North to Alaska

I will be going to Seattle and Alaska for my first real vacation since taking office in 2006.

Luckily, since I know how to browse the internet, I will be able to stay in touch with Long Beach and my staff. While in Seattle I will visit their "parking strip" gardens they are encouraging residents to build. Parking strips are the areas between your sidewalk and the street and usually contain a city tree. By removing the grass and planting drought tolerant plants, it saves a tremendous amount of water and they look wonderful.

When I get back I look forward to launching our Spruce Up the 5th summer jobs program for youth in our area who will be helping fix up our parks in the 5th District. This will be a great experience for the youth and our district.

I will blog while I am on my trip.