Mayor's Minutes Looks at Economic Development

This week the Mayor's Minute looks at Economic Development and a new addition to our City.

For months Carlo Tomaino (Head of our Economic Development Department) and I have been working behind the scenes to bring a major retailer to fill the 80,000 square feet vacancy at Towne Centre. The company is At Home with headquarters in Texas and 150 locations across 33 states. This is their first foray into our State and we are more than pleased that they chose Lake Forest.

At Home is a big box retail chain furniture superstore specializing in home décor products, with more than 50,000 unique items. In addition to their retail operation they have an extensive online presence too – click here.

At Home will bring great products to our residents, jobs for dozens of people, and sales tax revenue for the City. We're honored to have them join our family.

To view this week's Mayor's Minute, Click Here

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. Invite us to your next event.
• 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 Facebook and 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).