Outgoing Mayor Mike Gin delivered his eighth and final State of the City address to intermittent bursts of applause on the evening of Thursday, March 28, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.
“Tonight is a celebration of what all of us have been able to accomplish as a community,” he began, thanking all the people he has worked alongside during his two-term tenure as the mayor of Redondo Beach.
Gin spoke of the successes and the challenges that marked his mayoral career, noting first that the city’s budget is presently balanced and even shows a moderate surplus thanks to the willingness of city staff to absorb a six percent salary reduction.
“[That was a] tough decision but despite all of that, [city staff] continue to perform at amazingly high levels,” Gin said.
He noted steady growth in property tax rates and transient occupancy taxes, owing to increasing hotel room rates, and a positive increase in construction fees. He spoke of the forthcoming economic development at the pier and along Harbor Drive, which will engender a “renaissance” of the Redondo Beach waterfront, he said.
“Sustainability is an important concept because it’s not just about economic development; it’s about creating optimal projects and optimal development that in the long-term can sustain our community for years to come,” he said.
Gin also spoke of the new businesses that have in recent months sprung to life across the city.
He tempered his speech with somber discussion of federal sequestration that mandates one furlough day a week for all civilian Department of Defense employees through October 1, but his address again took a positive turn when he talked of the shows and movies that have been filmed in Redondo Beach and which lend “great visibility to the city.”
Gin applauded the Redondo Beach Police Department, which he said answers 911 calls in less than six seconds and last year processed 2,200 inmates in its small jail. He relayed the story of Police Chief Joe Leonardi chasing a suspect on foot and on the suspect’s own bicycle, an anecdote that elicited laughter from the crowded room.
He also recognized the drug and alcohol taskforce and CERT volunteers for their service to the community.
Gin mentioned the city’s renewed relationship with the Redondo Beach Unified School District, out of which emerged an agreement that enabled the city to earmark 200 N. PCH for a new police station.
The Chevron coke drum project, he said, was a boon for the city in that the oil company gifted $2.1 million for a new park at Mole B. A less glamorous project was the 2011 cleanup of several tons of dead sardines in the harbor; Gin sung the praises of volunteers who helped to clear the debris in less than seven days.
He spoke of other successes, including the certification of the North Branch Library as a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold building, the Blue Zones initiative that has turned Redondo Beach into a dramatically healthier city, aesthetic improvements to the Esplanade, the continuation of Leadership Redondo, the construction of the Veterans Memorial, and the collaborative Sister Cities project.
“As I approach the end it’s been a tremendous honor for me to have been your mayor for the past eight years,” Gin said. “And again, this is not me and it’s not the city council – it’s really us as a community that have worked to make Redondo Beach the special place that it is.”
Gin thanked his husband and sister, and paid tribute to the family he has lost but remains with him. Proceeds from the evening and a live auction held after the State of the City speech went to the Cancer Support Community Redondo Beach and the Redondo Beach Veterans Memorial.
Gin is termed out, and voters will elect his successor in a runoff election in May.
