The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo Herald Publications - El Segundo, Torrance, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Lawndale, & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 105, No. 3 - January 14, 2016 Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals.....................14 Classifieds............................4 Crossword/Sudoku.............4 Film Review..........................4 Legals............................ 12,13 Police Reports.....................2 Real Estate.....................7-11 Sports....................................6 Weekend Forecast Greetings From Mother Nature The storms have started and have already caused some damage. Stevenson Field was flooded and this tree was split three-ways. Photo by Marcy Dugan. • Friday Partly Cloudy 61˚/51˚ Saturday Partly Cloudy 62˚/52˚ Sunday Partly Cloudy 64˚/53˚ Realtor Jim Marak Sees the Best of Times for El Segundo Homes By Brian Simon Now 31 years into his career, local Re/ Max branch manager/associate broker Jim Marak said he has never felt better about the El Segundo real estate market than he does today. Thanks to the infusion of key major employers and high-paying jobs in the area coupled with the community’s many unique amenities, El Segundo property values are up 50 percent over the past seven years to all-time highs—and Marak believes there is still room for additional growth. “The strongest factors causing El Segundo home values to increase are the arrival of over 2,000 Google and Yahoo employees into nearby Playa Vista, as well as the recent successes of SpaceX in Hawthorne bringing well-paid aerospace engineers and their families into our community,” he said. “The jobs make the real estate market healthy. These employees know El Segundo is an ideal place for raising children, with great schools, top-notch public safety services, and a wealth of family-oriented activities.” Marak also noted that El Segundo itself continues to grow and will be poised to attract businesses and corresponding employees for years to come—with more large-scale development and office complexes on the horizon east of Sepulveda, as well as the planned conversion of Smoky Hollow from an industrial sector to a haven for creative media companies. Despite the cyclical aspects of the economy and four significant slumps since 1987, Marak does not believe El Segundo will experience another severe downturn thanks to the aforementioned elements now firmly in place. “Interest rates will go up and this is inevitable—but our property values due to the nature of our family-friendly community should hold up over the long haul,” he said. The recession and cutback in defense-related jobs spurred a mass exodus in the real estate industry in the early ‘90s. Marak, who became manager of Re/Max Beach Cities El Segundo in 1989, had 23 agents on board at the time. That number is now down to eight. “The difficult economic times weeded out those agents who didn’t have the tenacity to work with the public and educate them as to the true market conditions,” he said, adding that he himself has managed to avoid a significant dry period even as the economy sagged. “I never once thought of leaving real estate sales. I believe I managed to thrive due to being completely honest with sellers and buyers as to what the marketplace should bear and then to structure listings to meet that reality.” Raised and schooled in Burbank, Marak eventually attended San Jose State University See Jim Marak, page 14 School Board Holds First Meeting of 2016 By Duane Plank The Tuesday night meeting of the El Segundo Unified School District School Board, the first one in 2016, featured four special presentations, including the recognition of High School senior Victoria Chu, who recently was feted with a runner-up award in a prestigious computing competition sponsored by the National Center for Women & Informational Technology. Chu, who started computer programming when she was eight-years-old, is the founder and president of the High School Cyber and Security Club and Computer Club. She was one of 350 National Award runner-up recipients that were selected from the nearly 3,200 applicants for the Aspirations in Computing competition, a contest open to students “who want to use computing to make the world a better place.” High School teacher and Robotics advisor Jennifer Cho, who encouraged Chu to enter the competition, was also recognized by the Board for her “significant contribution to Robotics, STEM, mathematics, and inspiring female students See School Board, page 12
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