Mark your calendars for our 2020 State of the City Address. The annual event will be held at the Monroe Civic Center Arena Thursday, February 13. Doors will open at 11:15 am – where all our departments will feature various displays and informational booths. We encourage the public to come and meet our various department & division heads and other city personnel. This is a unique opportunity to talk one-on-one and learn more about city operations, ask questions or make suggestions to the people who need to hear it directly from you.

My speech will begin at approximately 12:15 pm. Our 2020 Theme is “Monroe Smart”. We will be highlighting our various SMART CITY INITIATIVES. Monroe Smart is about combining Information, Communication and Technology to make life better for the people of Monroe.

A few SMART CITY INITITIAVE examples include CURRENT PROJECTS such as. Energy Efficiency Efforts at City Facilities – we have replaced thousands of fluorescent light bulbs with energy saving LED lights and saved the City of Monroe thousands of dollars on our Entergy bill; and, Using a computerized SCADA system to monitor and respond to needs at our pump stations in “real time” from anywhere.

A few FUTURE SMART CITY PROJECTS include: Purchasing an “App” that will allow our water customers to personally monitor and better manage their own water usage; and, be able to receive early notification when they have a leak at their home or business. Using GPS Technology to make our trash & garbage routes more efficient – helping our personnel to work smarter and making our city cleaner

In addition to these, we have multiple current and future projects that will greatly benefit the people of Monroe. Our MONROE SMART CITY INITIATIVE is about being more efficient and effective by using Smart Data to find Smart Solutions and making Smart Decisions.

By working together, we are making a difference. Monroe is one city, with one future!