The mayor of San Jose delivered his state of the city speech Thursday night and he vowed to stay the course, but it's a course some critics say is hurting the city.

The mayor made one thing clear in his seventh state of the city address inside the San Jose Civic Auditorium: money is still tight.

He made a plea to voters to help hike the sales tax increase next year.

Reed vowed to open more closed libraries, finish delayed maintenance and work to keep employees.

In recent years, thousands have either been laid off or left for jobs elsewhere.

"The reality is San Jose is understaffed in many areas and nowhere is this more apparent than in our police department," Reed said.

Reed said the city will ultimately hire 200 more officers. Fifteen have already been hired and more are in the process.

To fund improvements, Reed suggested a tax hike.

A recent poll showed 70 percent of people in San Jose would support a quarter-cent tax increase.

"We could possibly go to the voters for a tax increase in 2014, but success cannot be assumed," Reed said.

Reed was successful in getting voters to pass his pension reform, Measure B, last year.

But his battle with unions is far from over.

The head of the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council said the mayor needs to reach across the aisle more.

"I think his biggest mistake has been not listening," said Ben Field, South Bay Labor Council executive officer. "I think he has taken the approach not only with city workers but community groups. It's his way or the highway.

The San Jose Police Officers' Union told KTVU the mayor may hire more officers, but he will have a hard time retaining them because of how the pension system is set up.

Next year marks Reed's final state of the city.