Business

Citrus Heights Mayor Mel Turner delivered the annual "State of the City" address to a sold-out business luncheon, Tuesday, highlighting a 13 percent drop in crime over the past year, a rise in home values and the newly opened Stones Gambling Hall. Defining Citrus Heights as "a city of promise," Mayor Turner articulated his perspective on secrets to the city's success: its voters and council members, a caring city manager, a community of involved volunteers, and the ability to manage change well. "We don't believe in change for the sake of change," the mayor said, speaking highly of the city's latest change in approving a 400-employee casino. "There needs to be a sound reason, with a return on investment to the community as a whole for the change."

Council members, business owners and representatives from government agencies gathered Tuesday morning to celebrate the long-awaited completion of "Phase 1" of Auburn Boulevard improvement work. Business owners present for the ribbon-cutting ceremony were particularly glad for the completion of the project, and expressed hope for increased business now that new sidewalks are open, power lines are under-grounded and lanes are no longer closed. "I'm glad it's done," said business owner Rocky Moffitt, whose 7440 Club took a hit during the road work outside his doors. "The construction actually has hurt my business during the daytime... but overall it looks great. I love the finished project."

If you travel on Auburn Boulevard between 7:30 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., you may want to consider using another route this week, in light of night paving work that will limit traffic to one lane in each direction. The paving work is part of the Auburn Boulevard Complete Streets Revitalization Project, and will affect traffic on Auburn Boulevard from Sylvan Corners to Sycamore Drive. A press release sent out by the City of Citrus Heights said the night paving work is scheduled to take place between the night of Tuesday, June 10, to the morning of Friday, June 13. The release also said that patience is appreciated from those affected by the work.

Controversy erupted at a community meeting this week over a proposal to bring a new 3-story medical office building to the existing Citrus Heights city hall location, and move the hall to Antelope Drive. In a full room of about 200 people, public comments from the audience were largely critical or skeptical of the proposal, although Board Chairman Evan Jacobs from the Citrus Heights Chamber of Commerce announced the Chamber had recently taken a unanimous vote in support of the proposal. The meeting was the sixth in a series of evening sessions designed by the City to inform the community about the proposal and invite feedback from residents -- and during the evening's four separate Q&A times, many residents expressed concern over building size, construction noise, traffic, location choice and cost. Event Facilitator Wendy Hoyt sought to keep the meeting moderated and on schedule, but audience members shouted accusations of “cutting off” speakers when she tried to close comments while a few hands were still up in the room.

A business and career expo brought together over a thousand job-seekers, local employers and educators at the Citrus Heights Community Center, yesterday, in an effort to create jobs, promote local business and encourage education. “It was great to see people of all walks of life here,” said event organizer Olga Ivannikov, highlighting the diverse attendees at the 5th annual Multicultural Business and Career Expo.

A business and career expo is promising to bring together local employers, educators and job-seekers at the Citrus Heights Community Center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today. “It's an event that's aimed to create jobs, promote local business and advance education,” said Olga Ivannikov, who helped organize the 5th annual Multicultural Business and Career Expo.

You've probably seen the logo on a website or around town. It's part of a competitive program put on by the Citrus Heights Regional Chamber of Commerce each year, designed to encourage local businesses to strive for excellence. In 2013, over 5,000 votes were cast to determine the winner in each of the 26 business categories listed by the Chamber. Awards were given out at an annual "Installation Dinner," giving winning businesses the right to use the "Best 0f Citrus Heights" logo on their website and marketing material.