May 2010 Archives

The campaign truck of 37th Congressional District candidate Peter Mathews was damaged Wednesday night by a hit-and-run driver, the candidate said Thursday. The perennial grassroots candidate, who is running for the third time against incumbent Rep. Laura Richardson, said the axle and the rear window on his newly painted truck were broken in the accident.

Mathews noted that because he doesn't take money from corporate lobbyists he must use other methods to advertise his campaign, including driving around in a truck painted with his name. The candidate is a professor of American government and international relations at Cypress College. He is one of three candidates challenging Richardson in the Democratic primary June 8.

After pretty much giving the shaft to Downey last week, Tesla Motors Co. CEO Elon Musk sent Downey city officials a letter this week telling them how great their city is, that there was nothing wrong with the Downey site for a proposed Tesla plant, and that "Downey is Awesome." Really. Read the full letter at the link below. An excerpt also follow.

Downey Is Awesome.doc

From the letter, which apparently came from Musk's blog:

First, let me say that no one at Downey asked me to write this, nor have they threatened Tesla in any way. They are good people and their sadness that Tesla will not be moving to their city sinks my heart too.

Here's what might have happened for Downey or Long Beach if Tesla Motor Co. had picked one of them for its new plant, as the company had said it was going to do. Instead, Tesla chose at the last minute to locate to a former Toyota plant in Fremont, in the Bay Area. Now things are looking up in Fremont as a wave of optimism sweeps the city. Check out this article from the Press-Telegram's sister newspaper (or is it our cousin?), The San Jose Mercury News.

Here's an excerpt:

Fremont's back on its feet. Or at least up on one knee.

After being sucker-punched first by the recession and then by the closure this year of the NUMMI plant with its nearly 5,000 autoworker jobs, the Bay Area's fourth largest city is suddenly coming to -- buoyed by this week's news that electric-car maker Tesla will move into the plant.

"This is like Christmas in May," said Saki Kavouniaris, whose steak house and cocktail lounge on Warm Springs Boulevard had seen business slump 30 percent since NUMMI shut down April 1. "When the dot-com died, we lost a lot of manufacturers, and Fremont's had a lot of ups and downs ever since. I was starting to think this place must be jinxed. But the future looks a lot brighter now than it did two months ago."

Gay magazine The Advocate has listed 1st District City Councilman Robert Garcia among its top 40 under 40 people to watch. Garcia is one of several California residents included in the list, but he's the only Long Beach resident to be honored. Check out the entire list here.

Garcia's entry is on page 5, but you can read a copy of it below as well. One note: Garcia's description says he is the first openly gay man elected to Long Beach council, but that isn't true -- 2nd District Councilman Dan Baker was also openly gay.

Robert Garcia has a distinct voice--authoritative, assured, the product of life experience. Born in Lima, Peru, Garcia moved with his family to Southern California at age 5, and lived with his mother, aunt, and grandmother in a cramped apartment. He later attended California State University, Long Beach, and was elected student body president. When he ran last year for a city council seat in Long Beach, he pledged to improve the lives of the city's gay and Latino citizens. After becoming the youngest person and first openly gay man elected to the council, Garcia proposed, and the council passed, a measure that requires Long Beach to do business exclusively with companies that provide domestic-partner benefits. Garcia, currently single, has a passion for teaching too--he hopes to earn his doctorate in higher education this summer. It's not clear, even to Garcia, which field he'll end up in, but he admits, "I love representing people. I love doing good."

You may have caught my story last week about 37th Congressional District candidate Star Parker, a Republican with a unique background who is challenging Rep. Laura Richardson, D-Long Beach. If you want to hear her entire speech, which was filled with conservatism, humor and eccentricities, check it out below (it's divided into three videos).

Customizer and local celebrity gone global Jesse James is back in town, and he's opening up for the first time about the cheating scandal that led to actress wife Sandra Bullock filing for divorce in late April.

"I took a pretty amazing life and marriage and threw it away," James tells ABC's Nightline in a clip from a garage at West Coast Choppers on Anaheim Street. The full interview is scheduled to air Tuesday evening.

 

James has apparently returned to Long Beach and his home in Sunset Beach after a stint in some sort of sex rehab.

Proposed permit fees under Long Beach's new medical marijuana regulations will initially cost collectives at least $24,000. The City Council is being asked to approve the proposed fee schedule for medical marijuana collectives Tuesday.

