December 9, 2021

Community Update
By Katherine Fuentes, Assistant City Manager

Cathedral City’s Long-term Strategic Plan

On June 9, 2021, the City of Cathedral City adopted their Fiscal Year (FY) 2022-2023 biennial budget. At the time, the FY2022-2023 budget was passed with a ($3,786,626) deficit and a ($5,132,034) deficit, respectively. The City has also spent a significant amount of time forecasting revenues and expenditures in an effort to estimate the economic impacts of COVID-19 and the preexisting structural deficit issues facing the City over the last decade. The table below demonstrates these projections:

Every year, the City Council meets in January to discuss the strategic vision of the organization and conduct goal setting with the Executive Team. In preparation for the City Council Strategy Session in January 2022, staff has been working diligently to explore a long-term plan that will correct the City’s structural deficit in a manner that is both transparent, equitable, and sustainable. This draft plan will be anchored in the City Council’s established priorities as outlined in the City Council’s Annual Strategy Session report, and it will seek to align itself with the needs of the community in every subsequent year thereafter. Meaningful transformation requires time and consistent effort to be effective and sustainable, and it is almost always an iterative, incremental process.

As the City Council continues to formalize its plans for the future, staff will simultaneously be crafting a comprehensive Community Outreach Campaign to engage the community in restructuring the future of Cathedral City. The goal of the proposed restructure will be grounded in the following reorganization principles:

Restructuring should drive real cost savings for citizens through the reduction of organizational layers and a leaner organizational structure that reduces government regulation and increases accountability.
Restructuring should focus on long-term solutions, not short-term stop-gap measures that not only consider immediate needs and challenges but also positions the City for long-term sustainability.
Shift from using layers of management to control employees, to empowering employees and cross-functional teams to respond to community needs by being more versatile, transparent, and focused.
Shift from being functionally and incrementally focused to being strategically aligned with the City’s Vision and Values by reducing workforce fragmentation and specialization and replacing tasks with strategic priority assignments.

The City as a whole must embrace transformative change as the solution to our current state and the pathway towards a more equitable and financially sustainable future. Amidst the mounting challenges that the last few years has presented, the City recognizes the growing needs of the community and the desire to thrive; not just survive.

As the most recent addition to the Executive Team for Cathedral City, I am excited to be part of the upcoming transformation. As a leadership team, we look forward to engaging the community and the City Council in crafting the future vision of Cathedral City in an effort to create a more equitable and sustainable community for the people that call Cathedral City home.

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News

Councilmember Ernesto Gutierrez Sworn-in as Mayor

Cathedral City’s mayor position rotates every year starting at the first regular council meeting in December. Before family and friends, Councilmember Ernesto Gutierrez was sworn-in as mayor at Wednesday’s council meeting as he will serve in this role until December 2022. Mayor Gutierrez thanked former Mayor Raymond Gregory for his leadership and service as well as all … Read more

Cathedral City Receives a Nearly $8.5 Million State Grant to Build the Dream Homes Park

Park to offer a whole host of outdoor recreation amenities Cathedral City is proud to announce that it has been awarded a nearly $8.5 million Statewide Park Development and Community Revitalization Program grant by the California Department of Parks and Recreation to build the Dream Homes Park. Funds for the program were passed by California voters in 2018 under … Read more

City Hall at Your Corner Happens Tuesday via Zoom

Register now for November’s virtual “City Hall at Your Corner” as Councilmembers Mark Carnevale and Raymond Gregory host the event for an informal discussion of issues in Cathedral City. This virtual event will take place on Tuesday, December 14, 2021 from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm on Zoom.us. You must register for the event in advance at https://bit.ly/3EybBOR. After … Read more

Cathedral City’s Indoor Mask Order to End on Friday at Midnight

The City Council deliberated at its Wednesday night council meeting and decided to allow Emergency Order 5B to expire on Friday, December 10, 2021, at midnight. This will remove the local indoor mask requirement that mandated all persons to wear a mask indoors regardless of their vaccination status and revert instead to State of California guidelines for wearing masks indoors. … Read more

“Dinner with Patsi” Raises Money for CCPFA’s Holiday Giving

The November “Dinner with Patsi” held at Sunshine Café in Cathedral City raised nearly $825.00 for the Cathedral City Professional Firefighters Association (CCPFA). Members of the association accepted the funds raised by the community who simply throw their loose change into Patsi’s red hat to support wonderful programs in Cathedral City. This month’s funds will go towards helping several Cathedral … Read more

Photo's of the Week

Mayor’s Tree Lighting & North Pole Village

Events

“City Hall at Your Corner”
Happens December 14 – Register Now

Dinner with Patsi Fundraiser for
Boys & Girls Club of Cathedral City

Patsi is looking to raise some “green” for the Boys & Girls Club of Cathedral City during the monthly “Dinner with Patsi” charity benefit. Prior to Wednesday, December 15, call El Portal Mexican Restaurant at (760) 202-6685 and order your meal choice, then on December 15th, go to El Portal to dine-in or pick-up your dinner(s) curbside between 5 pm … Read more

6th Annual Taste of Jalisco

Music, Tequila Tasting, Festival, Vendors & Authentic Cuisine The 6th Annual Taste of Jalisco, produced by Soundskilz Inc, celebrates the sister city relationship between the cities of Cathedral City, California (USA) and Tequila, Jalisco (Mexico) through music, fashion, spirits, culture, and cuisine in Downtown Cathedral City. Live musical performances throughout the day in the new Cathedral City Community … Read more

Tejano Music Festival

Tejano PowerHouse Entertainment, City of Cathedral City, and Diaz Enterprises invites you to the 4th annual Tejano Music Fest in Cathedral City featuring the best Tejano music, fiesta food, and spirits on Saturday, March 5, 2022, from 5 pm to 11 pm at our new location, the Cathedral City Community Amphitheater, 68526 Avenida Lalo Guerrero, in Cathedral City … Read more