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12th State of the City Address
March 19, 2009
Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. Today it is my honor to present to you my 12th State of the City Address.
As we mark the beginning of the City of Inglewood’s 101st year of existence, we enter a historic period for our nation, state and city. America has taken a bold step forward in its history with the election of the first African-American President of the United States --- President Barack Hussein Obama. This occasion represents a watershed moment in America that many of us thought would never occur. President Obama’s election is a reflection of the hope and determination of the American people that significant change in this country has occurred. Change that was needed, because of the tremendous challenges that we now face as Americans.
Challenges that have touched every corner of this nation and every level of government. Challenges that have cracked our financial foundations and decimated economic giants. Challenges that have driven our own state government to the brink of fiscal uncertainty. Challenges that have caused California cities to slash services, cut payrolls and order employee furloughs and layoffs. California’s unemployment rate is now above 10 percent.
We are facing unprecedented economic challenges that have not existed since the great depression. Major banks and financial institutions that were once the bedrock of the country’s financial system have disappeared. Large corporations and everyday “mom and pop” stores, are either struggling or, regrettably, have fallen by the wayside. In our own homes, we are cutting back and stretching dollars as never before. Our nation, state and city are in the mist of uncharted and uncertain waters.
I would be less than honest if I were to say that Inglewood is immune to these challenges. However, I can honestly say that, because of the creative thinking and action taken by our Mayor and City Council, the work of the City’s administrative team, the professionalism and dedication of our employees and the tenacity and support of our residents and business community, the City of Inglewood is well positioned to weather this economic storm.
Compared with many cities and government agencies in California, I can proudly proclaim the State of the City of Inglewood is good. However, Inglewood, like other cities throughout the nation, is impacted by policy and budgetary decisions made at both the Federal and State levels. On the Federal level, President Obama is implementing a massive $789 billion economic stimulus package. It is touted as a down payment on what is needed to spark economic recovery in the nation.
While some people express doubt about the effectiveness of the stimulus bill, I can say with certainty that states, counties and cities across the nation, no matter what their positions are on the legislation, are now clamoring to get their hands on these dollars. In fact, there are provisions in the bill to fund the repair of bridges, roads and streets; upgrade our transit systems, employ more police officers, provide for economic development assistance, and fund a myriad of other projects.
Inglewood is blessed to have the best congressional representation in the country in that we are represented by Senators Diane Feinstein, Barbara Boxer and Congresswoman Maxine Waters.
These individuals have been responsible for the City of Inglewood receiving millions upon millions of dollars. During this current economic downturn, we will be depending on their leadership more than ever before. I know you can be confident that they will rise to the occasion again for the city of Inglewood. Recently, our City Administrator and I attended a meeting held by Congresswoman Waters with a small group of mayors and administrators from her district. We received a briefing on how we can be successful in accessing stimulus dollars. During the meeting, I had the opportunity to share with the congresswoman Inglewood’s unique needs in terms of funding for projects and services. The congresswoman indicated that the key to accessing these funds is to understand how to navigate the Federal government's bureaucratic waters and, most importantly, to be prepared with projects that can be implemented in accordance with the “shovel ready” mandate of the bill.
I want you to know that your mayor, city council members and administrators have been closely monitoring this process. In fact, during the meeting we submitted over $25 million dollars in “shovel ready projects” that would bring jobs and federal dollars to Inglewood. This $25 million does not include the $36 million for our new senior citizens facility or the $50 million for our Century Boulevard project.
You might have heard President Obama mention the fact that, because of his signing of the stimulus bill and the outstanding work of our federal congressional delegation, the Inglewood Police Department would be able to expand its overall staffing levels. Now that’s why I work so hard when I go to Washington every year, to get the support of all of the top officials, especially the President.
Every city in California is affected by decisions made at the State level. For the first time during my administration, Inglewood is fortunate to have an experienced legislative team to represent us at the state level, Assemblyman Curren Price and our recently elected state senator, Senator Rod Wright. But even this great team, along with the goodwill of other state legislators, could not lessen the budgetary calamity that has occurred in Sacramento.
