Kansas City, Missouri Mayor Sly James delivered his annual State of the City address today to a lively, packed audience that nearly filled Midtown's Uptown Theater. Here are five takeaways, and some interesting tweets, from the mayor's speech. 1. Since Mayor Sly James has taken office in 2011, the city is doing a whole lot better, according to James. James opened his speech talking about the terrible condition of Kansas City before being sworn in as mayor five years ago. Since then, he says, Kansas City has seen Google Fiber make its home here, an increase in tech entrepreneurship, the construction of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, the emergence of the Smart City Initiative, a revitalized downtown, and a World Series Championship that concluded with a parade drawing 800,000 people downtown without a single arrest. While James did not personally take credit for these achievements, he did note that all of this has been accomplished under his watch. https://twitter.com/EDCKC/status/714851229990522880 2. If voters are happy with Kansas City right now, they need to pass the earnings tax April 5th. Or else. Originally conceived in 1963 by Kansas City mayor Ilus Davis, the earnings tax takes a 1 percent cut from KC residents and people who work in the city. Generating around $230 million dollars annually, James said the earnings tax is the biggest source of revenue for the city and accounts for 45 percent of the city's general fund, which pays for police, fire, trash, and other city services. If voters do not renew the earnings tax April 5th, James said the…...