June 2010 Archives

As a pair of two-term City Council members prepare to take their final bow this month, they may leave the stage on a note of discord.

At next Tuesday's council meeting, 9th District Councilman Val Lerch will be honored, even though he has one more meeting left July 13. That final meeting is the traditional day to honor outgoing council members, and that's the day that Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga will be honored for her eight years of service.

Lerch explained that because the mayor will be absent July 13, and Lerch as vice mayor would have to preside over that meeting, he chose to have his last moment in the sun a week earlier. The 9th District councilman said that he had asked Uranga to join him next week, but that she declined.

"To me it just sums up the dysfunctional atmosphere on that council," Lerch said Wednesday. "Obstinate to the end."

The council has had some heated moments and a frequent political division between a minority that includes Uranga and the rest of the members. Uranga had a different explanation about her decision -- why change tradition?

"It wasn't really coordinated. He didn't ask me," Uranga said. "I just feel that it is anticlimactic to have a farewell on the 6th (Tuesday) and then come back on the 13th."

The mayor's spokeswoman, Stacey Toda, said Foster had planned months ago to take some personal time during the week of July 13. Toda said his absence had nothing to do with Uranga, or the fact that for the last four years, the opinionated councilwoman has been an occasional thorn in Foster's side. The mayor had also endorsed Uranga's opponent and now successor, James Johnson, as had Lerch.

Uranga said she didn't really mind Foster's absence at her last meeting.

"I'm not sure he wanted me there the next four years anyway," Uranga said.

A former candidate who lost to Rep. Laura Richardson in the June 8 Democratic primary election has filed a lawsuit alleging voter fraud for a second time. Lee Davis filed the lawsuit, which also names the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder as a defendant, June 15 in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

In the lawsuit, Davis says that Democratic voters in 300 precincts were given ballots that omitted her name and that of another perennial candidate, Peter Mathews. In one other precinct, candidate Terrance Ponchak's name also wasn't included on the ballot, Davis alleges.

The lawsuit alleges other incidents of fraud as well, particularly against senior and disabled voters. Davis is asking the court for an injunction against the certification of Richardson as winner in the primary election.

Richardson easily defeated Davis, Mathews and Ponchak in June with 67.4 percent of the vote to advance to the November general election. She represents the 37th District, which includes most of Long Beach, all of Signal Hill, and parts of Carson and Compton. Richardson was elected to Congress in 2007 in a special election in which she defeated Davis, Mathews and 14 other candidates.

Following that election, Davis filed a similar fraud lawsuit against Richardson and the Registrar-Recorder. A Superior Court judge dismissed the case because it had been filed after a state deadline to contest the election and because the number of allegedly fraudulent ballots weren't enough to change the outcome of the election.

Davis and Mathews also ran against and lost to Richardson in the 2008 Democratic primary.
Richardson released a statement Tuesday calling the lawsuit "frivolous."

"It is unfortunate that after repeatedly achieving less than 10 percent of the vote, the loser of this election continues to not accept the fact that the voters have made their selection," Richardson said. "I look forward to continuing the honor to successfully serve the constituents of the 37th Congressional District."

The case is scheduled to be heard in court Aug. 6.

The Long Beach City Council won't meet Tuesday night because it is the last Tuesday of the month, but the Budget Oversight Committee will meet. The three-member committee, which is charged with overseeing the budget process as Long Beach faces an $18.5 million general fund deficit in the coming year, will meet at 3:30 p.m. in City Hall, 333 W. Ocean Blvd.

Tuesday's meeting will be mostly informational, with the committee signing off on a budget hearing schedule, and getting updates on the state budget, state pension reforms, the city's labor negotiation process, and budget solutions that other cities are using.

The developers of the proposed 2nd+PCH project that would replace the aging SeaPort Marina Hotel will discuss their plan Tuesday during the monthly Beer and Politics event. The free event will begin at 7 p.m. at Gallagher's Pub & Grill, 2751 E. Broadway. The discussion can be viewed online as well at www.beerandpolitics.org.

Developers David Malmuth and Cliff Ratkovich, Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust Executive Director Elizabeth Lambe, 3rd District City Councilman Gary DeLong, and Heather Altman of EgretsNotRegrets.com will speak at the event. The audience, both in person and online, will be able to ask the speakers questions about the project.

The proposed development at the southwest corner of 2nd Street and Pacific Coast Highway would contain several buildings, including a 12-story residential tower, and would encompass 822,500 square feet. The village would have 220,000 square feet of upscale retail outlets and restaurants; a 100-room boutique hotel; 95 condominiums and an additional 230 for-sale residences designed as a mix of lofts, flats and town homes; a 99-seat Cal Repertory Theater; and a coastal science learning center.