The council meets at 5 p.m. in City Hall, 333 W. Ocean Blvd. The meeting can be viewed live in Long Beach on Charter Communications Channel 3, Verizon FiOS channel 21, and online at www.longbeach.gov.

The proposed fees include a $14,742 initial application fee to cover inspections and other city costs. Collectives that have a separate marijuana cultivation site in the city would pay another $11,584. On top of that, collectives with four to 500 members would have to pay $10,000 annually; those with 501 to 1,000 members would pay $20,000; collectives with 1,001 to 1,500 members would pay $25,000; and those with 1,501 members or more would have to pay $30,000 per year.

If a collective permit is denied, the applicant can appeal the decision to the council, which would cost $3,304 under the proposed fee schedule. The city would fine collectives that don't comply with the new regulations $1,000 per member.

The council approved the new medical marijuana rules in March following months of debate because council members were concerned about the growing number of collectives. Long Beach has an estimated 75 to 85 collectives. Medical marijuana advocates and collective operators at the time called the law a virtual "ban" because of its strict rules.

The new ordinance prohibits Long Beach collectives from bringing in marijuana from outside of the city, requiring them instead to grow their marijuana on-site or at a separate cultivation location within the city limits. The rule also creates buffer zones around schools, prohibits collectives in certain areas such as residential zones, and prohibits collectives from being within 1,000 feet of each other.

Carl Kemp, a lobbyist who represents Belmont Shore Natural Care collective on 2nd Street and who has become a spokesman of sorts for other collectives as well, said last week that the permit fees seem reasonable.

"We're going to pay them," Kemp said. "We're going to do what we have to do to continue providing medical marijuana to patients at our collectives."

Asked whether the fees might be too high for some collectives to operate, Kemp said he expected those that survive the permitting process in the first place -- those that aren't forced to close because of where they are located -- to be able to pay.

"It's not going to be prohibitive," Kemp said. "It's not going to be easy as pie, but these collectives are committed to staying in operation to provide for their patients."

The medical marijuana law went into effect May 2, but collectives have 120 days from that date to comply with the ordinance, pay their fees and get their paperwork in order. After that, the collectives have another 120 days before they must stop importing marijuana and can provide their patients with only the marijuana they grow in-house.

Former 7th District City Council candidate Jack Smith wants to make it clear -- he isn't endorsing incumbent Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga in the June 8 runoff election. A campaign advertisement mailed by Uranga's campaign to voters this week names Smith in a long list of endorsements.

Smith said he didn't even notice his name when he received the mailer Thursday.
"Somebody called me and said 'I didn't know you were endorsing Tonia,' and I said, 'I didn't know either,'" Smith said Friday. Neither is Smith endorsing Uranga's opponent, Assistant City Auditor James Johnson, he said.

Johnson was the top vote-getter in last month's primary election, but he fell short of the necessary 50 percent of the vote. Uranga came in second place with a write-in campaign, which allowed her to advance to the runoff, while Smith came in fourth and candidate Jill Hill, who has endorsed Johnson, was third place.

A last-minute write-in candidate, Fernando Bernabe, received only a handful of votes and is now listed among Uranga's endorsements. Bernabe couldn't be reached for comment Friday.
Smith conceded that Uranga at one time had reason to believe that he too was going to endorse her.

After the April 13 primary election, Smith called Uranga to tell her he would be endorsing her, Uranga said, although Smith described what he told Uranga as "thinking I probably would" endorse her.

A few days later, on April 30, Smith met with Uranga to tell her he was staying neutral in the race, he said. Smith said he had talked with his supporters, who discouraged the conservative Smith from backing the left-wing, union-supported incumbent.

Uranga said she removed Smith's endorsement from her campaign Web page, but she hadn't realized the endorsements had already been picked up for an advertisement.

"My consultant had already copied the endorsement list and put it on the mailer," Uranga said.

In another case of misleading campaign advertisements, the Long Beach Police Officers Association this week sent out an independent mailer supporting Uranga that includes a photo of the councilwoman with Redevelopment Agency Board Member John Cross and Police Chief Jim McDonnell at the groundbreaking for the Admiral Kidd Park expansion.

The problem is that Cross, who is also a prominent Westside resident, endorsed Hill in the primary election and now supports Johnson in the runoff. Although Cross's name isn't mentioned, he said voters could get the wrong idea from the photo.

