CITY OF MORENO VALLEY: Mayor Gutierrez Looks Back on a Year of Many Accomplishments

By Press release submission

Dec 27, 2020

City of Moreno Valley issued the following announcement on Dec. 23.

As difficult as 2020 has been, the City of Moreno Valley has chalked up some impressive accomplishments. City government has remained operational throughout the pandemic, even as access by residents to City facilities has been restricted due to health concerns.

"By making modifications to some of the ways we usually do business, we have been able to provide all the critical day-to-day City services our residents need and expect, while still completing some major long-term projects and responding to the pandemic," explained Dr. Yxstian Gutierrez, Mayor of Moreno Valley. "The City Council and I are proud of what we have accomplished."

Following is a partial list of notable City accomplishments in 2020.

COVID-19 RESPONSE

The MoVal Meals, Senior Eats and Family Service Association (FSA) frozen-food nutrition distribution programs have served hundreds of residents a total of more than 111,000 meals and supplemental-nutrition packages so far this year.
The City has distributed more than 187,000 free masks to Moreno Valley residents as part of its “We've Got You Covered” initiative.
The Media & Communications Division created a Coronavirus Resources webpage linking residents with trusted virus information and local resources that has been visited more than 14,000 times; and has produced more than 60 coronavirus-related video PSAs.
The Division also began issuing news releases in both English and Spanish to the City’s email list of 22,000 community subscribers and news media and has issued more than 150 news releases since the pandemic started.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

The Building Division has issued almost 3,200 building permits year to date, conducted more than 14,200 Building & Safety construction inspections, and responded to close to 16,300 customers.
Though the Animal Shelter has been available by appointment only since March, it still logged more than 9,000 visits through the first 11 months of the year, made more than 7,500 field service calls, and celebrated close to 2,000 positive outcomes for pets.

COMMUNITY ENHANCEMENT

Code & Neighborhood Services has so far conducted almost 12,000 code inspections, and responded to questions from 11,000 customers.
The City's Homeless to Work partnership with The Salvation Army continued with greater funding to help people get off the street and back into housing and work.
The newly created Community Enhancement Team will help support efforts to address homelessness, illegal dumping and code enforcement.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

The Employment Resource Center (ERC) has remained open through the pandemic to help residents access both individual and business financial support services and help displaced workers find new jobs. Through November, ERC staff have helped more than 10,300 customers, and hosted almost 250 training and small-business workshops.
Although the pandemic has made commerce difficult at best for most of MoVal’s 4,500 businesses, more companies continue to locate here. Notable new additions this year are The Residence Inn at The Quarter, Country Kitchen, Tractor Supply Company and the soon-to-be-completed Car Pros/KIA.
The City approved a 1.25 million square foot master plan expansion for Kaiser Permanente Moreno Valley Medical Center, and celebrated the groundbreaking for Phase I of the hospital's 20-year expansion, which will create hundreds of new jobs.

FIRE DEPARTMENT (MVFD)

While Moreno Valley Fire has responded to almost 19,000 calls for service in 2020 through November, more than 15,600 of those calls were for emergency medical situations. In addition to saving lives, firefighters have defended residents’ property by battling close to 600 fires.

POLICE DEPARTMENT (MVPD)

This year, the City created a new Fireworks Task Force comprised of Police, Fire, and Code & Neighborhood Services, and MVPD has made illegal fireworks the top non-emergency enforcement priority leading up to New Year’s Eve. In all, from January through November, officers responded to more than 133,400 calls for service.
Even with COVID-19, both public-safety departments were active in various community giving campaigns.

PUBLIC WORKS

Maintenance & Operations road crews have repaired more than 5,700 potholes so far this year, averaging about 520 per month.
Graffiti abatement crews responded quickly to more than 11,300 locations, an average of just over 1,000 graffiti cleanups per month.
The Transportation Division has improved MoVal’s roads by striping nearly 300 miles of centerline roadway through the month of November, maintaining close to 3,900 traffic signs, and sweeping more than 16,400 curb miles.

FINANCIAL & MANAGEMENT SERVICES

The Mayor and City Council dedicated the newest City library, the Iris Plaza Branch. So far this year, the three library branches have welcomed close to 90,200 patrons.
The new Computer Learning & Internet Connectivity or “CLiC” initiative to expand computer and internet access to more residents includes 18 public internet hotspots at City facilities. The Mayor and City Council authorized the purchase of 100 more mobile hotspots for library check-out, for a total of 150. The City is partnering with Moreno Valley Unified School District (MVUSD) by offering City parks as locations for MVUSD’s WiFi Buses to park and provide free internet to students in lower-income neighborhoods. And the CLiC web portal has been visited more than 5,000 times since it launched in October.
The City sought and received almost $8.5 million to provide community services, including an 80-unit affordable housing project under construction at Cottonwood and Indian.

PARKS & COMMUNITY SERVICES

Adapting many of its services to the realities of the pandemic, Parks has conducted more than 3,500 virtual community class sessions so far this year, and served more than 29,000 students in the ASES after-school program.
The Mayor and City Council dedicated the new Civic Center Amphitheater & Park.
They also broke ground on Santiago Park, Moreno Valley’s 33rd.

AWARDS

City Manager’s Office – Media & Communications Division

NATOA Award – Overall Excellence in Government Television Programming
4 Star Awards – Best: PSA, City Services Video, Animal Rescue Show & Sound Design
CAPIO Award – Excellence in Public Information & Communications (video production)

Economic Development Department