San Marino Mayor Steven Huang took to Zoom for the annual State of the City address on Jan. 16 to share the priorities for the year.
The mayor, who has 11 months left on the City Council, looks forward to fulfilling his duties and leading the city.
One task on the top of his to-do list is putting the Special Public Safety Parcel Tax on November’s general election ballot for San Marino residents, who have supported the tax specifically dedicated to pay for paramedic services, fire protection and prevention and police protection in the city since 1983.
“The Public Safety Parcel Tax will be on the ballot in 2024 as the city asks the community to continue to be a partner in having one of the safest communities possible,” said Huang, who also expressed an interest in body cameras for police officers.
“As our police department continues to look at ways to improve operations, we are looking at investing in body-worn cameras for our police force as a way to ensure the top-safety for our community and officers.”
Along with preserving and improving infrastructure, Huang said that the city will be updating its housing element, Stoneman site project and a General Plan.
“The city has a number of challenging and critical plans to create in the upcoming years,” Huang said.
Huang intends to build upon the city’s fiscal health through the efficiency of several key city operatons.
“In order to ensure we are collecting appropriate revenues for services and permits, the city must conduct a cost-of-service study every five years to ensure we are charging the community appropriately for operations,” said Huang, who added that as the search continues for a new finance director, San Marino will aim to be transparent with the public about its financial explorations in the future.
Huang said there is also room to improve the city’s internal processes for applications, public-facing operations, security on digital platforms and enterprise fleet modernization vehicles.
“As an organization, we’re looking at the best IT tools we can implement to improve services for residents and use finance in the most efficient way,” Huang said.
The mayor also took the opportunity to spotlight the accomplishments made during the past year through the direction of his predecessor, now-Councilman Steve Talt, and efforts of his colleagues and city staff.
“Without them, we would be in a mess,” said Huang, who praised the staff for their hard work keeping day-to-day operations well organized.
Huang, who opened his address on the topic of financial health, reported that the fiscal year 2023-24 budget was $49.2 million — with an operating budget of $34 million and a capital budget of $15.2 million.
The fiscal year 2022-23 general fund expenses were 8.1% lower than forecasted, Huang said.
The general fund’s unassigned fund balance as of June 30 was $16.2 million. This figure represents a reserve ratio of 49% against annual general fund revenues. The city’s financial policies specify that the general fund unassigned fund balance shall be about 40% of general fund revenues.
Huang also highlighted the behind-the-scenes work that makes San Marino go round.
POLICE DEPARTMENT
The San Marino Police Department applied and received state funding from the Office of Traffic Safety for a second year. Huang said personnel have started to use the grant on community outreach efforts and DUI checkpoints.
Huang also praised SMPD for remaining well-staffed and actively trying to fill vacant positions.
When Huang began campaigning for City Council in 2015, he had a vision of seeing cameras installed for safety. At the time, there were no Flock Safety cameras, but since then, the use and presence of the device has grown in an effort to protect the city.
“The total number of cameras is up to 40,” Huang said. “From zero to 40 — I think we’ve come a great distance and I’m happy with that. The Flock cameras continue to provide valuable information that helps our personnel detect and deter crime in the city.”
FIRE DEPARTMENT
After rewriting the San Marino Emergency Operation Plan at the end of 2022, the San Marino Fire Department proceeded to conduct several training sessions, culminating in city staff and San Marino Unified School District staff participation in a simulated earthquake exercise in October.
Huang said SMFD also conducted quarterly emergency preparedness workshops for residents, with many participants returning each quarter for refreshers, as well as workshops for SMUSD staff, giving them an opportunity to use an extinguisher on a live fire, perform CPR and learn how to stop bleeding with a tourniquet.
Additionally, the SMFD has procured a self-contained breathing apparatus and is eagerly awaiting delivery of this integral piece of equipment.
“This is very critical for our firefighters,” Huang said. “We want to make sure they have enough oxygen.”
Huang also congratulated newly promoted fire Capt. Jeffrey Tsay, who was recently celebrated with a badge-pinning ceremony for the career milestone.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
The City Council adopted zoning ordinance amendments to establish objective design standards to impose on all multifamily residential projects, proposed for commercial, historic and cultural zones to ensure orderly development and compatibility with the city’s residential community character.
The city also enforced a one-year Vacant Properties Enforcement Pilot Program to ensure vacant properties are registered consistent with the city’s code. Huang said since launching the pilot program, law enforcement staff has canvassed the city, resulting in a 59% rise in the count of registration of vacant properties, which went up to 39 from 16.
Additionally, staff conducted a comprehensive building permit plan check review and permit fee update to be consistent with the city’s adopted fee schedule, which has increased revenue by 79%.
COMMUNITY SERVICES
The Crowell Public Library children’s program increased by 105%, growing to 3,784 from 1,845 participants in library programs, which included outreach to school libraries and classrooms.
New young adult programming at the library includes 17 first-ever offerings, which resulted in participation by 2,021 teens.
Adult programs also saw a 127% increase, growing to 3,127 from 1,376 participants.
The library staff also launched a teen advisory group, a volunteer program, made up of 73 teens who volunteered 362.5 hours.
Huang announced that the Council has approved a new 12-page comprehensive schedule of fees and charges that support programs and generates revenue for both the recreation and library divisions of programs and services.
FINANCE DEPARTMENT
San Marino was honored with multiple financial-related awards, including the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award; the Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting Award from the Government Finance Officers Association; and the Operating Budget Excellence Award from the California Society of Municipal Finance Officers. Some of these honors have been awarded to the city in consecutive years.
“This is all because of the leadership of our Treasurer Annie Han and our former Finance Director Paul Chung, who left us for another position. Best of luck to him, and also Mark [Siegfried], who has done so much for our city over the last eight years,” Huang said.
The mayor also noted the city awarded a new information technology contract to SDI Presence.
HUMAN RESOURCES
The city welcomed a new city manager, Philippe Eskandar, after an extensive search involving the City Council, city staff and resident input.
“I’ve only heard great things from our residents about our city manager so far,” Huang said.
Behavioral wellness and mental health programs were implemented for fire and police department personnel. Additionally, SMFD and SMPD partnered to provide online and in person active shooter training for all city staff.
PARKS AND PUBLIC WORKS
The Parks and Public Works department completed a $8.3 million renovation of the San Marino Community Center, which opened in September.
“This project included significant renovations to modernize the facility and make it user friendly while retaining its historic character as a central gathering place for the community,” Huang said. “They did a very good job on this.”
The department repaved 31 city streets — approximately 4.5 million miles of roadway, including large sections of Huntington Drive, Sierra Madre Boulevard and San Marino Avenue.
The city replaced 27,455 square feet — about 1.3 miles — of sidewalk at various locations throughout the city.
The department completed trimming and pruning of more than 3,000 city-owned trees and planted 80 new trees to the public right away.
“These activities help improve resident safety, while also enhancing the city’s wonderful urban forest,” Huang said.
Additionally, Public Works staff completed 630 maintenance request applications for jobs such as filling potholes, repairing sidewalks and replacing streetlights.
Public Works staff also successfully negotiated a two-year contract extension with Athens Services.
“Staff is currently working on negotiating a new longer term with Athens Services that will bring the city into compliance with SP 383, regarding the mandatory recycling of organic material,” Huang said.
Huang closed his address by thanking everyone for their attendance and for supporting his public service career over the last eight years.
“Hopefully, you’re happy with the state of our city,” Huang said. “Please show your appreciation to our staff when you see them because they have done wonders for our city.”
First published in the Jan. 25 issue of the San Marino Tribune
