ORANGE : Mayor Uses Address to Highlight Positives

Mayor Joanne Coontz reeled off a list of businesses that have moved to the city or expanded their offices recently as a highlight in her “State of the City” address to the Chamber of Commerce.

Coontz used the Friday luncheon to showcase a positive in a year that ended in financial disaster for the county.

“Within a day and a half of my taking office, our city was hit with the same bad news that reverberated across the county and eventually the world,” she said, referring to the county’s bankruptcy.

“But you should know that our own city’s financial health is excellent.”

The mayor did not mention that the city had $28 million in the county’s fund when it was frozen by the bankruptcy. Instead, she emphasized that “four-fifths of our investment portfolio is invested outside the county pool.”

Orange has been “downsizing” and “rightsizing” government since 1990 and will continue to smooth the way for business expansion, she said.

Permits for construction often come and go through City Hall with official signatures the same day, she said.

Coontz also promised help for the city’s beleaguered library system, saying the council would “strengthen the backbone” of the library, which has undergone massive cuts recently.

“We still have a lot of problems to tackle to bring our library system up to standard,” she added.

She closed her speech to an appreciative audience by encouraging everyone to join the volunteers who now help in many city departments.

“They are a wonderful addition to our family,” Coontz said.

Picking up that theme, the chamber announced that Beverly Nestande, a longtime community volunteer, has been named 1994 Citizen of the Year.