Mayor David Coss didn't burst into the Santa Fe High Demons fight song on Tuesday night as he did last year at a City Council meeting, but he nonetheless sang his own theme song as he offered a reflection of Santa Fe's progress and challenges during his annual State of the City address.

Coss touted the city's "abundance of confidence, strength and resilience," and before he got to the third paragraph of a pre-written speech, uttered his campaign slogan for the mayoral election that will take place next March.

The race for the mayor's seat kicked into gear Tuesday as former city manager and one-time city attorney Asenath Kepler formally declared her intentions to campaign for the city's chief executive post.

"Over the last four years, I have worked for a city that works for us all — un lugar para todos," Coss told his audience at the New Mexico Museum of History auditorium, parroting the Spanish phrase that has appeared in his campaign materials since he declared his re-election bid in May.

Kepler, who most recently worked for Daniel's Insurance, has said she will get her name on the ballot because she wants to offer her skills in business to benefit the city.

Coss didn't turn Tuesday's entire address into a stump speech for his re-election. He touted collaborative efforts that led to a recent agreement to acquire the College of Santa Fe campus and a plan to keep water flowing in the Santa Fe River.

He said the city's convention center is booked for 44 of 52 weekends next year, and that daily regional jet service recently began between Dallas and Santa Fe's airport, which also will soon connect directly to Los Angeles.

Looking ahead, the mayor bragged about continuing activity in the Santa Fe Railyard and made promises about its future. He vaguely referenced a resolution before the City Council that asks the state Legislature to help launch a movie theater planned for the site.

"We stand ready to work with Speaker (Ben) Luján to secure financing to complete this project and bring additional economic development to our community," he said, "and with Gov. (Bill) Richardson to make the downtown (Rail Runner Express) depot station fully functional for all commuters and visitors."

On the downside, Coss pointed to a 13 percent increase in domestic violence cases since he gave the annual address last year.

"This is unacceptable and causes me deep concern. As many of you know, I consider fighting domestic and sexual violence a priority. My vision is of a city where all people feel safe and secure," he said.

Reports from police this summer indicated the city's residential burglary rate has skyrocketed with a 105 percent increase over the same time period in 2008.

Meanwhile, eight people in the city died violent deaths in recent months, the mayor pointed out. He mentioned four youths killed by a suspected drunken driver, a teen who was gunned down by members of a rival gang, and three who died because of domestic violence.

Coss said a recent grant from the federal government should help the city hire eight new police officers.

"So, take a deep breath, Chief Wheeler," he quipped, referring to recently installed Police Chief Aric Wheeler.

As the audience of nearly 100 people — many of them city employees — filtered out after a standing ovation at the end of the speech, several said they got what they came for.

"It was very encouraging to hear the mayor mention business so many times in a speech," one man said.

"Just replace 'business' with 'river' and I would say that too," another commented.

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This is a Wordle visualization of Mayor David Coss’ State of the City speech, given on Aug. 11, 2009. Words used more often appear larger in the image. Common words are removed from the visualization. The text of the speech was provided by the city Public Information Office.

Contact Julie Ann Grimm at 986-3017 or jgrimm@sfnewmexican.com.