Signal Hill
A small hilltop city of about 12,000 entirely surrounded by Long Beach, Signal Hill sits atop one of the most productive urban oil fields in the country and offers sweeping views across the LA basin from its namesake summit.
- Population 11,848
- Size band small
- Area 2.2 sq mi
- Government Council–Manager (general law)
- Council at-large
- Incorporated 1924
Coverage: 14 meetings · 71 substantive items · 2025-12-08 → 2026-05-26 · agenda source: Legistar
Signal Hill's council agenda from late 2025 through May 2026 has been dominated by three interlocking threads: active real-property negotiations, a disciplined budget cycle, and a wave of capital project completions. The most persistent item is the city-owned 1.9-acre parcel at the 2400 Block of Gardena Avenue (Heritage Square Central Business District), which appeared in closed-session negotiations across at least five separate agendas before yielding a concrete Exclusive Negotiation Agreement with Red Mountain Group in April. Two additional properties — a 4.92-acre private site at 3201 Walnut Avenue and a vacant lot bounded by Cherry and St. Louis Avenues — entered closed session in the same window, and the council contracted with PlaceWorks for CEQA analysis of the city's Opportunity Study Areas, indicating a coordinated push to activate multiple development sites simultaneously. A pipeline franchise for Zenith Energy progressed from a resolution of intent in April to a public hearing in May, reflecting ongoing stewardship of Signal Hill's industrial infrastructure.
Fiscal governance intensified throughout the period. The council adopted a new budget management policy and approved a mid-year FY 2025-26 budget review with appropriations adjustments in February, directed staff on two consecutive agendas to schedule a biennial budget workshop before formalizing that direction in March, ran a competitive RFP for investment management services (awarding to Chandler Asset Management in April), and held a full budget study session in May. A Development Impact Fee Study public hearing in May — paired with the January annual report on development impact fees — signals an active repricing of the fee schedule ahead of the new fiscal year. Capital investment is visible across utility, transportation, and facilities categories: the Automated Meter Reading System purchase for the water utility, a Measure R funding agreement for the Willow Street and Cherry Avenue corridors, Measure W safe clean water project authorizations, SB 1 road repair project lists, and final acceptances for both the citywide roof replacement and City Hall window replacement.
Staffing has also been in flux. The council filled the Community Development Director position through closed session in January (the new director was publicly introduced in March) and opened a Public Works Director recruitment in April, amending the compensation plan to create the classification. A new Assistant City Clerk was introduced in May. Alongside this governance activity, the council maintained a consistent community-engagement cadence — cultural proclamations for Black History Month, AAPI Heritage Month, LGBTQ+ Pride Month, Public Works Week, and Building Safety Month; presentations from the Conservation Corps of Long Beach and Long Beach Animal Care Services; a homeless outreach progress report; and a public art contract for Hillbrook Park. SB 707 compliance (internet and phone disruption during meetings) moved from a staff briefing in February to a formal resolution in May, illustrating the council's pattern of working state-law mandates to closure across multiple meetings.
(Synthesized from the 120 most recent items.)
What to watch AI-generated
Key items (8)
- [26-1548] EXCLUSIVE NEGOTIATION AGREEMENT WITH RED MOUNTAIN GROUP — Signal Hill, 2026-04-14 · Exclusive Negotiation Agreement with Red Mountain Group is the concrete output of months of Heritage Square closed-session negotiations — the most persistent single matter on the agenda.
- [26-1392] FISCAL YEAR 2025-26 MID-YEAR BUDGET REVIEW AND RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING APPROPRIATIONS FROM THE FISCAL YEAR 2024-25 GENERAL FUND OPERATING POSITIVE FUND BALANCE; CURRENT YEAR APPROPRIATION ADJUSTMENTS AND CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN BUDGET AND RELATED FUNDING; TRANSFERS FOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN PROJECTS; AMENDING THE FISCAL YEAR 2025-2026 BUDGET — Signal Hill, 2026-02-24 · Mid-year FY 2025-26 budget review with appropriations adjustments and new budget management policy establishes the fiscal baseline for the council's spending decisions.
