The following is the prepared text of the speech Portland mayor Tom Potter is expected to deliver in his "State of the City" address on Friday. It was sent to local media organizations by city officials.

I want to welcome everyone to a very special place in our community, which has been a gracious host to me and to many others for the past week.  More than 700 people from all walks of life have visited this school in the past five days, most for the first time. I believe each of us will come away from the experience a changed person.

Jefferson High School, and the surrounding community that both loves and supports it, has been a wonderful teacher to all of us.  It has shown us the successes and challenges that face every school in Portland, and served as a warm and welcoming inspiration to be involved in the lives and future of our children.

I’m glad I’ve been here to witness all of this, and I’m delighted that you have joined me today.

I want to first thank the City Club for its support.  When we approached the City Club a year ago about bringing the State of the City into a community setting, they were enthusiastic about the idea.

And as we take this hour to think aloud together about the future of our city, there is no better setting to do this than in one of our city’s schools, where our future is being shaped everyday.

I want to thank the Portland Public School District and Superintendent Carole Smith for allowing us to come to Jefferson.  The district was kind enough to provide the school buses that brought many of you here today.  I can only imagine the memories the ride over brought back, and I hope that everyone behaved and the bus driver didn’t have to stop the bus.

I want to thank Principal Cynthia Harris, who is a remarkable person, principal and cheerleader for Jefferson.

Her wonderful staff has been patient and helpful with a building full of strangers in their midst. You, and all of our schools, are doing the most important jobs in Portland, and you deserve all the recognition and support we can give you.

Today, we are joined by superintendents from all of Portland’s six school districts:

Portland Public School District and Superintendent Carole Smith
Karen Fischer Gray from Parkrose
Thomas Hagerman from Riverdale
Terry Kneisler  from Reynolds
Robert McKean from Centennial
and Barbara Rommel, from David Douglas School District

We are blessed in Portland to have such great superintendents, teachers, and staff. Let’s give all our school people a big hand.

I want to recognize my colleagues on the Council - Commissioners Sam Adams, Randy Leonard, Erik Sten and Dan Saltzman.  Despite our rare disagreements, I have come to respect them for their commitment and championing of issues important to our community.

I also believe with four council seats to be decided this year, Portlanders have a historic opportunity to remake the Council into one that brings more diversity to City Hall.  Portland’s changing demographics represent a tectonic shift for our community, and the day is coming soon when our decision-makers will more completely reflect that shift.  I believe we will be a better city when that happens.

I also want to acknowledge the many community leaders who have contributed their time and talent this week at Jefferson.

I want to recognize the Jefferson alumni here today – please raise your hand if you are a Jeff Democrat.

If you are a teacher or a staff member or a student from any Portland school, please stand. You are not only doing special work, but you’re my personal heroes.

The question I have been asked repeatedly this week is: Why are you here?

The easy answer is - I was invited. A group of Jefferson students visited the City Council a few months back, and the senior class president, Celeste Jackson, told the council – If all you know about Jefferson is what you read, then you need to come and see the real story for yourself.

And so we have, putting ourselves in the hands of the real experts on our schools – the students, faculty, teachers, volunteers and parents for whom Jefferson is a very special second home.

In the interest of full disclosure, I also want to acknowledge that my wife, Karin Hansen, was a teacher at Jefferson and deeply loves this school, and it’s students and teachers, both past and present.

I started this week thinking that I knew something about our schools, and about our children, but I have been humbled at the lessons for our community that are everywhere in these hallways and classrooms, and in every Portland school.

The lesson that student success has a direct relationship to the support they receive from family, faculty, and community, no matter where they go to school. That is why Dr. Harris is asking for 700 volunteers for the students of Jefferson – enough to give every single one of them a mentor who can help make a difference in their lives.

The lesson that too many students fall behind during that first crucial year of high school, and those who do are four times more likely to leave before they graduate.

That is why the Portland Schools Foundation is leading “Connect By 25.” This effort identifies students who are struggling early on and makes sure they have the support of the entire community so that they will succeed.

This summer Connect by 25 will launch “9th Grade Counts,” an effort to ensure that children making the transition to high school who need help are connected with mentors, tutors and community support. That support stays in place even after the student graduates to insure they have help as they enter college or the workforce and begin the process of building their future – and ours.

The lesson that schools can be powerful centerpieces of neighborhoods and communities. On the first floor here is a Multnomah County Health Clinic, where students receive medical assistance when needed. On the second floor is an office for the school’s SUN program, which provides after-school programming in music, dance, and academic support.

They are reminders that schools remain critical resources for their communities long after the last bell has rung.

