The State of the City: Poway Will Rise to the Challenges of the Future

A State of the City address is a great process to inform our residents and business community of the condition of our city.

Its delivery is designed to help one judge how well your government is performing, and if they are meeting your expectations.

This is necessary if we are to hold all elected officials accountable for their actions and essential to preventing the kinds of abuse that we all have read about from time to time in other cities.

I’m proud to say that here in Poway we are faithful to that responsibility. Year after year, the mayor will deliver the State of the City, both in good years and in challenging times.

Last year I spoke about our City that Volunteers. We took the time to recognize the tireless volunteer work of our residents and business community. We are unique in this regard—it does not go unnoticed—and is a part of what has made Poway great for 32 years.

When our great city first incorporated, there was tremendous concern about growth, development, taxes, special assessments and general apprehension about what the future might hold. Some pundits even painted a gloomy picture.

And even though Poway has a strong and vital legacy, in some ways, today is no different than our past.

As we chat tonight, we will take about change, about resiliency, about creativity and about perseverance. Mark Twain one said: “I have had many catastrophes in my life, some of which actually happened.”

I am here tonight to tell you that we have endured many challenges in our short history and we have met those challenges with grace and conviction.

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During this year we will bear witness to many key milestones that have helped shape the city.

The Community Church of Poway built in 1887 will celebrate 125 years with a refreshing facelift. The community came together to help fund renovations of this important iconic building.

Poway Rotary, Poway Days, Miss Poway and Miss Teen Poway pageant all celebrate 50 years. As a proud Titan myself, Poway High School has been providing an excellent education for our kids for over 50 years.

The Poway Girls Softball League has been developing young women for the past 45 years and the Poway Rodeo will look back on 40 years of rodeo clowns and bucking bulls.

Pomerado Hospital has provided excellent health care for 35 years—and helped put me through law school—and this past year our Poway Fire Department turned 50.

The Poway Midland Railroad volunteers continue to make dreams come true for the past two decades.

So these are some nifty milestones that we have seen in the last year, let’s take a moment to look at the efforts of the fine city in 2011. 

After a year of environmental impact studies, Wal-Mart hearings were held and completed.

Toyota of Poway is investing $10 million into our community.

Lowes Home Improvement is actually going to call Poway home.

Target has redesigned and reconfigured its storefront.

We have streamlined our processes, including building permits and tenant improvements.

We engaged our business community to better understand their needs and, consequently, updated our sign code.

We greatly enhanced the Oak Knoll community with a new streetscape, underground utilities and affordable-apartment improvements.

We eliminated storm water fees and instituted an efficient claim process for residents and business owners.  And proper pension reform was realized.   

Our disaster-preparedness paid off during an unprecedented regional blackout. Think back for a second on how well our investment in basic infrastructure, like traffic light batteries, paid off. I know, because I drove home from Mira Mesa Boulevard and every light was out.

We continue to work with our law enforcement and schools to attempt to better protect our kids against new and increasingly dangerous drugs such as bath salts and OxyContin.

We banned medical marijuana dispensaries in the past year.

Our fire department responded to 3,603 calls and our crime rate remains at an all-time low.

More energy rebates were realized in the first six months than the entire past year.

We completed a much-needed energy audit for public facilities.

Poway maintained our parks and greatly improved Arbolitos Sports Field. Our families enjoyed the old-fashioned Fourth of July, Christmas in the Park and the Easter egg hunt.

And in addition to all that, we ensured a balanced budget with healthy reserves.

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However, notwithstanding our work and efforts, we remain pervious to the whims of our state government. And while over the years we have countered every step taken by the state to reach into our city business, their decision to discontinue redevelopment agencies is not just a shot across the bow, but is more akin to a hole below the water line.

Redevelopment, while misunderstood at the state capitol, not only helped cities fix themselves, but brought development to areas that would otherwise remain economically stagnant and blighted. Our agency was instrumental in expanding the city’s tax base, creating and retaining local jobs for local residents, and improving the city’s physical infrastructure.

Redevelopment has a track record of success in Poway. Let us look at Poway prior to incorporation.

(Higginson shows historical and current photos of Poway on the big screen.)

We might ask, even with city incorporation, did Poway need a redevelopment agency? To truly excel and provide needed infrastructure for our residents, the formation of a redevelopment agency was crucial to keep local share of property taxes for community re-investment.

This occurred in 1983 with the formation of the redevelopment agency. As the agency took place shortly thereafter began a host of hard work. In 1985 the South Poway Business Park master plan was completed. In 1987 the Twin Peaks Target Center opened. In ’88, the Old Poway Park began redevelopment. The following year Twin Peaks Road was connected to Midland. In 1990 the Poway Center for the Performing Arts opened. In 1994, the Poway Sportsplex, the first of its kind in California, was opened.