After nearly 8 months of delay, the State of California finally presented its citizens a budget --- and what a budget it is! In order to plug a $42 billion budget deficit, the State budget calls for $14.9 billion in cuts including $8.4 billion in cuts to education, $1.5 billion in cuts to health and human services AND $1.4 billion in cuts that will directly affect State employees. State employees have already been subjected to mandatory furloughs, reductions in overtime and will be further impacted by the elimination of some State holidays.
On the revenue side, the State budget calls for $12.5 billion in revenue increases. A list of the actions taken to increase state revenues include: 1 cent increase in the sales tax; nearly doubling of the vehicle license fee; half percent increase in the personal income tax rate; reduction of the dependent tax credit; and utilizing money from the state lottery program.
I’m not making these observations to criticize the actions of our State leaders. I make these comments only to illustrate the obvious; our State and Federal governments are attempting to deal with dire economic challenges. Challenges that America has not faced since the Great Depression. In our own region, cities and counties are taking drastic steps to confront their own budgetary shortfalls. The State of California, the County of Orange, the Los Angeles Unified School District and other governmental agencies have been or are currently implementing employee layoff plans. The City of Los Angeles is negotiating with employee unions for plans that allow for early retirements and layoffs, because of an expected $427 million shortfall in the 2009-2010 budget year. Governmental entities throughout California are considering cutbacks that impact the businesses and residents in their communities, retrenchment of municipal services, and salary cutbacks for their employees.
Here in Inglewood, we believe that we are in a position to weather the storm. Our 2008-09 budget is balanced and in the black. We have large commercial districts that, though impacted by the sluggish economy, are key generators of revenue. As opposed to furloughs and layoffs, we are offering our employees, who have been loyal, dedicated, professional and hard working, new contracts which are extremely practical for these dire economic times and they include raises. That’s right raises! Furthermore, the City Council and I are determined to do whatever is necessary to maintain our city’s core services.
Years ago we had the foresight to create a long-term strategy which would establish a steady stream of revenue for our city. We also had to take steps to increase efficiency in our organization. This included being proactive in taking budgetary steps to prepare for future downturns in the economy.
Because of our program to develop, attract and retain major businesses, while exercising prudence in how we commit our limited resources, Inglewood is in a much better position today than many other communities.
While other cities are cutting back on services to their businesses and residents, we are maintaining our services. While other cities are contemplating laying off public safety personnel, Inglewood is hiring police officers. While counties, cities, and school districts in Southern California are handing out layoff notices to their employees, the City of Inglewood is negotiating new contracts for its employees that include raises. Yes, I said raises!
We want to maintain an environment where the City of Inglewood continues to be one of the best paying mid-sized municipal employers in the state. We want to not only pay decent salaries, but continue to provide excellent benefits, where we pay full costs of the employees required portion of all medical and retirement premiums. It’s hard to still find employers who are willing to pick up those costs. We do this for one reason, because our employees are hard working, dedicated and loyal.
Now, am I trying to paint a picture that says that everything is rosy in our community while the world around us is fraught with uncertainly? No. What I am saying is that, in these times of unprecedented economic challenges, Inglewood is in a far better position than many other communities and governmental institutions.
Although we do not have a clear picture of what is ahead one thing is crystal clear, if our city is to continue to prosper, we must expand our business tax base, continue community improvement and make city beatification a real priority. In light of the economic downturn, now is the time to increase our business and housing development programs while building material is cheap and many skilled workers are out of work.
Moving this city forward, certainly under these difficult times, could not happen without the concerted effort and cooperation of the policymakers. The Mayor and Council can’t keep Inglewood moving in a positive direction without the Mayor and at least two Council members working together as a team. So, I want to recognize the other policymakers that work hard to improve every aspect of life in our community, Councilmembers Danny Tabor, Judy Dunlap, Eloy Morales, Jr. and Ralph Franklin. Coucilmembers please stand so that everyone can join me in giving you a round of applause.
