Archive for September, 2007
« Previous EntriesTime to Rename Lakewood Plaza Marketplace
Saturday, September 29th, 2007Following several phone calls and emails from 5th District constituents, my staff and I tried to contact the developer of the strip mall located at Spring and Palo Verde to discuss the possibility of renaming that mall from “Lakewood Plaza” to “The Plaza.”
Unfortunately, the developer refuses to return our phone calls.
Here’s the problem. That mall […]
Stopping Commercial Mansonization
Saturday, September 29th, 2007Recently, the Council received kudos for voting to stop the “mansionization” in some neighborhoods. Specifically, in the Ranchos in my District, we voted to stop allowing second stories on these unique homes. A similar proposal is slated for Belmont Heights.
We voted for this proposal because of the concern about the quality and integrity of our […]
We Blew It on AB 1430
Friday, September 28th, 2007Bill Pearl, web gruru for LBReport.com, got us good this time. Yep. The City Council was asleep at the wheel over AB 1430.
How could we have missed that bill? It guts the City of Long Beach’s Prop M law.
Let’s recap. The City of Long Beach enacted campaign finance reforms with the passage of Prop M. […]
National League of Cities - San Antonio
Wednesday, September 26th, 2007This weekend I will be traveling to San Antonio, Texas to attend a National League of Cities Conference. I haven’t attended many conferences since being elected — partially because I work full time and partially because I am not a fan of flying.
The San Antonio Conference is the 2007 National Summit on Your City’s Families.
On […]
1,000 Served: Good Neighbor Festival and Picnic a Great Success
Monday, September 24th, 2007If you count the number of hot dogs and hamburgers cooked and given out yesterday, 1,000 people attended the first Annual Good Neighbor Festival and Picnic at El Dorado Park near the Senior Center. (Thanks to the Long Beach Police Officers Association for cooking hamburgers — and then going to get more when they ran […]
See In The Valley of Elah
Sunday, September 23rd, 2007I don’t think much about the war in Iraq because there is little news letting us know what is really happening there. And it doesn’t effect my life because I do not have a son or daughter serving there.
So different from World War II. I know. I am too young to know anything first hand about […]
Time to Get Rental Cars Off City Streets
Tuesday, September 18th, 2007Over a year ago, a constitutent came to me complaining that it had been the practice in the City to allow car rental agencies to utilize city streets to park their inventory. For a year, I pursued this issue. As we grappled with other residential parking issues. I did not feel it was fair to […]
Raising Money for Non-Profits
Tuesday, September 18th, 2007This coming Sunday, I am hosting a Good Neighbor Festival and Picnic. The goal was to bring together neighborhood organizations in the 5th Council District and to honor youths, adults and organizations who have been exceptionally good neighbors this past year.
Another important goal was to raise money for several non-profits by asking businesses and corporations […]
Good Neighbor Festival and Picnic
Saturday, September 15th, 2007
September is Good Neighbor Month and what better way to celebrate it than to have a Festival and Picnic on Sunday September 23 at 10 am until 4 pm. The event is being held in front of the El Dorado Senior Center at 2800 Studebaker in Long Beach.
We will have the Elm Street Band, hot […]
Budget Process Embarrassing
Thursday, September 13th, 2007If you watched the City Council last night, you heard my frustration about learning at the last minute that the City Police Department has over $11 million in unbudgeted expenses.
Late in the afternoon, I came across a memo from the City Manager to Councilmember Gary Delong of the Budget Advisory Committee listing in great detail […]