The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 108, No. 2 - January 10, 2019
Inside
This Issue
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.......................5
Classifieds..........................13
Crossword/Sudoku...........13
Entertainment....................14
Legals............................ 11,12
Obituaries.............................2
Pets......................................15
Police Reports.....................4
Real Estate................7-11,16
Sports....................................6
Weekend
Forecast
Friday
Cloudy
62˚/54˚
Saturday
Partly
Cloudy
61˚/52˚
Sunday
Cloudy
61˚/53˚
Aquatics Center Officially Opens
Saturday, Jan. 5 marked the official grand opening of the El Segundo Wiseburn Aquatics Center at 2240 E. Grand Ave. Attendees had the opportunity to bring their suits and take a dip in the new heated
pool. Photo: Gerardo Cueto.
El Segundo City Council Members
Look Ahead as 2019 Kicks Off
By Brian Simon
The last two Herald editions looked back
at the many El Segundo news highlights
from 2018. This week considers what looms
ahead for 2019, according to the members
of the City Council. Each provided a different
perspective on the challenges facing the
community going forward as well as their
wishes and priorities for the new year.
In addition to achieving the safest, most
prepared city and investing in technology and
infrastructure, Mayor Drew Boyles said he
is particularly passionate about maintaining
financial strength and also engaging with
residents, businesses and employers. “For
engagement, we will be using technology
to move towards true two-way dialogue
across multiple platforms and will continue
measuring how we are performing in the eyes
of our residents and businesses, while also
measuring how quickly and adequately we
are addressing concerns,” he said. “With our
employees, our goal is to be a true Employer
of Choice and we will continue to build an
engaged, answer-providing and performancebased
culture in our organization. “
Boyles also emphasized the continued
need to be fiscal stewards by challenging
City staff to maximize productivity, leverage
technology and reduce pension burden while
fostering commerce in the two-square-mile
commercial zone. “This two square miles is
the most important in the Southern California
economy,” he said. “Given that our city’s
revenue is over 95 percent comprised of commercial
activity – and not residential property
taxes – it is critical that we do everything we
can to make these two square miles the most
innovative, vibrant, talented and sought-after
in the Southland. We are working diligently
to ensure this becomes reality.”
An item not part of the City’s 2019 work
plan is nonetheless dear to Boyles’ heart and
is one he wishes to prioritize: the environment.
“We can and should do more,” he
said. “More home and business recycling,
renewable energy on City property, ecofriendly
vehicles, measuring tree quantities
and health, and environmental considerations
when deciding on policy are just some of the
low-hanging fruit.”
Noting the importance of strong leadership,
Councilmember Don Brann deemed it a
major priority to select a new and effective
city manager to lead El Segundo into a
bright future. The recruitment process will
soon be in progress with the previously
announced retirement of Greg Carpenter in
June. Brann, who spearheaded the Council’s
pension subcommittee, identified the issue
as the most pressing threat to the City’s
long-term prosperity. “We need to adopt
still more measures to ease our pension
debt,” he said. “Pension liabilities are serious,
growing and must be addressed.” While
pleased about proactive measures taken last
year such as additional payments to shave
interest and negative amortization over the
long haul, Brann believes the City should
have re-routed some budget monies spent
elsewhere to pension payments – and also
reduce the percentage of monies the City
keeps in reserves, as he feels the amount
is excessive. “Given the low interest rates
received on such dollars, they can be put to
much better use to lessen our city’s pension
debt,” he said.
One item Brann plans to advance to an
upcoming Council agenda is a percent for
arts fee. Presented in late December by a
member of the Arts and Culture Committee,
the concept is to tack on the amount as part
of future commercial development. “It is
important to build in a source of funding for
arts and culture activities,” Brann explained.
Councilmember Scot Nicol hopes to see
a two- to three-year forecast for business
trends and how those will affect the City’s
tax income as well as preparedness for an
inevitable economic downturn. “Fiscal responsibility
is priority number one for me,” he
said. “Knowing what the next few years are
going to look like will dictate how many of
our decisions will be made going forward.”
Nicol also hopes to review park land and
open spaces within local residential areas.
“My goal is to plan and best utilize all the
green space available to us as residents in El
Segundo -- not just the fields, but the areas
that are underutilized currently,” he said.
“With a long-term plan in place to rotate field
use and the potential investment in flattening
and repurposing some of the spaces, we can
ensure we are providing to our residents the
best possible recreation experience.”
Nicol additionally wants to advance an item,
staff time pending, to review the City’s general
plan and in particular the traffic element
west of PCH along with some of the routes
currently in place. “My goal is to enhance
the overall quality of life for residents of
El Segundo,” he said. “To complete many
of the little goals I have, our general plan
needs to be reviewed as well as traffic and
circulation plans.”
Noting that the most important task for
a city government is to be a responsible
and reliable steward of its citizens’ money,
Councilmember Chris Pimentel pointed to
the need to “build bridges” with labor groups,
spend cautiously and focus on long-term
outcomes in order to build and maintain a
See City Council, page 13