November 2009 Archives

The monthly Beer & Politics discussion tonight will focus on a planned civilian trial for a 9/11 terrorist suspect. The special guest will be a local attorney who worked in Guantanamo Bay. The event begins at 7 p.m. at Gallagher's Pub & Grill, 2751 E. Broadway. Read the details from the B&P announcement below.

Speaking on the issue of moving the 9/11 terror trial for Khalid Sheik Mohammed to civilian court in New York City will be Long Beach Assistant City Prosecutor Timothy L. O'Reilly.  Mr. O'Reilly was a Long Beach criminal defense lawyer and is a career Army National Guard officer who spent a year in Guantanamo Bay.  He ensured the safe and humane treatment of all terror detainees in accordance with the Geneva Conventions.  Mr. O'Reilly will discuss the military commissions, war crimes tribunals, and some implications of transferring the terror suspects to federal criminal court.

In case you were itching to head down to City Hall tonight, remember that there is no City Council meeting this week because it's the last Tuesday of the month. In fact, with Thanksgiving this week, there's very little action at all down there. No meetings at all, actually.

Long Beach Airport officials announced today that an Antonov An-124 cargo aircraft is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday at the airport and will depart Wednesday. The aircraft is scheduled to arrive and depart during the morning hours, after 9 a.m.

The Antonov 124 is a large, Russian-made aircraft, usually white with blue markings, and will be noticeable as it passes overhead, the airport statement says. The noise footprint of the aircraft is similar to a C-17.

Should be pretty cool to watch, too.

 

As reported in the Cunningham Report, an estimated 1,000 Oakland port truckers may soon be out of work because they can't afford to retrofit their older rigs with diesel particulate filters required for access to port terminals beginning Jan. 1.

According to the report, the drivers have not received expected grant money from regional air quality regulators to help pay for the exhaust retrofits - which cost $11,000 to $20,000 each.

"More than 100 drivers showed up at a meeting at the Port of Oakland last week to ask for more grant money," Cunningham noted. "The Port of Oakland contributed $5 million toward the $22 million pot of funds that the (Bay Area Air Quality Management District) used for the grants. The drivers also asked for more time to retrofit their rigs. Neither request was granted."

The report kind of underscores the argument being made by the Port of Los Angeles, which is seeking concession deals requiring trucking companies gradually take ownership of the rigs dispatched to its waterfront.

L.A. argues most drivers don't earn enough to properly pay for, maintain and insure new rigs without continual financial assistance, while companies are well-capitalized to handle the burden - now and in the future.

Not surprisingly, the L.A. plan is being sued in federal court, where trucking companies, retailers and shippers - who publicly bash the port as a lackey of organized labor - are arguing that contract drivers, who comprise more than 90 percent of the truck workforce in the harbor, should be permitted to shoulder the expense for new rigs required under the Long Beach-Los Angeles Clean Truck Plan.

 

Former Long Beach Mayor Beverly O'Neill has endorsed candidate Pauline Gonzalez Stenberg for the 3rd District school board seat in the Long Beach Unified School District, Gonzalez Stenberg's campaign announced Friday.

The coveted endorsement by one of Long Beach's most popular politicians makes Gonzalez Stenberg a strong contender in the field of five candidates seeking to replace former board member Michael Shane Ellis, who resigned in September. The special school board election is scheduled for Dec. 29.

Gonzalez Stenberg has also been endorsed by three of the district's four current school board members -- Mary Stanton, Jon Meyer and Felton Williams. Other endorsements include 6th District City Councilman Dee Andrews and former 7th District Councilman Mike Donelon. Gonzalez Stenberg's greatest opponent may be Richard Lewis, who has been endorsed by several council members and the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.

Gonzalez Stenberg, 66, recently retired from her family's sheet metal fabrication business. She is a 42-year Long Beach resident and a past PTA president of Newcomb Academy and Millikan High School.

Customs officials report capturing a cache of glass bongs estimated at $2.6 million and disguised as Christmas ornaments on a ship from China.

