June 2009 Archives

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.

Russ Roca, a local bicycle advocate and photographer, has made a video of riding the city of Long Beach's newly installed 2nd Street bike lanes, also known as sharrows. Read all about the new green lanes that run from Livingston Drive to Bayshore Avenue in Belmont Shore here.

Roca's video is enlightening, illustrating what anyone who has ever ridden a bike down 2nd Street already knew -- traffic moves so slowly along there, bicycles really don't get in the way. Here's the video:

You can keep watching the budget talks in Sacramento online on the California Channel today as the Legislature tries to eliminate that pesky $24 billion budget deficit. The clock is ticking as Tuesday's deadline approaches. If no budget deal is reached, the state will start issuing IOUs to its workers on Wednesday.

The California Channel has and will continue to have live webcasts of the state Senate and Assembly as they go through their budget discussions. WIth the clock ticking, a June 30 deadline looming and the state's coffers almost empty, there is precious little time remaining for the state to eliminate its $24 billion budget deficit, or at least a short-term $5 billion savings to keep California running for a little while longer.

Right now, the state Senate is debating a $5 billion plan that has been approved by the Assembly, is opposed by the governor and so far has been blocked by Republicans in the Senate. Check it our here.

The Los Angeles Times has a great interactive budget balancing "game" on its Web site. You decide what programs to cut, where to raise taxes and fees, and try to eliminate California's $24 billion budget deficit.

Let me tell you, it's not easy.

Who wants to cut funding for schools or healthcare for children? Yet the idea of raising taxes, even on the rich, doesn't seem very appealing, especially in this economy. Remember that one of the big issues is a plan to take revenues from local governments, which has the League of California Cities and city officials across the state, including those in Long Beach, up in arms.

However the budget is fixed, in the end someone isn't going to be happy. There's just no avoiding it. I have to say that I don't envy our legislators in Sacramento. So, try the budget activity for yourself here and see if you can keep California from a fiscal meltdown.

How important are skate parks to urban communities?

That's the question at next Tuesday's monthly Beer & Politics political discussion. Long Beach's 14th Street Skate Park is slated to receive $620,000 in federal stimulus funding, which has drawn criticism from Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. He placed the project on his list of 100 questionable projects being funded by the stimulus package. See our article on that here.

Long Beach officials say the park will create jobs in the renovation work and, more importantly, keeps youths in a rough neighborhood from getting into trouble. Speaking at Beer & Politics will be Mike Donelon, a former 7th District councilman and skate park advocate, and Dennis Thys, the city's director of Community Development.

The public discussion will begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Gallagher's Pub & Grill, 2751 E. Broadway. If you can't go, you can watch it live online here. Below you can watch a Press-Telegram video about the skate park as well. Enjoy!

In many ways, Long Beach's Sustainable City Commission is the (hybrid, low-emission) engine that keeps the city's greening efforts going.

On Thursday, the commission will discuss approving its Green Economy and Lifestyle Focus Area and incorporating it into the Sustainable City Action Plan that is being crafted. What that means is some lofty goals to create a sustainable and green economy.

The Economy and Lifestyle plan calls for developing at least 2,000 green collar jobs in Long Beach by 2012 (with the economy the way it is, I'm guessing city leaders would be happy to see 2,000 new jobs of any kind); enrolling 100 green business in the Long Beach Green Business Certification Program by 2012; targeting half of the city's business grants and loans for green business development by 2012; and increase the city's green spending -- such as on office supplies -- to 100 percent by 2020.

Like I said, these are some lofty goals. On the jobs front, Long Beach has 925 green collar jobs now, which is 4.7 percent of the city's 195,000 total jobs, according to a city report. That means the city would have to triple the number of green jobs it currently has, which could be a challenge.

You can hear the commission discuss this plan and other green-related policies that may soon bloom around Long Beach at noon Thursday in the Aquarium of the Pacific's Watershed Classroom. Get more details on the meeting here by clicking on the agenda document.

OK, I can't confirm that, but certainly Tuesday night's regular council meeting was the shortest in recent years. It was even shorter than last week's 79-minute meeting, which appeared to have the record, though only briefly it turns out.

