La Palma Mayor Steve Shanahan praised the city’s accomplishments over the past year and noted the challenges the city faces in the future, during the annual State of the City Address on April 3, at the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority.
La Palma Mayor Steve Shanahan praised the city’s accomplishments over the past year and noted the challenges the city faces in the future, during the annual State of the City Address on April 3, at the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority.
Shanahan shared the highlights of the year, including La Palma once again being named one of the best places to live in the U.S. He noted improvements in the city’s infrastructure and record databases, and recognized the events that have kept La Palma a close-knit community. In its annual best places to live issue, Money Magazine ranked La Palma, 31st in the nation.
The 2013 La Palma Days event drew one of its biggest crowds in the events history, Shanahan said. Shanahan said that La Palma Days has become one of the signature events that exemplifies the city’s value driven, quality of life.
“La Palma Days is one way our community maintains its hometown feel,” Shanahan said.
But maintaining its hometown feel and upward momentum has not been easy and will continue to propose challenges. Among the biggest challenges has been the city’s recovery from the closure of redevelopement agencies. City staff saw a reduction of 14 percent over the past year, but Shanahan said the city’s partnership with its employees continues to be one of its most important assets.
Shanahan noted that other partnerships help make La Palma a strong city. He said partnerships with the five school districts that cover the city, businesses and the citizens have also been key in keeping the city on a path for improvement. The city is working on a general plan update and has gotten a lot of input from the community.
While the city has searched for new revenue sources, several new businesses joined the city this past year. Some of those businesses include Chase Bank, Walmart community market and Mobile. The city is also looking into adding electronic billboards along its portion of the 91 freeway.
“The concept can produce new city revenue,” Shanahan said of the billboard project.
La Palma can also look forward to the completion of its seven-year street improvement project this year. Shanahan said the city needs to continue its capital investments and work on a sustainable financial plan. Shanahan said the city will continue to look for one-time investments that can save the city money over the long term.
Some examples Shanahan pointed toward would include investments in technology, its phone systems, financial systems and its code enforcement software.
“The general plan represents the kind of community we are today and the community we intend to be,” Shanahan said.
La Palma is expecting several new businesses to open in the city in 2014 and Shanahan said the city is also looking into purchasing the light posts in the city from Southern California Edison as a way of long term saving on maintenance and leasing. They will also continue to support the police department to insure the safety of the citizens. And the city will continue to try and get public input on city projects and challenges in maintaining financial stability.
“We want to be transparent in our challenges too,” Shanahan said.
