State of City in Relief
Oct 26, 2022 12:00AM ● By Story and photo by Patrick Larenas
Citrus Heights City Manager Ash Feeney (left) and City Mayor Porsche Middleton gave their civic and economic reviews at the State of the City Address on Thursday, October 20, 2022.
CITRUS HEIGHTS, CA (MPG) – The City of Citrus Heights hosted its annual State of the City Address on Thursday, October 20, 2022, in a special celebratory evening highlighting the City’s 25th year anniversary since incorporation in 1997 with featured speakers City Mayor Porsche Middleton and City Manager Ash Feeney.
“Tonight, we honor our history, and the hard-won foundation on which we stand in this moment that was laid for us by residents who had a dream for Citrus Heights to steward its own future,” said Mayor Middleton to a group of approximately 80 community members and leaders gathered at Citrus Heights Community Center.
The young mayor was relieved that post-pandemic hurdles were winding down this year, and the community was getting back into a more optimistic “best is yet to come” vibe.
This included Sunday Funday on Sept. 25 which she said, “came back with a bang just in time to celebrate our 25th Anniversary.” She reported over 4,000 attending at what has become the City’s annual signature event.
Throughout the evening, Middleton spotlighted the recent book release ‘Becoming Citrus Heights’ by Miranda Culp and Bill Van Duker, which chronicled the City’s struggle towards self-determination, to learn more about Citrus Heights history.
During her month-by-month look at the past year, Mayor Middleton focused on key accomplishments for 2022 including: City Hall’s efforts during the pandemic to streamline online services and permits while maintaining high levels of satisfaction from residents and businesses; Introducing the SeeClickFix app which “allows residents and businesses to request service for issues… around town like potholes, graffiti, and streetlight repair,” and Councilmember Jeannie Bruins holding the first-ever Prospective Council Candidate Workshop, giving “community members an in-depth look at what it means to be a Councilmember while also providing a high-level overview of the City as an organization.”
Mayor Middleton also celebrated the emerging trail system which is dramatically transforming the aesthetic feel of Citrus Heights as it connects parks, schools, shopping centers and neighborhoods and is imparting on respective vicinities “highly desirable amenities… already being marketed in real estate listings for nearby homes.”
Newly appointed Citrus Heights City Manager Ash Feeney was the second official speaking at this year’s State of the City Address.
As a new face to the Citrus Heights political scene, Feeney said he spent his first 100 days in approximately 80 meetings attempting to distill the distinct community priorities and areas which needed the most attention.
Together with City staff efforts at surveying residents, 4 main areas to focus on emerged as the strategic objectives to be held until 2024: Infrastructure, Economic Development, Community Connection and Community Image.
The manager devoted a considerable amount of attention as to “what’s on the horizon” for Citrus Heights in the economic-development and community-image dimensions.
Feeney said the one-time ARPA funds were a boon to the City’s fiscal recovery because people chose to use their newly gained purchasing power locally, contributing to “revenues being higher than projected during that period.”
Another immense aid to the long-term stabilization of fiscal matters, Feeney said, “[was] paying off the line of credit, thereby saving on interest payments, and returning to a debt-free status.”
The new city manager noted that the budget will be short approximately $12 million annually to keep up with infrastructure maintenance, largely due to a “long history of deferred maintenance,” which was a large part of the original impetus for Citrus Heights to incorporate.
Feeney said, “As part of the 10-year forecast, we are prioritizing infrastructure with the dollars we have modeling a dedication of general fund dollars to infrastructure maintenance starting with $2,000,000 in FY2023 and growing to $4,000,000 in FY2024 and beyond. This dedication of additional dollars will help in making major road repairs and significantly augment our current resurfacing budget.”
While Feeney acknowledged the steep challenge the City faces in the aforementioned economic infrastructure front, he did, nevertheless, bring good news to the task at hand.
He said, “One last comment on the budget, while the future of the economy is always uncertain, one thing that is certain, is that after 25 years, Citrus Heights will finally be receiving property tax revenues that previously went to the County.”
To this bright light at the end of the tunnel, the audience was compelled to give a much-awaited applause of relief for the City’s economic future.
Feeney reported that Citrus Heights residents who participated in a community beautification survey expressed a desire to have homeless camps cleaned up, address illegal dumps, and remove litter from rights-of-way and open spaces.
The manager said the City is working with government agencies to share the responsibility of this task and reported that the I-80 on-ramp on Antelope Road showed a tremendous improvement in this area.
City leaders have agreed to step up the effort in dealing with homelessness in a balanced approach, said Feeney, and will be insisting that accountability and consequences will follow for those who chronically violate “local codes and ordinances” infringing on the rights of the community.