With his final term expiring at the end of the year, Binghamton Mayor Matt Ryan delivered his final State of the City Address. YNN's Chris Whalen was there and tells us Ryan's hopes for Binghamton's future.

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BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- In his final State of the City Address, Binghamton Mayor Matt Ryan began by looking back at his time in office.

"There was no plan to solve the structural challenges facing the city's finances and there was no efficient way to manage our financial data. The situation we inherited was not a recipe for success, it was a recipe for failure," Ryan said.

Ryan then highlighted what he believes are his administration's top accomplishments, including bringing new residents and businesses to downtown, cutting costs through reduction in the size of government and consolidation, removing blight and modernizing City Hall's information technology.

During his 38 minute speech, the mayor expressed his hope that his successor will continue to build on the progress he believes the city has experienced in his time.

While Ryan's work inside City Hall ends January 1st, City Council has two years left on its current term. Members say one thing they'd like to see more of in the future is economic development.

"They've got to get out there and go look for these businesses. You can't sit back and wait for business to come to you, you've got to go out and attract them, advertise the City," said Councilman Joe Mihalko.

"I think collectively, we as council do have an agenda and hopefully the new person buys in to our agenda," Councilman Bill Berg said.

A collective effort that all parties seem to agree needs to happen in order for progress to be made inside the city limits.

Entire address (approx. 38 minutes)

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