District 6,7 Budget Summit Summary & Central Long Beach

According to a budget summit held for Long Beach's District Six and Seven on 08/10/2015, Long Beach currently faces the last of three years of budget peace. The surplus we currently have is expected to turn into a $7.5 million deficit over the next two years. The reason the city cited for less revenue was a decrease in revenue from utility taxes and parking citations. The parking citations will probably become significantly less as the city is planning to narrow the no parking times for street sweeping. Another reason for the deficit will be the pensions as city workers retire.

Most information was broad and about Mayor Garcia's budget overall. Of all available funds, only the destination of the general fund is being debated. That general fund is $412 million out of Long Beach's entire $2.7 million budget. Almost two thirds of those funds are going to fund the police and fire departments. Despite those numbers, there is an overall reduction in the amount of policemen and firemen currently on staff. About 9 percent has been allocated for Public Works and 8 percent to parks and recreation. The city has also prioritized some capital improvement projects including transportation, public facilities, storm drains, beaches, the marina and the airport.

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Want to make your own budget: The Long Beach City Budget Challenge

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While it does not appear in the budget, the City did recently approve the creation of the Cambodia Town Business Improvement District. The City Council approved a resolution to turn the business corridor into a business improvement district this Tuesday night after 79.53-percent of property owners voted in favor of the proposal. This move came after three town hall meetings convened to help the community give those business owners some feedback about how those improvements should be implemented; one of the biggest challenges was incorporating everyone's suggestions in a neighborhood that is incredibly diverse. Those meetings, dubbed the Anaheim Corridor Re-visioning Project, concluded on July 25th, 2015.

Marry Simmons from AOC7 asked Parks and Rec if there would be money left over to repair the bathrooms at MacArthur Park after the playground, library and community center were done. While a spokesperson from Parks and Recreation did say yes, there have been different answers in the past. Also the amount being staked on MacArthur Park is entirely being put up by the state, so far the City has pledged no support. Also that repair of the bathroom will not be ground up and will not involve changing any plumbing. Though it was not discussed at the meeting, according to Sixth District City Councilman Dee Andrews the Night Market will commence early next year after the construction at MacArthur Park has been completed. I received this email from Tonya Martin, the Legislative Analyst for the office of Dee Andrews, "After careful consideration, it has been rescheduled due to the construction at MacArthur Park that will start in August and lead into the fall." Later emails implied a target date of around March, 2016.

A vast majority of the budget is going to build a new two tower Civic Center that will house City Hall. It will also go to building a new world class library in North Long Beach. Sometime afterwards, the City also plans to either replace or renovate the main branch on Pacific. While there is no plan to resurrect the Field Anti-Gang Unit, $2.2 million has been set aside for crime prevention. That Crime Prevention does include detectives focused on gang activity who use officers on patrol in place of the former field Anti-Gang Unit. Commander Robert Luna said making that $2.2 million flexible allows the police department to more easily direct the funds where they are needed most. We also apparently only have the funds for two park rangers, and they tend to focus exclusively on El Dorado Park, due to its size. Mayor Garcia is also pushing to change all the old street lights into more energy efficient LED.

* Note, I have asked the office of Dee Andrews for the slide from the re-visioning project that shows how much the city has invested in each neighborhood. I want to share it because it will show the incredible lack of attention that Central Long Beach has received over the years. I will publish that slide as soon as I find it buried in my old emails. In a nut shell, it says that if you own any house in Central Long Beach, you've invested more in your neighborhood than the City of Long Beach has. Also, as several people have pointed out, it's ridiculous that MacArthur Park would have to fight to upgrade to a safe/ crime free bathroom in a single park, when the city somehow finds $1 billion for a pool in Belmont Plaza.

Concilman Dee Andrews To Host Budget Summit Tonight.

Long Beach City Councilmembers Dee Andrews and Roberto Uranga will host budget summits for the Sixth and Seventh Districts on Monday, August 10 at 6:00PM at Veterans Park in Long Beach, their offices announced yesterday.

