PORTAGE (WKZO AM/FM) — The Mayor of Portage will deliver the State of the City address Wednesday morning.
The presentation is a step up from former annual addresses but it has been downsized considerably from the Mayor’s original vision for this year’s event because of objections from a few Council members.
For the past few years, the annual address had been delivered at a meeting of the Portage Rotary Club, which is closed to non-members.
Mayor Peter Strazdas started lining up sponsors after seeing how Grand Rapids presents their State of the City address, and planned to make it a public event with a cash bar at the Air Zoo.
It resulted in an uproar at a Council meeting with a motion put on the floor to ban the Mayor from making the State of the City address, to have it made by the City Manager and to ban sponsorships. It failed by one vote.
They claimed that sponsors may present a conflict of interest and that having the mayor present the speech made it political and partisan. It may have also conflicted with the ambitions of other council members who may challenge Strazdas for his job next November at the polls.
In a news release promoting the address Strazdas says “I look forward to reporting to the citizens of Portage on the tremendous success of this past year. This event gives Portage the time to step back and celebrate the remarkable accomplishments of this outstanding community.”
The Portage State of the City speech will be presented Wednesday morning in the City Council Chambers at City Hall with a light breakfast reception at 7:00 am and the speech at 8:00.
