Good afternoon.
It's that time of year again. Mayor Frank Scott Jr. went before a crowd at the renovated Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts to deliver his State of the City address last week.
It was the sixth edition of the annual address for the 40-year-old mayor, who offered reflections on the tornado that struck the city last year and paid tribute to the late Bruce Moore.
Here are a few takeaways:
Sales-tax increase: Scott still wants one. A push to get a referendum on the November 2023 ballot was ultimately called off, and Scott is now looking ahead to this fall.
“We are committed to showing results for the Rock, but we all know, more results require more capital — more money,†Scott said. “Our aspirations can only go as far as our money does, and status quo doesn’t get us very far.â€
The mayor didn't mention the amount of the proposed tax increase during his speech, but if the proposal looks anything like the previous version, it will probably be a 1 percentage point increase for an overall sales-tax rate of 9.625%.
Crime: Homicides were down 22% in 2023 compared to the year before, Scott noted.
As part of their continued efforts to improve public safety, city staff will use civil abatement procedures to cite businesses that have become hotbeds of crime, Scott said.
Housing and homelessness: The city's first chief homelessness officer hopefully will be on the job soon, and Scott pledged to pursue a "holistic housing initiative" with the goal of making homelessness virtually nonexistent in the capital city.
The mayor also made clear that he is fed up with landlords who allow properties to fall into disrepair. Scott said a forthcoming ordinance from City Director Antwan Phillips would give code enforcement officers more authority to address problems.
One more story for today: former Little Rock Police Chief Keith Humphrey has been hired.
Humphrey, who led the Police Department during a tumultuous three-year period, will become the University of Memphis' new campus police chief, the university announced earlier this week.
"My desire and passion for this position exists because I recognize a university as a unique 24/7/365 community," Humphrey, 60, said in a statement. "As chief, I will honorably utilize my 34 years of law enforcement experience to further strengthen our established and proactive public safety footprint required to keep students, faculty and staff safe."
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