And, as the undefeated Democrats Girls basketball team showed again on Wednesday night, the lesson that our best hope for success is through teamwork. If our schools and our children and our city are to succeed, it will be because we are each willing to do our part.

We are each responsible for the success – or failure – of what happens inside and outside these classrooms.  If we point fingers, if we spend our time saying the Legislature has failed us, or the teachers have failed us, or the system itself has failed us, then the only certainty is that too many of our children will fall behind, and that is simply not acceptable.

To succeed, we must each be a contributing member of this team, and work together so all our children win.

Too often, the only headlines we read about our schools paint a dark picture.

But the final lesson from walking these hallways for a week is how much optimism and hope comes from hanging around teenagers who are so full of life, and who have told me numerous times – We aren’t the problem – we are the solution.

I share their optimism. While the challenges Portland faces are real, I agree with what 6th grader Lane Williams just told you, that we are luckier than most other cities in America because our strength lies in working together to solve problems.

That’s not idle speculation.

Last year, more than 13,000 Portlanders shared their vision of our city, and their hopes for its future, as part of visionPDX. Theirs are the voices of people who are passionate about their neighborhoods and their neighbors; about the future of our children; about keeping our hillsides green and our rivers clean; about protecting not only the environment but also those most in need of a helping hand, and spreading the city’s growing prosperity equitably through every part of the community.

They are proud to be Portlanders – and excited about its future.

So let me take a minute to remind you of what has happened in the last year that makes me optimistic about our future, and what is coming in the year ahead.

As you know, Portland is the darling of the national media, noted for everything from our biking culture to winning back the Davis Cup. We even have that final Big City stamp of approval that says we’ve really arrived … our own IKEA.

But I believe there are five areas that are worth special attention today – our business climate; the safety of our neighborhoods and streets; our commitment to being stewards of the environment; how we make our city more livable and welcoming to all, and last, and most important  to this setting -- the future of our youth.

First, in the midst of economic uncertainty nationally, the business climate in Portland is the most welcoming it’s been in years.

Downtown, Macy’s is open for business again, Carl Greve Jewelers opted to stay where the action is, and Brooks Brothers has joined the mix. Four new office towers – the first Class A office space to be built in nearly a decade, will rise as Portland’s low vacancy rates and rising commercial rents attract long-term investors to downtown and the surrounding Portland neighborhoods.

The past fiscal year marked the fourth straight year of growth for businesses in the City and, as a result, the City’s finances are growing even as business license fees have been reduced under proposals co-sponsored by Commissioners Adams and Saltzman. 

The annual Service Efforts and Accomplishments survey just released by Auditor Gary Blackmer shows more and more businesses rate Portland as a good place to do business.

People have heard the good news and are coming to see it for themselves.  PDX set a new record of 14 million passengers through the terminal in 2007, and in March, Northwest will launch direct service to Amsterdam.

The Portland Development Commission is making big strides toward becoming more transparent, inclusive and accountable, and I am extremely proud of the work that Chair Mark Rosenbaum, the PDC Commissioners and Executive Director Bruce Warner and staff are doing to make all of our communities economically successful.

One way that I changed the way business was done in 2006 was by having the PDC budget priorities developed with the City Council in a public and transparent forum.

This year, that collaboration included a new home for the Miracles Club addiction recovery program; a new revolving Loan Fund that provides flexible loans to small businesses that traditional lenders simply can’t provide, and the planned revitalization of the city-owned Smart Park at SW 10th & Yamhill with new retail and residential space.

Another success story that resulted from last year’s collaborative budget process was the formation of the Urban Renewal Advisory Group, which includes County Commissioner Jeff Cogen and Planning Commissioner Don Hansen.

Next month, they will make a recommendation to City Council concerning the impending expiration of two downtown Urban Renewal Districts, both of which have been in existence for over 20 years.

PDC has seen a new commitment to supporting minority, women and emerging small businesses, led by Jefferson graduate Lolita Burnette.  Lolita is working with minority chambers, labor representatives, developers and a diverse cross-section of Portland’s business community to increase contracting opportunities and other PDC projects for minorities, women, people with disabilities and veterans.

And PDC lured Erin Flynn from Boston as its new Economic Development Director.

Erin was quick to learn that small business is the backbone of Portland’s economy and, by creating a new Community Economic Development team within PDC, Erin will ensure that PDC resources nurture the mom-and-pop small businesses as much as they work to attract large employers to our cluster industries including manufacturing, high tech, creative services and, of course, our nationally recognized sustainable industry.

Second, our streets are safer and more welcoming, and crime continues to fall to historic lows.

