Coleman gives last state of the city address before run for governor
St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman offered his 12th and final state of the city address Wednesday, as he prepares to leave City Hall amid a run for governor in 2018.
"St. Paul's future is bright," Coleman told dozens of people gathered at a union training facility built by Pipefitters Local 455. "Our city is growing, with our population exceeding 300,000 for the first time since 1970, private-sector jobs are back to their prerecession levels. People and businesses are investing in all four corners of our city."
The 38-minute address mostly touched on recent developments, including the opening of the remodeled Palace Theater, the city surpassing its goal of making 23 percent of its workforce people of color, and a key step this week toward construction of the new Major League Soccer stadium in the Midway area.
It was also one of the most political addresses he's offered — calling attention to the union investment in the apprentice and training facility that hosted his address. Coleman also pleged his allegiance with cities from Albert Lea to Warroad to get more aid from the state, and touching on some broader issues of statewide interest.
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He touted his plans to develop a local "climate action plan," even as Congress is debating the relevance of climate action and a day after the Trump administration issued orders to unwind Obama-era climate policy.
Coleman also repeated his call to support refugees and immigrants.
"To the refugees and other immigrants in our midst: Just like generations before you, don't let anyone tell you that you should 'go home,' You are home," Coleman said. "You are welcome here. We want you to put down roots, buy homes, build businesses, create jobs, run for office."
That also follows President Trump's plans a wall on the Mexican border and bans on travel from a handful of mostly Muslim countries.
Coleman did acknowledge that he has nine months left in office and items on a to-do list — chief among them to see the Minnesota Wild bring the Stanley Cup to St. Paul.
He said he also wanted to see development take shape around the proposed soccer stadium and that he hoped to see a plan put together for redevelopment of the site of the former Ford Motors plant in Highland Park, "an opportunity that exists virtually nowhere in a built, urban environment like St. Paul and that could bring 1,500 jobs to the city."
Coleman, a former city council member, was elected mayor in 2005, beating incumbent DFLer Randy Kelly by a historic margin. He's since easily won re-election twice. Coleman launched his gubernatorial bid last year, following in the footsteps of his father, Nick Coleman, a state senator who lost the DFL endorsement to fellow St. Paul legislator Wendell Anderson in 1970.