I also want to recognize our two other elected officers, City Treasurer Wanda Brown and City Clerk Yvonne Horton. Ladies please stand and be recognized.
Now, let’s take a look at our community as a whole.
Inglewood’s overall 2008-2009 budget, including the budgets for the City, the Redevelopment Agency, and other municipal authorities and special funds, totals $364 million. Believe it or not, this represents a 3.5% decrease from the previous year’s budget.
During the development of our current budget, we did envision a modest slowdown of the economy. That’s why we felt it was important to be conservative in planning for this budget year. However, no one could have anticipated the severity of the current downturn.
As most of you know, the City finances municipal services through various funds. The most important fund that serves as the source of payment for most public services is the City’s General Fund. I am proud to say that the adopted budget for this year’s General Fund budget is operationally balanced! As I said earlier, Inglewood is in the black!
In order to prudently manage and safeguard the City’s fiscal health, the Mayor and City Council directed the establishment of a Reserve for Economic Uncertainty. This is, plainly speaking, a reserve set aside for unexpected “emergencies.” That’s emergencies, not ongoing operations, expenses or cost of living adjustments. We also adopted a policy that forbids the use of one-time revenues in funding ongoing expenses. This year’s General Fund revenues are budgeted at $86.2 million. General Fund expenditures are budgeted at the same $86.2 million dollars; hence we have a balanced General Fund.
The General Fund receives revenues from a variety of sources. However, the majority of the fund’s revenues come from four sources: property taxes, sales taxes, utility users’ taxes and motor vehicle-in-lieu taxes. These four taxes account for 65.7% of the revenue that make up the General Fund. Early trend estimates for most of the City’s core tax sources indicate that revenues will be flat. However, a positive part of this year’s budget is that the City will again benefit from the second full year of revenue collections generated from the passage by Inglewood voters of Measure IT. Measure IT will provide an estimated $5.3 million dollars to supplement funding for vital city services, including police services.
As I previously indicated, we are in the middle of ongoing contract negotiations with several employee bargaining units. Negotiations began last year and have been ongoing, even as the full impact of this deteriorating economy has continued to unfold at both the Federal and State levels. Despite a cloudy economic picture, my Council colleagues and I remain committed to providing some level of compensation enhancement to our dedicated employees. They have more than earned a reasonable raise. We intend to follow through with this commitment provided that such an action does not conflict with our responsibility to maintain the City’s financial viability.
We all recognize that in order to maintain a reasonable quality of life in a community, while creating an atmosphere conductive to economic development, one must have a sense of safety and security. With that in mind, we have devoted significant resources to enhancing our police department.
In an effort to secure additional resources for various services and projects, we are actively and aggressively engaged in securing funding available under the Economic Stimulus package. The Mayor, Councilman Franklin and City Administrator Tim Wanamaker were in Washington DC conferring with our legislators and legislative staff while requesting stimulus funds for the City of Inglewood. Receipt of these funds would positively impact the General Funds’ ability to provide resources for vital city services, particularly police services. The wisdom of our decision to invest in our police department has been confirmed by the reduction of the city’s violent crime rate for 2008.
Ladies and gentleman, the fine work of the men and women of the Inglewood Police Department under the leadership of Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks has resulted in the incidence of violent crime being at its lowest level in 40 years. Notable statistics for 2008 include Homicides down 32%; Robbery down 10%; Auto Theft down 6% and Burglary down 16%. These figures represent the crime reduced quality of life we all can appreciate. I believe that deserves an expression of gratitude to Chief Seabrooks and the entire Inglewood Police Department with a round of applause (Applause).
Many of you may have heard news reports regarding the investigation of our police department being conducted by the U. S. Justice Department. While it would be inappropriate for me to comment on this matter at length, I do want to make clear the fact that we welcome this investigation. We welcome it, because even before it was announced, we had been making the changes necessary to improve our police department, including firing certain officers and instituting mandatory enhanced training for all sworn personnel.
