During my almost three years as mayor of Augusta, I have made it a point to take every opportunity I can to inform the public of what I see going on daily in our community. To give the citizens of our great city a truly accurate, big-picture view of the place they call home, I do a great deal of research and information-gathering with many sources outside our community.

To maintain a finger on the pulse of Augusta, I also make it a point to travel throughout the city daily to get the not-so-scientific -- but just as important, in my opinion -- "citizen on the street" perspective. A good barometer of the overall health of our city is Augusta's self-image as reflected by the views and the voices of the people who call our city home.

Recently, much has been made of demographic data and the way it depicts our community. Although I do not wish to delve too deeply into any data sets at this point, as I am by no means fully qualified to do so, I would like to make some general comments.

First, the time has come to view ourselves as a region, and not as politically or geographically distinct subsets. For the Central Savannah River Area to realize its full potential, there is a need for a greater level of regional cooperation and planning. Citizens throughout the region are affected daily by issues that span multiple jurisdictions. An individual who lives in Columbia County but owns a business in Augusta-Richmond County certainly has a vested interest in seeing both counties prosper. The same can be said for the Augusta-Richmond County resident who is employed by a business in Aiken County, and vice-versa.

I HAVE RECEIVED overwhelming support for this principle when I have touched on the issue with our region's business and civic leaders. We must all realize that the rising tide lifts everyone's boats, and our local economy doesn't somehow end at the county line. Although we, like every other region throughout the nation, have issues to face, we are blessed with the resources to overcome them while becoming a model for the rest of the nation to follow.

Concerning another aspect of demographic data, numbers can be interpreted in many ways, and these interpretations can then be used to support the supposition of the interpreter. Numbers and data can be distorted to serve the agenda of the organization or individual releasing them. I have often immersed myself in statistical data targeting Augusta, and this can lead to more questions than answers. I have quickly realized that, in certain circumstances, data and reports from different sources have a disturbing habit of contradicting one another.

Thus, I have again gone to the less scientific approach of focusing much more on results and the bottom line. In the past two fiscal years, we have seen Augusta's tax digest grow by 6 percent and 4.1 percent, respectively. As a city, our sales tax revenue collections have increased this year over last year amid -- according to every expert I have heard comment on the topic -- a very difficult national economy, if not an all-out recession. These bottom-line numbers certainly do not reflect a city in a downward spiral by any means.

WE ALSO HAVE seen a wave of investment in our local economy from both new and expanding businesses. Earlier this year, Teleperformance announced that they will be bringing 300 new jobs to Augusta with their new Wylds Road facility already in operation. In January, Automated Data Processing broke ground on a new 160,000-square-foot facility that will house 1,000 employees. T-Mobile completed a new facility just last fall that will be home to 750 employees.

While considering the number of jobs and investments that these three new investors in our local marketplace represent, keep in mind that economic development is extremely competitive, and to bring the above listed companies in, Augusta had to compete with cities nationwide. The decisions made by these companies are based to some degree on their own research of demographic data. Companies are in the business of making a profit, and one way they do this is to research the risk-reward ratio before investing tens of millions of dollars in a project.

In speaking to representatives of these and other corporations, one of the main factors that drew them to our market is something that I am not sure can be quantified by a simple numeric rating: the quality of our labor force. Representatives from ADP also said they were impressed with the diversity of our labor force; they have a strong commitment to diversity within their organization. The diversity of our city is a strength, not a weakness.

The recently opened J.B. White building mixed-use project in our quickly redeveloping downtown is another concrete example of a strong belief by developers that our city is a good investment. Not only did these developers choose to invest in Augusta, but they also have decided to relocate their families here and enroll their children in local schools. Our success from an economic development standpoint recently garnered Augusta a position as one of the "Top Ten Comeback Cities of the South" by Southern Business & Development magazine.

SINCE TAKING OFFICE, I have consistently expressed my concerns regarding our city's 20 percent poverty rate. I have had the opportunity to work with many organizations addressing the needs of the least of those in our community, and their work is truly inspiring. Organizations such as the Golden Harvest Food Bank, the Salvation Army, the United Way and St. Stephen's Ministries, to name just a few, do a tremendous job of delivering services to people who need them the most. However, to effectively address this issue there must be a coordinated effort by state and local government, our medical community, our school system, our civic organizations, our nonprofit community, our faith-based community and local citizens alike.

From a governmental perspective, the Augusta Commission took a significant and undeniable step forward in addressing this issue last year by approving the commitment of $37.5 million in funding, generated by a $1 increase on hotel/motel room fees, to go toward the redevelopment of our historic inner-city neighborhoods. According to Jesse Wiles of the planning firm APD Inc., this innovative redevelopment effort has the potential to become a model for other cities to follow.

Although this is but one prong of a multi-faceted effort to reduce the poverty rate in our city -- and there is still a great deal of work to be done to lift up the lowest income areas of Augusta -- it clearly stands as an example that our city is being proactive in addressing this issue, and sets the tone for future efforts to alleviate poverty in our community.

THE SPACE ALLOTTED for a single column or a single article is limited in the amount of room it can provide to paint a complete picture of a city the size of Augusta, not to mention a region with half a million citizens. As I continue to make every effort to help shine a light on the great strengths and the ever present needs of our city and the surrounding area, I am hopeful that citizens will make it a point to take time to seek as much information as they possibly can on any given issue affecting our region before establishing an opinion one way or the other.

I also would encourage everyone to take a look around and to see with their own eyes the concrete signs of progress springing up out of the ground all around us daily. The information I have provided definitely does not tell the whole story of what is going on in our community, but I hope I have provided you with a bit more perspective than you may have had before reading this column.

All in all, I believe that this information clearly paints a picture of a city striving, albeit by fits and starts at times, to fulfill its potential. However, I leave it to readers to make this decision for themselves, as everyone is entitled to their own opinions.

(The writer was first elected mayor of Augusta in November 2005.)