By Brett Callwood
The State of the City took place on the evening of Thursday, March 12, and the venue was the brand new and still sparkling Community Aquatic and Senior Center. Members of the Gardena community were offered an early chance to have a good look at the facilities and, on what was a beautifully warm pre-Spring evening, the venue proved idyllic.
A meet-and-greet before the main event was catered by Taco Revolution (look for a review in a future issue), while various city departments handed out free swag, and informative flyers.
With the stage set up between two pools, providing a bit of glamor as the sun set between palm trees, radio personality Adai Lamer (102.3 KJLH), special guest and host for the evening, was full of praise for the city. “Gardena is leading the way,” Lamar said, adding, “Your leaders love their community, they love their residents.”
By way of an introduction to Mayor Tasha Cerda, Lamar pointed out that Cerda is now in her ninth year as mayor, and 16th as an elected official.
Mayor Cerda took the opportunity to thank every department, every member of the council and every member of city staff, uniformed or otherwise. She thanked City Manager Clint Osorio for strengthening transparency and expanding community engagement. She also shone a light (appropriately enough) on the Shine Gardena graffiti cleanup event.
Praising the Community Development department, Cerda pointed to “a year of construction and investment,” with 6,554 inspections completed, 1,561 permits issued, $38 million in construction valuation increase, and 3,405 customers served. In addition, there were three grand openings, 281 new in-city businesses and 443 out-of-city businesses.
Those new licenses helped GTans support local and regional commerce, “strengthening the city’s economy and commercial corridors.” GTrans sees 140 people working together, with 85 bus and Bolt operators serving riders on a daily basis. GTrans is aiming to transition to zero-emission by 2040.
Thanking the Gardena Police Department, Cerda reserved special praise for the “quiet but essential” records division.
The past year saw 12,000 front desk visits, 24,831 calls to 911, 40,461 non-emergency calls, over 6,000 police reports, over 2,600 public report copy requests, and 200 public records act requests.
As of the end of 2025, total crime in Gardena decreased by 4.1 percent. Aggravated assaults were down nearly 5 percent, robberies were down 17 percent, and there was one homicide in 2025 (a 67 percent decrease). Weapons violations were down 18 percent. Certain drug crimes saw an increase, but Cerda put that down to a change in the reporting parameters.
Overall, there was plenty to celebrate, and plenty to look forward to in the year ahead.
