November 2008 Archives

City Councilwoman Bonnie Lowenthal will be sworn in Monday to the state Assembly, and City Clerk Larry Herrera is on top of things to get that seat filled.

Today Herrera announced his proposed schedule for an April 7 special election, which the council is expected to call for Dec. 9. Under Herrera's schedule, candidates for the seat can begin fund-raising that same day. Then, the nomination period will run from Dec. 29 to Jan. 9, followed by the special election April 7.

Already, five possible candidates have announced they may run to represent the 1st District, which encompasses part of downtown, neighborhoods north and west of there, and part of the Port of Long Beach.

The likely candidates are the Rev. Misi Tagaloa of the Second Samoan Church; attorney Evan Braude, president of the Historical Society of Long Beach and a former 1st District council member; Harvey Cochran, a council gadfly and movie theater employee; Robert Garcia, interim dean of student affairs at Long Beach City College and president of the North Pine Neighborhood Alliance; and Bill Grisolia, a legal and policy specialist and homeless advocate.

Until the special election happens, Mayor Bob Foster's office will handle 1st District affairs, per the City Charter, though residents of the 1st District will still be able to call the regular district office number for assistance.

The Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriages has certainly caused an uproar before and after the election this month.

Tonight, the debate over the measure will contniue during the monthly Beer & Politics event. Guests William T Garner, a retired Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, and Daniel Brezenoff, a clinical social worker and Southern California spokesman for the Green Party, will discuss Prop. 8, what it means for California and the legal battles that are to come.

The discussion will begin at 7 p.m. at Gallagher's Pub & Grill, 2751 E. Broadway. If you can't go, you can watch the discussion in a live, interactive Web cast at www.beerandpolitics.org.

Nearly 18 months after filing lawsuits against each other, the city of Bellflower and Bellflower Unified School District have agreed to settle, both sides announced today.
According to a lawsuit filed May 31, 2007, city officials sought to stop the school district from building a nutrition center at Bellflower High School because they say the project did not comply with the California Environmental Quality Act.
A day later, on June 1, school officials sued the city over a 1991 redevelopment agreement that they say entitled the district to more than $15 million.
In the settlement, the city decided to make available $4 million in redevelopment funds for improvements at Bellflower facilities over the next 10 years and the school district will give the city more access to BUSD facilities for city programs.
For more information, read all about it in Wednesday's Press-Telegram.

Still high off the defeat of the Measure I infrastructure tax Nov. 4, the Long Beach Taxpayers Association has announced it will refocus its efforts to push for fiscal reform at City Hall.

In a statement released today, the Taxpayers Association says it was "a force in preventing the Mayor from passing Measure I." The fledgling grassroots organization and other opponents of Measure I used mostly word of mouth and limited resources to build opposition, raising little money during the campaign.

Today's statement says the group will work to educate the public about the city's financial situation. Long Beach had to lay off workers and make cuts to eliminate a $16.9 million budget deficit going into the current fiscal year, and city officials are now expecting revenues to fall short by $8 million to $10 million because of the national economic crisis.

"If the city continues 'business as usual', the deficits will continue to grow, due in part to the expensive five year (employee) contracts granted by the Mayor and City Council," the statement says.

That Long Beach has fiscal problems is undeniable. Whether the Taxpayers Association has viable solutions remains to be seen. And whether anyone at City Hall will listen or make any drastic institutional changes to the way local government spends money is anyone's guess.

Find out Dec. 4 when 5th District Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske hosts her monthly Wake Up Long Beach discussion, this time on the subject "Why Our Emergency Rooms May Be in Trouble in Long Beach."

I'm not sure exactly what "trouble" is referred to, but Press-Telegram writer Brenda Duran recently reported that Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and other area hospitals have been swamped with extra patients after several Los Angeles County hospitals closed and that Memorial is reducing its number of beds. Read the full story here.

The Dec. 4 breakfast discussion will begin at 7:30 a.m. in the El Dorado Golf Restaurant at Studebaker Road and Willow Street. The cost of breakfast is $10. RSVP by calling (562) 570-6932.

