Rocky Mount mayor holds first 'State of the City' address

"When I ran for mayor, I did so because I love this community that I grew up in," Roberson said.

During his speech, Roberson started with the successes the city's seen during his time as Mayor.

He started his speech talking about how the city's finances remained steady, despite the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic.

"We found more than 13 million in necessary reductions to offset the ongoing impact of the pandemic on city revenues and maintain a balanced budget, no small task," he said.

Most of the speech centered on how far Rocky Mount still has to go.

"In the last year one of the biggest issues has been improving public safety," he said.

The mayor says to do that, his office led a capstone project on how police can differentiate violent offenders from people who need mental health support. This program is anticipated to help the police better serve the community.

Roberson says the city is planning to send more educational tools and opportunities to children of color.

"Until every child in Rocky Mount graduates from high school, Rocky Mount will not reach its fullest potential," he said.

But many children in the school district need a stable place to live in order for them to succeed.

"We have a shortage of good housing to offer," he said.

The mayor says Rocky Mount is falling behind in affordable housing, with 95% of rentals currently occupied and up to 400 homes boarded up.

Roberson says refurbishing those abandoned buildings could be the key to turning things around.

The mayor also says any good plan needs accountability. He’s hoping to enroll rocky mount in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's School of Government’s performance measurement project, which could track whether the city is reaching its goals.