October 2009 Archives

The tragic mid-air collision between a C-130 Coast Guard airplane and a Marine helicopter south of Catalina Island late Thursday has rocked the tight-knit Coast Guard community - including the dozens of Guardsmen stationed on Terminal Island and at LAX.

 The C-130 had been dispatched from Northern California to search for a missing boater attempting to row a 12-foot skiff between Los Angeles and Catalina Island. One of four Marine helicopters conducting training exercises off Camp Pendleton's coastline hit the C-130 sometime around 7 p.m. Thursday.

A search continues for the seven missing Coast Guardsmen and the two Marines in the helicopter.

Just days ago, the Coast Guard had proudly displayed one of their C-130s during an air show at Los Alamitos Naval Base - an event that drew hundreds of people for an up-close look at the frequently used search-and-rescue planes.

It doesn't appear any of the missing were based out of Terminal Island, where the force has a long-established base, but it's unclear if they had served there in the past. Coast Guard members frequently move locations.

The Coast Guard Los Angeles-Long Beach sector issued a statement and update on the search on their blog.

 

City and union negotiators have reached a tentative contract agreement that presumably would delay contractual pay raises and avoid furloughs for members of Long Beach's largest employee union, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

IAM spokeswoman Janet Schabow was tight-lipped in a brief conversation today, only divulging that the agreement had been reached Wednesday. However, she said IAM members still must approve the amended contract, which would then go to the City Council for approval. Schabow said the council will hear the details of the contract in closed session next Tuesday.

Time is running out for a deal to be reached. The IAM has postponed pay raises twice since the new fiscal year began Oct. 1 to give negotiations more time. Without pay concessions by the IAM, City Manager Pat West has said the IAM members will have to take 15 days of furloughs over the next year. The union represents 3,800 city workers.

I'm still digging on this story and I'll hopefully have more about it online by the end of the day and in Friday's Press-Telegram.

Seventh District City Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga may have jumped into the race to keep her seat a little late, but she jumped in with a big splash.

Uranga kicked off her write-in campaign for a third term with a major endorsement this morning. The campaign kick-off and press conference was held at District Lodge 947 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which represents 3,800 of the city's rank-and-file workers. IAM spokeswoman Janet Schabow said the union is giving the incumbent its endorsement because of her commitment to support working families and city employees. Uranga is arguably the strongest labor proponent on the council.

"You have to recognize when someone has been your champion, and we do," Schabow said. "She's been our champion."

Uranga entered the race after her husband, Long Beach City College Trustee Roberto Uranga, dropped out two weeks earlier. Reyes Uranga was elected in 2002 and re-elected in 2006 to the council's 7th District, which includes parts of Wrigley, California Heights and the Westside. After two full terms, council members' names can't appear on the ballot, but they may run for a third term as a write-in.

However, having to run a write-in campaign may further weaken the strength of Uranga's incumbency, which may already be diminished because of the budget cuts the council was forced to make this year. The only Long Beach politician to get elected to a third term as a write-in candidate was the immensely popular Mayor Beverly O'Neill in 2002.

Uranga faces three opponents so far: Assistant City Auditor James Johnson, who has already raised a sizeable campaign war chest; Jill Hill, president of the Wrigley Area Neighborhood Alliance; and Jack Smith, who works as a Hollywood line producer and is a local homeless and housing advocate. More challengers may yet surface as the April 13 election draws near. The candidate nomination period begins Dec. 21 and ends Jan. 15.

Long Beach Congresswoman Laura Richardson held up a copy of the Press Telegram and alluded to a front-page article on the state of healthcare in Long Beach during a debate Tuesday on the chamber floor. The Sept. 22 article, titled "It's Official: '08 Was A Stinker" written by staff writer Greg Mellen, reported that nearly 20 percent of Long Beach residents are without health insurance, and many surrounding communities report even higher numbers.

Here's a video clip of her speech, courtesy of C-SPAN and the Congresswoman's office.

For the record, Richardson supports the "public option" now under debate in both houses of Congress.

Tesla Motors and the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority have reached a deal to give the company tax credits that will allow it to expand its production of electric cars and create 1,400 jobs in California, State Treasurer Bill Lockyer announced today.

"By helping Tesla stay and expand in California, this agreement will create valuable jobs for our battered economy," Lockyer said in an e-mailed statement. "And it will bring the added bonus of benefiting our environment. (Zero emission vehicles) are efficient and clean, and a critical weapon in our fight against climate change."

There is still no word yet on whether Tesla will choose Long Beach or Downey as the site for a new assembly plant. Tesla spokesman Ricardo Reyes said the tax credit agreement helps accelerate production, but he said site selection is a separate issue and that no decision has been made.

Existing law exempts the authority from paying the sales tax on equipment used to manufacturer advanced transportation products. Under a policy adopted in June of 2008, it can pass through that tax break to qualifying zero emission vehicle manufacturers.

Under the terms of the agreement, the authority will assume title of $320 million worth of manufacturing equipment purchased by Tesla directly from vendors. The authority won't pay the sales tax on the transaction and will transfer title of the equipment to Tesla, saving the company the sales tax costs.

As Los Angeles prepares to defend itself against its Clean Truck Plan in federal court in coming weeks, the Sierra Club's executive director has posted a blog defending L.A. and asking Congress to amend federal law to prevent future lawsuits. The article was picked up on several news sites, including Huffington Post.

New York, Newark, Oakland and Port Everglades in Florida have indicated they plan to emulate Los Angeles' plan, which differs significantly from the Long Beach plan on several fronts, including the need for concessions and requirements that companies doing business on their waterfront own and maintain the vehicles they dispatch to the city's marine terminals.

Both cities banned pre 1989 model year rigs from entering terminals on Oct. 1, 2008, and the ban continues through 2012, when only 2007 model-year trucks will be granted access. New models are up to 90 percent cleaner than older trucks, and the plan is expected to cut diesel pollution from rigs 80 percent by 2012. Trucks account for about 20 percent of the pollution emitted by port industry, which is California's largest single fixed source of pollution. Ships, trains and other dockside equipment emit the rest.

