Results tagged “Suja Lowenthal” from Press Corps

City Council members Tonia Reyes Uranga and Patrick O'Donnell are endorsing Third District Long Beach Unified School Richard Lewis, his campaign announced today.

Lewis seems to be the chosen one for this seat to replace Michael Shane Ellis, who resigned. Council members Robert Garcia, Suja Lowenthal and Val Lerch, and the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce have also endorsed Lewis in the Dec. 29 special election.

Lewis, a financial controller, is a member of the Downtown Long Beach Associates' executive board and president of the East Village Association.

More than two years ago, 2nd District City Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal, impressed by the streetcars she saw during a trip to Portland, asked the council to have city staff conduct a study on implementing a street car system in Long Beach. Today, that report is coming back to the council for a special study session to hear about streetcar options and discuss where to go from here. The study session begins at 3:30 p.m. in City Hall, 333 W. Ocean Blvd.

I've gotten several responses since last week's column offering to answer the public's questions for city officials or about Long Beach government. But I wanted to use this blog to remind our faithful readers about this opportunity. If there's anything you've always wondered about in Long Beach, or maybe there's a specific issue or project you're interested in, then e-mail me at paul.eakins@presstelegram.com and I will get your questions answered. At least, I will include answers to as many questions as I can in this monthly feature for my column, 333: Inside City Hall.

Really, your question can be anything, serious or quirky. Heck, if you want to ask fashionable 2nd District City Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal where she buys her clothes or ask 1st District Councilman Robert Garcia about why he is such a Superman fan, feel free.

 

 

The District Weekly's Dave Wielenga reported today that all police records about a confrontation at City Hall last year, first reported by the Press-Telegram, between a member of Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal's staff and the councilwoman's husband, Superior Court Judge Daniel Lowenthal, have disappeared. Wielenga said he had made a public records request for the documents after police were called yet again for another incident at Suja Lowenthal's office last week. In the most recent case, there was an alleged confrontation between two of Lowenthal's staff members, as first reported by the District.

So where are the reports from last year's incident, which police said at the time was under investigation? Police officials told Wielenga that no records exist. That's a bit suspicious, to say the least.

Read the District's report here. Below is the Press-Telegram story about last year's incident, dated July 22, 2008.

I'm still catching my breath after covering last week's news about Police Chief Tony Batts leaving for Oakland, so here is something that the City Council approved last week -- their committee appointments.

Snoozing already? Sure, committees aren't the sexiest things in the world, but they do serve a purpose, as gatekeepers to much of the legislation that ends up before the council. Mayor Bob Foster made the committee appointments, and most members are on three or four committees, not including the Charter Amendment Committee that is headed by the mayor and on which every council member sits. However, Councilwoman Rae Gabelich sits on five committees.

Councilman Gary DeLong will continue as chairman of the Budget Oversight Committee, supported by council members Patrick O'Donnell and Suja Lowenthal, which could be considered one of the most important ones right now during Long Beach's budget crisis.

Many of the committee appointments seem quite appropriate. Who better to head the Housing and Neighborhoods Committee than man-of-the-people Councilman Dee Andrews? And of course, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd district council members are on the Tidelands and Harbor Committee, since they're the only ones whose districts include a shoreline or port areas. Unlike the other council members, who each leads one or two committees, newcomer Councilman Robert Garcia doesn't have such a role, but he is a member of the Federal Legislation Committee, the State Legislation Commitee and the Tidelands and Harbor Committee.

Click the following link and see the entire committee list for yourself:

Council committees.pdf

City and redevelopment officials on Saturday will celebrate $1.8 million in infrastructure improvements in the Arts District with the debut of 92 new energy-efficient light posts.

The event, which will feature Mayor Bob Foster, 2nd District City Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal, Redevelopment Agency Vice Chairperson Diane Arnold and East Village Association President Richard Lewis, will take place at 7:45 p.m. in front of Utopia Restaurant, 445 E. 1st St.

Residents tonight can hear more about the ArtExchange being built on the former Acres of Books property and weigh in on the project's environmental impact.

City Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal, the Long Beach Redevelopment Agency and the ArtExchange Board of Directors will be on hand to discuss the collaborative art facility project proposed for the southeast corner of Third Street and Long Beach Boulevard.