While the Mayor and City Council are aggressively working to address issues of concern for the city, I am compelled to say that the Inglewood Unified School District’s Board of Education is in disarray. They have fired the School Superintendent, Legal Counsel, and a Finance Official. The former school Chief of Police has sued the District and two Board Members. They have paid out $250,000 in a libel suit; are defendants in a $3.5 million lawsuit filed by the fired legal counsel; and are potential defendants in a $2.5 million lawsuit being prepared by the former Superintendent.
It has been alleged by one Board Member that the City of Inglewood owes the school district money. I can categorically say that the City does not owe the school district one dime. To the contrary, it is the City, which at our expense, pays for the school crossing guards that protect our children every school day. The Inglewood Police Department is constantly available to assist the school district’s security personnel. While our children work hard each day to pursue their academic studies, the City continues to do whatever we can to be of assistance. The City is more than willing to work with the school board to develop an outstanding educational program, when the school district has Board Members that are willing to work with the Mayor and City Council. This is the reason I am not endorsing the incumbents that are running for re-election.
I am pleased to report that we are making significant progress in moving forward the largest and most ambitious project in Inglewood’s history, the Hollywood Park Development Project. As you know, current plans call for the demolition of the racetrack and grandstands, and construction of approximately 3,000 housing units. Included in the overall project is a massive 620,000 square foot retail center; 75,000 square feet of office/commercial space; approximately 25 acres of space dedicated for recreation/open space development, a 15 screen cinema complex, and a 300 room hotel with 10,000 square feet of community use for the Home Owners Association.
This is a one of a kind development that represents a fantastic opportunity to make Inglewood a regional destination spot. It not only improves the cities housing stock and increases revenues that fund essential municipal services, but will also provide a tremendous opportunity for employment within the city through the creation of over 17,000 construction-related jobs. A successful completion of this project would be quite a boost to Inglewood’s overall livability and quality of life.
Next week, we expect that the Draft EIR and revised Specific Plan will be heard by the Inglewood Planning Commission and I fully expect that the City Council will soon receive a request for a public hearing on this matter.
In order to move this project forward, representatives from Wilson Meany Sullivan, the firm overseeing the development, have been meeting on a weekly basis with City representatives to review every aspect of this project. I want to take a moment to acknowledge all of the hard work and long hours put in by the City’s team led by the point person on this project, Assistant City Administrator for Development Mr. Sheldon Curry. Please join me in giving him and his entire team a round of applause.
We are pleased with the overall direction that the City is headed and I am pleased to be able to present to you our new City Administrator Mr. Timothy Wanamaker. Mr. Wanamaker please stand so we can acknowledge you with a round of applause.
The City of Inglewood is adhering to a policy of continuing crucial projects that will enhance our ability to move forward, even during this economic downturn. Therefore, we will continue with efforts to improve major thoroughfares throughout the city.
One of many projects that we are following though on is the Century Boulevard Improvement Project. Our goal with this project is to completely rebuild Century Boulevard, from Felton Avenue to Van Ness Avenue, with street, sidewalk and traffic improvements. We anticipate that the State will be very receptive to this project in that Century Boulevard is a major arterial for the region. It also holds significant importance to Los Angeles World Airports since it is one of the prime routes of access to the airport.
Currently, we are awaiting a response to our request from CalTrans for an Authorization to Proceed with preliminary engineering plans. Approval of this request will result in the release of $3,000,000 for the project. In anticipation of this approval, staff has prepared a draft Request for Proposal to initiate the engineering design process. A complete renovation of Century Boulevard is important, because it will have such a positive impact on all of the businesses that are located along or near this thoroughfare.
Because this is such an important project for our city, we will include it in our request for Federal funding. We are already working with Congresswoman Waters on this as well as a number of other stimulus eligible projects including the following roadway improvement projects: Manchester Boulevard from Ash to Crenshaw Boulevard; the La Cienega/La Tijera/Centinela corridor; La Brea Avenue from 64th Street to Florence Avenue, and Florence Avenue from Fir to West Boulevard.
