'Tough Times Don't Last': Mayor Gives State Of The City Address

CALABASAS, CA — "I firmly believe that working together, the best days lie ahead," Mayor Alicia Weintraub told her constituents during Wednesday during the 23rd annual State of the City address.

Weintraub kept an optimistic tone throughout her address, arguing that despite a year of unprecedented hardships, the city is in solid shape and is making positive improvements to its safety, infrastructure, governance, and economy.

She began by discussing the city's efforts to help its residents and businesses survive the economic turmoil of the COVID-19 pandemic. Measures included working with LA County to assist renters receive rental relief from the federal CARES Act, providing up to $10,000 in grants to up to 50 Calabasas-based small businesses, helping provide loans and grants to small businesses, working with landlords to provide eviction freezes for small businesses, and creating Temporary Use Permits so that a variety of businesses can operate outdoors.

Weintraub also discussed efforts to make the city safer during a time of fires and pandemics. She mentioned how the city stepped up enforcement on its mask requirement and ban on gatherings of over 10 people, and obtained PPE for all city staff.

She discussed various efforts to make the help the city prepare for and recover from fires, including standardizing evacuation terminology, being able to send wireless alerts to all residents with cell phones, and enforcing fire-resistant codes for new homes built in town.

Weintraub also praised various city departments, including Communications for helping grow the city's media channels and social media presence and keeping the city up-to-date on the latest coronavirus news; Community Services for spearheading the Calabasas Mask Initiative and numerous virtual recreation activities; and Public Works helping repave sections of Las Virgenes Road, helping replace old traffic lights, planning the Rondell Smart Park Project, undertaking the Mullholland Highway Corridor Study to improve safety, and developing a process to disinfect public spots in the city.

She also praised the Calabasas Library and Las Virgenes Unified School System.

"When I was sworn in just 36 weeks ago, I could never have imagined what 2020 would have in store," Weintraub concluded. "Certainly it has been a difficult, challenging time, but it has also helped me see the best in our community."