January 2010 Archives

 Long Beach officials have created a Social Media web page for better connections between residents and City Hall.

The new web page will feature links to its various Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts.

Social Media are primarily Internet-based communication tools for sharing and discussing information.

Residents and businesses are invited to become Friends and Fans on Facebook, Followers on Twitter and Subscribers on YouTube. There is Flickr photo-sharing, and a section on RSS Feeds is also planned.

"We're launching this new page to take advantage of efficient and effective technology tools that help connect our community with the City," said Curtis Tani, director of Technology Services. "The larger goal is to facilitate community inclusion and encourage public participation in issues that affect so many of our residents and businesses."

The web page -  www.longbeach.gov/socialmedia.asp -includes the main Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts, along with accounts from several city bureaus and departments, including Community Development, Development Services, Fire, Library, Public Works, Water, and the Port of Long Beach.

In addition, the community can also continue to get information from the city's e-notify subscription-based service, available at the city's home page, www.longbeach.gov.

The couple's puppy pit bull, 'Cinnabun,' has been missing since Monday, where she was last seen near James' West Coast Choppers shop on Anaheim Street near the L.A. River. There's a $2,000 reward. Anyone with info can call (562) 983-6666.

 

A 7th District City Council candidate debate will take place Monday, sponsored by the Wrigley Association and the California Heights Neighborhood Association. The debate will be at 7 p.m. in Veterans Park, 101 E. 28th St. The event is free and open to the public.

Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga is running for a third term as a write-in candidate in the April 13 election. Her name can't appear on the ballot because she has already served two full terms.
Challenging her are Jill Hill, president of the Wrigley Area Neighborhood Alliance; Jack Smith, a Hollywood line producer and homeless and housing advocate; and Assistant City Auditor James Johnson.

The Journal of Commerce reports a Horizon Lines ship en route to Guam lost at least six containers after encoutering swells approaching 25 to 30 feet between Southern California and Hawaii. The containers reportedly flew overboard the night of Jan. 21 in a rough Pacific storm that battered the Southland last week with several inches of rain, high winds and tornadoes. The 2,824-TEU Horizon Hunter was forced to stop in Hawaii after being knocked around in the storm, which also sent several containers askew aboard the ship's deck. No one was injured. Horizon operates ships out of Long Beach and Oakland and primarily services U.S. territories including Hawaii, Samoa and Guam in the Pacific. I've also posted a video (not related) showing another container ship wrenching in rough seas off Southern California's coast a year ago or so to give you an idea of how powerful storms can wreak havoc even on large containers ships.

As the Long Beach City Council prepares to formulate the last piece of its own law to regulate medical marijuana collectives, the Los Angeles City Council today gave final approval to its medical marijuana law. An exceprt from the Times article:

The ordinance, which the council first began discussing more than 4 1/2 years ago, will cap the number of dispensaries at 70 but make an exception to allow all those that registered with the city in 2007 and have remained open. City officials believe that number is around 150.

Read about the Long Beach council's decisions on medical marijuana here.

 

Los Angeles native and Coast Guardsman Elias Gomez recounts in a touching audio/visual montage his experiences as a health technician in the days following Haiti's devastating recent earthquake. (The video requires Windows Media).

Gomez, interviewed from Port-au-Prince, the wrecked capital city, arrived within 48 hours aboard the cutter Mohawk, based out of Key West, Florida. The ship's crew joined local and foreign doctors and nurses providing medical aid in a makeshift clinic after the 7.0-temblor, helping rescue dozens of injured and orphaned children as well as badly injured men and women.

"Some of them had open fractures and they were being brought in on doors and whatever they could use as stretchers," recounts Gomez, a Petty Officer 2nd Class Coastie from East L.A. "...whatever their friends and family members could scrounge around from the street to move their family member to this clinic."

* The Coast Guard plans to post a high-resolution version soon.

Eight District City Councilwoman Rae Gabelich announced Friday that she is endorsing 7th District Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga for re-election in April. Uranga, a strong union supporter, is running for a third term as a write-in candidate to represent a district that includes California Heights, Wrigley and the Westside.