According to a release, Andrews and Uranga are using the meeting as a means of reaching as much of the community as possible before the commencement of the City Council Budget Sessions regarding the 2016 Budget. All residents of the 6th and 7th District are welcome to attend. And attending in our often overlooked neighborhoods would probably be a very good idea.

The City Has Released This Press Release Regarding Crime

The City of Long Beach announced today the efforts underway from the Long Beach Public Safety Continuum in response to recent increases in crime. In 2014, the City achieved the lowest reported number of violent crimes in 42 years. However, over the past few months, overall crime has increased 5.3 percent when compared to the 5 year average through May 31, 2015.

“Every department in the city is working to address this summer spike in violence and to keep every community safe,” said Mayor Robert Garcia.

“We are very concerned about a recent spike in violent assaults,” said Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna. “We are working closely with City Departments on a public safety initiative, and increasing our efforts to enhance partnerships within the community. Keeping our city safe is everyone’s responsibility, and I look forward to working together to make an impact on crime.”

The Police Department continues to be proactive in efforts to combat crime. Officers are responding to high priority calls citywide in under five minutes, allowing for more opportunity to capture suspects and start investigations.

The City of Long Beach strongly encourages the community to be an active member in combating crime, and asks that “If you see something, say something.” All cities need the members of the public to come forward and provide information on what is happening in their community.

“Our police need our support so if you see a crime being committed, it needs to be reported so we can hold those who commit violent crimes accountable," said Mayor Garcia.

A CITYWIDE PUBLIC SAFETY EFFORT

The Police Department continues to partner with the City Prosecutor’s Office by enforcing Gang Court Orders, to suppress gangs from having control over our neighborhoods. Ninety-nine Gang Court Order arrests have been made so far this year, while 167 Gang Court Order arrests were made last year (2014).

With the support of City Council, $350,000 in non-recurring funding is currently being used to target residential property crime, allowing the Police Department to bolster efforts towards investigating and preventing burglaries. As of the end of May, the city has experienced 212 fewer residential burglaries for 2015, in comparison to May of last year, which is a 21.9 percent decrease.

Here’s a comparison of some categories of crime through May 2015, and compared to the five-year average (avg.): 

• Murder, down 27 percent; down 47 percent avg.
• Aggravated assault, up 33 percent; up 12 percent avg.
• Garage burglary, down 3 percent; down 9 percent avg.
• Auto burglary, up 5 percent; down 5 percent avg.
• Grand Theft Auto, up 6 percent; up 4 percent avg.
• Petty theft greater than $50, up 72 percent; up 8 percent avg.

The entire Long Beach community benefits from the City’s Public Safety Continuum, which augments Police and Fire services with the work of several other City Departments and services all contributing to making Long Beach a better, and safer, city, including Library Services; Parks, Recreation and Marine; Workforce Development; City Prosecutor’s Office; Code Enforcement; Homeless and other Health Services; Graffiti Removal; and Affordable Housing.

The City also reaches out and works extensively with our community partners, including neighborhood organizations, non-profit agencies, and other government agencies.

The City’s Violence Prevention Plan, known as Safe Long Beach, has been nationally recognized by the U.S. Department of Justice, which provides an advantage in receiving federal grant awards to implement the plan.

Safe Long Beach is a comprehensive strategic plan for action to prevent violence in families, schools, and communities. Addressing a broad safety agenda, Safe Long Beach draws upon the City’s many existing assets. These include strong neighborhoods and neighborhood organizations, a thriving downtown, continuously emerging economic development opportunities, award winning schools, and stable leadership.

By forging relationships across disciplines, professions, and neighborhood boundaries, the Plan seeks to help provide victims with the protection and services they need to pursue safe and healthy lives.

The City will be planning an event in the area most affected by the recent increase in crime to offer services from the Public Safety Continuum, and engage youth in our community in a positive way.

For more news, pictures, videos and announcements of what’s happening in Long Beach, ‘Like’ us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CityofLongBeachCA

People's State of the Long Beach City 2014

The People's State of the City was held tonight at Stephens Middle School Auditorium. In all, about 500 people attended. The forum was created by about fifteen community organizations that united four years ago under the banner Long Beach Rising. The forum itself was created to give the people of Long Beach an opportunity to respond to the Mayor's State of the City address which occurred earlier in January.

