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City Manager's Report March 2023

City Clerk's Corner

Anna Jerome, City Clerk
A Happy Farewell! To the City of Pico Rivera’s City Clerk, Anna Jerome. Anna has been committed to serving her constituents in the Office of the City Clerk for a short 24 years. Her dedication has proven to be key to the success of the office as the City’s Election Official, Historian, Democracy Protector, City Council meeting coordinator and much more. Anna leaves behind a good legacy of commendable work ethic and excellent ethical service. This won’t be the last we see of Anna as she resides in the City and is an active member of the City’s local churches. On behalf of the City of Pico Rivera, we hope that you will continue to impact the community with your great enthusiasm and love of this City.

Sister City Commission

Tlajomulco De Zúñiga, Jalisco, Mexico - Sister City
  • The City is now accepting applications for commissioners to the Sister City Commission. The purpose and function of the Sister City Commission is to serve as an advisory commission to the City Council on all matters relating to the fostering of a greater global understanding of other cultures and international friendship for and by the citizens of Pico Rivera.
  • The City has 3 Sister City partners in Mexico: San Luis Potosi, Mazatlan, and Tlajomulco. Applications can be found on the City’s website here.
  • Please submit a hard copy of your application to City Hall by April 30th, 2023.

Departmental Updates

Office of the City Manager

City of Pico Rivera Awarded Several Grants Totaling $5.07 Million Between January and March 2023

Between January and March 2023, the City of Pico Rivera has been awarded several competitive grant awards in areas spanning infrastructure, parks and recreation, safety, and wayfinding projects. These awards are in addition to the FY23 State Budget Allocation to the City of Pico Rivera in the amount of $8.5 million for Rio Hondo Park and $8.5 million for the Smith Park Aquatic Center. The grant awards are detailed below:

  • Los Angeles Metro awarded the city $250,000 to fund a feasibility study for the future Rosemead/Lakewood Boulevard Bus Rapid Transit Corridor Project, which will operate a dedicated high-frequency bus service between Pasadena and Long Beach.
  • The National Recreation and Park Association, Youth Sports Equity Program awarded the city $20,000 to fund the PlayPass Program, which will cover sports registration fees for income qualifying residents.
  • The National Recreation and Park Association awarded the city with $100,000 for new Futsal Courts and Pickleball Courts at Rio Hondo Park as part of the larger Rio Hondo Park Revitalization Project.
  • California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) Highway Safety Improvement Program (HISP) Cycle 11 Program awarded the city $4.7 million across three (3) project submittals to improve traffic signals, signage and school crossings citywide.

Vanessa Sida, Recreation Leader for Pico Rivera, Presented with Community Hero Award by the California Parks and Recreation Society

  • Vanessa Sida was awarded the Community Hero Award by the California Parks and Recreation Society at their event on March 16 in Diamond Bar.
  • Vanessa was commended for her hard work and volunteerism for creating, fundraising and producing a successful Backpack Giveaway Program that benefited the youth of Pico Rivera.
  • The program provided over 1336 backpacks, school supplies, food, haircuts, vaccine clinic, hygiene supplies and other giveaways.
  • We are so proud of Vanessa and thank her for giving back to the Pico Rivera community!

Office of Sustainability

Proclamations and Award

  • The Office of Sustainability received two proclamations at the City Council meeting of March 14, 2023. The first proclamation celebrated PRIME’s 5th Anniversary.
  • Staff presented PRIME’s 5-Year report, which will be sent to all email subscribers to highlight PRIME’s hard work, along with a short, reflective video that will be aired on CCTV.
  • The second proclamation recognized the City’s expansion of the Office of Sustainability.
  • Finally, The City of Pico Rivera was also recognized by the Gateway Cities Council of Government (GCCOG) for earning the 2022 Gold Energy Action Award.

