Hello from the Mayor’s State of the City speech, coming at you from the 4th floor ballroom of the Governor Hotel. There are plates of chocolate covered strawberries making the rounds. Ooo la la. The city has posted the full text of the speech here.

Mayor Potter introduced all of the officials in the room (state reps and senators, city volunteers), and now he’s working on the city commissioners. He praised Erik Sten’s work on housing so far, and Dan Saltzman’s “powerful voice for children and family issues.”

He joked that Randy Leonard is “a passionate advocate of… just about anything.” Biofuels, ending the war, you name it. And Sam Adams—who’s sitting with me and Scott in the very last row (which means we’re doing our best to act like grownups and not crack too many jokes… Scott and I, that is. Sam is always a serious grownup)—was dubbed “the only commissioner with the misfortune of a name that rhymes with tram,” he said. “Hi Sam. Sam the Tram.” Then he gave Adams props for helping make the tram a reality, and bringing the west side big pipe in “on time and on budget.”

Now he’s quoting Martin Luther King… “Life’s urgent and most pressing question is, what are you doing for others?” It seems that’s his theme. Cue VisionPDX… making your community better… it’s not just about “taxes and terrorism,” but giving our community a “true sense of ownership for what’s going on in our city.”

He says he's going to offer a first impression of some of the insights from VisionPDX. But first, a reflection on his first two years, which he says others have pegged as a time of "quiet contemplation" on his part. He says he disagrees, citing the Bureau Innovation Projects.

Now he's promoting the new incarnation of the sit-lie ordinance, claiming it "will not harm anyone's rights." That got his first bout of applause.

"There are an estimated 2,000 gang involved youth in Multnomah County," the mayor says—but "we don't know who half of them are," according to Potter (which makes me wonder how they know we've got 2K...). He gave props to John Canda, director of his office of youth violence prevention.

Now on to business, and economic vibrancy... "the city, including it's downtown core, is alive and well and bursting with energy. If downtown is in trouble, word hasn't gotten to Macy's or Nordstroms, who are investing tens of millions of dollars." He's also talking about the Klimpton hotels, the Mallory, the demand for office space downtown (occupancy rate is 90% and growing, he says), Tom Moyer's going to build a new building, the Port of Portland is becoming a leading import facility for cars, and "people are streaming downtown to live. Why? Simple. More and more people want to live where the action, arts, and culture are." All good news, I agree.

The city's free wi-fi, Metro-fi, is awesome, the mayor says! (In more words, but that's the gist—3,000 users so far! WOW!) Too bad I can't even find a Metro-fi signal, and I'm in the middle of downtown. Hooray for the Governor Hotel's own free wi-fi.

Now there is cake. On the table in front of us. I don't think we're going to get any.

"I also know there are serious concerns about a number of issues," the mayor says. Crime is down, and citizens are more satisfied with their police, despite the Chasse case. He wants $6 million to expand mental health care, train the police, and open an around the clock crisis center. He's adding an auditor to look at how the police interact with the community. Every precinct will remain open until midnight, starting February 15, and they're "working to keep some of the precincts open around the clock." Also beginning in February: The CIT training for every office. "None of us want another tragedy like that of James Chasse." He and Sizer both want officers to get out of their vehicles more often, and make Portland a "model of community policing."

Charter Review! Potter acknowledges that he and the commissioners are "wrestling." He says he isn't sure if it's greco, sumo, or mud wrestling. The strong-mayor piece of the proposal "is probably the most controversial," he says, before calling for a spring vote—another line that got applause. Adams, the swing vote—still sitting next to us, but not clapping—says he hasn't decided yet.

VisionPDX time. People value the "small big city feel," "it's beauty and greenery," "a desire for the next generation to inherit these gifts." Tell me something I didn't know. I bet folks dig "livability and sustainability," too. Wait! There were specifics, he says! Oh, but we're not going to talk about those. We're going to talk about our larger goals—communities, schools, arts, "strengthening the fragile relationship between the built and natural environment," accessibility for people with disabilities, and "working together to find answers to Dr. King's question," what are you doing for others. "Then think of the city we can become," he says. Portlanders believe Portland belongs to Portlanders, and he does too. Say that five times fast. Then he talked about eliminating racism, sexism, homophobia, etc, if we all believe and work at it.

"Thank you for believing in Portland, and thank you for allowing me to talk with you," Potter concluded.

Q&A time: The Dean of PSU's School of Urban and Public Affairs asks how the last two years would have been different had charter review—a strong mayor system—been in place when Potter took office.

He says he thinks the city's relationship with PDC is "perfect," but "it's going to get better." Perfecter? Blah blah blah PDC...blah blah periodic review of the charter. But he still hasn't answered the real question... how would he have run the city differently if he'd had more power and a chief administrative officer? He says it'll all improve efficiency. He's looking forward to "public discussion" of something that "has been an inside game." And he tossed in another call for a vote. End scene.