ROME — In her first State of the City address since 2019, Mayor Jacqueline M. Izzo touted significant city growth in both the private and public sectors and promised more to come.
“Today our city is flourishing with new job opportunities, better housing options, stable finances with no property tax increases for six straight years,” Izzo said during her speech at Mohawk Valley Community College.
“There is so much more to be done. What a tremendous future we have in front of us. Our city is on an upward trajectory for the first time in decades, and I will be anxious to see where Rome will be in the next 10 years.”
Izzo is running for a third term as mayor this year. She took office at the end of 2016 and she said the city “was stuck and trying to find its way” when she took over.
Since she was elected, Izzo said the city has maintained its A+ financial rating, seen a $70.9 million increase in assessed value, received $70 million in grant funding, and made $325 million in public and private sector investments.
“The city is most likely in the strongest position financially that it has ever been,” Izzo declared.
Growth
Izzo discussed at length the improvements to the city through the Downtown Revitalization Initiative, which started in 2017, from the facelift to the Capitol Theater to the new businesses and artwork along West Dominick Street.
“The progress to date in the downtown area is truly remarkable,” Izzo stated.
The mayor highlighted several upcoming projects for downtown, including tearing down the parking garages and replacing them with surface parking, renovations at City Hall, and improvements to both Gansevoort and Veterans Memorial parks on North James Street.
Several cleanup projects were hailed throughout the city, from cleaning up old gas station sites to transforming old schools like DeWitt Clinton into apartment complexes. The mayor said the city has secured $1.5 million in funds to demolish the former Columbus School and will soon have 10 acres of available land following the cleanup of the former Rome Cable complex.
She said the city is waiting for the green light from the state Department of Environmental Conservation that the clean-up is complete before they can put that land up for sale to new businesses.
The city is also waiting for approval from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to conduct improvements to Pinti Field on Sixth Street and to tear down the long-closed Staley Elementary School. She said they plan to build a new school on another property and not simply replace Staley.
“Our city is experiencing unprecedented growth in private sector investment,” Izzo said.
The mayor hailed the Orgill warehouse and their pledge to increase their employment projections to 350 employees in the city by the end of this year. She noted an expansion at Walmart and a remodeling at the Wingate Hotel, which will become a Fairfield Inn. The Verizon store on Erie Boulevard West also underwent a recent remodeling, and Mazzaferro Meat and Deli is scheduled to open their new store later this year, she noted.
City departments
In her address, Mayor Izzo touched upon the success of both the Community Impact Unit and the Street Crimes Unit at the Rome Police Department. The CIU saw a dramatic increase in the number of quality of life arrests and complaints it answered between 2021 and 2022, while the SCU made 190 arrests in its first year since forming in April 2022.
“Rome is and continues to be a very safe place to live and raise a family,” Izzo stated.
She praised the Rome Fire Department for expanding their work with local schools and students, not just during National Fire Prevention Week. The department installed 20 new smoke detectors in homes that had none, thanks to an increase in fire prevention education, and handed out 100 free fire extinguishers.
Izzo also touched upon the work of the Codes Department and Parks and Recreation and spoke about several upcoming events in the city, including the 40th anniversary of Honor America Days and the return of Locktoberfest in the fall.
“Having lived in this community my entire life, I am honored and proud to serve as mayor,” Izzo said to close her address.
“I believe we have had tremendous success moving our city forward by applying my business ownership principles to city government operations and understanding the intricacies of managing a workforce which has very different responsibilities in a variety of different settings throughout city government.”
