Clean Up: This Saturday Walnut and Anaheim: Headed North to PCH 10am

The Wrigley Association: Candidate Forum

Tonight the Wrigley Association hosted a forum between all six District Six City Council Candidates. Unlike the last write up, here I'm simply going share what each said about themselves that stood out in a brief paragraph. The forum was attended by about thirty to forty people. Questions were chosen by the association and by the audience for specific candidates. 

Josephine A Villaseñor hails from Whittier. She became involved in the community after forming the Wrigley Community Watch. Villaseñor who has her BA in business management with an emphasis in Early Childhood Development. She is also a member of the Community Emergency Response Team, a Red Cross Volunteer and a fund raising event coordinator chief for the VIDC at the Veteran's Hospital. When asked how to bring life back into the sixth district, Viillaseñor said her top three goals would be addressing homelessness, public safety and lessening restrictive business environment. For instance, in Signal Hill where license fees are $55 instead of the $400 they are in Long Beach. She also stated if we expected businesses to support our community, our community needs to shop locally and support out businesses. When asked how she'd get along with other members on City Council, Villaseñor replied when I patrol, I patrol Districts 1,2 ,3, 4, 7 and six. I don't see borders, I just see a community.

Erik Miller who asserted the sixth district had not changed since he grew up at 14th and Walnut across from Anioch Church. Miller, who left the neighborhood to get his degree in architecture, would later return to the Wrigley Community. There he became involved in the Gang Reduction Intervention Task Force and Operation Jump Start. He also helped fund the PEACE Basket Ball League. When asked which of Dee Andrew's votes he disagreed with, Erik cited the cutting of funding to Long Beach Police. In order to restore funding, Miller supports the Mayor's one percent sales tax increase. At the forum, if he won the April 12th Primary would first sell that sales tax increase to the public.

Robert Harmon. grew up in Seal Beach. He didn't go to college, he went to war. He's a veteran of Desert Storm who started the MacArthur Park Neighborhood Association. Harmon, who credits himself with driving the gangs out of MacArthur Park, said that to raise funds for police, safety and infrastructure we would need to take a hard look at the city's financial choices. In he end, he called the one percent a bitter pill. Harmon cites deferred maintenance in the district as the reason sand stated we would either pay for it now or pay a lot more later. Harmon, who attended every meeting of the Anaheim Corridor Re-Visioning, had submitted his own Cambodia Town Beatification Project, to several neighborhood stakeholders and stated it could be applied to every Long Beach corridor.

Dee Andrews is a 69 year resident of Central Long Beach. He is the incumbent City Council member in District Six. He has termed out, however the City Charter allows him to seek a third term as a write in candidate. Much of the time Andrews was responding to criticism. Several challengers cited a lack of change in his district during Andrew's tenure. Andrews called this a weak argument that "Ray Charles could see through." When asked why he should be re-elected Andrews stated he had just gotten the ball rolling and would like to be there when  his plans and projects come to fruition. According to Andrews one of the reasons for the budget short fall in past years was an over reliance on income from oil companies. And because of this, some hard choices had to be made.  Without cutting 200 jobs in public safety we might have had to cut 700 jobs that were tied back to the infrastructure.

The Primary Election will be held on April 12th, 2016. You can register to vote withe the City Clerk's office. You can also vote early by mail or in person at the City Clerk's Office. We're still going to cover the race for the LBUD board and the board of college trustees. And there will be a Go Long Beach Run soon. But spoiler alert: Jessica Alvarez, gets our support for LBUSD School Board due to her involvement with bringing Safe Passage to the Westside. We'd like to see it expanded to Franklin and Washington Middle Schools ASAP. That would have a huge impact on safety here in Long Beach, and it would do so very quickly.

