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January 2020
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Paramount Chamber of Commerce (paramountchamber.com) • Serving the community since 1947
Polling results show residents are happy with City services; Measure Y looks to maintain service levels into the future
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hank you, Paramount, for taking the time to share your opinions in a recent survey conducted both online and through a mailing. This was a follow-up to telephone polling that found that 66% of residents believe that the City of Paramount provides a better quality of life than neighboring cities because of its commitment to: • Public safety • Well-maintained streets and roads • Safe, clean parks and public areas • A vibrant local business climate • Services that enhance quality of life for residents
The chart below shows percentages recorded on eight survey topics in terms of high/medium/low priority. As the City focuses on safety and quality of life, such comments and feedback have been valuable in evaluating priorities, especially when facing the economic challenges of recent years. Those challenges include the State of California eliminating redevelopment agencies, which took $6 million a year from the City’s budget. While this revenue has been lost, costs have continually risen related to the Sheriff ’s Department contract and other essential City services.
To counter these expenses and to keep costs low to taxpayers, the City has taken many actions, including responsible labor expenditure reductions, organizational restructuring, and forming partnerships with service providers like Long Beach Transit and the YMCA. There exists a need, however, to secure a more long-term revenue enhancement to avoid million-dollar budget deficits in the coming years. This will allow the City to continue with its top objectives of maintaining quality of life and public safety for all residents while remaining committed to longterm, responsible financial stability.
taken a portion of the sales tax for their own use in the past.) If these proposals were to pass, and the sales tax hit 10.25% (which is the highest it can go in Los Angeles County), Paramount would not be able to gain that three-quarter-percent in revenue. That income would be lost for City services. If Measure Y passes, none of this money could be taken away by the State, the County, transit authorities, or any other entity—and the entire .75% would stay in Paramount. Neighboring cities—including Santa Fe Springs, Compton, Long Beach, Lynwood, Pico Rivera, South Gate,
If approved by Paramount voters, 100% of the funds raised by Measure Y will stay in town, insuring local control. For this reason, the Paramount City Council voted to place Measure Y, a three-quarter-cent sales tax increase, on the March 2020 ballot for Paramount voters to consider. If approved by Paramount voters, 100% of the funds raised by Measure Y will stay in town, insuring local control. There are other agencies—Los Angeles County, Metro Transit, South Coast Air Quality Management District —that may be looking at their own sales tax measures in the near future. (The County and Metro have actually
and Downey—have already passed a similar increase. The cities of Cerritos, Lakewood, and Norwalk have all approved a comparable ballot measure for the March 2020 election (see “Sales tax measure” chart on page 8). Continued community input is critical to the planning process. For more information, to provide feedback, or to take the online survey, please visit: paramountcity. com/PublicServicesMeasure or (para Español) paramountcity.com/ ProyectodeLeydeServiciosPublicos.
Chamber Cares! Members show great generosity to community during holidays
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n our December issue (page 14), we told you about the collaboration between Chamber members RCee’s Barbershop and Journey of Love and Hope to give back to the community at Thanksgiving. During the Christmas holiday period, Journey of Love and Hope also collaborated with Kimberly’s Dance Studio (above, left) to give away free toys that were collected from employees of Total Western and at the recent Chamber Holiday Mixer (see page 14). New Commandment Baptist Church (above, center) held a toy giveaway for families in need and also provided free food and drawings for free bicycles, turkeys, tablets and Christmas trees. Paramount American Legion Post 134 (above, right) provided gift cards from WalMart and Northgate Gonzalez Market to two Paramount families. Many thanks to all those who contributed!
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From the Mayor’s Desk.................................................................3
Ribbon-cutting Ceremonies................................................10
Public Safety.......................................................................................4
Chamber Networking Breakfast Jan. 28.........................11
Paramount Chamber of Commerce PEP Talk...............................................................................................4 City Council News...........................................................................5 15357 Paramount Boulevard Employment Opportunities.........................................................5 Paramount, California 90723 Membership Renewals & Calendar of Events.....................6 Telephone: 562-634-3980 Local Dining Discount Coupons................................................7 Member-to-Member Discounts.................................................7 paramountchamber.com
Business Corner.......................................................................12 Potluck With the Sheriffs.....................................................12 Business Card Directory........................................................13 Holiday Mixer photos.............................................................14 CityScape: Clutter-free Paramount.................................15 State of the City Luncheon...................................................16