The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo Herald Publications - El Segundo, Torrance, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Lawndale, & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 106, No. 3 - January 19, 2017 Inside This Issue Centennial Salute...............2 Certified & Licensed Professionals.....................14 Classifieds............................4 Crossword/Sudoku.............4 Film Review..........................7 Legals..................................12 Obituaries.............................3 Police Briefs........................3 Real Estate.......... 8-11,15-16 Sports....................................5 Weekend Forecast The El Segundo Herald Wishes the City of El Segundo a Happy 100th Anniversary! Early 1960’s at the intersection of Main St. and Grand Ave. looking northbound. The ever-popular RB Drugs on the west side of the street brings back great memories for so many. And you can catch a little glimpse of Ira Escobar Ford on the NE corner of the intersection. The fire department and parking lot sit there today. Photo courtesy of Julie Peterson-Stolnack. Inset Photo: Carl Ernest Rueger became El Segundo’s first President of the Board of Trustees (i.e. Mayor of the City Council) upon his unanimous selection on January 22, 1917 – just days after the City’s incorporation. Photo Courtesy of the City of El Segundo. • Planning Commission Approves New Single-Family Home Standards By Liz Spear An amendment that changes how singlefamily homes can be remodeled or built was unanimously passed 5-0 by the El Segundo Planning Commission last Thursday night. The new amendment is now headed to the City Council for final approval. During last week’s meeting, one resident, Brian Crowley, a former Planning Commissioner in the 1990s, gave a history of the reasoning behind current single-family home building standards during the public hearing on the matter. Crowley asked that the light and shadow cast by the new buildings, the reductions in airflow, privacy issues and noise reflections be considered. He noted that where his home is, on the crest of a hill and already remodeled to his liking. “I’m not in a position where my neighbors can stick it to me,” he said. The amendment increases the maximum square footage a single-family home can be from 3,000 square feet to 3,500, and replaces the wall modulation method for determining how a second story can be built to using a Floor Aspect Ratio (FAR) method. During his passionate presentation against the proposed amendment, Crowley asserted that the new amendment could lower property values and cited “livability, usability and property value” as concerns the current code adequately addresses. “It appears to me that a lot of the tribal knowledge that led to the current See Planning Commission, page 4 Friday Rain/Wind 59˚/49˚ Saturday Mostly Sunny 60˚/52˚ Sunday Rain 56˚/52˚ City Council Continues to Fine-Tune Strategic Plan to Reach Five Goals By Brian Simon On the eve of the centennial celebration, the El Segundo City Council convened and received a progress update on the three-year strategic plan. Staff continues to tweak the document that will be up for final adoption next month. In Tuesday’s presentation to the Council, Finance Director Joseph Lillio focused on key performance indicators (KPI) for each of the City’s five major goals and went over a list of potential community survey questions designed to help develop metrics to measure resident, business and employee satisfaction going forward. The five goals are to enhance customer service and engagement; support community safety and preparedness; develop as a choice employer and workforce; develop quality infrastructure and technology; and champion economic development and fiscal sustainability. Just a few examples of KPIs include providing data on the average time to process a plan check or film permit; public safety response times; average time to fill a personnel vacancy at City Hall; number of online transactions by the various City customers; and business retention figures. Among the suggested community survey questions are asking how effective the local government is at solving problems; how quickly the City responds to requests from residents; and how well the City maintains roads, sidewalks, trees, parks/playgrounds, and public facilities. Other questions address the City’s openness and transparency, public safety responsiveness, El Segundo’s business friendliness, and level of satisfaction with the different City departments. Mayor Pro Tem Drew Boyles praised staff’s work on the document, but asked for monthly reports on most items rather than quarterly as well as a baseline for each metric to see how El Segundo stacks up compared to the rest of the region. He also hoped to engage businesses (perhaps during the license renewal window) and residents more directly to learn how they “think about us.” He proposed a specific question such as, “How likely are you to refer El Segundo as place to do business?”—to get more qualitative comments. Boyles also thought the City should hire an “expert” to help along the process. Councilmember Don Brann agreed, calling for a facilitator to be brought on—as well as implementing Net Promoter Score (NPS) as a metric that measures customer experience and predicts business growth. Also on Tuesday, Continental Development Corporation (CDC) President Richard Lundquist congratulated the City on the latter’s 100th anniversary and announced that his company would provide an annual $10,000 gift for every year of incorporation—thus totaling $1 million. The City will be able to use the money for See City Council, page 12
Herald_011917_FNL_lorez
To see the actual publication please follow the link above