Violent Crimes Low

The numbers are in -- 2012 had the lowest violent crime rate in Long Beach in 40 years. Long Beach is a far safer city now than when I grew up here. That said, community involvement will be key to helping us continue to make Long Beach the safest city possible. Please join me in taking simple steps to fight crime. Congratulations to the men and women of the Long Beach Police Department and their many community partners for this accomplishment.

Also, this week City Council approved my proposal to survey our infrastructure needs, such as street and sidewalk repairs. While we have made significant progress recently in reinstating street maintenance and using one-time monies to improve city sidewalks, it is time to review our efforts to ensure that we leave a city to the next generation that is in better condition than the one we inherited.

Long Beach has taken a stand against predatory lending in California. A current loophole in the law allows consumer lending rates of certain types of loans to be 200%, 600%, or more. We will be advocating for eliminating that loophole.