In ’97, we completed Scripps Poway Parkway to Highway 67. In 1998, two state-of-the-art buildings—the Poway Community Library and the sheriff’s station—both opened within a few months of each other. In 2001 Los Arcos Senior Housing opened. In ’03, we welcomed the Poway Skate Park. And in ’04, to provide more safety, we were able to dedicate the Poway Fire Station No. 3.

In ’05, Costco and Home Depot opened in the Poway Business Park. The following year we built the fire-training tower in the business park. In ’07, Solara affordable housing opened.

Last year we were able to as an agency assist Toyota in their relocation. And this year we welcomed the Brighton affordable housing project. And lastly, we as an agency provided $40 million in capital investments and joint-use facilities for the PUSD over the last 30 years.

In my opinion, without question, redevelopment has been transformational for this city.

But the reality is that those days are now gone. They’re over. So we are forging ahead on the work of building up this city without redevelopment as a tool. Muhammad Ali once said: “Inside of a ring or out, ain’t nothing wrong with going down. It’s staying down that’s wrong.”

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In the short term, rest assured that we remain committed to building partnerships with local businesses and the community, strengthening schools and families, and effectively implementing the community’s vision.

We will continue to streamline the way we do business and better align the functions of city departments. These changes will mean the art of redeveloping Poway will change, albeit in a different direction.

With this change, will we pass the test?

Let’s look at economic development. Despite a national recovery that is painfully slow, the fiscal health of our city is improving because of significant and prudent decisions made by this council, in addition to the decisions of our past councils, who developed our civic foundation on clear principles and values.

Business owners look at education, crime rates, recreational amenities and how we act as stewards for our environment in their baseline decision making. However, the trues measure of success is our ability to attract business reinvestment during what’s been called a “great recession.”

We have seen this with major retailers like Wal-Mart, Toyota, Lowes and Target. They see the potential in Poway. Economic development—we pass the test.

What about infrastructure? Our infrastructure continues to be upgraded, our streets are the finest in the county, and our core services remain well functioning. Rattlesnake Creek improvements have been designed. The High Valley waterline project is nearly complete. Valle Verde traffic calming will be complete this summer. We last year resurfaced nearly 20 miles of street and filed over 460 potholes. Infrastructure—I think we pass that test.

Public safety is the first job of government and essential for the community’s prosperity. Poway is always one of the safest cities in the county. We continue to set generational lows in crime.

Frankly, this city is blessed with the best-equipped and most-dedicated fire personnel in California. Safety—we pass that test.

Financial stability. Over the past year we have seen an uptick in business activity in the city. Sales tax receipts are improving quarter by quarter. Consumer confidence is slightly improving, along with our local car sales. We have a balanced budget with healthy reserves. We pass that test.

Leadership. To this council, I commend you for working hard at issues that most of you never signed onto deal with when you ran for office. I want to personally thank our city manager, Penny Riley, our assistant city manager, Peter White, our many department heads and our rank-and-file employees.

We’ve learned how to manage with a 20 percent staff reduction by refocusing our efforts and prioritizing our core functions and services. We pass that test.

•••

I hope you conclude that your government has served you well under trying circumstances. All of us should feel proud of the manner in which we have met the challenge this past year.

We stood firm on our fiscal principles. We delivered quality services in a cost-effective manner. To be sure, there are more challenges ahead.

In addition to the loss of substantial capital funds, we now have what we believe is a $2 million structural deficit in our $31 million operating budget. Historically, the city of Poway has conservatively budgeted each year, which resulted in the accumulation of annual surpluses. Given the loss of RDA, it is now time to put these strategic reserves to work to preserve vital services as we develop a sustainable budget, post RDA.

The machinations of the state of California will continue to be the most significant threat to the fiscal health and vitality of this city.

So what does future orientation mean for Poway? We will work to eliminate our structural deficit, like we have in the past. There will be some sacrifice, but we will be more self-sufficient. Our job is to make the hard choices, suffer our own pain, but at all costs prepare for the future. It is the reason I ran for office 26 years ago.

This coming year will require imagination, creativity, sound management and perseverance. We will need to take bold steps to reform and rethink our programs—we will pass that test.

It has been my honor to serve you this past year. If we all do our jobs, we can make our city an example of how an informed citizenry and dedicated office holders ensure that the next generation is one of opportunity and accomplishment.

Gilda Radner once said: “I wanted a perfect ending. Now I’ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle or end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next.”

While we do not know what will happen next, I do know that based on our past, we have a very bright future.

I appreciate your support and thank you for being here tonight.