ATLANTA — A little over a year into his first term as Atlanta’s mayor, Andre Dickens delivered his State of the City address Tuesday morning, touting accomplishments over his first year in office.

During his speech, Dickens named 2023 the “year of the youth” in Atlanta, saying his focus this year is on young people, but still says his top priority is public safety.

Dickens touted less wait time for 911 calls, fewer homicides so far this year, and said he is still moving forward on building their a public safety training facility.

“I can report to you on this day that the state of our city is strong,” Dickens said.

The annual State of the City breakfast included business leaders, heads of non-profits, elected officials, and school leaders.

The breakfast also included a speech from Atlanta Public Schools superintendent Dr. Lisa Herring.

“The Atlanta Public School’s mission has to be future-focused. Our children must be future-focused. We must produce a steady stream of graduates offering a compelling value proposition to the future workforce,” Herring said.

Dickens, in touting successes over his first 14 months in office, mentioned the ongoing commitment to help police and firefighters by raising pay and continuing to build a new training facility despite violent protests.

“We are building a state-of-the-art Atlanta Public Safety Training Center,” Dickens said.

But he ended with naming 2023 the “year of the youth,” joined on stage by a group of outstanding young people and a personal ask to put their needs and interests first.

“I’ll make this very clear: do not be that person. Do not be the person who fails to contribute to this effort. It’s on every single one of us in this room to build a legacy worthy of the young people in our city,” Dickens said.

The address wasn’t without dissent. Following the event, a group gave what they called “the people’s response,” in which their No. 2 issue was stopping the construction of the city’s police and fire training facility.

They also referenced the closure of Atlanta Medical Center and high rates of crime in what dissidents called a “public safety crisis.”

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