Collaboration with Tanko Lighting for Energy Efficient Street Lighting

  • The City of Pico Rivera recently launched a Streetlight Conversion Project to acquire local streetlights from Southern California Edison (SCE) and upgrade more than 3,000 lights to brighter, more efficient Light Emitting Diode (LED) fixtures.
  • For this project, the City and PRIME have collaborated with Tanko Lighting, a firm specializing in municipal streetlighting that provides technical solutions to save taxpayer dollars through energy-efficient street lighting conversions.
  • Tanko will now begin to upgrade city facilities to exceed sustainability efforts for the long term.
  • Tanko will begin and anticipates completing the installation of LED retrofit upgrades to the City’s decorative lights at various City facilities in mid-April 2023.

OhmConnect Partnership

  • The City, through the Office of Sustainability/PRIME, has partnered with OhmConnect–a free service that will alert participants when electricity prices spike due to high demand.
  • Actively participating will save energy, ultimately lowering a participant’s electricity bill, while also having the opportunity to earn rewards.
  • The rewards provided by OhmConnect are gift cards to restaurants, stores, and entertainment.
  • It takes just 2 minutes to join and when a new participant signs up with the QR code they can be awarded $50!

Climate Action Plan

  • The City of Pico Rivera strives to be a leader in environmental sustainability, for this reason, the City issued a request for proposal (RFP) for the development of a Climate Action Plan (CAP).
  • The City received and is evaluating five proposals from various firms. The CAP aims to develop an extensive and strategic framework for measuring, planning, and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other related climatic impacts.
  • Pico Rivera strives to be a leader in environmental sustainability. With only one other municipality in the Gateway Region with a CAP, this is a crucial step in inspiring neighboring local governments to begin implementing similar sustainability initiatives; and improve the lives of people in our communities.

SB 1383 FAQ's

  • Residents and commercial business owners have probably noticed many changes to their trash bills, bins, and collections; this is mainly because the State of California has required cities to implement specific programs that aim to improve waste diversion (i.e., separating recyclables and organics).
  • The City team works closely with NASA and Go2Zero to facilitate meeting these State mandates and minimize the transitional impacts to the community.
  • Please see the FAQ sheet for more information about SB 1383.

Community and Economic Development

Citywide Design Standards and Guidelines

  • Community and Economic Development staff and the City’s consultant Dudek will be in attendance at the April 8th Easter Eggstravaganza.
  • Come join us and help us define the goals and tell us what types of design features you would like to see more of!
  • Your feedback will help shape the process and define the future of building design in the city.

Washington Boulevard Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Specific Plan

Metro L (Gold) Line Eastside Transit Corridor and Samples of At-grade/Aerial Stations
  • City staff held a study session with City Council and department heads to review the progress of the Washington Blvd. TOD Specific Plan and received feedback for the Specific Plan’s goals and policies. Funding for this Specific Plan was made possible by a Metro grant to advance transit-supportive planning efforts through Measure R.
  • This was fueled by the proposed light rail extension of the Gold Line into Pico Rivera with a proposed stop at Washington & Rosemead Blvd. The City has been working with consultant Kimley-Horn for the development of this Specific Plan.
  • Kimley-Horn has produced existing conditions, market analysis reports, and land use plans, as well as initial scoping and stakeholder meetings, and they’re looking for further input from our legislative body.

Whittier Boulevard Business Improvement District

Historic Whittier Boulevard Corridor
  • The City is working with consultant New City America to establish a Business Improvement District (BID) as part of the Historic Whittier Boulevard Program. BIDs are special assessment districts that can help fund services above and beyond what the City can provide including marketing, district branding, promotions and events.
  • Over the past several weeks the City has been holding meetings with property owners along Whittier Boulevard to promote the BID and receive feedback.
  • New City America plans to send surveys to all property owners within the proposed district boundaries via mail and email by the end of April.
  • The surveys will allow property owners to provide feedback and indicate whether or not they will vote to participate in the district.