They'll provide some history of the project, and the architect will do a presentation with more details. The staff also will discuss the project's process under the California Environmental Quality Act.

Long Beach Redevelopment Agency board members earlier this year moved forward with plans to build an art exchange at 240 Long Beach Blvd., which Acres of Books called its home for nearly 50 of its 74 years in business.

Similar to the Torpedo Factory art center in Alexandria, Va., and InCUBATE in Chicago, an art exchange provides a space where visitors can buy art, attend classes and watch artists at work.

The project is about 10,850 square feet of building area with nearly 6,000 square feet in new floor area and would include studios, classrooms and a hot shop for glass blowers and ceramics. Plans for the ArtExchange would incorporate part of Acres' facade.

The meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. at the Museum of Latin American Art, 628 Alamitos Ave. E-mail info@eastvillagelongbeach.com for more information.

Among the many items that went before the Long Beach City Council in a busy and long-running meeting Tuesday was a resolution in support of the state propositions that will be on the ballot next week.

The council voted 4-3 to support the resolutions. Council members Suja Lowenthal, Patrick O'Donnell, Dee Andrews and Tonia Reyes Uranga voted in favor, while council members Robert Garcia, Gerrie Schipske and Rae Gabelich dissented. Vice Mayor Val Lerch abstained, as he usually does on resolutions about ballot measures or similar issues. Lerch has said a non-partisan governmental body like the council shouldn't take a position on issues going before voters, just as it shouldn't back political candidates. Councilman Gary DeLong was absent from the vote.

Will the council's vote make a difference? Polls show voters are likely to reject the propositions May 19. Only Garcia articulated Tuesday why he couldn't support the legislation -- he said he can't support Prop. 1D, which would shift First 5 Children's Commission funding to general health and human services programs for children, and he called the Prop. 1E mental health measure "draconian."

Read up on all of the propositions at the California League of Women Voters voter guide site. It's an objective site that shows the arguments on both sides of each proposition.

We found out from Mayor Bob Foster how all of Long Beach is doing earlier this month. Now find out how the 2nd District is doing.

Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal will deliver her State of the 2nd District address Tuesday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Art Theatre, 2025 East Fourth St.

Her remarks will be followed by presentations from community groups, featuring the Alamitos Beach Neighborhood Association, Bluff Heights Neighborhood Association, Broadway Business Association, Craftsman, Downtown Long Beach Associates, East Village, Hellman Area Neighborhood Association, Pike Merchants Association, Rose Park Neighborhood Association, and Shoreline Village/Downtown Marina regarding their efforts and future goals.

The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments and bike valet will be provided. Seating is limited, so RSVP to Lowenthal's office at 562-570-6684.

Long Beach City Councilman Dee Andrews has endorsed candidate Robert Garcia for the council's 1st District seat, Garcia's campaign announced today.

The endorsement brings to three the number of council members who are backing Garcia in the April 7th special election to replace Bonnie Lowenthal, who is now a member of the state Assembly.

Here's what Andrews, whose 6th District neighbors the 1st District, said in a statement:

I am proud and excited to endorse Robert for the Long Beach City Council.  He represents the change we need at City Hall. I look forward to having a grassroots partner who will stand up for neighborhoods and those most affected by crime and gangs. It's rare to find someone with his energy and innovation and I look forward to working with him.

Garcia also has been endorsed by council members Val Lerch and Suja Lowenthal, state Sen. Alan Lowenthal, state Sen. Jenny Oropeza, Assemblyman Warren Furutani, former Mayor Beverly O'Neill, and the city's police and firefighters unions.

Seven candidates are running for the 1st District seat.

Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal is granting an early holiday wish to Alamitos Beach residents who find it hard to park in their neighborhood.

The 2nd District representative will celebrate 24 new parking spaces at 1st and Cerritos Avenue at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

Lowenthal's office released: "The installation of new all-way stop intersections on 1st Street at Bonito, Cerritos, Gaviota, and Hermosa is to calm traffic speeds and reduce accidents; the installation of crosswalks at all intersections to reduce the size of intersections and emphasize pedestrian safety; and the creation of 24 new parking spaces by strategically shifting angled parking spaces, reducing red zones, and eliminating expired blue zones that are no longer needed."   

