Cerritos Hosts Tour of City for News Media

By Jerry Bernstein

Editor’s Note: In light of what is occurring throughout the State in local government operations, the City of Cerritos invited 24 newspaper and television reporters to a two-hour tour of the city that allowed them to have an in-depth look and understanding of the vast services the city offers to its residents, workforce and businesses. Guided by city staff, the reporters visited the city's the Sheriff Station, Public Library, Performing Arts Center, and Senior Center,
Cerritos is 8.9 square miles with an assessed valuation of more than $7 billion, a population of 51,488, 14,618 single single-family homes and 1,367 apartment units.
On Dec. 1 24 news people met in the City Council chambers for a media tour of the city. Councilmember Carol Chen, who hosted the event, said, “The purpose of the tour was to acquaint the media with Cerritos and show them and hopefully their readers and viewers who we are and what we have here.”
In 1956 Cerritos incorporated as the City of Dairy Valley. “There were more cows than people,” Chen quipped. “However, through proper planning over the years since its incorporation and the adoption of Master Plan, Cerritos has grown into a city where you want to live. “Both the business community and residents agree,” she added.
Chen said many people look at Cerritos as being a wealthy city with a large budget. They often asked why there are so many city employees? The city has 210 full-time employees and 430 part-time employees. Her reply is, “One just has to look at what the city offers its residents and business community to find the answer.” The city has 25 parks, three community centers, a senior center and a state-of-the-art golf course, Ironwood Nine, which serves 137,500 golfers annually. It also has a world-renowned library and performing arts center. In addition more than 3,200 businesses are located in Cerritos with 35,858 employees.
City’s Location
City Manager Art Gallucci, pointed out the city is directly served by the San Gabriel Freeway [605], The Riverside Freeway [91], and the Santa Ann Freeway [5]. He said unlike most cities, Cerritos does not have a local property tax, utility tax and library tax. Source of the city’s revenue comes from the Cerritos Auto Square, the Los Cerritos Center, and the Cerritos Towne Center in the form of sales tax revenue. Cerritos earns one cent for every dollar earned by its retailers. It also owns the land the Towne Center, Cerritos Center and the Auto Square is located on and receives rent from the developers. He said the Towne Center generates $168.7 million in annual sales. The Cerritos Auto Square total in 2009 was estimated at $600 million. The Los Cerritos Center total sales were $262 million estimated for fiscal year 2009-10. The city’s sales tax revenue projected for 2010-11 is $19.8 million.
Referring to the auto square, he said three new auto dealers recently opened dealerships in there: Kia of Cerritos, Penske Chevrolet, and McKenna Volkswagen. In addition the city has an Industrial Park with approximately 12 million sq. ft. of space and employs 10,369 people. He noted the city ranks number 56 out of 537 cities in total sales tax collected.
From the council chamber the group moved to the Cerritos Library where Councilwoman Chen took them on a tour of the facility . She said the library has 1.1 million visitors a year and is available, free of charge to Cerritos residents and students enrolled in the ABC Unified School District, Cerritos Community College as well as employees who work in the city.
From there the group proceeded to the Cerritos Senior Center at Pat Nixon Park, where it was pointed out the site is where Patricia Nixon, wife of President Richard Nixon lived while attending school as a girl. The Center has more than 500 senior visitors every day and 125,000 annually .It affords them group activity, lunches, and an exercise room with the latest equipment. Groups can rent space at the Center for private parties when it is not in use by the seniors.
The next stop on the media tour was the sheriff station. It was explained the city owns the station, having built it and recently expanded it. All the equipment in it is also owned by the city. However, it is manned by the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department who Cerritos has contracted with for its law enforcement.
The last stop on the tour was the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts. This state-of-the art center is home to many of the nation’s top performers, including the late Frank Sinatra who inaugurated the center on its opening night. Cerritos.