Public Works and Citywide Project Updates

Road Resurfacing Projects

Road Rehabilitation and Resurfacing on Rosemead Blvd
  • The Public Works Street Improvement Program is in the process of completing it’s fourth major resurfacing project within a year, (CIPs 50041, 21346, 50047 and 50048), including parts of Rosemead Boulevard, Whittier Boulevard, and residential streets citywide. In excess of 19 miles will have been resurfaced within the last 12 months.
  • The Citywide Slurry and Cape Seal Project (CIP 50067) will start construction early summer and will resurface approximately 5.2 miles citywide.
  • The Citywide Overlay and Reconstruction Project (CIP 50066) is anticipated to start in late summer and will resurface approximately 2.2 miles citywide.
  • For CIP 50048, the City anticipates receiving a $250,000 grant reimbursement from CalRecycle’s Rubberized Pavement Grant Program for using over 25,000 tons of recycled rubberized asphalt pavement on City streets.
  • The City’s efforts diverted an estimated 68,849 waste tires from California landfills through repaving with rubberized asphalt.

Government Relations

Pico Rivera Submits FY24 Congressional Community Project Funding Requests to Senator Alex Padilla and Congresswoman Linda Sánchez for Rosemead Bus Rapid Transit Project (BRT) and Historic Whittier Boulevard Backalley "Paseo" Conversion Project

Rosemead/Lakewood Blvd BRT Corridor and Funding Pursuits, Whittier Boulevard Paseo Project Inspiration
  • Every budget cycle, the Appropriations Committees in both the House and the Senate receive requests for one-time funding of projects or initiatives that advance national priorities at the local level.
  • These funding requests are requested on behalf of constituents, constituent organizations, or local government by a Member of Congress or Senator.
  • The City requested $2,000,000 through Congresswoman Linda Sanchez for 50% design and environmental clearance of the Rosemead BRT portion in Pico Rivera.
  • The City also submitted a request for $3,000,000 through Senator Alex Padilla for 15% design of the Gateway Cities segment of the BRT Project, south of Pico Rivera into Long Beach.
  • As part of the larger Historic Whittier Boulevard Program, the City has identified back alleys currently serving as service roads behind Whittier Boulevard as areas of opportunity to deploy walkable recreation and community oriented spaces.
  • The intent is to establish safe, vibrant, and accessible areas for people to congregate and access shopping, dining and entertainment.
  • The City submitted a request for $1,500,000 through Congresswoman Linda Sanchez for the Historic Whittier Boulevard Back-alley Paseo Project.

Supervisor Janice Hahn Names Pico Rivera Councilmember Dr. Monica Sánchez as "Woman of the Year"

Councilmember Dr. Sánchez and Supervisor Janice Hahn
  • On March 13, 2023, Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn honored Councilmember Dr. Monica Sánchez at the Los Angeles Commission for Women's 38th Annual "Women of the Year" Awards and Scholarship Celebration.
  • Supervisor Hahn presented Councilmember Dr. Sanchez with the Fourth District's "Woman of the Year" award alongside Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass who received the commission's President's Award.

City Council Adopts Resolution Opposing 2024 Ballot Measure That Would Significantly Impact City Revenues and Services

  • This California Business Roundtable, composed of major business interests in the State, introduced a State Constitutional Amendment known as the Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act, that has recently qualified for the 2024 ballot.
  • The measure would require all tax increases or changes to receive 2/3 approval of the state legislature, and additionally, approval from 2/3 of the electorate on the ballot. Local measures will also require 2/3 approval from their electorates.
  • The measure would make it much more difficult for communities to propose or approve measures intended to fund services or projects they need.
  • Measure AB (business fees) would be considered unconstitutional under this measure. If passed, the measure would apply retroactively to all measures passed after January 1, 2022, which includes Measure AB.
  • Local revenues used to provide critical city services and deliver projects would be severely impacted if this measure were to pass.
  • The Pico Rivera City Council adopted a resolution opposing this measure in April of 2022 when it was first introduced for signatures. The ballot did not qualify for the 2022 ballot.
  • The Ballot has now qualified for the 2024 ballot, the Pico Rivera City Council adopted a resolution opposing the measure at its March 14th , 2023 meeting.

