October 2008 Archives

Thanks to "Disgusted Resident" for commenting on the previous blog entry and referring us to the Sacramento Bee's article from Wednesday about legislators' trips during a special legislative session that has been called by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

While I won't comment on Disgusted Resident's diatribe about the politically powerful Lowenthal family, the writer did mention an interesting quote by state Sen. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, in the Sacramento Bee article (written by Jim Sanders). Here are the first couple of graphs of the article, followed by the quotes from Lowenthal:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's decision to call a special legislative session over the state's rocky economy won't necessarily lead lawmakers to curtail their overseas travel plans.

Numerous legislators were planning to pack their bags for India, China or Hawaii when the governor announced plans Monday to reconvene the Legislature. Lawmakers would typically begin work again in January.

And Lowenthal's perspective:

Sen. Alan Lowenthal, a Long Beach Democrat who does not plan to travel, defended colleagues by saying it makes no sense to hang around Sacramento, collecting $173 per diem, while legislative leaders negotiate behind closed doors.

Overseas travel is not likely to alter public opinion, Lowenthal said. "The public already has no faith in us," he said. "It's not going to change anybody's mind."

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.

You may have read my article in today's Press-Telegram about the No on Measure I campaign's struggle to get the kind of face time with Long Beach organizations that Mayor Bob Foster has had.

If you feel you haven't heard both sides of the story about the proposed infrastructure improvement parcel tax, you can listen to interviews with Mayor Bob Foster and Measure I opponent Kathy Ryan of the Long Beach Taxpayer's Association on Art Levine's Straight Talk TV show. The interviews have already aired, but can be seen in the online archives.

For another perspective, check out the Los Angeles Times take on Measure I that ran Monday.

While you're at it, you can also watch Levine's interview with candidates for the 54th Assembly District, Palos Verdes Peninsula Republican Gabriella Holt and Long Beach Democrat Bonnie Lowenthal. The interviews are available online and will air on Charter Communications Channel 3 at 7 p.m. Thursday.

What should the city look like and what she be city officials goals over the next 22 years? Residents have a chance to weigh in on that tonight.

The city is holding workshops on the Long Beach 2030 plan and its Emerging Framework Element. The workshops are free and will take place from 6:30 to 9 p.m. tonight at the Grand Events Center, 4101 E. Willow St.

The general 2030 plan workshop will focus on opportunity areas (the 15 percent of the City's land area where change is being targeted) and placetypes (the neighborhood development patterns that make up the entire City). The Emerging Framework Element workshop will focuse on emerging themes of the 2030 plan such as land use, mobility and urban design policies, and will include small-group discussions.

Since the No on Measure I campaign hasn't been able to secure a debate with Mayor Bob Foster to discuss the infrastructure improvement tax, the campaign has created its online rebuttal to some of the mayor's arguments for the measure.

If you're still on the fence over Measure I, or if you just feel like you haven't fully heard the opposing side, check out www.nomeasurei.com for the "Rebutting the Mayor" feature (for fairness, here's the pro-Measure I campaign site). The campaign responds to statements that Foster has made about the infrastructure plan as quoted by local media, including several statements Foster made during a Q&A interview with me last month.

To refresh your memory, here's a video of the Q&A:

Democrats represent 51 percent of all registered voters in Los Angeles County, compared to 25 percent listing themselves as Republicans, according to county officials, adding that 20 percent declined to state a party preference.

 

The percentage of registered Democrats has remained consistent since the 2004 Presidential Primary, while the percentage of Republican registrants has decreased by 2 percent and the percentage of voters choosing to decline to state a party choice has increased by 3 percent in the past four years, according to county figures.

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With only a few days remaining before the close of voter registration for the Nov. 4 Presidential General Election, Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk  Dean Logan reported that voter registrations reached an all-time high recently, breaking the record set in 2002 when registration rolls exceeded 4 million registered voters for the first time in county history.

"We reached a milestone this week with 4,149,229 registrants on file and that number will continue to increase before the Oct. 20 close of registration," Logan added. "These numbers signal an historical interest in the 2008 presidential election."  

