EL SEGUNDO HERALD March 7, 2019 Page 9
teamSKULICK Your Real Estate Connection
John Skulick
310-350-4240
TeamSkulick@gmail.com
BRE #01064179
Rose VanHook
310-350-5920
BRE #02034572
Pol Schönhöfer
310-980-5530
DRE #02069695
Local Teen from page 2
experiencing someone in their family having
Walk With Sally provides hope through
the United States live with a parent who is
cancer, but they aren’t as fortunate to have the
individualized mentoring and community
battling or has survived cancer.
support we did and still do.”
support services to empower children
Dylan decided to raise money through
Although Dylan and his family live in
experiencing trauma through a parent, guardian
GoFundMe in order to provide Walk With
Redondo Beach, he and Bailee go to school
or sibling’s cancer journey. Statistics show that
Sally mentees with a pizza and video game
in El Segundo. Dylan is in eighth grade at El
59 percent of children who are mentored get
party at Round Table Pizza in Hermosa
Segundo Middle School (ESMS) and Bailee is
better grades. Students who meet regularly
Beach. “I thought all kids like pizza and video
a junior at El Segundo High School (ESHS).
with their mentors are 52 percent less likely
games, and that hopefully a fun day would
As part of the requirements to promote to
than their peers to skip a day of school and
help with some of the sadness I know they
ESHS, eighth graders at ESMS are required
37 percent less likely to skip a class. Youth
are experiencing,” Dylan said. He raised over
to do a community project. Dylan said, “I
who meet regularly with their mentors are
$500 through GoFundMe. Because Chevron
knew right away what I wanted to do for my
46 percent less likely than their peers to start
stepped up as a corporate sponsor for his
community project. I wanted to do something
using illegal drugs and 27 percent less likely
event, Dylan was able to donate all the money
to help kids who have a parent, guardian or
to start drinking. Nearly 18 million children in
he raised directly to Walk With Sally to help
sibling who has cancer. When I told my mom,
America need or want mentoring, but only three
fund a new mentorship. “I’m so thankful to
she suggested I work with the local nonprofit
million are in formal, high-quality mentoring
Chevron for helping with the party at Round
Walk with Sally.”
relationships. In all, 2.85 million children in
Table,” Dylan added. “I was so excited that I
was able to give a check to Walk With Sally
to help more kids. I realize how lucky my
sister and I were to have so much love and
support when Robert was sick. We both went
to school every day -- I even had a 4.0 GPA
all year. I always had food, people to talk to,
and felt so much love even though we were
watching our stepdad die from cancer. I know
most kids who have someone in their family
with cancer aren’t as lucky, so that’s why I
wanted to do something for them. The pizza
and video game party were so much fun! It
made me really happy to see the other kids
laughing, smiling and just being kids.”
To learn more about Walk With Sally, and how
you can help with this wonderful organization,
visit www.walkwithsally.org. •
BRE # 00946399
525 E Mariposa, El Segundo
2 bedrooms, 1 bath each plus studio. 2 car garage.
Nice Location. $1,500,000. Call for more details
Gino Skulick
916-835-3000
City Council from front page
inevitably grow by virtue of them using the
local aquatics center.
In making its decision, the Council asked
for staff expert opinions on allowing all four
groups access. Recreation Superintendent
Arecia Hester fully supported the four-team
concept, feeling it important for El Segundo
families to have options on which group to
choose. But Recreation Supervisor Aquatics
Jeannette Gant worried that having four will
make “the pie smaller” for each group and
not allow them the chance to expand. Even
so, she said staff can figure out an allocation
for all four provided some of the groups also
utilize The Plunge as part of the package.
Assuming four groups come in, Recreation
and Parks Commission Vice Chair Lee Davis
urged the Council to “figure out as fast as possible”
who is succeeding. “Analyze who’s in
there and be done with it,” he said, emphasizing
that the City only has five years to evaluate
the growth of the program or run the risk of
losing the facility. Davis spoke of the need
to get the very best swimmers in the pool to
build El Segundo’s program back to the top.
Also on Tuesday, Mayor Drew Boyles got
his colleagues’ support to change the starting
time of regular public Council meetings from
the longstanding 7 p.m. down to 6 p.m. His
initial agenda item mentioned the idea of a
5 p.m. kick-off, but he and the rest of the
Council quickly agreed that would preclude
many in town from arriving at the meeting
in time for public communications. With the
spate of packed agendas and meetings running
past 11 p.m. in recent months -- and given that
the Council also holds closed sessions before
the public gatherings --Boyles hopes an earlier
start will improve efficiency and make things
“quicker.” Brann, whose doctorate dissertation
in the early 1980s centered on the impacts of
meeting lengths, agreed with a move to 6 p.m.
“We want to make our decisions when we’re
at our freshest,” he said. He also suggested
dividing types of items into different agendas
and monitoring the number of transactions
placed on each agenda. Another suggestion
for down the line was to move public communications
a bit later in case people are
not able to arrive at the meeting in the first
half-hour. The Council directed staff to draft
an ordinance to make the change to 6 p.m.
and also to begin closed sessions at 4 p.m.
(those currently start at 5 p.m.)
City Treasurer Crista Binder and Deputy
Treasurer II Dino Marsocci provided their
investment report for the quarter ending
December 2018. After introducing new team
member Deputy Treasurer I LaTonya Fair,
Binder went over the key numbers for the
period that included a total effective yield
of 2.24 percent for a portfolio with a market
value of $71 million. The City remains in
compliance with its investment policy, she
said. Also of note, the treasury yield curve
is inverted with short-term one-year yields
higher by .12 percent than the five-year yield
(which has dropped .43 percent since last
quarter – a possible indicator of an economic
slowdown). Unemployment rose slightly during
the last quarter with inflation dipping. But
Binder pointed out that with unemployment
still low overall and inflation kept in check,
the economy is still in good shape. Marsocci
noted that he attended an investment seminar
and that less than half of the experts predict
a recession in 2020.
Other investment highlights: During the quarter,
the City purchased one CD for $245,000
and four investments matured totaling $3.2
million. Since December, it purchased three
additional CDS for $735,000 and had $1.45
million in investments mature or be called.
Also during this time, the City moved $14.5
million in funds to CAMP -- a new investment
pool with a current yield of 2.6 percent that
has added more interest income.
During presentations, a proclamation honored
the El Segundo High School (ESHS) boys
soccer team (see this week’s Sports column
for more details and photos) for winning both
the CIF Division 3 championship as well as
the regional title during a remarkable 25-1-1
season that saw the squad ranked fourth in
the nation. It marked the first consecutiveyear
titles in any sport for ESHS since the
1965/66 baseball teams. Players and coaches
from the Eagles’ victorious squad were onhand
to receive the honor and take a massive
group photo. The team also gave each of the
Council signed soccer balls to commemorate
the occasion.
Another proclamation designated March
7 as National Arbor Day and also noted the
Tree Musketeers: The Next Generation tree
care event set for the morning of Saturday,
April 13.
The next El Segundo City Council meeting
will be Tuesday, March 19 at 7 p.m. (the
change to 6 p.m. will not occur until after the
members pass the new ordinance that staff
will bring forth). •