2009 City of Cypress State of the City Address
Featuring Cypress Mayor Doug Bailey

Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Cypress Community Center
5700 Orange Avenue, Cypress
11:00 a.m. Reception, Noon Luncheon

Thank you for taking the time to join us today.

It is an honor for me to stand before you today to recount the progress that we have made in 2008. Progress has been, and continues to be, the motto of the City of Cypress. Progress is a team effort. It cannot be reached through unilateral action; progress must be achieved through partnerships with the leaders in our business community, our neighboring cities, the educators in our school districts and community college, Chamber of Commerce, elected officials, City staff, and our citizens. Together in this partnership, our community holds a bold vision that has assured our City’s resilience and continued success.

Before I go any further, I would like to acknowledge my colleagues on the City Council; Mayor Pro Tem Narain, Council Members Luebben, Mills, and Seymore. Thank you for your commitment to our community and the citizens of Cypress. Your hard work and efforts have made our City a great place to work, live, and play; the progress we have made in 2008 could not have been possible without your teamwork and leadership. Once again, thank you! It wouldn’t be proper to speak about progress and partnerships without acknowledging and celebrating our partners in the business community. I would like to first acknowledge our partners at Yamaha. Yamaha has the distinction of being our first partner in the business park. They are also the Presenting Sponsor of today’s event. Could we please take a moment at this time and give our business partners at Yamaha a round of applause? Thank you for your continued support and efforts in shaping Cypress as a City of progress and opportunity. We celebrate you for being a part of our Cypress family.

I would like to also acknowledge and celebrate the major employers in our community. These business partners are the backbone of our City. They provide employment opportunities for our residents and provide jobs throughout the region. Our businesses have placed Cypress on the map as the crown jewel of Northwest Orange County, and as a City of golden opportunities and progress.

Thank you to Shaw Industries, Mary Kay Cosmetics, PacifiCare, Mitsubishi Motors, Vans, Bandai, Komtec Electronics, Premier Display & Exhibits, Fuji Films, Los Alamitos Racetrack, Costco, Target, Home Depot, Cypress Land, Warland Investments, Weyerhaeuser, Jacobs Engineering, Tayco Engineering, Continental Digital Graphics, Forest Lawn, Marriott Hotels, Woodfin Suites, Display Fabrications Group, DRS Sensors and Targeting Systems, Christie Digital Systems, and Focus Diagnostics. And to all businesses that chose to call Cypress home, thank you for being a part of our family. 2008 could not have been a year of progress without your presence and partnership.

To our partners in education, I thank and acknowledge the Board of Trustees, administrators, teachers, and staff of the Cypress School District and the Anaheim Union High School District for your hard work and dedication to the quality of education for our children. I would also like to thank and acknowledge Dr. Michael Kasler, President of Cypress Community College, and his team for their ongoing leadership in the community. To our City Manager, John Bahorski, department directors, and all City staff, the people who interact with our citizens’ everyday; they are the face of our City, the men and women who work tirelessly to provide quality services to our residents. Thank you for your hard work in making our community’s goals and visions a reality, I thank you for your support and dedication.

And finally, to our community leaders, volunteers, and residents, we continue to progress and thrive because you care about the City we all call home. Margaret Mead, the famous American anthropologist once wrote:

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Your tireless efforts and hard work over the past decades proves that individuals really do make a difference, and your services are greatly appreciated. Thank you for the opportunity to serve as your Mayor and the opportunity to lead this wonderful community.

Today I would like to discuss with you some of the changes made at City Hall, the progress we made in 2008, what’s to come in 2009, and finally some of our major challenges.

2008 was a year of many changes at the City Hall:
• We saw the Retirement of former Police Chief Rick Hicks after 6 years of service to our community
• The Promotion of Captain Mark Yokoyama to the Department’s new Chief of Police
• Long time Cypress police veteran Captain Mike Idom also retired from service after an impressive 32-year career with the Cypress Police Department.
• Jackie Gomez-Whiteley from the Orange Police Department was selected as our newest Police Captain, and was officially sworn-in on January 19th.
• Long-time management team member, June Liu was promoted to the position of Director of Recreation and Community Services.
• What is interesting to note is that June started her career with the City in 1986 in the Recreation department, so she has come full circle and we are certainly in good hands.
• Bill Manis joined our team in late 2008 as Economic Development Manager. Bill has extensive economic development experience with the cities of Cerritos, Santa Ana, and most recently the City of Corona. Welcome to Cypress Bill!