The theme of the night was "Halfway there and a long way to go." Much of the focus of the meeting was income inequality and how it tends to center itself in certain City Council districts over others. While the seven official topics of the night were: jobs, housing, poverty, immigration, education, the environment and community safety most of the meeting focused on poverty, jobs and housing disparities. Much of that disparity was shown through statistical maps to fall disproportionately on the west side of Cherry Avenue.

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Long Beach is a tale of two cities: One east of Cherry; one to the west.

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According to the slides presented about 130,000 Long Beach residents cannot afford their rent. About 20,000 Long Beach residents live in overcrowded homes. And of 63% of renters who reported issues to housing authorities, less than one third saw any corrective action. The grass roots organization that created Long Beach Rising is fighting to end some of the disparities by working to create an escrow account that will be enacted when disagreements between renters and property owners occur. In addition to that, they are fighting for a higher minimum wage, against the widening of the 710 and to protect the rights of women working in the hospitality industry.

Also highlighted was the concept of wage theft. In one example a Port Trucker who earned $975 in salary was showing also receiving $962 in deductions. The result was $12 in take home pay, which is clearly not enough to live off. However, to be absolutely fair, it would have been more helpful if the slide clearly showed what all the deductions were. Another practice they highlighted in the hospitality industry was making workers often work 14 hour days and clock in more than an hour after arriving at work.

The personal sense from the event was it was mixed. It clearly had the participation of the Long Beach residents. But virtually nobody who was being criticized, except for LBUSD, was in attendance. This means, everyone who was being characterized as the biggest issue including the hospitality industry, property owners or the low paying businesses were not there to answer, listen to the concerns or offer solutions. 

And I think in the end, if we want a better community we will have to bring everyone in that community to the table to talk.

Peterson Cleanup Finished: 15th to Anaheim

Creative Landscapes

Today Peterson Street was cleaned up from 15th to Anaheim. There will be an unannounced cleaning of Warren Street tomorrow, mostly because I intended to get Warren today but just did not have the time to clean up that much trash and attend the second meeting of the Anaheim Re visioning Project.

Thank you to all the neighbors along Peterson, 14th and 15th street that simply took the time to say thank you for the gesture. Below you can see a before and after picture of Peterson where it approaches Anaheim Street.

There could also be a little more attention to the walkway around Mark Twain Library where Peterson approaches Anaheim. You can see the side by side of the library's before and after picture on the Next Door posting.

Before and After

Next week, on Saturday 04/25/2015 at 10am, there will be an announced cleaning of Gardenia from PCH to Anaheim. The meeting place will be at PCH and Anaheim. Volunteers are welcome. Provided will be four rolling garbage cans, iron claws, gloves, brooms and bottled water. See the clean up schedule on the neighborhood cleanup page.

Trash removed from Peterson Street Today

Annual Cambodian New Years Parade And Festival 2015

The morning started with my suspension giving out. So I walked to the festival. Fortunately, I live less than a mile away; so it wasn't that bad. 

The parade began at about 11:00am with the Cambodian Coordinating Council. What followed was a mash up of flags, entertainers, dancers, police, politicians, local businesses, religious organizations and youth groups. The parade itself spanned from Cherry to Warren and then rounded MacArthur Park. 

Afterwards many of the performers in the parade took to the stage.

The Festival featured authentic Cambodian food, entertainment and cultural vendors. The event was co-hosted by  sixth-district city council member Dee Andrews. In addition to Andrews, mayor Robert Garcia and Congresswoman Janice Hahn. According to local residents the turn out was at least twice the turn out last year. 

The festival is the largest concentration of Cambodians outside of Cambodia, showcasing the community’s cultural heritage and thriving community businesses and non-profit organizations. It kicked off the celebration of Cambodian New Year 2559.

Okay, now I feel old. 

More Festival Pictures Here