Tuesday night marked Mayor Rex Richardson’s third annual State of the City event, where a who’s who of city VIPs gather for a recap of the past year’s accomplishments and a sneak peak of initiatives and plans in the year to come.
This year’s theme was “Roots, Rhythm and Connection,” as Richardson doubled down on his mission to make Long Beach a cultural and musical destination. To bring the point home, three young musical groups (DJ Jasper X, punk rock band Sugar Skull and R&B trio Daydream) showed off their Long Beach-grown talents.
After Richardson recapped all the artists who grew up in Long Beach or have played at its venues, he brought out legendary hip-hop artist Warren G. The rapper continued on the importance of investing in the city’s talent, specifically youth talent. Richardson then announced renovations to the Long Beach Arena, showed renderings of the soon-to-be-constructed Long Beach Bowl and a slew of 2028 Olympics plans.
In a night full of tourism-centric aspirations, Richardson acknowledged the dozens of tourism-sector workers picketing for higher wages just outside the venue. He said he trusts that the “good faith negotiations” on both sides will lead to a fair solution.
Concession workers at the Convention Center have been in labor negotiations with ASM Global, which manages the Convention Center, since September 2023, and workers voted by a 85% majority Monday to authorize a strike. This came nearly a week after the Long Beach City Council passed a wage ordinance update for these workers that excludes temporary, or agency-hired, staff from the new wages.
The majority of the presentation was about the mayor’s plan to make Long Beach a tourist destination for music, entertainment and cultural events. He shared that in 2023, tourism contributed $2 billion to Long Beach’s economy.
When Richardson brought up how the city has tackled homelessness in the first two years of his term, shouts of protest erupted from members in the audience. The event was paused briefly while Richardson stepped off the stage, and a woman was escorted out by two police officers while she told onlookers that she was going to get kicked out of her home due to rent increases.
Though most of the night was about what has already been accomplished during the first two years of Richardson’s term as mayor, there were a few interesting nuggets of news saved until the end of the night.
Here are the 10 most important pieces of news shared at the 2025 State of the City, minus the fluff:
- Long Beach will create a subsidy program in an effort to house more seniors, one of the most housing-insecure populations in the city.
- A new Long Beach Police Academy Training Center will open soon, and the city will double the amount of firefighter academies it hosts in a year in an effort to recruit more firefighters and paramedics.
- The City is relaunching Inside LB, its city-run news blog that publishes columns recapping events, features on residents and deep dives on City programs.
- The Long Beach Small Business Rebound program will be launched this year, with more than $1 million in resources for small businesses. The program will include low-interest loans for businesses that open in areas with high vacancy rates; a “first-year-free” fee waiver for those same businesses; long term loan renegotiation, counseling services and financial resources for businesses 10 years or older; grants to help businesses acquire security cameras, cashless sale systems, shatter-proof window coverings. There will be another program for legacy businesses with planning resources, employee stock ownership plans, worker co-ops and other strategies to help keep the business running when the original owner retires.
- The Mayor asked Chief of Police Wally Hebeish and City Prosecutor Doug Haubert to create a Long Beach Organized Retail Theft initiative to identify additional strategies to protect businesses.
- A new website, longbeach.gov/2028games has been launched for residents to track 2028 Olympic planning and progress.
- Multiple Olympics Community Advisory Committees will be formed, focusing on arts and culture, small businesses, workforce and economic inclusion, and youth sports. There will also be an Olympic Legacy Foundation Advisory Committee that will continue after the 2028 games.
- The mayor shared rendered images of the planned Long Beach Bowl outdoor amphitheater, which will seat 10,000 to 12,000 people. The City will also work to form a private-public partnership to bring improvements and extensive renovations to the Long Beach Arena.
- The city will develop an Entertainment Strategic Plan with an accompanying advisory committee to work to bring more entertainment to the city and assure that local businesses benefit from it.
- Long Beach will explore developing a Sports and Entertainment Walk of Fame to highlight the athletes and entertainers who have come out of Long Beach.
