The Mishawaka Way: Mayor Wood gives State of the City address

MISHAWAKA, Ind. -- City of Mishawaka Mayor Dave Wood gave the 14th annual State of the City Address on Mon. night at Mishawaka City Hall.

This year’s theme was ‘The Mishawaka Way’, which was said a handful of times by Mayor Wood during his address. The speech looked back on 2024 and how he hopes to see the city grow in the future.

Mayor Wood spoke on many topics, such as new developments like the Mishawaka Fieldhouse, the fire department’s new Station 2, and the budget, among several other subjects.

Mayor Wood said if he were to give The Princess City a letter grade for its 2024 budget, he’d give it a ‘B’, with the general fund balance sitting at almost $21 million.

He said regardless, the city will need to remain fiscally conservative heading into 2025. He explained by saying if purposed legislation down state were to pass, or we were to experience a recession, things could change.

“I never thought I’d be a lobbyist, but that’s precisely what I have spent a lot of time doing over the past couple months. We have lobbied to preserve local funding for our vital public safety services, road funding, infrastructure funding, and to protect our utilities and to defend our right to grow responsibly… our voices were heard loud and clear. While we have some negative budget impact, it is not near as bad as what was purposed nor what could have been,” said Wood.

In the end, Mayor Wood said The Mishawaka Way will prevail.

“Rough seas are all around that have an impact on our ability to provide critical services here at the Princess City. It’s a I’ll-wind that blows no good. But here in Mishawaka, we have the ship, captain, and crew in place to weather any storm,” said Mayor wood.

To view the entire 2024 Mishawaka State of the City presentation, click here.