SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken shared a glowing look at both the city’s present and future in a State of the City address on Monday.

“Another year has come and gone, and it’s like we’re listening to a broken record player here in Sioux Falls,” TenHaken said. “We can use all the same words we’ve been referencing the past several years as we look back at 2022: historic, unprecedented, challenging, successful, record-breaking.”

What comes next for the different people of different backgrounds with different stories was one of the themes of the address.

“Take a look at these stack of letters,” TenHaken said. “Dozens of letters. These are from inmates at the state penitentiary to me who I communicate with on a regular basis. I’ve gotten to know these guys over the past couple years because they’re working on getting a program going for others in the prison that will give their fellow inmates the tools to be successful for when they’re someday released.”

Not everyone who calls Sioux Falls home can always count on reliable access to a healthy meal, but TenHaken says a joint effort has come together.

“What I can say is that several organizations have come together to help address food insecurity in our community, and they’re bringing a solution to the neighborhoods,” he said.

TenHaken says additional information about this is coming next week. And that’s not all that’s on the way.

“We have a lot of potholes,” he said. “The good news is the hot mix asphalt plant opens soon, which patches the holes much more securely than the cold mix we have to use during the winter.”

But it’s finally springtime, and TenHaken was looking to what comes next.

“The state of our city depends on the leaders we have in it,” he said. “The decisions I make today, they won’t matter tomorrow if the next generation doesn’t feel like they have a place and a purpose in our city.”

You can watch TenHaken’s address here.