Today’s Morning Buzz is brought to you by Alexander Fung, Economic Development Manager from the City of Eastvale, CA. Connect with Alexander on LinkedIn.
- What I’m eating: All-you-can-eat Korean BBQ and Sushi
- What I’m watching: Australian Olympic breakdancer Rachael Gunn’s performance at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
- What I’m working on: Establishing a new downtown for Eastvale.
Incorporated in 2010, the City of Eastvale is currently the third-youngest city in California. With a population of over 69,000, Eastvale is rapidly growing and boasts a diverse population with the highest median household income in Riverside County. Despite experiencing tremendous growth over the past decade, Eastvale still has no post offices and shares its two ZIP codes with its neighboring communities. Residents have to travel to neighboring cities to utilize services from the United States Postal Service (USPS). Sharing ZIP codes with its neighboring cities has caused various challenges for Eastvale’s residents and businesses.
Eastvale currently shares ZIP code 92880 with the neighboring cities of Chino, Norco, and Corona and ZIP code 91752 with the neighboring city of Jurupa Valley. While each ZIP code can include multiple communities or cities, government agencies and data analytical companies generally only list one city name for each ZIP code. Sharing ZIP codes with neighboring cities has caused emergency management, public safety, business attraction, mail delivery, insurance rate mismatches, election confusion, and community identity challenges. Some businesses have failed to receive packages, checks, bank notices, and other important documents, while residents have experienced situations where they have been charged higher premiums because insurance companies or other businesses thought that these residents reside in another city that shares the same ZIP code.
Despite receiving over 1,300 letters of support from community members, a signed resolution from Governor Newsom and the California State Legislature, and a signed resolution from the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, the USPS has been unwilling to grant Eastvale a new and independent ZIP code. Eastvale staff began to strategize innovatively and recognized that Eastvale is not the only municipality that is experiencing postal and ZIP code issues.
In April 2023, the City of Eastvale partnered with the City of Castle Pines in Colorado to launch an informal coalition of cities working to address postal and ZIP code challenges, known as the National ZIP Code Advocacy Coalition. Chaired by both Eastvale and Castle Pines, the Coalition hosts quarterly meetings for cities to share best practices and highlight their experiences with the USPS. Over time, the coalition grew to include more than two dozen cities, towns, and villages across 12 states. Elected officials, city managers, directors, managers, and analysts from impacted cities come together at these quarterly virtual meetings to brainstorm partnership opportunities.
Examples of successful partnerships include impacted cities connecting their federal representatives, such as senators and Congress members, together to introduce legislation in Congress, hosting collective lobbying trips in D.C. and hiring lobbyists together to maximize effectiveness and reduce expenses.
The coalition functions as an informal work group, with no cost for individuals to join. Any elected official or staff from impacted cities are invited to join the meetings and discussions. Due to the success of the coalition, staffers from senators’ offices and Congress members’ offices began to join the meetings to offer recommendations and provide support.
Interested individuals can contact the Coalition’s Co-Chairs Alexander Fung from the City of Eastvale at afung@eastvaleca.gov, and Michael Penny from the City of Castle Pines at michael.penny@castlepinesco.gov.