Mobile’s civic, business and religious leaders gathered today at the Arthur R. Outlaw Convention Center for the 12th Annual State of the City and County Luncheon.

Both Mayor Sam Jones and County Commission President Mike Dean delivered progress reports from the past year and talked about what they foresee happening in the City of Mobile and Mobile County in the future.

Choosing to speak in generalities and referring the crowd to the “city’s publication,” Mayor Jones addressed the crowd speaking of the challenges ahead, offering solutions to those challenges along the way. See “Top Ten” sidebar below for figures from the city’s 2008 report.

“We realize successes and even failures come in cycles. Though all of Mobile’s stars are in order today, and seemingly success is in the palm of our hands, we realize tomorrow may not be as kind to us,” Jones said. “Therefore it is prudent that we all seize the moment, plan and execute a deliberate effort to insure that we leave this city better than we found it.”

Jones then stressed the importance of educating Mobile’s youth to bring our community into a new phase of the technology age.

“The job of educating our children lies not only in the hands of superintendent Nichols, the school board and teachers, but also in your hands,” Jones proclaimed.

We can recruit thousands of jobs into the community, but if our populace is not educated or equipped with the means to meet the challenges of this ever changing job market, our efforts will be in vain.”

Part of tending to problems plaguing Mobile’s youth, Jones claims, is finding a way to reduce youth crime and violence.

“The majority of the crimes you saw on your evening news was committed by youngsters between the ages of 15-to-20-years-old,” Jones said. “We are catching them and locking them up…Mobile’s progress is far too precious for us to allow our children to be lost, with no array of hope.”

Jones began concluding his speech saying he was “cautiously optimistic that the economy will start improving by year’s end.” He expressed confidence that Mobile will once again win the tanker contract, that the implementation of Mobile’s new master plan will be the administration’s priority and that with a new state-of-the-art gangway for visitors to load ships the cruise industry will blossom.

“We have just been notified that Carnival has confirmed the Fantasy’s schedule from Mobile through January 2012,” Jones said.

But none of this will be possible, Jones said, without losing “The I, me and my leadership approach.” Jones continued, “That day is gone. Leadership is not about individual accomplishments. It is not about me and this might be a revelation to some of us, but it is not about you. It is really about how we as people, entrusted with positions of leadership can work together to provide the very best to the citizens of our community.”

Enter Mike Dean, who much like Jones had much to say of what happened in 2008, but also brought a message of what is to come for Mobile County.

Dean addressed the crowd speaking about 2008’s accomplishments such as the roadway improvements, a new library in Semmes and countywide business development.

“Thanks to the pay-as-you-go program we spent $136 million on roadway improvements in 2008 without a tax increase or tapping the general budget,” offered Dean. “We’re also building our first roundabout.” He then explained that the federal government won’t hand out money unless roundabouts are implemented because “roundabouts save lives and time.”

“In Semmes we built the first library in 11 years. Now people don’t have to travel 30 minutes into the city to go to a library,” Dean said. “But, it wasn’t only the county. Citizens pitched in and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to make that project happen.”

“And pay-as-you-go incentives, of course, helped bring ThyssenKrupp to Mobile County. That program made the impossible doable.”

Speaking metaphorically, Dean talked about the county’s plan for 2009 and beyond. Referring to a moment when hockey great Wayne Gretzky was asked about his magnificent ability, Dean, in effect said, the county must “skate to where the puck will be.”

Part of skating to that sliding pound of rubber, according to Dean, involves catering to ThyssenKrupp through continuing improvements to Highway 43 sewer installations and general development of that same Highway 43 corridor, preparing it for residential and commercial development to cater to the new industry that is soon coming.

Top Ten City of Mobile Accomplishments in 2008 per a City of Mobile produced video:

By Peter Teske

Number One: Annexation. The successful annexation of Theodore/Tillman’s Corner, which brought 2,400 residents and commercial corridors on U.S. 90 and Rangeline Road into the city as well as the Windmill Place subdivision.

Number Two: Crime. The crime rate for the City of Mobile was down 15 percent in 2008 with clearance rates for murder, rape, robbery, assaults, burglary, larceny and stolen vehicles higher in Mobile than the South’s average and the national average.

Number Three: Economic Development. Mobile’s economy greeted companies like Atlantic Marine, Austal USA C&G Boatworks Evonik Degussa, Frascatti Shops, Praxair, Silver Ships, SSAB and Teledyne. Because of these companies Mobile saw a jump in employment to the tune of 1,641 jobs, $846.5 million in investments and a $52,546 average salary among those jobs, according the Mobile Chamber of Commerce.

Number Four: Cruising Mobile. The city is currently building a $2.5 million gangway to accommodate any cruise ship Carnival might place in our port. The Fantasy is 900 feet long and holds $2,056 passengers and a crew of 920.

Number Five: Citismart. The city’s accountability tool reduced overtime hours for all city employees, collected $418,000 in electronic payments in Municipal Court, lowered fuel consumption and answered more citizen’s 311 phone calls

Number Six: Beautification of Mobile. Keep Mobile Beautiful used radio, print, and television ads to make Mobilians aware of their efforts. Stricter enforcement resulted in 2,000 citations.

Number Seven: Downtown Mobile. Total LoDa hotel rooms reached 1,200 with 60 meeting rooms and a reception capacity of over 4,000. A downtown quiet zone was also put into place for trains passing through the area. And, 122 downtown residential units were either completed or started in 2008.

Number Eight: Mitchell Cancer Institute. Mayor Jones called this $80 million medical center “vitally important to our region” bringing in 35,000 medical visits per year and state of the art medical facilities in its 128,000 square feet.

Number Nine: Sporting Events in Mobile. With $2.5 million in expected demolition and the Senior Bowl, GMAC Bowl and University of South Alabama’s football team Ladd-Peebles is bringing a new athletic identity to Mobile, Ala.

Number Ten: Mobile’s Future. At a cost of roughly $400,000 “The New Plan for Mobile” laid the blueprint for growth in LoDa and surrounding areas. Citizens gave their input to determine the “destiny of their city,” according to the City’s publication.