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The City of Richardson held its annual State of the City Address Wednesday, Jan. 26, themed “Making Richardson Home” and featuring numerous accomplishments from 2021 despite the continued pandemic, as well as the future vision and priorities for moving the community forward in 2022.

Mayor Paul Voelker, Mayor Pro Tem Janet Depuy, members of the Richardson City Council and leaders from the Richardson IQ® delivered the report as part of a free, open-to-the-public, in-person event at the Eisemann Center in Richardson. The event was also available for live viewing virtually and on the Citizens Information Television (CITV) cable channel.

The event focused on the City’s perseverance and collaboration during the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and winter storm Uri, its continued commitment to community improvements and superior community services, and its drive for fostering innovation that continues to position Richardson as a premier place to call home for residents, businesses and community organizations.

The evening also honored retiring City Manager Dan Johnson for his remarkable 45 years of public service and his 25 years of dedication to the City of Richardson, and recognized the appointment of current Deputy City Manager Don Magner as his successor.

The City’s most significant 2021 areas of achievement included:

  • Investing in city and neighborhood improvements.
  • Focusing on community services and engagement.
  • Fostering innovation in business and education.
  • Sustaining economic resiliency for business growth.

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Primary focus areas and specific highlights from each area were as follows:

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Investments in City and Neighborhood Improvements

  • Securing $18 million from the federal American Rescue plan to support the City’s largest budget to date of more than $330 million, which includes a one-cent tax rate decrease.
  • Supporting the recovery from winter storm Uri, a record-breaking snow, ice and freezing temperature event, through coordinated efforts from City front-line employees, including the Police and Fire departments, water crews and service crews who repaired 26 water main breaks, conducted welfare checks and responded to a record number of calls, set up a disaster recovery center to help connect residents with disaster relief and provided water discounts to all City residents.
  • Passing a $190 million bond program focused on updating key community and City buildings and infrastructure improvements throughout the city. Under the bond program, repairs will be made to more than 12 miles of streets and more than six miles of alleys as well as sidewalk repairs in three of the City’s seven sidewalk rehabilitation zones. It will also include renovations to City Hall and the Library along with improvements to Fire Station #5 and the City’s animal shelter. Playgrounds at nine parks will also be improved as part of the bond program. Finally, to assist in reducing flood threats, the bond program will fund strategic projects that include a stormwater detention facility for the West Fork of Cottonwood Creek.
  • Improving more than 18 miles of streets throughout Richardson along with more than 23 miles in alley rehabilitations.
  • Opening the North Texas Municipal Water District Bois d’Arc Lake reservoir, the first new, major reservoir to open in Texas in 30 years, which will expand water resources to Richardson and nearly 2 million other area residents served by the District.
  • Restoring the Holly Tank storage tank with plans for rehabilitation of the Eastside and Copper Ridge storage tanks, a new 5 million-gallon tank at the Northside Pump Station and expansion of other facilities to serve the projected growth along the President George Bush Turnpike corridor.
  • Expanding hike and bike trails with 3 ½ miles of additions between Breckenridge Park, along Duck Creek and at the Spring Creek Nature Area.
  • The new Public Safety Campus being ranked as second-best in the nation for architectural design by Law Enforcement Magazine and Officer dot com.
  • Completing the newly renovated Richardson Senior Center, which includes an expanded program space, updated exercise equipment and a resurfaced parking lot.
  • Dedicating significant community art installations and monuments in recognition of members of the Richardson community, including Memorial Park’s granite monument and plaques, which commemorate Richardson residents who died in the line of duty.
  • And, as part of the City’s Master Art Plan, installing Rising Star, a public art piece designed as a beacon connecting first responders with the diverse Richardson community at the new Public Safety Campus.
  • Revitalizing turf at the 6-acre Bush Central Barkway dog park, located under and along the President George Bush Turnpike west of U.S. 75.

Focus on Community Services and Engagement

  • The launch of DARTzoom, which focuses on improving bus service frequency and hours along the most heavily traveled routes throughout Richardson and the entire bus system as well as the expansion of DART’s GoLink service, offering on-demand shuttles in Central and Northeastern Richardson to support UT Dallas and the rapidly evolving Telecom Corridor® area.
  • Appointing new Police Chief Gary Tittle, a veteran officer of the Richardson Police Department with 33 years of public safety experience, to lead the 267 members of the City’s police force.
  • Replacing all school zone signals and outdoor warning sirens to include new security features and solar panel backups.
  • Adding the Police Department’s Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) in partnership with Methodist Richardson Medical Center to include experts in mental health, violence reduction and intervention to mitigate arrests and assist with alternatives to jail time.
  • Upgrading the replacement of a Mobile Intensive Care Unit ambulance at Fire Station 3, which covers calls to the growing North Richardson area.
  • Maintaining the Insurance Service Office’s certification as an ISO-1 rated community; fewer than 1% of cities nationally earn this top rating for fire suppression.
  • The Richardson Fire Department being awarded the “Heart Safe Community” designation by the North Central Texas Trauma Regional Advisory Council for its joint efforts with The University of Texas at Dallas Emergency Medical Response Team and Methodist Richardson Medical Center, and for earning the American Heart Association’s Gold Mission Lifeline EMS Award for the fifth consecutive year.
  • Strengthening municipal commitments to diversity and inclusion by hosting the inaugural Black History Month art and Martin Luther King Jr. essay contests in partnership with the Richardson and Plano Independent School Districts, and The University of Texas at Dallas.
  • Restarting community events, including the Public Safety Expo, with COVID-19 safety protocols in place.