However, an environmental impact report released in April suggests that the development should be half of the planned size to reduce its effect on traffic, air quality and other areas. The developers have said that reducing the scope of the project would make it financially unfeasible, while Lambe has said that even a scaled-down version would be too large.

Read about the developers' concerns here. Check out the full draft EIR here.

Congresswoman Laura Richardson has announced a new  $300,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to help struggling homeless veterans.

 The grant is from the U.S. Department of Labor's Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program, and it's earmarked for the United States Veterans Initiative (U.S. VETS) in Long Beach, according deputy press secretary Ken Miller.

"Homelessness is a tragedy no matter who the individual is; however, when the brave men and women who have sacrificed their lives for the benefit of our freedom come home and are not able to enjoy basic liberties that is a tragedy, which I am committed to solving,"  Richardson said in a prepared statement.

 "As a Long Beach resident, I have personally witnessed the good work U.S. VETS has done with our veterans who have faced the difficulties of homelessness and unemployment. This grant will allow them to aid our veterans at an even greater scale, by giving them the lifelong benefits of job skills and training to be prepared for the current employment market."

The award, which is one of 97 similar grants awarded nationwide, will provide approximately 175 homeless Long Beach veterans with job training to help them succeed in civilian careers.

U.S. VETS of Long Beach is the largest of 12 U.S. VETS sites, which is the largest provider of transitional housing and supportive services for veterans in the United States.

The grants are combined with available social services to provide holistic assistance for reintegrating veteran men and women into the labor force and communities.

 U.S. VETS assist more than 500 veterans in the Long Beach region.

Congresswoman Richardson is a Democrat from California's 37th Congressional District, which  includes Long Beach, Compton, Carson, Watts, Willowbrook and Signal Hill.

Here are a couple of videos about next year's Hot August Nights car show coming to Long Beach. Read all about the news here.

Maybe it's just because of my City Hall focus, but among all the numbers that jumped out at me is the potential for $7 million to $15 million in sales tax generated by the vintage car auction alone. That's incredible, and will be a huge boost to Long Beach's depleted coffers. The city could get close to $1 million or more from that tax revenue.

As 7th District City Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga prepares to leave office July 20, she has started a new blog called, "From Tonia's View." Check it out here.

She announced the blog in a departing letter. Read the full text below.

Hello Everyone:

I want to thank everyone who assisted in my reelection campaign and while I did not prevail, I know we have some great times ahead for the City and this State.

As for me, I have pretty much moved out of the campaign office and I am working on retiring my modest debt. I am focusing on getting my house back in order and in continuing the fight for a good jobs and healthy communities (sounds familiar?)

I also have revived my blog and will be updating it regularly as we work through this budget season, first as a council representative, then as a concerned resident. My last day on the council is July 19, 2010.

You can read my comments regarding the budget process and other issues such as the changing face of the city, charter reform, redistricting and contracting out in the next few weeks. Please bookmark my blog for future reference, http://toniatalk.blogspot.com/  Please share this link with friends.

For those of  you who have supported and assisted me I thank you from the bottom of my heart and this is not goodbye but I will see you in another capacity, and lets talk soon.

Tonia

In one minor action this week, but major for people in that neighborhood, the City Council approved 1st District Councilman Robert Garcia's proposal to allow overnight parking by permit for residents. Garcia wanted to give residents in the dense neighborhood around the park a little parking relief.

The park is at the west end of downtown next to the Los Angeles River.

In case you didn't see this last item in my column this week, the June 8 runoff election results are pretty much official (although they still need to be approved by the council). James Johnson is in and Tonia Reyes Uranga is out.

City Clerk Larry Herrera announced Wednesday that his staff had tallied all the votes from the June 8 7th District runoff election and certified them. The outcome is the same - Uranga lost and will leave office July 20.

Johnson won with 3,751 votes, or 52.54 percent, while Uranga lost her third-term bid with 3,389 votes, or 47.46 percent. That's an election turnout of 28.63 percent.

Ninth District Councilman Val Lerch will also leave office July 20, to be replaced by Steve Neal.

It's the end of another era on council, and it will be interesting to watch the new council dynamic, particularly with the loss of two very opinionated council members.

From my column this week:

Where should city officials draw the line between safety in Long Beach's parks and putting up more signs than trees?

After a Memorial Day shooting during a family barbecue at Pan American Park, 5157 E. Centralia St., left two Compton residents wounded, that's an issue the City Council had to consider Tuesday. Fifth District Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske had proposed that police be notified whenever a park-use permit is issued to a group of 25 or more people and that a public safety fee be charged to fund park rangers or other safety patrols.