Sunday Safety Uodate: 02/28/2016 to 03/06/2016

Disclaimer: So, first I apologize for how long it's taken to get this up, The Crime Reports Website was down for much of January. I did talk to the director of Media Relations at a public safety meeting and tell our neighborhood resource officer, they weren't aware it wasn't updating. Just a reminder these are trends, and the presence of crime in one area in the past doesn't guarantee it will reappear in that area in the future.

The two obvious patterns are there are some thefts trending south east along 17th Street. Outside of the neighborhood there crime is trending east along 10th and away from the place where the homicide occurred last Sunday. There have been two homicides in Central Long Beach and three in Long Beach over the last week, and three in Long Beach all together. Both homicides in our area were on Sunday in the early morning hours after 2am. Of the incidents you see on both maps, a lot was happening on Friday, March 4th. If you hear gun shots, never assume they're fireworks. Always call them in.

• On Sunday February 28, 2016, at approximately 3:24 a.m., Long Beach Police were dispatched to assist the Long Beach Fire Department in the 1000 block of Norman Court on a call of a dead body. I still can't find a name for the victim.
• A possibly gang-related shooting in North Long Beach Thursday afternoon left one man dead and another with non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said. Officers responded to Artesia Boulevard and Butler. The deceased has not been identified.
• On Sunday March 6th, 2016 at about 2:44 a.m. LBPD found a man (adult) with an apparent gunshot injury in a vehicle a few blocks south and east in the 1700 block of Pacific Ave. The victim has been identified as Ryan Davone Martin, 23, of Long Beach. 

There is a trend of thefts and thefts from cars moving from Rotary Centennial Park towards the neighborhood. But the pattern is somewhat weak. There is also a trend of thefts moving away from a meth arrest right outside the neighborhood towards the Poly Neighborhood. Based on these patterns, keep an eye on Junipero, along the east side of our neighborhood. Also keep an eye on 10th Street and Poly High School. 

There are a lot of dumped items in the neighborhood and along PCH, in most alleys. 

Also based on a patrol along PCH to Magnolia, Magnolia to Hill, Hill to Pacific and Pacific to PCH and PCH back home, we would have had to stop every ten seconds to report everything we saw., I'm going to do a Go Long Beach Run early tomorrow to get at the dumped items. Remember, if you see something say something. Three fatal shootings in one week is three too many. And the gangs do not own this city, be strong and take it back.

Also, we still have two clubs for a car to give to anyone willing to take the pledge to keep their neighborhood clean. 

Tonight we attended the West Division Leadership Forum. The topic was auto theft. LBPD is giving away the club for the wheel. Both the MacArthur Park Community Association & the Wrigley Community Neighborhood Group​ will be giving away one of the two you see in the picture soon. Not sure how yet, but I am leaning to giving it to someone willing to take the pledge to keep the neighborhood safe and clean. 

Follow this link for details:  
http://macarthurparklbc.blogspot.com/2015/04/macarthur-park-neighborhood-pledge.html

West Division Leadership Forum: Car Theft/ Mobile Apps/ Crime Analysis/ Success Stories

WE Labs: Pitch a Solution for Homelessness

On Tuesday. Josephine Villaseñor and I attended WE Lab's event Pitch A Solution for Homelessness. What stood out about the meeting, was it wasn't a group of residents complaining about the problem, it was concerned citizens actually attempting to pitch solutions to it. 

Homelessness is a growing problem in Long Beach. The Police Department has two Quality of Life Officers that work in tandem with Health and Human Services and are dedicated to helping the homeless get back on their feet and find shelter. However, for the growing homeless population a better solution is needed. 

Here were some of the pitches that were made. 

The ideas pitched included the need for a central tree of information, that would branch out from a single number such as 211. 211 LA County, a 501(c)3 organization, is one of the largest and most effective resource lines in the nation providing access to comprehensive social services and disaster support for L.A. County residents.

A second idea was the use of port containers in the creation of housing campuses for the homeless. Shipping container homes were okayed for the Wrigley area in 2011. You can also find one at the intersection of Ocean and Temple. Each shelter would be called a campus. Each campus would serve a specific need. For instance, one campus may be devoted to drug recovery. One campus might be reserved for families getting back on their feet. 

