Mayor Shares Murrieta's Ongoing Progress in State of City address

“The state of our city is GREAT,” said Murrieta Mayor Randon Lane as he addressed more than 300 community members Friday.

In preparing to give the annual State of the City address, Lane had taken to the streets, video polling residents about their likes, dislikes and concerns about the City of Murrieta.

“The major issues that resonated with me from that video are: the economy, job creation, traffic and the housing market,” Lane said as he delivered his speech from a tent set up outside Loma Linda University Medical Center-Murrieta.

Despite the negative economy, Lane said Murrieta has weathered the storm. In December 2008, Forbes Magazine named Murrieta the No. 1 Post-Subprime Boomtown in America.

“With over 25,000 cities in America, that is very impressive.”

To meet the City Council’s goal of economic development, the Mayor gave examples of how the City has used innovative ways to help new businesses come in. The fast track process is designed to attract and retain major employers, promote job-generating projects and increase private investments, he said. BMW of Murrieta will be opening in the spring, and was the first business to go through the process.

To further trade in Murrieta, Lane said the City is creating an International Business Center at City Hall. It will promote new international opportunities for Murrieta and the region, he said.

“Murrieta is also home to several manufacturers that export their goods all over the world. This is one area we would like to see expanded more.”

He also touched on ongoing and completed infrastructure improvements. The to Ynez will be completed so long as redevelopments funds stay in place, and the Ivy Street bridge over Murrieta Creek is 25 percent complete.

The Meadowlark expansion, which runs behind Loma Linda University Medical Center, is approximately 20 percent finished. The name of the road will be changed to Whitewood, as it will be a continuation of that road between Clinton Keith and Baxter Road, and will help community access to the medical center.

Something else designed to help the community is a traffic management system recently installed at City Hall. It provides an easy way to divert traffic in the case of a natural disaster or a major accident blocking the roadways.

“Although I hope we do not have to utilize the Traffic Management Center since it is for emergency purposes, I compare it to this new hospital...I’m glad that it’s here,” Lane said.

He included Southwest Healthcare System’s CEO, Ken Rivers, in his praise for improved health care in the City and region. The two hospitals under Southwest Healthcare’s umbrella, Rancho Springs Medical Center in Murrieta and Inland Valley Medical Center, were recently given the green light from the state to , which had sat vacant.

“While it’s been a long road for Southwest Healthcare, I congratulate Ken Rivers for the progress he’s made. He came into a difficult situation, and things have consistently gotten better since he arrived.”

The City has also joined with Temecula, creating a twin cities effort to attract desirable employers.

Maryann Edwards, Temecula City councilwoman, said the two cities complement each other well.

“We love being their neighbor,” Edwards said. “One of the reasons we started the twin cities was because we work together so well.”

She said the two cities are in serious discussions about the Jackson/Ynez bridge over Warm Springs, which would create an alternate north-south route between cities.

The Mayor was joined by leaders from several surrounding cities, as well as Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries, R-Lake Elsinore. Murrieta Valley Unified School District Superintendent Stan Scheer attended the address, which started off with a breakfast hosted by the Murrieta Chamber of Commerce.

It wasn’t all business, though. Lane was featured in a Jay Leno type video, at which the audience took humor. Filmed beforehand, the video showed Lane driving in his car to pick up members of the community for the State of the City address. On his way, he stopped to get his car washed and pick up fast food. He even got a "speeding ticket" from the Murrieta Police motor patrol officers--being the Mayor didn’t help in that case.

Lane was joined by his wife, Bridget, and daughter Chelsea, who he thanked for their support. The Lanes moved to Murrieta in 2001. He said in the first six months they lived in Murrieta, he got three flat tires due to unfinished streets in and around his subdivision.

“I would venture to say that most officials in local government have a similar tale of how they became involved...and it is also how extraordinary events, such as the economic recession, are overcome when we join in partnership to eliminate a problem.”