"If my picture's there and the people in the Westside see it, they'll say, 'John supports Tonia,'" Cross said.

Uranga said that a name alone of a former candidate won't sway voters.

"The only time that they can really help is if they work for you and knock on doors," Uranga said. "A name itself isn't really going to help."

Smith said it is unlikely many of his supporters would vote for Uranga, but he said he doesn't want them to think his political position has shifted to the left.

"My positions are so different from Tonia's, it's disappointing that my supporters might be misled to think that I've gone to her side and be unhappy with me," Smith said.

If you haven't checked out the LBPost news Web site, its new CityPay database that allows people to search for city employees' salary by name, department or position is creating quite a bit of controversy. City workers clearly aren't happy with seeing their salary made so public -- not to mention their middle names in many cases, which some consider an identity theft risk -- but they are public employees and the info is all public record. Even George Economides, publisher of the Long Beach Business Journal who prints a list every year of the city employees by title who earn more than $100,000, has criticized the database.

However, as LBPost Publisher Shaun Lumachi points out, the Sacramento Bee, the Los Angeles Daily News and other media have created similar databases listing government workers' pay by name. What do you think? Is the database inappropriate or unethical? Is it a fair form of government transparency?

After losing his write-in bid for third term April 13 to Steve Neal, 9th District City Councilman Val Lerch is reaching out to his friends and acquaintances to help him find a new job. Below is an e-mail that I obtained that Lerch e-mailed to an unknown number of people:

Hi all, as you all know in 60 days I will be off the City Council. I need a full time job. If anyone can help me find a new job I would be grateful. Anything in a public relations, public affairs or real estate management would be great.  But, I'll take anything that is challenging.  I have attached my resume. Thanks again.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Lerch has a long career in property management and worked for Pabst, Kinney & Associates Inc. until he left that position last year. Lerch once told me that he couldn't dedicate the time that the company wanted because of his council duties. Since then, Lerch has worked as a property management consultant. After eight years on the council, where he pulls down a salary of $31,320 for the officially part-time job, Lerch will leave office July 20.

City Manager Pat West announced today that he has appointed Acting Human Resources Director Debbie Mills to the position permanently. She replaces Suzanne Mason, who left last year to head up human resources for Napa County. Mills's appointment was effective Monday. In the role, Mills will play a key part in handling city management's contract negotiations with Long Beach's employee labor unions. That role will be even more important in the coming months as the city is expected to attempt to renegotiate workers' contracts to delay pay raises that have already been delayed once. Long Beach is facing an $18.5 million general fund budget deficit in the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

More about Mills, from the city's press release:

Ms. Mills has 28 years of experience working for the City of Long Beach, and was named Acting Director of Human Resources in October 2009. She was named Manager of Personnel Operations in 2004, and became an Employee Benefits Officer in 1998

"I look forward to working with the Mayor and City Council, City management, labor organizations, and employees to find creative ways to address the challenges facing our workforce and the City," Ms. Mills said.

The Human Resources Department has a staff of 24 employees and five primary lines of business:  Personnel Operations, Employee Services, Risk Management and Leadership and Organizational Development.  The Department provides leadership and operations support to City departments to enhance their ability to recruit and retain a qualified, diverse workforce and to effectively management business risks.

The City of Long Beach has approximately 6,000 full and part-time employees.

The City Clerk's office mailed out 5,004 vote-by-mail ballots in the 7th District City Council runoff today. Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga is running for a third term in the June 8 election. Her challenger is Assistant City Auditor James Johnson.

Vote-by-mail ballots need to be back to the city clerk by the close of polls on Election Day, so make sure you mail it with time to spare. If you vote late and are afraid to stick it in the mail, you can still turn it in at City Hall during business hours in the days before the election and by the close of polls on Election Day, as well as at any polling site on Election Day. Learn more about the election at www.longbeach.gov/elections.

Remember, these are only the vote-by-mail ballots for the city runoff. If you want to vote by mail in the state primary on June 8, you need to make arrangements with the County Registrar Recorder's Office.

The campaign of City Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga announced tonight that the League of Conservation Voters has endorsed her in the June 8 runoff for the 7th District council seat. Uranga has also recently been endorsed by 9th District Councilman-elect Steve Neal and by 5th District Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske. Uranga, Neal and Schipske all have union ties, and Neal in particular rode a wave of union support to defeat Councilman Val Lerch in April. Uranga is considered the most pro-union member of the council.

