2010 City of Cypress State of the City Address
Featuring Cypress Mayor Prakash Narain, M.D.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Cypress Community Center
5700 Orange Avenue, Cypress
11:00 a.m. Reception, Noon Luncheon

Good Afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen.

Thank you for coming here today. I hope you are enjoying the lunch and the conversation. It is an honor to be here today as Mayor, and to share with you the state of our City. So sit back, relax, but fire-up your neurons as I take you through the State of our City.

First, I would like to thank and recognize my fellow Council Members, Phil Luebben, Todd Seymore, Leroy Mills, and Mayor Pro Tem Doug Bailey. Doug is traveling for business today; so he is not able to be here. I’m sure we’ll see him as soon as he gets out of the TSA Security line at the airport, next year.

I would also like to recognize my lovely wife, Veena. Thank you, Veena, for your love and support.

As many of you know, I am a Physician and I am on staff at Los Alamitos Medical Center. I would like to extend a special welcome to my friends at Los Alamitos Medical Center, who are present here today. Thanks for your support.

Now getting back to business. What a year 2009 turned out to be! But, even during the difficult times of 2009, our community remained prosperous. Our City is financially sound and our streets are the envy of other cities in Orange County.

In 2009, we continued to deliver high quality services in areas where other cities faced cutbacks. We continued to improve our City’s infrastructure, such as our streets and sewers.

New businesses moved into town. Our schools continued to rank among the best in the region and in the nation.

Progress has been, and continues to be, the motto of the City of Cypress. If 2009 is any indication, our City can also add resilience to our motto.

Resilience. The resilience that allowed Cypress to succeed even in challenging times, and that resilience is a result of effective partnerships with the leaders in our business community, with the educators, with the elected officials, with the City staff, and above all, with our citizens.

2009 was a year of many challenges around the nation and within the State of California. It was marred by unprecedented unemployment rates, the credit crunch, the housing market crisis, and continued State government raids of local government funds. As news poured in from neighboring communities, that many around the state faced layoffs and furloughs, (including some police officers and fire fighters), I reflected on how the Cypress community not only survived, but thrived during the same period.

As I recounted the events of the past year, I felt proud of all the accomplishments we had as a community even during these challenging times. Today I feel a profound sense of pride in our City, in our citizens, in our community groups, in our schools, and I am especially proud of all the accomplishments of this City Council.

Before I continue, at this time, I would like to take a moment to acknowledge our partners at Yamaha Motor Corporation. They are the Presenting Sponsor of today’s festivities. We thank you for your support and sponsorship of today’s event. Please give Yamaha a big round of applause.

I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank the business leaders in our community.

Thank you for your continued support of the City of Cypress and for calling our community your home. Your presence in the community is one of the major contributing factors to our continued success, resilience, and perseverance.

I would like to extend a special thank you to
•  Mary Kay Cosmetics
•  Mitsubishi Motors North America
•  Bandai America
•  Universal Electronics
•  Manhattan Beachwear
•  Focus Diagnostics
•  Toyo Tire Holdings of America
•  Christie Digital Systems
•  Vertex Standard Company
•  Vans, Inc.
•  Cypress Land
and
•  Warland Investments

And to all the businesses in our community: THANK YOU for being a part of the Cypress family, and for the employment opportunities you provide to our residents. You are the reason Cypress is the city of opportunities and progress.

In 2009, we also welcomed new members to the Cypress business community. I would like to acknowledge
•  Empire Warehousing & Distribution Inc.
•  Hoyu America Company
•  Reliance Technology Solutions
•  McKeon Door West, Inc.
and
•  Kohl’s department store.

We welcome you to the City of Cypress and are looking forward to partnering with you to make our business sector even greater and stronger in the future.

Now, to our educators, the Board of Trustees, administrators, teachers, and staff of the Cypress School District, Anaheim Union High School District, and Cypress College: Thank you for your dedication to the quality of education for our children, and Congratulations for your continued success in maintaining academic excellence.

Now, coming back to resilience. The Resilience of our City also comes from sound decision-making and good management. To our City Manager, Mr. John Bahorski, department directors, and all City staff: Thank you for your support and hard work in helping the City Council and the community turn our goals and vision into reality. Finally, to the community leaders, Chamber of Commerce, volunteers, and residents: The City of Cypress is a great place to live, work, and raise a family because you take pride in our City and work together to better our community.

