Mayor Speaks on Plans to Expand Economic Development

In his first State of the City Address, Mayor Al Nagy recalled the first two calls he received as mayor.

The first was a call from Newark’s , but the news was disheartening.

Representatives from the center informed him of their plans to close the Newark warehouse located at 6601 Overlake Place.

It was information that worried the mayor, who had just been elected in November. It meant the city would see a loss of $1 million to its operating budget.

But then another call came in, one that was more uplifting and reflected the ups and downs of the economy.

It was a call from a Palo Alto company representative inquiring about moving into Newark’s – a center that has seen numerous lease signings in the past year that includes tech companies of all kinds, including and .

This memory is one that set the tone of Nagy’s 30-minute 2012 State of the City Address at the that gave insight on the successes and challenges the city of Newark has experienced and where it’s headed.

Such successes included the restoration of several programs and services made possible by revenue generated from the voter-approved Measure U – a 3.5 percent utility users tax.

Among those services and programs were the re-opening of the , the addition of police officers, reinstatement of , school crossing guards and the addition of parks and landscape staffing.

But Nagy said the restorations that have taken place were made with a conservative approach in order to rebuild the city’s reserves and the city’s budget remains uncertain due to budget cuts being made on a state level and rising pension rates.

“We’re definitely not out of the woods yet, but we are in better condition than we were a year ago,” Nagy said. “We continue to monitor issues and events that can and will impact our budget situation in the future.”

While Newark has also seen a loss of big-box stores, such as at NewPark Mall and , a number of other businesses have opened, including , , and Cruise America.

And several high tech and biotech companies .

“These moves highlight a trend of companies realizing the advantages of relocating to Newark,” Nagy said.

Nagy said the city will continue to work on attracting and retaining businesses by expanding its economic development.

To do this, city leaders will strive to expand its business outreach efforts, enhance its city promotional efforts, work on a city-wide hotel marketing plan and better use the city’s website and social media to increase communication between the city and its residents.

The city of Newark is also in the process of enhancing and updating its general plan - a document that outlines guidelines for development thoughout the city

“What we plan today has a great effect on where we’ll be tomorrow … Newark is, as I like to say, on a roll,” Nagy said. “We will continue to work to make Newark the community people are proud to call home.

Check back on Patch to watch the full video of the 2012 State of the City Address.

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