The containers are strong enough to resist weathering. They could also be easily stacked. Each campus could be built for around $30 a square foot, before factoring in landscaping, health services and security. There would be some challenges in finding suitable land that was hooked up to the sewer system. There are currently a lot of these crates at the port going to waste. In many cases  they are just given away.

Additional ideas included an app that would allow residents to donate their recycle goods as a source of funding for homeless related issues. The idea pitched through the organization Ashla and Monday Night Mission would create a map of those residents who agreed to donate their recyclables which would then be picked up by the homeless as a $15 an hour minimum wage job. The obvious issue is thatvtaking those recycle goods, if the idea were to take money out of the city's budget, which will already experience a deficit next year.

The final idea was the creation of a database of shelters that would remove those shelters temporarily from the listing when beds are not available. The website would also allow homeless users to make reservations through the website and screen out those shelters that could not meet their needs. The link above would require shelter buy in before it could be of anyuse. There was an issue with making too much of the shelter's information public, but in the end most in attendance agreed the app would be very beneficial to social workers, police and community service workers trying to find a path off the street

What a prefabricated container house looks like, from the Mojave Desert.

MacArthur Park: Go Long Beach Tracker 02/21/2016

There was a Go Long Beach Run through all of the MacArthur Park Neighborhood this morning.It found ten incidence of tagging/ nine were gang related. It found 14 incidents of of illegal dumping.There was also one street sign that should be replaced as well as a recommendation for an additional stop sign at Gardenia and 15th Street.

Two businesses were coded for failure to remove gang tagging.

The most important clear trend is that gang tagging is way up. Report it as soon as you see it.

This included the east end of the neighborhood. Dumping still clusters on Gaviota north of 17th. There is also a trend of dumping along Stanton north of 15th. Tagging trends up Walnut/ and Gaviota. There is also a newer trend of tagging and dumping along 17th Street between Walnut and Rose.

Eyes should be kept on Walnut/ Gaviota/ Stanton/ 17th Street and Alamitos based on what is seen here.

Neighborhood Expansion Run: Through Wrigley/ Washington

Here's what we found: Heavy gang tagging between 14th and 15th on Cedar/ other side of Washington Middle. All reported for removal. Not much dumping in central Wrigley, but there was an alarming number of what looked like Blue Crosses or Cross Hairs at Chestnut and Hill. They were on a mailbox/ street sweeping sign and a tree. All reported for removal, as was a dumped fridge in Cedar Heights/ Wrigley.

West Division Leadership Forum: 02/24/2016: 6pm

Please join Commander Robert Smith and his staff for this informative meeting on Wednesday February 24, 2016 at 6:00pm. at 1129 Alamitos. We will be having an Auto Theft Detective give a presentation as well as Administrator Karen Owens will be giving a presentation on the Community Engagement Division. 

Human Trafficking Volunteer Task Force Comes To Long Beach

Today I participated in the Human Trafficking Volunteer Task Force. We went to three bars in District Two to see if they were in compliance with State Law that requires a poster with the trafficking hotline was prominently displayed by the front door where customers could see it. 

One out of three bars, Ferns on 4th Street, was already in compliance. The other two were willing to put up the posters pretty much on the spot.

Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery in which traffickers use force, fraud, or coercion to control victims for the purpose of engaging in commercial sex acts or labor services against his/her will.

Since the posters began going up, there have been a significant increase in calls to the Human Trafficking Hotline. The law requiring bars to display the poster was actually passed several years back. Fines for failing to display the poster are $500 for the first 30 days, and $1000 for each additional 30 days there after. 

The hotline which is: 1 (888) 373-7888 is staffed seven days a week. It is manned by volunteers who can field several different languages. The National Human Trafficking Resource Center coordinates the outreach efforts. Basically, outreach sends volunteers out to venues that are expected to comply with the law, speaks with the managers and owners of the venue about the law, provides the materials to be in compliance if needed and tracks their efforts for the District Attorney in case the venue refuses to comply.

