It’s hard to believe that it was a little more than a year ago that I was writing my first Mayor’s Memo, and preparing to begin work as your newly elected mayor.

With the support and encouragement of this great community, and the partnership of the City Council, we have been able to accomplish a tremendous amount in the span of 12 short months. With the New Year upon us, it’s time for reflection on how far Federal Way has come and what’s coming up in 2015.

After too many years of economic stasis, Federal Way is finally moving forward. Our downtown is taking shape in a big way with the Performing Arts and Conference Center, a downtown community park and the exciting Town Center project.

As I took office last January, downtown had been mired for years in a divisive debate over building a performing arts center. Today, with unanimous Council support we are preparing to break ground on the Performing Arts and Conference Center project, the cornerstone of a new, economically vibrant Federal Way.

The key to action was bringing objective facts to what had been analysis paralysis. Some have argued that as a mayor who came to the office with questions about the project, that I should’ve tried to kill it outright. But a mayor’s job is to unite and lead, not divide and conquer.

The mayor’s Blue Ribbon Panel brought together local, independent experts to assess the proposed project. The panel found that the city can build and operate the Performing Arts and Conference Center without raising taxes or affecting other programs, and that construction will generate $59 million in spending and 338 jobs, while ongoing operations will generate $3.2 million in spending.

When the Council voted 7-0 to approve the project on June 3, it was a united decision made with the best available information. The Blue Ribbon Panel’s work was the turning point towards a new Federal Way.

This year, residents will be able to watch with pride as the Performing Arts and Conference Center begins to take shape, creating a focal point for downtown growth.

On July 12, more than 1,200 residents celebrated the opening of Town Square Park, Federal Way’s first downtown park.  Our parks staff did a tremendous job bringing this park in on time, and under budget. Town Square Park will only continue to get better as the City Council and I work with the community this year on a master plan for future improvements.

We also introduced the Town Center Project in November, a 21-acre downtown center that will encompass future mixed-use development, Town Square Park, the Performing Arts and Conference Center, the Federal Way Transit Center and future public uses among other amenities. In the coming weeks, we’ll issue a Request for Proposals to begin looking for developers to work with on building the Town Center vision.

While it’s vital that we move downtown development forward, we have been careful to keep focused on the many important needs in the community. The list of 2014 results includes saving Public Health clinic services for 13,700 low-income mothers and their children, preserving the historical Brooklake property, and rebuilding the popular Family Funland, along with the nation’s first wheelchair merry-go-round.

We took big steps forward in public safety, while keeping Federal Way a safe city. We opened the new downtown police substation in May, fought car theft with the purchase of three new automated license plate readers, addressed DUI and distracted driving with the Nick & Derek Project, and added five new officers in the new budget.

We worked to enhance communication with the public holding six Neighborhood Connection meetings across the city, providing new civic content on the public access channel 21, and sharing updates with the community through a new city newsletter.

Perhaps most importantly, this year we have worked to build a sense of community and pride in our city through a variety of public events. This started with two City Hall Seahawks rallies that drew over 600 people prior to Super Bowl 48. In the late summer, Town Square Park became Federal Way’s living room as over 900 people attended each of the two free movie nights at the park.

The park also hosted its first annual holiday tree lighting ceremony Dec. 6 with more than 500 families and children helping light the downtown holiday tree. On that evening, this city of 91,250 people seemed like a small town again.

The passion for community was seen most memorably in the amazing Veterans Day event held downtown. More than 1,100 residents came downtown on Veterans Day, as we dedicated the 60-foot flagpole in our downtown and dedicated South 320th Street with the honorary name of Veterans Way.

In addition to all the new work that was done, the city passed its first structurally balanced budget in more than a decade. As important as it is to move our city forward, we have to live within our means, and the 2015-2016 budget does that, with expenditures being paid for by new revenues, not new taxes, and not one-time spending.

As we begin this New Year, I want to thank you again for selecting me to be your mayor and for supporting this important work. I also want to thank the City Council for their support, advice and partnership. Together, we’ve laid the foundation for Federal Way’s future. In 2015, we begin building Federal Way’s future.

Jim Ferrell is the mayor of Federal Way.