According to the county records, 50 percent of voters who have registered since June are between 18 and 25; 30 percent are between the ages of 30 and 49; and 14 percent are between the ages of 50 and 64. 54 percent of all new voters are female, while 46 percent are male.

 

Opponents of Measure I, Mayor Bob Foster's infrastructure parcel tax, are having a "Rally for Tax Relief" on Saturday with several notable speakers. Confirmed speakers include former Mayor Eunice Sato, 54^th District state Assembly candidate Gabriella Holt, and Kathy Ryan, co-chair of the Long Beach Taxpayers Association, according to a press release from the organization.

This may be one of the few major means of publicity for the No on Measure I campaign, which has little money and hasn't been running TV ads like the measure's supporters have been. Measure I opponents' main effort to get out their message so far has been by speaking at community meetings.

At the rally, leading opponents will speak, people can pick up yard signs, and materials and precinct lists willl be available for those who want to walk against the measure.

The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the south side of Wardlow Park, 3457 Stanbridge Ave., in East Long Beach. It will kick off at 10 a.m. with leaders speaking in opposition, then there will be a precinct walk, and it will end with free hot dogs and beverages for volunteers.

After attending every Long Beach City Council meeting for almost two years, it may seem a logical step that council gadfly Harvey Cochran would try to move from behind the podium and onto the council dais.

Cochran told me late Tuesday night as the weekly council meeting was drawing to a close that he is unofficially throwing his hat into the ring to run for the 1st District council seat. It's unofficial because 1st District Councilwoman Bonnie Lowenthal first must get herself elected to the state Assembly in November.

Lowenthal, a Democrat, is considered the frontrunner in the 54th District, which is dominated by Long Beach and Democratic voters. She is running against Republican Gabriella Holt, a Palos Verdes Peninsula nurse.

With many people assuming that Lowenthal will move up the political ladder, Cochran becomes the third person to confirm an interest in the seat. However, Cochran doesn't actually live in the 1st District. He intends to move there from his 2nd District home, he said.

Cochran is a unique character, to say the least. The lifelong Long Beach resident works at a movie theater and has mental disabilities that he frequently references in council meetings. He explained Tuesday that he is bipolar.

He is also considered the successor to longtime gadfly Thomas Murphy, who died last year, and often makes long-winded statements to the council on multiple, sometimes up to a dozen, agenda items. This often frustrates the council, particularly Mayor Bob Foster, who tries to move meetings along at a steady clip.

The other two likely candidates, so far, are Robert Garcia, president of the North Pine Neighborhood Alliance who was recently promoted to dean of students at Long Beach City College, and Bill Grisolia, a Long Beach homeless advocate, former restaurant owner and musician.

The Long Beach Area Republican Party is having a viewing party Wednesday during the final presidential debate before the Nov. 4 general election.

The free event will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Long Beach Petroleum Club, 3636 Linden Ave. There will be a no-host bar as well as hot and cold hors d'oeuvres.

The organization is a coalition of various republican organizations in the greater Long Beach area. See the Web site here.

For more information, contact Randy Terrell at
randy@longbeachrepublicans.org or (562) 424-1246.

 

Long Beach port authorities have launched a new primetime cable television ad campaign featuring a 30-second spot touting the port's newfound environmental concern.

The commercial incorporates visual imagery from the port's new logo with a voice-over narraration promoting the department's stewardship on community outreach and environmental and economic issues.

Produced by an outside firm, Radarworks, and funded with port profits, it airs between 4 p.m. and midnight the next few weeks on Charter and Time Warner cable networks.

The ad can be seen on A&E, Discovery, CNN, Fox News, History, ESPN, TLC and TNT or by clicking here.