"Voters need to write-in Tonia Reyes Uranga to continue the strong partnership we have in protecting the quality of life for our neighborhoods," Gabelich said in a statement.
Gabelich said Uranga helped to protect neighborhoods during the debate on Long Beach Airport improvements.

"Tonia worked closely with me to stop the plan for the oversized expansion of the airport and to make sure that no general fund dollars were put at risk," Gabelich said.
Gabelich's endorsement comes as no surprise -- she and Uranga are close political allies on the nine-member council.

They, along with 5th District Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske, are often in the minority, opposing the typical council majority that gadflies and local activists often call the "Gang of Five" or the "Gang of Six," depending on whom you ask.

Uranga faces three challengers, most notably Assistant City Auditor James Johnson, who has amassed a sizeable campaign war chest and has strong political backing.
Also running are Jack Smith, a Hollywood line producer and homeless and housing advocate, and Jill Hill, president of the Wrigley Area Neighborhood Alliance.

The Long Beach Democratic Club announced today that it is endorsing three incumbents and a pair of challengers, while it is undecided on one race, in the April 13 city election.

The club is endorsing Mayor Bob Foster, 1st District City Councilman Robert Garcia and 5th District Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske, all of whom are the only Democrats in their races.
Foster's opponent is 21-year-old Cerritos College student Stevie Merino, Garcia's challenger is Willmore City Heritage Association president Jana Shields, and Schipske is facing businessman Mike Hedges.

In the 3rd District, the club is endorsing Thomas Marchese, a businessman and coastal preservationist, who is one of two candidates challenging incumbent Councilman Gary DeLong and the only Democrat in that race. The other candidate is Terry Jensen, a real estate consultant and former Redevelopment Agency board member.

In the all-Democratic 7th District race, the club is endorsing Assistant City Auditor James Johnson, who is the club's former president. He is one of three candidates challenging incumbent Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga, who is running for a third term as a write-in candidate.

The other 7th District candidates are Jack Smith, a Hollywood line producer and homeless and housing advocate, and Jill Hill, president of the Wrigley Area Neighborhood Alliance.
In the 9th District the club gave no endorsement because no candidate received the required 60 percent support from its members.

Vice Mayor Val Lerch is running for a third term as a write-in candidate in that race and is opposed by Steve Neal, director of labor and community services for United Way; Dan Pressburg, a financial consultant; and Brad Shore, a therapist and airline employee.
Democratic Club president Taylor Honrath said that under the club bylaws, it can only endorse Democrats, which made some of the decisions easy in those races with only one Democratic candidate. However, party affiliations won't show up on the ballot April 13 because council seats are non-partisan.

In the city attorney and city prosecutor races there are no Democrats, so the club didn't endorse any of those candidates, Honrath said.

Of the club's 62 members, 42 people attended a Thursday night meeting to vote for the endorsements after the candidates spoke to the group, Honrath said. None of the non-Democrats -- Merino, Shields, Jensen, DeLong, Hedges and Pressburg -- nor one Democratic candidate, Smith, attended the meeting, although all were invited, Honrath said.

Normally, a local Democratic organization's endorsement can help a candidate get the state Democratic Party endorsement, but Honrath said the state party's convention won't take place until after the April election. Candidates whose races go into run-off elections in June, which would happen if one candidate doesn't get more than 50 percent of the vote in April, could benefit from a statewide party endorsement.

Things got out of control during the City Council's discussion Tuesday night of how to regulate medical marijuana collectives (read the article here). With Mayor Bob Foster gone, Vice Mayor Val Lerch tried to moderate the meeting, but it broke down into a chaotic back-and-forth, with council members speaking out of turn and the large crowd of medical marijuana advocates that was in the audience frequently clapping and shouting responses to council members' questions. There were more motions and substitute motions and confused motions and fights over who could make what motion than I have seen in a long time at City Hall.

It was too much for City Attorney Bob Shannon, who interjected after a particularly nasty argument among council members and had the following exchange with Lerch:

Shannon: "I have to comment. This whole proceeding is becoming extremely unprofessional on both sides of the bar, and I think something has to be done about it right now."

Lerch: "Your suggestion, Mr. Attorney?"

