District Six Primary: Josephine Villasenor: 04/12/2016

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.

MacArthur Park's 1st City Wide Breakfast: Updated

Thank you to We Love Long Beach for the kind donations, the neighbors who came out, Wrigley Community Neighborhood Groupp for the help organizing and Tania Morales for the additional support in the MacArthur Park Neighborhood's first City Wide Breakfast.

It's hard to read but hear were the suggestions: 

• A neighborhood grocery store
• Shuttles for seniors - People with no cars
• More neighborhood events
• Speed bumps for cars turning off PCH
• Neighborhood cleaning
• Neighborhood watch
• Game day 
• Board game pot lucks 
• Neighborhood Olympics.

Neighborhood Expansion: Watching Over Wrigley

Neighborhood Expansion is when this site/ MacArthur Park will be doing three things to look out for neighboring communities including: mapping crime trends, aiding in clean ups and doing Go Long Beach Runs for that neighborhood. As of today it moves from being a response This week MacArthur Park is keeping an eye on Wrigley in support of Josephine A Villaseñor and her Wrigley Community Watch Page.

This map shows some crime trends in the Wrigley area last week. We are focusing on South Wrigley, Central Wrigley and Wrigley Heights. We also included the other side of Pacific all the way to Atlantic, because that's where some of the trends begin.

Clearly there are a lot of thefts and robberies trending towards Veteran's Memorial Park. They seem to converge around 27th Street and Pine. Please keep an eye around the Park, Pine and on 27th Street. There were several incidents where the arrow converges on Sunday, so be extra vigilant over the weekend.

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#SupportJosephine

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It appears a trend of breaking and enterings is moving up Oregon Avenue towards Wrigley Heights. There is also a trend of thefts from cars and burglaries along Hill Street and Magnolia that moves East. A similar trend starts at Oregon and PCH and moves North East. So far, this week the map [from Sunday to Wednesday] looks good. But based on what I am seeing here the four places to keep your eyes on are Oregon Avenue, just south of Veteran's Memorial Park, Hill Street and PCH. 

There will be two more phases for this week's Neighborhood Expansion. Tomorrow, Josie and I will do a Go Long Beach Run and a Patrol through Wrigley. We will be cataloging all the tagging and dumped items for future reference. The tagging is a good clue of where things are about to go bad. This coming Sunday we will host a small clean up from 23rd Street and Chestnut, which will move up towards PCH. That clean up will begin at 8am. Everyone is welcome to join in. 

Next week, on Wednesday we start the same three steps that we did this week for Wrigley for another neighborhood, within District Six. #SupportJosephine

Sunday Safety Watch 01/03/2016 to 01/16/2016

So, here's what's new. A Go Long Beach Run found increased tagging on 01/17/2016 in the west end of the neighborhood. There was very little to the east. Dumped items are also up. The blue line represents where that tagging emanates from. Keep an eye on the alleyway between Rose and Gaviota south of 15th. There was also a cluster of crime including drug possession and robberies. They start around Cherry and Anaheim and then trend east and north east. This is a cluster more than a trend, as the trend is week. There were also thefts just outside our neighborhood along Old Zaferiia Way that trend back into the neighborhood. Thefts from cars are on the rise, so please keep them locked in that area.

This is the map from this week. You will notice a cluster of assaults just inside our neighborhood along Old Zaceria Way. While nothing is happening in that Blue Circle, it's where virtually everything emanates from. You will also notice a trend of property damage along Walnut and Anaheim heading north towards Rose and 14th. That crosses the blue line in the previous map, which is where all the unreported tagging originates. There is also a trend of property crime just outside our neighborhood heading north west. Both maps show clusters along Old Zaferia Way, inside Rotary Centennial Park and along the South East corner of the neighborhood.

The latest Go Long Beach Run did see two cars exchanging drugs at around 12pm just outside of Rotary Centennial Park. Plates 6F58237/ 6HZU68B. Since a lot of new acticity in the area is drug related, and that leads to car theft, please keep an extra eye open in the area.

Neighborhood Expansion: There have also been shootings since the last update, but since these are outside the borders of our neighborhood, I will handle them in a separate update. However, below I am including a map of gang related tagging, so you see where the unreported tagging starts and which direction it trends.

This information comes from a new map which tracks dumping, tagging and encampments. You can find that map here. The graphics are weeks at a time, the map should show where things are clustering and overlay with the Crime Reports Map nicely. I am still working out the kinks now.

I will be working with Josephine Villaseñor to bring this kind of Map to the Wrigley area as well, while we expand the Community Watch for all of the Sixth District in the time to come.

#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.