Panelists will be Diana Hendel, chief operating officer of Long Beach Memorial Medical Center; Ray Jankowski, CEO of Community Hospital of Long Beach; Deputy Fire Chief Alan Patalono; Schipske; and possibly Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe.

Long Beach Hilton workers say they are feeling the heat from management for their efforts to unionize. UNITE HERE Local 11 announced today that it's filing Unfair Labor Practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board against the 398-room hotel owned by HEI Hotels and Resorts.

UNITE HERE says it has identified more than 20 alleged incidents including "interrogations, threats, and surveillance in a heavy-handed effort," increased security patrols in employee areas, the "threat of lost wages, hours and employment from management" and  "repeated interrogation of workers by management about organizing activities including a 2-hour interrogation of one worker by the General Manager."

In a media release, Hilton General Manager Kristi Allen responds: "We have not seen the allegations and cannot comment at this time about them although the hotel will cooperate with the NLRB'S investigation and comply with the legal process." 

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.

Some people say it needs to come down to return our beaches to their former glory. Others say it is the only thing protecting Long Beach's coast from storms and high waves.

Whatever your opinion on the Long Beach breakwater, you can learn more about a study being conducted on possible changes to the sea wall Wednesday (Nov. 19).

The third and final breakwater workshop will take place Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Aquarium of the Pacific, 100 Aquarium Way. City officials don't just want to inform the public, but they want your input as well.

The workshop will include a brief overview of the Breakwater Reconnaissance Study being conducted, a review of public discussion from the previous two breakwater workshops, and small breakout group discussions. If you missed the first or second breakwater workshops, you can get up to speed by visiting the Breakwater Reconnaissance Study Web site and reviewing materials from the other workshops.

Parking at Wednesday's workshop is $6 at an adjacent structure.

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.

That's right. By the Nov. 4 general election, when Long Beach voters shot down the Measure I infrastructure improvement parcel tax (which required a two-thirds vote), the campaign supporting it had raised $719,620, according to campaign finance reports filed yesterday at the City Clerk's office.

From Oct. 30 to Nov. 4, in the last days berfore the election, the Rebuild Long Beach campaign raised an additional $65,500 on top of the $657,000 it had raised over the previous two or three months.

This last infusion of money came from 11 mostly large contributions, including $5,000 from the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach; $13,333.34 from Lyon Apartment Companies of Newport Beach and $6,666.66 from essentially the same contributor, Lyon Management Group; and $10,000 from KUD International LLC, as well as $5,000 from its president and CEO, Marvin Suomi.

Meanwhile, the City Clerk's Web site doesn't list any new contributions for the No on Measure I campaign, presumably because it didn't raise any more money past Oct. 29. Its last reported contributions were a comparatively miniscule $5,368.

To see the full campaign finance summaries and contribution lists, go to the City Clerk's campaign finance site.

 

 

Mayor Bob Foster was absent from last night's meeting, apparently giving up council gadflies for koalas and kangaroos. A member of his staff told me today that he left over the weekend for Australia and New Zealand to talk about energy and climate change.

I'm awaiting more details of the trip, and the staff member couldn't tell me whether Foster would be at next week's meeting. If Foster misses next week too, he will go more than a month without presiding over a council meeting.

Foster won't be at next week's meeting either, I have been told. Also, I've learned that the travel and hotel expenses of the trip are being funded by the non-profit California Foundation on the Environment and the Economy, which sends local government officials on one or two such trips each year.

The council doesn't meet on the last Tuesday of each month and didn't meet Nov. 4 because of the election. This month, there are only two meetings, yesterday and next Tuesday. The last time the council met before this week was Oct. 21, and if Foster misses next week, he won't be back on the council dais until Dec. 2.

But Foster's involvement in the global energy discussion does seem to fit in with Long Beach's goals. City officials have been making efforts to "green" Long Beach over the past couple of years and have expressed their desire to make it a leader in conservation.