Sierra Club Exec. Dir. Carl Pope wrote, in part, that "litigation by the trucking industry relies on obscure federal law that wasn't designed to restrict the right of local governments to protect their residents' health. That's why Congress should act now to clarify the right of states and municipalities to protect their citizens from the lethal byproduct of cargo transport."

The full article can be read here.

 

Coast Guard authorities rescued a disabled 57-foot fishing trawler after receiving distress signals from the boat about six miles south of Catalina Island.

The Verna Josephine, based out of San Pedro, sent out a distress signal late Tuesday, prompting Coast Guard Cutter Edito, which had been patrolling nearby, to respond. Nobody It's unclear what went wrong with the ship's engines, and after Edito towed the vessel into port early today, Coast Guardsmen will conduct a thorough search and evaluation of the boat to determine what went wrong.

There's been much speculation about whether 7th District City Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga would run for a third term as a write-in candidate after her husband, Roberto Uranga, dropped out of the race two weeks ago. Now it's official (almost).

Uranga released a statement today that she will officially announce her re-election bid at a Thursday morning press conference. Uranga has been a staunch union supporter, and the release says that labor and community leaders will be joining her at the press conference. It will be interesting to see who has her back in what could be a very difficult race.

Running as a write-in creates a significant challenge for incumbents, with the only real local success story being then-Mayor Beverly O'Neill's successful write-in campaign in 2002. Long Beach's mayor and council members can only run for a third term as a write-in candidate. Uranga was elected in 2002 and re-elected in 2006. Also running as a write-in next year is 9th District Councilman Val Lerch.

So far, the other candidates in the 7th District race are Assistant City Auditor James Johnson, who has already raised a sizeable campaign war chest; Jill Hill, co-president of the Wrigley Area Neighborhood Association; and Jack Smith, who works as a Hollywood line producer and is a local homeless and housing advocate.

Uranga released the following statement today:

A write-in campaign is a difficult thing, and the decision to run was not made easily. But my heart is and has always been with the residents of the Seventh District. So, after encouragement from numerous community leaders, I decided to follow my heart.

I have never backed down from a challenge, and the next few years will be a real challenge for our city. This past year we passed a very lean budget for our city, and the economy does not look like it's going to get better any time soon. We have lost many of our residents and businesses to the economic downturn because of jobs and foreclosures.  Times have been difficult for working families and difficult times require bold and passionate actions.

Included in Uranga's press release was a statement of support from John Taeleifi, President of the West Long Beach Association:

We need a strong experienced leadership to get us through this critical time. Tonia has always been there for us, and we want to keep her there fighting for the District.

With a stellar journalism career that has netted her the 2008 and 2009 Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Newscast and the 2009 Walter Cronkite Award, it's hard to imagine anyone telling Katie Couric that she could never cut it as a journalist.

But the anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News said at the Women's Conference in Long Beach that she had to face criticism early in her career, including from a news director who said she could only make it as an anchor "in a really, really, really small market."

Couric said it was Tim Russert, the late NBC News' Washington bureau chief and the moderator of "Meet the Press, who gave her a chance. He told her he had admired her work, especially the way she pounded Marion Barry, the mayor of Washington D.C. at the time, "like a pit bull hot on the trail of an alley cat," she remembered Russert saying.

"He told me that I had spunk and unlike Lou Grant, he liked spunk," she recalled.

His encouragement led Couric onto a successful path, from being a deputy Pentagon correspondent to subbing for the NBC Nightly News to anchoring the Today Show.

She eventually ran into that discouraging news director and reminded him about the "really, really small market" comment.

"And then (I) inquired sweetly if he considered the entire nation a small enough market," she said.

Couric said she learned a lesson from that experience, which has changed the way she now looks at the underrated co-worker or the enthusiastic intern.

"It takes one person, just one person, to see something special in someone else," Couric said. "My mom used to say, 'Everybody needs a cheerleader,' and in my career, that was Tim, and that changed everything."
 

Geena Davis hasn't surfaced in a major motion picture in recent years, but the actress has certainly been busy. The "Thelma and Louise" star can add another title to her resume - passionate women's advocate. In 2007, she founded The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media Studies, which focuses on increasing the number of female characters and fighting gender stereotypes in TV shows and movies aimed at girls ages 11 and younger.

Speaking at the Women's Conference on Tuesday, the 53-year-old member of MENSA said she was disturbed after noticing the lack of female characters in the movies and TV shows her children were watching. Davis is now working to change the representation of women in children's media but says the problems is deeply rooted in U.S. culture.

"Hollywood is literally run on the concept that women want to watch stories about men and men don't want to watch stories on women," she said. "Our hands are literally tied by the fact that men aren't interested in women's stories."

Davis says change can start when women pay attention and share what they see with others.

"I feel strongly that you can't rely on change happening in the natural course of things," she said. "Unless people are very active pushing and noticing this phenomena, things won't change."

"There's terrific energy when women gather together," she added. "With so many women working so hard, we can cause dramatic change."

- Kelly Puente

 

CBS' Katie Couric, left, and Annie Leibovitz talk about Leibovitz's experiences as a photographer as she is interviewed in a packed Terrace Theater Tuesday morning during The Women's Conference 2009 in Long Beach, Calif. Photo by Steven Georges/Press-Telegram

CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric drew out celebrated photographer Annie Leibovitz in a frank, funny and occasionally melancholy conversation at the Women's Conference today at the Long Beach Convention Center. Leibovitz reflected on her art, her financial problems, the deaths of her partner and parents, and her experiences photographing some of the most recognizable people in the world.

Hinting at what probably would be good advice for the hundreds of women in the audience, or anyone else for that matter, Leibovitz explained her financial troubles that have now put the rights to her entire body of work at risk. She said she concentrated on her work her entire career.