Earlier today, Uranga's opponent, Assistant City Auditor James Johnson, was endorsed by one of their former opponents from the April primary election, Jill Hill. Ironically, Hill cited Johnson's approach to environmental issues in her support of him.

Once an opponent of 7th District City Council candidate James Johnson, Jill Hill is now supporting Johnson against incumbent Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga in the June 8 runoff election. Hill got third place out of five candidates in the April 13 primary nominating election, behind Johnson and Uranga, who was a write-in candidate in that race.

Because no one got a majority of the vote -- Johnson had about 45 percent -- Uranga and Johnson are in next month's runoff. That second-place standing also allows Uranga, who was a write-in candidate running for a third term in April, to now have her name appear on the ballot. Hill released the following statement:

As a longtime Wrigley resident, I have worked tirelessly for many years to improve our community and move Long Beach forward. My priorities of putting neighborhoods first, giving attention to jobs and businesses, and wanting to move our city in a sustainable direction are shared by James Johnson, and that is why he has my support.

Tonight the council will be asked to sign off on a plan to use extra revenue from the Police Department and Fire Department budgets -- the result of vacant positions that aren't being filled -- to absorb a shortfall of Proposition H funding.

Prop. H is an oil tax approved by voters in 2007 to fund new police officers and firefighters. However, as the number of barrels of oil produced in Long Beach has been declining and is expected to continue to do so through next year, Prop. H funding is also dropping.

Of the $4.2 million in police and fire costs needed to maintain the positions created by Prop. H, the city will only collect $3.4 million this year, according to a city report. The remaining $735,692 can be made up with the savings from vacancies that are funded by a separate source, the general fund.

Yet this will only work for one year. A structural budget change will be needed in the 2011 fiscal year, the report says. The Prop. H shortfall is expected to increase to $1.1 million, yet Long Beach's general fund will have an estimated $18.5 million deficit as well, which means there won't be extra money to go around.

The council will consider implementing 23 new or increased service fees Tuesday. The largest of these could affect non-profit agencies and pet owners. As Long Beach faces ongoing budget deficits, city officials have been working to adjust service fees to ensure that the city recoups the full cost of its work. Among the fee increases is a new $519 fee that will be charged to non-profit agencies for inspections of food-service facilities that provide unpackaged food to the public.

Also, a significant fee increase is for the vicious animal license renewal, which would increase from $75 to $375. The cost covers administrative review, processing and annual property inspections of the site where vicious animals are kept. Another pet-related fee is a new $40 "placeable pocket pet relinquishment fee," which would be charged for small pets, including rabbits, that are taken to a city shelter for adoption.

The council meets at 5 p.m. Tuesday in City Hall, 333 W. Ocean Blvd. Watch the meeting live at www.longbeach.gov.

Long Beach's Animal Care Services is presenting several recommendations to the council Tuesday that are designed to reduce euthanasia and increase animal adoption at the city shelter.

One of the recommended strategies is to require cat licensing in Long Beach. Cats would have to be vaccinated in order to get a license. According to a staff report, other cities typically charge $10 for licensing. The council will determine how much the fee is.

The council meets at 5 p.m. in City Hall, 333 W. Ocean Blvd. Watch the meeting online at www.longbeach.gov.

Gubernatorial candidate and California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner will address area business owners on May 13 at the downtown Long Beach Hilton.

Poizner -- who on Sunday engaged in a heated televised debate with Republican primary race opponent, former eBay CEO Meg Whitman -- will be part of the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce's California Visionaries Luncheon Series.

The series has included dignitaries such as Whitman and GOP U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina, the former head of Hewlett-Packard Co.

The event -- which will include a Q-and-A with Poizner -- will take place at 11:30 a.m. at 701 W. Ocean Blvd. Contact Sarah Nguyen at 562-432-7830 or snguyen@lbchamber.com to reserve a spot.

Apparently, some technical problems caused the map that appeared in Sunday's newspaper to be pretty much illegible because of a lack of color, and it didn't get posted online until today. But, now it is with the story and you can check it out here.

Also, we are running the map (IN COLOR, I hope) in Tuesday's newspaper, if you prefer something you can hold.