The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 108, No. 21 - May 23, 2019
Inside
This Issue
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.....................11
Classifieds............................4
Crossword/Sudoku.............4
Entertainment......................6
Legals............................ 12,13
Pets......................................14
Police Reports.....................3
Real Estate.....................7-11
School Spotlight..................5
Sports.............................. 5,15
Weekend
Forecast
Ed! Gala a Resounding Success
The recent El Segundo Education Foundation Gala fundraiser was once again a major success, as many came out to Chevron Park to support local schools.Photo: ESUSD
In New Early Start Time, Council
Hears About Communication Plan
By Brian Simon
Tuesday’s El Segundo City Council meeting
marked the debut of the earlier 6 p.m.
start time and it was a relatively abbreviated
session due to the deferral of three scheduled
agenda items. A public hearing on the
proposal to build eight moderate-income
households (rather than six low-, very low-
and extremely low-income units) at the DR
Horton complex on Imperial Avenue will
move to June 18. The Council will receive
a summary of the Comprehensive Annual
Financial Report for the previous fiscal year
on June 4. The third item pulled, Mayor
Drew Boyles’ request for his colleagues to
support a letter of opposition to Senate Bill
50 (that would have allowed developers to
override local plans and avoid local zoning
requirements for various building standards),
is on hold because it appears the legislation
will not go through.
Tuesday’s main presentation came from
Deputy City Manager Barbara Voss and
contract employee Kristen Bergevin (who
provides support on website development and
communications) on El Segundo’s Communication
Plan. Many months in the making, the
expansive plan addresses each of the City’s
five main strategic goals and in particular the
objective to “develop an effective strategy for
improving communications with the public.”
While the effort prioritizes disseminating general
and emergency information to residents,
businesses and the community at large via
website, social and other media, it also aims
to bolster communication within the City
departments themselves. A communications
audit revealed department desires to have
standard guidelines, receive social media
and website writing training, and be able to
share their stories and successes with other
employees as well as the public. Voss spoke
of the departments’ wishes to “get the word
out about what they’re doing,” maintain their
branding, and also develop an Intranet to
enhance communications within City Hall.
General program goals look to build
understanding and trust of the City’s operations,
develop a unified and consistent brand
identity, improve internal communications,
support emergency communications, partner
with media outlets, and gather feedback.
The Communication Plan includes 10 key
initiatives: 1. Building stakeholder relationships
2. Proactive, timely and consistent
outreach to the community 3. New City
website development 4. Emergency and crisis
communication planning 5. Establishing
an integrated brand image for the City 6.
Strengthening media relations 7. Enhancing
social media 8. Evolving El Segundo TV
(which is about to move out of Recreation
and Parks and into the City Manager’s office
under Voss’ communications umbrella)
9. Improving internal City communications
10. Supporting City Manager, Mayor and
City Council priorities.
Voss and staff will employ different tools
and metrics to measure the success of the
program, with initial baseline metrics and
service level standards considered. The
Council will discuss the initiatives during the
upcoming summer strategic planning sessions
to look at staffing and resource requirements
for implementation as well as determine
available budget dollars to move forward.
In the meantime, the Council unanimously
approved the Communication Plan.
As part of the ongoing goal to be prepared
in the event of a disaster, the Council approved
the purchase (and chosen vendor)
of emergency supplies for City facilities
and disaster go-kits for service workers.
The Council had previously budgeted the
monies for these items. While focused on
a catastrophic earthquake scenario, the supplies
in question could be applicable with
other hazards as well. Kits include food and
water, first aid items, lighting and electrical
supplies, sanitation and comfort supplies,
and search and rescue supplies. Emergency
Management Coordinator Randy Collins
noted that these are the “same supplies folks
at home should have.” The supplies/kits will
be stored in work areas for personnel to have
immediate access.
The distribution breakdown includes
100-person kits to the Police Station and
Park Vista; 50-person kits to Fire Station 1
and 2, Library, Public Works Maintenance
Facility, and Recreation and Parks Facility;
and 25-person kits to the Water Plant, The
Lakes golf course, Joslyn Center, Campus El
Segundo and Aquatics Center. Five-person
kits will go out to other City departments and
buildings (e.g. The Plunge and other pools,
Teen Center) as well as public safety mobile
command and communications vehicles. Kits
will additionally go out to all full-time City
employees. Some items included: flashlight,
helmet, USB charger, first aid kit, handheld
radio, work gloves and jacket.
In a request approved by the rest of the
Council, Boyles asked staff to develop ideas
for programs to honor and celebrate El
Segundo’s military veterans beyond already
See City Council, page 12
Friday
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Saturday
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Sunday
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