
DATE: Thursday, April 3, 1997               TAG: 9704020162

SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN             PAGE: 06   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Cover Story 

                                            LENGTH:  100 lines

SUCCESSES & CHALLENGES MAYOR THOMAS UNDERWOOD DELIVERED HIS STATE OF THE CITY SPEECH WEDNESDAY.

Suffolk Mayor Thomas G. Underwood delivered the following remarks at the State of the City breakfast held Wednesday at the Holiday Inn-Suffolk. The event was sponsored by the Suffolk Chapter of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce and by Signet Bank.

GOOD MORNING! It is a pleasure to be here and welcome you to the annual State of the City Breakfast, sponsored by the Suffolk Division of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce. I am pleased to have City Manager Myles Standish and his staff with me to assist in the presentation.

Let me take this opportunity to recognize my fellow City Council members who are in attendance this morning.

We appreciate the opportunity to be here to present the State of the City, and we thank each of you for attending this important event.

To facilitate the presentation this morning, a video has been prepared which provides some visual images of the successes and challenges the city is experiencing. Before we present the video, I would like to make a few introductory remarks.

Suffolk is often described in terms of its future potential for growth. I think it is safe to say that the future is upon us. One has only to drive around the city to see the commercial and residential growth that is taking place.

Commercial and residential growth in the city today brings exciting new possibilities as well as a number of challenges.

We must aggressively support industrial and commercial development to create jobs for our citizens and strengthen the tax base. We must ensure that Suffolk's education system is the best that we can afford, and we must strive to constantly improve the municipal services that residents need and expect.

While promoting economic development, it is important that the city plan for the resulting growth through sound management policies, such as our water and sewer master plans and the new comprehensive plan being developed. To manage the cost associated with growth, the Council has adopted sound financial policies to govern the city's debt ratios and borrowing practices.

As we move into the 21st century, we need to be well-educated, disciplined and fiscally responsible in order to meet the challenges that lie ahead and fully maximize our opportunities.

The strength of the Suffolk community can be found in the character of its citizens and leaders. It lies in our willingness to give of our time, energies and talents for the betterment of the community we call home.

As we race towards the new century, Suffolk has its sights squarely set on becoming a leader in high technology and economic development.

Suffolk's high-tech corridor is already taking off with the Department of Defense's Joint Training, Analysis and Simulation Center and the Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center, representing a partnership between the city and ODU.

The Internet continues to solidify its role as a primary resource for the development of technology and sharing of information. Each day, millions of people log on and become part of the online community.

Yet, even with its seemingly unlimited potential for connecting people with each other, it can never replace the face-to-face, person-to-person interaction that comprises a real-world neighborhood or community.

The Declaration of Independence, which, by the way, can be quickly found on the Internet, ends with this statement: ``And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.''

I don't think the founding fathers could have done any more, and I don't think, as concerned citizens, we should do any less.

For we must never forget that we, individually and collectively, have the solemn obligation to pass on to those who come after us the rights and privileges we have inherited.

It was H.G. Wells who said that ``human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe.''

Years from now, I am confident that when people look back at the history of Suffolk in the late 1990s, they will conclude that we chose to race, and win, along the path of education, that is, educating our children to meet the demands of a high-tech society and educating ourselves to take full advantage of high technology for economic development.

Again, welcome to the breakfast, and we hope you enjoy our presentation. I believe we will now show the video that has been prepared. MEMO: The video mentioned y the mayor was produced by the City of

Suffolk, and is due to air a later date on Municipal Channel 8 on Falcon

Cable. ILLUSTRATION: Photos by GARY C. KNAPP

Color cover photo - [Dr. Martin D. Mayer, an assistant professor at

ODU demonstrates a computer...]

Assistant Professor Martin D. Meyer, left, and Professor Ronald R.

Mielke demonstrate a simulation program developed by the Virginia

Modeling and Simulation Center, located in Suffolk.

Staff photo by JOHN H. SHEALLY II

The city hopes to purchase land owned by Upton and Associates along

Portsmouth Boulevard-Nansemond Parkway and develop a new industrial

park.

Photo