Shannon: "I would suggest the chair control the proceedings."

Lerch: "I've been trying to, sir. I've been trying to."

Not exactly a shining moment for Lerch, who is running for re-election in the 9th District, nor for the council as a whole. I should note that Shannon is up for re-election too, but in my experience, Shannon's comments weren't out of the ordinary -- he has never been shy about sharing his opinion when he feels the council is out of line.

The severe weather has prompted the Long Beach Planning Commission to cancel  today's regularly scheduled meeting.

The next  meeting will be held as scheduled on Feb. 4 at 5 p.m. in Council Chambers at Long Beach City Hall, 333 W. Ocean Blvd.

Congresswoman Laura Richardson has announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is pumping $6.1 million into Long Beach's effort to prevent and reduce homelessness.

HUD's decision comes as the area continues to be hammered by dramatic increases in homeless families, a trend aggravated by the current economic downturn affecting California and the nation, she said.

"With unemployment hitting its highest rate in more than two decades, thousands of families in Long Beach are at risk of losing their homes simply because the jobs do not currently exist to allow them to make ends meet," Richardson said.

 "For the past several years, Long Beach has documented the homeless in the city, an estimated 3,909 in 2009, and their plight," the congresswoman added. "This HUD funding allows the city to provide a vital safety net so that friends, neighbors and families are not left to spiral into homelessness, which is often an endless cycle for them and the estimated more than 450 children."

The HUD funding is also designed to improve the ability for our veterans to maintain stable living standards, while also providing childcare assistance.

The new revenues are being distributed through its Continuum of Care programs, with the money going to Long Beach designated for specific supportive housing and shelter plus care programs. In addition to childcare assistance, veterans support and permanent and transitional housing programs, the designated programs include domestic violence shelters, job placement, healthcare and life skills training.

 

Reproductive justice advocates and community leaders -- including Senator Barbara Boxer -- will celebrate the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade on Feb. 6 in Newport Beach.

The Planned Parenthood-sponsored 6:30 p.m. event -- set for The Fairmont Newport Beach, 4500 MacArthur Blvd., near the John Wayne Airrport -- will celebrate the landmark decision and provide a forum on the challenges for 2010's election seasons.

This year's event will feature a message from Boxer and keynote speech by Sheryl WuDunn, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide (co-authored with Nicholas Kristof), who will discuss how the fight for women's equality and justice has evolved across the globe.

The 37th Anniversary Roe v. Wade Celebration is hosted by the Community Action Fund of Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties, and supported by Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez; The Honorable Sheila Sonenshine; John Palacio, Santa Ana Unified School District Board; Rose Espinoza, La Habra City Council; Pam Keller, Fullerton City Council; Susan Henry, Huntington Beach Union High School District Board; and Beth Krom, Irvine City Council.

ABOUT SHERYL WuDUNN

Journalist and author Sheryl WuDunn has reported from inside some of the toughest regimes in the world, from Myanmar to North Korea. As a foreign correspondent for the New York Times, WuDunn and her husband, Nicholas Kristof, won a Pulitzer for their coverage of the Tiananmen Square democracy movement in Beijing and the military crackdown that ended it. They were the first married couple to win a Pulitzer for journalism, and WuDunn was the first Asian-American to receive the prize. For more information about the speaker, visit www.apbspeakers.com.

 

Governor Schwarzenegger's California Recovery Task Force on Wednesday announced $10.7 million in federal economic stimulus grants for job training.

"This funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will open the way to new, successful careers for thousands of Californians," said Herb K. Schultz, director of the California Recovery Task Force. "Workers across the state will learn the skills that employers need in today's rapidly changing workforce and prepare workers to help restore California's economy to world leadership."

Thirteen agencies will prepare people for jobs that employers have designated as in-demand occupations, including network administrators, systems engineers, alternative fuel mechanics, paramedics, pharmacy assistants, home health aides, warehouse specialists and logistics clerks.

The projects will focus on the employment and training needs of low-income, unemployed, dislocated workers or under-skilled adults ages 18 and older who face challenges in regaining employment. The funding, coupled with the collaboration among workforce investment agencies and industries, will play a major role in the recovery or expansion of local and regional economies, state officials said.

