LB State of The City; Possibilities & Challenges

Mayor Robert Garcia presented his first State of The City address last night on January 13, 2015. Although his speech looked to the bright future and exciting changes in store for the City of Long Beach, he also addressed the direct challenges falling oil prices pose to the City.

The City of Long Beach is one of the many cities in the United States that depends heavily on oil tax revenue to help support its operations and capital improvement projects. During last night’s speech, Mayor Garcia stated the oil price decline is an “immediate challenge” to The City.

As reported in City of Long Beach’s “Tidelands Capital Budget and 5-year Capital Plan” report, recent oil prices have forced Long Beach City Council to reevaluate budgets for current and future capital improvement projects. According to the report, the previously estimated $232 million that was going to be used to help complete projects throughout The City has now been reduced to $95 million.

Despite this looming challenge, Mayor Garcia set an optimistic tone for the future of the City with this quote, “President John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy were both fond of saying ‘There are those who look at things the way they are and ask why…I dream of things that never were,’ and ask why not?’”