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STATE OF THE CITY MESSAGE
CITY OF LOMITA
MAYOR SUSAN DEVER
Nov. 16, 2009

 

INTRODUCTION

It is my distinct pleasure to provide the citizens of Lomita the annual State of the City message as outgoing Mayor for 2008-09.  This annual report includes accomplishments that have been realized in the past year.  We have made every effort to insure that this report is as informative as possible so that everyone in our community will know and understand more about our government and its operations.

It goes without saying that Lomita and its business community have been impacted by this unprecedented economic crisis and just like cities throughout the nation; the City of Lomita has certainly felt the impacts of this recession. Like so many families and businesses throughout this city, we are tightening our belts too, and finding ways to do more with less.    Lower sales tax revenues and continued state borrowing or taking of local government resources have hampered our ability to effectively deliver public services.  Still we press on with a small dedicated city staff; our volunteers, commissioners and city partners to address the needs and concerns of our community. 

It has been an honor to serve this year as your Mayor and to play a role in the accomplishments noted in this report.  In reviewing the past year, there are many specifics that should be noted.  Some of the major accomplishments include:

  • Adopted an ordinance to create a comprehensive city water management and conservation plan;
  • Adopted a Code Amendment that clarified prohibition against unauthorized removal of solid waste and recyclable material from solid waste containers;
  • Adopted a Code Amendment that created an updated comprehensive list of nuisances and amending the procedures for abating a nuisance;
  • Adopted Sexual Offender Ordinance that prohibits registered sex offenders from residing temporarily or permanently within 200 feet of any public or private school, any park and all places where children frequently gather;
  • Adopted Medical Marijuana Dispensary Ordinance that prohibits, as an incompatible land use, medical marijuana dispensaries from operating within the city;
  • Approved a lease agreement with ACCORD, an educational, workforce and economic development non-profit organization which promotes cooperation, collaboration and linkages to businesses and service communities;
  • Adopted donation criteria policy for Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)
  • Purchased generators to provide back up power for the Emergency Operation Center (EOC) and CERT program;
  • Approved an agreement with the County of Los Angeles to implement an integrated transportation system with the goal of reducing regional and local traffic congestion;
  • Approved criteria for Water Wise Garden program and signage;
  • Implemented video streaming and archiving of City Council meetings to provide additional access and transparency for city residents via the city’s website (www.lomitacity.com);
  • Applied for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) stimulus funding for street improvements, public housing capital improvements and law enforcement programming;
  • The City was awarded it fourth consecutive Excellence in Financial Reporting Certificate by the Government Finance Officers’ Association;
  • Participated in the Golden Guardian Exercise and all city employees received CERT training by the Los Angeles County Fire Department;
  • Coordinated the third annual firework suppression program with Sheriff’s Department to reduce the discharge of illegal fireworks within the city;
  • Fully implemented the voucher conversion to a “Swipe Card” system to assist in the management of the Dial-a-Ride program;

SUMMARY OF LOMITA EVENTS

  • Assisted Sister City Association with toilet retrofit program to increase water conservation efforts;
  • Assisted Los Angeles County Sheriff Department in “gifts for guns” exchange program;
  • Lomita Teen Nights were held at Lomita Park every Tuesday evening during the summer and teens enjoyed a night of games, food, and movies. 
  • Conducted the third annual Mayor’s Golf Tournament as a fund raiser for city youth programs;
  • Conducted 2009 Founders’ Day event and Fireworks Show;
  • Conducted second annual High Tea at Lomita Railroad Museum Annex and hosted the bimonthly Railroad Museum Speakers Series;
  • Coordinated Looking Good Lomita and Drug Free Walk;