Agents said it's illegal to import, build or sell such paraphenalia, frequently used to smoke marijuana and widely available at tobacco shops throughout the Southland.

Read the full story here...http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_13825210?nclick_check=1.

The Airport Advisory Commission meeting will get an update today on the progress of construction at the Los Alamitos air base, which has forced the military to use Long Beach Airport for many air operations. The extra military aircraft have contributed the noise from the airport, which hasn't made neighbors too happy.

The commission meets at 4 p.m. at the Holiday Inn, 2640 N. Lakewood Blvd., in the Redondo Board Room on the 12th floor, not in the commission's normal meeting place at Skylinks Municipal Golf Course.

Congresswoman Laura Richardson (D-Long Beach) has announced that the Museum of Latin American Art of Long Beach will receive a grant for $141,120 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to produce solar electricity at the museum.

This grant, which is being awarded through the U.S. Department of the Treasury, is intended to support the generation of electric, mechanical or thermal energy from renewable resources and create and preserve jobs in the construction and operational stages of the project.

Proposed "no-fishing zones" off the local coast have been posted online at http://resources.ca.gov/mlpa_scrsg/. A blue-ribbon panel adopted the restrictions Nov. 10 following months of public hearings.

The proposals now needs approval from the California Department of Fish and Game Commission. The restrictions are designed to protect underwater marine life as part of the 1999 state law known as the Marine Life Protection Act, or MLPA.

Information is also available at http://www.marinemap.org/marinemap/.

To read the full story, visit http://www.presstelegram.com/search/ci_13621894. The adopted proposal is a mix of the three maps depicted in the story, with expanded restrictions around Catalina, Laguna Beach and less restrictions (as depicted in Map 2) at Rocky Point off Palos Verdes Peninsula - a popular spot for local commercial and recreational anglers.

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

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

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

 

In another example of just how much things have changed for local port authorities since President Obama's inauguration, the chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission dropped by L.A. on Tuesday to check out first-hand the progress being made in ridding the nation's largest seaport of some 16,000 polluting big rigs - an effort previous FMC executives under the Bush administration had denounced as anti-competitive and illegal.

The visit by FMC Chairman Richard Lidinsky, appointed by Obama in May, comes just months after the agency, which oversees the nation's shipping laws, dropped a lawsuit and investigative probe into the ports' Clean Truck Plan, which under Bush had claimed could lead to serious disruptions in service and price increase in the movement of goods through Long Beach-Los Angeles. Together, the ports handle about $1 billion in cargo daily.

As it turned out, those fears were unfounded, as the FMC noted in dropping its probes and lawsuits in June and August, respectively.

Noting the previously acrimonious relationship between the parties, Lidinsky said that instead of lawsuits and investigations, the agency now hopes to act as a partner to help America's other major seaports emulate the Los Angeles truck turnover plan.

"I am pleased to see firsthand the promising results of the Clean Truck Program and am encouraged to hear that all parties in our maritime transportation chain are moving ahead and putting past adversarial relationships behind them since all of us want the same goals of public and economic health for these and other ports," Lidinsky said."We want to be a positive force for them as they recover from the worst maritime economic crisis since the Great Depression by restoring and creating new jobs, and we will stand side by side with ports as they use their expertise to fashion responses to the 21^st Century's environmental and public health challenges."

The only remaining legal challenge against the Clean Truck Plan is a lawsuit filed by the American Trucking Associations against Los Angeles, which wants trucking firms doing business on port and state property to own and maintain the fleets of new, cleaner rigs that will be dispatched to the waterfront in years to come. The case is expected to begin in February.

Long Beach was dropped from the lawsuit when it sided with the trucking industry in October by agreeing to ditch the requirement that companies own rigs - leaving the burden of new truck purchase, maintenanace, fuel costs, insurance and upkeep on contract drivers, which now comprise 95 percent of the harbor truck driver workforce.

 

 

Meet the Downey City Councilman and aspiring 50th District State Assemblyman on Nov. 19 at Frisco's Carhop Bar & Grill in Long Beach. Marquez will attempt to replace Hector De La Torre, who is being termed out of office.