Recap: The MacArthur Park Neighborhood Meeting

Tonight the MacArthur Park Neighborhood hosted its monthly meeting at the Mark Twain Library. The speakers included our neighborhood resource officer, Officer Gabriel Bentanzos and Jason Gallup from Sustainable Long Beach.

A Sustainable Long Beach

The second part of the meeting was a presentation by Sustainable Long Beach. The City of Long Beach Office of Sustainability was created to model leadership and supports practical solutions to improve the environment. Sustainable Long Beach began in 2008 when the City Council decided to go green and in doing so was tasked with developing a Sustainable City Action Plan. In a nutshell, these are attempts to more effectively cut down on waste by more efficiently using city resources. The program offers seven major services, this meeting focused on three of the seven.

Some of programs offered by Sustainable Long Beach include:

1. Free Mulch: As the city  moves away from grass longs to drought tolerant plants, the city has developed a program that delivers free mulch to residents. The mulch comes from city tree trimmings, that were once simply tossed in local landfills. Now instead of throwing the trimmings away, they are shaved down and turned into mulch, which when added to lawns, reduces weeds, adds nutrients to soil, regulates soil temperature and helps retain water.  To be eligible to receive you must be a Long Beach resident and a homeowner.
2. The Civic Garden: This was created to demonstrate how to get the most out of a small growing space. Located at 333 W. Ocean Blvd. Long Beach, CA 90802. The garden is a great place to learn how to grow your own food in garden containers you create. Urban gardening itself is the idea that citizens can grow food no matter where they live, whether it's a high rise apartment, a tiny condo, or a house with no backyard. In addition to monthly classes in urban garden, you can also learn how to make your own containers to save space, like Earth boxes and vertical planters. 
3. The Rain Barrel Rebate Program: Long Beach Residents are currently eligible to receive rebates of up to $75 per barrel with a maximum of four rain barrels per home. These barrels collect rain for lawn irrigation without relying on the city's water supply. This program is not free, but the rain barrels you  purchase will run about $85 before the rebate. After getting $75 back, you are looking at a 55 gallon rain barrel for about $10. Additionally, the company that handles the rebates is also offering rebates on high efficiency toilets, sprinkler heads and clothes washers. 
   

Finally, Sustainable Long Beach is aggressively plugging the Cool California Challenge. This is basically a competition between twenty-two cities in California trying to outdo each other in saving on their water and energy bills.  Basically, you create an account and begin monitoring your energy and water bills. As the program gives you tips on how to bring those bills down, you earn points by using less energy and spending less money. If you are successful, your energy bills come down. And as you saves money, the city of Long Beach stands to win money which can be used to bring more energy saving programs back here.

A Brief Safety Update: The Shooting

Most of the safety update centered on holiday safety and some updated information on the fatal shooting at 14th and Gundry last week. For those unfamiliar with the shooting,  read the previous safety update. Here are additional details from tonight's meeting. The suspect is a 17-year-old juvenile. Because of this, despite being involved in this murder, he may be out by age 24. Also the suspect may be connected to other shootings in the area. During the shooting, the suspect was originally spotted on Gundry and fled south to 1136 Hoffman. Police are working with property owners to evict any gang members that may be causing long term problems for the neighborhood. 

A lot of the holiday safety information was common sense and has been covered in previous posts. Here's a brief recap. 

As we approach the holiday season, here are some safety tips.

1.  Ship items to a location where they will be personally received, and/or ask a trusted neighbor to collect and hold the item rather than leaving it in a common area.
2.  Request carriers to ship items to their local store or distribution center to be held for pick up.
3. Advise your local post office when you will be out of town so they can hold your deliveries until your return.
4. Track the progress of your anticipated delivery and if you don’t receive it as expected, contact the issuing company, and when possible request proof of delivery.
5. Remove valuables and holiday packages from your vehicle, and don’t use it as a storage area - More tips from the LAPD

MacArthur Park Neighborhood meetings for the MacArthur Park Neighborhood  are every third Tuesday and hosted through the Neighborhood Resource Center. The next meeting, unless the holidays interfere, should be on 12/15/2015 at 5:00pm.

There Will Likely Be Four Candidates Running For 6th District

Gardenia Street Is Clean from PCH to 14th Street

There was an announced cleaning of Gardenia Street starting at 1611 Gardenia. The clean up headed north and south down Gardnia. All dumped items, with the exception electronic devices such as TVs and an water heaters, were removed. In the end, the dumpster was filled in about one hour.

I have personally signed up for a large clean up on the 12th of December 2015. This will be a joint clean up with friends from the Wrigley Neighborhood. I intend to make this a slightly bigger clean up than we've don in the past. There will likely be food, prizes and other reasons for our neighbors to get involved. Stay tuned for details. #SupportJosephine