A Message from La Mirada Mayor Larry Mowles

A Message from La Mirada Mayor Larry Mowles

 2014 has been another great year for La Mirada highlighted by some remarkable accomplishments.

The City is building upon its foundation as a safe and desirable community, and steps continue to be taken to preserve La Mirada’s high quality of life for residents and businesses.

La Mirada remains among the safest cities in Los Angeles County and enjoys one of the lowest crime rates in the region. Preliminary figures show our crime rate has dropped by about 20 percent in the last year. The low crime rate is due to the tremendous combined efforts of the City, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and very active community support, including Neighborhood Watch, HAM Watch, Volunteers on Patrol, and Community Emergency Response Team.

The City’s emergency preparedness program continues to excel. The annual communitywide disaster preparedness exercise was very successful this year, as La Mirada was chosen to serve as the epicenter for the official 2014 Great California ShakeOut media event. This honor was a major achievement for La Mirada and a reflection that our community’s efforts are being recognized throughout the state.

The Fiscal Year 14-15 Budget maintains operations and services at an appropriate level, provides for a robust capital improvement projects schedule, and includes healthy financial reserves. Economic indicators in the community continue to be positive as reflected by property values growing by 4.4 percent during the past year and area unemployment lowering to 4.8 percent. Building activity has also increased with more than 2,600 permits issued in the most recent fiscal year compared to 2,016 during the prior year.

A number of major capital projects were recently completed and others are in progress. Construction on the Valley View Avenue Grade Separation was finished in the fall, and has increased safety, improved traffic circulation, and reduced train horns at the intersection. We recently conducted a noise study in the area along the BNSF Corridor and will continue exploring the cost and viability of noise mitigating measures.

Two major street and storm drain improvement projects are currently underway in the neighborhoods north of Imperial Highway and in the Foster Park neighborhood south of Milan Creek. Slurry seal projects were completed on Hillsborough Drive and Santa Gertrudes Avenue. Additional improvements to playgrounds, center medians, and community facilities are also moving forward.

We saw continued improvements to some neighborhood shopping centers this year. Renovations at the Crossroads Center are nearly complete and several new eateries recently opened joining the Walgreens and Walmart Neighborhood Market at the center. Improvements continued at the shopping centers at Rosecrans Avenue and Valley View Avenue, and additional façade enhancements are being planned at other La Mirada shopping centers.

Construction of “The Orchards” neighborhood development is nearing completion and all 41 homes have been sold. Most of the neighborhood’s new residents have already moved into their homes. La Mirada continues to receive interest from new home developers who have expressed interest in a number of key sites for potential residential development.

The City’s Community Services Department continued to offer a variety of recreation, leisure, and social programs and events to meet all ages and interests. A new Friday Night Football league was especially popular among La Mirada youths. Splash! continued to have strong attendance and sales this year with nearly 400,000 visitors. Splash! is a popular destination for aquatic programs, birthday parties, company picnics, school fieldtrips, swim competitions, swimming lessons and special camps and events.

We were also excited to learn that La Mirada was named a 2015 Special Olympics Host Town. We are looking forward to welcoming about 80 representatives of a competing nation later this summer, and are grateful to Biola University for providing housing and lodging for these athletes.

The La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts marked an outstanding 2013-14 season by earning 17 nominations and three Ovation Awards, including Outstanding Musical in a Large Theatre, Lead Actor in a Musical and Best Director of a Musical. Last year’s lineup set attendance and box office records with popular productions of Les Miserables and Cats. La Mirada Theatre’s 2014-15 season is now underway with a terrific lineup including Billy Elliot, Carrie the Musical, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Mary Poppins and more.

Finally, I would like to thank the many volunteers who give so much of their time and resources to benefit La Mirada. We certainly appreciate all the valuable contributions that go toward improving our community, and our city is better off because of our volunteers.

2014 has been a year of great progress in La Mirada. We have achieved a number of goals set forth in the 2015 Strategic Plan while maintaining our priorities of safety, infrastructure improvement, and community enhancement. The City is looking forward to continued progress in the coming year.

Sincerely,

Larry Mowles

La Mirada Mayor