Culver City Mayor Andy Weissman’s State of the City Address

It was standing room only on Wednesday at the Mayor’s State of the City Luncheon hosted by the Culver City Chamber of Commerce, at the Doubletree by Hilton.

Mayor Andy Weissman, whose rotation as mayor comes to an end in a couple of weeks provided the State of the City address, summing up the highs and lows of Culver City government over the past 12 months.

Weissman noted that a great deal has changed in the last year stating, “The Redevelopment Agency had just been dissolved by the state; the first passengers had not yet boarded the light rail trains at the Culver City Station on the Expo line; no affordable housing was being created; private development was minimal to non-existent; the City was looking at an $8 million structural deficit; the freeway off ramp at Sepulveda was open, [and] the community was waiting for the state to give its ok for the construction on Parcel B.”

Fast forward 12 months and Weissman said he was proud that “despite the best efforts of Sacramento to the contrary, Culver City continues to promote economic development; the Culver City Station of the Expo line is open; the freeway off-ramp north at Sepulveda is not; we have two affordable housing projects nearing completion; there are two private developments underway at Washington/National, Legado and Platform; we have Culver Crossroads at Sepulveda and Washington and a new auto dealership coming to town -  Culver City Mazda alongside Culver City Volvo.

In one of the biggest supports for local government Weissman also thanked the community for backing Measure Y -  the half cent sales tax increase (with a 10-year sunset clause) that went into effect on April 1, 2013.  He said the increase is “projected to erase our structural operating deficit, protecting our city services and returning financial stability to the city.”

Along with thanking the Culver City Chamber of Commerce for helping to push economic development in the City, Weissman also had words of praise for all the volunteer organizations in the community, including the Rotary, Exchange and Lions clubs, the Culver-Palms Family YMCA, Friends of the Library, the Education Foundation, Youth Health Center, Friends of the Culver City Dog Park, L.A. Goal, the Exceptional Children’s Foundation, The Senior Citizens Association, all of which helped to raise funds for the community.

He then asked all those in attendance who had volunteered in some capacity in the city to stand and be recognized. He also asked City staff and his four co-councilmembers Jeff Cooper, Mehaul O’Leary, Jim Clarke and Meghan Sahli-Wells, to stand and be recognized for all their hard work.

 Other highlights Weissman mentioned included Sony Pictures’ support of the community and its unveiling of the “Rainbow” Public Art Sculpture and the first annual Plunge Community Enhancement Project, which collected nearly $6,000 in donations for the swimming pool. 

“We even received a gift three stainless steel lifeguard towers, valued at over $7000, from the City of San Buenaventura. I‘m not sure why the gift,” Weissman quipped, “but thank you.”

With the loss of the Redevelopment Agency, Weissman also touched on the challenges that the City faces in the coming years.

“Meeting them will require that we determine the most effective use of each dollar,” he said. “We will need to sort out which programs provide essential services or are most critical to Culver City's future and we will continue to find ways to be creative and reduce our expenses.”

He added that the new Finance Advisory Committee will help to make those decisions but added, “Merely because an existing program or a service is a good thing should not mean that spending more money on it is admirable, or that spending less is deplorable. No program should be immune from that analysis, simply because people have become accustomed to it.”

Weissman highlighted several City projects in the works including “over 800,000 sq. ft. of development that has been entitled or rezoned for Transit Oriented Development within our transit-oriented district at Washington and National.  This includes the Legado and Platform projects.”

He also spoke about “new parking opportunities” and ways to provide more parking spaces in the Hayden Tract “in order to enhance business opportunities.”

One of the biggest issues that has galvanized Culver City citizens is the fracking in nearby Baldwin Hills.

“Having jurisdiction over 1/10^th of the largest urban oil field in the country places Culver City in the center of the urban oil drilling debate,” Weissman said. “It will continue to dominate much of our conversation for the foreseeable future. We are in the process of revising our oil drilling ordinance relating to wells within the Culver City limits, an ordinance with comprehensive regulations to ensure that the public health, safety and the environment are protected.”

Weissman promised to continue to work to promote regulations, “because regardless of what we do in our 100 acres of the Oil Field, our local regulations will have only a limited impact in addressing the larger public health, safety and the environmental contamination issues in the remaining 900 acres of the Los Angeles County portion of the Oil Field.”

Weissman also praised Culver City’s police and fire departments noting that the fire department responded to more than 4,500 emergencies in the past year and arrived within five minutes or less 90 percent of the time.

 He also spoke about the

 Touching on the responsibilities placed on the City Council, Weissman said, “To my colleagues and to the public, thank you for putting up with me. We are all in this together. We depend upon everyone in this room to make Culver City the unique place it is. We look forward to your continued support as we face the challenges ahead. I thank all of you for your service and contributions.  I am grateful to you for the opportunity to be of service. It has been my absolute pleasure to be able to serve as Mayor for the past year.  Thank you for being here today.”

And the mayor’s final words?

“Drive safely.”

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