Predictions (Assignment #6)

Assignment #6: Predicting the Address

In his first State of the Union address, in 2009, President Barak Obama focused his attention on the war he inherited when he stepped into office. Obama talked about his visitation with military families and to military bases, the importance of schooling and the economic status of the county. 

When Obama delivers his first State of the Union address since being elected for a second term on Feb. 12, I predict the report will include commentary on certain “hot-button” topics such as the economy, equal rights, Obamacare, gun control and other plans he has for the year.

The State of the Union address is used as a communication device between the president, Congress and the rest of the country. It is an update of the president’s vision for the following year. This is important because it informs citizens and legislators of the country’s current standing, and where the president of the time plans to take it. 

One topic Obama will mention is the debt ceiling and fiscal cliff. After a decision was made to raise the country’s debt ceiling until March 2013, it seems like an important topic that Obama would want to update the country on this. 

Obama will explain his plan for pulling America out of debt, and pulling the nation back to its feet. 

Former President Franklin D. Roosevelt also faced an economic crisis when he took office. The Great Depression had destroyed the country, and Roosevelt was elected on promises that he would improve the country’s economy. 

Obama stated in his 2009 State of the Union address that the economy was in an unacceptable place, and since there has not been significant improvement, he will address this issue again.

A similar topic Obama may speak about is the tax break former president George W. Bush’s had in tact coming to an end.

Because Obama is a Democrat and Bush is a Republican, the two have conflicting views on taxation policies.

A former president that Obama shares similar taxation ideas with is Bill Clinton. Both share the label of Democrat, and tend to believe in taxing similar ways.  

Clinton has supported Obama throughout his presidential term, and continues to back Obama’s policy plans. 

Another similarity the two share is the fact that they were both elected to a second presidential term. Twenty-one presidents have been elected to serve second terms, four of whom were passed the torch, but later elected to remain in office, according to CNN.com. 

Another topic Obama may speak about is a change that will take place later. Some of the aspects of his previously passed health care plan will go into effect. He has spent much of his time in the White House fighting for this legislation.

A major topic that Obama has brought up on occasions such as presidential candidate debates and his inauguration speech is immigration policies. 

Obama has stated that he believes immigrants deserve to be welcomed into the United States, and that he intends to try and insure their rights.

A similar topic that Obama will bring up will include civil rights, especially those of the LBGT communities. 

The topic of gay rights came up in Obama’s inauguration speech. 

“Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like everyone else under the law - for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well,” Obama said.

The idea of unity is popular among presidents, and Obama shares the support of this with former president John F. Kennedy.

In his first State of the Union addresses, Kennedy said he wanted the county to come together and work together to be part of a successful, modern country. 

When Kennedy entered into his second term, during his State of the Union address he reiterated on these topics and on the progress the country had made. 

The fight for more gun regulations will be mentioned during the address. Obama will mention the legislation he has proposed concerning weapons.

Since the country entered what has been labeled by news organizations such as WNBC and Fox News as the post Sandy Hook Era, Obama has stressed his concern about the availability of guns, especially assault weapons. 

After the nation’s outcry for harsher gun regulations, Obama announced that he and Vice President Joe Biden would start pushing for some regulations. 

I definitely believe this will be talked about, due to the controversy that has been surrounding it. I think he will ask the nation to get behind him and support his ideals concerning gun rights.

The basic theme Obama will be for Americans to come together and operate as a unit. He stressed this idea during his Jan. 21 inauguration speech.

There is always the possibility that we will be surprised. Obama may come straight out of left field with fresh topics that Americans are not familiar with.