The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 109, No. 10 - March 5, 2020
Inside
This Issue
Best of the Best.............. 2-3
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.....................15
Classifieds..........................14
Crossword/Sudoku...........14
Legals............................ 12,13
Pets......................................16
Police Reports.....................4
Real Estate.......................7-9
School Spotlight..................6
Sports......................... 6,10,11
Weekend
Forecast
El Segundo B10U Premier
All Star Team takes Area 1D Title
It was a hard fought battle that used all of Regulation plus Over Time, but still ended in a 2-2 Tie. A Shootout was needed to determine the winner, and the El Segundo B10U All Star team prevailed over
Manhattan Beach 3-2. Photo provided by Anthony Gomez. •
City Manager Reveals His To-Do List
By Rob McCarthy
City Manager Scott Mitnick has been on
the job for eight months, long enough to
assemble a to-do list of improvements he’d
like to get done. He wants the sidewalks in
front of Main Street businesses kept cleaner.
He’d like city employees to feel appreciated
for their efforts. And, there’s the issue of his
office window - which is always slightly
cracked open.
El Segundo’s city manager keeps late
hours, sometimes working at his desk past 9
p.m. Keeping his office ventilated, especially
during the winter months, isn’t Mitnick’s
Developer Horton Secures New
preference, however. The windows of the
brick City Hall building are 65 years old and
Deal on Affordable Housing Units
some don’t shut anymore. The night chill
gets in easily, he says. So do bugs.
By Rob McCarthy
City Hall is due for a makeover this year
The developer at the former Imperial
when the old windows are replaced with
School site won’t have to sell six
energy-efficient ones. Money has been approved
new homes at below-market value and
instead will pay El Segundo $5.3 million
to satisfy the affordable-home deal it cut
in 2016. The City Council on Tuesday
accepted D.R. Horton’s offer to change
the terms of the development agreement.
It called for Horton to hold a lottery
for six townhouses at the Waypointe
property to qualifying buyers with low
household incomes. The completed townhouses
listed for sale by D.R. Horton’s
agent are priced at $889,000 - making
it difficult for young couples and
their families to buy their starter homes
in El Segundo.
City officials will use D.R. Horton’s
multi-million dollar payment to acquire
other properties in the city. El Segundo
will start searching for a local nonprofit
housing authority as a partner.
The housing authority would secure
the funding, maintain and manage the
rentals for the city. City Manager said
it’s an arrangement commonly used by
cities to meet their state-mandated quotas
for providing housing that meets all
income levels.
The new strategy is aimed at increasing
the affordable-housing inventory in
El Segundo for young professionals and
families. The cap on monthly rents allows
would-be home buyers to save for a down
for new front doors, which should
generate a better first impression with guests
and dignitaries who come through the building
for meetings with the city manager and
various department heads. He’s starting with
cosmetic improvements visible from the
outside. He’s also focusing on the inside.
Mitnick is trying to effect change among
the city employees. The city is a “people
business,” he says, and El Segundo’s staff
are the service providers. He’s determined
to build morale among the people who make
the greatest difference in how El Segundo is
perceived by residents and business owners.
Employee layoffs due to the 2007 recession
really sunk staff morale, which is still lagging.
Mitnick wants to change that.
“I have to work hard as an advocate for our
employees to get them on the same page,”
he said. The city staff are good employees;
they just need to hear it from their boss - and
that’s what Mitnick’s employee-engagement
sessions are all about. And he promises to
listen and fix what he can under the city’s
current budget constraints.
He’s meeting regularly with groups of city
employees to tell them what he’s thinking
and to get a ground-level perspective on the
day-to-day challenges to these service providers
at the front counters, at the parks, public
safety and public works positions.
Last Friday, he invited a group of 50
employees to hear him out, then he gave
them the floor.
“I am working to be fully transparent with
employees from all departments … to listen,
digest their concerns, convey to them the
positive direction the city is moving,” Mitnick
Friday See City Manager, page 15
Partly
Cloudy
67˚/56˚
Saturday
Mostly
Cloudy
63˚/55˚
Sunday
Partly
Cloudy
65˚/53˚
See City Council, page 12