According to the unofficial minutes of the City Clerk's Office, Tuesday's meeting began at 5:04 p.m. and ended at 6:09 p.m. The agenda was an extremely light and routine one, and the meeting probably would have ended even faster if not for one unexpected speed bump that caused some extra discussion.

With City Hall dark this Friday because of furloughs, the Fourth of July next week (City Hall will be closed Friday, July 3, also), and council members starting to take summer vacations, that may be one reason the meetings have been short lately. But ultimately, these short meetings are the calm before the storm.

Soon, by Aug. 1 to be exact, the city will make public its fiscal year 2010 budget, including measures to cut programs, lay off workers, likely increase fees and other actions to help eliminate a projected $43.3 million budget deficit. Then the council can expect a storm of controversy and contention as everyone from city employee unions to library supporters and other angry residents turn out to give a piece of their minds.

Make no mistake, it's coming. I can see the clouds on the horizon ...

Apparently the petitioners are not giving up.

Despite the Downtown Long Beach Associates board giving its President and CEO Kraig Kojian "a vote of confidence" at a special closed meeting Friday --- oh, to be a fly on THAT wall --- efforts to boot Kojian are apparently alive and well.

Got sent a link to this Web site, www.savelongbeach.com, an effort to grow the petitions of 32 downtown business owners and 80 residents who say they are fed up with Kojian's "dismissive" and "uncooperative" management style. Supporters of Kojian say he is not to blame for the state of downtown and serves at the pleasure of the board. (Check out my stories about the delivery of the petitions here and the DLBA's board's response to the petitions here.)

Long Beach has had a wide variety of mayors through the years: the venerable and ever-present Tom Clark, who first led the city in 1975 and spent 30 years on the City Council; the diminuitive but strong-willed Eunice Sato; the calm and trail-blazing Ernie Kell; the motherly Beverly O'Neill; the all-business current Mayor Bob Foster.

Starting this week, the public will get a chance to hear from each of the city's five living mayors about their personal stories, their politics and their thoughts on Long Beach's progress during an on-going series presented by the Historical Society of Long Beach.

"The Long Beach Mayors Oral History Series" will take place over the next several weeks. Each mayor will be interviewed by current and former council members and other politicians. It should be an enlightening event at which to hear a unique perspective on Long Beach's political history. The project is made possible in part by a grant from the James Irvine Foundation.

Admission will be $10 at the door for non-Historical Society members. Admission for members and students is free. All events of the series will begin at 7 p.m. and will be conducted in the Historical Society's main gallery at 4260 Atlantic Ave. in Bixby Knolls. For more information, call 562-424-2220.

Here's the schedule:

This Thursday (June 25) -- Mayor Tom Clark (served 1975-1980 and 1982-1984), interviewed by Councilwoman Rae Gabelich.

July 2 -- Mayor Eunice Sato (served 1980-1982), interviewed by former councilwoman Doris Topsy-Elvord.

July 9 -- Mayor Ernie Kell (served from 1984-1994), interviewed by former councilman Evan Braude.

July 30 -- Mayor Beverly O'Neill (served from 1994-2006), interviewed by Betty Karnette, former member of the state Senate and Assembly.

TBA -- Mayor Bob Foster (serving 2006-present).

If you want your voice to be heard on one of the city's biggest public projects, don't forget to send them to the state by 5 p.m. today.

State officials has been seeking feedback on an environmental report they did on the proposed courthouse project. Slated for completion by 2012, the new courthouse would be a 545,000-square-foot building with 31 civil and criminal courtrooms, county office space, retail space and a basement that will include a sally port or controlled-entry space and an in-custody holding facility.

The state and the Redevelopment Agency are hammering out the terms of a land-exchange agreement that would give the agency 415 W. Ocean Blvd., site of the current courthouse, for future development in exchange for the vacant property bordered by Broadway, Maine Avenue, Third Street and Magnolia Avenue.

While ultimate approval belongs to the state, the agency and the community have been able to inject their views about the project's design. This is one of those opportunities.

