1st District Councilman and Kiwanian Bruce Tyler Addresses Club on State of the City

 Fellow Kiwanian and councilman for Richmond's First District, Bruce Tyler,  addressed our club Oct. 4 and gave club members what he termed his "vision for the city" and his goal for Richmond to become a top-100 city in the world.
Tyler noted improvement in two areas of the city - public schools and safer neighborhoods.   He noted that all schools are accredited now and that is up from 25% a few years ago.
In terms of goals for the city, he said Richmond needed to continue to improve its infrastructure and said that there would need to be several hundred millions of dollars over the next five years to get the infrastructure where it needs to be to compliment the great cultural facilities the city has such as the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Center Stage, the James River and the Richmond Sports Backers.
Tyler also stated his goals for a efficient, effective government by implementing the audits put in place by auditor Umesh Dalal and to be more competitive with the surrounding localities in terms of real estate tax rate.
He also wanted to continue to improve a vibrant downtown area and note the improvement and increase in population during the last 25 years and to continue to work with VCU a partner to continue that transformation.
Tyler said the biggest challenges for the city are the amount of poverty and the high rate of teen pregnancy.