As Buddha once said, “If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking.” The City of Cypress has the tradition of involved citizens, caring community members, a healthy business sector, strong leadership, and sound fiscal management. It is no surprise that our City is “walking in the right direction.”

Now, I would like to share with you some of the highlights of our City in 2009:
•  As we all know, in 2009, our nation was still in the midst of unparalleled economic challenges.
•  Despite those challenges, the City of Cypress remained financially sound.
•  The City continued to provide services in important areas such as Police Services, Public Works, and Community Services with no reductions.
•  Our City’s workforce was and remains ready to serve and provide the community with quality service.
•  Our City’s financial success and resilience is the result of good management, smart investments, and an organizational culture that places high emphasis on efficiency and effectiveness of public resources.
•  Under the direction of our long-time Assistant City Manager and Finance Director, Mr. Richard Storey, the Finance Department continues to keep the City living within its means. This approach has kept our City’s financial condition sound and strong.
•  The Cypress Economic Development team, under the leadership of - Mr. Ted Commerdinger, Director of Community Development, and - Mr. Bill Manis, Economic/Redevelopment Manager, conducted routine site-visits, along with the Mayor, to reach-out to our local businesses through the BRACE Program.
•  You may be wondering what BRACE stands for. BRACE is the City’s Business Retention, Attraction, Creation & Expansion program. On your tables today, you’ll find a brochure that nicely summarizes what BRACE is all about.
•  In Cypress, we place just as much emphasis in retaining and growing our businesses as we do in attracting them.
•  BRACE is a forum for the larger businesses in our City.
•  It is an opportunity for business leaders to come together to network and share ideas to help make our Cypress business community better, stronger, and more resilient.
•  In our economic development efforts, we do not just focus only on our larger businesses. The success of our small to mid-size businesses is just as important as the larger corporate partners.
•  For this reason, in 2009, the AGENT program, which stands for Assist, Grow, Educate, Network & Thrive, was created. The City of Cypress, in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration, hosts quarterly free educational programs to address the needs of our small to mid-size business community.
Assisting businesses to grow and thrive also requires a City with top-notch infrastructure:
•  In 2009, the City continued its aggressive street maintenance program.
•  Cypress is among the very few cities in Orange County that has the best streets. In 2009, our Public Works Department maintained over 100 miles of streets, and close to 6 square miles of pavement.
•  The focus on infrastructure improvement comes from the 2007 City Council goal. That goal was that “no street fall below a condition of Good.” Our Public Works Department, under the leadership of Mr. Doug Dancs, diligently ensures that the City Council’s goal is implemented. When you drive through our town, you will be impressed with the quality of our roads.
•  What is below the ground is just as important as what is above the ground. Last year, the City focused on how to improve the sewer system and created a Sewer Master Plan.
•  Our Public Works Department improved approximately three quarters of a mile of sewer lines in 2009.
•  And in 2010, an additional one-third of a mile of sewer lines will be improved.

In addition to high quality infrastructure that sustains our resilience, Cypress also has exemplary services for the community that continue to attract many participants:

•  In 2009, the Community Services Department, under the direction of Ms. June Liu, Director of Community Services, offered more than 1,200 classes for the social, cultural, and leisure needs of our residents.
•  Our community facilities remain as popular as ever.
•  Also during the year, the City Council undertook a Recreation Infrastructure Study that created a roadmap of potential maintenance and replacement projects for funding consideration over the next 10 years.
•  This is to ensure that our park assets are preserved and enhanced like our other high quality assets such as our streets and sewers.

Now, in the area of Public safety, our statistics continued to improve in 2009:
•  Crime statistics shows that Cypress is one of the best places to live, work, and play.
•  Our City boasts - a reduction of 10% in serious crimes, - an 11% decline in petty crimes, and - a resounding overall reduction in crime of 12%, a 30-year low.
•  While other cities faced reduction in public safety services, in Cypress, we experienced no diminished services, and in fact, we have more police officers on the streets.
•  Thank you to Chief Mark Yokoyama, Captain Jackie Gomez-Whiteley, Captain Ed Bish, and their dedicated police force of men and women that keeps our City safe.

Please give them a big round of applause.

I would also like to extend a special Thank You to the Orange County Fire Authority. The Orange County Fire Authority firefighters responded to 57 fire incidents, over 1,700 calls for Emergency Medical Service (EMS), and over 600 other types of public assistance calls. THANK YOU to the Orange County Fire Authority for your dedicated service to the citizens of Cypress.

