Staff Reports

Eastvale – As we look back on the year 2020, despite the pandemic and all that has happened in the world, Eastvale still managed to thrive throughout the year. New businesses were still scheduled to open, construction continued, and the City obtained various awards over the year. In addition, Christmas was not cancelled in Eastvale, as there were virtual and socially distanced events that took place this holiday season. There were also some really great decorated houses for community members to view. In addition, the community came together to donate masks and essential items, to find lost pets, and to display various acts of kindness throughout the city. 

Bryan Jones, Eastvale City Manager, recently issued a news release highlighting all the wonderful things that happened in Eastvale.

“City staff really showcased their grit and solutions driven approach with their adaptability to better serve the communities in new ways with all the new technologies that were implemented through this pandemic. We now have an electronic check-in system at our front counter along with many other services that can now be provided virtually, and we are now live-streaming our City Council and Commission meetings.

However the real MVPs this year were you, the Eastvale community! You made Eastvale the priority by shopping and dining local and taking care of your neighbors. This helped keep us in a strong financial and connected position for the coming year, and for that, we and our local businesses thank you! Love Eastvale! Shop Eastvale!

During these challenging times, we saw true leaders display acts of kindness and lend a helping hand to those in need. We saw the Eastvale Crime Watch page get repurposed into a generosity page for donating essential household items. We saw the Just Move Campaign with Move Through Motivation bring people together to move and create a healthier more connected community. We partnered with the Eastvale Chamber of Commerce on the COVID-19 Restaurant Relief Fund and 2020 High School Graduate gift cards to local restaurants, which injected tens of thousands of dollars into our local economy, along with the Veterans Day Yard Sign Campaign to recognize our hometown heroes.

We also saw civil unrest in the country back in June, yet in Eastvale we had peaceful protests that we turned into conversations within the community resulting in a community leader driven Inclusionary Task Force with individuals representing our diverse community, including City Hall, Schools, Churches, and Law Enforcement. It’s critically important that we have the necessary conversations and take the appropriate actions to allow everyone’s voice to be heard, everyone’s face to be seen, and everyone to feel welcome and safe in our commUNITY.”

Jones also discussed the accomplishments and awards the City were given. “It was great to see Eastvale add to our award-winning organization this past year. Among these recognitions were:

– The Arts Innovation Award, from the Inland Empire Economic Partnership, for our City mural, “Eastvale: We Built this City”, created by Rosemary Vasquez-Tuthill and on display at City Hall.

– Three different Polaris communications/community engagement awards from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) for our “Did You Know Video Series”, “We are the City of Eastvale Video” and the “Elysia Matthews & Deputy Myers Story”.

– The Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association for the 2nd year in a row.

– The Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial reporting from GFOA for the 9th year in a row.

– Recognized as the 2nd least financially at-risk City in the State by the independent California State Auditor.”

Jones congratulated the new City Councilmembers and he discussed the many things to come in 2021. “We have many things to look forward to in 2021. We are about to launch our 2nd Community Satisfaction Survey in conjunction with our updated Strategic Plan. This helps us ensure that our priorities for the future, match the priorities of the community. Please keep a look out for the survey launch in early January and share your voice!

In addition, if you haven’t signed-up for Engage Eastvale yet, now would be a great time to do so and engage in the Eastvale 2040 community engagement and planning process.

We also celebrated several economic development wins this past year with multiple signed leases from new businesses and groundbreakings. There are several exciting new dining options opening in the coming months with JINYA Ramen Bar coming to the Cloverdale Market Place, Chick-fil-A coming to The Station, and Fire Wings coming to the Eastvale Gateway Shopping Center. This doesn’t include the many other shopping and dining options that are coming to Hamner Place and The Merge! We are excited to see our first hotel, Staybridge Suites, start to go vertical in 2021. It will be a 4.5 star hotel with a rooftop bar/restaurant, conference/event center and pool cabanas. Don’t forget to connect with us on social media to hear about other new and exciting businesses that are coming to Eastvale.

We are also hoping that the Leal Ranch will close with a master developer so that we can begin creating our Destination Downtown, the heartbeat of the community along with a Public Library, City Hall, 3rd Fire Station and Police Sub-Station.

We also have some key infrastructure wins we are excited to work with the community to design and implement, including an $8 million grant for trails along both Scholar Way and Harrison Way to enhance walkability, and nearly $9.5 million in state funding for the Limonite Extension across the Cucamonga Creek West of Archibald Avenue, better connecting us to the City of Chino. Speaking of connecting and expanding, the Hamner Bridge across the Santa Ana River will begin the widening construction process to 6 lanes in early 2021 to better connect us to the City of Norco!”