Primary elections are in June.

The event will be from 6 to 9 p.m. at 4750 Los Coyotes Diagonal.

Call Diane J. Martinez at 562-743-3555 for more info.

Marquez_flyer2-2.pdf

As the council prepared to go into a closed session, which now isn't going to happen, about the Los Cerritos Wetlands deal, Mayor Bob Foster announced that he plans to move up a scheduled presentation by the Environmental Protection Agency to early in the meeting. Foster said the presentation, which will address contaminants that have been found in the soil on the property that the city hopes to acquire and restore as wetlands, will happen after the public hearings at the beginning of the meeting. The item was listed on the agenda as No. 29, which would have happened late in the meeting, probably after 8 p.m. If moved up, the coucil will probably hear the EPA report by 6 p.m.

Watch the meeting online at www.longbeach.gov.

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

Just as the Long Beach City Council is considering rules to regulate medical marijuana collectives, Los Angeles's own attempts to control the facilities are under threat of legal action by marijuana advocates, the Los Angeles Times reports. The Times writes:

Two medical marijuana groups are threatening to sue the city of Los Angeles if the City Council passes an ordinance that bans the sale of medical marijuana.

Read the full story here.

With state Sen. Alan Lowenthal endorsing Assistant City Auditor James Johnson in the 7th District City Council race Sunday -- on the heels of a couple of other significant endorsements and some new candidate faces -- next April's election is getting intriguing.

Last week, the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce announced endorsements in two races, supporting 9th District Councilman Val Lerch and 3rd District Councilman Gary DeLong for re-election. Before that, 7th District Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga was endorsed by the city's largest employee association, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

While the 7th District and 9th District races have had a slate of contenders for several months, a second challenger who is likely to shake things up recently joined in the 3rd District race. Tom Marchese, an attorney who is vice president of the University Park Estates Neighborhood Association and a board member for the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust, is running against DeLong. Marchese has been an outspoken critic of the DeLong and city plans such as the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Swap. Another vocal critic, former Redevelopment Agency board member Terry Jensen, has been considering a run against DeLong since last month. I don't know whether these two will split the vote against DeLong, but I think they have potential to make a serious run for the 3rd District seat.

Now, things are starting to get intriguing, and Election Day is still five months away. This election may be one of the most significant ones for Long Beach in recent memory, as the city battles budget deficits, dwindling resources and a growing demand for serious reform at City Hall. The winners will have their work cut out for them. But first they have to get there, and that in itself won't be an easy task, even for many of the incumbents.

In case you're wondering who was behind those candidate endorsements announced Thursday by the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, keep reading.

The Chamber's Political Action Committee chose the endorsements, although only 10 of the 14 PAC members were able to attend candidate interviews, according to Chamber President and CEO Randy Gordon. Gordon said that PAC members are chosen by the existing PAC based on interviews with the Chamber members who are interested in joining.

Following is the list of the PAC members who were involved in the endorsement process, as provided by Gordon:

• Matt Kinley (Co-chairman of the PAC) - attorney with Tredway, Lumsdaine & Doyle, LLP
• David Neary (Co-chairman of the PAC) - president of WestLand Construction
• Randy Gordon (PAC secretary) - president and CEO of the Chamber
• Joanne Davis - president of Davis Group political consulting firm
• Lori Lofstrom - attorney for Holmes Lofstrom, PC
• Trini Jimenez - director of government affairs for Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Co.
• Jerry Miller - managing consultant for IMC Municipal Consulting and former Long Beach city manager
• Joshua Owen - president of Ability/Tri-Modal, a trucking, warehousing and distribution company
• Jay Davis - president of Universal Healthcare Insurance Agency
• Nancy Ahlswede - executive director, Apartment Association, California Southern Cities

While the PAC membership includes a few notable names, the one that jumps out at me is Jerry Miller, former city manager and now lobbyist. Miller was (perhaps still is) working for Los Cerritos Wetlands owner Tom Dean to convince the City Council to engage in a deal to exchange the wetlands for several city properties. The still-unresolved deal is highly controversial and faced criticism from fiscal conservatives and environmentalists alike.

