Ria Pavia is the deputy director of innovation, performance, and audit for the city of Ontario. Jordan Villwock is Ontario’s deputy city manager. They can be reached at IPA@ontarioca.gov.

In Ontario, California, construction crews recently completed a $150 million baseball stadium. Set to open this spring, the stadium is home to a new Dodgers-affiliated minor league team. But for city leaders, building the complex was only part of the mission. Equally important was showing residents how it was funded and that the city was delivering on its promises.  

The Ontario Sports Empire will span nearly 200 acres and will become one of the largest multi-use sports complexes west of the Rocky Mountains. Projects on this scale are rare in local government. For many city staff, working on projects of this magnitude — and seeing several move forward at once — is something that might only happen once in a career.

The stadium is funded by Measure Q, a 1% sales tax increase approved by voters in 2022. During the ballot measure’s campaign, city officials outlined their plans to invest the $60 million annual revenue in parks, infrastructure, public spaces, and entertainment districts to strengthen neighborhoods and improve the quality of life for Ontario’s 185,000 residents.

To stay accountable, city leaders last year launched Building Our Future, a public-facing dashboard that gives residents clear visibility into infrastructure investments and major projects. Built using Envisio, a performance management platform used by public agencies, the online dashboard tracks project statuses, timelines, and budgets in real time across nine key areas:

• Ontario Sports Empire. A sports and entertainment complex with 27 multi-use fields that can host large tournaments for baseball, softball, rugby, and other sports. The complex also includes hotels, restaurants, and retail, creating a powerful economic development engine for the region.
• Civic Center Campus Expansion. A major investment in downtown Ontario, this three-story building will combine multiple city departments to make service delivery more convenient for residents and strengthen the heart of the community.
• Wellness Campus. A planned community support campus designed to provide emergency and temporary housing and supportive services for residents experiencing homelessness or economic instability. This includes converting an old motel into interim housing.
• Grand Park. A park that will span about 340 acres, making it one of the largest parks in the region. The park will have miles of walking and biking trails, open space, dog parks, farmers markets, a small amphitheater, and agricultural education areas that reflect Ontario’s historic farming roots.
• Arena District. Ontario’s premier entertainment hub, which will add new residential units, luxury retail, upscale dining, and entertainment around the sports complex.
• Downtown Revitalization. Efforts to enhance lighting, signage, landscaping, and pedestrian-friendly features in Ontario’s downtown district, as well as increase mixed-use developments.
• Infrastructure Projects. Multiyear programs that will address longstanding inadequate storm drainage, as well as improve safety, mobility, and visual quality along key corridors.
• Real-Time Information Center. A new division of the Ontario Police Department that harnesses live data from police cameras, databases, and drones to strengthen public safety. Since the center opened in 2025, crime has decreased by 20%.
• Park Projects. Efforts to enhance, beautify, and modernize parks across the city. For example, the city is rebuilding De Anza Park with a new skate park and splash pad, while Anthony Muñoz Park will receive a new gymnasium to better serve a historically underserved area.

With so many high-impact projects in the works, it was crucial that residents see how the city was using their tax dollars. But the public dashboard is more than a way to share real-time, accurate updates. People can also weigh in with their feedback or ask questions, providing a direct way to communicate with city leaders.

Key takeaways for other cities

With many cities facing increasing pressure for transparency and accountability on spending, Ontario’s approach offers a replicable model for connecting communities with their capital investments. A few lessons from Ontario’s dashboard implementation are:

1. Be disciplined with data. The best dashboards automatically pull clean data from various places. Organizing your data and maintaining a clear data hierarchy that’s consistent across departments helps ensure the information is up to date and accurate.
2. Have strategic plans for each agency. Have a strategic plan that uses common language for each agency. Using the same terminology helps data flow seamlessly and prevents confusion.
3. Embrace a culture shift. Cities aren’t always known for sharing data and updates, but embracing transparency and building trust requires internal buy-in.

For Ontario, transparency is tied to trust. When city leaders asked voters to support major investments in infrastructure, they believed residents should be able to see how those dollars are being used and what progress is being made — whether on regional destination projects or smaller neighborhood upgrades. As cities across California take on increasingly complex investments, tools that make progress visible can help strengthen public trust and keep communities connected to their long-term vision.