The Village at Century is, by all measurements, a successful development. The major restaurants, Red Lobster and Chili’s, are leading stores in their chains. The development has employed many Inglewood residents and has given a much needed boost to our local economy.
The same developer that successfully brought together that project, The Haagen Company, was recently granted an extension of their Exclusive Negotiating Agreement in order to put together a deal for another successful development. The proposed site is located at Century Boulevard and Prairie Avenue. Currently, the proposal consists of an 83,000 square foot shopping center development that includes prominent commercial retailers and restaurants. The Haagen Company has been in discussions with a number of companies who have expressed an interest in the development. Retailers like Best Buy and Petco and restaurants like Olive Garden and Famous Dave’s BBQ are some of the names that have been mentioned. We want to give The Haagen Company every reasonable opportunity to create another successful project in Inglewood. Success that translates into jobs for the community and increased shopping opportunities for the region.
While everyone’s aware that this is a difficult time for businesses, Inglewood is gratified by companies who continue to see value and opportunity when they locate in our city. In September, I was pleased to participate in the grand opening of Inglewood’s very own Burlington Coat Factory. They have been doing fantastic business in Inglewood and we’re happy to welcome them to our business family. This development not only brings additional stores to our community, which will include a new CVS Drug Store, but also removes an unproductive eyesore from the local neighborhood. I want to take this opportunity to thank The Charles Company for their ongoing work on this project.
The City of Inglewood has completed the first phase of a three phased project to improve La Brea Boulevard. The first phase, which was completed last year, involved a complete reconstruction of the roadway including associated street improvements from Florence Avenue to Hillcrest Boulevard. This represented a $3.3 million investment in our transportation infrastructure. We are aware of the fact that we experienced coordination issues with merchants during the construction phase and we are working to appropriately respond to those issues. As we move forward with Phase 2 of this project, we will do so in a manner that builds upon the lessons we learned during the first phase. Phase 2 will consist of additional improvements along La Brea from Spruce Avenue to 104th Street. We expect to begin construction later this Fall after extensive outreach to affected La Brea merchants.
The City continues to implement its overall capital improvement program. During 2008, we repaved over 322,000 square feet of streets; constructed or repaved in concrete over 44,000 square feet of streets and alleyways, nearly 20,000 square feet of curb, gutters and driveways; and installed 67 concrete pedestrian ramps to assist disabled pedestrians.
Another example of our determination to keep this city moving forward is reflected by progress on our senior citizens project. Finally, we have reached a milestone in what is the beginning of the end of an unexpectedly long journey. I can proudly announce today that we expect to begin construction on a modern, state-of-the art, 58-unit senior housing complex this May! The complex will also contain a new 33,000 square foot senior center that will be the envy of seniors for miles around. Our seniors have been waiting a long time for the actual construction work to begin and we expect to be cutting the ribbon to open this new development in October 2010.
While we are moving forward with plans to provide new residential opportunities for our senior citizens, I believe that we must also take positive steps to promote homeownership throughout our city. As such, the City Council and I have been pushing for the reinstitution of our Inglewood First-time Homebuyers Program. City staff is working on a program that will provide up to $150,000 in loan money to qualified Inglewood residents seeking to become first-time homeowners. We are all looking forward with great anticipation to resumption of this vital program.
It is unfortunate that we ever had to discontinue a program that benefited so many prospective homebuyers. The reason this program was terminated was because of a report on Inglewood Neighborhood Housing Services, which indicated that a board member or members improperly utilized City money without our permission. An audit is being completed to determine how much money was taken and what amount has been returned to the city. That is why we can no longer do business with Inglewood Neighborhood Housing Services.
In Inglewood, we are aware of the fact that the city’s appearance has an important impact on a business’ ability to effectively attract customers and on the quality of life experienced by our residents. That’s why we have taken steps to enhance our tree trimming operations by enlisting the services of a private tree trimming firm to supplement our own City resources. Utilizing the services of West Coast Arborist frees up City crews to serve as “rapid response units” that are charged with responding to the multitude of special requests received from throughout the city.