Mayor Bob Foster announced today that he has appointed attorney Susan Wise to the Harbor Commission.

"Susan will be a great addition to the Harbor Commission," Foster said in a statement. "Her intellect, experience and problem-solving skills will be invaluable as she participates in the decisions that will greatly impact the Port of Long Beach."

The City Council must confirm the mayor's appointment to make it official.

Wise would replace Doris Topsy-Elvord, who retired at the end of June after serving five years on the commission. Wise will serve a six-year term.

The five-member commission oversees a $1 billion budget in one of the nation's busiest ports.

Wise has been an attorney for almost 34 years with experience in both commercial and civil cases, and as a Superior Court mediator, according to the mayor's office. She is a partner with Long Beach-based Wise Pearce Yocis & Smith.

A 3rd District resident who has been in Long Beach more than 30 years, Wise has been active in the community, volunteering on the board of directors for the Children's Clinic, the YMCA of Greater Long Beach, Long Beach Bar Foundation and the Long Beach Nonprofit Partnership.

In case you missed my column last week, the field of likely candidates for the 1st District City Council seat -- soon to become available when Councilwoman Bonnie Lowenthal takes office in the state Assembly next month -- has grown.

Now, five people have said they will run or are considering running for Lowenthal's position representing neighborhoods north and west of Downtown.

So, who should we be watching? Though it's early in the race -- heck, the race hasn't even started yet and the runners are still warming up -- a couple potential candidates stand out.

Just to be clear, I am by no means endorsing any candidate. This is just an objective analysis of the field so far.

• One obvious contender is Evan Braude, an attorney and president of the Long Beach Historical Society who represented the 1st District from 1986 to 1994. He has the political experience, local connections and of course, he is in a 20-year relationship with Lowenthal, which I would imagine ought to get him her endorsement. Because term limits were enacted during his second term, Braude can still serve out the remaining two years of Lowenthal's term and serve one more four-year term. Braude has only said he is considering running, not that he will for certain.
• Then there's Robert Garcia, the president of the North Pine Neighborhood Alliance who professionally has moved up through the Long Beach City College ranks. Formerly the college's director of media and public relations, Garcia recently was named the interim dean of student affairs. Garcia has been very visible in the community and seems well-positioned to build support, though like Braude, he hasn't officially announced his candidacy.

Three other candidates appear less politically connected and may have a harder time getting their campaigns off the ground, but each has his own advantages.

• Last week I reported that the Rev. Misi Tagaloa of the Second Samoan Congregational Church is running for 1st District as well, and though he hasn't been involved in local politics, I imagine having a sanctuary full of backers and possible campaign volunteers will give him the manpower to spread his message -- the political one, not the spiritual one.

Two other announced candidates have a clear disadvantage -- when they announced their intent to run, they weren't actually 1st District residents yet, though both said they intend to move there from their 2nd District homes.

• One is Bill Grisolia, a homeless advocate, musician, former restaurant owner who ran for the 37th Congressional District last year against about a dozen candidates in a race that went to now-Congresswoman Laura Richardson. Grisolia didn't fare particularly well in that race, but at least it gave him some campaign experience.
• The final candidate is Harvey Cochran, whose only real qualification for the 1st District seat is that the gadfly hasn't missed a council meeting in almost two years. He usually makes comments to the council on several issues, eating up anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes of meeting time, often belaboring the point and annoying both Mayor Bob Foster and members of the audience. But his comments also often exhibit a deep knowledge of Long Beach history and city policies. Of course, Cochran too must move into the 1st District, and his admitted mental disability -- he is bipolar and occasionally can be heard talking to himself at council meetings -- may turn off voters.

What do you think, my good blog readers? Who will be a frontrunner in this race? And do you know of anyone else out there considering a run for the 1st District?

 

Local housing advocates are expected to be back at the City Council meeting Tuesday to again discuss Long Beach's Housing Element plan after concerns were raised last month. But a key housing supporter, Councilwoman Bonnie Lowenthal, won't be at Tuesday's meeting, her chief of staff Niki Tennant tells me.

