The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 108, No. 12 - March 21, 2019
Inside
This Issue
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.....................15
Classifieds..........................12
Coloring Contest...............14
School Spotlight.............. 4-5
Crossword/Sudoku...........12
Entertainment......................6
Food.......................................3
Legals............................ 11,13
Real Estate................7-10,16
Sports.............................. 4,13
Weekend
Forecast
A Big Ed! Check from Skechers
Ed! and El Segundo Unified School District (ESUSD) would like to thank SKECHERS for the $116,263 check. These funds will go toward funding the phyiscal education program at Center and Richmond
Street schools. “Michael Greenberg has been a supporter of education for many years, and we at Ed! on behalf of the students of ESUSD are so grateful for his generosity,” said Carol Pirsztuk. Photo
submitted by Carol Pirsztuk.
Friday
Mostly
Cloudy
62˚/54˚
Saturday
Mostly
Sunny
64˚/52˚
Sunday
Sunny
67˚/53˚
City Council Open to Scooter Pilot
Program if Other Cities Also Join
By Brian Simon
Will electric scooters return to El Segundo
in the near future? Well, maybe. On Tuesday
night, the El Segundo City Council indicated
it was open to the idea of exploring a regional
pilot program with neighboring communities.
The councils from Manhattan Beach,
Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach will
address the matter in the coming weeks and
decide whether or not to join. El Segundo
will then proceed from there.
The program, in coordination with the South
Bay Cities Council of Governments (South
Bay COG) would establish guidelines for
shared mobility options – bikes and scooters
– to address issues about deployment
sites, parking, fleet size and mix, enforcement,
education, safe operations, insurance
and more. Last summer, the companies Bird
and Lime unexpectedly dropped off dozens
of scooters in the Downtown El Segundo
area virtually overnight and prompted a
great deal of discussion and controversy. A
proposed pilot program did not materialize
after the City of El Segundo and the above
firms hit an impasse on liability insurance.
That and other concerns prompted the City
Council to go back to the drawing board and
ban the vehicles from the community until
further notice.
Tuesday’s 4-0 vote (Mayor Drew Boyles
recused himself due to a business conflict)
came with the caveat that if the other cities
don’t opt in by the third week of April, then
El Segundo will revisit whether it wishes to
move forward. Mayor Pro Tem Carol Pirsztuk
emphasized that the decision was “exploratory”
and does not bind the City in any way.
Also on Tuesday, the Council agreed to
establish a partnership between the City and
the Los Angeles Times for a major event
debuting this fall. The L.A. Street Festival
on Sept. 21 and 22 will feature a world-class
3X3 basketball tournament (a precursor to
that sport’s inclusion in the Tokyo Olympics
the following year); e-sports/gaming competitions;
and music, arts, food and cultural
activities. The bulk of the event will take
place on Times’ property (Imperial Highway
and Douglas Street).
The presentation summarized estimated
economic impact of the event, with projections
of 5,000 attendees per day and $2 million
minimum spent. Benefits mentioned for the
City of El Segundo include direct revenue of
$24,000 (hotel stays) as well as promotion of
the community in print ads, email campaigns,
sponsorship recognition and logo presences.
The City will also receive 200 square feet
on-site during the event.
In return, the Times asked the City to
provide a partial road closure on Douglas,
waivers on special event permits, and police/
fire/ambulance support for emergency services,
traffic control and event operations – with the
City’s costs not to exceed $50,000. Mayor
Pro Tem Carol Pirsztuk asked to ensure local
residents are made aware of the benefits to El
Segundo so there is no negative feedback on
waiving fees for the festival when other local
events don’t get the same consideration. She
mentioned the case of the Run For Education
group paying a $15,000 fee for its annual
festivities. Pirsztuk otherwise joined her
colleagues in the 5-0 vote to enter into talks
with the Times to establish the partnership.
The Council heard a presentation on the
new El Segundo Police Department marketing
plan set to unveil on April 1. The recruitment
campaign, developed by the agency
Ignited, LLC, targets lateral police officers
from other departments in hopes of building
sworn personnel back up to allotted numbers.
El Segundo’s $25,000 signing bonus for
lateral officers is the highest in the region.
The plan includes print ads, online banners
and billboards. The presentation also featured
a short video of a ride-along with an ESPD
officer and Los Angeles Kings President
Luc Robitaille.
Sgt. Tony de la Rabelje provided an update
on this past December’s full street closures
during Candy Cane Lane affecting the 1100
and 1200 blocks of East Acacia Avenue,
implemented to mitigate traffic safety concerns
voiced by residents about the increasingly
popular annual event. Over the 17 days,
deployment of officers resulted in 446 hours
worked for a fully burdened cost of $41,515
(plus another $3,776 for barricades, message
boards and road closure signs). The report
also covered the nightly average for vehicles
entering/exiting the closed areas, total parking
citations issued (22), calls for police service
(17) and number of accidents (one minor
incident). Many of the complaints were about
trash dumping, de la Rabelje noted.
The periodic update on the number of
accessory dwelling unit plan checks and
permits issued since the Council adopted
an ordinance on the structures in July 2017
revealed that such activity has slowed down.
Since October 2018, the City received only
See City Council, page 12