The information had an impact.
Warren became Fontana’s mayor in 2010 and was reelected in 2014.
“We do this through four components: Nutrition, Active Living, Smart Growth and Community Partnerships.
“One Fontana is not a program.
It’s a philosophy.
We call it the ‘outside-in’ strategy.
“Fontana is continuously developing and redeveloping to benefit all ages and demographics.
We assess the community’s wants and needs and develop new programs as necessary.
For adults, we have walking groups, fitness classes, and tobacco-cessation and weight management programs.”
“Public perceptions can be challenging as well.
“Another challenge is that, at times, we’ve been a victim of our own success.
“We’ve built some state-of-the-art facilities.
OurFontana Community Senior Centeris one of them.
We had to add parking and expand programming.
This has happened with other facilities as well.
How did we change?
That eliminated the source of crime.
We also invested in our youth.
“To turn our city around we cut expenses, nearly 50 percent of non-public safety costs.
We built reserves for emergencies and today we have $28 million in reserves.
We kept our focus on core needs and services and cut administrative and management staff.
We put fees in place that fully mitigated the impacts of development.
Tools for efficiency and effectiveness were put into place.
“Since 1999, approximately $130 million has been spent on parks.
We invested in services and in projects and public safety.
Departments worked as a team.
We invested in technology and provided consistent leadership.
“A strong foundation was built so we could expand over time.
Melissa Stantonis the editor ofAARP.org/Livableand a senior advisor for theAARP Livable Communitiesinitiative.