Community Events & Programming Recap

REACH Mini Olympics - March 1, 2023

REACH Mini-Olympics
  • The REACH city-run afterschool program held its annual REACH Mini Olympics Event at El Rancho High School Stadium on March 1, 2023. Students from each REACH school site competed in track events such as the 100 meter, 50 meter and 25 meter and field events such as shot pot, long jump, canoe racing and cup stacking.
  • Students who placed first, second and third received medals for their events.

Pico Rivera Play Pass Now Available

  • The City of Pico Rivera is offering a Registration Fee Subsidy Program for eligible Pico Rivera families. This new program is intended to subsidize the registration fees for income eligible youth to be able to participate in select, recreational and youth sports programs.
  • Only youth that reside in low income households, as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), are eligible to participate in this program.
  • PLAYPASS vouchers cannot be used to purchase equipment, uniforms, or other items necessary for participation in an activity.
  • Voucher amount is valid for the calendar year. Special thanks to funding from the National Recreation and Park Association Youth Sports Equity Program which helped make Play Pass possible!

Pico Rivera Bulk Dumping Day - March 25, 2023

  • On Saturday, March 25, the City of Pico Rivera held a bulky item dump day event at the Sports Arena free for residents.
  • The event was made possible in partnership with Caltrans as part of their Clean California program.
  • A total of 118 resident vehicles participated in the disposal event and a total of six (6) 40-cubic yard roll-off trash containers weighing a total of 12.55 tons were disposed.

Upcoming Events & Programs

Cesar Chavez Holiday - March 30,2023

Civil Rights and Labor Leader, Cesar E. Chavez
  • Cesar Chavez Day is a state holiday in California, observed annually on March 31st. The holiday commemorates the life and legacy of Cesar Chavez, a civil rights and labor leader who co-founded the United Farm Workers (UFW) with Dolores Huerta in the 1960s.
  • Chavez fought tirelessly for the rights of farm workers, advocating for fair wages, better working conditions, and access to healthcare and education.
  • His efforts led to the passage of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act, which granted farm workers the right to collectively organize and bargain for better wages and working conditions.
  • Today, Cesar Chavez Day is celebrated as a day of service and learning, encouraging people to honor Chavez's legacy by giving back to their communities and fighting for social justice.
  • City Hall will be closed on Thursday, March 30, 2023 in observation of Cesar Chavez Day.

First Day of Certified Farmer's Market - April 5, 2023

  • The seasonal Certified Farmers Market returns to the City at Smith Park every Wednesday, beginning April 5 through September 27, from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
  • The Certified Farmers Markets will bring local residents the freshest local fruits, vegetables, bakery items, eggs, nuts, honey, beef jerky, potted plants, and cut flowers directly from California family farmers.
  • Vendors will vary every week. Admission to the Certified Farmers Market is free. For the safety and courtesy of others, no pets are allowed.
  • There will be no Farmers Market on Wednesday, July 5, and September 13.
  • For more information, call the Parks and Recreation Department at 562.801.4430.

Easter Eggstravaganza - April 8, 2023

  • Hop on over to Pico Park for the City’s annual Easter Eggstravaganza on Saturday, April 8, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The annual event kicks off with the Bunny Run open to all ages.
  • There is no need for pre-registration and all skill levels of running and walking are welcome.
  • The event will continue with live entertainment, a free magic show, amusements, face painting, children’s crafts, carnival games, food trucks, artisans & crafters, and the ever-popular Egg Hunt.
  • The Egg Hunt will be divided into six age-appropriate divisions beginning at 10:00 a.m. Those who participate in the Egg Hunt have a chance to win a “Golden Ticket,” redeemable for a special Easter basket.
  • Once kids are finished egg hunting, they can visit with the Easter Bunny and friends who will make an appearance and pose for photos. The event is free, with a nominal fee for the food and some of the amusement attractions. Many of the vendors and the amusements are cash only.
  • For more information, call the City’s Parks and Recreation Department at 562.801.4430.

Views of Pico Rivera

Stunning views, landmarks, and moments around Pico Rivera as captured by City Photographer Robert Moreno

A colorful, Pico Rivera sunset over the Roldan Futsal Court, our latest amenity at Pico Park.