The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 108, No. 24 - June 13, 2019
Inside
This Issue
Calendar of Events.............4
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.....................14
Classifieds............................4
Crossword/Sudoku.............4
Entertainment......................6
Legals............................ 12,13
Obituaries.............................2
Father’s Day Photos..... 2,16
Real Estate................7-11,15
Sports.............................. 5,14
Weekend
Forecast
Builder’s Club Says Thank You
Last week, the El Segundo Middle School Builder’s Club presented goodie bags filled with candy and a handwritten thank you note for every member of the El Segundo Police and Fire departments. This
is the Builder’s Club’s third year presenting these notes to thank both departments for protecting and serving our community. Photo Provided by Matthew Gallon
City Council Identifies Priorities
During Strategic Planning Session
By Brian Simon
A study to potentially repurpose City Hall
was among nine top priority items an El
Segundo City Council majority identified
during Tuesday’s strategic planning meeting.
Held at the Joslyn Center and facilitated once
again by consultant Jan Perkins, the session
also included department head summaries of
achievements and key performance indicators
as well as budget and economic projections
from Finance Director Joe Lillio.
For the session, Perkins compiled a list of
17 priority items culled from interviews with
the individual Council members. Of those, six
were existing priorities and nine were already
underway. Mayor Drew Boyles added three new
suggestions on the spot, including the concept
of reimagining the City Hall property. Noting
that the buildings sit on “prime real estate,” he
wondered if the current use is really right for
the space. Boyles envisioned a possible two- to
three-story mixed-use development at the site
that could become a major downtown attraction.
When asked by Perkins to place dots on
a board next to the items they personally wish
to prioritize, three of the other four Council
members did so for the City Hall idea. Staff will
look into a study on the matter in the future.
Boyles also received support (four dots total
for each) on designating El Segundo as an
“age-friendly city” and developing a unique
value proposition for attracting new businesses
to town. For the latter, he expressed concern
that the current favorable business license tax
“might not be enough to recruit people to
move here” and that the City ought to play
up its special amenities so that companies
choose to come here for reasons other than
location/logistics.
A fourth new item, an executive team request
to consider a development impact fee, received
no votes from the Council. City Manager Greg
Carpenter, whose last day before retirement is
June 29, implored the group to consider such
a fee if any multi-unit residential complexes
get built on the west side of Pacific Coast
Highway (PCH). Earlier in the meeting, Carpenter
reflected on a list of nine focus areas he
identified just two weeks after he started the
job in March 2012. He explained that many
of the points are still relevant today because
the work is an “ongoing effort” as the City
and the people in it continue to change. He
added that he takes “special pride” in two of
the areas – succession planning and filling key
vacancies. Over the course of his seven-plus
years at the helm, Carpenter had to replace
every department head.
Speaking of the city manager position,
Boyles confirmed that the chosen candidate
to replace Carpenter could be ready to go
in about a month. Though not at liberty to
divulge the person’s name (other than that it
is a man who was not present at Tuesday’s
meeting), the mayor emphasized that the selection
process was exhaustive and included
multiple interviews, visits to different cities,
many phone calls and extensive due diligence.
Boyles added that he and his colleagues are
completely on board with the hire, voting an
“absolutely unanimous” 5-0. “We have fully
studied the issue to the fullest extent and have
no concerns,” he said about the individual.
Getting back to the priority items, the Council
also earmarked its desire to continue to advocate
for El Segundo’s interests regarding LAX
expansion (three dots); consider guidelines for
use of potential revenue from the golf course
lease (four dots); determine the future of the
Teen Center (four dots); identify further infrastructure
and downtown improvements for Main
Street (three dots); attract senior living facilities
to El Segundo (three dots); and identify areas
within the community that are appropriate for
housing (three dots).
Two items on the initial list failed to get
majority support: A move to increase the City’s
emphasis on environmental stewardship; and
a proposed study showing the advantages and
disadvantages of housing east of PCH. For the
moment, staff has no direction to pursue those
further as part of the Council’s policy agenda.
Almost all of the remaining items received
one or no dots, but are already part of the work
plan and officially in progress. Those include
continuing to pay down unfunded pension liability;
fostering relationships with businesses;
enhancing communications externally with
the community and within the organization;
filling police positions; determining how to
make the aquatics facility more financially
independent; prioritizing capital improvement
and facilities project and identifying funding;
considering a fee (1 percent of commercial
project valuation) on development for art in
public places; and completing implementation
of the new building and planning permitting
system. One other item – determining the right
reserve level so excess reserves can be used
for services – was an existing Council priority,
though not officially underway.
On the topic of reserves, Lillio recommended
that the Council maintain the current level of 19
percent for the next fiscal year. He also revealed
the City’s five-year financial forecast with some
less-than-desirable news. Though projections
call for a balanced budget in 2019/20 with
$3.4 million available in unallocated reserves
thanks to staff vacancies, structural deficits will
soon follow – starting with an estimated $1.8
million in the red in 2020/21 and growing to
$2.7 million behind in 2023/24. Lillio also
pointed out that a recession is “inevitable” after
an especially lengthy period of growth, though
when that will begin is unknown.
See City Council, page 6
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