"I never paid attention too much or took care of finance. I left it to other people," Leibovitz said. "Those days are over."

Leibovitz has failed to pay back a $24 million loan for which she put up the copyrights to her iconic photographs as collateral. For four decades, Leibovitz has photographed rock stars, actors, politicians, athletes and royalty, producing historic photos such as one for Rolling Stone of a nude John Lennon and Yoko Ono taken the day before Lennon was killed.

The debt was only one of several obstacles that Leibovitz has had to confront over the past five years, as her parents and her longtime partner, writer Susan Sontag, all died.

Those final years with her loved ones, and even their final days on Earth and Sontag's battle with cancer, all became part of Leibovitz's photographic repertoire. She talked today about her mother's reluctance to be photographed because she didn't want to look old.

"I found myself crying behind the camera," Leibovitz said.

Her father's death wasn't as hard to confront as Sontag's, she said.

"He died in his wife's arms," Leibovitz said. "It was a good death."

But she said she wouldn't want her father to see her going through her financial struggles today.

"I have to say, I'm really glad my father's not alive right now," Leibovitz said.

"Do you think he'd be mad at you," Couric asked.

"He always worried about me," Leibovitz replied.

Photographing her beloved Susan took more strength, she said. Leibovitz said she didn't

photograph Sontag until she was nearing death, though Sontag encouraged her to do so because she knew it was what Leibovitz loved. Leibovitz shared some of those photos with the audience today, offering a rare privilege to the crowd. She said she rarely displays or discusses the Sontag photos because of the emotions they still evoke in her, yet they are dear to her.

"I'm so lucky to have my photographs," Leibovitz said.

Linda Ellerbee, the award-winning journalist who pioneered the late-night news program "NBC News Overnight" and ABC's historical series "Our World" said she's been to nearly every Women's Conference.

"I believe this is possibly one of the smartest ideas that I have ever come across," said Ellerbee, 65, who in 1987 co-established Lucky Duck Productions, which produces television programs and sells them to networks. "Look, you get this many women together and you get them thinking and you get them talking and the next thing you know the world is changed."

Asked to give one piece of advice, Ellerbee, whose children's news show has earned three Peabody Awards and six Emmys, replied: "Do what you love."

"It's so much easier to succeed when you're doing what you love," she said.

Los Angeles Port Police are investigating a diesel spill in the harbor apparently caused by a truck driver with a faulty fuel line and a heavy foot.

An officer came across the spill, which is estimated at between 25-50 gallons, about 1:45 a.m. near the Henry Ford Bridge. With fuel leaking into the waterway in and around the Cerritos Channel, fire department and environmental authorities were immediately called to the scene.

By about 5 a.m., Ocean Blue Environmental, a local contractor, had cleaned up most of the mess, but some inevitably found its way into the harbor's marine environment.

Investigators suspect the leak was caused by a truck with a faulty fuel line or punctured tank whose drivers plugged the hole before driving off, though they didn't say what evidence led to that conclusion.

No, it won't be available for smoking, but medical marijuana dispensaries will be the topic of discussion at this month's Beer and Politics forum. The discussion begins at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Gallagher's Pub & Grill, 2751 E. Broadway.

While state laws allow marijuana to be used for medical purposes, federal law still lists marijuana as an illegal substance with no medical applications. Dispensaries are popping up all over California, and Long Beach has at least 40 of them, officials estimate. The City Council has been talking about how to regulate dispensaries and limit their number, but city officials have learned there are no easy answers.

Speaking at Beer and Politics will be City Prosecutor Tom Reeves, who has said that medical marijuana dispensaries in Long Beach are operating illegally, and Greggory Moore, a writer for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, The District Weekly and LBPost.com who says America's war on drugs has failed.

 

If you can't attend the discussion, you can watch it live and submit questions online here.

If you weren't one of the lucky 24,000 people to get tickets to the Women's Conference, which begins today (believe me, many more women and a few men would have liked to go), that's OK. You can almost feel like you're there through blogs here at Press Corps and on the Women's Conference Web site, as well as live online video of Tuesday's events and speakers.

Several Press-Telegram reporters, including myself, will blog about the conference, in addition to the usual articles and photos covering the event. Women's Conference organizers also have created their own blog, which includes entries from California First Lady Maria Shriver and former Press-Telegram reporter Brenda Duran, who is providing a unique perspective on the conference-goers themselves.

Several events kick off the conference tonight, but it goes full blast Tuesday with featured speakers such as Katie Couric, Jane Goodall, Annie Leibovitz and Alicia Keys. Read P-T reporters John Canalis and Kelly Puente's preview of the conference here.

The next City Council election isn't until April, but it's never too early to start getting to know the candidates. 7th District council candidate Jill Hill, president of the Wrigley Area Neighborhood Alliance, is having a meet and greet event Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m. at Bonanza Restaurant, 1810 W. Willow St.

The public is invited to the free event, and there will be appetizers and refreshments.

Running against Hill are Assistant City Auditor James Johnson and Jack Smith, a Hollywood line producer and local homeless and housing advocate. A third candidate, Long Beach City College Trustee Roberto Uranga, had been in the running, but he dropped out last week. However, his wife, 7th District Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga, whose seat is supposed to open up next year, has said she may run for a third term as a write-in candidate.

First District Councilman Robert Garcia will lead a community effort Saturday to improve parking on the west side of the city.

Garcia and his staff will lead 1st District community groups and resident volunteers to survey all red curb areas that may be unnecessary and to identify potential locations for new bicycle racks.

"This is an opportunity to create more parking, support greater use of bicycles, and to improve the air quality and the quality of life in our community," Garcia said. "More parking spaces means less time driving, and more bike racks encourage more biking."

Participants will meet Saturday at 10 a.m. in the Birdcage Coffeehouse on 4th Street, just west of Pacific Avenue. A free lunch will be served.

The Long Beach Redevelopment Agency, City Councilman Dee Andrews and about 200 Poly High School students and administrators will celebrate the improvements of a once blight intersection and launch neighborhood clean-up efforts on National Make A Difference Day.

