City Budget: The
$3.2 billion budget was passed by City Council on September 3rd. No
cuts in service for the first time in several years. It included additional
funding for sidewalk and street repairs as well as for fixing up our libraries
and parks. Management informed Council that due to the number of infrastructure
projects that would be generated that the City staff was at capacity and that
“project managers” would need to be hired to manage the work. We set aside more
funds to pay down unfunded liabilities. We were able to negotiate pension
reforms with our employees which will save taxpayers many millions of dollars.
Both the budgeting process and its format need serious revisions, however. Not
enough time was given for the public to provide input and there are few
“performance measures” that taxpayers can review to see if they are getting
their money’s worth.
Slurry Seal: The
5th Council district is the first district to have streets slurry
sealed and the Public Works Department selected the streets. I received numerous complaints about the work done in El Dorado Park
Estates and the contractor was required to come back out and redo several
areas. Our Public Works Department is still following up on issues related to
the work.
Curb Number Painting:
As you know, I arranged with Rosie the Riveter Charter School to paint house
numbers on curbs. These young people are learning how to run a business and
they send out a notice to homeowners asking for a small donation and then go to
the home and collect the donation and paint the house numbers. The Charter
school is excited about this project because of the skills it teaches.
Standing Water:
There are several locations in the 5
th district were water pools in
the gutters due to rain or in the case currently when gutters should be bone
dry, over watering and allowing run off. The pooling happens because of curbs
raised by tree roots. Nuisance water is the single largest contributor to standing
water issues. Nuisance water is domestic water that is discharges to the curb
and gutter. Nuisance water can often be attributed to improperly set irrigation
timers, washing down
driveways instead of
broom sweeping, draining
swimming
pools, and residential vehicle washing. With the range of reported West
Nile Virus cases expanding over the past several years, it is important for
both the City and its resident to minimize the amount of standing water that
accumulates.
It is unlikely that standing water in the gutter can provide breeding
conditions for mosquitoes due to the constant replenishment with new nuisance
water and the fact that the gestation period of the mosquito is longer than the
street sweeping frequency.
Marna, Claremore and Ring streets have serious problems.
I went out personally with a group of volunteers to sweep the water out of the
gutters and to gather up debris that was blocking the flow of water. I have
been working with Public Works on resolving this problem but in the case of
3400-3600 Marna – it would cost in excess of $375,000 to repair the curbs, cut
the tree roots and replace asphalt. Each councilmember was only given $500,000
this year to make repairs so I held several public meetings at which residents
prioritized where to repair. Portions of Fanwood, Lees, Keynote and Lanai were
selected and fixed. As more funds become available, more streets will be fixed.
During rainy season I was able to get the Water Department to use a vacuum
truck to remove water. They sold the truck and so I don’t have access to one. I
also have Vector Control spray the gutters to prevent mosquitoes. Please try to
prevent water runoff into the streets until we can get the problems fixed.
Alleys: For the
fourth summer, my office is coordinating groups of volunteers to do clean up of
the 40 alleys in the 5th district. The groups start at 8 am and
remove debris, chop down weeds, and get dumped items removed. Potholes and
graffiti are reported.
Newcomb: After
numerous attempts to get information, we have learned that construction should
begin this fall. Please report problems with dust/dirt, noise, etc.
Wardlow: The Gas
& Oil Department will be performing work to install a new gas facility
along the north side of the 8000 block of East Wardlow Road (between Lama
Avenue and El Dorado Drive). The sidewalk will be closed until
approximately September 12th.
September 28th
Good Neighbor Festival: It’s that time again to nominate a “good neighbor”
for our 7
th Annual Good Neighbor Festival and Picnic at (of course)
Good Neighbor Park, 2800 Studebaker at 11 am til 4pm. Send your nominations to
me at:
district5@longbeach.gov.
There is free food, booths, games and entertainment by Flyer and The Elm Street
Band.
New Dog Park in El
Dorado Regional Park: A 1.5 acre large and small dog park is coming in El
Dorado Regional Park off Spring Street in the late fall. This will be the first
dog park on this side of town and promises to be a great site for dogs and
their owners.