When I came into office, we were inundated by complaints about the unease many tourists and residents felt on our downtown streets, as well as a desire by the community to work more closely with officers in their neighborhoods to solve long-standing crime problems - the very core of community policing.

Today, we have successfully changed the feel of many of our downtown streets through innovative programs which offer chronic offenders the choice of either drug treatment - or a jail bed.

Data released this week shows that crime in the downtown core is down 27 percent in the last two years, and the program is so successful that Commissioner Leonard and I are working to implement it citywide.

We also have opened restrooms and installed benches downtown for residents, tourists and the homeless; and funded daytime facilities where the homeless can get a shower, connect with family and access services.

While other cities struggle with rising crime rates, the good news in Portland extends citywide, with crime down 23 percent since 2003.

Portland Police officers responded to 465,000 incidents last year, and their professionalism, dedication and commitment to community is a primary reason our city feels different today.

The Police Bureau is hiring civilians to staff administrative jobs, allowing us to put more seasoned officers on the street.

 We’ve developed an Office of Professional Standards and are implementing an Early Intervention System to respond more quickly to officer behaviors that could lead to bigger problems. 

We’ve re-opened Portland’s Police precincts until midnight after budget cuts in 2001 had them closing their doors at 5 p.m.  Now neighbors have access to immediate assistance during the hours when most people are at home, as well as a place for community meetings and to talk to officers about their concerns.

In the aftermath of the James Chasse tragedy, we have made our city more understanding of the special needs of those most in need – people struggling with mental illness and those with a dual diagnosis of mental illness and addiction.

We have fundamentally changed how officers respond to people with mental illness, changing our Use of Force policy and providing Crisis Intervention Training for every street officer and supervisor.

A full-time mental health professional now oversees the training, development, and implementation of new policies regarding working with persons with mental illness, and we have funded additional staff for Project Respond, which has homeless and mental health professionals partnering with officers to respond immediately to crisis situations.

Chair Wheeler and I joined other state and local leaders to lobby the legislature for more state funding for programs to help the mentally ill, and thanks to efforts of people like Sen. Avel Gordly and others, an additional $41.3 million in new funding was appropriated.

In the last year, Chief Rosie Sizer embarked on a series of community meetings to discuss the issue of racial profiling. Two days ago, the Racial Profiling Committee came to Council to update us on recommendations for how police and citizens can work together to eliminate mistrust and build relationships based on mutual respect.

But all this good news is not enough.

That is why I am asking the City Council to prioritize in the 2008-2009 budget the funds to begin addressing our dangerously outdated public safety communications system.

After tending to the needs of our Fire, Housing and Park bureaus these past few years, it is time for the Council to acknowledge that our public safety training and communications systems - particularly 911 - are beginning to fail. We must replace our 911 system; our Police Data System and the citywide 800 MhZ system before they fail in an emergency and cost lives.

Portland currently expends unnecessary money and manpower by having officers drive to a gun range in Canby, for instance, and often find the firearms training impossible when the range floods. Likewise, for emergency driver training, the site is often unavailable, requiring officers to drive to Shelton, Washington for the training. We desperately need a regional training facility that would be used by agencies across the region for in-service training, including weapons and driver’s training.

And as the recently completed TOPOFF exercise vividly demonstrated, we must replace our Emergency Coordination Center, which will be critical in safeguarding our city in a real emergency.

We need to co-locate with Multnomah County Emergency Services so the two agencies can work side-by-side during a large scale emergency.

I understand there is not enough money to pay for all these crucial needs, but we must use the budget process to begin making headway while economic times are good. I am asking the Council to spend $13 million in one-time monies as a first step in better protecting our community.

Third, Portland continues to lead the way not just to a greener world, but to a more sustainable one.  In the words of Kath Williams, the immediate past president of the World Green Building Council, “The world watches Portland.”

We have reduced green house gas emissions by 14% per person and at the same time increased jobs by 14% -- proving a clean environment can create jobs, and make money for hundreds of local companies.  We lead the nation in LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) -certified buildings.

Under the leadership of Commissioner Saltzman, Portland has achieved one of the highest combined residential/commercial recycling rates at 63%, and the City Council passed a resolution to reduce fossil fuel use by half over the next 25 years and to cut CO2 emissions by 80% by 2050.

Thanks to Commissioner Leonard’s leadership,  Portland service stations now pump bio-diesel. And Portland’s actions are creating jobs not just here, but in other parts of Oregon. Our biodiesel is being produced from canola from eastern Oregon and potato chip oil from central Oregon. The wind power that will fuel 100 percent of city government needs by 2010 comes from the windy hills of Eastern Oregon.

All of this happened not because of government, but because Oregonians long ago realized that success in the future will not be measured by the size of our McMansions, but by the size of our carbon footprint.

