NEW ORLEANS — Mayor LaToya Cantrell held her annual 'State of the City' speech on Wednesday afternoon, addressing the state of New Orleans.
Cantrell said she plans to continue to serve the city, which includes allocating money properly, investing in community and learning how to move forward.
"I knew that my tenor to serve as Mayor would be in crisis management and also focusing on addressing our old age, crumbling, failing infrastructure once and for all," Cantrell stated.
She mentioned projects with S&WB, community organizations and working with federal government to bring more money into the city and complete current projects.
One of those is the city's road recovery plan. Cantrell said the city was able to manage hundreds of millions into roadwork projects. Before her term, less than one percent of the resources were spent. Now, over 50 percent of the projects are completed with 49 in cue.
Cantrell said the city has over 600 million of "activating dollars" to spend in 2024.
In 2025, Sewerage and Water Board plans to have completed building the West Complex power plant, to ensure as Cantrell said the "city to live better with water" and able to pump water out.
Cantrell went on to say that 55 million was allocated to partner Entergy focused on "stabilizing and reinvesting in our grid, it matters relative to our distribution lines as well,".
The city also has 250 million allocated to ensure resilient hubs during storms.
"If nothing else, I want you all to know that the future of the city of New Orleans is bright. And if we continue to invest in one another, if we continue to lift up the good in one another, if we push away any barriers that those may want to throw in our way, we have to keep going," Cantrell concluded.
Watch the mayor's complete address below:
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