CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin will give the City of Charleston’s 2020 State of the City address on Monday evening and she is promising some surprises about future plans.
Goodwin told MetroNews there are “exciting plans” that will be rolled out Monday inside the City Council Chambers that are “substantial announcements and investments.”
The speech, which will take place during the regular City Council meeting, will highlight progress made in 2019 and talk about the City’s vision and priorities in 2020 and beyond, per release.
“I have learned so much in the past 365 days, it’s been eye-opening,” Goodwin told MetroNews about her first year in office. “The challenges we have faced from infrastructure that need time and attention, budget deficits and tornadoes.
“We’ve learned a lot. But we are proud of our accomplishments, knowing that we still have a long way to go. Surprisingly, we’ve already come across a year.”
One of the biggest stories of the past year in Charleston was the June tornado that went through the South Hills community and into downtown. The National Weather Service in Charleston recently named the rare occurrence as the top weather event in the state in 2019.
Goodwin said she learned so much during that period.
“What was great for us at that time was understanding the unbelievable first responders that we have in the community,” she said. “They dealt with home rescues and making sure people were safe when we had no communication and no power. It was a trying time.”
Goodwin, who was the first woman to take the Charleston mayor office last January, said there will be parts of her speech that won’t be a surprise.
She said her administration, which she credited for a successful year, will stick to the same philosophy.
“I am not going to spend a dollar that doesn’t give me a large return on investment,” Goodwin said.
“I’m going to continue to invest in paving and infrastructure that have been woefully underfunded and invest in a robust housing plan. We are continuing to demolish homes and structures that have been an eyesore but it’s also a plan to build the city back up.”