2008-2011 Mayoral State of the City addresses

OnTheIssues.org excerpts:  (click on issues for details)

Budget & Economy     Tom Menino: One-year wage freeze for city workers, so no service cuts.     Mark Begich: Closed $33M budget gap without using one-time reserves.     Cory Booker: Budget crisis: cut $60M in spending; cut municipal taxes.     Rocky Anderson: Persistent fiscal responsibility to balance budget.     Rudy Giuliani: Economic development requires maintenance.

Corporations     Cory Booker: Supports Women, Minority and Small Business Assistance.

Crime     Bill de Blasio: Fewer and fewer arrests, and crime goes down and down.     Bill de Blasio: The era of mass incarceration has ended in NYC.     Chris Coleman: Audit police response to alleged officer misconduct.     Cory Booker: ReLeSe: Pro bono legal services to ex-offenders.     Mike Bloomberg: Educate prisoners: build more classrooms at Rikers Island.     Rudy Giuliani: Home ownership decreases crime.     Rudy Giuliani: Need DNA Lab to Combat Crime.

Drugs     Bill de Blasio: Sue Big Pharma for opioid addiction; open overdose centers.     Cory Booker: Community courts for minor crimes like drug possession.     Mark Begich: Prevent youth from trying the deadly drug methamphetamine.

Education     Bill de Blasio: 75% of kids graduated High School; 59% went on to college.     Phil Gordon: City must partner with schools to assure excellence.     Mike Bloomberg: Slash bureaucracy; reward principal & teacher excellence.     Mike Bloomberg: End the shameful practice of social promotion.     Rudy Giuliani: Privatize failing schools.     Rudy Giuliani: Charter Schools create competition.     Rudy Giuliani: Voucher program for New York City.     Rudy Giuliani: Improve schools by taking on the unions & special interests.

Energy & Oil     Bill de Blasio: Divest $5B from Big Oil; invest in renewable energy.     Annise Parker: We are the #1 municipal purchaser of renewable energy.     Cory Booker: Weatherize of 450 homes; free for seniors.

Environment     Bill de Blasio: Ban Styrofoam in NYC; plastic straws are next.     Annise Parker: Inner city should have necklace of parks and greenbelts.     Annise Parker: Rebuild Houston: tackle crumbling streets and drainage.     Cory Booker: Work with Urban Environmental Institute on solar technology.     Cory Booker: Save our environment while creating jobs and wealth.

Families & Children     Bill de Blasio: Enforce paid sick leave for temp workers.     Bill de Blasio: Mandated up to ten days of Paid Personal Time every year.     Rudy Giuliani: Child Protection should move toward permanent foster homes.

Government Reform     Bill de Blasio: Let's get Big Money out of politics.     Bill de Blasio: Same-day registration and no-excuse vote by mail.

Gun Control     Mike Bloomberg: Put the issue of illegal guns back on the national agenda.

Health Care     Bill de Blasio: Health care is a human right; fight for single-payer.     Bill de Blasio: MetroPlus: public option for every single New Yorker.     Tom Menino: Health care is a right, not a privilege.     Tom Menino: State should grant cities power to determine healthcare.     Cory Booker: Newark Rx: affordable medications for uninsured Newarkers.     Mike Bloomberg: Ban trans-fats and replace with fruit & vegetable vendors.

Immigration     Bill de Blasio: Fight the inhumane detention of children at the border.

Jobs     Annise Parker: Hire Houston First: local workers from local companies.     Mark Begich: Anchorage employment grew by 800 jobs since Jan. 2008.     Cory Booker: Passed laws on prevailing wage & large-scale firings.     Rudy Giuliani: Work is a good thing.

Principles & Values     Chris Coleman: Vision of Cooperation, Responsibility and Respect.     Cory Booker: I believe in Newark as the city of opportunity.

Social Security     Marty Walsh: Must keep fighting cuts to Social Security & Medicare.

Tax Reform     Bill de Blasio: Fight the agenda of Trump tax giveaway to the wealthy.     Mike Bloomberg: $400 property tax rebate to all homeowners.

Technology     Bill de Blasio: Create premiere tech hubs, and create 4.5M jobs.     Mark Begich: Invest in Port of Anchorage & pedestrian-friendly downtown.     Mike Bloomberg: Wireless network for better NYPD and NYFD communications.     Rudy Giuliani: No privacy concerns with DNA-like fingerprinting.

War & Peace     Rocky Anderson: Invasion and occupation of Iraq is unjustified.

Welfare & Poverty     Bill de Blasio: More affordable housing than ever, and fewer homeless.     Cory Booker: Assist beneficiaries with earned income tax credit.     Rudy Giuliani: Welfare offices as job centers.     Rudy Giuliani: The homeless need special attention: reach out & help.

Click for quotations from other sources by: Annise Parker Texas Mayor of Houston Bill de Blasio New York Democratic primary candidate and NYC mayor Chris Coleman Minnesota DFL Cory Booker New Jersey Mayor of Newark; N.J. Senator Mark Begich Alaska Democratic candidate for governor Marty Walsh Massachusetts Secretary of Labor Mike Bloomberg New York Mayor of NYC Phil Gordon Arizona Mayor of Phoenix Rocky Anderson Utah Justice Party challenger for President Rudy Giuliani New York Former Mayor of NYC Tom Menino Massachusetts Mayor of Boston