And our riverfront is just a bit greener this year because, after more than 100 years of dreaming, we secured a magnificent piece of Ross Island for Portlanders to enjoy forever.  I want to thank Dr. Robert Pamplin and the Pamplin family for their generosity.

Fourth, our city has become more livable and welcoming for everyone. Our efforts to end homelessness, spearheaded by Commissioner Sten, have taken more than 5,000 individuals and family households off the streets and moved them into permanent housing, and more than 84 percent are still there after 1 year.

Over the last 18 months, PDC has committed $21 million to support over 800 low income housing units, including nearly 500 new units of rental housing and 350 units of existing housing that were rehabilitated and preserved for long-term affordability.

In addition, PDC helped approximately 700 households take advantage of PDC and city homebuyer programs so they could either purchase, rehab or remain owners of properties.

The City Council, through the leadership of Commissioner Sten,  adopted a 30 percent set aside for all Tax Increment Financing in Urban Renewal Areas, which will be used to develop and preserve more low income housing and help more residents become first-time homebuyers.

I want to take a moment to publicly thank Commissioner Sten for his years of dedicated service on behalf of the poor, the homeless, and for recognizing the need to close the home ownership gap for minorities. Thank you, Erik. Our city is better off for your efforts and your legacy of accomplishments.

I came into office promising to allow Portlanders to review their City Charter for the first time in more than 80 years, and they responded by passing three changes, streamlining outdated Civil Services rules; making the PDC more responsive to community needs and giving Portlanders the right to review their charter every 10 years. Oh, and there was a fourth reform on the form of government, but I can’t remember what happened to it.

And a project close to my heart closed its first chapter and began another this year. VisionPDX is moving to implement Portlanders aspirations and dreams.  Later this month, we will give shape to the future of our city by kicking off the Portland Plan which will guide how our city will grow over the next 30 years. 

In the coming months, you’ll be hearing a lot about the Portland Plan. We’re now accepting applications for the Vision-Into-Action Coalition, a community-led alliance of organizations, businesses, government and individuals who will act collectively to ensure implementation of Portland’s community vision.

Many Mayors measure their time in office by what they have built, but my focus has always been in increasing the number and diversity of voices that shape our city.

Just this week in this very auditorium, the City Council passed a resolution creating an Office of Human Relations, with the mission of advocating for the rights of every Portlander, bringing people a greater understanding and respect for each other, and engaging more members of under-represented communities in their government. This has the double benefit of protecting all peoples’ rights and laying the groundwork for the multi-hued demographics of tomorrow.

A Day Labor hire site slated to open in the next few months will protect a vulnerable population while increasing the livability and safety of surrounding neighborhoods.

We are providing leadership training to those from low-income and communities of color so they can, in turn, help organize their communities to have stronger voices in government and community affairs.

The Immigrant & Refugee Task Force is showing how we can lower barriers faced by immigrants and refugees, who now make up one in three Portlanders in some neighborhoods.

Those barriers include closing the achievement gap for the children of immigrants in our schools, the need for multi-lingual information and government working with the private sector in creating living-wage jobs and health benefits for every Portlander.

But the good news here is also not enough.

That is why I am asking the City Council to use the budget process to ensure that these important voices are not only heard, but that they will continue to be heard for generations to come.  I am asking the Council to adequately – and most important, permanently – fund these programs with ongoing monies that will make these inclusion programs a true part of Portland, and not a goodwill gesture too soon forgotten or changed when times are tough.

As we welcome these new voices, we must also find a way to begin a conversation in our community about race.  It is an uncomfortable topic for many, but I believe race will remain an ugly, open sore on the body politic until we start talking honestly with each other…and listening.

In Portland, we have witnessed an inhumane raid at the Del Monte plant, and I believe race distorted the effort to rename a street in honor of a great American hero, Cesar Chavez. The issue of race isn’t restricted to one area of Portland but instead affects us all.

And we must continue to advocate for immigrant rights at the federal, state, and local level to ensure every immigrant and refugee has a pathway to citizenship, keep their families together, and for every child, regardless of birthplace, to  have the right to attend school in their adopted community.

I have seen that the real strength of our country and community is directly attributable to our diversity, and now is the time to strengthen the growing multi-cultured fabric in our beloved City of Roses.

I accept my responsibility to lead this discussion, but I am also calling upon the people of Portland to start discussions with their families, our ethnic communities, and neighbors. Over the next year I will be holding community meetings in different parts of Portland, not to point fingers, but to see how we can discuss the issue of race in a manner that allows all of us to grow in understanding and acceptance, and one that will position Portland to be even more competitive in the global economy.