Now, the schools. The schools in Cypress also remained resilient and had a successful year:
•  Test scores in the Cypress Elementary School District continued an upward trend. The District’s overall Academic Performance Index, (that is API ) test scores, increased 22 points from 858 in 2008, to 880 in 2009!
•  In 2009, the District started working to modernize Cypress school classrooms with funds from Measure M.
o 40-year-old classrooms will be updated with improved energy efficiency, classroom equipment, and educational technology. That will lead to enhanced overall instruction.
•  The Anaheim Union High School District also experienced a successful year, with Oxford Academy once again recognized as one of the Best High Schools not only in the State, but in the entire Nation, and achieving test scores in English and Math at 99%! Now that is Impressive. Ladies and Gentlemen, give our Educators a round of applause.

As we go forward in 2010, our City remains resilient:

•  If recent events are any indication, the difficult business cycle and economic environment is anticipated to show signs of improvement in 2010.
•  Even as the economy improves, the City will continue its conservative fiscal policies and best use of public resources. I repeat…..even as the economy improves, the City will continue its conservative fiscal policies and best use of public resources. This will ensure our continued success and resilience to face any challenges that may come our way in the future.
•  Our BRACE and AGENT programs will continue their commitment to visit local businesses, working with our business leaders, to grow and to put-on quality programs.
•  In our continued efforts to provide our clients with the highest level of service possible, last October, City staff activated a new economic development web page on the City’s website. This web page provides a wealth of information and many helpful resources.

Now, why is Cypress so successful?

We have beautiful, well maintained tree-lined streets, quality leisure programs and facilities, high performing schools, world class businesses, and an outstanding police department. Our continued success and resilience is because of the people that make up this community and their teamwork. None of this would be possible without the concerted effort of the members of our community, the business leaders, educators, community volunteers, Chamber of Commerce, elected officials, City staff, and citizens. Their teamwork is exemplary.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I would now like to switch gears and recognize 2 outstanding businesses that exemplify the City’s motto of Progress, by presenting the 1st Annual BRACE and AGENT Awards for 2010.

The first annual Brace Award for 2010 goes to . . . Mary Kay Cosmetics.

Mary Kay Cosmetics has called Cypress home since January 1995. The company’s “Pink Doing Green” campaign is a wonderful example of how our actions today will affect the life of future generations. Mary Kay continuously seeks opportunities to improve our environmental performance and is striving to find ways to be even more sustainable and green.

Ms. Terry Van Cleave, Director & General Manager of Mary Kay Cosmetics is an avid supporter of the City’s BRACE Program. Terry, would you please join me at the podium?

The City of Cypress thanks you and Mary Kay Cosmetics for your support, commitment, and for being a part of our business community. We would like to present to you this Certificate of Recognition. THANK YOU and Congratulations!

The next award is the AGENT Business of the Year Award for 2010.

And this Award goes to . . . Intelli-Flex.

Intelli-Flex was founded in 1992 by a group of partners, who were and continue to be, passionate about telecommunications technology. The company has called Cypress home since November 2007 and is a single-source provider of network convergence solutions and services.

With a two-year revenue growth of 26%, Intelli-Flex is one of Orange County’s 100 fastest growing private companies in 2009. We congratulate you on your success and thank you for being a part of our business community. I would like to call to the podium Cory Stephens, CEO of Intelli-Flex. THANK YOU Cory and your staff at Intelli-Flex, and Congratulations.

We would also like to recognize you with this Certificate of Recognition. Ladies and Gentlemen, Please join me in congratulating our first BRACE and AGENT award recipients once again with a round of applause.

In conclusion, in spite of all the economic challenges, our City continues to move forward in a positive direction. As they said in the movie Star Wars, “May the Force be with you,” and, with that force and drive, we will face any challenge with focus, courage, and clarity. Our path of progress is and will continue to be successful because of our resilience, our teamwork, and above all, our hard-working citizens of Cypress.

The cooperation between the City and community stakeholders prepares us - to face whatever comes our way in the future, and ensures our continued success and resilience, for many generations. Robert Kiyosaki, motivational Speaker and Author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad teaches his students that, “Your future is created by what you do today, not tomorrow.” Seeing what is happening now in the City of Cypress, the City’s future looks bright and prosperous.

Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you very much for coming today. Thank you, and God bless the City of Cypress.