San Bernardino held their State of the City ceremony on Thursday evening to share their vision of the area’s future economic development.
The ceremony celebrated local heroes and highlighted San Bernardino's efforts to become a regional destination.
City officials and economic experts pointed to declining unemployment rates, reduced crime and improved public infrastructure as the reason.
Mayor Helen Tran says these changes are fostering business and community growth.
"As you can see, there are a lot of great things going on in San Bernardino," she said. "But there's more work to do."
Tran says that work includes completing the Mt. Vernon Bridge, addressing homeless encampments and the city’s downtown development.
The State of the City’s planning faced criticism from city council candidate Treasure Ortiz, who gathered dozens of signatures to urge the City to make admission free and open to the public.
She attended the event and says she’s not convinced the city is on the rise.
"We killed the downtown redevelopment. We have an injunction against us. And we have the largest homeless population rate," she said in a phone interview.
Ortiz alleges the city’s decision to charge for admission is a violation of the Brown Act.
