Business View Magazine | August 2019

235 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE AUGUST 2019 a quarter of Cathedral City. Two decades earlier, Col. Henry Washington of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers named this area of majestic “cathedral- like” geography, Cathedral Canyon. In 1925, four developers concurred and called the region’s first subdivision: Cathedral City, California. Mayor Mark Carnevale asserts, “Cathedral City is a working community. We don’t have the luxuries of popularity that surrounding cities have – we only have a few hotels and golf courses and shopping centers. No major malls. We’re kind of a bedroom community. Years ago, we had the redevelopment money taken away from us because the recession hit, so Cathedral City just laid low; didn’t progress. Then, in 2014, we were fortunate to have a really strong council come aboard – a new City Manager, a new Police Chief, a new Fire Chief – we all got together, started working hard, and things really began happening for Cathedral City. Back in 2014, we were pretty much lacking any kind of backup funds. Now, we’re close to $21 million in reserves, a nice nest egg, so the city was able to be financially secure, moving forward. That’s important for businesses and homeowners to know. We are, honestly, a city on the move.” The biggest concern for council at that time was public safety. So, they built up the police department into one of the finest in Coachella Valley, and now have one of the lowest crime rates in the region. The fire department is fully-staffed with firefighters and paramedics. Infrastructure improvements were also needed. In that regard, the city widened the bridge on Date Palm Drive – the main line out to the freeway. One block west of that, construction of a new bridge will begin in 2020 to replace Cathedral Canyon Bridge, which washes out and causes major traffic congestion every time there is local flooding. In addition, the widening of the Ramon Road and Landau Boulevard Bridge, which connects Cathedral City to Palm Springs, is causing excitement in the community. “Our infrastructure is really moving forward,” the Mayor reports, “with about $100 million in road paving and road construction done. We’re CATHEDRAL C I TY , CAL I FORNI A