Lowenthal is in Sacramento for training after voters elected her to the 54th Assembly District last week. She will take office in early December.

Whether council members will suggest adding housing advocates' recommendations to the Housing Element remains to be seen. Advocates say they aren't happy about city staff members' response and feel their issues haven't been addressed after the council last month directed staff to work with them, as I reported in today's Press-Telegram.

The crew of the Queen Mary congratulated the president-elect with signal flags that spell out "It's Obama" from its mast head and plans to keep the flags flying through Veterans Day.
 
"The Queen Mary is an iconic image to America and the world," QM General Manager Jay Primavera said in a statement.  "We felt it was appropriate that this historic ship send out its own message of congratulations on this historic occasion to the President Elect."

Primavera also extended an invitation to the first-family-in-waiting.

"Knowing that President Elect Obama's chance of taking an extended holiday in the next few months is going to be difficult, we want he and his family to know that they are most welcome stay aboard the Queen Mary as our guest if they would like the chance to take a cruise without having ever to leave the harbor."

Termed-out State Assemblywoman Betty Karnette, a former teacher representing greater Long Beach in Sacramento since 1992, has announced her candidacy for a 2010 run for State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

The longtime teacher is in the final weeks of a long political career in both the state senate and state assembly. She won her first term in office in 1992, defeating Republican Steve Kuykendall in a close race for state assembly, only to lose to Kuykendall in a rematch two years later.

In 1996, she ran for State Senate, won easily, was re-elected in 2000, then ran for another term in the state assembly in 2004. This time, she easily beat Kuykendall, and went on to re-election in 2006. That term, her final under state law, ends in December.

On Saturday, friends and supporters will gather at Cal State Long Beach's Pyramid for a dinner and banquet in her honor. The 6 p.m. event also gives Karnette - a former public school teacher - a chance to rally supporters for a run at California's top educational office.

Current Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell is termed-out and will be out of office by 2010.

Karnette will compete in the 2010 Democratic primary against at least two declared opponents - State Sen. Tom Torlakson, D-Contra Costa, and State Sen. Gloria Romero, D-East Los Angeles.

Both Karnette and Romero are Cal State Long Beach graduates and former teachers.

Expect a long election night, the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan warns on his election Web site.

"An estimated two million voters have visited 4,394 polling places in Los Angeles County today," the Web site says, and that was at least a couple of hours before polls close at 8 p.m.

The county has about 4.2 million registered voters, but the 2 million voters from today don't include those who voted by mail or voted early Monday. Logan says that the 26,278 poll workers around the county have their hands full. From his press release:

Voter turnout today was extremely heavy and polling places are staying open until the last voter in line at 8:00 P.M. has been allowed to vote. Actual poll closings tonight may be as late as 9:00 P.M. or later. The delay in poll closing and the transportation of ballots to the central counting facility will delay the reporting of election results.

At the end of voting today the polling place staff must perform closing procedures that include counting the number of voted ballots and voter signatures signed in the roster, they must pack up voting booths, voting devices and voting supplies. Voted ballots are placed in a designated red box, secured with a special seal which is signed by the two senior poll workers. All of the polling place materials are then transported by two or more poll workers to a nearby central check-in center, typically a city hall or public building, where the individually sealed red ballot boxes are placed in a special fireproof bag for final transport to the central counting facility by the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department.

That means the numbers will come in slowly, and tomorrow's newspaper surely won't have any final results. But we'll be giving local election updates throughout the night and Wednesday, so come back to www.presstelegram.com to get the latest news.

If children were hitting the polls today, the election outcome would be clear.

In the "Every Kids Votes" program sponsored by Studies Weekly, a Salt Lake City company that publishes textbooks in the form of newspapers and magazines, children ages 6 to 12 overwhelmingly chose Barack Obama for president, according a press release from the company. Almost 1 million children from all 50 states participated in the voting activity, in which they learned about both candidates, as well as their voting rights and responsibilities, before casting a ballot.