First District City Councilman Robert Garcia has been beating the drum on this:

More than 100 residents responded to Councilman Robert Garcia's call for public comments on the new Long Beach Courthouse project currently being planned by the State Administrative Office of the Courts. The number of letters represents more than five times the number of attendees at the only public meeting held by the State on this project, which occurred last Monday, at which fewer than 20 residents were present.
The campaign began just a week ago, and the letters were sent today, just in time for the 5pm deadline.
"The Courthouse project will have a huge impact on our community, and we want to ensure the impact is positive," said the Councilmember. "We want a building that is environmentally responsible, physically inspiring, and well-managed. We want to make sure local jobs are created and public safety protected." 

Garcia has posted a form letter outlining these issues at www.robertgarcia.com for residents.

Members of the public can alter, delete or entirely rewrite the letter and put their names on it. After the letters are submitted on the Web site, Garcia said he will forward all of them to the state Monday.

For a copy of the report, visit www.courtinfo.ca.gov/programs/occm/projects_lalongbeach.htm or contact Jerome Ripperda at jerry.ripperda@jud.ca.gov 

Despite petitions from business owners and residents calling for his firing, Kraig Kojian will remain president and chief executive officer of the Downtown Long Beach Associates.

In a closed meeting to address the petitions Friday, the DLBA Board of Directors gave Kojian "a unanimous vote of confidence excepting one abstention," according to the three-page media release issued by the DLBA.

"We have a process in place to evaluate our President and CEO and after weighing all relevant aspects, we offered support for Mr. Kojian," DLBA Board Chair Jim Anderson said. "More specifically, we all agreed that Mr. Kojian's tasks and actions are directed by the Board and we must take the responsibility if there are concerns in the community."

Frustrated with what they say is a "dismissive" and "uncooperative" management style they allege hinders efforts to improve downtown, 32 business owners of the nearly 1,800 members and 80 residents have signed petitions calling for Kojian to be fired. The petitions were delivered by e-mail Tuesday.

The DLBA, which collects an assessment from members, represents about 1,400 businesses and 350 commercial real estate owners in the property-based improvement district covering 150 square blocks.

Read the entire DLBA board response to the petitions here.

In the newly erupted controversy of a local skate park that has drawn criticism from one U.S. senator as being among the worst misuses of federal stimulus funding, 1st District City Councilman Robert Garcia continues to fire back.

He announced today the creation of a new page on his Web site to muster support for the 14th Street Skate Park project and where the public can find information about the plans. You can see two Press-Telegram stories about the project and the controversy here and here.

Earlier this week, Garcia released the following statement in response to the criticism of Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla.:

The Long Beach 14th Street Skatepark is an essential recreational facility for young people in one of the most vulnerable and densely populated areas in the country. Residents have strongly advocated for the park for many years. The park will bring jobs and an improved quality of life to Long Beach, and offer positive activities to youth who might otherwise be left to fend for themselves on the streets. I'd like to personally invite Senator Coburn to visit our community and to tell the kids who want and need this park why he wants to take it away from them.

Despite Senator Coburn's very visible opposition to federal spending on everything from bridges and wilderness protection to medical research and alternative energy, his state receives about $1.36 for every dollar it pays in Federal taxes, while California gets back just 78 cents on its tax dollar. In fact, Oklahoma receives from the Federal government approximately 1,000 dollars more per person on average than does California. This is just more evidence that Tom Coburn is out of touch and that his grandstanding about the stimulus bill is worse than irrelevant - it's patently hypocritical.

This is a park we can all be proud of, and I'm proud to let Senator Coburn know that it's going to get built whether he likes it or not.

On June 25, Veteran political strategist Steve Frank will discuss "The Late, Great State of California: How Unions and Taxes are Strangling our Economy" at a meeting of the Long Beach Chapter of Lincoln Clubs in Belmont Shore.

Since the 1960s Frank has been involved in Republican politics, advising Republican nominees for state legislature, congress, governor, senator. He also served as California Coalitions Director for Rudy Guiliani for President in 2007-08, established the National Federation of Republican Assemblies and was president of the California Republican Assembly.

Frank also publishes California News and Views, an e-newsletter with over 200,000 daily readers.

