Bautista outlines $25M fire station, $5M police headquarters and boosted DPW funding to fix potholes

City Manager Eric Bautista used the State of the City address to detail several capital projects and stepped-up spending on roads and equipment.

"We're investing $25,000,000 in the new South Division fire station, $5,000,000 in the police headquarters, $10,000,000 in school projects," Bautista said, listing projects the administration proposed to modernize municipal infrastructure. He added that the DPW budget was up by $11,000,000 over the prior fiscal year to address potholes and other urgent street repairs.

Why it matters: Bautista framed the investments as necessary to maintain services and to prevent deterioration rather than piecemeal repairs. He said the larger borrowing for DPW exceeds the highest capital borrowing proposed for the department in the last decade.

Details provided: The manager described a citywide pothole blitz, the development of a standard operating procedure for potholes (the first of its kind for the city), and work on pavement management above the plan's baseline recommendations. He also cited investments in technology to improve departmental effectiveness.

What remained unsaid: The address did not include project timelines, site plans, procurement details, or an explicit funding source breakdown beyond general capital borrowing; department-level schedules and contract details were not provided on stage.

Next steps: The administration said it will continue implementation and is preparing related reports and council submittals for forthcoming approvals.