State of the City redux

If you really care about Thursday's economic assessment, read the full story here.

But there was another wrinkle to the 2-hour long event at the Grand Theatre. Mayor Brent Ives, ostensibly giving a glimpse of the city's present and future, took a swipe at one of his rivals in the 2008 mayoral election.

He landed a body blow to Celeste Garamendi, who happened to be in attendance, saying the slow-growth law she helped author is hurting the city:

“Certainly any time a city has a reputation for being a slow-growth city, it is an economic weakness. It’s difficult when you have a reputation in the business industry out there — when you have a reputation for being slow growth, it’s difficult to mitigate.”

He also seemed to hit hot-button anti-growth activists in his speech's final minutes:

“This isn’t a selfish pursuit serving your community. This is not a place for single issue — this is a place for broad understanding of what it takes to make a healthy city."

The Press editorial board promised the 2008 election wouldn't be boring. No kidding.