The event will be at 8 a.m. on Saturday Oct. 24 at the southeast corner of Atlantic Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway.

According to the city press release:

The RDA removed a blighted commercial property to clear land for open space to serve as a gateway for Poly High School. The space incorporates sustainable principles such as the use of native landscaping and recycled concrete, and new trees. A right turn lane was created to alleviate traffic congestion at this busy intersection, and a staff parking lot was improved.  Additionally, fence fabric was installed across the street as part of the RDA's Screening Project.

  Two more blue whales have been struck and killed by commercial ships traversing California's busy shipping lanes, bringing to five the number of whales known to have been killed in such a brutal manner during recent months.

The latest discovery was made Monday, when a 70-foot female blue whale washed ashore in Mendocino County with deep gashes caused by a collision with an ocean survey vessel, said Joe Cordero of the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Last week another blue whale washed up in Monterey County, also having been hit by a ship.
In April, a dead 60-foot fin whale discovered in the Port of Los Angeles was found to have died after being hit by a 900-foot container ship.

Veterinarians found bruising, broken shoulder blades, shattered ribs and evidence of organ damage during a brief necropsy of the whale, which was found on the ship's bow April 11. 
The whale was hit by the container ship OOCL Japan somewhere between the Santa Barbara Channel and San Pedro Bay, said Cordero, a wildlife biologist.

In February, another fin whale washed up on a beach in San Diego County after being struck by a ship near San Clemente Island, Cordero said.
And in October '08, a 48-foot female fin was dragged into the Port of Long Beach on the bow of a container ship - again struck in the Santa Barbara Channel.

An internationally endangered species, fin whales are the world's second-largest mammals behind blue whales. The fin whales frequent waters around San Clemente Island, where food is abundant, but they can be found anywhere off the West Coast. 
Six blue whales, the world's largest creatures, have been killed by ship strike since October 2007.
In June 2008, the Center for Biological Diversity sued the federal government in response to the string of earlier deaths, saying the Coast Guard violated the federal Endangered Species Act by failing to adequately protect whales from ship traffic, as required under federal law.

The case is pending.

For the second time in two weeks, the City Council chose to delay a vote on furloughing members of Long Beach's largest employee association following an unusual decision to enter closed session for discussion. The council came back out into the open meeting and voted 8-1, with Councilman Gary DeLong dissenting, to postpone the vote until Nov. 3. Following are some more details from my previous blog entry. Read more in-depth coverage of the meeting later tonight at www.presstelegram.com.

After several public disagreements over whether to give City Manager Pat West the power to implement furloughs for members of the largest city workers union, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the council just entered a closed session to talk more in-depth about the ongoing contract negotiations.

It's a strange move, and I don't recall the council ever entering closed session mid-meeting, at least in the two years and change that I've been at the Press-Telegram. Council members Tonia Reyes Uranga and Dee Andrews were the only council members to vote against entering closed session. They both said they wanted to delay a furlough vote until Nov. 3 to allow city and union officials more time for discussion.

If the union doesn't agree to a pay freeze, West says its members will have to take 15 days of unpaid furloughs over the next year.

The City Council may end up delaying a vote on employee furloughs for a second time in two weeks.

After several public disagreements over whether to give City Manager Pat West the power to implement furloughs for members of the largest city workers union, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the council just entered a closed session to talk more in-depth about the ongoing contract negotiations.

It's a strange move, and I don't recall the council ever entering closed session mid-meeting, at least in the two years and change that I've been at the Press-Telegram. Council members Tonia Reyes Uranga and Dee Andrews were the only council members to vote against entering closed session. They both said they wanted to delay a furlough vote until Nov. 3 to allow city and union officials more time for discussion.

If the union doesn't agree to a pay freeze, West says its members will have to take 15 days of unpaid furloughs over the next year.

The California Redevelopment Association is challenging the constitutionality of a state budget trailer bill mandating redevelopment agencies throughout California to make a $2.05 billion state payment.

The association representing more than 350 redevelopment agencies filed suit against the state today in Sacramento Superior Court, contending that the state's taking of redevelopment funds is being used for non-redevelopment purposes.

The state action required several agencies to make budget cuts or rely on other funding resources to make their payments. The Long Beach Redevelopment Agency, for example, had to trim $10million from its budget and borrow $20million in housing funds to make the $30million payment.

This is the association's second lawsuit against the state. In April 2008, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Lloyd Connelly sided with the CRA, saying that lawmakers violated the constitution when they required agencies to contribute $350 million for education programs.

The funds didn't directly benefit redevelopment project areas, according to Connelly, noting that the funds are spent anywhere within a county and don't necessarily relate to school programs that benefit redevelopment project areas.

"We believe the second budget raid by lawmakers is just as unconstitutional as the first," CRA Executive Director John Shirey said in a statement. "Lawmakers ignored the State Constitution and attempted to write state budget legislation around it. That's simply irresponsible policy-making, and it illustrates why many have concluded state government is broken and needs fixing."

H.D. Palmer, deputy director of External Affairs for the California Department of Finance, has told the Press-Telegram that the state believes it has addressed the legal issues that had been at issue in the first trial.

Now that Long Beach has extracted itself from a federal lawsuit with the trucking industry opposed to certain provisions of the port's Clean Trucks Plan, supporters of the original plan are reportedly gearing up to introduce a bill in Congress giving local port authorities the ability to regulate aspects of trucking in and around the nation's harbors.

Sources say House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, is preparing legislation allowing large port cities like Los Angeles, New York, Newark, Oakland and others regulatory powers lost when Congress passed the Motor Carrier Act of 1980.

Pelosi's office could not be reached for comment early Tuesday.

On Monday, the City of Long Beach agreed in a closed-door meeting to remove certain provisions in their truck plan that had prompted a lawsuit by the American Trucking Associations, including regulations that companies doing business on their property not park on residential streets and submit to annual financial audits of their companies.