BY THE NUMBERS – Summary of Public Service Responses

  • Conducted 12 Planning Commission meetings.  Processed applications for 8 Site Plan Reviews, 1 Tentative Map, 5 Conditional Use Permits, 2 General Plan Amendments, 3 Zone Variances, 3 Determination of Similarities and 6 Zone Text Amendments/Code Amendments for City Council and Planning Commission consideration;
  • Prepared a landscape plan to build the City of Lomita’s Drought Tolerant Garden at the city’s water pumping station on Appian Way.  The West Basin Municipal Water District awarded a $9,000 grant to help fund the garden’s construction.  The new garden will reduce water usage by 50% and completely eliminate water run-off from the site;
  • Removed 1,318 incidents of graffiti on private and public property;
  • Completed approximately 1,000,000 square feet of slurry seal on local streets; repaired 997 potholes and completed 62 repairs to damaged sidewalks driveway aprons, curb and gutters;
  • Trimmed 653 trees; removed 11 trees due to hazardous conditions;
  • Performed 242 markings for Dig Alert request;
  • Repaired or replaced 70 water meters and replaced 54 damaged water meter boxes/covers;
  • Provided 1,219 responses to customer service requests such as water leaks and reports of high usage;
  • Performed 4 water main breaks or leak repairs;
  • Attendance at the Lomita Railroad Museum exceeded over 4,500 visitors and Museum volunteers contributed over 1,200 hours in services such as conducting tours, guest relations, landscaping, event fundraisers and many other outstanding activities that benefit the museum;

Of course the above accomplishments and highlights are only a snapshot of what our city government achieves on an annual basis for Lomita citizens and visitors.  Now let me discuss briefly some of the broader initiatives that we have been and will be dealing with.

Reservoir Project

The Cypress Reservoir is nearing completion with construction at approximately 76% and we anticipate that the reservoir will be operational in early 2010. This will provide us with significantly increased reserves, sufficient for our city for 5 to 7 days even in the case of earthquake or other major disaster.

All the water that we use in the city (except in Rolling Ranchos and along the south end of Western) has been purchased from the Metropolitan Water District for resale through the Lomita Water Company.  Over the past several years, the cost for MWD water has increased significantly each year and it is expected to rise even more over the upcoming years due to drought, legal issues, and so forth.  The Cypress Reservoir project also includes the reopening of Lomita’s only water well.  This is important for every one of us since local groundwater pumped from this well will provide the city with a less expensive alternative to purchasing imported water.

The Cypress Reservoir and related infrastructure project is the first major improvement to our water system in almost 80 years and is the largest construction project in our city’s history.

Federal Stimulus Funding

The City is slated to receive approximately $623,000 in federal stimulus funding (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009).  These funds will be used to reconstruct Walnut Street from Pacific Coast Highway to Ebony Lane.  This project, and Phase I of the Street Rehabilitation Program are tentatively scheduled to begin construction in 2010 once the winter rain season is over and design work is completed. 

Water line replacements are also scheduled in the summer of 2010 for Pacific Coast Highway from the City’s most western boundary to Narbonne Avenue.  Additional water line replacements are being coordinated with the Street Rehabilitation Program street improvements and with Walnut Street – Pacific Coast Highway to Ebony and north of Lomita Boulevard to 247th Street.   

Lomita Railroad Museum Expansion Project

The Lomita Railroad Museum expansion project is continuing the preliminary programming process after a brief delay. In January 2009 the state and the California Cultural Historical Endowment Grant (CCHE) suspended all funding until further notice due to state budget difficulties.  In July 2009, the state and the CCHE began releasing funds as California resumed selling bonds on the market allowing the grant funding to flow once again. 

Currently, 50% of the project has been completed.  The City has applied for an extension for another six months to May of 2010 due to our delay in receiving funding. When the project is completed, we will have comprehensive plans for an expansion of the RR museum that will house additional display, archival storage and work areas, a home for our Lomita Historical Society, an educational center capable of hosting class visits from our local schools, and a community meeting center we can all be proud of.  This is a major step toward fulfilling our dream of completing our Lomita Railroad Museum expansion.