What's interesting is that council members Val Lerch and Gary DeLong both voted for the deal, and now the PAC of which Miller is a member has unanimously endorsed both of them. Meanwhile, Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga, who was one of four council members to vote against the land exchange, didn't receive the Chamber PAC's endorsement, which instead chose to stay neutral in the 7th District race.

Is there a connection? It's hard to say. To be fair, the Chamber has endorsed DeLong and Lerch in the past, but has never endorsed Uranga. One could also argue that Miller's experience as city manager makes him an ideal PAC member to opine who should lead Long Beach. Still, DeLong also happens to be running against two vocal critics of the wetlands deal, Tom Marchese and Terry Jensen. I can't imagine Tom Dean would be too happy if he learned that Miller had endorsed one of them.

The Long Beach Water Department's new Web site has some fun distractions to alleviate that office boredom, plus you might learn something about water conservation. The new site, cleverly called Long Beach 90H20, has features such as information about creating a drought-tolerant garden, landscaping photos, games for children (mildly fun for adults too) and videos.

Check it out at www.lbwater.org.

The City Council can't get enough of smoking issues. After the medical marijuana debate last night, the council's Economic Development and Finance Committee will reignite the discussion about allowing smoking lounges in Long Beach today. Doing so would amend Long Beach's groundbreaking anti-smoking ordinance that outlawed the act in public places back in the early 1990s.

In March, the council instituted a yearlong moratorium on new cigar and hookah lounges so that city staff could refine regulations for the businesses, and city health officials and attorneys say they are expecting to have the new ordinance ready this month. But Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga, the committee's chairwoman and the person who first proposed allowing smoking lounges, is trying to get a jump on things.

The committee meets at 3 p.m. today in City Hall, 333 W. Ocean Blvd.

The City Council's Transportation and Infrastructure Committee meets today to hear updates on several issues: the status of the Long Beach Breakwater study (which could lead to taking down parts of it), the use of Measure R transportation funds (approved by voters last year, it created a countywide half-cent sales tax), towing operations efficiencies, the permitting process for construction on wetlands and open space, and sports team field fees (which were increased this year).

In some cases, the three-member committee may forward recommendations to the full council, but nothing binding will be approved today. Still, these are some interesting items on the agenda today. See the agenda here.

The committee meets at 4:30 p.m. in City Hall, 333 W. Ocean Blvd.

Not since Snoop Dogg has a single man put Long Beach on the map the way West Coast Choppers owner Jesse James has. Now, the motorcycle builder is getting a bit of local recognition.

The Long Beach City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to rename a small section of Oregon Avenue between Anaheim and 12th streets as West Coast Choppers Place to honor the business, which is featured with James on the new show, "Jesse James is a Dead Man." Check out the video clip below about the show, in case you've never tuned in.

Let's be clear: Medical marijuana alleviates the pain from many serious illnesses. For those who use it, getting access to the drug is serious business.

But somehow, as the Long Beach City Council has discussed how to regulate medical marijuana collectives over the past few weeks, the puns just haven't stopped. At the Economic Development and Finance Committee meetings on the issue, members even promised the public they would stop with the pot jokes, although they didn't quite succeed.

Here are a few of the pot puns that have come up in meetings, interviews and articles:

The city wants to weed out the illegally operating medical marijuana dispensaries.

Officials are trying to hash out marijuana laws.

In my Sunday article about medical marijuana, I gave in to my punniness and described the city's efforts "to nip the issue in the bud."

As The District Weekly's Dave Wielenga reported last month, the inevitable question came up during a forum about medical marijuana: "What are you smoking?"

The marijuana puns may even be pervading my subconscious. A couple of weeks ago, as I wrote an article on another subject after covering a medical marijuana meeting, I put a dateline of "BONG BEACH" on my story. Luckily, I caught that before I sent the story on to my editor.