The young "voters" chose Obama with 473,919 votes to 333,092 votes for John McCain, the company reported. The map below shows the distribution by state. It will be interesting to see how much the actual election results reflect these children's preference.

I've received some new information after I listed locations to watch the election in the Long Beach area in today's newspaper. Several area organizations and businesses are having election watch parties tonight, many with drink or food specials. The two new ones added to the list are Galaxy Sport's Bar and the Daily Grill. Here's the list:

• Galaxy Sport's Bar, 1810 E. Carson St. in Carson, 7 p.m. to midnight. Free beer with an 'I voted' sticker.
• Daily Grill at 1 World Trade Center in Long Beach, 4 to 11 p.m. The election night specials won't just be at the restaurant's Long Beach location, but at all 24 locations around the county, except Los Angeles International Airport. Voters will get a free appetizer and happy hour prices will be available at the bar until the restaurant closes. Call (562) 753-2170 for more information.
• Smooth's Sports Grille, 144 Pine Ave., 8 p.m. Several groups are gathering to watch the election results, including the Bonnie Lowenthal for Assembly campaign and the Long Beach Democratic Club.
• Palos Verdes Peninsula GOP headquarters at the Promenade on the Peninsula shopping center, 550 Deep Valley Drive in Rolling Hills Estates. 54th Assembly District candidate Gabriella Holt's campaign will be watching the election returns come in.
• Rhythm Lounge, 245 Pine Ave., 7:30 p.m. to midnight, sponsored by The Mombasa-Long Beach Sister Cities Association. Cost is $5 for those wearing an "I voted" sticker and $10 without. There will be light refreshments, music and televised election coverage. Guests can learn more about the organization and sign up for membership. Visit www.mombasalb.org for information.
• Hamburger Mary's, 740 E. Broadway, 6 p.m. Televised election coverage and food and drink specials.
• Michael's on Naples restaurant, 5620 E. 2nd St., 6 p.m. The restaurant will have a "bailout recovery" three-course dinner special for $35, televised election coverage and free pizzettes for voters. Space is limited and reservations are recommended by calling (562) 439-7080. More information is at www.michaelsonnaples.com.
• Shore Books, 3064 E. 2nd St., 5 p.m. The free event will include pizza donated by Nino's Italian Restaurant and live Caribbean steel drum music.

 Huntington Beach officials on Tuesday reported that 1,405 voters cast early ballots;  while additional 86 voters turned in their Vote-by-Mail ballots to city election workers.

The early voting at City Hall ended Monday.

On Election Day, a City Clerk staff member will be in the office to field questions related to the election until 8 p.m. The office phone number is (714) 536-5227.

 

 

Voting can be empowering ... and delicious.

Starting at 6 tonight, Michael's On Naples is hosting an election results-watching party and offering free pizzettes with proof of votership.

Executive Chef Matthew Poley also will prepare a $35 three-course Election Day "Bailout Recovery" Prix Fixe Menu that features choices like mushroom ravioli with Swiss chard, brown butter and ricotta; braised pork shank osso buco-style over potato puree and roasted root vegetables; pan-seared trout with with cavolo nero, black lentils and lemon cream and - for dessert - a tri-color confection of white chocolate and mascarpone layered with zuppa Inglese with fresh berries.

Michael's On Naples is at 5620 East Second St. Call for Reservations (562) 439-7080.
 

 

Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi will participate in the 12th Annual Veterans Day Parade on Saturday in North Long Beach, the city has announced.

He will ride in an antique fire truck with Vice Mayor Val Lerch down Atlantic Avenue from Harding Street to South Street.

The parade will take place from 10 to 11 a.m. followed by a ceremony and other activities at Houghton Park.     

Congresswoman Linda Sanchez, D-Lakewood, will appear on Stephanie Miller's talk radio program, airing 6-9 a.m. today locally on KTLK AM 1150. Sanchez, broadcasting from Washington, D.C., will talk about the presidential election and expected Democratic majority gains in Congress.