The State of the Community was held at the Fullerton Public Library Auditorium on April 8 during the Collaborative meeting. Mayor Nicholas Dunlap gave an abbreviated presentation of his speech on the State of the City that will also be presented at the Hunt Library soon.

Around the City

District 1:

“Mayor Pro Tem Fred Jung has established a new economic relationship with Seomyeon City, Korea. You might have seen the Seomyeon business center on North Harbor Blvd. Seomyeon City is like the Silicon Valley of Korea, so there’s a big emphasis on biotech, health, and other technology.
“The Korean government has invested millions of dollars in the building and facilitating a trade program with the city. These groups are coming here to debut and offer products for sale. Still, the idea is that once they become established, they’ll set up permanent offices and headquarters here in Fullerton, leading to additional tax revenue and jobs. From an economic development perspective, we are trying to be proactive as a city.
“Some improvements are planned in that district. On the public side, we’re working on Emory Park, where we just held our Arbor Day program last weekend. Also, the Sunrise Village project approved the year before will soon be under construction.”

District 3:

“Councilmember Dr. Shana Charles actively supports recent initiatives like parks, trails, and bicycle connectivity, particularly around Cal State Fullerton.
“Some of the improvements that are underway include the repaving of Associated Road and the approval of assorted cyclist protections in that area. There have also been some bathroom and Community Center repairs in Chapman Park, which I know Eastside Little League greatly appreciates. Then, there’s also the HUB development project, [a 420-unit student-oriented housing development with 12,438 square feet of neighborhood-supporting commercial] at Chapman and Commonwealth.”
District 5:
“Councilmember Dr. Ahmad Zahra has advocated for the arts and raised money to restore historic murals on Lemon. He has given a voice to members of our community who have not spoken up about the issues they are facing, and we now hear them loud and clear at the city council.
“Some key improvements are the Walk-on-Wilshire promenade, new facilities and programming at Union Pacific Park, and the approval and acceptance of the State Grant to create the Union Pacific Trail. There are also some plans underway to improve Independence Park.”

District 4:

“Councilmember Bruce Whitaker has 14 years of experience serving the city of Fullerton. Over the years, he has advocated for taxpayers on the council on city matters and served on several boards.”

“We have overlooked Fullerton Greats, such as sports figures and other celebrities, for too long. Please contact me if there is someone you think should be recognized,” said Mayor Dunlap.

Park Improvements

“Lions Field, one of our most utilized parks, will install new artificial turf for the first time in 20 years.* Anyone who has been in that field recently knows this upgrade is needed. It is appreciated by Fullerton Hills Softball, which has over 450 girls that use the field.*
“We recently renovated Acacia Park, which was interesting because we got good feedback from neighbors and the community. It was a collaborative process with the city; everyone worked together to get park equipment that everyone was excited about.
“The other one coincides with the hottest growing sport in the United States: pickleball. We have courts planned for Union Pacific Park and the driving range on Harbor Blvd. We are currently working through the core of Army engineers because they will be installing a number of different courts there. They are now under construction and working on the parking lot. It will be done by mid-2026.”

Innovative Government

“The City of Fullerton now offers 92% of all permits you will need to open a business, build or develop property, add an ADU, and more are available online. I have challenged the city to get 100% of those permits online by the end of the year. This is more than Anaheim and Irvine offer. That helps us cut through the red tape and speed things up when opening a business or developing its properties.
“This council has worked to allocate more money to roads and streets over the last three years than any previous council in the past two decades, in part due to savings in the budget cycles, federal funding, and grant funding. There is still much work to do, but it is a priority. The metric is that the prior measures were about 2.2 miles of repairs per year, and we are at 5.5 to 6 miles at this point.
“The city recently completed a study with a company called Noresco that prepares an energy analysis across a number of buildings, systems, and structures and then presents ways the city can save money by recommending energy-efficient savings. The city will generate about $12 million in savings by making these improvements. That is currently underway. That was the first phase. In the second phase, we are going out to look at some of the lighting issues across the city. We can use an LED solar-type of lighting that will be less costly to repair, but the retrofit will be easier and will not require a full replacement or renovation, which will be budget-friendly.
“We are exploring grant funding to modernize the terminal at our airport so that Fullerton can become a hub. There are some opportunities to include last-mile transport.
“We need to think of Fullerton as one Fullerton and not as five districts and to figure out how we can come together as a community to better advocate for our needs so we can advocate for the Fullerton we want to see for years to come.”

* [The Lions Club of Fullerton donated Lions Field to the city in 1965. The city installed artificial turf in 2010, costing $1.7 million, as part of a $12-million refurbishing of the park. The artificial turf industry has had many lawsuits, from allegedly causing cancer to defective materials.]