Dear San Gabriel,

I hope you had a great Fourth of July holiday as we celebrate our nation’s independence. This was my first Independence Day celebration in San Gabriel and I was fortunate enough to ride through our parade in a yellow Ford Mustang. It was great seeing our community gathered for a moment of fun and reflection.

Now, here’s the City Manager’s update for the month of June:

City Clerk

• Earlier this month, the City Clerk’s department held a dinner honoring our Commissioners at the San Gabriel Country Club. As you might know, our Commissioners are appointed by the City Council, and serve as volunteers who offer their experience and expertise in a variety of fields. In San Gabriel, we have five commissions who advise our City Council, including the Civil Service Commission, the Design Review Commission, the Community Services Commission, the Planning Commission and the Historic Preservation and Cultural Resource Commission. In addition, we also had members from the Successor Agency Oversight Board attend our dinner. To all our Commissioners and Board members: thank you for your service and for making San Gabriel a great place to live, work and play.

Community Development 

• This month, our team at Economic Development (with the help of our IT personnel) installed a new kiosk at City Hall. This kiosk is a helpful way for our residents and customers to browse through our City websites and access City services, including the ability to make a public records request, utilize our e-Trakit system or access our publications. We encourage you to make a visit to City Hall to explore the kiosk at your latest convenience.
• With the help of the San Gabriel Chamber of Commerce, the City participated in two ribbon cutting ceremonies this month to welcome three new businesses: Nomad Ice Pops, Jones Bicycles II and Starbucks. It’s always a pleasure to welcome new businesses to our community, and I hope you’ll visit these exciting new additions to our City.
• This month, we said goodbye to Senior Planner Darby Whipple. A resident of South Pasadena, Darby has taken a position with the City of South Pasadena, which is now closer to his home. We thank Darby for his service, and we wish him nothing but the best in his new position.

Community Services 

• On June 4, the Community Services Commission reviewed the final draft of the Parks and Open Space Master Plan. The plan gathered input from residents and stakeholders on San Gabriel’s parks and recreation facilities, services and programs that will help guide future services and developments. You can read more about the plan here.
• Fans of La Laguna de San Gabriel: good news! Our staff at Community Services has secured a grant from Supervisor Barger’s office to help repair Sandy the Sea Serpent. With the help of Friends of La Laguna, this funding will help fill the gap to repair Sandy.