In it's nearly 64-year history as a city, La Mirada has always exceled in executing the two basic functions of local government: maintaining the roads and keeping the public safe.

The community is known for its lengthy, green, manicured roadways and is consistently recognized as one of the safest cities in the region.

Financial prudence, awesome community services, a model graffiti-removal program and just the overall well-kept nature of the city really should be considered as icing on-the-cake.

La Mirada may not be the flashiest city. We may not be perfect. We may not have an expensive nightclub or giant department store, but we do a lot of things well. Many of these little things we do well fly under the radar.

In many ways, I think a City Councilperson or Mayor is similar to an umpire in a baseball game, or a referee in a basketball game or a soccer match, or an official in any sports contest. If they go unnoticed, they are doing their job.

Gary Sloan, during his long tenure as La Mirada City Manager (1980-2001) really set the tone, “You guys set the policy, I’ll do the talking.”

Of course, I’m paraphrasing just a bit.

In today’s world, and the challenges of social media that come along with it, this approach still exists today-generally speaking.

Am I ever going to get to my point?

I am bringing all this up because there are many, many productive instances that occur year-round, when the city and the council itself, is hyper-responsive to requests from residents who may need information or assistance with an issue.

We just never hear about it.

I often find myself in a unique position where I'm able to share stories with the community and this is just another one of those examples that may not be as exciting as a Santa’s Caravan, or fireworks show, but just as satisfying.

This past Tuesday on Election Day at 4:14 p.m. a resident from the Neff Park area was walking to the park along Stage Road to vote and was disturbed by the amount of trash in the street and the graffiti along the La Mirada Creek channel.

She messaged some photos to the La Mirada Blog and asked if I would bring some attention to the situation. 

La Mirada, as most communities, is currently experiencing issues regarding the homeless, particularly on adjacent property in other jurisdictions including railroads, freeways, flood control channels, etc.

Stage Road is adjacent to the BNSF-controlled and maintained railroad tracks.

As I was still processing how to address her concern, I received another message from her on Thursday at 10:27 a.m. She reported that all the trash was cleaned up and surprisingly, the graffiti in the channel also. This after sending an e-mail to the mayor (in this case Steve DeRuse) with the same photos she sent us.

She added that she was amazed it was less than 48 hours that the problem was addressed and fixed.

Something small, yes, but I felt the community needed to know.