Agencies sharing in the $10.7 million in Recovery Act funds include Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, which will receive $179,857.

 

 

The city's legal costs for the so-called "donning and doffing" lawsuit filed by most of Long Beach's police force have reached almost $1.1 million.

The City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved paying an additional $200,000 to the law firm Meyes, Nave, Riback, Silver & Wilson, for a total contract cost not to exceed $1.095 million.

Almost 800 Long Beach police officers have filed a class action lawsuit to be reimbursed for allegedly unpaid time they spent putting on their uniforms and protective equipment, attending classes, waiting in court, attending briefings, and many other routine tasks.

Read the full story online at www.presstelegram.com.

Long Beach city officials have pulled from tonight's City Council meeting agenda an action creating a conservation easement for four acres of land that are part of 37.7 acres of Los Cerritos Wetlands that the city hopes to obtain by swapping the land for its public service yard.

The state Coastal Commission has warned the city that the easement isn't enough and that Long Beach must obtain a coastal development permit, which could delay the long-negotiated land swap. Read about the latest circumstances surrounding the controversial plan to preserve the wetlands here.

For its first meeting of 2010, the Long Beach Taxpayers Association, a grassroots group that focuses on fiscal conservatism at City Hall, will play host to Pasadena Police Chief Bruce Philpott.

In his thirty years of service, Philpott has worked with and managed aspects of fire service and has consulted for cities throughout California on how to reduce the cost of their fire departments, while maintaining public safety. The findings from Philpott's research and input gathered from fire chiefs throughout California resulted in a 22-page document, "To Protect and Save."

The Taxpayers Association meets at 7 p.m. Thursday at Ecco's Pizza, 2123 N. Bellflower Blvd. The public is invited to attend.

A new Long Beach Internet radio show, called Swoops World Radio, will interview Vice Mayor Val Lerch at 9 p.m. Wednesday. Lerch represents North Long Beach's 9th District and is running for a third term as a write-in candidate April 13.

Listeners can call in live to ask questions at (917) 889-7449 or join the conversation via live Internet chat. The radio show also interviewed 7th District City Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga, who is also running for a third term as a write-in candidate, last month. You can listen to that archived interview as well on the Web site.

To listen, go to www.swoopsworld.com.

As I write this, anyone wanting to run for Long Beach City Council or a citywide elected office has about 22 minutes in which to file their nomination papers with 20 valid signatures from registered voters.

One potential candidate -- the on-again off-again Terry Jensen, who has been waffling about whether he wants to challenge 3rd District incumbent Gary DeLong -- just showed up to file papers, City Clerk Larry Herrera told me moments ago. This contradicts Jensen's statements reported by www.LBReport.com yesterday that he wasn't going to run.

Also down at City Hall this afternoon is 9th District candidate Dan Pressburg. Herrera said most of the other candidates that have announced and been campaigning have filed their paperwork.

However, it looks like Mayor Bob Foster may not have an opponent after all -- not that he faced a real challenge anyway. Herrera said that Stevie Merino, a 21-year-old Cerritos College student who had announced her mayoral candidacy, "fell short a few signatures" and had run out to get them. Herrera also said he hasn't heard from J. Ben McCracken, who pulled papers to run for mayor this week but gave no contact information and about whom I haven't been able to find any information.

But there's still time, right?

"He still has 27 minutes -- 26 now," Herrera said earlier.

Now, he's got about 13 minutes.

City Attorney Bob Shannon has drafted new medical marijuana collective regulations for the City Council to consider next Tuesday. Check out the text of the ordinance below. I will have a story this weekend that more closely examines Shannon's proposal.

Medical marijuana ordinance 1.19.10.PDF

Get links to all of the city documentation related to medical marijuana in Long Beach and see maps of Shannon's proposed buffer zones for collectives here.

A second person has pulled papers to run against Mayor Bob Foster in April, but given the derth of information available about J. Ben McCracken -- he listed no phone number at the City Clerk's Office, and I couldn't find a way to contact him online nor any reference to him in the Press-Telegram archives -- he may not be much of a challenger.

