Monroe County is "poised for greatness," according to Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks, who delivered her ninth State of the County address Wednesday night.
Brooks’ State of the County Address was heard live on WXXI-AM 1370 and online at WXXI.org. Brooks delivered the speech at Cleary Auditorium on the campus of St. John Fisher College. Click on the audio player above to hear the full speech.
This was be Brooks’ first State of the County speech since she announced her run for congress challenging longtime incumbent Louise Slaughter.
Brooks noted the financial news website "TheStreet.com" listed Rochester as one of 10 cities "poised for greatness in 2012."
Elsewhere, she touted her record in keeping property taxes flat and cutting spending.
She also announced a new bill to officially criminalize the act of cyber-bullying. Brooks calls that the most common type of harassment among students today.
Brooks says mandates continue to be the greatest problem facing tax payers throughout Monroe County and across the State.
Brooks says in Monroe County, state and federal mandated spending devours 82% of the total budget.
She says while the Governor’s Executive Budget included potential savings for counties of approximately $450 million over the next 5 years, more must be done for real mandate reform.
Brooks added through a combination of strict cost controls and continued streamlining of county services, the portion of the budget controlled at the local level, is virtually flat.
The County Executive said Monroe County is one of the most prepared, best equipped and overall safest places in the nation.
Brooks says a recent Homeland Security exercise in the area is evidence of that and she says in the coming year the Office of Emergency Management is continuing a renovation project to help prepare for the unforeseen.