The only thing I haven't heard yet is a council member tell another: "Dude, stop bogarting the microphone."

 

A competing set of letters has been delivered to a key Congressman over the fate of harbor trucking - including who should ultimately be made responsible for the new rigs mandated under the ports' Clean Trucks Plan: drivers or the companies that contract them to haul goods to and from the nation's major trade gateways?

A Nov. 4 letter, Congressional Letter.pdf, signed by 23 members of Congress, asked Congressman James Oberstar, D-Minn., who chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (which delegates billions for the nation's roadways, highways and trade corridors) to amend federal law classifying port drivers as employees of the firms they rely on for work.

The move is designed to lift the burden of new truck purchase and maintenance off drivers, who are paid by the load, and onto companies.

In response, a coalition of local trucking firm owners sent their own letter to Oberstar on Nov. 9, industry-oberstar.doc, asking him to preserve the status quo, arguing that contract drivers are actually "small businesses" forming the backbone of a vibrant port trucking community.

Current law classifies contract drivers, who comprise about 95 percent of the local port trucker workforce, as "self-employed," giving them no legal standing to collectively push for higher wages, benefits, overtime or work-related reimbursements (though they are able to write off some work-related expenses when filing taxes each year.)

The move to reform the business model into a limited form of regulation is being promoted by the Port of Los Angeles, New York, New Jersey, Oakland, Port Everglades and others. Long Beach supports the current system, which took hold in the wake of the deregulatory Motor Carrier Act of 1980 and has been strengthened through legislative action throughout the 80s and 90s.

Reformists note that pushing the costs for new rigs mandated under the ports' Clean Trucks Plan, which bans pre-2007 rigs by 2012, onto drivers exacerbates an already struggling workforce, which studies show averages $12 an hour after expenses for their rigs.

If you're a Long Beach city employee, or just a concerned resident, this week is a reminder to report suspected fraud and government abuse.

International Fraud Awareness Week began Sunday and ends Saturday, and City Auditor Laura Doud has announced that her office participating in the event. Fraud Awareness Week comes during a time when intense financial pressures caused by the economic crisis have led to an increase of fraud, according to a survey of fraud experts conducted by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Doud said.

Doud plans to raise awareness this week of the her Fraud Hotline by distributing posters and brochures in city offices throughout Long Beach, e-mailing community leaders, and airing a 30-second public service announcement on cable television, YouTube and the city's Web site, www.longbeach.gov.

The city auditor's fraud hotline is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for city employees or citizens to report fraud, waste or abuse of Long Beach City funds. Reports are anonymous and confidential. Call 888-372-8307, or 888-FRAUD-07, or file a fraud report online at www.cityauditorlauradoud.com.

The city of Long Beach is one of eight cities that have been selected to receive the Award for Municipal Excellence at the National League of Cities' 2009 Congress of Cities & Exposition in San Antonio, Texas. Long Beach is being honored in the 150,001 to 500,000 population category for its Creating a Youth-Driven Career Center program.

The Creating a Youth-Driven Career Center program is a reinvention of the Long Beach Workforce Development Agency's youth service strategies, which focuses on providing opportunities to engage youths in the design and creation of physical spaces, outreach messages, materials, products, policy-making and critical community connections.

As a Gold winner, Long Beach will receive an award of $2,000, which will be donated to the community non-profit organization of its choice.

City Attorney Bob Shannon has submitted his draft ordinance to regulate the growing number of medical marijuana collectives in Long Beach. Next Tuesday at 5 p.m., the council will discuss the ordinance, likely tweak it, and probably cast an initial vote toward making it law.

Among key points in Shannon's ordinance are requirements that collectives provide the names, addresses and phone numbers of all members; that collectives can operate only in commercial and industrial zoned areas, not residential zones or mixed use zones that contain residences; and that they can't be within 1,000 feet of a school, public park, public library, licensed child care facility, playground, youth center or another medical marijuana collective.

Here is Shannon's proposed ordinance: Marijuana draft ordinance.pdf.

