GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan — It was a standing ovation for Grand Rapids Mayor Rosalynn Bliss as she took the stage at Fulton Street Market Thursday to deliver her final State of the City address.
"I want to thank you," Bliss told the crowd. "I want to thank you for giving me this incredible opportunity to serve our community at such a pivotal time."
Term-limited in the office, Bliss is set to leave the seat in December after being at the helm of the state's second largest city for more than eight years.
Bliss led the city through high-profile and even tumultuous times, from the coronavirus outbreak and response in the early 2020s to the death of Patrick Lyoya in 2022, which, at the time, became the latest officer-involved death of a Black person in America to spark national outrage.
And for the top challenges the city continues to face now, she said her successor will likely need to be ready for a steep learning curve in the post.
"You have to be always available and willing to pivot or address the crisis at hand, or the issue at hand, as well as continuing to try to move your priorities forward," Bliss told 13 ON YOUR SIDE following her address.
But while this was Bliss's last State of the City, she, both verbally and visually, clung to a theme of planting seeds and growing.
"It wasn't local government that reinvigorated Ionia Street, Cherry Street, Wealthy Street, or Bridge Street, Leonard Street, Grandville Avenue and increasingly Boston Square," Bliss said, clad in a leaf green dress and surrounded by a myriad of assembled plant life. "It was people with a vision and a willingness to act."
"They planted the seeds of community improvement that grew like big beautiful trees," Bliss said. "And today, we all sit under the branches, enjoying the shade and benefits."
But with some time left, she also made a point to push for priorities in her remaining months in office, including addressing the city's persistent challenge of finding solutions to help the city's unhoused population
She announced in her address an aim to, by the end of the year, house a hundred people living without shelter.
"We need an effective, coordinated entry system that allows us to match our most vulnerable residents not only with the housing resources, but the wraparound services necessary to ensure that every single one of them can remain housed long term," Bliss said.
Many of the mayor's remarks were met with resounding applause from leaders and others in the crowd, all of which did need an invitation to attend.
"I loved how she hit it - that the same model we use for big projects, like the amphitheater, the public private partnership, where we come down and sit the same table and say, 'What is all of our roles in solving this' is really how we're approaching this issue with account of homelessness," said Joshua Lunger, Vice President of Government Affairs for the Grand Rapids Chamber.
"We know that there's going to be some challenges when you're trying to do big things," Lunger said. "But if we have the courage, and the, I would say the stick-to-it-iveness, to try to navigate those, I think we're gonna come out much better for it."
Throughout her address, spanning the better part of an hour, Bliss continued to return to the theme of planting seeds to build the city's future beyond her time as Mayor Rosalynn Bliss.
"So, this is my final year of service, and my final State of the City address," Bliss said. "But, I'm not done planting and nurturing seeds to continue growing our city."
In terms of a potential successor, Bliss told reporters she is endorsing former Democratic State Representative David LaGrand to replace her in the post.
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