HAMPTON, Va. — Hampton's mayor says there's been a wave of changes in the city. Mayor Donnie Tuck gave his fourth State of the City address Tuesday afternoon.
While he highlighted many positives, Tuck said there's still room to grow.
“We are trying to keep up with the changes, and in some instances, we have been ahead,” Tuck said.
Tuck touched on several topics like the Phoebus area, Fort Monroe, military, non-profits, healthcare, tourism, gaming to regional efforts, retail, office/business and the future.
During his speech, the mayor highlighted success in the schools. One hundred percent of the division’s schools are now accredited without conditions.
Mayor Tuck also discussed housing.
He said there are several housing developments either under construction or in the planning phase, including a project downtown, that'll bring 700 homes to that area, and the centerpiece of that new development will be a new rec center.
“We were losing population because we didn't have more modern housing,” Tuck said.
Mayor Tuck talked about crime, saying, although it's going down, it's still a concern of his. There were 17 reported murders in Hampton in 2017 and 13 in 2018.
The mayor and the school superintendent have a campaign to mentor middle-school youth. The goal of the program is to pair adult mentors with 100 middle school boys, to try and keep them on a positive path.
“We're doing a lot of positive things but there are small things we can polish,” Tuck said.