To make sure that park-goers get the permit in the first place, as is currently required by law for large groups, Schipske wanted to put up signs notifying the public of the rules. More than 150 people had been at the May 31 family barbecue, which apparently was an 18-year tradition for which the group had never gotten a permit. The signs would also lay out the punishment that violators would face -- fines and being prohibited from using the park for one year.

"We're looking for an enforcement mechanism," Schipske said.

Some of Schipske's colleagues weren't sure about this idea -- both because of the arbitrary number of 25 and the prospect of more signs. Eighth District Councilwoman Rae Gabelich said that with 150 parks in Long Beach, putting up signs could get expensive.

"That's a lot of money to put that throughout all of the parks," Gabelich said.

Fourth District Councilman Patrick O'Donnell wondered about the permit requirements themselves.

"You get the O'Donnells together and you're at 25 pretty quick," he said. "Is 25 a decent threshold?"

Without some hefty fees, it might not be easy to pay for park rangers or other patrols to check on permits at all of the parks, O'Donnell said.

Schipske ultimately agreed to have the council receive a report from City Manager Pat West on how the permit and sign policy might work and then take a final vote on it at a later date.

The freaks are back in town for the 7th Annual Ink-N-Iron tattoo and carnival. Legendary country crooner Merle Haggard kicks off the festival with a 10 p.m. Friday concert, and the vaudeville continues through Sunday with live music, tattoo contests, pin-up beauty pageant and carnival cabaret. For those wanting some work, there's 280 tattoo artists representing 25 countries and a thousand styles. Tickets range from $7 to $35 and are available through www.ink-n-iron.com. The festival is held next to the Queen Mary at the end of the Long Beach (710) Freeway, or by driving across Queensway Bridge from Ocean Boulevard. Organizers request that attendees arriving after noon on Saturday and Sunday park at the Aquarium of the Pacific parking garages, 100 Aquarium Way, where shuttle busses will run every 10-15 minutes.

Coast Guard helicopters are searching for a missing 36-foot sailboat which reportedly left Catalina Island on Thursday bound for Ventura.

The sailboat "Cake" and its skipper, Ken Bliss, were last seen near Avalon, and Coast Guard crews are asking area mariners, fishermen and others to call 911 if they spot the boat. The search comes two weeks after another sailor, 57-year-old Thomas Kirschbaum, was found floating in his lifevest a few miles outside the Long Beach breakwater, two days after he went missing while sailing from Catalina to Marina del Rey.

Kirschbaum's 26-foot sailboat "Feral" was found unmanned on a jetty May 23.

 

Assemblyman Warren Furutani, D-Lakewood, in collaboration the non-profit group Next 10, will host a town hall meeting about the California budget Saturday in Torrance.

Next 10 has created an innovative budget challenge simulation that mirrors the decisions the Legislature will have to make to balance the state's budget deficit. The simulation contains accurate figures for California's revenues and expenditures, the governor's proposed cuts and alternatives so that the audience can make the decisions.

The free event will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Halldale Avenue Elementary School, 21514 Halldale Ave., in Torrance.

James Johnson defeated I expected it to be a close race, and it was. Below are the city clerk's final unofficial results.

The results don't include 353 vote-by-mail ballots that were dropped off at the polls and must be processed separately, nor do they include 398 provisional ballots, which are those cast by voters at the wrong polling places, City Clerk Larry Herrera said. Those ballots won't all be verified and tallied until early next week. Will that change the election outcome? The remaining votes would have to be heavily skewed in Uranga's favor, so I doubt it.

Registration and Turnout Completed Precincts: 40 of 40 Reg/Turnout Percentage Total Registered Voters 25,281 Precinct Registration 25,281 Precinct Ballots Cast 3,962 15.7% Vote-by-Mail Ballots Cast 2,572 10.2% Total Ballots Cast 6,534 25.8% Council Member, District 7 Completed Precincts: 40 of 40 Vote Count Percentage JAMES JOHNSON 3,408 52.9% TONIA REYES URANGA 3,034 47.1%

James Johnson has a strong lead in the 7th District City Council race from only vote-by-mail ballots, which were counted just after the close of polls at 8 p.m.

Out of 2,572 vote-by-mail ballots counted, Johnson had 1,487 votes, or 58.4 percent, while Uranga had 1,058 votes, or 48.6 percent, according to the City Clerk's website. There are 25,281 registered voters in the 7th District, which includes Wrigley, the Westside, California Heights and Bixby Highlands.

These initial results could be indicative of what the final count will look like at the end of the night. More than half of voters are expected to vote by mail in the election.

