Four Years of Learning from California''s Cities: D''Andre Lampkin Attends 2026 Cal Cities Annual Conference

From September 23–25, I attended the 2026 League of California Cities Annual Conference and Expo at the Anaheim Convention Center.

The annual conference brings together city officials, professional staff, policy experts, and organizations from across California for educational sessions, peer-to-peer discussions, regional meetings, an expo, and Cal Cities' member-driven policy and resolutions process. The 2026 program included general and concurrent sessions covering issues facing local governments, along with opportunities for city leaders to exchange experiences and learn from one another.

Learn more about the 2026 Cal Cities Annual Conference and Expo

This was not my first Cal Cities conference. I have attended for the past four years because I care about what is happening across California and how decisions, trends, and challenges elsewhere may eventually affect residents here in Ontario.

Long before I decided to run for City Council, I was attending conferences, trainings, and professional gatherings because I believed continuing education was part of being an effective public servant.

Conferences like Cal Cities give us an opportunity to get outside of our own bubble.

We network. We listen. We hear from leaders representing communities very different from our own. We learn what worked, what did not work, what challenges other cities did not anticipate, and what lessons might help us prepare before similar issues reach Ontario.

Sometimes the most useful conversation is not about copying another city's solution. It is simply understanding why another city made a particular decision and what happened afterward.

That perspective matters.

California cities are confronting many of the same broad issues: housing, infrastructure, public safety, economic development, fiscal pressures, transportation, workforce needs, emergency preparedness, and maintaining quality of life as communities change.

But those issues do not affect every city in exactly the same way.

That is why I believe it is important to listen to leaders from throughout the state while still evaluating what makes sense for Ontario.

My experience on the Ontario Planning Commission has continually reinforced that good local decision-making requires context. What works somewhere else may not automatically work here, but understanding other cities' experiences can help us ask better questions and identify problems earlier.

The conference was also an opportunity to reconnect with people who have influenced my life and career.

Pictured with me is one of my longtime law-enforcement mentors. Our relationship began when I was just 14 years old and participating in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Explorer program.

At a time when much of what I knew growing up in South Central Los Angeles involved gangs, barred windows, secured alleyways, and neighborhoods where opportunities could sometimes feel distant, mentors like him helped expose me to a much larger world.

He showed me that there were other environments, other possibilities, and other paths available.

When I needed advice, he was a phone call away. When I needed guidance, he was there. And when I needed someone to help me understand that where I started did not determine where I could go, he helped provide that perspective.

Years later, I still value opportunities to learn from the people who helped shape the person and public servant I became.

My interest in learning how cities work did not begin when I became a candidate.

For years, I have sought out conferences, trainings, conversations with other public officials, professional education, and opportunities to understand issues before they arrive at our doorstep.

For me, attending Cal Cities is part of that continuing education.

Ontario does not exist in isolation. Decisions being made in Sacramento, lessons being learned in other municipalities, emerging technologies, changing economic conditions, and new approaches to public policy can eventually affect the people who live and work here.

I want to understand those changes early.

And when another community has already encountered a challenge Ontario may someday face, I want us to have the benefit of learning from their experience before we have to confront it ourselves.

D'Andre Lampkin is a candidate for Ontario City Council, District 3 and currently serves as an Ontario Planning Commissioner.

Leadership Built on Service. A Vision Built for Ontario.