Welcoming home a hero to the 5th District

After spending the morning and early lunchtime at the CAMEO event at the LB Convention Center, I had the privilege of being invited by the mother of a returning Army Pvt to come to their house in the 5th district and to welcome him home.

Wow. What an honor. Pvt. AJ Ayala is only 20 years old but he comes home from Afghanistan as a decorated soldier with a Purple Heart. His parents put together a welcome home celebration at their home and even brought the Millikan High School band out to greet him on a street lined with yellow ribbons on the trees.

I shook Pvt Ayala's hand but he reached out and said "we give hugs at this house."

On Tuesday, April 6 in City Council at 5pm, I am asking the entire Council to welcome Pvt. Ayala home with a hero's welcome. The public is invited to attend. Pvt. Ayala and his family will be there.

Come to a 1940s Era Dance.

Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske invites you to step back into the 1940's when Long Beach was working on the home front to support the troops in the war.

Come visit the Smithsonian "Produce for Victory" Exhibit made possible by The Long Beach Rosie the Riveter Foundation and The Historical Society of Long Beach.

The closing event of the exhibit will feature USO style entertainers and dance music! Food and much more. You are invited to come in costume.

April 2, 2010 at 6:30 pm - 9 pm at The Historical Society of Long Beach Gallery, 4260 Atlantic Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90807.

Tickets are $40.00. Proceeds go to The Long Beach Rosie the Riveter Foundation and The Historical Society of Long Beach, both non-profit organizations.

Response to LBPOST column on why 5th District is getting more infrastructure repairs

LBPOST -- it would have only taken a moment to call me to get the information your article lacks.

First of all the 5th District is the largest district -- 11.5 sq. miles which means we have the most streets, the most sidewalks and the most city trees. So we have the most infrastructure needs.

Unlike prior councilmembers, I have worked with Public Works to bundle repairs in an area so that it wasn't done on a shot gun approach. That approach has been inefficient and the costs of sending crews from one corner of a district to another is silly. That is why the Ranchos got their sidewalks done and we are moving north and west (something I go over in great detail at my state of the city). That is why one area gets their trees trimmed instead of here and there. And because I brought saw cutting to the city, we are able to fix many more sidewalks at a lower cost than we have ever done in Long Beach. (You can see the video on my city website: www.lbdistrict5.com).

Now as to the major streets being fixed in the 5th with stimulus monies -- Spring goes from Orange County to the west border of the City and is a major thoroughfare. Los Coyotes dissects the east part of the city south to north. These projects have been slated for repair for several years. They were shovel ready and have a tremendous impact on the traffic.

Regarding the lack of an alley behind Euclid -- that has been a problem for 40 years. I have worked on it (albeit quietly) for 4 years I have been in office. Those homes have been ruined because of the flooding and the city wouldn't do anything about it. Now they are fixing it.

I also have a serious problem with streets raised up to 3 and 4 feet because of stone pine tree roots. Those problems have been there for many years and I am pushing the City Attorney and the Public Works department that they need to be removed because they are hazards.

I also constantly walk and inspect my district and leave constituent service cards with residents and email the problems via Blackberry. I also have a sophisticated computer tracking system that monitors when we call in a problem so we can follow it up to get it done. I was the first to place an on line service request form that can be accessed 24/7 and so we are on top of the complaints.

My job is to advocate for my residents in the 5th District. If I hadn't been doing that you'd be the first to blast me for not doing my job.

Gerrie Schipske

5th Council Districts Gets Big Share of Fed Street Improvements -- and Largest Share of City Sidewalk Monies

The federal government has agreed to fund (@ $15 million) the reconstruction of 10 major streets -- including installing handicap access to ramps to meet current federal ADA guidelines.

The 5th Council District is getting 3 (of the 10) streets fixed:

• Spring Street from Clark Avenue to the east city limit
• Los Coyotes Diagonal from Outer Traffic Circle to Studebaker
• Wardlow Road from Clark Avenue to Woodruff Avenue

Other good news: The 5th Council District is receiving the largest share of City sidewalk monies this budget year. More than $600,000 will be spent on fixing or replacing broken sidewalks in the 5th District. This amount represents twice the amount ever budgeted for the 5th Council District and over turns the long standing policy adopted by the former councilperson that sidewalk monies should be divided evenly.

Thanks to my colleagues on the council for agreeing that these monies should be budgeted based upon need!

On upcoming posting, I will put on line the list of the many sidewalk locations that will be fixed this year. It is impressive but we much to do.