And his lengthy legal analysis that he had previously submittted to the council: Legal anaylsis on regulating medical marijuana.pdf

Finally, City Prosecutor Tom Reeves' perspective on regulating medical marijuana: City Prosecutor on Medical Marijuana.pdf

Melody Ross, the 16-year-old girl who was fatally shot Friday night after the Wilson High-Poly High footballl game, wasn't on the agenda at Tuesday's council meeting. But she was on the minds of council members and the public alike.

Several council members and Mayor Bob Foster remarked on the teen's tragic death. A few members of the public demanded that the city create more park and recreation programs to keep youths out of trouble and more police to keep the streets safe.

Despite cuts implemented this year to every city department -- parks funding was drastically reduced and the number of police officers in Long Beach were slashed back to almost 2002 levels -- Councilman Gary DeLong noted that the council had voted at the end of the budget discussions to restore $500,000 to parks and rec programs.

Still, with more budget deficits expected through 2012, one has to wonder just how city officials will keep public safety programs -- both prevention and law enforcement -- at the levels that Long Beach needs. There's no way to know if Melody would have been saved if there had been just one more cop on the street or if the shooter had gotten a little more positive attention as a child. But having more of those resources couldn't hurt.

Fifth District Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske is getting her re-election campaign rolling with a fundraiser from 5 to 7 p.m. today at Cirivello's Pizza, 4115 N. Viking Way. It isn't exactly cheap pizza -- from $35 to $350 -- but I guess the money isn't really paying for food.

We haven't heard much from Schipske's only opponent so far -- Mike Hedges, president and CEO of Pacific Striping in Signal Hill. RSVP to www.schipske4council.com.

In his State of the County Address on Wednesday, Los Angeles County Board Supervisor Don Knabe is expected to announce the funding of $42 million in programs and capital improvement projects across his Fourth District.

Knabe's office today did not disclose what specific projects will be funded, but confirmed that at least $9 million of that money will benefit the Long Beach area.

The veteran politician, whose district includes Long Beach, Lakewood, Cerritos and Downey, also plans to talk about the economy, jobs and the county's budget at the third annual event hosted by the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce at the Long Beach Convention Center.

The luncheon event, which drew about 1,000 people last year, is sold out this year, said Chamber President and CEO Randy Gordon, adding that 300 more seats were added to accommodate the 1,250 people attending the event.

Staff writer John Canalis contributed to this report.

More than 100 people are expected at a 4:30 p.m. rally today outside Long Beach City Hall, 333 W. Ocean Blvd., to protest the recent decision by Long Beach port authorities to settle a lawsuit with the trucking industry over conditions of their clean-truck program.

The group plans to deliver a letter (Letter_to_POLB_Commission_re_ATA_Settlement.pdf) to city councilmembers, who were not involved or apparently informed in advance of the settlement (though Mayor Bob Foster was).

The deal has been widely criticized as a "sellout" to the powerful trucking industry, though port authorities defend it by saying it saves L.B. taxpayers potentially millions in legal fees without compromising the clean-air goals of the program, which bans pre-2007 model year rigs by Jan. 1, 2012. This contention has been hotly debated by many former allies in the fight to clean up harbor industry blamed for thousands of premature deaths via cancer, heart disease and lung ailments annually in communities surrounding the ports.

The Natural Resources Defense Council, which had joined L.A. and Long Beach in their lawsuit, blasted the Long Beach settlement, which was reached during a closed-door hearing Oct. 26.

"The Port of Long Beach violated the public trust and sold out the citizens of Long Beach by approving a worthless settlement agreement with the American Trucking Association in their lawsuit against the Los Angeles ports' clean trucks programs," said David Pettit, a senior attorney with the NRDC. 

Long Beach's deal leaves Los Angeles alone against the trucking industry in a lawsuit scheduled to begin in federal court this December. The main split between the port comes from the fact that Los Angeles wants trucking companies doing business on its waterfront to own and maintain the thousands of rigs they dispatch in and around the port daily. The Long Beach allows contract drivers to continue operating.

