SHREVEPORT STATE OF THE CITY - Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins took to the airwaves over the holiday weekend to share his thoughts on the state of the city. In a pre-produced video presentation featuring a school choir and comments from other civic leaders, Perkins made his State of the City address with the newly-lit Texas Street Bridge as a backdrop. Perkins began his comments focusing on the challenges the city faced during a Covid pandemic shut-down and generational natural disasters such as the winter freeze last February, but he then shifted to a better economic outlook for Shreveport.
"We know the Amazon Fulfillment Center is Shreveport's newest economic crown jewel in bringing 1,000 direct jobs and roughly 1,000 indirect and 800 construction jobs," Perkins explained. "It is projected that thousands of additional jobs will be coming to our city in the next 24 months according to the Louisiana Economic Forecast."
While Perkins was generally upbeat Although he took time to mention the city’s crime problems and public safety as his administration’s main focus, he also underscored a need for voters to support a $236 million dollar bond proposal to address the city’s infrastructure needs such as an aging water plant, newer police and fire stations, and EMS equipment. The city bond proposal would get some help from the Biden Administration’s Infrastructure Plan but the bond proposal needs voter support and unlike Perkin’s previous bond proposals, it has the full support of the city council. Early voting has begun and continues through Dec. 4th. Regular Election Day is December 11th.