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On July 14, 2014, then City Clerk Denise Basham swore in new Cypress City Manager Peter Grant.
On July 14, 2022, Peter Grant becomes the second-longest-serving manager in the City’s history. Only Darrell Essex, who oversaw the growth of the City from 4,000 residents to 46,000 residents, served longer — for 34 years beginning in 1962. The former Texaco Chestnut Park on Ball Road, built on land donated by Texaco, was renamed Darrell Essex Park in his honor. Mr. Essex passed away on April 17, 2019.
The patchwork of business park specific plans that he put together to entice large businesses to the only city in Orange County with no direct freeway access is now being updated in a project initiated by Mr. Grant and overseen by Cypress Planning Director Alicia Velasco.
Because of a conservative fiscal policy maintained by the Cypress City Council and managed by Mr. Grant and his staff, the City of Cypress weathered the economic and political turmoil of the COVID-19 pandemic in a sturdy fashion, enabling the City to extend support to residents and businesses in need of help through both existing programs and innovative new programs designed and implemented by City Staff.
Two new parks have been built during Mr. Grant’s tenure: Mackay Park on Walker Street north of Lincoln Avenue and Lexington Park on the southeast corner of Cerritos Avenue and Lexington Drive. Additionally, a major renovation of the City’s oldest park, Cypress Arnold Park, is currently underway. A preliminary design was approved on July 11, 2022.
A long-anticipated remodeling of the police department facility was completed, with the renewed facility open for public tours during a revived Police Open House earlier this year.
A new community survey commissioned by the City and released in May showed high levels of satisfaction with the City. Conducted by True North Research of Encinitas, the survey collected responses from 707 randomly selected residents and has a margin of error of ±3.7%. It follows up on a similar community survey conducted by the same company in 2018. A conclusion from the new survey:
Some demographic information from the survey:
| Selected demographics | 2022 | 2018 |
| Ethnicity (QD7) | ||
| Af Amer/Black | 4.3 | 2.7 |
| Asian American | 33.9 | 26.4 |
| Caucasian / White | 38.3 | 37.6 |
| Latino / Hispanic | 18.5 | 18.6 |
| Mixed or other | 3.4 | 7.1 |
| Prefer not to answer | 1.6 | 7.6 |
| Survey Language (QD7) | ||
| English | 90.4 | 87.3 |
| Spanish | 3.6 | 7.2 |
| Korean | 5.9 | 5.6 |
