We will also make important investments in public safety to continue our progress.

We will hire 400 new police officers in FY15 to maintain a sworn strength of 6,525 police officers in

Philadelphia. We will welcome new

classes of firefighters, paramedics, and

EMTs to the Philadelphia Fire Department.

And we will continue to make renovations

to Police and Fire stations across the

City, including breaking ground on the

new Police Headquarters at 4601 Market

Street.

During the Great Recession, we weren't able to replace our City vehicles in a way that served our departments and our citizens well. But in our proposed FY15 budget, we will begin to invest again: $2 million from the operating budget for police vehicles and other City vehicles and $10 million in capital money for large specialty vehicles like fire trucks, EMS trucks, trash compactors, and new plowing equipment. In fact, the FY15 capital budget is $131 million, the largest capital budget since FY02.

To strengthen safety and demolition oversight, we will fund 31 new positions in the Department of Licenses

and Inspections. These new employees

will supplement L&I's current emergency

services inspectional staff to ensure

safe public and private demolitions in

accordance with the recent package of

City Council legislation that I signed in

response to the building tragedy at 22nd

and Market.

I want to thank Councilman Curtis Jones, Jr. and all the members of City Council's Special Investigating Committee on Demolition Practices for their leadership on this issue.

Our Administration, with the support and recommendations of City Council, is doing everything we can to ensure that this heartbreaking situation never happens again. The safety and well-being of our citizens is of the utmost importance to all of us.

In the coming months, with Council's partnership and the expected recommendations from the Special Independent Advisory Commission to review

and evaluate the Department of Licenses

and Inspections, a commission created by

my Executive Order, we will continue to

make improvements to the construction and

demolition process in our city.

When I presented my first

budget in 2008, I talked about my vision

for a new day in Philadelphia and a new way to make it safer, cleaner, greener, smarter, a better Philadelphia.

I don't think that any of us knew that we would face such a devastating recession and slow recovery. But I knew that our citizens were resilient and that Philadelphia was ready for change.

Over the last six years, we have worked together to transform our city the way it works for and with our citizens. And we elevated our own expectations for what is possible in Philadelphia.

When you talk about expectations, some have thought that we

could not regain our stature in

manufacturing in the country and around

the world. Well, I just disagree.

Working together with

Councilman Bobby Henon and the Mayor's

Manufacturing Task Force, I'm pleased to

announce the creation of the Office of

Manufacturing and Industry in the Commerce Department to coordinate and review the implementation of many of the Task Force recommendations.

This office will be the focal point of the City's efforts and the coordinator for external activities and engagement with many of our partners, like PIDC and UII, CCP, and Philly Works and Select Greater Philadelphia and many others in advancing this critical sector.

We can do big things in Philadelphia, and we will, working together.

Our proposed budget focuses on our immediate needs and the long-term challenges of our city. It's a fiscal

pledge of investment in our children, in

our citizens, and in our neighborhoods.

It's an investment in public

education and public safety, the

financial stability of the City's pension

fund and the City as a whole.

Today, we are on a different

path, a path to a more prosperous Philadelphia. Let's keep working, together.

Thank you, and God bless Philadelphia.