The addition of sheriff’s deputies was one of the top highlights during this year’s Apple Valley State of the Town, held on Wednesday at the Singh Center for the Arts.
“Playing Our Cards Right” was the theme of the public event, where the Apple Valley Town Council and staff spent much of the hour visiting with guests and reviewing past accomplishments of the town.
Many attendees told the Daily Press they were impressed by the interior of the building, which resembled a casino floor complete with card tables and dealers, chocolate poker chips, a wheel of fortune and a makeshift slot machine.
Visitors were also given a custom-made deck of playing cards, with each card highlighting one of last year’s achievements, such as the town filling of 43,950 potholes and seeing the opening of 573 new businesses.
Inside the former theater, newly hired Town Manager Todd Bodem invited the council to address the audience composed of residents, town staff, community leaders and business professionals.
During the presentation, Mayor Scott Nassif, Mayor Pro Tem Larry Cusack and Council Members Art Bishop, Kari Leon and Curt Emick delivered scripted content while also introducing a variety of videos about the town.
More deputies
During one video, Apple Valley Sheriff’s Station Capt. Tim Visosky and Mayor Nassif spoke about a portion of the $7.3 million that Measure P has generated since July 2025.
Visosky said the passage of Measure P equated to the addition of eight new station deputies, along with one sheriff’s service specialist and one sergeant.
The captain said that with deputy additions and transitions, his station is “up 12 positions, which is a great deal.”
Visosky added that once the deputies are given the green light, the station will have double the deputies on patrol per shift, compared to April 2025.
“Since July 2025, the gang team has authored over 49 search warrants,” Visosky said. “They recovered 36 illegal firearms and 28 pounds of illegal narcotics.”
Visosky said that after residing in Apple Valley for 25 years, he knows “there are a lot of good people in Apple Valley,” and his team is doing their best to support them.
Several residents told the Daily Press they were pleased to see more deputies on patrol since the passage of Measure P.
In 2025, Apple Valley deputies handled 58,697 calls for service, made 1,723 arrests, responded to 229 collisions and made 122 DUI arrests.
The S.H.O.C.K. program graduated 24 kids, bringing the total number of grads to over 750 since the program began in 2007.
McConnell Park delay
During another video, Park and Recreation Director Debbie Rivera told Councilman Bishop that completion of the “Capt. Joseph McConnell Jr., USAF Park” would “probably” happen in fall 2026.
On Veterans Day 2025, town officials unveiled a Veterans Memorial during the “grand opening” of McConnell Park, behind the Apple Valley School District Administrative office facility, located at 12555 Navajo Road.
The opening of the grant-funded park included a children’s playground, a veterans monument, bathrooms and a shaded picnic area.
The uncompleted portion of the park includes the sports fields, dog park and sod installation, town officials told the Daily Press.
Several residents said they were disappointed to hear that the park won’t be fully for spring or summer.
David Rice was one of three residents who told the Daily Press they’d like to see more “transparency” from the council, regarding budgeting, uncompleted projects, road improvements and “poor spending habits.”
Highlights of 2025 accomplishments
Cheesy, fun and informative
Paul Casilla, the Senior Vice President/Broker Associate at Lee & Associates in Victorville, told the Daily Press about experiencing his first State of the Town at the old theater.
“I thought today’s presentation was just cheesy enough to be fun and entertaining and just informative enough to serve its purpose of providing an executive summary of the town’s progress in 2025,” said Casilla.
He also thought it was “pretty cool” seeing the town’s packs of playing cards, produced as a dual-purpose memento for the event that also happened to include the agenda of important milestones discussed during the presentation.
“Being a local regional commercial real estate broker for about 12 years now, I’m always interested and often focused on new development, business growth, job growth, and to a lesser extent housing,” said Casilla, who also serves on the Adelanto Planning Commission.
Despite being impressed by the town’s progress in new businesses and major retail developments, he was “a little disappointed” to find out only 120 housing permits were issued in 2025.
“To me, that’s an indicator that profitable residential development is a bit more challenging to accomplish in recent years,” Casilla said.
What to look forward to in 2026
Nassif announced that the town will host a Community Budget Workshop to allow residents to examine how the budgeting and funding process works.
He also stated that Community Clean Up events will transition from quarterly to once per month.
Other projects in 2026 include:
Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on X @DP_ReneDeLaCruz
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: More deputies, millions from Measure P. What Apple Valley highlighted at State of the Town
Reporting by Rene Ray De La Cruz, Victorville Daily Press / Victorville Daily Press
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