Wrigley Clean Up Chestnut 23rd to Burrnett: Neighborhood Expansion

Post Shared from Josephine A Villaseñor's:  Wrigley Community Watch Page: We did a small cleaned on Chestnut Ave between 23rd Street and Burnett. Picked up 32 gallons of Trash most of it was Cigarette ends, Business Cards, Broken Glass and some odd ends of Trash, even an used Condom! Eww, lol  Lots of people attended, go Thankful, people passing by gave us thumbs up, said Thank you, good job but all in all it was a good day. Cleaned up the broken glass so no one gets a flat tire. We will pick another part of the Community to Clean up. Wrigley Community Watch Leader Josie MacArthur Park Community Watch and Association Leader Shayne Michael — feeling cleaned up part of Wrigley Community at 6th District Vote for Josephine, Long Beach, CA.

 #SupportJosephine

First Clean Up of 2015: Gundry PCH to 15th Done

This morning we had our first neighborhood clean up of 2016 along Gun dry from PCH to 15th is finished. I will say Gundry was very well kept. At least one alleyway looked very well maintained. We will get 15th to Anaheim soon and be partnering with Wrigley to clean Chestnut from 23rd heading towards Willow tomorrow at 8am.

Also, don't forget the City Wide Breakfast will be held at 1744 Gaviota, on 02/20/2016. All the neighborhood is invited. #SupportJosephine

District One Meeting: El Niño Preparedness

There was a meeting tonight at Drake Park sponsored by Councilwoman Lena Gonzalez. While the meeting focused on Community Watches, there was also time spent on the Go Long Beach App, Homeless Services and El Niño. 

Because we covered Community Watches in a previous meeting, we'll be focusing tonight on being prepared for El Niño in this write up.

El Niño is a change in weather patterns that stands to change temperatures and weather patterns in cities like Long Beach. Where our average downpour is around 12 inches, El Niño can double the down pour. This usually comes in the form of four storms. One major storm brings about an inch and a quarter of rain, the rest resemble your average winter shower. 

While an inch and a quarter of rain doesn't sound like a serious issue, in addition to flooding it can cause extensive erosion and rip tides. Tonight's meeting, as it relates to El Niño was all about knowing what to do before, during and after the storm.

BEFORE THE STORM

• Clear rain gutters
• Have lumber, tarps, duct tape to repair leaks as they occur
• Cover patio furniture
• Keep at least 1/4 of gas in your tank
• Have an emergency kit.
• Have important identification in plastic bags
• Have copies of phone books that are not in cell phones.
• Prepare for special needs: IE Autistic kids/ insulin etc
• Have sand bags in flood areas
• Use Nixle/ Social Networking and stay connected
• Find a weather service and pay attention.

DURING THE STORM

• Listen to news that can help
• Avoid water above ankles
• If water comes up to top of your tires it isn't safe to continue
• Stay on familiar train
• Avoid down power lines
• If you see downed lines call 911

AFTER THE STORM

• Pay attention to news about drinking water
• Sewer breaks may require you to boil the water
• Have water purification such as bleach tablets in emergency kits
• Avoid disaster site seeing.
• Don't handle downed power lines
• Replenish emergency kits

The City of Long Beach also has a plan for the coming storms. This plan will include the clearing of 5300 basins, testing 28 pump stations and having the Fire Department make sand and sand bags available to the public. Sand will be available at 1651 San Francisco. Sand bags are available at Fire Stations 7, 12, 13 and 14.  Additionally, Parks and Recreation will be creating berms and clearing rain gutters for all government facilities. Fire will identify places where the Swift Water Rescue Response team may be needed. Police may be called on to alter traffic control patterns and activate search and rescue teams when needed. 

Also, while El Niño will help the drought in California, it is unlikely to undo it.