The event will be at noon at Legends, 5236 E. Second St. in Long Beach. Call 310-545-2042 or e-mail srdoug@laclc.org to RSVP.

The backlash against heavy industry pollution blamed for sickening and killing people living and working near the nation's seaports grew a little stronger this week with the Port of Oakland's decision to ban high-emission big rigs serving its waterfront.

California's third-largest port approved the ban Tuesday, following the groundbreaking example set in Long Beach and Los Angeles last year.

Race To The Bottom - Official Trailer from Race to the Bottom on Vimeo.

Continuing a shakeup at a federal agency with which local port authorities have repeatedly clashed in the past year, President Obama has nominated a longtime shipping executive and former Coast Guard member to a seat on the Federal Maritime Commission.

If approved by Congress in coming weeks, Richard A. Lidinsky Jr. would replace retiring commissioner Harold Creel to help manage an agency that last fall sued the cities of Long Beach and Los Angeles in federal court to block their clean truck concession plan. The agency also delayed by months the ports' ability to collect a $35 container fee enacted to help fund replacement of those trucks.

Lidinsky's nomination comes just a week after Obama promoted current commissioner Joseph Brennan to chair the 3-member FMC board - a move that placed a strong supporter of the LA-LB truck replacement plan in charge of FMC policy.

Brennan was the lone dissenter in several key decisions regarding the truck plan and truck fee, with Creel (retiring June 30) and fellow commissioner Rebecca Dye forming a 2-1 majority in decisions to file the lawsuit, delay the fee and investigate the ports for "anti-competitive" business practices.

Just days after Brennan's appointment, the FMC said they would drop their lawsuit in federal court, generating a collective sigh of relief from supporters who say they can now focus on the lone remaining lawsuit against the plan (brought by the American Trucking Associations).

An attorney by trade, Lidinsky began his legal career at the Federal Maritime Commission from 1973-75 and later took positions at the Port of Baltimore and with private firm Sea Containers.  In recent years, he's worked as an attorney and trade consultant in private practice.

Obama's press release here.

The Long Beach City Council voted 7-0 in closed session tonight to have city negotiators move forward on a controversial proposed land deal that would exchange part of Los Cerritos Wetlands for the city's public service yard, according to City Attorney Bob Shannon. Council members Tonia Reyes Uranga and Dee Andrews were absent.

The council met in closed session because the matter was a real estate transaction, which is standard policy. Shannon said the council will meet at least one more time in closed session to discuss the deal, but once a final contract is drawn up, it will be made public and the council will vote on it in open session.

Environmentalists and critics say Long Beach isn't getting a fair deal in the trade, which previously was to exchange 33.7 acres of the 189-acre Bixby Ranch portion of the wetlands in southeastern Long Beach for the 12.1-acre public service yard in western Long Beach. Now, city officials say the deal may be expanded to include another 10 acres of the wetlands.

At tonight's Long Beach City Council meeting, I couldn't help but notice the lack of a glow on council members' faces from their laptop computers. In fact, none of them was using their city-issued computers at all, two days after articles by my fellow P-T reporter John Canalis and I highlighted the myriad ways in which some council members use their computers during meetings. See the articles here and here.

We found that in addition to checking e-mail and getting on Facebook, some members used their laptops to look for jobs on Craigslist or to look at travel Web sites, at least during one particularly lengthy but important meeting last month.

Of course, tonight's meeting was an unusually short one, lasting only about 1 1/2 hours, so maybe that's why they didn't bring their laptops along. We'll see what they do next week.

There's no word yet this evening on whether the Long Beach City Council will move forward on the Los Cerritos Wetlands deal because their discussion has been delayed, I was just told.

Assistant City Attorney Mike Mais said the council's entire 3 p.m. closed session was taken up by discussion of the city's contract negotiations with several employee unions. They didn't get to the second matter agendized for the closed session, the controversial Los Cerritos Wetlands deal that would swap part of the southeast Long Beach property for the city's public service yard in western Long Beach.

Mais said the council hopes to hold that closed session at the end of what is expected to be a short meeting. If not, the council will have to reschedule it for another day, Mais said. The real information that is likely to come out of the closed session is whether the council directs city management to move forward on the deal. Once the actual deal and contracts are crafted, the matter will return to an open council session for a vote.

