For residents busy with life during dinner time on Tuesday night The Memo brings you what you missed
NEWS Yesterday's Long Beach City Council meeting was probably too long for most working folks are families to have tuned in. To help you stay abreast on what’s happening in our city, here’s kinda brief play-by-play of what happened on Council yesterday evening.
Aquarium Agenda Item
Councilwoman Allen moved for a $5M cash flow loan to the Aquarium.
The city was prepared with a presentation but did not present it.
Councilwoman Allen said that “millions of people visit the aquarium.” She did not say whether the Aquarium is a consistent and positive revenue source for the City.
Councilwoman Allen mentioned that the interest rate was “good.” She did not mention that it is fixed, below market and uses metrics generally used for residential homes and not commercial facilities.
When addressing the repayment of the loan the Councilwoman said “I trust that it will be repaid”.
She did not mention that under the terms of the $5Million loan, the Tideland Fund is on the hook as the guarantor and the payment is automatically triggered if the Oil Abandonment Reserve Fund runs low. Funds for abandoned oil wells are already so critically short that our local Assemblyman is working with the state to fill a $500 million shortfall.
Councilwoman Price said that she had concerns regarding the Tidelands funds although she supported the item. She emphasized that the Tideland fund is under “stress”.
She said that while the Aquarium is a reliable partner they are not the only partner in that tidelands area. According to Price those partners have not been as reliable and created “further leverage” on the Tidelands fund.
“When we factor in the liabilities that we now have to fund I think it is important for us to be mindful every time we leverage this fund,” Price commented.
She cautioned that funding assets equitably are becoming too stressful on the Fund.
Her caution reflects several of the concerns our editorial team referenced. For more information read this week’s editorial.
Despite the online outrage, there was no public comment during the civil meeting.
The item passed unanimously.
Smart City Agenda Item
Several public comments raised concerns with the health risk of 5G technology, privacy risk and public access in underserved communities.
City staff presented this power point. Basically, to improve things like traffic congestion the tradeoff would be more cameras, sensors and data collection in public spaces.
Councilwoman Price supported the agenda item but raised concerns. She said that we cannot rightly consider the City truly “smart” without embracing other technologies that she has advocated for.
A year ago, according to Price, she suggested the city implement a street sweeping app alert to help with parking and technology that would put homeless services at City residents’ finger tips. Her request have gone unheard.
Rex Richardson recused himself from the Smart City Technology agenda item to, in his words, “maintain a firewall on any issues even remotely related to the industry”. The Vice Mayor works in what he describes as “the fiber optic communications space” and “stepped away out of an abundance of caution.”
In an online exchange that Vice Mayor suggested that his recusal is routine on this issue and not at all related to a recent editorial asking that he recuse himself from another agenda item. Read the editorial here.
The agenda item unanimously passed.
Firefighter Grant Agenda Item
This is an interesting agenda item because Council is going against City staff’s earlier recommendation not to apply for this grant.
City staff fears, City there will be more public safety cuts in the coming 3 years and in that case Millions of the grant funding would have to be returned. Read our full report on this item here.
Councilman Al Austin says that although the SAFER Grant has the risk of the City having to give the grant money back he still supports the item because the need it so great.
The application is due in only a few days.
Councilwoman Cindy Allen signaled that she is open to voting down the Grant if it’s awarded. She suggested that even if the Grant is awarded then City Council could always choose not to accept it.
Vice Mayor Richardson gave Councilman Supernaw a wink for referencing equity in the agenda item. A nod to himself as the author of the Framework for reconciliation.
Councilwoman Saro is pleased that if Engine 17 gets the grant then the busy engine 10 in her district will have some relief.
The item passed unanimously.
SEIU Resolution Request Agenda Item
Vice Mayor Rex Richardson played a Good Morning America video to explain why SEIU homecare nurse union should have the City Attorney draft a document supporting the union's campaign.
Mayor Garcia left during the video for reasons unknown to the public.
The union believes that they can persuade more people of color to vaccinate because in their words, "people of color do not trust their employers"
Perhaps a dozen union members left public comment regarding how COVID-19 impacted their lives. One member said that she was reluctant to be vaccinated but and that after the second vaccination her arm was badly swollen.
It was nice to hear Spanish translation of heartfelt public comment.
Councilman Al Austin thanked the Vice Mayor for bringing the item forward. Nice to see the two growing more cordial after recent criticism of a less than stellar working relationship.
Much of Councilman Austin's words were unclear and inaudible. Perhaps City staff can provide technical support for the benefit of the public.
Councilwoman Cindy Allen says she "wants to thank SEIU 2015 for the work they do". The union donated to her election.
The item passed unanimously.
Homeless Agenda Item
Resident Duke Givens made a presentation before City Council. He has a clothing program for the homeless and pays the homeless to clean the Freeway and LA River .
Councilman Richardson put the item forward.
Councilman Uranaga says that the homeless look forward to cleaning up the river and that Duke Given "is doing God's work" and that the homeless call him "Boss Man".
Councilwoman Saro's office made a donation to Duke Given's "care closet" and says that she looks forward to doing "little by little to do a lot together".
Councilwoman Zendeja wants to support Duke in any way that she can.
Councilman Austin says that this presentation hits close to home because he and Duke are personal friends. He says that Duke is a humanitarian and making "the world a better place". He thanked him on behalf of District 8 and praised the "new model" as a "necessary" model.
Councilwoman Price said that she has a neighbor that is very involved in this work as well. Her name is Christine Barry and her efforts can be supported here.
Price said that her office worked with Duke to be a city vendor. She also urged that “any non-profit should reach out to her so that she can assist them in accomplishing their goals as a non-profit.”
City Manager says that because Duke is not a fully established non-profit he is working with him in order to meet the City's request for proposal (RFP) requirements.
The item passed unanimously.
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