Corona mayor doubles down on comment about city's downtown

A choice set of words from Corona's mayor is drawing a lot of attention after he used a strong term to describe the condition of the city's downtown along Sixth Street. 

Mayor Jim Steiner doubled down on his remark during a Wednesday night city council meeting. 

"Downtown's a [expletive] hole, clean it up. I can't even let my family go down a block,' that's what I hear," Steiner said.

The mayor's comment was made in regard to a proposal that would phase out businesses like auto shops, gas stations, motels and massage parlors by using a type of zoning tool for revitalization efforts. 

Dozens of auto shop owners packed the council chambers to voice their concerns, including Jonathan Van Egmond and his dad Harvey, who operated an auto shop along Sixth Street for the last 25 years.

"You just told my dad on Monday that the downtown is a [expletive] hole," Jonathan Van Egmond said. "It's not because of our businesses."

Havey Van Egmond added that none of the auto shops knew about the agenda item until the very last minute. 

"There are about 30 automotive repair shops in town, in this section," he said. "Their answer is, in 10 years, all of us need to be gone."

The council decided not to move forward with the proposal, instead planning to meet further with business owners. 

While councilmember Jacque Casillas apologized for the mayor's comment, Steiner stood by his statement.

"I stand by that comment, as would most of our residents, because 6th St. and our downtown area have been neglected for decades," Steiner wrote in a statement. "While my word choice could have been better, my intent was to highlight that we recognize the issues downtown, we aren't shying away from the problems there and are actively working on improvements to the area."

Yousuf Bhaghani, who runs a food bank on Sixth Street, agreed with Steiner. He believes the city should clean up some businesses that aren't up to code but keep the ones, like Harvey's, that are bettering the community.

"I've been living in the city for 26 years," Bhaghani said. "I have three businesses on Sixth Street. I have seen how this Sixth Street is actually getting worse, and worse, and worse."

City leaders have spent the last five years crafting a sweeping plan to reshape downtown, which involves hundreds of millions of dollars in proposed upgrades, something that Harvey would like to be a part of. 

"These are vibrant, growing businesses that are serving the community," he said.