As we talk, we should expand these conversations to include how we become a more inclusive community for our neighbors with disabilities who still incur indignities in their daily lives. And for those in our Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual and Trans-gendered communities still living in the twilight zone of bigotry, not knowing when – or if - they will be granted the simple rights of domestic partnership the Oregon legislature gave them last year. I am glad there will always be those diehards who believe the 14th amendment to the Constitution, and it’s Equal Protection clause, means equal protection- for everyone! Period!

Fifth, and finally, I am optimistic about the future of our youth. But for that future to be as bright as I believe it can be, all of us must ask how we can become involved in the lives of our city’s young people.

One document gives us many clues on how to begin that journey.

It is called Our Bill of Rights: Children and Youth, and it is unique in that it was created by youth, for youth. Portland is one of six cities selected by the National League of Cities to be part of a pilot project to develop plans for children and youth based on our Children and Youth Bill of Rights.

As you leave today, please pick up a copy of Our Bill of Rights: Children and Youth, and Vision PDX to see for yourself what Portlanders are saying about Portland’s future.

Three years ago, I stood before you and said that we live in a world where there are more problems than government alone can fix. But the burden of our problems, no matter how seemingly intractable, can be lessened by a community that truly cares about each other.

I believe, by working collaboratively, we can solve many problems we find along the way. But to get there we must start by acknowledging that the solution lies within each of us.’

I believe that even more passionately today than I did when I began this job. And to see the opportunities to begin that work, all you have to do is look around you today.

When you came through the front doors of Jefferson today, I hope you looked around this school and said – Is this good enough for the people who are the future of Portland?

Is it good enough that one out of every three Portland Public School District buildings need either major repairs or to be torn down and rebuilt?

Is it good enough that our children are learning in buildings with roofs that leak, heaters that are broken, and windows that are frozen in place?

Is it good enough that the schools in the David Douglas, Centennial and Reynolds are bursting, and yet our bond measures fail? Is it good enough to see schools without art classes and science classes and band?

Is it good enough that here at Jefferson, where students earned $1 million in scholarships last year, there is only one Advanced Placement class offered, and no International Baccalaureate classes?

To me the answers are simple - either we pay for fixes now or we pay much more later as we watch our children leave school ill prepared to compete in the 21st Century.

When you came through the front doors of Jefferson today, I hope you looked around and said to yourself - How can I get involved?  How can I make a difference in the lives of these young people?

I asked myself that same question, and this year I directed the City to promote a volunteer program where each employee can volunteer one hour per week to the community, encouraging them to be mentors and tutors.

What if you asked your business to do the same? What if every business in Portland did the same, or opened up internships that will strengthen the resolve of students through high school and into their futures.

Think of the city we could become, watching that small investment grow into our future.  One place to start is by stopping at the table outside the auditorium doors and signing up for the mentoring program that began here at Jefferson just this last Monday.

It’s a great program, which has the chance to thrive because some folks are already making an investment. Innovation Partnerships, along with Portland State University, is donating software that will train mentors.

Just walk these halls for an afternoon and you will find the faces of the future looking back at you.  Stop by the Harriet Tubman Academy for Young Women as I did Tuesday, for instance, and say hello to Academy Administrator Aurora Lora.

Three out of four Tubman students qualify for a free or reduced lunch, which means they also qualify for a free uniform to wear to school.  Except there is no money for uniforms. So Aurora is haunting the Goodwill looking for old uniforms to buy.

Her mother has already contributed $100 out of her own pocket – enough to buy four. What if each of you gave $25. What if you gave $50? That’s enough to dress one girl for a full year at Tubman.

Or what if you went back to work and convinced your company to give $5,000?  That would send the entire Tubman student body to OMSI for a full class year to take science classes that could forever change their lives. 

Finally, when you came through the front doors of Jefferson today, I hope you looked around, met the students, and were somehow changed by your experience.  Our future is walking the hallways just outside those auditorium doors or perhaps sitting next to you. Their future is waiting for you to be a part of it.

I want to thank you all for coming to this special City Club meeting.

This is my last State of the City speech as Mayor. There is still much to do in the year ahead, so this is no time for goodbyes. But I do want to take a moment while we are all together to tell you how rewarding this work has been. Even on my most difficult day in office, I have never lost sight of the fact that I am so fortunate to have had the opportunity to have served this wonderful community, and I feel deeply honored to have been your Mayor.

It has been a personal challenge, but a rewarding one, buoyed by the wonderful people I have met and the remarkable sense of dedication I have witnessed from City employees, neighbors, community leaders, and people  from all walks of life. .

Thank you for that opportunity.