2023 Annual Report
Message from the mayor
Dear Vancouver –
Last year marked a decade since I began serving in elected office, first as a city councilor and now as your mayor. I’m honored and humbled to have witnessed our evolution and, along with the city council, taken part in shaping policies that ensure what we love about this special place remains intact as we continue to grow.
And have we grown! Since I first took office, more than 30,000 people moved here and we experienced a 64% increase in communities of color. Clark County is the fastest-growing jurisdiction in the Portland metro area and one of the fastest-growing in the state.
In 2023, the City Council sharpened our focus on the future, identifying new opportunities to make Vancouver more equitable, safe and resilient to climate change. The adoption of our 2023-29 Strategic Plan defines the core values and priorities that will guide our decisions as we evolve from a suburban to urban community.
We continued to improve community safety and well-being through record hiring in our fire and police departments and completing the adoption of a police vehicle and body-worn camera program. We also expanded efforts to create more affordable housing and address the humanitarian crisis of homelessness – doubling our supportive Safe Stay Community shelter capacity and celebrating the passage of a replacement Affordable Housing Fund levy to build or preserve even more affordable homes over the next decade.
With safety and equity top of mind, we also worked in partnership with historically underserved communities to develop plans for how we’ll invest more than $61 million in central Vancouver neighborhoods surrounding Fourth Plain Boulevard and reconstruct downtown’s historic Main Street from 5th to 15th.
Finally, following the adoption of our Climate Action Framework in 2022, we began laying the groundwork to achieve our ambitious goal of becoming carbon-neutral communitywide by 2040. From investments in electric fleet vehicles to doubling our tree planting capacity – we’re prioritizing sustainability in everything we do.
Together, with my fellow councilmembers, City employees and all of you – we’re working to preserve the qualities that make Vancouver a great place to live, while continuing to evolve to meet the needs of our growing community.
This report demonstrates how we’re making good on these promises.
Sincerely,
Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle