State of the City Speech by Cypress Mayor Doug Bailey

This is the text of the speech as supplied to the media by the City of Cypress.

2012 City of Cypress
State of the City Address
Mayor Douglas A. Bailey
February 1, 2012

Good day, Ladies and Gentlemen:

Thank you for attending today’s 2012 State of the City program for the City of Cyrpess. I hope that you are enjoying your lunch and have had the opportunity to get caught up with your friends and colleagues. It is an honor to represent this community and my City Council colleagues, Mayor Pro Tem Dr. Prakash Narain, Council Members Leroy Mills, Phil Luebben, and Todd Seymore. On their behalf, I would like to welcome our invited Dignitaries and we thank you for taking the time to join us today. I would also like to thank and acknowledge my wife Shelly for her support and encouragement. Cypress is really a special city, and as Mayor, I’d like to take a few minutes to share with you the accomplishments our community achieved this past year, and why we are excited about 2012.

While our economy grew, 2011 was not without uncertainty or anxiety. The federal government lost its AAA credit rating and almost completely shut down. The State, once again facing massive budget deficits, invaded local funding and legislated away Redevelopment Agencies, which had grown to be vital sources of community and economic development for over 400 cities and counties since 1945. Cities up and down the state and throughout Orange County were forced to lay off employees and dramatically cut back on services; however, none of this happened in Cypress! As you will come to realize over the next few minutes, our city is fiscally sound, continues to thrive and grow, and we continue to offer the high level of services our community has come to expect. This is certainly cause for celebration, and today we celebrate the efforts of so many which have resulted in the continued stability and success of Cypress. This would not have been possible without the concerted efforts of all take holders of our community. I would like to thank:

The City Council
Our City Manager and City staff
School Educators
Our business community
The Chamber of Commerce
Our service groups
And the numerous community volunteers

Our well maintained neighborhoods and quality infrastructure make Cypress the ideal destination to live, work, and play. Cypress boasts many active service groups that contribute countless hours of community service. Whether it is honoring our Veterans, providing enriching and active afterschool programs for our children, or the hundreds of hours put forth enhancing the lives of our senior citizens, your hard work and investment in Cypress is evident in all facets of our community. With your efforts, in conjunction with an effective City staff, I can confidently say that:

Cypress boasts some of the best infrastructure in the area;
Our City government is fiscally strong and stable, with no reduction in services or workforce;
We offer some of the best recreation programs in the county;
Cypress schools’ test scores are the envy and aspiration of parents and students in other school systems;
And our business communityr emains an economic powerhouse, providing economic and employment opportunities, not only to Cypress residents, but also in the greater areas of Los Angeles and Orange counties.

In 2011, the City’s revenue streams remained healthy.

Our sales tax revenues increased 6% as compared to 2010, and property taxes also reflected gains of 0.3% despite the slower housing market in Orange County.
Our local economy continued to be vibrant, and in July of last year, Reporter Vikki Vargas of NBC channel 4 News visited Cypress and did an exposé recognizing our community as “The City that Defies the Recession.” You can view this video on NCB channel 4’s website.

2011 was another year worth celebrating in infrastructure improvements. The City continued to effectively implement our ambitious Capital Improvement Plans to update the City’s infrastructure such as streets and sewers.

Last year alone:

Over 61 lanes miles of roads and 2.2 miles of sidewalk were repaired.
The City also improved over 2 miles of sewer lines and 1 miles of storm drains.

Our Recreation programs in Cypress were as popular as ever in 2011.

Over 12,000 participated in our recreation programs during the year.
We take pride in being able to offer our residents quality recreational and community programs with more than 1,200 different classes and programs to meet their social, leisure, and recreational needs.

Quality recreation programs require excellent instructors, and in November of 2011,

Miss Nancy Jennings
Miss Kathi Wegener
and Miss Ginger Anderson …most famously known in the community simply as “Miss Ginger,” were recognized by the City Council for 30 years of outstanding service to our community and offering exceptional recreation programs.

The City’s Concerts on the Green Summer concert series were as popular as ever, and brought out hundreds of people on Saturday evenings to enjoy great bands and music all summer long.

Last year, our Community Festival was well-attended and continued the tradition of being the largest single day festival in Orange County.

D.J. Shawn Parr,
Country singer Peter Brandon
The Roadhouse Band
Billy and the Bandits
And the Chris Anderson Group headlined the entertainment.

A celebratory time was had by all!

The Chili Cook-off,
Salsa Contest,
Annual Car Show,
Cypress 5K/10K Race,
Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast,

And numerous other attractions continue to be a hit year after year — and 2011 was no exception. Thanks to the hard work of

The Cypress Festival Committee,
The Chamber of Commerce,
And the City’s Parks and Recreation and Public Works staff.

Our Community Festival was a successful and a joyous occasion for all, highlighting the high quality of life the residents of Cypress have come to expect and enjoy.

The City of Cypress continues to be one of the safest communities in Orange County. Our Police Department maintained a full force with no disruption or reduction in services to our community. Cypress reamins, and will continue to be a safe, friendly community 2012 and well into the future.

Cypress is proud to boast the first female Municipal Police Chief in Orange County with the promotion of Chief Jackie Gomez-Whiteley. Under her expertise and leadership, our Police Department continued to deliver quality public safety services with improved Police technologies, ensuring that our community will always be on the forefront of fighting crime. Overall, the City’s crime rates continued to remain at low levels.

The Cypress Police Department was also proud to promote:

Sergeants Rod Cox and Steve Ramsey to the rank of Lieutenant
And Officer Dean Pinvidic to the rank of Sergeant.

These outstanding commanders are ready to serve and continue the legacy of the Cypress Police Department as a top notch public safety organization. Maintaining the safer of our community is a high priority of the City Council, and you can rest assured that these officers will work tirelessly to keep Cypress a great location to conduct business and a safe place to live.

In 2011, Orange County Fire Authority Firefighters serving the Cypress community responded to over 2,000 EMS, Fire and other service needs. Our firefighters ensure that our neighborhoods, businesses, and homes remain safe from fire and many other hazards.

Division Chief Ed Fleming announced his retirement in October of 2011 after 27 years of service to the Orange County Fire Authority. Chief Fleming served in various capacities around the County, most notably as Division Chief of Division 1 which includes the City of Cypress. We wish Chief Fleming all the best in his future endeavors, and welcome Division Chief Rob Patterson and Battalion Chief George Casario to Cypress, who bring with them a combined 49 years of experience in firefighting to our Community.

Cypress schools have a long tradition of being some of the best in Orange County, and 2011 was no exception. The Oxford Academy and Cypress High School once again far exceeded the base state Academic Performance Index score of 800 in 2011. The Oxford Academy achieved an astounding API Score of 989, that is out of a perfect score of 1000, once again, ranking them as the #1 High School in Orange County! Cypress High School also achieved an impressive score of 895; also making them one of the top High Schools in the County. The students of the Cypress Elementary School District were also superstars in 2011. The elementary scools achieved an average API score of 872, and the district is one of the few that can claim ALL of their schools are California Distinguished Schools!

Cypress College continues to offer higher education opportunities to students looking to transfer to a four-year university or those seeking vocational training to start a career in a number of well-paying jobs in diverse fields such as Air Conditioning and Refrigeration, Aviation, Automotive Technology, and Automotive Collision Repair. In addition, the Los Angeles Times recognized Cypress College as only one of two colleges in the State of California that offers a Mortuary Science program, the other being location in Sacramento.

Cypress educational institutions set the pace for the region and serve as an excellent example of exactly how high quality educational institutions should operate.

One of the primary objectives of the City of Cypress has long been to promote and expand commerce in our community, and make it easy for our businesses to interact with one another and other governmental agencies. The City’s BRACE Program continued to be a great success in 2011. City officials continued to visit with our large companies through the year, working together to ensure their success and that of the Cypress business sector as a whole.

Last year, Cypress welcomed Signature Networks PLUS to the Cypress business community, creating employment opportunities for our residents.

The City continued its partnership with the Orange County Business Service Center and One-Stop Center to host the 2nd Annual Cypress Job Fair. Participating employers offered more than 600 job opportunities, attracting over 1,600 job seekers. Also offered at the event were free workshops from business professionals covering topics such as interview skills, résumé writing, and résumé critiquing.

The City continued its partnership with the Orange County Service Corporation of Retired Executives (SCORE) in 2011 o provide guidance to small to mid-size businesses mainly in the area of developing and revising business plans. Last year we expanded this program and it is now offered on a weekly basis.

The City’s AGENT Program also continued its partnership with the Small Business Administration helping small business owners and entrepreneurs create and expand their businesses. In 2011, AGENT helped facilitate 8 business owners receive loans from the SBA totaling 1.3 Million dollars.

The City of Cypress is in excellent standing. The business community is thriving; we live and work in a safe community. Our City services and recreation programs are top notch, and we have much to celebrate with respect to our accomplishments in 2011. To that effect, we have produced a video highlighting our accomplishments last year. It will be airing starting this week on Cypress Channel 36, and will run throughout the year as regular programming. we hope you will take the opportunity to watch and enjoy it.

As we continue to work together going forward in 2012, our community can expect to enjoy the continued high quality of life and outstanding services that Cypress is well known for. We will continue to have outstanding schools, a dedicated police force, and a responsible City government offering top notch infrastructure and recreation programs. Our business sector and commerce in general, will continue to grow and provide employment opportunities for our community and throughout the region. Although we are optimistic of the City’s outlook for the year, 2012 will not be without its challenges for our region and the nation as a whole.

The housing market remains slow for the Los Angeles-Orange County-Riverside area
The California State budget is expected to have a budget deficit in the range of $5 billion to $8 billion dollars
The State eliminated Redevelopment Agencies, hampering local governments’ ability to combat blight and promote economic developmentThere will be uncertainty with the State possibly raising taxes
Finally, global financial uncertainty could slow domestic growth

Despite these challenges, the City will remain focused on its long-term plans. In 2012, the City will:

Rehabilitate 80 lane miles of roads
Repair 48,700 square feet of sidewalk
And install approximately 200 ADA access ramps.
In addition, the City will construct a quarter mile of storm drains, and repair or replace approximately 2.5 miles of sewer lines.

The City Council recognizes that a high quality of life calls for high quality recreational programs and services. Cypress is committed to continue its popular recreation programs, and maintain our relationships with the many nonprofit organizations that provide social and leisure programs in our community. We are dedicated to sustaining our open spaces, and ensuring that the City’s parks will be at their best and ready to serve the residents of today and for generations to come.

With respect to Economic Development, our BRACE, AGENT, and SPIRIT programs will continue to host quality quarterly events for the veneit of all our companies large and small, and I look forward to the City’s official site visits with our business leaders. These meetings are very important, and allow City officials and business leaders to work together in addressing governmental issues, and to help foster the continued success of our business sector.

Our CREW program is better than ever. CREW stands for Cypress Region of Executive/Management Women. It is a network and collaboration among women who are business leaders in Cypress. I am certain that this program will continue to be a great success in 2012 and for many years to come.

I would like to extend a very special thank you to Terry Van Cleave of May Kay Cosmetics, and Cynthia Nishimoto of Bandai America Incorporated for your continued support and participation in the CREW program, as well as our BRACE program.

Also this year, we will continue to partner with the Small Business Administration to bring quality workshops to our small business owners through our AGENT program, and we look forward to hosting another successful job fair towards the latter part of the year.

Finally, the Economic Development team will continue to work diligently towards the goal of bringing more quality commercial, retail, dining, and business park tenants to Cypress.

[Here, BRACE and AGENT awards were handed out.]

The City Council and City staff has once again set high expectations for 2012, and we are proud of our accomplishments in 2011. Very few days went by last year when I didn’t read or hear about some city somewhere in Orange County drastically cutting back on services or City staff. We are truly fortunate to have such a well-run City. This good fortune is a direct result of an engaged community and effective City management. Thomas Peters, a bestselling author and well regarded advisor in the field of business management and leadership, once said that one of the crucial elements of success is to “Celebrate what you want to see more of.” So today we celebrate you… all of you… our community members, service groups, and business leaders. I am certain that by continuing to work together, our community will remain prosperous this year and successful for many years to come. We hope that you’ve enjoyed today’s program. Have a great day and God bless the City of Cypress.