Voice of the People: Happy Holidays from Dr. Gutierrez

I just want to wish every Moreno Valley resident happy holidays and a fruitful new year. I'd like to also wish everyone a safe holiday with your loved ones and publicly thank each one of you for your support and encouragement. I’m truly blessed for the opportunity to serve the residents of District 4 and I commit to being a transparent and innovative public leader. This coming year will be an exciting new year for the city of Moreno Valley. Already, the city has gained Amazon as a large job growth company and revenue to the city. Additionally, we will receive Decker’s Outdoor, a large shoe manufacturer, as an additional large business. Decker’s management team has indicated they will occupy an 800,000 sq. ft. facility, part of the Moreno Valley Industrial Center (already zoned for industrial use). Their management team expects 150 full-time job opportunities and 40 additional jobs during seasonal periods. As your councilman of District 4, I will continue to help oversee business development to provide sustainable job growth in all sectors. While job growth is crucial to the sustainability of our city, education is dear to my heart since I am a school teacher during the day. Therefore, the city conducted a special study session on Dec. 7th, with presentations by Operation Safehouse, the Riverside County Anti-Human Trafficking task force and the AVID center. Both presentations shared powerful information on preventing human trafficking and exploring our students’ opportunities through the AVID college readiness program for elementary through high school students. If you missed it but want to review the material, the study session video is available on the city’s website. Finally, I want to remind every resident to Shop MoVal! Every time you make a purchase in Moreno Valley, you • Support Moreno Valley’s local businesses and • Create and retain local jobs! so shop MoVal! But more importantly, my hope for each resident is that 2014 will be a safe and prosperous one!