That move prompted the ATA to drop its lawsuit against the plan, leaving the Port of Los Angeles, which has an ever stricter plan, alone in its lawsuit against some of the nation's largest retailers, shippers and trucking companies, who joined in the lawsuit shortly after it was enacted in early 2008.

Supporters of the Los Angeles plan, who include local environmentalists, labor groups and even New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, were reportedly upset about the Long Beach deal, announced Monday evening.

In addition to the parking and auditing provisions, the Los Angeles plan also requires trucking companies purchase and maintain the trucks servicing their port - a move taking the burden of buying the expensive new rigs required under the plan off drivers and onto companies.

"They are giving a dirty bunch of industry bullies a free pass to port property if they claim 'Voila! We're Clean,'", said Long Beach resident Bernice Banares, a high school teacher living in what is referred locally to the "diesel death zone" by regional air quality regulators. "Instead of siding with with the industry polluters that sued him, Mayor Foster needs to be standing up for workers behind the wheel and mothers of children with asthma like me."

Long Beach officials, however, defended the deal, saying it saves potentially millions in legal fees while still achieving air quality goals. The plan calls for all trucks serving the harbor to meet federal 2007 emission standards by 2012 - a move expected to reduce diesel pollution from harbor trucks 80 percent.

"This is a critical milestone for the program, reaching consensus with an important industry partner," said Nick Sramek, president of the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners. "With this settlement, the Port of Long Beach and the ATA have agreed to move forward, together, on a Clean Trucks Program that works to safeguard the environment while contributing to economic growth and jobs."

Meanwhile, a coalition of mostly progressive congress members, senators and allies like Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and New York Mayor Bloomberg are pushing for legislation which would effectively allow Los Angeles to require companies doing business on their property own and maintain trucks.

Pelosi has been named as a possible sponsor of such legislation, which has support from 31 House Democrats in California, California's Democratic Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein and President Obama, who as a candidate wrote a letter supporting the new business model.

 

 

SEE! The Long Beach City Council vote tonight on furloughing employees.

HEAR! An angry property owner who doesn't want to sell a sliver of land at PCH and 2nd Street to create a turn lane.

FEEL! The excitement of democracy in action as the council talks about other issues as well, from higher refuse hauler fees to creating more transparency in union contract negotiations to controlling cat populations.

See the full meeting agenda here, plus the supplemental agenda with a few additions here. See my story about the main issues at tonight's meeting here.

If you can't make it down to City Hall for the 5 p.m. meeting, you can always watch it live online at www.longbeach.gov.

Long Beach City Councilman Robert Garcia will be part of the CNN documentary special, "Latino in America."

The two-day CNN special, which also features actress Eva Longoria, will air at 6 p.m. PST on Wednesday and Thursday.

The 31-year-old, who was elected to the council in April, was born in Lima, Peru, and immigrated to the United States when he was 5. He became the first person in his family to attend and graduate college.

"I immigrated to the United States at a young age and I am grateful and honored to be in a position where I can serve my community and my country," Garcia said in a statement. "As an American and a Latino, I think it is important to be a role-model, especially to our youth."

Read more about later today in the P-T.

  The trucking industry has dropped the City of Long Beach from a federal lawsuit challenging the port's authority to regulate trucking in and around the harbor. The decision came after a closed-door meeting Monday among the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners, who agreed to a series of industry demands regarding the regulation of trucking firms serving Long Beach's harbor, the nation's second busiest.

The decision comes after Long Beach officials decided to remove certain provisions in their Clean Trucks Program, including where rigs can be parked and financial auditing of companies. Rules regarding truck replacement timelines, annual  fees charged to firms for port administrative oversight and and registration of new trucks will remain.

The City of Los Angeles now stands alone in its battle to transform the trucking industry serving the nation's busiest harbor.

"The litigation from the American Trucking Associations against the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach never challenged the environmental components of the Clean Trucks program such as the truck bans or fees," said Jonathan Gold, a spokesman for the National Retail Federation and party to the lawsuit against the port. "The lawsuit only challenged the concession agreement initially designed to change the industry business model that had no impact on achieving clean air goals."

The announcement comes as attorneys for both cities were gearing up for a showdown in federal court this December, where the ATA filed a lawsuit contending the port plans violate federal law.

Ironically, the Long Beach deal came just hours after New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg held a press conference praising the Los Angeles plan - which requires trucking companies-  and not drivers - own and operate the expensive new rigs required under the Clean Trucks Plan.

Los Angeles developed the plan to lift the burden of buying, insuring and maintaining the new rigs, which can cost $100,000 for a basic 2007 model, from drivers and placing that cost on well-capitalized companies.

But the plan quickly ran into a wall of opposition - primarily from the companies that preferred the old way of doing business: having drivers buy or lease the rigs, pay for upkeep, purchase fuel and get paid by the load instead of hourly.

Now, by extracting itself from the legal battle and agreeing to industry demands, the port stands to save hundreds of thousands in legal fees.

The coalition praised Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster and the Long Beach Harbor Commission on Monday, saying market forces should be left to decide who will pay for and maintain fleets of clean trucks in years to come.

They also slammed an effort underway in Congress to amend federal law and allow port authorities to establish taxicab-style concession agreements with companies doing business on their waterfronts - an effort supported by the Teamsters Union, Sierra Club, American Lung Association and others. 

"Mayor Foster 'got it right' by focusing on newer compliant trucks and letting the market decide on how best to meet the requirements of the Clean Trucks Plan," Gold said. "Our coalition does not support changes to federal law that the Port of Los Angeles is currently lobbying for in Washington, DC with the Teamsters Union."

The Long Beach Water Department announced Friday that it will receive $1.3 million in federal funding for its seawater desalination and recycled water projects, bringing the city one step closer to having a little more water independence.

