Mayor outlines ambitious goals for 2005

By Michael Picarella
pic@theacorn.com

Mayor Michael Harrison

The falling crime rate, the new civic center project, the Method Fest Film Festival and a host of other accomplishments were highlighted last week by Calabasas Mayor Michael Harrison during the 7th annual State of the City address.

Harrison gave project updates and listed specific goals for Calabasas at the annual event. As those before him, Harrison was proud of city accomplishments last year.

"The 2004 crime rate for serious crimes was lower than the crime rate in Thousand Oaks, which has consistently ranked as one of the nation’s safest cities with over 100,000 people," Harrison said.

This spring, residents will begin to see progress on the city’s new crown jewel, Harrison said. That’s when groundbreaking of the new Calabasas Civic Center is expected to take place. The center will contain a library, a city hall, an underground parking facility and a public plaza with amphitheater. Harrison said additional information about the project can be found on the city’s website at www.cityofcalabasas.com.

A feeling of community is important in Calabasas, he added. That’s why the city hosted two new special events last year: the Fall Family Faire and the Calabasas Classic 5K/10K Runs.

Another achievement was the city’s improved relationship with the Las Virgenes Unified School District, the mayor stated.

Educational excellence has always been a top priority in the city, and during tough state budget cuts in 2004, which affected local schools, the city formed an Education Fund to provide monies to save programs.

According to Harrison, the Ed Fund distributed $250,000 to the city’s public schools in the past six months to provide needed librarian, counseling and administrative services.

The city also signed an agreement for after-school playground use at Bay Laurel Elementary School, the mayor said.

Regarding the construction of new schools, the council rallied for a second preschool to be built on the west side of Calabasas and for passage of a school bond in November to provide funding to build Elementary School Number Nine.

Traffic issues also were a strong focus in 2004. In the coming year, the city will build a new A.E. Wright footbridge for students to cross over Las Virgenes Creek. Calabasas officials hope to add more bike lanes, more buses and more traffic improvements.

As a means to reduce traffic and keep the Calabasas streets safe, the city sponsored an International Walk to School Day campaign, and installed a signal at Park Ora and Valmar, which has helped mae the local area safef, according to Harrison.

Additionally, the city adopted a new parks master plan with input from the entire community and the Calabasas Parks and Recreation Commission. More parks are on the horizon, Harrison said.

Fine arts also flourished last year in Calabasas as the city sponsored the 7th Annual Fine Arts Festival. This year’s event will benefit the universally accessible playground known as Shane’s Inspiration, which the city council plans to locate at Gates Canyon Park.

The city’s public works department was also busy. It built landscape medians on Las Virgenes Road, sidewalks and landscape medians on Mulholland by the new middle school, and an overlay of three miles of city streets, including Old Topanga and Las Virgenes Road.

Harrison said improvements will continue this year. Some of the upcoming Calabasas public works projects include:

•The Malibu Creek Watershed Monitoring Program, which will provide much needed data to determine the health of local lakes and creeks.

•The Las Virgenes Creek Restoration Project, to remove the existing concrete lining and to naturalize Las Virgenes Creek next to Albertson’s, and to create a pedestrian friendly landscaped area for the public to enjoy the naturalized creek.

•The Clean Beaches Initiative, to reduce and eliminate pollutants from entering Las Virgenes Creek.

•A program to restore native habitat in Wild Walnut Park, and

•Implementation of a Revised Solid Waste Ordinance, which will provide stronger incentives for waste haulers to divert waste from entering the landfills and for increased recycling.

Resident can now see the mayor and hear about accomplishments thanks to the city’s media department which created a CTV web archiving system in 2004. The new system allows any computer user to watch meetings or programs at any time of day or night.

Open space remains an important city issue. Harrison said city officials worked last year to help preserve Soka University of America in Calabasas. The city committed $850,000 to help the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy buy the campus.

Not only did the mayor highlight special city accomplishments, but he also handed out awards to groups and individuals, including:

•Unstrumental from Calabasas High School. The a-cappella group received the city’s Artist of the Year Award.

•Spotlight the Arts co-chairs Toby Keeler and Debbie Gambardella. The duo received an award for Citizen of the Year. Spotlight the Arts is a new nonprofit group of citizens that will raise funds for a new theater in Calabasas, and

•Calabasas Teen Activities Council. The group received the Students of the Year Award.

The future holds much for Calabasas, Harrison pointed out. He hopes to expand the city’s urban forestry program, develop community gardens in the city’s schools, retain a professional fundraiser for the Calabasas Education Fund, provide affordable housing programs for seniors and public service employees, establish a teen center and much more.

To learn more about the mayor’s goals, or to see a broadcast of the mayor’s speech, visit the city’s website at www.cityofcalabasas.com. It can be loaded through the CTV archiving services. Harrison’s address will be rebroadcast on CTV (Channel 3 Calabasas) at 7 p.m. tonight, 7 a.m. tomorrow and 2 p.m. Sunday.