Mayor Ike Bootsma delivered the State of the City last month, to a record crowd.
By Andrew Hoover Eastvale – The City of Eastvale held its Second Annual State of the City Address on the night of April 9, 2013 to give a public update on Eastvale and how quickly it’s growing. The Eastvale State of the City, hosted by the Eastvale Chamber of Commerce, began the event with a speech by Jorge Razo, Chairman of the Board Chamber of Commerce. See Jorge’s entire speech on page 13. The speech was followed by the Showing of the Colors performed by the Jurupa Valley Station Explorer post #880, pledge of allegiance, and a beautiful rendition of the Star Spangled banner sung by Abbey Horan of Roosevelt High School. After a quick presentation of the sponsors, Dignitaries, and Board of Directors, Jeff DeGrandpre took the stage. “Why Eastvale?” Jeff asked the crowd. “Well, Eastvale has great schools,” Jeff stated. Jeff went on to explain that Eastvale also has well maintained parks and is a safe place to raise a family. DeGrandpre explained that Eastvale is the fastest growing city in the Riverside County and the fifth fastest growing city in the State of California. He also pointed out that Eastvale has the highest median household income in Riverside County at $115,025. Jeff expanded on that by adding that Eastvale has absolutely no city debt, passed a balanced budget, and has a healthy reserve. Jeff finished up his speech by adding that Eastvale’s sales tax that it earned by consumers in Eastvale grew by 49.58% from 2011 to 2012 and is still growing. Eastvale’s Mayor Ike Bootsma gave his speech next. After a brief introduction of the new businesses in Eastvale, Bootsma went on to the core of the address. “We have wonderful schools in Eastvale, which we are so proud of. Corona Norco Unified School District is the largest district in Riverside County and now the 9th largest district in the State of California, serving over 55,000 students in the cities of Eastvale, Corona and Norco,” said Bootsma. Bootsma also showed the Academic Performance Index, which measures how well students are learning. Out of 1000 points, Eastvale Elementary School topped out at 911 API points with the lowest being 812 API points at Eleanor Roosevelt High School. “We are proud to have 2 California Distinguished Schools in the City of Eastvale: Clara Barton Elementary and Harada Elementary. In addition, the School District has been nominated twice for the prestigious Eli Broad Award which is one of the highest honors a school district can achieve,” said Bootsma. After an introduction of the City Council and staff members, Bootsma stated Eastvale’s planned projects for 2013, which included the widening of Hamner Ave. near Citrus for the Silverlakes Project underway; widening of Schleisman Ave. between Hellman and The Enclave; coordinating the tear down of the old cell tower in the middle of Schleisman Rd. which is not a city project; the repavement of Hellman Ave.; develop a Bikeway Master Plan and Truck Route Study; and continue efforts to seek funding from regional, state, and federal agencies to fund additional infrastructure improvements. Bootsma wrapped up the State of the City Address with Eastvale’s City Plan. “The City Council is working on developing a five-year strategic plan as a guiding document for providing leadership and identifying the priorities and direction of the City. This will include the development of a Mission Statement, Vision Statement, and identify the City’s Core Values. The plan will provide an organizational strategy that outlines five-year goals and objectives for the City, as well as outlines how the City can successfully reach these goals.”