Could Downey be on the road to becoming a plastic bag-free city?
The City Council on Tuesday will hear a report from its city attorney about a potential ordinance banning plastic bags from retail stores, restaurants and grocery stores.
The council will decide what direction to take regarding the issue brought up by Councilman Kirk Cartozian.
A similar ban has hit some snags in other cities. The Daily Breeze reported in August that a coalition of 10 plastic retailers and manufacturers has sued Manhattan Beach for its recent ban.
In Long Beach, my colleague Paul Eakins reported that the council's Environmental Committee earlier this fall considered possible bans on plastic bags or polystyrene, such as Styrofoam, but ultimately decided not to recommend a ban on either product. The committee suggested the city promote and monitor the existing state and local plastic bag  recycling programs, then evaluate Long Beach's recycling efforts in a year.
Opponents of a ban have argued a new state law meant to improve plastic bag recycling should be given time to work.
That law, AB2449, went into effect in July and requires all large grocery stores and pharmacies to provide receptacles for plastic bag recycling and to sell reusable shopping bags .
However, environmental groups and other critics of plastic bags say most bags are used once and then discarded, often entering rivers and then washing into the ocean.
About 6 billion plastic bags are used in the county every year, but only 5 percent are recycled. Collecting and disposing of plastic grocery bags costs California taxpayers nearly 17 cents per bag, which amounts to $50 million annually, Eakins reported.
Some cities have implemented their own, stricter laws governing the use of plastics, most notably San Francisco, which this year passed a law banning most types of plastic bags . The law allows only recyclable or compostable bags to be used.

The meeting in Downey will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the City Council Chamber, 11111 Brookshire Ave.

 

The first of three community workshops on the Long Beach Breakwater will take place Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Belmont Plaza Pool, Banquet Room, 4000 E. Olympic Plaza.

The city wants the public's opinions as a Breakwater Reconnaissance Study moves forward to examine the possibility of reconfiguring the Breakwater, which rings Long Beach's coastline. Supporters of changing the rock barrier say that by opening it up, the city's coastal waters would become cleaner and more natural.

The workshop will include:

• An overview of the Long Beach Breakwater Reconnaissance Study
• Opportunities to share ideas, concerns and questions
• A hands-on design workshop

Each workshop will feature smaller interactive breakout group discussions to identify opportunities and constraints regarding any potential reconfiguration of the Long Beach Breakwater. The other two workshops will be Oct. 29 and Nov. 19.

Sen. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, is expected to attend the Long Beach Marriage Equality Cocktail Fundraiser on Thursday to raise funds and awareness for Vote No on Proposition 8.

The Nov. 4 initiative seeks to eliminate same-sex marriage rights in California.



 

Opponents of Measure I, the infrastructure improvement plan that would levy a new parcel tax on residences and businesses, have started a new blog with updates on the measure debate. Check it out at www.abetterplanforlongbeach.com.

The blog is in addition to the No on Measure I opposition Web site. For information from the other side, go to the Yes on I Web site.

The debate continues ...

Greg Carpenter, the city's Planning Bureau manager, is moving to a new job after almost two decades working for the city of Long Beach, sources at City Hall say.

Carpenter couldn't be reached by phone late this afternoon, but the word is he will take up a similar position in El Segundo, where he lives.

As Planning Bureau manager, Carpenter is involved in virtually every new development in the city, ensuring a balance of varied building uses, parks, adequate roads and other characteristics that make Long Beach neighborhoods what they are.

Sources say next week will be Carpenter's last in Long Beach.

Ten NATO members and Partnership for Peace nations Sweden and Finland signed a Memorandum of Understanding to acquire three Boeing C-17 Globemaster III long-range cargo jets, Boeing announced today.

Signed Sept. 24, the agreement under the U.S. Department of Defense and the NATO Airlift Management Agency "sets the stage for NATO's first major defense purchase in 30 years," according to the company.

Two of the airlifters would be bought from Boeing. while the U.S. Air Force would provide the third C-17. It would be assigned to NATO's Heavy Airlift Wing and jointly operated by the nations from Pápa Air Base, Hungary. The first aircraft delivery could take place as early as spring 2009.

The 12 countries participating in NATO's Strategic Airlift Capability program would share in the costs, allowing them to share a pooled fleet, according to Boeing.