For Mayor Peter Kim, La Palma delivers with good schools and high test scores, low crime, a high rate of volunteerism and a small-town feel. It’s a “Mayberry town sort of place,” he said.

Goedhart has changed the format for this year’s State of the City, which takes place at 7 p.m. on April 26 at the La Palma Community Center, from a luncheon to a town hall. The mayor said he ...