PRESS RELEASE

From filling 35,000 potholes and restoring 55 lane miles of streets, to fulfilling 19,000 “Go Long Beach” smartphone application requests and being named a Top 10 “Digital City” in America, for the fourth consecutive year, the City of Long Beach had an extremely productive year in 2014.

“Our world-class city continues to get better and better, and these accomplishments illustrate how we’re constantly improving the way we deliver services throughout the entire community,” noted Mayor Robert Garcia.

The City's accomplishments and accolades are featured in the 2014 Year in Review, an easy to read 28-page color brochure.

“Across the board, 2014 was an extremely productive year for the City of Long Beach,” said City Manager Pat West. “Our talented and dedicated workforce has done an outstanding job providing services and implementing the Mayor and City Council's policy direction.”

Here's a snapshot of some of the City's accomplishments and awards in 2014:

 ACCOLADES 

•  Top 10 “Digital City” in America, for the fourth consecutive year; the sixth best large city in the nation at using technology to help deliver service
• Achieved a perfect score in the Human Rights Campaign’s Municipal Equality Index (MEI) for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) inclusion in municipal law and policy
• Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA)
• Top 10 Airport Terminals of 2104 by Fodor’s
• “A” grade on the Historical Preservation Report Card from the Los Angeles Conservancy
• Transportation Planning Award for the Mobility Element from the American Planning Association, California Chapter
• Global Award for Excellence (1 of 13 in the world) for the Deukmejian Courthouse from the Urban Land Institute
• Five programming awards for LBTV, the City’s cable channel.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS 

Public Safety

• 41-year low for violent crime
• Implemented a new paramedic model, providing a paramedic on every apparatus, improving response times by an average of 1.5 minutes, while also reducing costs
• Achieved international accreditation for the Police Department’s crime laboratory, the highest level attainable
• Accepted the deed for Schroeder Hall from the U.S. Army Reserve for the new Police East Division Substation
• Ninety-one arrests were made by the Human Trafficking Task Force Operation, and 22 minors were rescued
• Nearly 1,300 youth received service through the Long Beach Gang Reduction, Intervention, and Prevention (LBGRIP) Project
• 152 arrests for gang injunction violations
• Response time to Police Priority Calls is 4.7 minutes; one of the fastest for any large city.
•  Economic and Workforce Development
• Created new Department of Business & Property Development to assist with business attraction and the coordination of the City’s various economic development functions
• Construction underway for “The Current,” a 17-story, 223-unit luxury apartment project at 707 E. Ocean Blvd.
• 38 new Long Beach businesses received grant assistance to help defray start-up costs
• Placed 800 young adults in paid work experience opportunities
• Construction underway of the Mercedes-Benz facility at the former Boeing 717 site
• Molina Healthcare/Meeker-Baker building project was completed
• Approved entitlements for three new industrial buildings, two medical buildings, and an automotive trade school facility totaling more than 700,000 sq. ft. in Douglas Park

 Sustainability

• 84 percent of the City’s beaches received “A” and “B” grades for water quality from Heal the Bay
• Delivered 2,000 tons of mulch from city tree trimming operations to residents
• Achieved 141,000 kilowatt hours in energy savings through efficiency projects
• Sixty-five percent of City vehicles ordered in 2014 are alternative fuel vehicles
• 1,000 trees planted in Port adjacent neighborhoods, and 400 drought tolerant or native replacement trees were planted in parks
• Waste-to-energy facility (SERRF) burned 459,000 tons of refuse that would have otherwise gone to landfills, while generating $25 million in electricity sales

 Infrastructure

• Selected a development partner to design, build, finance, operate, and maintain a new Civic Center
• 36 lane miles of major and secondary streets resurfaced
• 19 lane miles of residential streets were paved, and 2 miles of residential streets were slurry sealed
• 22 miles of sidewalk replaced
• 23,500 trees trimmed
• 75,500 graffiti sites cleaned
• 35,000 potholes filled
• Completed Chittick Field, Orizaba Park Community Center, plus several other parks projects throughout the City.
• Broke ground for the new North Branch Library
• Began construction of new seawalls along a portion of the Rivo Alto Canal in Naples Island

Community Improvements

• 891 tons of debris removed from streets and neighborhoods by 3,000 volunteers participating in 104 cleanup events
• 738,000 youth and teen participant days, and 465,484 senior participant days, recorded in Parks, Recreation & Marine Department programs
• 205,853 visits to City swimming pools
• 1.4 million items checked out from libraries