The U.S. Senate voted last week to approve the $33.5 billion 2010 fiscal year Energy and Water Appropriations Conference Report, which funds the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Interior (including the Bureau of Reclamation), the Department of Energy and several independent Agencies. Included in the bill is $670,000 for the Long Beach Seawater Desalination Project and $634,000 for the Long Beach Reclaimed Water Expansion Project. The bill was approved two weeks ago by the U.S. House of Representatives and will now go to President Obama to be signed into law.

Earlier this year, more than $3 million in stimulus funds were awarded to the Long Beach Seawater Desalination Project. Once the President signs and approves the FY 10 Energy & Water Appropriations bill, Long Beach will have received a total of $4.3 million in federal funds this year for its two Title XVI water supply projects.

"With these funds, we will now be able to complete the third and final phase of our Seawater Desalination Research and Development Project," Kevin Wattier, General Manager of the Long Beach Water Department, said in a statement.

"We will also be able to continue to expand the city's use of recycled water, which reduces our consumption of potable water, and makes Long Beach less dependent on outside sources of water, which as everyone knows are becoming more and more unreliable," Wattier continued. "Add in our tremendous conservation effort and Long Beach is well on its way to becoming self-reliant when it comes to its water supply."

With the addition of the FY 10 appropriations, the Long Beach Seawater Desalination and Recycled Water projects have now received approximately $11.4 million and $12.4 million, respectively, in federal funding through annual appropriations dating back to the year 2000. The federal funds for these projects have been supplemented by both state and local funding sources.

Long Beach City College board member and 7th District City Council candidate Roberto Uranga has been elected vice chairman of the Association of Community College Trustees' national board of directors, he announced today. The nine-year member of the LBCC board member will be the next in line to head the ACCT in 2011. No Southern California member or Latino has ever led the ACCT board, Uranga said.

  Good news for Uranga and Long Beach, of course, but perhaps just another piece of candidate publicity in the slowly building fight for the 7th District seat to replace Uranga's wife, Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga.

Other candidates in the 7th District race are Assistant City Auditor James Johnson and Jill Hill, co-president of the Wrigley Area Neighborhood Association; and Jack Smith, a Hollywood line producer and local homeless and housing advocate.

A lack of oversight and controls in Long Beach's Towing Operations creates "a high risk of fraud," according to an audit by City Auditor Laura Doud.

The audit will go to the City Council next week for discussion and was provided to the Press-Telegram on Monday.

"We don't have any hard factual evidence to prove that there was fraud," Doud said Monday.

But she said the opportunity was there for employees to "pocket cash" and erase records of the transaction with no oversight.

Read the rest of the story tonight at www.presstelegram.com. The full audit:  Towing Operations Audit.pdf.

Fifth District Long Beach City Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske today announced she is proposing that the council place a charter amendment on the ballot that would open up the process of negotiating contracts with city employee associations to more public scrutiny. The announcement comes a day before the council is to vote on new contracts that include pay freezes for six employee associations. Schipske's item won't be heard by the council until next week. Following is Schipske's press release in its entirety.

Fifth District Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske is placing an item on the Council agenda which she calls the "Public Pay Bargaining Sunshine Requirements" that if approved by the City Council and the voters would open up the process utilized by the Council in negotiating wages, benefits and working conditions with city public employees.

"The public is clamoring for transparency and input --not only of what the City negotiates but how much it costs the city for the agreements over the life of the agreements and whether or not the city can afford the agreements," says Schipske.

Currently, state law requires that the collective bargaining process for employees in higher education and employees in school districts provide for the "sun shining" of initial proposals for negotiations, including re-openers as well as proposals that arise later in the course of bargaining. The laws also require a delay after the proposals are presented at a public meeting to allow the public to become informed and provide input regarding the proposals. Additionally, in the case of schools districts, the Superintendent must disclose the costs of the contract and certify that the costs of the contract can be met by the school district during the term of the agreement.

Schipske points out that public employee collective bargaining is regulated by state law -- the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act which is found in the Government Code. Enforcement of this law is done by the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), the same agency which regulates labor laws for teachers, faculty members and employees of public universities and schools.

Government Code Section 3547 provides for the public disclosure of any proposals being negotiated between school district and their public employees and the requirement that the public have an opportunity to express itself regarding the proposals at a public meeting.

"The Government also requires school districts to publicly disclose the costs that would be incurred under the agreement for the life of the contract and to certify that the school district can cover the costs of the contract," Schipske explains. "I have advocated for this at the city government level even before I was elected to the City Council."

"Opening up the process to the public is needed. There isn't any reason that our City Council cannot do the same as is required by the Long Beach Unified School District," Schipske adds. "Nothing in the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act which governs labor relations of municipalities prohibits the City from adopting the same requirements for public disclosure and input."

Schipske says that the California Supreme Court has been favorable to the public disclosure requirements of the school districts in its rulings: "Thus, although the public is excluded from actual negotiating sessions . . . its opportunity to be fully informed and to express its views is preserved." San Mateo City School District v. PERB, 33 Cal.3d 850, 864 (1983).

"I hope my colleagues and the voters agree to let the sunshine in on this process."

City of Long Beach negotiators and representatives of the city's largest employee union didn't reach a contract deal Thursday that is a necessary step to finish eliminating a projected deficit for the fiscal year that already has begun, according to union spokeswoman Christa Indriolo. As an alternative, the City Council is scheduled Tuesday to vote on enacting 15 days of unpaid furloughs over the next year for the 3,800 members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

However, Indriolo said today that while no agreement has been reached, the union is willing to postpone raises that were scheduled for Oct. 1 until Nov. 1. No IAM membership vote is needed for this delay, she said, but if negotiations break down, then the pay raise would be enacted retroactively to Oct. 1.

That may not matter if the council approves the furloughs, which would do away with the 4 percent raise that workers are scheduled to get this year. The sticking point also happens to be the union's fear of furloughs -- the IAM wants a guarantee of no furloughs in the 2010 fiscal year in exchange for delaying the promised pay raises.

Indriolo said the two negotiating teams will meet again next week to continue their talks. For now, they have a three-week reprieve to try to hammer out a deal, but time is quickly running out.

