San Clemente Is Safe, Prospering, Mayor Says in Annual Address

From the divisive to the possible tsunami and questions about the safety of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, the city of San Clemente has had to tackle many tough issues in the last year.

However, despite the challenges, Mayor said that  "2011 is the year of living thankfully" during her annual state of the city address at the in San Clemente.

In addressing residents' worries about whether San Clemente could suffer a nuclear tragedy similar to the one in Japan, Donchak said she wanted to "to reassure everyone that we are very, very safe, very, very well prepared."

Donchak went on to outline her safety plan, which included lessons learned from the tragedy in Japan as well as from her conversations with city leadership councils in Orange County. The mayor also sent a letter to the Blue Ribbon Commission asking for help in finding better ways to handle nuclear waste, and updating evacuation procedures in the city's General Plan.

The mayor was buoyed by the economic growth the city has experienced.  In a lighter moment, she handed out an autographed city financial plan to the lucky member of the audience who correctly identified where the majority of the city's revenue comes from.  The answer, of course, was property taxes.  

The city received $47.5 million in revenue this year and has outlined a budget for the coming year of $47 million, which will ensure that San Clemente will be in a positive fiscal position. Donchak said the highest sales tax revenue generated in the city last year came from Wal-Mart.

In other announcements, Donchak said:

• The La Pata/Vista Hermosa Park will open this year with nine lighted fields, a 50-meter competition swimming pool, a 25-yard teaching pool and a 9,000-square-foot bath house with concessions.  

• The $5.8-million Vista Hermosa off-ramp project no longer includes a movie theatre. The footprint of the project has since decreased by 10%.

• Courtney's Sandcastle Universal Playground is close to completion. The playground will cater to the needs of children with disabilities and seniors.

Other major projects going forward include the completion of the T-Street overpass, which will feature Spanish tiling, the expansion of the library and changes at the train crossings. The crossings will now have better fences, automatic gates, flashing lights and automatic warning devices that are quieter than the train horns.

Donchak directed residents to the city website for information about what's going on in San Clemente and to the beach cam for surf reports, because, she said, "surfing is what we are all about."