‘We Rise Together’: Riverside Mayor Highlights Lower Crime Rate, Economic Growth In State Of The City Address

Riverside saw a 35% drop in crime, created 18,000 new jobs and brought in $4.3 billion in construction projects in 2025. 

Those were just a few of the achievements Riverside Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson highlighted at her fifth annual State of the City address.

“You heard what leveling up looks like: Safer streets, stronger neighborhoods, healthier lives and more economic opportunities for every generation,” Dawson said at the January 28 event. “In Riverside, we build, we innovate, we rise together.”

More than 800 residents gathered at the Riverside Convention Center to hear Dawson highlight how the city has been working to “level up” over the past year. According to the mayor, Riverside has made great strides in public safety, economic growth, health, cultural identity and community investment.

Both the police and city council have proactively addressed crime within the city, according to Dawson, which she said contributed to the decline. She said the Riverside Police Department reached full staffing for the first time in more than 25 years after adding 88 new police officers to its ranks. She also highlighted Councilmember Sean Mill’s efforts to address copper wire theft with an ordinance that put restrictions on scrap metal businesses.  

She added that the city’s Community and Economic Development department over the past few years has worked to bring transportation and aerospace companies to the city, leading to six international companies moving to Riverside in the past two years, including South Korean green-tech manufacturers Hyundai Rotem and Chaevi. 

She also highlighted a recent partnership between the city and five educational institutions, championed by Councilmember Steven Robillard, that looks to create pathways for students to enter into the aerospace industry. 

“Economic development is what pays for all the nice things that we want,” Robillard told The Riverside Record. “That’s how we bring that good here, by raising economic development for the area, giving the students and young people who live here in the city the opportunity to stay living in the city and have a good quality job.”

Robillard told The Record he plans on working with the institutions to build the foundation for this collaboration over the next year.  

Dawson, in her speech, echoed the councilmember’s sentiment on investing in the city’s future generations by enhancing the community’s quality of life, pointing to several large projects the city is currently undertaking including the construction of an adventure park, a sports complex and the revitalization of Fairmount Park.

Marvin and Anayely Sandoval, who own Vixen and Beard on Magnolia Avenue, said they were inspired by the mayor’s speech and happy with the overall direction that Riverside is taking.

“I hope for more innovation and job security, especially,” Anayely said. “Education is really high on Riverside’s list, so I’m hoping that a lot of those college students will stay here in Riverside.”