‘The State of Our City is Strong’: Dickens delivers love letter to City of Atlanta

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens (above) delivered his fourth State of the City address at the Woodruff Arys Center on Tuesday night. “Since I was 16 years old I knew I wanted to be the mayor of Atlanta because I love this city and I love its people,” Dickens said. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta VoiceThe annual State of the City address, which took place in the Woodruff Arts Center on Tuesday night, is labeled as a “business address”, but it came across as a love letter from Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens to the city.“Since I was 16 years old I knew I wanted to be the mayor of Atlanta because I love this city and I love its people,” Dickens, an Atlanta native and Atlanta Public Schools alumnus, said. The address, Dickens’s fourth as the city’s Mayor, began with acknowledging the former Atlanta Mayors in attendance, including Bill Campbell, city council members, which included current Atlanta City Council President Doug Shipman, business executives, law enforcement leadership such as Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum, Atlanta hip-hop pioneers T.I. and Killer Mike, and local dignitaries. There was also recognition of the lives of former United States President and former Georgia Governor Jimmy...