Economy & Budget

One of the biggest challenges to local government in general and Lomita specifically is the serious fiscal condition of the state and nation.  The unstable economic conditions outside of our city limits challenge our small city’s ability to maintain sufficient revenue streams for providing adequate levels of service.  General Fund revenue for the current fiscal year has shrunk due to the reduction in income from property, sales and other taxes.  The state, to ease its own budget deficit, has “taken” some dollars normally coming to the city, “borrowed” a percentage of property tax revenues for repayment several years from now, and delayed monthly disbursements.  All of this has had an additional negative fiscal impact on the City’s finances.  The City was able to balance the budget by temporarily reducing the threshold for General Fund Reserves from 50% to 40%, not filling vacant positions and borrowing the current balance of the Equipment Replacement Fund.

Statistically, most economists agree that the national recession bottomed out somewhere around the end of July.  Minor recovery is expected in the last half of the year as companies restock depleted inventories, federal stimulus programs filter through the system, and investor confidence returns.  However, restoration of California’s previous sales tax levels will lag.  Unemployment is projected to increase through the first quarter of 2010 and remain weak for several quarters after.  Incomes are flat, household wealth has been exhausted, inflation is in decline, and the drops in property values are not over.  Lenders are less risk tolerant and previously excessive borrowers have become disciplined savers. New consumer frugality, tight credit, and moderate job growth may result in an slow recovery from this recession.
 
Home foreclosures in Lomita have remained low compared to many other Southern California communities.  It is currently estimated that 103 houses are in some state of delinquency or foreclosure risk out of 3010 single family dwellings in the city. 

Since the third quarter of 2007, the retail vacancy rate has been steadily on the rise as retailers shrink and/or shutter their stores at a faster pace than the new tenants are signing leases at retail properties.  The second quarter national average vacancy rate came in at 7.5%.  Retail property type shopping centers have a much higher vacancy rate (9.2%) than general retail (5.5%), which primarily consists of freestanding, single-tenant retail buildings as is the majority of the case for Lomita.

Staff recently performed a “windshield” survey to identify vacant retail properties on all the commercial streets, Pacific Coast Highway, Western Avenue, Lomita Boulevard, Narbonne Avenue and Palos Verdes Drive North and found 32 vacancies or approximately 3% of the available retail space. This is below the national average and almost 2% below the average for Los Angeles. 

Even during these turbulent economic times, Lomita has been fortunate to welcome new businesses to the city and among these are several restaurants:   Thyme Café, Tandoori Nites, India Treat, and Inferno Grill.  These businesses and other new additions to the service and retail sectors help provide essential services and consumer goods for our citizens and visitors.  It is important for us all to remember that supporting Lomita businesses through purchasing of goods and services here at home will generate commerce and benefit our community. 

The development of the 2009-10 city budget was a challenging process and will continue so as the economic uncertainties persist into 2010.  City Staff and the City Council have learned to be innovative in order to continue providing the level of service that our community needs and expects. 

I was elected 8 years ago at the beginning of an economic downturn similar to, although not as bad as, the one we are now experiencing.  In looking back, I realize that we did at that time exactly what was needed.  While dollars were in short supply, we updated our General Plan and developed strategic plans for our water system and reservoir, our transportation systems, our parks & recreation, our economic development, and so forth.  As federal and state dollars became available we were ready to act and we did so.  Projects I discussed above are a direct result of that.  I believe that long term success for our city from this point forward will depend on our focusing on updating these plans that have served us so well. I also believe that Lomita’s success will depend on our incoming Council being forward looking and taking the risk to invest in our future so that when the economy recovers, we will be able to take immediate advantage of opportunities as they appear. 

 

In closing, I would like to thank the City Council, Staff and Citizens for a wonderful and productive year as your Mayor.  This report is direct evidence of the collaboration between all interested citizens, employees, elected officials and community organizations that strive to make Lomita a better place to live, work and play. 

 

Susan Y. Dever
Mayor