Unseating a well-funded incumbent like Foster would be a Herculean undertaking, even for a well-known, well-funded and politically connected candidate. The mayor's other potential challenger is 21-year-old Cerritos College student Stevie Merino, who is affiliated with the Party for Socialism and Liberation in Los Angeles.

McCracken, Merino and all other would-be candidates have until 5 p.m. Friday to submit their nomination papers with 20 signatures from registered voters to the City Clerk's Office.

The city of Long Beach is asking residents, employees and business owners to take an online survey to rate their most important public safety issues and leadership qualities to help choose Long Beach's next police chief.

The city is seeking a replacement for former Police Chief Anthony Batts, who took over the Oakland Police Department in October. The survey will be available at www.longbeach.gov until Jan. 22.

Council candidates will face off in one of their first forums of the election season tonight, but the oddly titled "Town Hall" event isn't open to the public or the press, and three candidates say they never received an invitation. The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor held the event for its members at a Lakewood union hall.

However, 9th District candidate Dan Pressburg, 7th District candidate Jack Smith and 3rd District incumbent Councilman Gary DeLong -- the only Republican on the council -- said they weren't invited. Federation of Labor political director Rusty Hicks said every candidate was invited and those that were interested were asked to RSVP.

"An invitation went out in the month of the December to all candidates who had declared through the (City) Clerk's office," Hicks said.

Of the 14 candidates running for council offices, 1st District candidate Jana Shields and 5th District candidate Mike Hedges -- both political conservatives -- also weren't listed as attendees. A spokesman for Hedges said that the candidate had received an invitation but declined.

Shields couldn't be reached for comment.

The Canadian government is reportedly dispatching at least one C-17, a Naval ship and several helicopters to earthquake-devestated Haiti, where more than 100,000 are feared dead.

A Canadian Lockheed C-130 cargo plane landed in Haiti today, and the nation is reportedly loading a C-17 for dispatch tonight. The trip could be followed by several more in coming days as the Caribbean nation reels from a 7.0 temblor that ruined much of the country's capital and killed dozens of U.N. peacekeepers. 

  The U.S. is also reportedly loading C-17s, ships and other cargo craft with relief aid, and President Obama has pledged medical supplies, doctors, food and security help for the tiny island nation.

"Search and rescue teams from Florida, Virginia and California will arrive throughout today and tomorrow, and more rescue and medical equipment and emergency personnel are being prepared," President Obama said.

Canada owns four C-17s, which are built at a plant in Long Beach and have been used extensively in recent years following major disasters like the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, the 2006 Pakistan earthquake and Hurricane Katrina.

The aircraft is able to land on short, unpaved runways carrying payloads as high as 170,000 pounds.

If you missed Mayor Bob Foster's 2010 State of the City address last night, watch it below.

Here's today's article about the speech. 

Mayor Bob Foster is expected to begun his 2010 State of the City address in the Terrace Theater at the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center any moment now. Since it isn't being broadcast live this year, you can read the text of the speech, which was released to the media before the event, in the link below. We were prohibited from releasing the speech until 7 p.m., when the address was scheduled to begin.

State of the City 2010.PDF

You can view the speech online beginning tomorrow at the State of the City Web site, www.StateofLB.com, or the city's Web site, www.longbeach.gov, and on TV on Channel 8 for Charter Communications cable, and on Channel 21 on Verizon FiOS.

Long Beach City Attorney Robert Shannon, who is seeking re-election to a fourth term this April, has been endorsed by several prominent figures in thecity.

State Sen. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach); Doris Topsy-Elvord, a former City Council member and former Harbor commissioner; retired Police Chief Bob Luman; recently retired Fire Chief Dave Ellis; and former city manager and harbor commissioner James Hankla. Shannon has also been endorsed by Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley.

Challenging Shannon is City Prosecutor Thomas Reeves.

Second District Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal is endorsing Assistant City Auditor James Johnson for the 7th District City Council seat, adding to a long list of high-profile and local political endorsements. Among them are state Sen. Alan Lowenthal, state Controller John Chiang, and various Signal Hill City Council members and Long Beach Unified School District board members. You can see a partial list of Johnson's endorsements at www.johnsonforcitycouncil.com.

