Schipske Responds to Comment on LBBJ About How Sidewalks Are Fixed

The following is my response to a comment made online on the Long Beach Business Journal website regarding dissatisfaction on sidewalk repair in a particular area of my district:
http://www.lbbusinessjournal.com/read-it-now/1384-long-beach-councilwomn-gerrie-schipske-running-for-mayor.html


Mr. Pond -- immediately upon reading your remarks I checked my computer system and found no prior contacts from you. I searched the homeowners list for 5th District and you are not there. I also checked the voter file and you are not there. 

That being said, I contacted the editor of LBBJ and he indicated he would email you with my office number so you can finally contact me on your concerns.

I also invited Mr. Economides to come out to the 5th Council District so I can show him the tremendous progress I have made since 2006 on getting a fair share of funding for the 5th to fix sidewalks, trees and streets. You also can come out and walk with me -- something I have been doing for several years so we have an inventory of needed repairs as the City does not have an up to date listing.

What I instituted has saved the city 30% in the cost of fixing sidewalks. Instead of responding on a political basis -- such as when someone writes the newspaper -- I have worked with Public Works to bunch repairs by neighborhood so that the entire neighborhood gets fixes not just the person who has complained. I also brought saw cutting to the city -- which was piloted in the 5th Council District and then take city wide. This allows the repair of a raised sidewalk by smoothing with a diamond saw. The cost is @ 30 dollars a sidewalk instead of the usual $100 or more.

If you live in the area, you might drive north of Spring between Clark and the flood control where work is occurring. Also check out south of Spring between Studebaker and Palo Verde.

I can provide you with a Public Works map that shows what has been done and where we are going in the next budget cycle which is Straford Square -- so you either had access to the Public Works planning document or great minds think alike.

As to slurry seal. All councilmembers are awaiting the Public Works department's report on which streets they are recommending be slurried -- as all streets are not candidates. We have set aside funding that will be used once the list is approved.

I recently brought another potential cost savings on streets to Public Works. A company uses a newer system that grinds up existing asphalt and mixes with an emulsion and then repaves in the same setting --saving time, money and materials. We will test it during this spring.

Finally, I too am an attorney and have aggressively advocated for infrastructure repair from the day I took office. Not only because of liability concerns, but because we need to improve how neighborhoods look.

So contact me. I have lots of documents to share with you. Please keep in mind the 5th Council District is 11.5 square miles -- the largest district in the city and it has the most sidewalks, streets and trees. Prior to my taking office, the 5th received the same funding as all other 8 districts. I pushed to change that and now the 5th receives a base funding and a proportional funding.

Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske, 5th District