Uranga and Johnson defeated three other candidates in the April 13 primary election to advance to today's runoff, but the result was an especially significant victory for Uranga. The two-year incumbent had run as a write-in candidate for a third term.

Long Beach election code prohibits council members' names from appearing on the ballot for a third term. However, if a write-in candidate advances to a runoff election, then the candidate's name is placed on the ballot. In April, Johnson received 45.01 percent of the vote, just shy of the 50 percent he needed to win outright, while Uranga had 30.63 percent.

If Uranga goes on to win today's election, she will make history as the only council member to use a write-in campaign to win a third term. The only other write-in candidate to successfully win a third term was former Mayor Beverly O'Neill in 2002.

The headline pretty much says it all. The Long Beach City Council won't have its regular meeting tonight because of the state primary and 7th District council runoff elections. The council will meet again June 15.

Get out the vote and get a ride. Long Beach Yellow Cab is offering free rides to the polls for today's election.

Voters who need a ride to their polling place should call 562-444-4444 to order a cab. Callers must state their polling location and provide the dispatcher with the code "Account LB Vote" when booking a cab.

This is just too odd and random not to post. For some reason, celebrity stalker TMZ has a clip of Long Beach's own famous Ford dealer, Cal Worthington, out on the town with two young, blond women who say in the video that they're from Iceland. Apparently, the 89-year-old Worthington is taking a page out of Hugh Hefner's book.

Worthington sings his famous TV commercial ditty, and then one of the women sings the chorus in Icelandic, before they drive off -- not in a Ford, but in a BMW driven by one of the women.

See the video here.

If you recall, Worthington's car dealership received a $600,000 loan from the city of Long Beach earlier this year to keep the business from leaving town.

 

In 2007, Long Beach filmmaker Mike Bauch packed up his family and left the traffic-clogged madness of Southern California for the relative tranquility of Holland, where he documented the social and physical aspects of the nation's bicycle-loving populace.

The result is "Riding Bikes With the Dutch," an immensely enjoyable account of Dutch society and its contrasts with America's car-dependent culture - and the encouraging parallels between the bike-friendly cities of Amsterdam and Long Beach.

The film is showing at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 10 at Long Beach Art Theatre, 2025 E. Fourth St. (www.arttheatrelongbeach.com or 562.438.5435).

The film's website is www.everydaybike.com.

 

A 59-year-old man suffering a heart attack on Catalina Island was airlifted to a hospital in Torrance late Thursday aboard a Coast Guard rescue medical helicopter.

It was the second airlift from Catalina in as many days, following the evacuation of a 43-year-old woman suffering from appendicitis to Long Beach Memorial Medical Center early Wednesday.

Both patients are reported to be in stable condition.

The Coast Guard operates a fleet of medical rescue boats and helicopters from a base on Terminal Island and a flight pad at LAX. The helicopter crew averages about 200 search-and-rescue missions annually. 

The Coast Guard uses MH-65 Dolphin helicopters to search for missing boaters, rescue stranded or ill mariners and transport medical patients from the Channel Islands.

If you saw my column today about campaign money being raised and spent in the 7th District City Council runoff race, you noticed that among James Johnson's funds is a $350 contribution from the Long Beach Business Journal. It's pretty unusual for media companies or journalists to donate to political campaigns, particularly when they actually cover that race or issue. The Business Journal did a Q&A with all of the 7th District candidates back in February - check it out here.

See the full finance reports with lists of contributors at the links below.
Uranga Preelection Statement 5.27.2010.pdf
Johnson Preelection Statement 5.27.2010.pdf

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger joined local officials yesterday at Lafayette Elementary to announce a state application for federal education aid that could give millions of dollars to the Long Beach Unified School District. Read more here.

After more than a year without a public access television station in Long Beach, advocates for the programming may finally get their prayers answered. The City Council on Tuesday night voted to commit $200,000 in annual matching funds if the Long Beach Community Foundation receives a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to run the TV station. The Foundation board is expected to make a decision by the end of the month.

The city's money would come from PEG -- public access, education and government -- funds that are paid by cable providers. That money can only be used for capital needs such as equipment, and can't go to operational costs, which is why another funding source is needed.

The city receives about $600,000 a year in PEG funds, which has traditionally been split up between public access, Long Beach's government TV channel, and education channels for Long Beach Unified School District, Cal State Long Beach and Long Beach City College. New state legislation ended the requirement that cable providers maintain studios for public access television. Charter Communications closed its Long Beach public access studio in January 2009, when the law went into effect.

See the city's full report on public access TV below.
Public Access TV memo.PDF.