2008 proved to be a year of great progress:
• To begin with, 2008 was a year of unprecedented economic challenges globally. If I would have stood here a year ago today and told you that in 2008 we would experience freezing credit markets, bankruptcies and near bankruptcies of our largest financial institutions, the worst recession numbers since the Great Depression, unemployment at 7% and rising, mortgage defaults at unprecedented levels, a 40% drop in the stock market -- and to top it all off, the State of California would be almost bankrupt – then you all probably would have thrown your lunch at me!
• BUT IT HAPPENED! And after all that, the City of Cypress continues to be fiscally sound.
• Under the leadership of our long-time Assistant City Manager and Finance Director, Mr. Richard Storey, the City’s fiscal practice has always been one of taking a proactive approach to cutting operating expenditures in order to stay in line with projected revenues. That policy served us well in 2008.
• Last year, the Cypress Economic Development team continued conducting routine site visits to our local businesses in order to ensure them that the City is working with them and not against them.
• The City also implemented a banner program on Katella Avenue and Lexington Avenue to market the City of Cypress as a great place to shop.
• The City also adopted an aggressive street maintenance program in 2008.
• Our streets rank in the top 3 cities in Orange County, and with the Cities recent efforts; we will have the best streets in the County.
• Last year, the Public Works department made significant improvements to our Boys and Girls Club facility.
• Just driving by, you can see the difference from just a year ago and inside the difference is astonishing. These improvements could not have come at a better time. 75% of the kids at the club are on financial assistance, and due to the current economic environment, the need for their services has never been greater.
• With the adoption of the City’s General Plan Housing Element update, I am proud to note that the City of Cypress was the first City in Orange County to have a Housing Element certified by the State.

With respect to development:
• The Cypress Redevelopment Agency approved a large retail/commercial development for the agency owned 13 Acre site located at the Northwest corner of Katella Avenue and Winners Circle.
• The Walgreens Drug Store project on Lincoln Avenue is complete and now open for business.
• The Yamaha Corporation completed their parking lot and vehicle storage projects.
• A new, state of the art, medical office building totaling 24,600 square feet at the Southwest corner of Cerritos Avenue and Walker Street opened in 2008 as well as 3 large commercial buildings including a 3,500 seat sanctuary at the Cottonwood Christian Center.

As far as recreation goes:
• Renovations were made to playground equipment in four city parks to ensure that we continue to meet federal safety standards. This was the final stage of a three-year project to update all of our city parks with new playground equipment.
• In 2008, the Recreation and Community Services Department offered more than 500 classes that met the recreation, social, and cultural needs for 10,500 participants.
• Due to funding from the Boeing Corporation, Yamaha, the Los Alamitos Race Course, and the Rotary Club of Cypress, our recreation staff was able to create a new summer basketball program for special needs children. Thanks to these business partners, the City of Cypress now offers year round programs to special needs children through our challenger athletic programs; all free of charge! No other City, which I know of, can make this claim.
• The Department also instituted an interactive, online registration program that has facilitated a 55% increase in program participation overall.
• Additionally, staff processed more than 9,000 facility reservation bookings for athletic field use, park rentals, and both Community and Senior Center rentals. The latter two facilities saw upwards of 400 rentals each for the year.
• Our Senior Citizens program accounted for 9,500 hours of volunteer service with a cadre of 135 volunteers. I would like to thank those Volunteers for making a difference in the lives of so many of our elderly citizens.
• Our Recreation staff continues to work with our community organizations and non-profit groups to deliver quality services and programs to our residents. A couple of examples of this were the 2008 Holiday Sing, which was the 42nd year of that event, and of course our vastly popular Cypress Community Festival.
• This past year, the City also undertook a Recreation Infrastructure Study which will create a roadmap of potential maintenance and replacement projects for funding consideration over the next 10 years.

I am proud to report that Public safety statistics continued to improve in the City as well:
• Cypress’ crime statistics continue to show a downward trend. Our City boasts a reduction of 9% in serious crimes, a 14% decline in petty crimes, and a resounding overall reduction in crime of 12% for 2008! Thank you to all the men and women of the Cypress Police Department for a job well done.
• The Orange County Fire Authority firefighters responded to 68 fire incidents, 1,826 calls for Emergency Medical Service (EMS), and 677 miscellaneous public assistance calls. Once again, thank you for all of your efforts in keeping us all out of harms way.

The schools in Cypress enjoyed banner successes in year 2008:
• The Oxford Academy was recognized by the U.S. News and World Report as the Number Two secondary education learning institution in the nation!
• Science Teacher Mr. Alastair Inman of Lexington Junior High School was recognized by the California Department of Education as one of five Teachers of the Year.
• The Anaheim Union High School District’s Cypress campuses were ranked by the Orange County Register among the top 10 of all county High Schools.
Cypress High School was ranked 8th, and The Oxford Academy ranked as the top high school in Orange County!
• The Cypress School District also had many achievements in 2008. The District’s Academic Performance Index (API) score increased from 853 to 860, which is the second highest of elementary districts in Orange County. The state goal is 800!
• Students of King School and Vessels School were the only elementary students in the County invited to present projects at the Orange County Department of Education “Technology Showcase” as well as the 5th Annual State Computer Using Educators Student Technology Showcase in Palm Springs.
• The District’s Measure M passed with 69.2 percent voter approval. Thanks to the hard work of long-time former City Manager Mr. Darrell Essex, Jonnie Stromeyer, and the Measure M committee, the District will be able to issue a Facilities General Obligation Bond in the amount of $53.6 million.
• The proceeds will be used to rehabilitate 40-year old classrooms and improve energy efficiency at facilities in the District. The money will also be used to improve classroom equipment, upgrade educational technology, and enhance overall instruction.
• Dr. Kasler of Cypress Community College, who completed his first academic year as President of the College, achieved a great deal of success as well:
• During this past academic year, Cypress Community College has experienced an increase in enrollment;
• An impressive growth in the area of grants, and
• The opening of the new Student Center and Bookstore this past spring.