Johnson is running against incumbent Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga, who is running for  a third term as a write-in candidate. Also running are Jill Hill, co-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.

Retired state Senator Betty Karnette on Saturday endorsed 3rd District council candidate Tom Marchese for the April 13 city election.

She said in a brief interview that she believes he will help preserve the district's qualities.

"I feel he really represents the people," she said.

Marchese, a community activist and coastal environmentalist, said he was honored by the endorsement.

"She has done so many wonderful things for our town, county and state," he said. "Her mentorship, guidance and friendship means so much to me. I am truly thankful."

 

Apparently, those five furlough days for city employees and the closed city offices, the hiring freeze and other cutbacks in the last fiscal year all paid off.

Long Beach ended its 2009 fiscal year Sept. 30 with a balanced budget, despite having to take on a $19.2 million general fund budget deficit caused by shrinking revenues, Director of Financial Management Lori Ann Farrell reported to the council Tuesday. It's good news, but that deficit feels like the distant past now.

No sooner had city officials taken steps to cut $19.2 million than they had to make more draconian cuts to eliminate a $38.3 million deficit in this fiscal year. In the 2011 fiscal year, which begins in October, the city is projecting an $11 million general fund deficit, and it may get even worse in the 2012 fiscal year with a $21.7 million deficit.

Time for a quick pat on the back, maybe, but more importantly, time to start going over the books yet again.

Remember that police helicopter that was damaged about a year ago, when a contract technician accidentally triggered the fire alarm system in the helicopter's hangar and the aircraft was covered in flame-retardant foam?

Yeah, it was a real mess, and it turns out it's going to cost about $441,362, after the council approved a $200,963 contract extension Tuesday. The extra cost is in part due to a requirement that the helicopter be recertified for airworthiness after the repair work was done.

Not to worry, though. City officials said most of the cost -- $364,122 -- will be covered by insurance. The city's insurance company is expected to get reimbursed by the insurance company of the contractor that had been working at the hangar. The remaining $77,240 will be paid out of the Police Department's helicopter repair budget.

The Port of Tacoma has joined Long Beach and Los Angeles in offerings millions in rebates and financial incentives to its shipping customers as port authorities scramble to shore up market share amid severe competition.

Tacoma's deal offers shippers a rebate of $17.50 for each container moved by rail in 2009 if they agree to extend their lease by at least one year and participate in a localized version of the Clean Trucks Program launched in Long Beach-L.A. in 2008.

."We're giving them something in exchange for future value," Anna Soderstrom, a port executive, told the Olympian newspaper.

If the four or five tenants participate, the port would end up paying about $4.2 million in coming months, Soderstrom said. But, the port would benefit by securing future business. Tenants pay up to $10 million annually to lease port property in Tacoma, generating large revenues for local port authorities.

Tacoma's port, located on the Pugent Sound about 30 miles southwest of Seattle, is one of the nation's largest, handling some $36 billion in trade annually.

But unlike Long Beach and Los Angeles, most trade through Tacoma is "discretionary" cargo bound for the U.S. Midwest, meaning shippers have the option to divert their wares through other seaports if cheaper options become available.

Tacoma estimates 70 percent of its trade volume is discretionary, whereas that number is just 40-45 percent in Long Beach-Los Angeles, which has an extensive local market for goods. Local ports are the main gateway for hundreds of billions worth of consumer and manufacturing goods destined (primarily from China) for the region's 12 million-plus residents.

In recent months, Long Beach and Los Angeles have offered shippers a number of rebates, incentives and discounts for discretionary cargo, and Los Angeles is also offering terminal operators nearly $26 million in rent reductions and other financial incentives to help weather a rough economic period.

Cargo volumes are down nearly 20 percent at the twin ports since their 2007 peak (Long Beach has been hit hardest), and more than a dozen of the globe's largest shipping lines have reported some $6 billion in losses during the first half of 2009, though consolidations, cutbacks and layoffs have reduced losses in recent months.

Ninth District City Council candidate Brad Shore released a statement today calling for maintaining 2008 police staffing levels and giving support to an internal search to replace former Police Chief Anthony Batts. The search firm handling the chief position recently announced it was broadening its search to include outside candidates, which has riled some of the Police Department's rank and file.

