San Dimas mayor highlights safety, housing wins and $7.4M in infrastructure at State of the City

At the San Dimas Chamber of Commerce State of the City event, Mayor Bader outlined priorities for the coming year, emphasizing public safety preparations for the soon-to-open San Dimas Metro station, recent housing interventions and continued infrastructure investment.

"Keeping our city safe has always been the top priority and always will be," Mayor Bader said, noting the city is coordinating with Metro, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and other partners on a Metro Public Safety Plan and has adopted ordinances for the transit area, including a no-camping rule and a shopping-cart ordinance to keep sidewalks and business frontages accessible. He said the city expects the Foothill Gold Line station to open around mid-September and has a parking-management plan to protect neighborhoods while supporting downtown businesses.

Bader framed homelessness and housing stability as a major ongoing effort. He said the city helped more than 76 households last year with about $1.2 million in direct assistance and expanded outreach services to operate five days a week. The city also won a $1.5 million state grant through the Manufactured Housing Opportunity and Revitalization Program to assist very low‑income residents in mobile-home parks. "This isn't just about housing. This is about dignity, safety and making sure long time residents and our community aren't left behind," he added.

Paige, a management aide in the housing division, described the city's first full mobile-home replacement under the state program for a 72‑year‑old resident named Edith. "We were able to remove her deteriorating home and replace it with a brand new code compliant unit," Paige said, calling the work "more than housing" and saying the replacement restored the resident’s safety and quality of life.

Public-safety and emergency-preparedness work drew remarks from Assistant Fire Chief Steve Cabrera, who said local firefighters receive regular wildfire-preparedness training and noted prescribed burning as a mitigation tool that "gives firefighters a chance to get in there and burn out any non‑native or invasive weeds and grasses." The mayor also thanked the city's CERT volunteers for roughly 780 hours of service during regional fire deployments.

On infrastructure, Bader said the city completed over $7.4 million in projects this year, including major paving on streets such as Lone Hill and the San Dimas Loop slope-repair and paving work. He reported the city repaired about 43,000 square feet of sidewalk, fixed roughly 1,800 potholes and replaced 932 signs. The city recently adopted its first downtown Specific Plan, described as a community-driven framework of design guidelines and land‑use policies intended to preserve downtown character while encouraging economic vitality.

Parks and recreation also received attention: Bader said Parks & Recreation events drew about 20,000 participants (a reported 10% increase) and that the council approved funding to keep the recreation center pool open through the next fiscal year. The city used $1.6 million in grant funds to rehabilitate multiuse trails, upgrade lighting and renovate soccer fields at Horse Thief Canyon.

Bader closed by highlighting the city’s fiscal transparency; he said San Dimas received the Government Finance Officers Association’s Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for its most recent fiscal-year report.

The address concluded with community recognitions, including naming Raging Waters as the Chamber’s Business of the Year. The presentation ended with a brief ceremonial birthday recognition for the mayor and a formal close of the program.