The State Of Our City: A Preview

By Mayor Steve Croft

As I write to you, I’m beginning to work on the speech I will give at Lakewood’s annual State of the City meeting on Feb. 22.

A “State of the City” speech is a report card to you--the residents of Lakewood. What was the past year like, what’s coming in the year ahead, and how does our city’s long-term future look?

I’ll give my speech right after the premiere showing of Lakewood CityTV’s Annual Report video. CityTV always produces an informative and fun look at the year just past in Lakewood and the year ahead.

I’ll then give updates on city improvement projects and programs that will be coming to Lakewood in the new year.

Here’s a sneak preview of two of our new initiatives.

The first relates to homelessness. Lakewood is leading an effort with two neighboring cities (Hawaiian Gardens and Signal Hill) to hire an expert who will outreach to local homeless people in our three cities, offer services, encourage and help them to get those services…and coordinate with our Deputy Sheriffs if there is illegal behavior taking place. This will step up our twopronged approach in Lakewood of doing all we can to offer services and help to local homeless people but to also not tolerate illegal behavior that can reduce the quality of life for our community as a whole.

The second initiative is the hiring of what’s called a Community Prosecutor, which is a career Deputy District Attorney who will work intensively with our city and the Lakewood Sher- iff’s Station to solve local quality of life issues, such as properties that have become a nuisance in a neighborhood, street racing, and case tracking to advocate for strong-as-possible prosecutions and seeking restitution and sentencing terms that improve public safety. Our neighboring city of Paramount has contracted for a Community Prosecutor for several years…with good results… and Paramount recently asked if Lakewood would like to partner on sharing the costs and time for this prosecutor.

These new public safety initiatives build on the $400,000 extra investment we made in public safety in 2022 that included more Deputy Sheriff patrol time, new Security Guard patrols to add more eyes and ears on our streets in the overnight hours, and rebate programs for residents who want to install security cameras at their home or devices to prevent the theft of their catalytic converters.

It’s all part of our City Council’s continuing effort to do all that we can to keep Lakewood one of the safest communities in our region while we meet the challenges that we face.

At the State of the City, I will also update residents on community infrastructure improvements we have planned for the year ahead, including repairs and renovations to parks, upgrades to our water system to maintain its reliability, and more street repaving so that Lakewood continues to have some of the smoothest and best maintained streets in Los Angeles County.

Over 200 residents and business community members usually gather for the Lakewood State of the City luncheon meeting. Any member of the public is welcome to join, and we’d love to see you. Tickets are available until Feb. 16 (with early-bird pricing until Feb. 10) at www.lakewoodcity.org/

SOTCtickets or by calling 562866-9771, extension 3123.

If you can’t make the event, my remarks and the Annual Report video will be available later that same day on the city website at www.lakewoodcity.org and in our Lakewood Connect eMagazine, which you can subscribe to at www.lakewoodcity.org/subscribe

As we all get started here in earnest with a new year, I join my Lakewood City Council colleagues in wishing you and your family the very best. If we can ever help you solve a city issue or get a city service, please contact us or the very helpful city staff who work for all of us residents at 562-866-9771 and at Service1@ lakewoodcity.org. ♦

Presidents' Day city service information

City Hall will be closed Monday, Feb. 20 in observance of Presidents’ Day. Trash service will continue as usual. There will be no street sweeping, no makeup sweep and no citations issued for street sweeping-related parking violations. There will be no DASH Transit service available.

When City Hall is closed, here is how you can report a nonemergency issue:

• Call and leave a message for the customer service staff at 562-8669771, extension 2140 or send an email to service1@lakewoodcity. org. They will answer messages on the next business day.

• Submit a non-emergency service request online at www.lakewoodcity.org/service

• Use the Lakewood Connect app for your smartphone to report an issue, ask a question or give input to the City of Lakewood. The app is available for free from both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.

For emergency city service requests, like downed tree limbs or water main leaks, please phone 562-866-9771 and follow the recorded instructions to page a 24hour city emergency staff worker.

For questions or requests regarding trash and disposal services, contact EDCO Disposal at 562-531-3054. ♦

Play at Palms: Movie Night Under the Stars featuring Disney’s “Togo”

Bring the entire family and enjoy an evening of FREE family fun and movie entertainment under the stars at Palms Park, 12305 207th St. on Friday, Feb. 10. Guests can bring chairs and a picnic and enjoy a fun evening with their families. Check in begins at 6 p.m. with the movie to begin at 7 p.m. Sorry, no pets or alcohol allowed at the park. For more information call the Lakewood Recreation and Community Services Department at 562-866-9771, ext. 2408 or visit www.lakewoodcity.org/ playatpalms

Travel trip to L.A. Clippers basketball game

Come along on Friday, Feb. 24 as Lakewood travels to the Crypto.com Arena to watch the L.A. Clippers take on the Sacramento Kings! Before the game, participants can be part of the fan tunnel and high-five the Clippers as they take the court. Enjoy concessions and souvenirs (on your own).

Please arrive at Burns Community Center, 5510 Clark Ave. at 5 p.m. for check-in. The bus will leave promptly at 5:30 p.m. The cost of this trip is $55 per person. An adult must accompany children of all ages. Last day to register is Monday, Feb. 13 or until filled. Use activity #24754 to register at www. lakewoodcity.org/ecatalog

Spring Recreation classes begin

The new Recreation and Community Services Spring Catalog is now available online at www. lakewoodcity.org/catalog. A limited number of hard copies of the catalog are available for pick up at your local park, community center and City Hall. The new catalog features activities for participants of all ages. As always, many classes are free or low cost. Many classes begin the first week of February. Registration is available now at www.lakewoodcity.org/ecatalog, or by calling City Hall at 562-866-9771, ext. 2408.

Hall of Fame tickets on sale

Tickets for the 41st annual Lakewood Youth Hall of Fame banquet will be on sale starting Monday, Jan. 23. The awards banquet is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 27 at 6:30 p.m. at The Centre and will honor the 2022 Athlete of the Year and more than 25 other deserving athletes and coaches.

If purchased by Feb. 10, discounted tickets are $40 for adults and $30 for students; if purchased between Feb. 11 and 16, ticket prices are $46 and $36 respectively. Reservation deadline is Feb. Call 562-866-9771, ext. 2408 for more information or to purchase tickets. ♦