The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Torrance, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Lawndale, & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 107, No. 25 - June 21, 2018
Inside
This Issue
Community Briefs...............3
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.....................13
Classifieds............................4
Crossword/Sudoku.............4
Film Review..........................6
Legals............................ 12,13
Letters...................................3
Obituaries.............................3
Real Estate.....................7-11
Sports........................... 5,6,12
Weekend
Forecast
ES High School Grads Air It Out
The El Segundo High School Class of 2018 celebrated the culmination of their time on the campus last week by tossing their caps into the air during their graduation ceremony. See inside this week’s edition
for more photos from the event. Photo by Gregg McMullin. •
City Council Seeks Amended
Metro Grant, Approves New Fees
By Brian Simon
The El Segundo City Council would like to
take advantage of a $659,000 grant offer from
Metropolitan Transit Authority to cover a hefty
chunk of the cost for a general plan update for
the areas east of Pacific Coast Highway, but it
hopes to do so without a proposed affordable
housing study included. On Tuesday, the group
(with Councilmember Don Brann dissenting)
directed staff to request a grant amendment to
remove the housing component from the mix
– which Councilmember Chris Pimentel noted
only comprises $5,000 of the total. Planning
and Building Safety Director Sam Lee said it
“might be a viable option” to convince Metro
that even without housing, the study can help
the agency meet its ridership objectives as
El Segundo can become an even larger
employment center than it is today.
Lee explained that the Council’s other
options were to accept the grant as written
with housing included, reject it altogether,
or look to update the general plan in a different
way with or without housing. Brann
preferred the last alternative and emphasized
he wanted to have a conversation about
housing east of PCH, though he hadn’t yet
decided on his stance on the matter. Councilmember
Scot Nicol was more adamant in
his position. “I don’t want to spend a dollar
of the City’s money to study housing east of
Sepulveda [PCH],” he said. The City last
updated its general plan in 1992. Though
a much-desired project, it comes with an
estimated overall price tag of $1.5 to $2
million. In addition to east of PCH, other
study areas include Smoky Hollow and west
side residential neighborhoods (which won’t
require many changes).
Also on Tuesday, the Council moved forward
with an amended fee schedule with the goal
of recovering the City’s total costs for various
services. Last year’s fee study (conducted by
consultant Revenue & Cost Specialists, LLC)
leading to the recommended charges was the
first in nearly a decade. The analysis considered
salaries and wages, employee fringe benefits,
maintenance and operation costs, general City
overhead, and departmental administration. The
end result was a lengthy list of recommended
fees. Some are new where in the past the City
completely subsidized the service. Others are
increases from previous amounts. In some cases,
mainly in commercial areas, fees dropped.
Overall, the City estimates about $600,000 in
increased annual revenue in 2018/19 – with
$360,000 going into the general fund and
$240,000 into the water fund. Some fees, such
as Animal Control and the first three police
false alarms in a calendar year, will continue
to be subsidized.
The Council plans to keep an eye on some
of the increases to determine if those may
have to be eventually adjusted. For instance,
the application fee for film permits will jump
from $640 to $1,225. Amplified sound permits,
formerly $135 per application, will now run
$255. Also, Library Director Melissa McCol-
See City Council, page 4
Jewelry Source Fundraiser for
ES Auxiliary Children’s Hospital
By Brian Simon
As she has done on many occasions in
past years, The Jewelry Source’s Brenda
Newman will host a fundraiser to benefit the
El Segundo Auxiliary Children’s Hospital
Los Angeles (CHLA). The event, entitled
“Reach for the Stars,” takes place at her
Main Street store this Saturday from 4 p.m.
to 7 p.m. with free admission that also
includes refreshments (with a “signature
cocktail” one of the offerings). During
the three-hour timeline, 20 percent of all
in-stock jewelry sales will be put aside for
donations to CHLA.
Newman continues to hold a fundraiser
for CHLA every other year as a way to give
back to an organization that is remarkably
now closing in on its 100th anniversary.
The El Segundo Auxiliary harkens back to
early Standard Oil days when one of the
then-fledgling refinery’s first employees,
Harriet Lawler, enlisted the help of a couple
of secretaries and two nurses to form the
volunteer group to support Childrens (then
spelled without an apostrophe) Hospital
Los Angeles. The very first effort was to
help provide care for an Italian girl from
Bakersfield suffering from an ailment known
as “double feet.” Long before The Jewelry
Source became a venue for events, the early
fundraisers took place on Standard Oil’s
tennis courts. And instead of donating the
proceeds from selling bracelets and rings,
See Children’s Hospital, page 12
Friday
Mostly
Sunny
72˚/63˚
Saturday
Sunny
72˚/64˚
Sunday
Partly
Cloudy
72˚/62˚