On April 17, the Alhambra Chamber hosted Mayor Katherine Lee at the Granada LA to deliver the 2025 State of the City. The luncheon brought together over 100 community leaders from local businesses, non-profit organizations, and elected offices to celebrate the city’s achievements over the past year and look ahead to the coming year.
Lee first shared some of the city’s successes from 2024, which included growing the general reserve to 21%, adding all-inclusive playgrounds to Alhambra Park and Granada Park, installing the vending library at Emery Park, and building new affordable housing with the completed Lantern Terrace apartment complex.
These achievements fall under Alhambra’s Strategic Plan goals, which are to enhance public safety, improve infrastructure and mobility, create a strong financial and economic base, enhance transparency and open governance, promote sustainability, and improve housing opportunities.
“This past year has been one of growth, resilience, and innovation,” Lee said. “Today is our chance to recognize the incredible people — our residents, business owners, and community partners — who work tirelessly every day to make Alhambra great.” She emphasized the diversity and strength of the community as the driving force behind the city’s successes.
Public safety remains a top priority for the city. Lee recognized that the police department responded to nearly 50,000 calls for service in 2024 and that the Homeless Outreach Mental Evaluation (HOME) Team is fully funded through 2030. The fire department responded to over 7,600 calls and also had several causes for celebration, such as launching the new mass notification system, hosting the first Mandarin CERT training in the San Gabriel Valley, and developing the city’s first Hazard Mitigation Plan. Both the police and fire departments held several community programs throughout the year including the Spark of Love toy drive, Pancake Breakfast and Open House, National Night Out, and Trunk-or-Treat.
Lee noted that there are many reasons to be proud of the Alhambra community, from new placemaking signage to winning the Mayor’s Award for its float at the 2025 Tournament of Roses parade. The city has many programs that bring the community together for holidays, family fun, and education.
Upcoming grant projects include the Alhambra community center, dog park, Green Street Demonstration Project, additional new green spaces, and citywide bus stop improvements. The community center will break ground this summer on a 25,000-square-foot facility at 612 Shorb St. to build a community gathering place and recreation center.
The city is also making progress on projects like adding new EV charging stations at the parks; improving the active transportation plan with Walk, Bike, Move Alhambra; and launching a service app for residents.
Other elected officials in attendance include City Council members Nan “Noya” Wang and Ross Maza, California State Assemblymember Mike Fong, San Gabriel City Councilmember Tony Ding, and representatives from the offices of Congresswoman Judy Chu, County Supervisor Hilda Solis, and State Senator Sasha Renée Pérez. The presenting sponsor for the lunch was Transtech Engineers.
Mayor Lee’s State of the City address can be viewed on the City of Alhambra’s website.
