Wednesday January 21st marked an annual occasion for the City of Calabasas. It was the 11th annual State of the City address where the Mayor of Calabasas brought residents City staff and civic leaders together to reflect on City accomplishments from the past year and to review plans for the future.
The night itself was a very special occasion and production. The event was held in the brand new Founder’s Hall a new addition to the Calabasas library. The venue itself played a key role in Mayor Mary Sue Mauer’s speech being just one of the many accomplishments Calabasas residents can see with their own eyes. The brand new building featured a mixer with food and beverages sponsored by the Calabasas Chamber of Commerce. Also Founder’s Hall provided the abilities for the broadcasting of the State of the City address in high definition now available online at http://www.cityofcalabasas.com/events/SOTC2009.html and on CTV channel 3.
Mayor Mary Sue Mauer started off her address taking time to focus on national politics before focusing on the local politics. The Mayor spoke to the packed crowd saying the “Presidential inauguration in Washington D.C. was a special and historic moment for our country…Today our focus is Calabasas a true slice of America.” The mayor spoke of a number of different issues facing Calabasas along with our nation. The most notable: our economic recession. To a wide applause from the crowd the mayor confirmed that Calabasas is doing very strong in these tough economic times.
One of the high points from the night was the induction of this year’s Calabasas Citizen of the Year award. The award went to Gary Klein of the city development branch. A short video on Klein’s journey from a boy to community college to now being a champion on the Calabasas development board warmed the crowd.