There's a formula for State of the City addresses, Grand Forks Mayor Mike Brown said: First, you thank people, then you talk about how things are going and, finally, you talk about where things should be going.
It was Tuesday night, his speech was in about 16 hours and he'd just sat through two hours of City Council debates that included a nonbinding resolution approving of a federal reduction in Community Development Block Grants.
That's OK, he said, he likes to hear council members' opinions.
He will, after all, have about an hour or so to talk about his opinions at Wednesday's address at 11:30 a.m. at the Alerus Center.
In a gush, he talked about how the city is becoming more and more a destination community, something he'd wanted it to be when he made the first address in 2003. It takes a while for the ideas to bear fruit, he said, such as the Canad Inns entertainment complex at the Alerus Center, which he'd championed back then.
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Last year, he called for an aquarium at the complex and a light rail system to serve it. Nothing's moving on that yet, he said.
The destination theme is one Brown would return to several times in his interview with the Herald.
He noted with pride how the city is becoming more welcoming to young professionals; last year, it hosted an adventure race and allowed participants to climb the old railroad bridge pier in the middle of the Red River, an unusual request that council members eventually agreed to.
The council, he noted, even boasts a member younger than 30; that's Ward 2 representative Tyrone Grandstrand.
The city's also hosting many more immigrants now and UND more students, Brown said. Despite Grand Forks Air Force Base losing personnel, he said, the city continues to grow.
As for the future, he said, the city's working through a lot of things, from the shared airspace for unmanned and manned aircraft at the base that could create a lot of business opportunities to the proposed new library to an upcoming report on how the city can improve its retail sector.
Unlike most years, he said, he doesn't expect to come up with any major proposals -- like the aquarium and light rail from last year. "If I throw something else out, it's going to affect all the other things," he said. "I think my role is to support the team, team Grand Forks."
Reach Tran at (701) 780-1248; (800) 477-6572, ext. 248; or send e-mail to ttran@gfherald.com .
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If you go
Grand Forks Mayor Mike Brown's State of the City address is at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Alerus Center. Lunch will be served, but if you haven't reserved a seat Wednesday, it'll be too late. But there's no reservation needed to sit in.