Several environmentalists and other residents who are concerned about whether the land swap is fair and proper spoke at 3 p.m. before the council went into closed session to reiterate their views. You can get a good sense of these issues from my colleague Joe Segura's article in today's Press-Telegram.

I'll update later this evening if the council does in fact return to a closed session on the wetlands deal.

The Long Beach Port's top guy appears on a Fox News segment explaining how the recession is hammering local ports and accelerating losses in trade through San Pedro Bay.

International defense news outlets are reporting that the Long Beach-built C-17 is a top contender for the Indian Air Force's Very Heavy Lift Transport Aircraft.

A comprehensive study of the aircraft's capability has placed the C-17 on the Indian Air Force's short list, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik reportedly told India Strategic defence magazine.

According to Thaindian News:

"IAF was looking at acquiring ten C-17s initially through the U.S. government's Foreign Military Sales route, and a proposal in this regard was being considered by the Ministry of Defence, (Naik) said adding that the aircraft should come in about three years after a contract is signed."

Apparently India has been eyeing Boeing and other companies for transport that would replace aging military equipment for its Army, Navy and Air Force.

Boeing spokesman Jerry Drelling in a statement said the company knows about the recent press surrounding India's potential interest in the C-17, which the Indian Air Force and Ministry of Defence officials got a chance to see in action at the 2007 and 2009 Aero India shows in Bangalore.

"We are aware of recent press reports and Boeing would be pleased to offer the C-17 to the Indian Air Force, but the IAF or MoD can best answer this question about their procurement plans," according to the statement.

"We believe the C-17 can fulfill India's needs for military and humanitarian strategic lift to help it meet its growing domestic and regional responsibilities."

At stake are about 5,000 jobs in Long Beach and the survival of California's only major aircraft production facility. For years, Boeing has been sustaining on short-term domestic contracts and small foreign orders to push the production line.

Boeing has said it would close the C-17 plant on Lakewood Boulevard by late 2010 if no new orders were made. However, the combination of eight domestic C-17s included in the proposed war spending bill and the potential for four C-17s currently being negotiated by Boeing and United Arab Emirates would extend the line to at least 2011.

The grass-roots Long Beach Taxpayers Association at its meeting tonight will hear from Gabriella Holt, CEO of the newly formed Citizens for California Reform. Holt will speak on her 2010 ballot initiative to convert California's Legislature from full-time to part-time. Other local ballot initiatives also will be discussed.

Holt, a Palos Verdes Peninsula resident, was the Republican nominee last year in the 54th Assembly District race. She lost to former Long Beach City Council member Bonnie Lowenthal, D-Long Beach.

The free event will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. at Ecco's Pizza, 2123 Bellflower Blvd., in Long Beach. The public is welcome to attend.

The new Long Beach Courthouse will be more than a building with four concrete walls but one that will be sustainable, incorporate public art and be architecturally sound, state officials said Wednesday.

Officials from the state Judicial Council's Administrative Office of the Courts, the lead agency on the courthouse project, spoke with residents about the results of a California Environmental Quality Act analysis and gave more insight on what would be built on the two-block property bordered by Broadway, Maine Avenue, Third Street and Magnolia Avenue.

Currently three architecture firms are competing for the opportunity to work on the project, which would be a 545,000-square-foot building that will accommodate the 31 civil and criminal courtrooms, county office space, retail space and a basement that will include a sally port and an in-custody holding facility.

These firms are to submit proposals by Oct. 26.

Replacing the aging, dilapidated crowded courthouse has been a priority for the state judicial council, which recently set aside funds to help pay for the project.

The plan involves a land swap between the state and the Redevelopment Agency, which would give the state the West Gateway land in exchange for the property on 415 W. Ocean Blvd. for future development.

Local port authorities may be in for easier relations with trucking and shipping  regulators in DC following President Obama's appointment of a labor and environment-friendly former Maine governor to a key post at the Federal Maritime Commission.

Obama's naming of FMC Commissioner Joseph Brennan as acting chairman of the board places an ally in charge of policy at an agency with which the twin ports' have had numerous legal wranglings in the past year.