Since being retained in October, West Coast Arborist has trimmed nearly 7,000 trees. Now that’s a lot of beautification. With this added manpower we anticipate that, by mid-summer, we will have trimmed the remainder of the City’s urban forest, which is estimated to be about 11,000 trees.
It is said that there are always opportunities in times of crises and instability. Well, the progressive leaders of this City are always looking for even the smallest opportunities. With interest rates at their lowest levels in recent history, we will be taking the opportunity to finance long needed renovations at City Hall through the refunding of our civic center bonds. City Hall, which was dedicated over 35 years ago in 1973, is in store for a number of upgrades including safety and security upgrades; replacement of aging elevators, seismic upgrades and ADA mandated renovations.
One area where we are striving hard not to be adversely impacted by today’s economic circumstances is Inglewood’s Residential Sound Insulation Program. A couple of years ago, I was assigned the responsibility of leading the City’s negotiating team in working out a settlement agreement in the City’s lawsuit against the Los Angeles World Airports, which is also known as LAWA. I am glad that the parties were able to reach an out of court settlement that placed Inglewood in a prime position when it comes to accessing available LAWA insulation funding.
In fact, Inglewood has a real possibility of receiving nearly $100 million from LAWA to insulate the homes of our long suffering residents. Many residents are already benefiting from our efforts to increase the pace at which we insulate homes. Since the signing of the agreement, Inglewood has received $24.5 million in LAWA funding and expects another $9.2 million in the next few weeks. Additionally, during fiscal year 2008, Inglewood received $17 million in insulation funding from the FAA. That was more than any other city in California and second in the nation only to the city of Chicago.
Just last month, I signed the most recent obligation for the City to receive another $10 million in Federal funds. That’s why I always say that the City of Inglewood has one of the best residential sound insulation programs in the nation. We have provided sound insulation products to over 3,200 homes and will continue this process until all eligible homes are insulated.
Health is an issue that we all are concerned about. That’s why I am working to establish the Mayor’s Weight Loss Challenge here in Inglewood. The fact that far too many youth and adults are overweight, with some being grossly overweight, has resulted in an outbreak of diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and other weight related ailments. Therefore, I want to extend a challenge to local service clubs, non-profits, schools, medical facilities, City employees, businesses and residents to join me in this effort to improve the health of our community. We are being assisted in this effort by Dr. Zahra Tabassian who is a local physician and surgeon. You will be hearing more about this project in the coming weeks.
In closing, I will share with you a story that captures the remarkable spirit of our great city. In the 1960’s, a young couple who had recently immigrated to America from Puerto Rico settled in Inglewood’s Morningside Park neighborhood. In 1967, they gave birth to a son at Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital. His name is Joseph Acabo. Young Joseph attended Inglewood Christian School where he received his early educational training and subsequently went on to pursue his dreams in life.
Right now, as I speak to you today, Joseph Acabo is circling the earth in the International Space Station as a member of the Space Shuttle Discovery crew. Astronaut Acabo is scheduled to make two space walks this week as he works to improve the space station’s operations. Joseph is but one of tens of thousands of young people who, as products of our city, go on to make great contributions to our society.
Even though we are in extremely challenging times, the City of Inglewood is charting a course to minimize our exposure to dangerous economic waters. At the same time, we are determined to continue an overall policy of economic development for our city.
But this will only be possible if we recognize that everyone in this city, residents, businesses, employers and employees are all in the same boat. Our fortunes and progress, for better or for worse, are linked together. That is why we must approach these difficult times from the same perspective. A perspective that has led us to prosperity and progress for the past 12 years.
A perspective that says…We Will Make It! We will continue to work to make our homes, neighborhoods, businesses and the entire community a place where we are proud to live, work, play and invest. May God Bless us all and continue to bestow his grace on the city of Inglewood. Thank you very much.
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