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May 27, 2021
JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 10 | LIFE: PAGE 12 | CALENDAR: PAGE 15 | SPORTS: PAGE 16
VOLUME 16 | ISSUE 49
Arvada Mayor Marc Williams gives in-person State of the City Year of accomplishments and sacrifices chronicled BY RYAN DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Class of 2021 graduates
Arvada P6 / Ralston Valley P7 / Pomona P8 / A-West P 9
In a speech largely framed as a return to normalcy, Arvada Mayor Marc Williams gave his 2021 State of the City Address to a mask-less crowd of over 100 attendees at Footers Catering’s Social Capitol Event Center on May 21. In his speech, Williams celebrated the City’s comprehensive response to the coronavirus pandemic and optimistically looked toward the future. Williams — who gave last year’s State of the City remotely due to COVID-19 restrictions — began his address by stating that the more intimate conditions of this year’s speech signal that the community is starting to come out of the pandemic. He also congratulated Footers owners Anthony and April Lambatos, who opened Social Capitol in March. “Being together today is evidence that we are getting through this,” said Williams, “and we are going to get through this! And certainly, we’re celebrating, and I congratulate Anthony and April (Lambatos) for putting together this great venue to do this.” The Mayor then turned his focus to mourning the lives lost during the pandemic, including more than 174 Arvadans. “Traditionally the State of the City is an opportunity to celebrate our accomplishments of the previous year and to look forward to the coming year,” said Williams. “But it’s impossible to take stock of our last year without acknowledging the sacrifices and the efforts to respond to the pandemic. We had over 2,000 cases of COVID in the City of Arvada,” Williams continued, “and we lost over 174 individuals. And I know many in this room have lost people who were important to them.” SEE MAYOR, P4