In a number of 2-1 votes, with Brennan the dissenter, the FMC board voted to side with industry against the ports' clean truck plans, tying up port attorneys in court and delaying collection of fees used to subsidize new, low-emission truck purchases.

Brennan has been vocal in his criticism of fellow commissioners (one of whom, Harold Creel, has announced his resignation at the end of June). In a Dec. 2008 missive, Brennan blasted FMC's attempts to mold a clean-truck plan preferred by industry but opposed by port authorities, who had urged for greater oversight.

"(I find) it disturbing that the Commission, while historically showing great deference to the attempts of ocean common carriers to maximize profits through price-fixing agreements, appears indifferent or oblivious to the good-faith efforts of Los Angeles and Long Beach to clean up the air," Brennan wrote. "The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are public entities trying to improve air quality and expand the ports. The Commission must weigh that fact when considering whether the Clean Trucks Program is 'reasonable' under the Shipping Act."

In related news, community watchdogs are awaiting their day in court over efforts by the FMC to withhold records of meetings related to the lawsuit against Southern California's port clean-truck plan. The lawsuit was filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council and Public Citizen under the Freedom of Information Act in May, after FMC lawyers refused to release the records for months.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's office today released a statement regarding Lance Cpl. Joshua R. Whittle, the 20-year-old Downey resident who died June 6 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

Whittle was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, U.S. Marine Corps, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

"Lance Corporal Joshua Whittle was a courageous American who fought tirelessly to protect our country. Joshua went above and beyond the call of duty and his selfless dedication and sacrifice will not be forgotten. Maria and I send our thoughts and prayers to Joshua's family, friends and fellow Marines as they mourn this devastating loss."

Flags at the Capital will be flown at half-staff in Whittle's honor. 

Representatives from the state's Administrative Office of the Courts, Office of Court Construction and Management on June 10 will discuss the findings of a California Environmental Quality Act report of the new Long Beach Courthouse being proposed on the property bordered by Broadway, Maine Avenue, Third Street and Magnolia Avenue.

The larger proposed courthouse, which could be open as early as 2013, would be 480,000 square feet, house 31 civil and criminal courtrooms and include 63,000 square feet of county office space, 9,200 square feet of retail space, central in-custody holding and 35 secure parking spaces. 

The public may weigh in on the report, which concludes that construction of a new courthouse will not have significant environmental impacts.

The public discussion will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. at Patterson Hall, First Congregational Church at 241 Cedar Ave. in Long Beach.

If you can't make it to the June 10 meeting, you may submit comments by 5 p.m. on June 22.

 

A copy of the report is available here. 

Did Mayor Bob Foster retaliate against a city board member for comments he never heard and that the member said he never made?

Jack Smith, who is a member of the volunteer Long Beach Housing Development Co. board but wasn't among a list of reappointees to 17 city panels submitted by the mayor Tuesday night, says that's exactly what happened.

Foster says his decision not to reappoint Smith to the board had nothing to do with the comments that his sources told him Smith had made.

Apparently, Foster had heard second-hand that at a West Long Beach Association meeting Smith implied an inappropriate relationship between Foster and Tom Dean, the owner of Los Cerritos Wetlands. The city has been brokering a controversial land swap with Dean to obtain the wetlands.

After the alleged comments, the mayor asked Smith to meet with him last week, Smith said.
"He accused me about saying something about him and Tom Dean in a public meeting," Smith said.

Smith then asked Foster why he wasn't on the list of LBHDC board reappointments.

"He said, 'Because of this,'" Smith said, referring to the alleged comments.

Oh, to be a fly on that wall.

Smith said that going into the meeting he had thought they were going to discuss the possibility of him serving on the city's Parks and Recreation Commission. Smith's 7th District representative, Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga, had asked the mayor to consider Smith for the position, they all said Wednesday.

Putting Smith on that commission is exactly how Foster explains his decision not to reappointment Smith to the LBHDC board. The Parks and Recreation Commission is required by the City Charter and is considered a step up from the non-charter LBHDC board.

