Archive for September, 2008
« Previous EntriesWhy Are We Losing Cessna?
Tuesday, September 30th, 2008I just received a telephone call from a reporter with Art Thomason from the Arizona Republic concerning the announcement that Cessna will be relocating next year to Phoenix. He wanted to know my reaction.
Why are we losing Cessna? If you look at any historical photograph of the Long Beach Airport you will see Cessna in […]
Are You Ready to Shake Out?
Tuesday, September 30th, 2008
Are You Ready to Shake Out?
I want to know and I am challenging residents to join me in signing up for the Great Southern California Shake Out. The Shake Out is scheduled on November 13 and will be the largest statewide earthquake drill ever held.
My staff and I are trained members […]
It was wrong..and other thoughts
Friday, September 26th, 2008The City is telling everyone how much we needed additional revenue to be able to get our infrastructure fixed…but wait…
Sale of 100 Long Beach Blvd.
It was wrong for the Council to approve the sale of the property at 100 Long Beach Boulevard for $5 million when not one of us had ever seen the appraisal […]
League of California Cities — Blogs
Friday, September 26th, 2008I am attending the League of California Cities which is being hosted by the City of Long Beach.
More than 22,000 elected officials and staff are attending this 4-day conference at our convention center. Today, the governor of California came and spoke to attendees.
There are numerous sessions on a variety of topics — Fair Housing, Group […]
Good Neighbor Festival a Big Success!
Monday, September 22nd, 2008Yesterday was the culmination of a lot of work by my staff and the staff of the Parks, Recreation and Marine Department. It was the Second Annual Good Neighbor Festival and Picnic.
51 organizations came and set up tables and displays on their services.
Residents got to see what is planned at the Boeing Douglas Park project. […]
Questioning the Edison Building “Deal”
Saturday, September 20th, 2008City Hall “East”
Several weeks ago, City Management made a presentation on its plans to close the Main Library and offered where one could be located until a new one was built.
Buried in the presentation was a slide indicating that “the new owner of City Hall East” has indicated he would be willing to lease to […]
Always the last to know.
Friday, September 19th, 2008When I was a young (very young) student at Fullerton Jr. College studying political science, my professor made us take one news item and then compare how the different newspapers and magazines wrote on this news item. That way we could learn that there are obvious biases in publications or in some cases — publications […]
We’ve Got To Stop Giving Away Our Sales Tax
Wednesday, September 17th, 2008Tonight in City Council we are going to consider an item which will give 65% of the sales tax generated by General Petroleum Corporation for 20 years in return for the corporation locating their office in Long Beach.
Whoa. Didn’t we just say we had a budget deficit? And didn’t the Mayor and City Council (without […]
Prepare for a quake or is Long Beach too busy?
Tuesday, September 16th, 2008I taped two shows on “Heart of the City” yesterday. This is the program aired on the City’s access channel and features the mayor and each of the City Council members,
My programs focused on the need for Long Beach to prepare for the coming earthquake. The timing of the program was great because yesterday the […]
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you…
Thursday, September 11th, 2008Yes, folks I was the only councilmember to vote against shifting responsibility to residents to fix broken sewer lines that have been clogged by city trees.
Imagine that. The Water Department just asked for a huge increase for water and sewer and the City dumped its $850,000 program that used to send out someone to a […]