Mayor's Minute Looks at Economic Development

The Mayor's Minute this week focuses on the city's Economic Development Department. Previously we discussed the Business Council and we also looked at the State of the City

Click here to view the latest video

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Economic Development is vital to our City. It provide jobs, programs and services, and sales tax revenue - our single biggest source of revenue. In the past few months, our Economic Development efforts have expanded greatly to include -

• Creating the Mayor's Business Council.
• Creating the South OC Entrepreneur's Academy
• Aggressively seeking new tenants for our shopping centers (more about that in the near future)
• Doubling the number of ribbon cuttings (compared to last year)
• Initiating a General Plan revision focused on business development
• Creating a General Plan Advisory Committee
• Creating the Traffic and Planning Commission
• Creating a Business Action Plan

For more information about our programs, Click Here

SHOP AND DINE MONTH

We used to have Shop and Dine Week and it just wasn't enough. So I asked the staff to increase it to a month-long celebration and that's what we're doing this year. Shop and Dine Month will be September. Click Herefor more info.

ABOUT THE MAYOR'S MINUTE
The Mayor's Minute is just one of the innovations we've introduced this year to keep you informed and involved. Here are some others -

• You can now watch the City Council (and other important meetings) live on Facebook and you can comment and ask questions.
• We have a Pop-Up City Hall that shows up at community events and lets you stay in touch with city staff and elected officials.
• Our mobile app "Shop and Dine Lake Forest" continues to be updated and soon we'll have an "iCity" mobile app that will allow you to communicate your concerns directly from your phone.
• We started a series of Mayor's Councils that gather together stakeholders (e.g., HOAs, business owners) with city staff and elected officials so that we can problem solve together.

No City does more to inform and involve our residents, and we will continue to improve.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Jim Gardner is on the City Council for Lake Forest where he serves as Mayor. You can check him out on LinkedIn and/or Facebookand you can share your thoughts about the City at Lake Forest Town Square on Facebook. His comments are not meant to reflect official City Policy.

Dr. Gardner has office hours every Tuesday from 4 pm to 6 pm at the City Hall. In addition, he holds a town hall meeting every quarter. The next meeting will be Oct 18 at 7 pm at the Lake 1 Clubhouse (Ridge Route).