A statement released Wednesday by Foster's office says that in last week's conversation, Foster "point blank asked Mr. Smith about statements that he allegedly made that were directed towards the Mayor during a recent community meeting - which Mr. Smith denied making and assured the Mayor anytime he had a disagreement he would call the Mayor or his staff directly."

However, that wasn't why Smith wasn't reappointed, the mayor says.

"The Mayor has NOT said he will not re-appoint Mr. Smith," the statement says. "There are other non-charter and charter appointments coming in the weeks ahead."

But Smith said that didn't appear to be on Foster's radar during last week's meeting.

"When I mentioned the charter commission, he turned to (chief of staff) Becki (Ames) and said, 'Do we have an application from Jack on that,'" Smith said.

The sudden controversy over Smith's reappointment came as a surprise to him, he said.

The matter surfaced during Tuesday night's council meeting when Mike Ruehle, president of the Belmont Shore Neighborhood Association and a frequent critic of Foster, brought the issue to the council's attention.

"The mayor had indicated what was going to happen and I accepted that," said Smith, a Wrigley District resident who will complete his first two-year term on the LBHDC board this month and who previously served a term on the Homeless Services Advisory Commission.

Uranga said Wednesday that was she taken aback when she learned about the outcome, as recounted by Smith, of the meeting with the mayor.

"All I know was the next day when I saw Jack he was crushed. He was embarrassed," Uranga said.

She said she wasn't at that meeting, so she doesn't know first-hand what was actually discussed. At the same time, Uranga said, neither was the mayor at the community meeting where Smith supposedly made the critical comments.

"You know, what really gets me is, it's all hearsay," she said.

And if Foster's decision was retaliation against Smith?

"How petty and vindictive of the administration if that's what he was doing," Uranga said.

An interesting article by Long Beach native Matt Welch in Reason Magazine, a political journal that advocates Libertarian causes, compares what Detroit is going through in losing its automakers to what Long Beach went through more than a decade ago when it lost most of its aerospace jobs and the Long Beach Naval Shipyard. Of course, being in a Libertarian-leaning publication, Welch's article makes the case that less government interference is the answer to Detroit's woes, not more. It worked for Long Beach, which has reinvented itself, Welch writes.

You can read the full article here. Following is an excerpt in which Welch highlights the political and economic atmosphere of Long Beach and Southern California in the early 1990s, and what resulted.

The popular debates at the time are worth remembering. On the populist right, there was a lot of dystopian chatter about how we had irreversibly traded our taxpaying (and patriotic!) industrial base for a tax-gobbling (and possibly treasonous!) wave of Mexican immigrants. On the populist left, it was all about the unstoppable, inscrutable Japanese (who were, as our cover story "Turning Japanese" on page 20 details, on the precipice of their own decade-long funk). Feminist thinker Susan Faludi used the emasculation of McDonnell Douglas as a set piece in Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man. In The New Yorker, Joan Didion portrayed the legacy culture left behind after aerospace's highwater mark as a suburban carnival of unknowing grotesques. The one thing that everyone seemed to agree on was that Long Beach would never regain its lost glory.

Everyone turned out to be wrong. As the market for war making collapsed, the market for peaceful global trade exploded, turning the twin ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles into the largest commercial port complex in the Western Hemisphere. Commercial airplane manufacturing and shipbuilding gave way to warehousing and tourism. A housing market that had looked so hopeless to homeowners was reheating by the second half of the decade. And in arguably the most telling statistic about a city's health, the population of Long Beach actually grew by 7.5 percent in the 1990s.

Government policy, and lack thereof, played an important role in the speedy recovery and economic transformation of my hometown. Though the Naval Shipyard closure was widely seen as a grievous blow, federal rules forbade the expenditure of municipal funds to keep the base on life support, and so the city set about selling off (and even donating) all the property to private interests who have made more efficient use of the land and equipment. Meanwhile, McDonnell Douglas (which Boeing bought in 1997) was allowed to suffer for its many missteps in the commercial airline market rather than receive a series of bailouts. Although the defense contracting side of Boeing is still the city's largest employer, and thus subject to unreliable political appetites for C-17 cargo planes, the municipal economy is now almost unrecognizably diversified.