Mayor Rex Richardson, looking at once to close a multimillion-dollar deficit and burnish his regional profile as an innovator, unveiled a wellspring of economic and housing proposals while embracing the virtues of immigration on Thursday at his annual State of the City address.
The address, the fourth and final of his first term, set the mayor’s agenda as he runs for reelection this year and promoted his top accomplishments before a room of supporters and cameras.
At the center of his address: a goal to bring 4,000 more jobs to the city by 2028. Richardson said these will be good-paying jobs in the “high-growth” sectors of aerospace, clean technology and advanced manufacturing.
“That’s the future that we are building,” Richardson said. “A part of that future is giving people a reason to come here.”
As he unveiled the plan, Richardson also highlighted other jobs and economic development achievements that have thus far defined his administration.
He cited the recent expansion of Vast Space, a startup aerospace company that recently purchased a 76,000-square-foot facility — its fourth and largest addition — meant to house its now more than 1,000 employees.
He announced that the swimwear brand Speedo will move its North American headquarters from Cypress to Long Beach.
“It makes sense for Long Beach, not just because we’re hosting the Olympics and a number of aquatic events, but because of our aquatic history,” Richardson said, adding the point that four athletes from Long Beach were on the bronze-winning water polo team in the 2024 Paris games.
Without offering specifics, the Mayor hinted that more companies will be announced during an economic summit in June.
He welcomed news that L.A.-based chain Marathon Burger, created by Samiel “Blacc Sam” Asghedom (brother of the late musician Nipsey Hussle), will move into the former Johnny Rockets burger shop on Pine Avenue.
He also called for $9 million in small business grants and for the creation of what he dubbed the “AnchorLB” initiative, which will incentivize international shippers and firms to relocate their headquarters to downtown Long Beach.
“If you ship through the Port of Long Beach, we want your offices here,” Richardson said.
Despite what he saw as strong economic gains, Richardson warned of the coming pain of spending cuts in response to lost revenues from oil production and a slowing economy.
The city faces a $60 million structural shortfall through 2023, meaning it’s expected to face a deficit each consecutive year, including $40 million this year. Historically crucial oil revenues are in steady decline, and federal cuts have axed nearly $4 million in health programs in a city where its public health sector is the second-highest employer.
This, combined with an unpredictable flow of money from a federal government that has at times been hostile to Long Beach, has put the city into uncharted budgetary waters recently. Meanwhile, voters’ confidence in local leaders has wavered. A recent poll showed only 36% think Long Beach is on the right track, and there’s rising concern about waste and mismanagement.
Richardson framed his push for new industries as a need to adapt, that the city should embrace its tourism industry — a sector officials say in the past year has outpaced Anaheim and San Diego.
“The industries that we’ve counted on for a long time are changing,” the mayor said.
Despite looming economic trouble, Richardson offered several crowd-pleasers. During the Olympics, Ireland will host an international team house in Long Beach, the third behind Greece and Denmark to broker such an agreement.
He highlighted Long Beach’s growing place on the global stage by pointing out delegates from around a dozen countries were in attendance, including those from Belgium, China, Ireland and Denmark.
And he bragged that FIFA will host a World Cup Fan Zone in the city’s downtown when the tournament arrives in the region this summer. Richardson characterized the zone as a “live, two-week activation on Pine Avenue” that will draw thousands of visitors, paid for using a $378,000 grant from Los Angeles Metro.
The Long Beach Baseball Club, an independent league team announced last year, also confirmed its new name will rotate between the “Coast” and “Regulators.”
Teasing the reveal, Richardson perused over a table with three baseball caps— each with a logo representing a parrot, a regulator and the coast — and asked the audience which they would pick. A resounding majority cheered for Regulators, while Coast was met with a stunned silence.
Other announcements were moreso updates on old news. The city is set to break ground Wednesday morning on its new, $21 million coastal amphitheater, with 25 events already scheduled, starting with an inaugural show on June 6. Richardson noted the venue has already secured $11 million in private sponsorships.
The Belmont Aquatics Center, tabled for months due to rising costs, may soon see movement. The City Council next week will decide whether to approve a $105 million spending plan for the long-promised pool. In the agenda item, officials said $76 million can be covered by Tidelands funds, while another $24.5 million may need to be paid for using bonds.
Richardson said the city’s journey toward greater prosperity over the last four years mostly ran along a road that he began paving in his first year, with a state of emergency on homelessness.
In years past, Richardson promised the construction of thousands of units of affordable housing, ambitious but vague job programs and major expansions to existing assets like the Queen Mary.
In his eyes, he’s made good on the promises. There are 84% more shelter beds, 5,000 more homes and a speedier hiring of public employees — within 90 days, they say — than three years ago.
“It was a tent city downtown when we walked into the office,” Richardson said. “The tents are gone. You don’t see visible tents anymore.”
Local data, though, shows homelessness has remained stubbornly high, up 6.5% at last count in Jan. 2025, with nearly 3,600 people lacking stable housing — about 1,500 more than before the pandemic. Another count to measure progress since then is scheduled for later this month.
In a section of his speech focused on public safety, Richardson also said the city has seen declines in homicides, a third fewer shootings, half as many commercial burglaries and a 21% drop in residential burglaries. Last year was also the first, he said, when Long Beach police did not shoot a single person.
Despite an overwhelmingly optimistic tone, Richardson’s speech was interrupted three times by protesters. The first came early in the night, during a tidbit on housing, when a protester in the theater shouted: “When are you going to protect black workers?” After a brief exchange, Richardson left the stage, and the protestor was escorted out.
Protesters in the next two outbursts pushed him to take a stronger stance supporting Palestine and against Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Long Beach.
Midway through the address, Richardson spoke directly about the violent immigration raids that began last summer and continue today, despite protests from residents to stymie them and condemnations from the local elected officials.
“Let me say this directly and unequivocally clear: ICE does not belong in our city. ICE does not belong in our hotels. ICE does not belong in our schools, not in our places of worship, not at our places of work, not in Long Beach, period,” he said, to a standing ovation.