At the second annual State of the City Address on Wednesday, Mayor Adena Ishii reflected on the city of Berkeley’s business revival efforts, housing and the city’s relationship with UC Berkeley.

In attendance were city council members, UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons and former Berkeley Mayor and state Sen. Jesse Arreguín, among others. The crowd of more than 100 people showered Ishii with standing ovations before and after her speech.

Lyons and Ishii praised connection between the city and campus, with Ishii calling the relationship between UC Berkeley and the city of Berkeley “the best it’s ever been.” They both pointed to collaborations such as the Long Range Development Plan, a campus growth strategy that Ishii claimed brings the city $4 million annually.

“The relationship, much to the credit of my predecessor Carol Christ, between the city and the university is at an absolute high,” Lyons told The Daily Californian. “I know the mayor well on a personal level, and I just want to support her and the city as much as I can.”

Ishii also stressed the importance of startups to the city of Berkeley’s economy, highlighting the retention of Berkeley-founded companies through the city’s Office of Economic Development, or OED. She touted the city as home to about 370 “innovation companies,” emphasizing that many come out of campus and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Ishii emphasized the importance of creating livable and vibrant communities in the city that encourage companies and graduates to stay and grow in Berkeley, rather than move to San Francisco.

Six hundred businesses have opened in Berkeley over the past year, according to Ishii. Additionally, she highlighted steps her office is taking to make it easier to do business, such as pushing for faster permitting timelines and contributing $10,000 to the city’s Business Damage Mitigation Fund.

In an interview with the Daily Cal, District 4 Councilmember Igor Tregub highlighted similar growth in Downtown Berkeley, pointing to vacancy rates dropping below 10% for the first time since the pandemic.

“It’s the community organizer in me, but I love knocking on doors and speaking directly with people,” Ishii said. “During these visits, I have one-on-one conversations with business owners, managers and employees about what they need, share resources available through OED and make sure they know that my office is here to help.”

Ishii said her push to make Berkeley probusiness is necessary for fixing the city’s $30 million budget deficit, arguing that new sources of revenue are necessary and that the city “can’t just keep making cuts.”

Arreguín also mentioned the city’s budget deficit and advocated for measures U and V, which voters will decide on in November. Measure U would authorize the city to issue up to $300 million in bonds for infrastructure through a property tax. Measure V would add a 0.5% sales tax, raising Berkeley’s total sales tax to 10.75%.

“One of the things I learned as a mayor, there’s only so much you can get done here,” Arreguín told the Daily Cal. “You need strong partners, the county and the state. (I’m) really excited to support (Ishii’s) work and the work of the city.”

Housing was another key issue that Ishii talked about, arguing that “housing is the solution to homelessness.”

She pointed to the city’s Middle Housing ordinance, which allows housing units that reach up to three stories and eight units to be built in all mainly residential neighborhoods, aside from fire hazard areas.

“We each have a role in shaping Berkeley today and into the future because Berkeley has never been a city that waits for someone else to define us,” Ishii said. “We have always been willing to try something different, to challenge convention, to ask whether there is a better way. That spirit is what built Berkeley’s reputation in the first place. Now, we have an opportunity to raise the bar.”