        Lowenthal worked in partnership with the Alamitos Beach Neighborhood Association's Parking Committee, which put together a report on the pavement and cub markings along with street usage and alignments that might allow for additional parking in Alamitos Beach.

The City Council approved a revised sex offender ordinance late Tuesday night, but in an odd face-off, City Prosecutor Thomas Reeves said he won't prosecute the law.

The council meeting went late, and as I was filing other stories I missed part of the discussion, so look at the Press-Telegram Web site Wednesday (I can't promise the time, but I'll try to get the story up as quickly as possible) or at Thursday's paper for a full report on the discussion.

It was a bit strange, to be sure, just like the whole sex offender residency issue. I'll boil the situation down for you.

Last winter, neighbors of 1149 E. First St. were alarmed to learn more than a dozen registered sex offenders were living in the apartment building. Their representative, Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal, had the city attorney's office create a law to restrict where sex offenders live in Long Beach and to limit how many can live in a building. The law was passed by the council, then challenged on its constitutionality and the city suspended enforcement of the law, but last month a lawsuit was still filed by 35 sex offenders against the ordinance.

So, the city attorney's office rewrote the law, eliminating its retroactive effect, which means it won't apply to the 800 registered sex offenders living in Long Beach, nor any others who were convicted before the law takes effect 31 days after the mayor approves it. The law also has several other changes, such as limiting to one the number of sex offenders than can live in a single residential unit, such as an apartment, rather than in an entire apartment building as originally written. Furthermore, it eliminates the creation of "child safety zones" of 300 feet around places where children gather.

However, the ordinance keeps certain provisions, such as requiring that sex offenders live at least 2,000 feet from schools and parks. It also restricts property owners from knowingly renting to sex offenders in the restricted areas.

City Attorney Robert Shannon says he will still use civil penalties against those who violate the ordinance, but without Reeves on board, there won't be any criminal penalties for violators.

City, business and community leaders will discuss retail opportunities and recruitment efforts downtown at a community forum on Wednesday, Nov. 19, at the Marriott Courtyard Hotel.

The forum will include 2nd District City Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal and representatives from the Redevelopment Agency, Downtown Long Beach Associates and the Downtown Residential Council, a new coalition of neighborhood and homeowners associations.

The meeting comes at the heels of public outcry over the state of downtown, including Pine Avenue, a once-booming commercial street with more than two dozen empty storefronts in the heart of downtown.

"What I like to do is initiate an honest dialogue with stakeholders in downtown that results in everyone rowing in the same direction and working together toward a common goal," Lowenthal said. "In talking with city and downtown stakeholders, it became pretty evident that we all needed to know where everyone is -- really be on the same page with the various efforts to addressing retail and economic development."

Lowenthal said the meeting will focus on the thinking behind the city's retail plan.
"People weren't sure what was being done," she said. "They see empty storefronts and there's a perception that nothing's being done.
 
"Well, there's a story behind that empty storefront and I think that's a story that needs to be part of this dialogue, giving the history and the foundation of the retail strategy and the evolution of the retail strategy that the city is working on and what the city can do better through the assistance of these residential stakeholders."

The meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. at 500 E. First St. in Long Beach.

Evan Braude, who served on the City Council from 1986 to 1994, is "considering" running for his old 1st District seat if the current council member Bonnie Lowenthal is elected to the state Assembly next week.

That makes Braude, who is in a 20-year relationship and lives with Lowenthal, the fourth known potential candidate for the position.

"I've talked to people about it, but I haven't made any decision yet," Braude said. "I won't make a final decision until after the (November) election."

Because term limits restricting council members to two terms weren't approved until 1992 during Braude's second term, he can serve out the remainder of Lowenthal's term and still serve another full term as well, according to Chief Assistant City Attorney Heather Mahood.

If Lowenthal wins the Assembly seat Tuesday -- she's the favorite in the race -- and if Braude and the other men who have expressed an interest in the council seat go ahead with their campaigns, that will create an odd dynamic in the race.

While Braude is in a relationship and lives with Lowenthal, another person who has expressed an interest in running has connections to her son.

