Message from Mayor Leffingwell

We live in a great city.  Everyone says so. 

If you look at the Top Ten lists published regularly, Austin is one of the best places to visit, with the best local music scene and a vibrant economy.  Our citizens are considered to be among the smartest, most entrepreneurial, most innovative, most fit and healthy, and least stressed people in the country.  Using any measure of success, Austin is generally one of the best places in the United States to live.  Heady stuff.

I was born and raised in Austin and I know just what a great city we live in.  I also know that we have always had, and still have now, segments of our community who would not recognize their place on these lists.  No matter how big our collective head gets over the praises heaped upon us, we must work harder to make sure all citizens of Austin feel included and enjoy the quality of life for which Austin is famous.

When President Obama signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act into law in 2009, it was a call to all Americans to remember that we, as citizens, can and must take action to address the urgent pressing needs in our communities.  Government cannot and should not be solely responsible.

Health and Human Services and Education budgets are being slashed to the bone at a time when most of our safety net organizations and agencies are being pushed beyond their capacity.  Everyone is being asked to do more with much less.  On top of that, the latest census confirms that the Austin area population has grown more than 26% over the last decade.

 We have to acknowledge this and act accordingly.  That is what the Cities of Service coalition and this high-impact service plan are all about.  We are identifying issues in Austin that we can address through volunteerism; one neighbor helping another.

 We have to take full advantage of everything we are known for.  We have to work smart, creatively, innovatively, entrepreneurially, and put all our collective energy towards helping one another in impactful ways.

Our goal with this plan is to identify community priorities and make it easy to volunteer in as meaningful ways as possible.