Henderson mayor makes her 1st State of the City address

Henderson Mayor Michelle Romero highlighted Henderson’s successes and laid out its plans for the future during her first State of the City address Thursday.

“You can feel the confidence that we have a strong vision and have the right people and plan in place to build on our rights and prosperous future,” Romero told a crowd of several hundred on Thursday inside the Green Valley Ranch Grand Ballroom.

After thanking her fellow city leaders, Henderson employees, residents and her family, Romero began her hourlong speech by highlighting the awards and achievements the city was recognized for this year, including the What Works Cities Gold Certification.

Romero spent most of her speech outlining Henderson’s new strategic plan and describing what the city is doing to achieve its five strategic priorities.

“The thing that stands out to me is the number of things that we were able to do as a city just in the last 10 months,” Romero said after her speech. “And it’s not just in one area. It’s housing. It’s development for businesses. It’s Water Street and all the incredible new things that are on Water Street. I just think the amount of work that was done in such a short time that had such a great impact is what I’m most proud of.”

Room for improvement

While Romero spoke about Henderson’s achievements, she also noted that the city still has room to improve.

After the speech, Romero talked about the city’s need to improve on managing traffic, an issue she said plagues the Las Vegas Valley and that Henderson is no exception.

“That’s probably the most difficult one to address, but it’s one that we’re still working on,” Romero said.

She credited the city’s public works team for working to address this issue and noted the city is considering options ranging from AI imaging for road improvements and traffic light software upgrades to redesigning roundabouts and major roads such as Boulder Highway.

City Manager Richard Derrick said school overcrowding and older areas that need updating mark other major issues the city is working to fix with the new strategic plan.

‘The caliber of people we have here’

While she was proud of how much the city accomplished so far this year, Romero said she was not surprised that it did so, crediting the people working at the city for its successes.

“I’ve worked at the city for more than 25 years now,” Romero said. “I know the caliber of people we have there and I know what they’re capable of.”

Those attending Romero’s speech also saw video presentations by council members that highlighted five priorities of the city’s strategic plan.

Throughout Romero’s speech, each member of the City Council made a video presentation highlighting the city’s work in each of the strategic plan’s five priorities.

— Carrie Cox highlighted the recent improvements made to Henderson’s animal shelter during the Public Safety segment.

— Dan Stewart focused on Henderson’s commitment to education, highlighting the city’s recent appointment to the CCSD Board of Trustees during the Quality Education section.

— Jim Seebock talked about the city’s commitment to redevelopment, but the limits imposed by the revised rural neighborhood guidelines recently passed by the council during the Economic Vitality section.

— Dan Shaw spoke on this year’s creation of the Housing Advisory Committee in Henderson during the Healthy, Livable, Sustainable City segment.

Contact Mark Credico at mcredico@reviewjournal.com. Follow him on Instagram @writermark2.