Neal Coonerty, Supervisor, Santa Cruz County

Dave Cortese, Supervisor, Santa Clara County

Ken Yeager, Supervisor, Santa Clara County

Ruth Uy-Asmundson, Mayor, Davis

John Heilman, Mayor Pro Tempore, West Hollywood

Pete Aguilar, City Councilmember, Redlands

David Benavides, City Councilmember, Santa Ana

Ryan Coonerty, City Councilmember, Santa Cruz

Kevin Dowling, City Councilmember, Hayward

Marlen Garcia, City Councilmember, Baldwin Park

Robert Garcia, City Councilmember, Long Beach

George Gastil, City Councilmember, Lemon Grove

Todd Gloria, City Councilmember, San Diego

Lamar Heystek, City Councilmember, Davis

Lindsey Horvath, City Councilmember, West Hollywood

Kevin McCarty, City Councilmember, Sacramento

Bill Quirk, City Councilmember, Hayward

Jose Medina, Trustee, Riverside Community College

Rachel Norton, Commissioner, San Francisco USD

Steve Ngo, Board of Trustees, City College of San Francisco

Viet Tran, Human Relations Commission, Riverside

Gary Alford, Chair, Fresno County Democratic Central Committee

Sergio Carrillo, CDP Regional Director, Region 17

Nick Caston, First Vice Chair, Sonoma County Democratic Central Committee

Robert Dobrich, Vice Chair, El Dorado County Democratic Central Committee

Lawrence DuBois, Chair, Placer County Democratic Central Committee

Cynthia Ellsmore, President, Sierra County Democratic Central Committee

Robert Golling, President, Rocklin-Roseville Area Democrats

Bruce Harmon, Vice President, Butte County Democratic Central Committee

Kimberly Haswell, Vice Chair, Placer County Democratic Central Committee

Jay Hubble, Vice Chair, Fresno County Democratic Central Committee

Leslye Janusz, Chair, Auburn Area Democratic Club

Robert Kalonian, President, West Hollywood Democratic Club

Ryan Loney, Vice Chair, Yolo County Democratic Central Committee

Ted Perle, California Democratic State Central Committee

Judy Pipkin, Voter Registration & Community Services Director, Santa Clara County Democratic Party

Mia White, President, Silicon Valley Young Democrats

As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger holds out on signing hundreds of bills until state lawmakers come up with a plan to overhaul the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster and the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce both released statements today in support of water policy reform. The delta in Northern California supplies two-thirds of the state's water, but must be overhauled to fit the growing water needs of farmers and cities while at the same time considering environmental concerns. The project's cost is expected to be $8 billion to $10 billion.

"The state of California's water supply is critical, and now is the time for decisive action," Foster said in his statement.  "I urge the State Legislature and the Governor to quickly negotiate a water reform package that can help put California back on the right path towards sustainable water management."

Foster said that any water plan must include a 20 percent water conservation requirement. Long Beach has been recognized as a leader in water conservation.

"Our business community cannot afford to wait a moment longer," Randy Gordon, president and CEO of the Chamber, said in a statement. "After decades of inaction, California's water system is finally on the brink of bringing us into the 21st century, thereby preserving this vital hub that is the conduit for shipping water from the north to Central Valley farms and Southern California cities. A Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta plan can soon be a reality. We all know our 700-mile maze of waterways, levees and islands drives the state's economy."

Mayor Bob Foster appeared with gas and oil executive, and noted environmentalist, T. Boone Pickens on CNBC this week to talk about Long Beach's "green" efforts, from low-emission buses to efforts to reduce pollution at the Port of Long Beach.

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.

 

 

If you live near the airport, then you're probably interested in the QuieterHomes Program that the City Council gave a final go-ahead to Tuesday night. I've been getting a lot of calls and e-mails, so below is information about how to find out whether your home may qualify for the program. Remember, only 27 homes at the southeastern end of the airport are being included in the program, which has upset residents at the northern end. See my stories about that issue here and here.

Residents can learn more about the program, see maps of the noise contour and find out if their home is included by going to www.lgb.org, then finding "Quieter Home Program" under the "Community Relations" bar in the directory on the left side of the screen. Residents can also call a toll-free number, 888-739-4090, or the airport's public affairs office at 562-570-2678.

A public informational meeting about the program is scheduled for Oct. 29 at 6:30 p.m. in The Grand Long Beach Event Center, 4101 Willow Ave., airport spokeswoman Sharon Diggs-Jackson said Wednesday. She also said that she will send out letters Wednesday to the 27 residences that can join the QuieterHomes Program.

It looks like contract negotiations with the city of Long Beach's largest employee union, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, aren't going well.

City Manager Pat West is asking the City Council at next Tuesday's meeting to approve 15 days of unpaid furloughs over the next year for the 3,800 workers represented by IAM. The furloughs are necessary to cut $10.1 million from all city budgets, including $3.5 million from the general fund, according to a staff report. What that will mean for residents is unclear, since IAM workers make up the bulk of city employees and handle most of the day-to-day services. For the last five months, City Hall and most city offices were closed one Friday per month as every city employee other than public safety workers was forced to take furloughs.

Negotiations seem to be going better with the other employee associations. The police association has already inked a money-saving deal with the city. Tuesday's meeting agenda includes new memorandums of understanding with unions representing firefighters, prosecutors, attorneys, management, lifeguards and confidential workers that will avoid pay raises in this fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, to keep the city's budget in the black.

The only employee association not mentioned in the agenda is the engineers union, with which city officials have said they are continuing to negotiate.

Police Chief Anthony Batts is officially out of Long Beach and on his way to his new gig running the Oakland Police Department. Well, not officially. His last day at work was on Friday, City Manager Pat West told me after Tuesday night's council meeting, but he is on vacation until his official last day on Oct. 19.

"Chief Batts has left the building," West said as he packed up to leave after a long day -- about 7 1/2 hours -- of City Council meetings.

