HOLYOKE — Saluting residents and city officials alike for their efforts on behalf of the city, Mayor Joshua Garcia highlighted economic development and fiscal progress in his recent State of the City address.

The city’s financial position is getting stronger, he said, as it enjoys a budget surplus for the third straight year, with no reliance on reserves and federal relief money, and its hydropower resources are attracting clean industries such as Sublime Systems and Clean Crop Technologies.

“We’re showing that America’s economic future is now, and guess what?” Garcia said in the address before the City Council last Thursday. “It’s happening right here in the city of Holyoke.”

At the same time, he said the city is investing in itself, with 100 new housing units developed in the last few years and more nearing completion, and a new middle school under construction.

The city’s schools, which have been under state control since 2015, are on the path back to local control.

And, with significant investment already pledged, the city is looking to create a $100 million, multi-site sports complex.

“I’m grateful to everybody in this room who helped make these things happen,” Garcia said.

On budget matters, he asked the City Council to create two new positions — a chief financial administrative officer, to help the city to operate with more accurate financial forecasts, and a professional accountant to help the Police Department to make sound fiscal decisions.

An outside audit of police practices in the city published last year found that the department “represents a substantial risk to the city,” financially and in other ways, with “extraordinary” overtime cited as a particular problem.

Garcia also requested that the council draw up a ballot question seeking approval to make the treasurer appointed by the council.

The mayor also acknowledged Holyoke’s continuing struggles against violence and economic deprivation.

In October, he noted, “Holyoke found itself on the national spotlight because of the menace of violence on our streets.” A woman eight months pregnant riding on a bus was hit by a stray bullet, which claimed the life of her child.

The Boston Globe also recently published a profile of a Holyoke woman and the obstacles she faced trying to buy her own home. She bought a house in a part of town she tried to avoid. Soon, her middle son was picked up with a gun.

“As we acknowledge and celebrate our progress as a city, we can’t allow ourselves to look away from our people’s struggles,” Garcia said.

“We can’t talk about a declining crime rate without acknowledging that we have parents who are afraid to send their kids outside.”

Reading headlines from 25 years ago, he said they challenged the people of Holyoke to think about why they sound like they could have been written yesterday, and what they can do to make change that lasts.

“If we summon what’s best in us, the story of Holyoke will be bright and full of promise,” Garcia said.

James Pentland can be reached at jpentland@gazettenet.com.