Building a Strong Foundation: Bellflower’s 2025 Highlights

In 2025, the City of Bellflower strengthened its operations and services to support a safe, well maintained and connected community. Guided by the City's Strategic Plan, these efforts advanced key priorities that matter to residents, including public safety, transparent and accessible communication, effective City operations, quality of life improvements and responsible economic development.

Together, these actions reflect a deliberate and steady approach to City operations focused on meeting current needs while setting a foundation for the next chapter of Bellflower's story.

Enhancing Public Safety

Bellflower continues to expand its use of coordinated strategies and tools to strengthen public safety and support faster, more effective responses. This work includes ongoing collaboration with our neighboring cities of Paramount and Lakewood through the creation of the Station Cities Public Safety Joint Powers Authority - a regional public safety partnership with neighboring cities to pool public safety resources within each community and address community safety across city boundaries - crime does not stop at our city boundaries, and neither should our effort.

Bellflower continued supporting operation of the New Hope Temporary Shelter, a 50-bed shelter and extended its contract with Mercy House to support ongoing shelter operations. Last year, the City secured grant funding to support the shelter's ongoing operational costs and continues to pursue additional external funding to sustain operations and serve the broad Bellflower community.

Building on the City's successful efforts to reduce homelessness in Bellflower through the creation of the New Hope Shelter, in 2025, the City also increased it's efforts to consistently and regularly engage with unhoused individuals and maintain safe and clean public spaces. The City established the Bellflower Enforcement and Safety Team (B.E.A.S.T.), a focused team of public safety, maintenance and community services personnel dedicated to supporting community safety, maintaining clean and well-maintained public spaces and connecting individuals experiencing homelessness with available services. The team includes public safety staff, public works maintenance workers and sheriff's deputies who work together to provide consistent outreach, enforcement and cleanup of encampment areas while upholding community standards for public spaces.

Bellflower continued expanding its use of technology to strengthen public safety, including license plate reader (LPR) cameras through Flock Safety and gunshot detection technology through ShotSpotter. These tools support faster response times, help identify vehicles connected to criminal activity and improve the accuracy of investigations.

Improving Public Outreach, Transparency and Connection

In 2025, the City established a centralized Communications & Marketing Division to improve coordination, consistency and how information is shared with the community. The division is focused on bringing City information to residents' doorsteps using multiple platforms to consistently share timely, relevant information.

A major initiative of 2025 was the reintroduction and expansion of the seasonal Parks & Recreation brochure as the Bellflower City Life magazine: a holistic City news publication highlighting major programs across the Bellflower community. The expanded magazine lets residents find all of the relevant community information they need in one place.

The City also completed a communications assessment to help guide outreach improvements and strengthen transparency and access to information. This will serve as a guide for continued improvement of the City's traditional and digital communications efforts.

Investing in a High-Performing and Efficient City Team

Bellflower invested in its workforce, systems and infrastructure to support reliable and responsive public services. These efforts were supported by the City's Finance team, whose award-winning work reflects the City's ongoing commitment to sound fiscal management, transparency, and long-term financial planning. As service demands from our residents increased, the City invested significantly in employee training and professional development to keep up with changing priorities. These efforts have improved recruitment and staffing efforts and bolstered the City's ability to provide unparalleled service to Bellflower residents.

The restructuring of the City's economic development department in 2025 supported long-term readiness and planning and the addition of an advanced planning division will allow the City to plan for its future and attract local businesses that support residents' needs for many years to come. Technology investments further strengthened City operations through system upgrades, improved cybersecurity and enhanced internal tools.

The City also continued modernizing resident-facing services, including progress toward online permitting, electronic plan checks and improved service request systems. All of these systems will streamline residents' interactions with City Hall and help Bellflower become a leader in innovation and technological achievement.

Building and Safety Services

In 2025, the City took deliberate steps to reinforce and improve how building and fire safety services are delivered, providing greater clarity, consistency and predictability for residents and project applicants. Following the devastating Palisades and Eaton fires, the City Council reaffirmed its decision to adopt the California Fire Code, encouraging efficient development throughout the City while upholding the highest standard of public safety and protecting the lives of our residents, visitors and firefighters. The City also reaffirmed its commitment to its innovative Self Certification program to expedite the permitting process for residents and developers by authorizing licensed professionals to certify code compliance and assume professional liability for submitted plans, while the City retains inspection and enforcement authority. This balanced approach promotes efficient project advancement, professional accountability and consistent inspection and enforcement of projects to ensure the safety of all those who live, work and play in the City of Bellflower, and it has been widely recognized as a model for other communities statewide.

Building on these long-standing foundational efforts, the City implemented targeted improvements to the administration of building services and fire plan reviews. These changes strengthened internal coordination, streamlined review processes, expanded flexible submittal options and ensured continued compliance with State-mandated timelines - something the City could not guarantee with external plan reviewers. Together, these efforts improved reliability and reduced uncertainty for applicants while maintaining appropriate safety oversight.

Supporting Quality of Life and Economic Development

Throughout 2025, Bellflower continued investing in parks, programs, facilities and infrastructure that enhance quality of life across the community. The Parks & Recreation Master Plan established a long-term framework for parks and programs, supported by aligned capital investment planning. The City continued offering a wide range of recreation programs and hosting community events that bring residents together.

Major community investments also advanced, including progress on construction of The Oak Center, a new facility designed to serve residents of multiple age groups. Moreover, upgrades to public facilities, parking, ADA compliance and beautification efforts contributed to safer, more accessible and appealing public spaces. Concurrently, these quality-of-life investments supported broader economic development goals by helping create attractive, active and welcoming places to live, work, and do business. The City also continued supporting responsible economic development through business attraction, reinvestment and strategic property management to strengthen local businesses and support housing and commercial activity.

Looking Ahead

The work completed in 2025 positions Bellflower to continue meeting community needs while planning thoughtfully for the future. Consistent with the City's Strategic Plan, these efforts reflect Bellflower's commitment to efficient and effective operations, thoughtful growth and high-quality public services. By reinforcing clear standards, strengthening coordination and investing in City systems and staff, Bellflower is poised to continue its tradition of excellence.