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. 27 - July 5, 2018
Inside
This Issue
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.....................11
Classifieds............................4
Community Briefs...............2
Crossword/Sudoku.............4
Entertainment......................9
Legals..................................10
Pets......................................11
Police Reports.....................3
Real Estate.......................5-7
Sports....................................8
Weekend
Forecast
ES Firefighter Goes on Amazing
Run to Honor Fallen Hotshots
Over the course of just over a week, El Segundo Firefighter Jose Firemamjoe Zambrano ran an astounding 380 miles (the equivalent of nearly 15 marathons!) in full turnout gear despite the blazing
summer heat all the way from the LA County Fire Museum in Bellflower, Calif, to the Granite Mountain Hotshot Memorial in Yarnell, Ariz. Zambrano did this to honor the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots
who lost their lives protecting the community of Yarnell five years ago. In the process, he also raised funds to support @explorersforlife in honor of Granite Mountain Hotshot Firefighter Kevin Woyjeck
from Southern California. The photo shows Zambrano (in both baseball and fire gear) at a recent LA Angels game where he caught the first pitch thrown out by the sole survivor of the Yarnell Hill fire,
Brendan McDonough (wearing the Angel cap). Photo by Fire Engineer Levi Larkin.
City Council Approves Police
Recruitment Incentive Campaign
By Brian Simon
With the July 3 meeting canceled due to
its close proximity to a major holiday, the
El Segundo City Council (minus the absent
Don Brann) held a special morning session
last week to tackle a few timely matters before
Fire Marshal Carver Still Inspires
Long After Near-Death Experience
By Brian Simon
During the interview with longtime
City of El Segundo Fire Marshal James
Carver, he said something that you just
don’t hear very often during the average
day: “You know, I have a fire hydrant
named after me,” he beamed. Well, it
seems that Chevron (one of many notable
local companies that deal with him on
a regular basis) made a special hydrant
for its underground loop and they call it
“The Carver.” He also has a replica of it
on his desk that is much heavier than it
looks. “Go on, try to lift it,” he said. It
wasn’t easy…
Carver feels he is fortunate to walk
into his office every day and see that
hydrant because if not for some quick
thinking and prompt response back in
2010, he would not be with us today. In
December of that year while working in
his garage and feeling unusually tired
over the previous couple of days, he fell
and started gasping for breath. His son
Brian, who learned CPR as a middle
schooler and worked for an ambulance
company in Orange County, turned him
over and called 9-1-1. The elder Carver
then stopped breathing and Brian promptly
began to administer CPR. That bought just
enough time for paramedics to arrive a
few minutes later and conduct four defibrillations
to revive a man who had for
the group next reconvenes on the 17th.
The main impetus for the gathering was to
expedite final approval of code amendments
in the local Corporate Office (CO) Zone
to allow dry cleaning services in that part
of town and pave the way for a particular
applicant for that business category to open
his store sooner than later (late June instead
of the last half of July). The code changes
also will permit parcel shipping, printing and
business centers such as Fed-Ex, Kinko’s and
UPS Store, as well as self-service delivery
(i.e. Amazon locker) in the CO Zone.
Otherwise, the Council also adopted a
resolution establishing financial incentives to
recruit police officers to the city and to procure
a marketing firm to help put the word out
to prospective employees. Police Chief Bill
Whalen spoke of a staffing shortage that is
now at eight below funded levels (54 sworn
instead of 62), with concerns that personnel
numbers will continue to drop over the next
two years with several possible retirements
not to mention the normal attrition and injury
leaves.
Whalen lauded a recently approved cadet
program as a way of building a “farm league”
similar to an ROTC to bring in potential officers
at a young age with an education bonus
available as a way to keep them here after
the two-year mark. At that point, the goal is
to have the cadets commit to the department
and then gain exposure to various elements
of the job (e.g. geographic orientation and
report writing) so that they are already ahead
of the curve by the time they graduate from
academy -- and can then focus on more advanced
components of their training.
While recruiting entry level officers is
a major element of the campaign, Whalen
explained that outreach to lateral officers
will be vital to rebuild the department in the
short term. Lateral officers are those currently
employed within another California law
enforcement agency and who possess a CA
POST BASIC certificate. Successful lateral
candidates will now receive a $25,000 bonus
if hired by El Segundo Police Department
(ESPD). The previous incentive for laterals
was only $3,000.
See City Council, page 10
See Fire Marshall Carver, page 8
Friday
Sunny
89˚/76˚
Saturday
Partly
Cloudy
91˚/72˚
Sunday
Sunny
81˚/69˚