Come where few in Long Beach have ever gone

You are invited to come behind the scenes with me on Jan 11 to see how Long Beach converts your trash into electricity.

Click here to sign up for this Open Up Long Beach event.

Council Approves Look at Impact on Police -- Crimes Soar to 854 in Last 30 Days

The City Council unanimously approved having the City Manager report to the Council in January on the impact that the FY 2013 budget has had on such departments as Police.

And it couldn't come soon enough. Residents are constantly reporting crimes in their neighborhoods. Although the Mayor insists Long Beach is "safe" I challenge him to review the following stats on Crimereports.com (that are reported by the LB Police Department). These stats show the number of serious crimes by zip codes: (robbery, burglary, car theft, theft from vehicles, shootings)

90801 - 263 crimes
90803 - 42 crimes
90804 - 50 crimes
90805 - 91 crimes
90806 - 109 crimes
90807 - 96 crimes
90808 - 60 crimes
90815 - 62 crimes
90814 - 132 crimes

Residential crimes are increasing. We need more police resources.

I asked the City Attorney if I could make a motion to reallocate funds ($500,000 for a consultant) to the Police and he indicated because we were asking for a report, it would not be appropriate. I will do so when the report comes back to the Council.

Schipske Asks for Report on Odor

Oil island (Photo credit: theqspeaks)

Well, they did it again. Someone or something let off a smell last week that fluctuates between rotten eggs and burning oil. No one quite explains who really is doing it and why. But it seems to happen frequently when it just rains or is overcast and I can smell it at Studebaker and Spring.

So I am asking for an official report from city management on what this is and who is doing it and whether or not it is harmful.

Here's my agenda item:

 

Discussion:

Periodically, especially when it is overcast or has just rained, there will be a strong, noxious odor with a smell that is described as natural gas, rotten egg or oil burning. When residents on the east side of Long Beach call 9-1-1 they are told a number of things concerning the source of the odor: “It’s AES burning off oil; it’s the oil operations at the oil islands burning off oil or it’s an oil tanker burning off its fuel in the harbor.”

It would be helpful if: a) the source of the smell could be confirmed; b) an assessment could be done to determine if the odor is harmful and 3) the reverse 9-1-1 be used whenever the odor occurs to alert residents that it is not harmful.

Recommendation:

By motion of the City Council, request a report from the Fire Department, Gas and Oil Properties and the AQMD regarding the source of this odor and confirmation that the odor is not harmful. Additionally, request that the reverse 9-1-1 system be used to alert residents on the eastside of the City whenever the odor occurs.