Seal Beach mayor says budget is balanced

In Seal Beach in 2009, crime is down, no one has drowned and the budget is balanced, according to Mayor Gordon Shanks.

He made his remarks during a speech at the 2009 State of the City Luncheon on Thursday, Nov. 12 at the Old Ranch Country Club.

The conference room was filled with city, county and Los Alamitos Unified School District officials. as were representatives of the Orange County Fire Authority, the Chamber of Commerce, the Seal Beach Police chief, all five Seal Beach City Council members, the superintendent of the Los  Alamitos Unified School District, the College Park East Neighborhood Association and the current and former Seal Beach city managers.

The luncheon officially began at 11:30 a.m. and ended roughly two hours later. Mayor Shanks’ speech on the condition of the city of Seal Beach probably took no more than 10 minutes.

Shanks said that despite the economy, Seal Beach had kept up all essential services.

Shanks said the 2009-2011 budget was balanced.

Seal Beach operates on a two-year budget cycle, unlike cities with an annual budget.

Shanks said the Department of Development Services applied for and received over $600,000 in grants for the city. One of those grants produced $140,000 to help 55 residents of Leisure World.

About 9,000 people live in the gated retirement community. The population of Seal Beach is more than 24,000. The Leisure World retirement community overlaps two council districts.

Shanks then spoke about the success of the Marine Safety Department. He explained that Marine Safety meant lifeguards.

He said in the past year, the lifeguards had performed 1,037 ocean rescues, 37 boat rescues and treated 452 stingray injuries.

Shanks said there were zero drownings in Seal Beach in the past year.

He then turned to the subject of the Seal Beach Police Department. “Seal Beach crime is down to its lowest point in years,” Shanks said.

The detective bureau had closed more than 78 percent of its cases in the last year, up from 35 percent years ago. Shanks said convictions were also up.

He said police response times had been reduced. The department had issued 20,000 citations and destroyed seven pounds of narcotics.

Continuing with the theme of safety, Shanks spoke about the work of the Orange County Fire Authority in Seal Beach. He said the fire agency had responded to 45 fires in Seal Beach in the past year.

He pointed out that construction had begun on Fire Station 48 on Beverly Manor Road.

Shanks also said work had started on phase two of the Lampson Avenue water project. He pointed out that the Seal Beach Boulevard traffic signals had been synchronized.

After talking about the city’s successes for the past year, Shanks said there was much more work to be done.

He thanked everyone for the opportunity to serve as mayor.

The luncheon was sponsored by the city of Seal Beach in partnership with Boeing, Care Ambulance Service (which has a contract to provide ambulance service to Seal Beach residents), Consolidated Disposal Service and Time Warner Cable.