Mayor’s Corner

By Mayor Ross J. Maza

As we enter the 2023 holiday season, we are again reminded how quickly time passes. It’s time again to wish you and your family a happy and peaceful Thanksgiving. With all of the unfortunate events happening around the world, I am ever grateful to live in such a beautiful community within our wonderful nation.

A lot is happening around Alhambra and City Hall, where things never slow down. This past month, the city council reviewed the Housing Element, which provides Alhambra with goals, objectives, and policies to direct and improve future housing development. The direction of housing is a topic most cities in Southern California struggle with, mainly because of the strong push in recent years by the State of California to increase density within our cities. As with most issues of this nature, finding the right balance is key. Our Alhambra Housing Element must be certified with the State in order to be deemed complete and, therefore, must include many of the requests from the State.

As mentioned in a recent Mayor’s Corner, Alhambra was the recipient of a rare grant in the amount of $25 Million, which was made possible by the offices of State Senator Susan Rubio and Assembly Member Mike Fong. No other city has received a grant this large. The specific purpose of the grant is to build a new Alhambra Community Center, which will be located at the site of what many of us know as the Shorb Clinic, at the corner of Shorb Street and 6th Street.

The planning for this project is now well underway, with a couple of beautiful design concepts completed. I encourage you to provide your thoughts and feedback on this project, as it is something that members of our community will enjoy for many decades.

As we enjoy the many outings and dinners that are a part of the holiday season, I ask you to consider dining locally and supporting our local businesses. The local options are endless. An extensive list of options is available at alhambraeats. com.

As always, I thank you all for the privilege of serving Alhambra as Mayor, and I want to remind you that I am always available to you. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!