Opponents of the Long Beach plan note that contract drivers, who are paid by the load and responsible for their own fuel, insurance, lease payments, vehicle maintenance and general upkeep, are hardly in a position to support the expensive new rigs required under the clean-truck plan. A basic 2007 model truck can cost up to $100,000, while cleaner alt-fuel vehicles can fetch $200,000 or more. Meanwhile, studies show drivers earn about $10-$12 per hour after expenses.

This reality has forced Long Beach to offer deep subsidies to ensure drivers are able to purchase or lease new rigs - a business model opponents claim will ensure taxpayers and port authorities will be subsidizing drivers for years to come. 

Because I've received a couple of calls from people wondering about the status of the medical marijuana dispensary regulation issue, here's the latest: Tuesday's City Council meeting agenda contains only an update of the Economic Development and Finance Committee deliberations. The committee's chairwoman, Councilwoman Rae Gabelich, had placed the update on the agenda at the beginning of last week, but then said later in the week following a contentious committee meeting that she was going to ask the council to have the city attorney draft a law regulating dispensaries.

That apparently never happened -- the meeting's supplemental agenda includes no change to the simple update that was originally agendized. The council could use the opportunity to ask for something more concrete and immediate, such as the creation of an ordinance. However, it isn't expected to do so because City Attorney Bob Shannon plans to give a full report on how the city could regulate medical marijuana at the Nov. 10 council meeting.

Medical marijuana has become a contentious -- actually, downright nasty -- issue around City Hall, last week causing this conflict during the committee's meeting.

The Long Beach Redevelopment Agency board this morning unanimously approved the $2.8 million purchase of the Promenade property once slated for a four-star, 165-room boutique hotel project called Hotel Esterel.

The deal, which includes a 15 percent contingency amount for closing costs and other related expenses, brings to an end D'Orsay International Partners, LLC's 27-year pursuit of developing a project on 139 E. Broadway and 201-239 The Promenade North.

In 1982, the developer Alain Sarfatti and a financial partner paid $2.25 million for a 30,000-square-foot parcel that included an 8-story building that once housed the former Barker Brothers furniture store. (The building has since been demolished and what sits there today is a parking lot.)

Over the years, several concepts had been planned for the property, including:
* A mixed-use office and retail project called Promenade Plaza, which fell after investors hoping to reap big from the DisneySea project pulled out after Disney quit its plans;
* A residential high-rise prothat called for a 10-floor building with 140 condominiums above ground-floor retail; and
* An 11-story, 230-room hotel with ground-floor retail space called Hotel D'Orsay, which ran into financial snags following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Rising costs prompted developers to scale down the hotel project, resulting in its latest incarnation, Hotel Esterel.

"He proceeded with full plans and was ready to pull a building permit, and of course the market collapsed," said Redevelopment Bureau Manager Amy Bodek.

Last spring, the agency began talks to acquire the property from the developer, who has been unable to finance his project. Sarfatti could not be reached for comment Monday.

"We've wanted to see development occur there for so long it's almost been palatable," Bodek said. "This is the remaining gap on the Promenade and we can't afford to let it sit there and be a parking lot for the next 10, 15 years. This was an opportunity for us to get control of the site."

Bodek said the agency will issue a Request for Proposal from developers in the coming months, exploring another hotel or residential concept.

Assistant City Auditor James Johnson will kick off his campaign for the 7th District City Council seat at 11:30 a.m. Nov. 14 at Necho's Restaurant, 2380 Santa Fe Ave. Johnson is one of four candidates so far in what should be an exciting and competitive race. Two-term 7th District Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga announced last week she is running for a third term as a write-in candidate. Also running are Jill Hill, president of the Wrigely Area Neighborhood Alliance, and Jack Smith, who works as a Hollywood line producer and is a local homeless and housing advocate.

To attend Johnson's campaign kickoff, RSVP to Mike by e-mailing RSVP@johnsonforcitycouncil.com or by calling 562-522-9096.