Mayor Gee’s State of the City Praises Improvements and Safety

    Mayor Darlene Gee greeted a well-attended State of the City address and luncheon on March 13 at the Orinda Community Center, hosted by the Rotary Club of Orinda and emceed by Rotary President Clay Deanhardt.
    Before introducing Gee, Deanhardt noted March 8 was International Women’s Day and acknowledged Orinda’s all-women city council member team, stating “Saint Paul, Minnesota has been in the news lately for having an all-women city council, but Orinda did it first!”
    After lunch was served by Leslie Naster, owner of Just Delicious, with her husband-and-daughter team, Gee took to the podium to talk about the city’s accomplishments with a slideshow presentation.
    “The city of Orinda is in very good shape,” said Gee. “It’s financially better than it’s ever been. Our reserves are at an all-time high. We are very fortunate that we remain one of the safest communities in the state. We are almost always classified in the top 20 communities. We continue to enjoy an incredible quality of life here.”
    In regard to some of Orinda’s key projects, Gee said, “I am hopeful that all of you hear about wildfire prevention. And I hope all of you are doing something about it. I know that stopping my husband from cutting down things in our yard is very hard.”
    Gee remarked that as much we love the beauty, the vegetation and the trees that surround us, in the last five to 10 years, we’ve realized that all that beauty also presents some danger. “We are definitely a vulnerable location in terms of wildfire,” said Gee. “We are doing everything we can. We have worked very hard to make sure that all the property that the city owns is in compliance with MOFD’s requirements. We work every single day on evacuation planning and emergency preparedness.”
    The accomplishment Gee, a civil engineer, is most proud of is all the effort put into rehabilitating roads and drains.
    “I’ve been so happy to see that our infrastructure has withstood all the rain this year very well,” she said.
    Gee called Plan Orinda a multifaceted effort of developing a precise plan for downtown.
    “We have gone through a thoughtful process that involved a great deal of community input,” said Gee.
    She referred citizens to planorinda.com for more details.
    Gee noted 25A Orinda Way has been in progress for a very long time and has been approved by the city, but is waiting for private interests to take action. The former Bank of America building is in the process of being redeveloped. “It’s a very exciting project that people are looking forward to because it is going to be a combination of new restaurants,” said Gee.
    She also addressed the Vista Verde Senior Housing project and the Chevron remodel – occasionally calling on City Manager David Biggs to assist in answers.
    The city of Orinda was a recipient of over $4 million from the federal government during the period of Covid-19. “We have been able to apply that to our major drainage rehabilitation,” said Gee.
    Gee praised the city staff and noted Biggs will retire sometime this summer after three years of service. Planning Director Drummond Buckley retired last fall.
    “I don’t know how he did that,” said Gee, speaking of Drummond’s retirement. “Because I know he’s way younger than I am!”
    Congressman Mark DeSaulnier’s District Representative and Social Media Coordinator, Kaylee DeLand, was in attendance and Gee nodded to the Congressman’s help in securing federal grant funds for Lamorinda traffic signal synchronization across all three communities. She said, “That will help with daily traffic operations as well as the ability to coordinate traffic better should there be an emergency.”
    Lightly treading over potential pickleball versus tennis courts controversy, Gee said they are also working on a possible dog park.
    “One of the best memories I have so far is receiving letters from fourth graders from Del Ray and the number one thing on their list was … a dog park,” said Gee.
    She’s also happy the city council is working on a master plan for biking and pedestrian facilities that includes connecting the Wilder Community to the downtown.
    Other accomplishments Gee touted were the close relationships forged between the city and its school districts and a tighter connection and partnership with the Moraga-Orinda Fire District (MOFD).
    At the close of her address, Gee said, “There is lots of good news in the city of Orinda.”
    She added, “I want to thank Rotary. You are a powerful, wonderful organization. We’re so appreciative of the partnership and we’re so appreciative of all of you. We are an incredible powerhouse of volunteers here in Orinda. Thank you for everything you do for our community and making this a great place to live.”