- [26-1610] BUDGET STUDY SESSION — Signal Hill, 2026-05-19 · Budget Study Session in May marks the council moving into active FY 2026-27 deliberations, the next stage of the escalating budget process.
- [26-1637] PUBLIC HEARING - DEVELOPMENT IMPACT FEE STUDY — Signal Hill, 2026-05-26 · Development Impact Fee Study public hearing signals an active repricing of fees that will shape the economics of every future development project.
- [26-1406] FUNDING AGREEMENT WITH THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY FOR THE WILLOW STREET AND CHERRY AVENUE EFFICIENT CORRIDORS PROJECT; MEASURE R FUNDING — Signal Hill, 2026-03-10 · Measure R funding agreement for the Willow/Cherry corridors project is the largest identifiable transportation capital commitment in the period.
- [26-1405] SOLE SOURCE PUBLIC WORKS PURCHASE AGREEMENT WITH AQUA-METRIC SALES COMPANY FOR THE AUTOMATED METER READING SYSTEM EQUIPMENT — Signal Hill, 2026-03-24 · Automated Meter Reading System purchase reflects a water utility infrastructure investment and is the clearest example of utility capital spending in the dataset.
- [26-1552] A CLOSED SESSION WILL BE HELD PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 54957(b)(1) APPOINTMENT OF ONE (1) PUBLIC EMPLOYEE TITLE: PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR — Signal Hill, 2026-04-28 · Public Works Director appointment closed session, paired with the April compensation plan amendment, captures the most consequential personnel action of the period.
- [26-1525] UPDATE ON THE CITY'S EFFORTS AND INITIATIVES TO DELIVER HOMELESS OUTREACH AND PREVENTION SERVICES — Signal Hill, 2026-03-24 · Homeless outreach and prevention update is the primary recurring social-services thread and shows the council's sustained attention to a non-capital community issue.
Scorecard vs 6 cohort peers
Each topic is shown as this city's share of council attention (% of its substantive items) next to the median share of its peer cohort — so size doesn't distort the comparison. Dollars are shown per resident (a causal denominator) and suppressed where too few peers have extracted amounts.
| Topic | Attention share | Peer median | vs peers | $ / resident | Peer median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Budget & Finance | 46% | 31% | ▲ +15pp | — | $441.41 |
| Governance & Administration | 25% | 25% | ≈ | — | $9.89 |
| Streets & Infrastructure | 11% | 14% | ▼ -3pp | — | $205.75 |
| Permitting & Land Use | 8% | 9% | ≈ | — | n/a |
| Economic Development | 4% | 4% | ≈ | — | $0.48 |
| Public Safety | 3% | 6% | ▼ -3pp | — | $12.07 |
| Climate & Environment | 1% | 5% | ▼ -4pp | — | $126.34 |
| Homelessness | 1% | 0% | ▲ +1pp | — | n/a |
| Housing | 1% | 4% | ▼ -2pp | — | n/a |
| Other | 0% | 1% | ▼ -1pp | — | n/a |
pp = percentage points of attention share. Peers: Sierra Madre, Calabasas, Culver City, Claremont, Redondo Beach, Pomona.
📅 Browse all meetings & agendas (14) — filter by date, topic, or keyword
Peer cohort comparable cities
Cities most comparable to Signal Hill by population, size, governance, and sub-region — the basis for fair comparison. Budget attributes are not loaded yet; cohort uses size, governance, and sub-region. With a small sample this is a soft grouping — the framework scales as cities are added.
Learning from peer cities
Matches found from similar agenda wording across cities — useful starting points to investigate, not proof that one city copied another.
Where Signal Hill and peers overlap
Matters Signal Hill worked on that peer cities also took up.
Ideas from peer cities (not found here yet)
Matters peer cities acted on that we haven't found a comparable item for in Signal Hill.