RPV Mayor: City Has 'Fallen Short'

Frustrated by failing city infrastructure, public resistance to projects and a "culture of mediocrity" in Rancho Palos Verdes, Mayor Tom Long painted a bleak picture of the state of the city during a Thursday address.

"In many respects, Rancho Palos Verdes has fallen short of its potential," Long said on Thursday.

The Palos Verdes Peninsula's four mayors—Long, Steven Zuckerman (Rolling Hills Estates), John Rea (Palos Verdes Estates) and B. Allen Lay (Rolling Hills)—gave updates on major city projects and provided a general overview of where cities stand on The Hill at a "Peninsula Priorities: The State of Our Cities" presentation hosted by the Palos Verdes Peninsula Coordinating Council at the .

Long cited recent success in Rancho Palos Verdes regarding infrastructure repairs, balancing budgets and maintaining general fund reserves, but said he wouldn't only "talk about the good."

Much of the city's infrastructure remains "dilapidated," he said, and city parks are underutilized. Grandview Park is a "field of weeds," he said, and many parks have inadequate parking facilities and restrooms.

He also talked about a on the Peninsula.

"Efforts to place dog parks, skate parks [on the Peninsula] ... are often ... met with uncompromising resistance," he said.

An "irrational" fear of change by residents on The Hill has prevented the city from moving forward, Long said, using the , which would have created a community center with a focus on animals at Lower Point Vicente in Rancho Palos Verdes, as an example. He pointed to residents who spread "inaccurate information" about the project as one of the major hurdles to its success.

"Unless and until our community overcomes an irrational fear of change ... prospects for positive change that will allow our community to improve will remain small," he said. "Positive change is and always will be contentious."

He expressed his disappointment with proposals he said "are tantamount to tuning clock back to when the city was originally founded."

The remaining three mayors followed with updates on their cities. Zuckerman shared news of a $1 million grant for renovation to Rolling Hill's estates community equestrian center, where construction is expected to begin in early- to mid-2012. He also brought up the city's for the Peter Weber Equestrian Center.

Lay said Rolling Hills is in good financial shape, with economic downturns having little impact on the city as it offers no retail services.

The City of Palos Verdes Estates, which as city manager, will not be hiring an assistant city manager and will reduce the number of employees on administrative staff by 1.5 full-time positions, Rea said. He talked about infrastructure repairs, in addition to updates on the city's refuse contract and , with the current Athens Services contract set to expire in June of next year.