Mayor Tania Garcia-Cadena provides update on Woodland's progress during State of the City Dinner

By Carlos Guerrero on June 22, 2024

Perfect weather conditions, great food and a bevy of updates on Woodland's ascension to new levels were the main highlights of the Woodland Chamber of Commerce's yearly State of the City Dinner on Thursday evening.

From 5 to 8 p.m. at The Maples Wedding & Event Center, located at 40162 Best Ranch Road just outside of Woodand, dozens of city officials, local business owners and elected representatives gathered for the annual event to network, discuss current affairs and address questions, comments or concerns from the local community.

"We do the State of City here to bring together the entire business community to discuss the pressing issues and hear from city management and leadership on all the incredible things coming down the pipeline. It's a great opportunity to bring everyone together and discuss the future," said Spencer Langan, communications and business advocacy coordinator with the Woodland Chamber of Commerce. "It's important to identify the issues that are immediately impactful to the community and see what we can do to address them or what might already be coming down to address them so providing resources to the community as well.

"It's been a fantastic turnout. We couldn't be happier with how things turned out."

The Woodland Chamber of Commerce presented the event, which was the third time since 2019 that it was held in person. The HIVE, located at 1221 Harter Ave., hosted the event in 2022 and 2023. Dignity Health was the event's leading sponsor.

Woodland Mayor Tania Garcia-Cadena served as the special guest speaker for the dinner, which was attended by a long list of Woodland dignitaries including City Councilmembers Mayra Vega and Vicky Fernandez, City Manager Ken Hiatt, Woodland Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Cynthia Evans, Woodland Memorial Hospital President Gena Bravo, Woodland Joint Unified School District Trustees Bibiana Garcia, Noel Rodriguez and Deborah Bautista Zavala and Woodland Police Department Chief Derrek Kaff and Deputy Chief Dallas Hyde, among others.

Woodland Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Cynthia Evans is seen welcoming the dozens of communty members who attended the chamber's yearly State of the City Dinner on Thursday, June 20. (Carlos Guerrero/Daily Democrat)

Woodland City Manager Ken Hiatt focused his speech on the progress the city has made in the past 10 years during the Woodland Chamber of Commerce's yearly State of the City Dinner on Thursday, June 20 at the Maples Wedding & Event Center. (Carlos Guerrero/Daily Democrat)

Woodland Mayor Tania Garcia-Cadena was the special guest speaker during the Woodland Chamber of Commerce's yearly State of the City Dinner, Thursday, June 20 at the Maples Wedding & Event Center. (Carlos Guerrero/Daily Democrat)

Following the serving of dinner plates that included a mixed green salad, grilled asparagus, mashed potatoes, marinated tri-tip and a grilled herb chicken, Evans presented the opening remarks, followed by Bravo's main sponsor remarks.

As people began to finish their dinner, Garcia-Cadena came up for the main address and started by highlighting a few collaborations that led to the success of multiple key projects.

She first mentioned BeeLine, a point-to-point on-demand microtransit developed in partnership with the Yolo Transportation District. Since its launch in September 2023, BeeLine has offered Woodlanders and those in Knights Landing, Winters and soon Yolo, a convenient public transit option.

Garcia-Cadena mentioned that on May 9, the service set a record for the highest ridership in a day with 139 passengers while averaging about 110 passengers throughout the month.

She then went into how the city prioritized child care and local youth services by using a portion of the American Rescue Plan Funds.

"Our community, like so many across the country, experienced a significant demand for additional childcare slots immediately following the pandemic," she said. "To address this key need, the City Council allocated over $2 million of American Rescue Plan funds towards child care and youth-focused programs."

Examples included:

A collaboration with First 5 Yolo on the Welcome Baby Program, which provides early in-home visits to vulnerable families
A partnership with the Yolo County Children's Alliance on the upcoming Child Care and Early Learning Facility at César Chávez Community School that is set to open in the fall
The Woodland Haven Child Care Center, a private business that has added over 25 jobs and 100 child care slots, including 20 infant slots
The Woodland Boys & Girls Club approaching its second summer of operation. The club is currently serving Woodland youth with a variety of programs and is partnering with the Woodland Joint Unified School District and city staff to ensure all children have access to youth programming

Then, Garcia-Cadena brought up the Mobile Farmers Market and the Woodland Public Library Bookmobile.

The Mobile Farmers Market, in partnership with Yolo County and the Center for Land-Based Learning, sells fresh, healthy foods to traditionally underserved areas of town via their mobile food truck. The truck is in Woodland on Wednesdays and Fridays.

The Woodland Library Bookmobile will follow a similar model, bringing library resources, including professional development and youth activities to areas that may find it challenging to access the library's offerings in person on First Street.

She then spoke about the adoption of an updated Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance and how the city has addressed the housing shortage highlighted by the continued buildout of the Spring Lake area and the recent opening of Vista del Roble, a 72-unit affordable housing community for families located on West Main Street.

Garcia-Cadena began to conclude her address by looking to the future and sharing some information about the Woodland Research and Technology Park and the upcoming FIRA USA global ag robotics and autonomous farming showcase, hosted at the Yolo County Fairgrounds.

"The Tech Park is a key part of our local and regional economic development strategy, with the promise of building a more resilient/diverse economy that brings knowledge-based jobs to our town for future generations," she said. "At full buildout, the project will feature expansive research, tech and commercial space along with 1,600 housing units."

Lastly, she ended her speech by reminding everyone in attendance of the three new hotels coming to Main Street: the Courtyard by Marriot, Hilton Home2Suites near County Road 102, and Staybridge Suites near Highway 113. These hotels will be an important part of the future due to the growing list of local events, festivals and celebrations that have been introduced or taken place over the past few years.

"Another shout out to the Woodland Hoteliers Group," she said. "They are the financial advisory board behind Visit Woodland, which coordinates and/or supports events throughout the year. These include the Celtic Festival, Honey Festival, Winter Holiday downtown events, C-10 truck show, and new this year, the Global Rice Festival which will be put on by the Yolo Food Bank and hosted by Woodland Community College."

Other sponsors for the event included the Woodland Opera House, Waste Management, Marriott Fairfield Inn Suites, Perfect Union, Clark Pacific, Corner Drug Co., Pacific Coast Producers, Woodland Ford, Recology Waste Zero, Reynolds Painting, Kathy Salling Real Estate Services, Travis Credit Union, Yolo Federal Credit Union, Woodland Motors and Pemberton Engineering.