HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) — Hampton Mayor Donnie Tuck delivered his third State of the City address on Tuesday.
Tuck has been Hampton’s mayor since he was elected in July of 2016.
The theme of this year’s address was taking care of business. Tuck focused on economics, tourism, the city’s new high school academies and business development in his speech.
“We are still on the move,” said Mayor Donnie Tuck. “We’re 408 years old … the only way that we can grow is to redevelop, which means we’ve got to try and buy properties and sometimes that’s housing, too. So we want to try to improve our housing stock, our hotel stock and certainly try to recruit businesses.”
Tuck is excited about projects like the Hyatt Place, which is opening in January. Plus, there are a few other projects that are still secrets.
“They’re going to be very, very positive,” said Tuck. “Some are entertainment related, others still housing, others still job related.”
Another focus was on education and the Academies offered through Hampton City Schools.
“Young people win, because they have the marketable skills that enable them to be hired upon graduation and localities win because they have future employees who can hit the ground running,” said Dr. Jeffery Smith, Hampton City Schools Superintendent.
Tuck hopes the reputation of the school division brings new residents to the city. He said, “We’ve got schools that are improving and so we’re hoping that the reputation of our schools will bring residents who are coming to this area, we’re hoping to make this the first choice for them.”
Tuck says the city recently received a $1 million federal grant from the federal government to use for resiliency studies, that way the city can be around for another 408 years.
