Staff Reports

Eastvale – The 20th Annual Eastvale State of the City was held on Oct. 7 at VantagePoint Church, located at 8500 Archibald Avenue in Eastvale. This year’s theme was “Elevate Eastvale: Soaring to New Heights”.

The event started with performances from Brittany McMain’s Vocal studio, and Eleanor Roosevelt’s High School Jazz and Vocal Ensemble. Then hosts Hari Dhiman and Leonard Mercado of the Eastvale Chamber of Commerce introduced themselves, followed by Pastor Mark Lee of VantagePoint Church leading the invocation.

The Presentation of Colors was led by Girl Scout Troop 1160 and Supervisor Karen Spiegel led the Pledge of Allegiance. The National Anthem was sang beautifully by Eleanor Roosevelt High School senior, Layla Lopez. Following these patriotic tributes, was a recap video of the 9/11 Never Forget monument that was unveiled at the 20th Anniversary of 9/11. In addition, pictures were shown of the community honoring fallen hero, Lance Corporal, Kareem Nikoui.

Also honored were Ike Bootsma, Mayor and City Councilmember, and Richard “Ric” Welch, City Councilmember who past away this year. In addition, a recap video showed how much the community enjoyed the monthly Food Truck Festivals that started this year.

The hosts thanked the many that came to the event and those that sponsored it, including the Presenting Partnership, Gold Partnership, Silver Partnership, Bronze Partnership, and Community Level. The hosts also thanked VantagePoint Church for hosting the event.

Mayor Jocelyn Yow and the City Council announced the Commuity Honoree Award, along with awards based on the City’s values of grit, kindness, and being solution driven. Congratulations to Thomas Rife given an Award for Grit, Amber Norwood given an Award for Kindness, Navjot Kaur given an Award for being Solutions Driven, and James Chiang given the CommUNITY Honoree Award.

Mayor Yow celebrated accomplishments and shared goals for the future during the Mayor’s Address. She first thanked the Eastvale Chamber of Commerce, City Council, Planning Commission, Public Safety Commission, City Manager, and City of Eastvale team for their hard work in the City. The Mayor also thanked the residents and businesses, saying they are the “heartbeat of the City”.

“We champion experiences that engage, excite, and elevate the community, with an emphasis on the word ‘unity’ and ‘community’,” said Mayor Yow. She said we are united with kindness, grit, and being solutions driven.

Mayor Yow shared that the City is right in the middle of the Eastvale 2040 plan, which is the general plan amendment. This plan will help shape the future of the City for decades to come. Mayor Yow mentioned that in the past year, the City has made significant strides in economic development, including establishments at Hammer Place, the Merge and The Station to name a few.

Mayor Yow said that with a healthy budget, the City was able to allocate $14.5 million for the Eastvale City Hall and Library. The City has also committed to allocating $8 million for the City’s own Police substation. In addition, at last month’s CAL City’s Conference, the City built a “strong collation with other cities to oppose a resolution meant to reallocate sales tax revenue from online retailers,” according to Mayor Yow. This means “millions of dollars will come to our City.”

Public Safety continues to be a top priority for the City and Eastvale was recently named the 29th Safest City in the state. In April 2021, the Eastvale City Council budgeted for two deputies to combat the illegal grow houses in the City and to provide additional services to residents.

Mayor Yow said the City received several awards from multiple regional and statewide organizations in this past year. Despite being in a pandemic, the City was also identified as the 2nd least financially at risk city in the entire state. She also talked about how the City is diverse, and how the residents have done so much in the community in the last year.

She challenged the audience to continue to give back to the community and she told the youth they are the future of the City. She ended with having the audience stand and said: “you are what makes Eastvale Elevate so let’s continue to work together to elevate Eastvale every day.”

A video was played that talked about the City, sharing new businesses and a look at the first hotel coming to Eastvale. The City Council shared in the video the great things happening in Eastvale, including new events, our great Police Department, new establishments, a future downtown, and more. Here is the link to watch the full video: https://youtu.be/2dW8zrTV1jw

Towards the end of the event, the host Hari Dhiman thanked the Eastvale Chamber of Commerce for hosting the event and presented a check to VantagePoint Church for $1,500 towards their Living Proof Project. Afterwards, City Manager Bryan Jones, announced the start of a giving campaign by Randall and Janell Lewis from Lewis Group of Companies, with their 2.5 million dollar donation to help fund our future City Library.

After the event ended, the community gathered for the Taste of Eastvale event with several local businesses sharing samples of their food.