 West said the city's three deputy police chiefs will rotate the chief's duties until Oct. 19, after which the rotation system may continue, or an interim chief may be named. West said he doesn't have a plan yet for beginning the search for Long Beach's next top officer.

In case you missed it, Batts is getting a hefty raise and some nice benefits in Oakland. Read my story about that here.

 

Long Beach residents' water consumption set a 10-year record low in the 2009 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, Water Department officials announced last week. Water use was down 17 percent over the average, which was the lowest total since 1965.

Water demand in September 2009, which came in at over 16 percent below average, was also a new record 10-year low, which means that 11 of the 12 months in FY 09 were new records for low water use. Since the Board of Water Commissioners issued their declaration of imminent water supply shortage for Long Beach two years ago, 20 out of 24 months have produced new record 10-year lows.

The Water Department also announced today that Long Beach had the lowest number of water main breaks ever in the 2009 fiscal year. Only 26 water main breaks occurred over the past year, compared with an annual average of 59 breaks over the previous eight fiscal years, officials said. From the 1991 to 2000 fiscal years, the city averaged 133 water main breaks per year.

The Long Beach Water Department has invested nearly $90 million since the 2008 fiscal year to upgrade the city's older, less reliable cast-iron water infrastructure, which is more susceptible to frequent, costlier breaks. The Water Department has replaced 107,000 linear feet per year of the older cast iron pipeline, installing a newer, more reliable ductile iron pipe in its place.

The District Weekly reported over the weekend that Terry Jensen, a former Redevelopment Agency board member who gained recognition last year for opposing the Measure I infrastructure parcel tax, plans to run against Councilman Gary DeLong in the 3rd District. Jensen certainly gained a following among gadflies and council critics, but will he have enough support -- financially and otherwise -- to unseat DeLong?

Read the District's story here, and stay tuned for a follow-up by the Press-Telegram as well.

 

 

 

Bellflower Unified School District board member Laura Sanchez-Ramirez will appear at a meet-and-greet event on Wednesday, Oct. 7.

The Lakewood incumbent is running for one of three open seats, along with contenders Corrine Maestro and Angelia Parrish and incumbents Rich Buonocore and Paul Helzer.

The meet-and-greet will be from 6 to 8 p.m. at 16910 Ardmore Ave. The election is on Nov. 3.

Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Randy Gordon is sending out a statement today to Chamber members to support the location of Tesla Motors to Long Beach. So continues the friendly competition between Long Beach and its neighbor Downey to attract the electric car manufacturer. As Gordon notes, the Tesla assembly plant is expected to bring 1,000 to 1,200 jobs to the area.

Read about that news being announced at the end of August here.

Here is Gordon's statement:

The story of Tesla Motors is that of a true underdog. The upstart automaker had a dream to reinvent the electric car market with reliable, attractive, performance-minded vehicles that ran on pure electricity. The odds were stacked against them and many hurdles stood in their way. But, Tesla has been deemed an undeniable success after completing all deliveries of its striking Roadster and debuting an electric four-door sedan called the Model S that threatens to change the American view of mass-produced vehicles as we know it.

The United States Department of Energy recently validated Tesla's efforts by granting them loans worth about $465 million to produce more electric vehicles - an attempt to jumpstart the electric industry with the once-mocked Tesla Motors leading the way. Now, the young company is looking for the perfect place to settle and produce its revolutionary automobiles. And Long Beach is just the place.

In order to build the annual 20,000 Model S sedans that are planned, Tesla needs a facility and they need it fast. An immediate interest was taken in Long Beach, where we are always looking for new business partners and just happened to be looking for a new tenant in a Boeing-owned former aircraft production plant. What a coincidence! The currently vacant plant can accommodate Tesla's needs. So, the automaker announced that it would locate its new manufacturing headquarters either the vacant plant in Long Beach or...in nearby Downey.

Now, with all due respect to the fine city of Downey, there really is no comparison here. Their city government has made a strong push to attract Tesla. But, Boeing as well as a Long Beach team of city staff led by Mayor Bob Foster and City Manager Pat West have worked tirelessly to communicate and negotiate with the carmaker since rumors of a partnership began. Also, Long Beach City Councilmember Gerrie Schipske (the vacant Boeing facility is located in her district) reminds her constituents time and time again, our city offers so much more than just a place to build cars. Specifically, we offer our rich manufacturing history in the aircraft and automobile industries; we offer a dedicated, experienced workforce that is highly skilled and well educated; we offer the resources of two local colleges that continue to produce California's best and brightest. These are the foundations that built Long Beach and will carry it into the future - with the help of Tesla, innovators in their industry and leaders of a new automobile revolution.

The effect that Tesla would have on Long Beach is immeasurable. While creating 1,000 to 1,200 jobs and generating substantial revenue, the clean-and-green company would only further Long Beach's reputation as one of the most environmentally-conscious cities in America. In return, Tesla Motors would receive lucrative enterprise zone tax credits for hiring local employees that are simply not available anywhere else. Additionally, freeway access and nearly endless stream of a local, talented workforce will ensure a strong and vibrant economic future for a company of the future.

This deal is not about what the City will receive, or what Tesla will receive. Instead, is a deal that is about the things that the two can accomplish together. And, it is the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce's belief that Long Beach and Tesla Motors can accomplish so much more with each other than they ever can separately, forming an alliance of environmentally-friendly innovation and leadership to guide others in the same direction. Eventually, changing the industry. Then, maybe companies across America.

This relationship has the potential to change the way we look at our own society. This is a chance to build better cars, to build a better local economy, and to build a better nation, together. We cannot and must not allow that opportunity to slip away...

...and that's Strictly Business.

U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will be at the Port of Long Beach today to announce more than $26 million in "Green" Recovery Act Funding for California.

This is Jackson's first visit California since being appointed by President Obama. She intends to highlight more than $26 million in EPA grants for projects in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, and Riverside Counties.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa and Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster are expected to attend as well.

Read more about it in Friday's P-T.