Every mayor is required to deliver a State of the City address within the first 90 days of each year and Mayor George McGill fulfilled this duty Wednesday night at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith (UAFS) by reviewing 2019's ups and downs.

McGill opened by showing the audience a drawing of him at his desk from a child that said "We like you." This gesture garnered "awws" and applause from the crowd and set the tone for the rest of the night.

The mayor then thanked UAFS, city directors, city employees, the city administrator, chiefs, department heads and citizens, saying, "It's an honor for me to be the mayor of Fort Smith ... I never would have imagined that the people would give me the opportunity to represent them all across the state and all across the nation."

"Fort Smith and the River Valley is strong," McGill stated with confidence.

He then praised Talicia Richardson for leading the nonprofit organization 64.6, the name of which represents the number of square miles that Fort Smith takes up. McGill explained that even though the population is about 90,000, there are about 200,000 people who come into the city every day for work.

McGill then moved on to giving out several awards. The first was the Ray Baker Spirit of Service Award given to police officer Kenneth Martin. Martin responded to a call about a family shoplifting at Walmart and proceeded to buy the food the family needed. Police Chief Danny Baker accepted the award on Martin's behalf as he was away at training.

The second award was a proclamation that recognized Rudy Ledbetter and Jerri Cole for starting the "You Matter" movement in Fort Smith that strives to raise awareness for mental health and wellness by reminding everyone that they are not alone.

Finally, the mayor recognized three men as City Ambassadors for springing into action and saving a local homeowner from a house fire. Jonathan Zepeda, Nelson Gonzalez and Miguel Montoya of Juan's Tree Service noticed a house on fire near where they were working and woke the owner up in time for him to get out of the house unharmed.

"That's what good citizens do, they're concerned about others," McGill said as he called them forward to be recognized.

McGill then listed several awards the city of Fort Smith received, including the Trendsetter City Wellness winner and the Main Street Arkansas Downtown Revitalization award. He again acknowledged Richardson as a "driving force" to making sure Fort Smith is recognized.

The mayor applauded the Fort Smith Public School System for being one of the best in the state and the citizens for choosing to make it better. This excellence, he said, extends to UAFS and the new Career Tech Center. "Our Future School is on the cutting edge, our faith-based schools are doing well," McGill continued.

The visual art scene of Fort Smith also received a special shout-out as the mayor spoke about a man from Ireland who came to visit and stayed longer because he wanted to learn more about Fort Smith. The man recently emailed the mayor asking for more pictures of downtown so that he could write about the city.

"Most of these things are out of sight to the average person," the mayor commented when commending the transit system, electric vehicle charging stations, the water leak fixes and meter replacements.

McGill cast a vision to find alternative fuel options with the city's trash in order to cut the space needed for the landfill in half. He talked about the 500 acres that would give the city the opportunity to look into solar power, saying, "We must be thinking ahead."

One of the last points the mayor made was to reflect on the flood from Spring 2019. He pointed out that the eyes of the nation were on Fort Smith and it was the leadership that allowed the city to rise to the occasion. He recalled that even with the flood coming, leaders were strategizing what they should do during and after it hit.

"We've never had an easy path, but we hold our own," McGill concluded.