Earlier this week, I delivered my third State of the City address as Mayor of Seattle. It was such an incredible experience, and it reminded me of all the reasons I love our City. Rainier Arts Center was full of dedicated, engaged residents who are working to make Seattle a more just and equitable place.

Like I told you earlier this week, I had the honor of being introduced by Anthony Garcia. Anthony is a student at Seattle Colleges, and last year he had an internship at Amazon through the City?s Seattle Promise Job and Career Pathways initiative. On Tuesday, I announced that we?ll be quadrupling the size of this initiative and offering 125 Seattle Promise students the opportunity to have a full-time, paid internship at one of our region?s major employers ? including the City of Seattle! Students like Anthony remind us why we do this work: Building a pipeline of local talent helps everyone, from our students, to our communities, to our employers.

I also announced new actions the City is taking to ensure all our communities can know their rights and be counted in the 2020 Census. This year, we?ll be hosting Census Assistance Centers at Library branches and community centers throughout Seattle. And starting March 12, you can walk into every Seattle Public Library branch and they?ll have a computer specifically reserved to help people fill out their Census forms, regardless of whether they have library cards or not.

We know that the 2020 Census is one of the most important things happening in our community this year. If there?s an undercount, people?s lives could be significantly impacted for an entire decade. For more information on the Census Assistance Centers, visit www.seattlecensus.org.

Finally, we launched a new initiative to help our small businesses thrive: It's called the Small Business Relief Package. The Relief Package will cut down the average permitting time by one-third, ensuring small business owners can spend more of their time serving their communities and advancing their business.

I also had the distinct honor of proclaiming February 18, 2020 as ?Larry Gossett Day? in the City of Seattle. This Black History Month, I?m proud to celebrate Larry, who has been one of the most influential figures in Seattle civic life for the last four decades. From his fight for equal rights at Franklin High School, to his work to found the Black Student Union at the University of Washington, to his decades of services on the King County Council, Larry always fights against injustice, wherever he sees it.

In 2020, the State of Seattle is strong and resilient. I so look forward to all the great things we?ll accomplish together in 2020.

You can watch the full video of the event and read my speech here. And if you have a moment, please write me at [email protected] and let me know what you think. As always, you can reach me on Twitter or Facebook, and you can stay up-to-date with all the great work we?re doing together on my blog.

To the work ahead,