Innovation in Business and Education

  • Kicking off the redevelopment of a former Telecom Corridor® building as the new home of the Richardson IQ® HQ, the City’s Office of Strategic Initiatives and five newly created research centers that are an extension of The University of Texas at Dallas’ Venture Development Center.
  • Receiving a Celebrating Leadership in Development Excellence (CLIDE) Award from the North Central Texas Council of Governments for the City’s rezoning work that created a Form-Based Code in the Richardson IQ® to attract tech-based companies and small start-ups and drive growth potential.
  • The Richardson IQ® for attracting pioneers at the forefront of their industries, including the headquarters of a state nonprofit promoting blockchain technology and a company developing groundbreaking technologies ranging from a sensor used by NASA’s Mars rover to microchips for hospital ventilators used for COVID-19 patients.
  • Earning the Texas Urban Design Gold Award for the future Arapaho Center Station Transit-Oriented Development, the gateway to the Richardson IQ® by the Texas Chapter of the American Planning Association.
  • The Richardson Independent School District (ISD) being designated as a District of Distinction by the Texas Art Education Association for its focus on high standards for visual arts advocacy and integrated curriculum, which places the District in the top 4% of school districts in the state.
  • Dallas College expanding its course offerings in cybersecurity, cloud computing, information technology, business and advanced manufacturing and logistics, and increasing enrollment by 31% in its Logistics and Manufacturing Technology degree program.
  • Texas Instruments and Fujitsu recognizing six Richardson ISD teachers for their innovative and creative STEM classroom instruction.
  • The innovation-driven Plano Independent School District boasts signature academy schools for technology, health sciences and the international baccalaureate world college and industrial academy at the Collin College Technical Campus, whose programs focus on empowering students to compete for college placement and the job market.

Economic Resiliency for Business Growth

  • Maintaining a “Triple A” rating, the highest available and a distinction the City has held for the past 12 years, from both Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s.
  • Breaking ground on the Belt + Main development, one of the largest mixed-use projects in North Texas and a vital part of the City’s downtown redevelopment, which will feature 15,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space, 350 multifamily units that will be available for lease and 7,000 square feet of residential amenities.
  • The relocation of CBRE’s Financial and Technology Hub to 100,000 square feet of office space in Richardson’s Galatyn Commons development.
  • Continuing Richardson’s leadership as a technology center with the expansion of Texas Instruments’ RFAB semiconductor plant, a $3.1-million project that will allow for the production of next-generation wafers, doubling its microchip production.
  • The developing Richardson CORE District, which includes Downtown, Chinatown, Lockwood, Heights and Interurban, and its evolving landscape featuring the new Public Safety Campus, public art installations, new roads, updated pedestrian-friendly pathways and award-winning locales like Lockwood’s Communion Neighborhood Cooperative, recognized as one of DFW’s Top 10 Fun Coffee Shops by D Magazine.
  • Honoring the eclectic heart of Richardson with the inaugural Main Street Celebration, a collaboration between the City of Richardson and area merchants that highlighted the area’s recent improvements as a more pedestrian-focused setting featuring wider walkways, additional landscaping, decorative lighting, new community gathering spaces and outdoor restaurant seating. The celebration featured live music, food, street artists and offerings from Richardson’s downtown merchants.
  • The approved expansion of Restaurant Park, part of the West Spring Valley Reinvestment Strategy, and its addition of Eiland Coffee Roasters, Dave’s Hot Chicken and a 16,000 square-foot dining and entertainment plaza.
  • Opening the new Network of Community Ministries headquarters in the Richardson IQ®, which is designed to serve as an emergency relief center for Richardson residents during crisis events like the 2019 tornado and winter storm Uri. The new facility, made possible through $6 million in donor funding, includes a larger food pantry, clothing closet, and new space for Richardson ISD and Methodist Richardson Medical Center to host support services.

The address was also available for live online viewing on the City website, www.cor.net/stateofthecity. Archived video of the remarks will be available soon on the site.