Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin detailed several of the ways in which Columbia has improved in the five and a half years he has been mayor in his 2016 State of the City address Tuesday evening.
When he took over in July 2010, the unemployment rate was around 9.5 percent, he said. Now, it has dropped to 4.9 percent. Nearly 50,000 jobs have been created across the state, and over 11,000 of those are currently available.
According to Benjamin, the city of Columbia has invested over $12 million in new funding for public safety in the past year, and over 40 percent of police officers hired last year come from minority groups. He plans for Columbia to be the first police force in South Carolina that will be fully equipped with body-cams.
Benjamin then dedicated several minutes to talking about the devastating flood in October. He recited some of the shocking statistics: 16 inches of rain fell on Forest Drive in the first day, over 500 roads were closed due to damage and 45 dams in the area failed.
"I was out there every day in the the neighborhoods simply washed away by rushing waters," Benjamin said. "A disaster like that can bring out the worst in people ... But here in Columbia, South Carolina, something amazing happened."
He recognized the emergency respondents, utility and rescue workers and hospital staff who worked tirelessly throughout the disaster. He acknowledged the National Guard and the volunteers who dedicated themselves to helping those who had been devastated.
"I saw a world-class city become a city of heroes, and I want to take this moment to say 'Thank you,'" Benjamin said.
The tone of the speech turned hopeful as Benjamin went on to describe the aftermath of the flood as a time to "turn disaster into opportunity and innovation." This is a time to rebuild infrastructure to be more pedestrian- and bike-friendly and to beautify major roads into and within the city, he said.
Benjamin intends to establish nonprofits in partnership with the private sector to expand housing options for veterans, the homeless of Columbia and those who lost their homes in the flood. This initiative would create a "real, affordable workforce housing," he said.
He also introduced a city-wide literacy initiative that would work to provide more books to children throughout Columbia.
"We're going to make sure our children, especially our boys, have access to age-appropriate and culturally relevant reading material in a familiar and comfortable environment," he said.
He described his plan to increase the efficiency of public transportation and parking access in and around downtown. He intends to enact all of these plans with the same "fiscal discipline" that has maintained a budget surplus in Columbia every year that he has been mayor.
Benjamin closed by emphasizing the great amount of action that can be taken in a relatively short amount of time.
"I believe we can do it ... because I see a city, a great city, bound together with love, forged by tragedy and focused on a future of opportunity," he said.