2008 was a year of many accomplishments and in 2009 we will see even further progress:
• The “Business Retention, Attraction, Creation, and Expansion” Program, better known as BRACE, is actively moving forward as we enter 2009.
• The 2009 BRACE agenda promises to provide our local business leaders with a wide array of quality speakers and educational topics through our informative quarterly meetings.
• The Cypress Economic Development Team is actively pursuing new businesses by identifying other businesses considering expansion, or relocation, to the City of Cypress.
• The City of Cypress is also completing the development of a new Community Profile; highlighting Cypress as a great place to find career opportunities, an outstanding community that offers a high quality education, a fine place to raise a family, and a City that offers superb recreational activities.
• For 2009, we look forward to another busy year with more improvement projects including over 710 thousand square feet of street paving, and 4.5 million square feet of street resurfacing.
• For 2009, Public Works will be planting close to 300 trees within our neighborhoods, as well as along Cerritos Avenue.
• Currently, Public Works Department is in the design phase of improving the drainage area along Myra Avenue.
• This three year effort will total more than $24 million and help protect that area from flooding for future generations to come.
• Design is also underway for much needed sewer improvements. In 2009, construction will be done on over a half a mile of sewer pipes in the spring and summer along Cerritos, Orange and Lincoln Avenues. More improvement will definitely be needed in the future.
• Also under construction is a brand new Orange County Fire Authority Station 17 at Cerritos Avenue and Moody Street.
• The existing Fire Station 17 building was originally constructed in 1970 and has been renovated many times.
• The Orange County Fire Authority Board authorized $6 million in the FY 2008-2009 budget for the construction of a new Station 17 facility.
• In partnership with the OCFA, the City will provide additional land for the site and the OCFA will construct the new building.

As we go forward in 2009 we face many challenges:
• The difficult business cycle and unprecedented economic environment I alluded to earlier will continue well into 2009.
• The Cypress Economic Development team is not idly sitting by; we are, and will continue to be proactive.
• As I stated earlier, through our BRACE committee, our Development department, and the Chamber of Commerce we are actively seeking to increase our business and commercial presence in the County.
• Because of the downturn in the housing market, the credit crunch, and State budget crisis; local governments, now more than ever, must be vigilant against State raids of our City and agency funds. City staff and the council are diligently working to prevent this from happening.
• As with many urban cities, the City of Cypress is facing the further aging of our already very old infrastructure.
• In 2007, the City Council completed a major infrastructure planning effort.
• This included looking at the City’s pavement, storm drains, sewer, and transportation systems in a complete and comprehensive manner.
• The estimated costs to remedy our deficiencies totaled over $333 million.
• While this is a large number, the City Council has looked at each area and programmed accordingly for a 15-year plan.
• City Council has high regard for our community’s parks and open space. We will strive to further develop parks and continue to seek creative land uses. In recognizing that Cypress is nearly built-out, and with limited land availability; we are challenged to identify additional park sites and augment existing facilities to address our needs and shortfalls. This will require an even higher level of inter-agency cooperation, a re-evaluation of current land usage, and the exploration of new and creative means by which to maintain and expand our recreation facilities.

In light of our challenges and goals for 2009, the accomplishments of 2008, and the recent changes at the City; the City of Cypress continues to be one of the most progressive cities in Orange County.

This progress would not have been possible without the concerted effort of all stake holders in our community. Business leaders, educators, community volunteers, elected officials, city staff, and citizens alike come together year in and year out to make Cypress a truly special Community. Our neighborhoods are well kept, our business districts are very attractive, our infrastructure and community facilities are well maintained, and we enjoy a diverse and highly involved Citizenry. However; we cannot rest on our accomplishments, and there is much work to be done. IBM founder Thomas J. Watson said it best when he stated that, “Once an organization loses its spirit of pioneering and rests on its early work, its progress stops.” Now more than ever, we must not lose that pioneering spirit……It has often been said that "If you are proud of what you did yesterday, you’ve done nothing today.” Every year, the media is full of stories about ordinary people performing great acts of heroism and doing extraordinary things: may this be YOUR year to accomplish something great. Thank you for attending today, may God bless you, and may God bless the City of Cypress!