One question that I will put to Shore in a future interview will be how exactly he would pay to maintain the police levels. Where else would he cut? Would he try to increase revenue through new fees or taxes? With Long Beach expected to face further budget deficits over the next two years, these are the questions that every council candidate who wants to maintain or increase services will have to answer.

Shore, a therapist and airline employee, is running against Vice Mayor Val Lerch, who is running for a third term on the council as a write-in candidate (his name can't appear on the ballot after serving two full terms); and against Dan Pressburg, a financial consultant and former staff member of Lerch; and Steve Neal, a social worker with strong union support.

Here is Shore's complete statement, verbatim:

One of the major reasons I decided to run for City Council in the 9th District was Public Safety. There is a desperate need to preserve and increase the number of officers on our streets. The cry, "More cops won't help" is wrong. The Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) has proven that rapid response to emergency calls saves lives. I believe LBPD to be one of the finest in the nation and doing a great job with the manpower and resources they are given. That said, we must make a greater investment in support of our dedicated officers and Public Safety.

Three to four people a month lose their life in Long Beach. Three to four people a month are murdered in Long Beach. While several Elected Officials and Senior Management staff in this City continues to say Crime is down, the posted LBPD Crime statistics don't agree. We just closed the year 2009 with 39 murders, 125 forcible rapes, 1257 robberies and 1515 aggravated assault. The year 2008 closed with 40 murders, 120 forcible rapes, 1484 robberies and 1507 aggravated assault.

Added to the year-end data, I learned today of veteran officers leaving due to retirement incentives. Regardless of tough economic times we can not afford to lose veteran officers or any officers for that matter. Our citizens and our police officers deserve better. They need the seasoned veterans and an increase in officers for both their protection and ours. Our Mayor has stated that the number of officers is going down, actually staffing is nearing the early 1990s levels, yet he promised when he ran for office in 2006 to add 100 new officers. So, what's the correct staffing level? I say, pick the year with the lowest crime, duplicate it and stick with it. In our case it happens to be 2008.

In addition, a Police Chief and the replacement of these seasoned officers should be chosen from within the ranks. The internal candidates have proven themselves. It has also been proven in the past that bringing in officers from outside, harms the morale of those who have been dedicated to protecting us; they deserve the promotions for their dedication and seasoned knowledge of our City. We cannot go back to the 1990's where we had to bring in the Sheriffs to protect the Ninth District or any other District. In closing, one murder, one forcible rape, one robbery and/or one aggravated assault in our City is ONE to many.

The massive West County Connectors Project, which will shut down the San Diego (405) Freeway connector at 7th Street for a year, will be the topic of discussion Wednesday at the monthly "Chat with Pat." Fourth District City Councilman Patrick O'Donnell will host the free event from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at Los Altos Library, 5614 Britton Drive.

Niall Barrett, a Government Relations representative for the Orange County Transportation Authority, will give a presentation and answer questions on the freeway project. The project will improve the intersection of the San Diego (405), the Garden Grove (22) and the San Gabriel River (605) freeways. It will begin in the spring of 2010 and will continue until the winter of 2013.

You can also get details about the project at Octa's Web site.

Also Wednesday, representatives from the Long Beach Airport will also be on hand to discuss issues in the community and the airport's impact on quality of life.

Written up by my colleague, John Canalis:

The Wrigley and California Heights neighborhood associations plan to host a joint candidates forum next month for the upcoming 7th District City Council election. Part of the Wrigley District and Cal Heights are two of the largest neighborhoods in the 7th District, which also includes the Westside.

Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga is running a write-in campaign in the April 13 election. The councilwoman is seeking her third term against challengers James Johnson, the assistant city auditor; Jill Hill, co-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.

Uranga's husband, Roberto Uranga, was initially in the race but pulled out, citing commitments related to his other elected office, the Long Beach City College Board of Trustees.

Each candidate in the race is expected to attend, according to the association's Gavin McKiernan. The candidates' forum will take place at 7 p.m. Feb. 1 at the Veteran's Park Social Hall, 101 East 28th St.