That possible candidate is Robert Garcia, the recently promoted dean of students at Long Beach City College and president of the North Pine Neighborhood Alliance. He sits on the board of the Long Beach non-profit group Children Today, and is friends, with Josh Lowenthal, Bonnie Lowenthal's younger son.

Endorsements from any members of the politically powerful Lowenthal family -- from Bonnie Lowenthal as the previous 1st District council member (assuming she goes to Assembly); from her ex-husband, state Sen. Alan Lowenthal; or from Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal, who is married to Bonnie's older son -- likely would be highly prized in a 1st District race.

The other unofficially announced candidates in the still unofficial race are council gadfly Harvey Cochran, a movie theater employee, and Bill Grisolia, a Long Beach homeless advocate, former restaurant owner and musician.

A couple days late, but here are some photos from Tuesday's council inauguration ceremony, courtesy of Councilman Dee Andrews' office. Four council members -- Suja Lowenthal, 2nd District; Patrick O'Donnell, 4th District; Andrews, 6th District; and Rae Gabelich, 8th District -- were sworn in to 4-year terms.

Later, the council members had a joint celebration on the Queen Mary, organized by Andrews, who also had over 100 seniors and 6th District residents bused to the celebration.

Here's Andrews taking the oath:

And O'Donnell:

And Lowenthal:

And Gabelich:

At the party later that night:

Sixth District Long Beach City Councilman Dee Andrews overcame a series of negative ads against him in April to get re-elected to the council for his first full term, tromping the competition with 75 percent of the vote. Now Andrews gets to enjoy the fruits of all his time spent beating the street.

On Thursday, a diverse mix of Long Beach business groups are hosting a free community dinner in Andrews' honor at New Paradise Restaurant, 1350 E. Anaheim Street, at 6 p.m. Anyone wanting to attend should RSVP to 562-590-7302. Valet parking will be available.

The dinner sponsors are the Regional Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Cambodian American Chamber of Commerce, Cambodia Town Inc., the Long Beach African American Chamber of Commerce, the Long Beach Black Chamber of Commerce, BNSF Railway, Pacific Merchant Shipping Association and Watson Land Company.

No word yet on whether the other three council members who will be sworn in with Andrews for a new four-year term July 15 -- Suja Lowenthal (2nd District), Patrick O'Donnell (4th District) and Rae Gabelich (8th District) -- are planning similar events. Of course, those three went unchallenged in the election and were guaranteed new terms, so they may retake the reins next month as quietly as they as they retook their seats in April.

As the land around the Queen Mary is developed in the coming years, entertainment venues are a must, casino gaming is a possibility, and the idea of an NFL stadium there or somewhere in Long Beach may be just a dream, but it's a good one, developer Jeff Klein said Thursday evening.

At the Ristorante da Vinci restaurant by Long Beach Airport, with planes buzzing nearby, Klein talked to a crowd of young professionals during a networking event about some his plans for remaking the iconic ship and the challenges the project will face. Traffic congestion on the 710 and parking availability are two problems that could sink the ship's revitalization, he said, but he and city officials are working on solutions.

One might be a gondola that would transport visitors between the Queen Mary and the Aquarium of the Pacific. It makes sense, considering the two venues are the most popular and well-known tourist attractions in Long Beach. And what better way to link an aquarium and a historical ship than with a third water experience along the city's coastline?

Klein's development company Save the Queen paid $43 million last year to buy the ship's lease from previous operator Queen's Seaport Development Inc., which had gone into bankruptcy, and has the right to develop the surrounding land with city approval. Of the 55 acres of land, 45 acres can be developed.

Meanwhile, work on the ship itself continues as part of a $6 million renovation.

Also at Thursday's event, along with a sign of things to come along the waterfront, the crowd got a hint of the possible future of the City Council.

Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal spoke highly of another attendee, Robert Garcia, as a possible candidate to replace her mother-in-law on the council. 1st District Councilwoman Bonnie Lowenthal won the Democratic nomination this month for the 54th Assembly District seat by a landslide, and she is well-positioned in the heavily Democratic district to defeat her Republican opponent.

Garcia, the 30-year-old director of media and public relations at Long Beach City College, has said in recent weeks that he is considering a council bid should Lowenthal move on to Sacramento.