|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
After officially closing the door on the possibility of a Congressional run last week, Steven Reed formally began his second term as mayor of Montgomery Tuesday.
Reed took his oath of office, alongside the rest of the Montgomery City Council, during a swearing-in ceremony at the Montgomery Performing Arts Center.
In his message, Reed touched on the challenges the city faces.
“We all want safer streets. We all want better schools, better jobs, better prospects for our city—and certainly our neighborhoods and our residents,” Reed said. “We all see there can be better improvement. We want to see less blight. We want to see fewer gun deaths, and fewer people injured of violent crime. But this vision of Montgomery has more than a dream.”
Reed said his “ambitious agenda” for the city in his first term quickly had to give way to focus on the Covid-19 pandemic.
“But not only did we come out of COVID better than most cities, we never stopped planning. We never stopped working,” Reed said.
“Now—because of the plans we’ve made, the work we have done, the support you have given us—we can move forward with a better understanding of the needs of our city and the people who live here. But more than that, with this common vision and this common loyalty to each other, the plan is for every corner of the city, every neighborhood, and every street to be a great place to live, learn, and earn.”
Making Montgomery a better place will require not just leaders, but all Montgomerians to chip in, Reed said.
“It is my job and the job of every person who took the oath of office today to lead the city,” Reed said. “But it’s everyone’s responsibility to be a part of that success of the city. Whether it be through your church, your synagogue, your mosque, your civic organization, your fraternity, your sorority, your volunteer, or just you giving back and helping your neighbor. We all have a role to play.
“And so, since we’re all going the same way for the same goal, let’s do it together. Let’s build a city of Montgomery that we all know is possible. One that is full of opportunity.”
