The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo Herald Publications - El Segundo, Torrance, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Lawndale, & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 104, No. 28 - July 9, 2015 Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals.....................14 Classifieds............................4 Crossword/Sudoku.............4 Film Review..........................3 Legals............................ 13,14 Letters...................................3 Pets......................................15 Police Reports.....................3 Real Estate.....................9-12 Sports....................................5 Weekend Forecast El Segundo Celebrates a Happy Hometown Independence Day Ryan is ready to munch on a watermelon at the Parks and Rec Fourth of July festivities. Photo by Marcy Dugan, marcyduganphoto.com. For more photos, see page 2. City Council Recap: Going Public With Union Talks? By Brian Simon By the time this edition hits the street, citizens may be able to get the true skinny on the ongoing labor negotiations between the City of El Segundo and the various labor groups. During Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, Mayor Suzanne Fuentes announced that the City would post data on its website the following day outlining the results of a salary survey comparison with 11 other municipalities, employee W-2s from 2012 and 2013, current consumer price index information and the CalPERS rate history. She added that with the permission of each union (needed in writing since negotiations take place in closed sessions), the City was also willing to list the offers it made to each association along with counteroffers received. On Tuesday, several citizens expressed concerns about the potential adverse impacts of pay cuts to public safety employees in particular—especially in light of increased local crime. A couple of the speakers held “Stop the Cuts” signs in response to a mailer sent out to residents last week by the El Segundo Coalition of Labor Associations. The union groups asked for a show of support at the July 7 meeting to protest the Council’s alleged demand of “excessive concessions without the financial need” and perceived “mistreatment” of City employees that they contended “has created a broken and stressful work environment causing many to leave for better working conditions and job stability.” While remarking that she was grateful for people’s attendance at the meeting, the Mayor noted that there is “a lot of information going on out there” through various outlets. “We hope that we can receive that [labor group permissions] and post that for everybody to see the conversation that’s being going back and forth between the Council and the associations,” Fuentes said. Councilmember Mike Dugan added, “We’re gonna put the information on the website so you can all be educated, so you can see what’s going on, and have the facts.” Also on Tuesday, the Council continued to fine-tune the due diligence and lease agreement between the City and CenterCal regarding the future TopGolf operations on the driving range portion of The Lakes golf course. City Attorney Mark Hensley said the two sides had resolved most issues, but several points of concern to Council members came up that will prompt further discussion over the next two weeks. Dugan asked for more binding language in the agreement to lock in junior camp and teaching programs as well as address such items as team practice availability, putting green placement, lighting impacts on parking, and redesign of the golf course itself. He also wanted the ability to revisit the lease amount after 20 years to protect the City in case the annual increases fall behind the value of the dollar. Looking at a provision that would allow the public to use the driving range for early warm-up between 6 and 9 a.m., Councilmember Marie Fellhauer contended that only El Segundo residents should reap the benefits of lower pricing during these hours (based on what customers would normally pay at other area ranges), while non-residents should pay regular TopGolf rates. Her reasoning was to both protect local residents and not overregulate a private business trying to make a profit. Dugan suggested extending the hours until noon, though Hensley thought TopGolf might object. City staff will take up the above items with CenterCal and report the results in two weeks. In the meantime, the Council opted to hold off on a decision whether to rescind a previous commitment dating back to November 2013 to not hold further closed sessions on the TopGolf negotiations. A new ordinance introduced Tuesday and scheduled for final adoption in two weeks will impose stricter water conservation requirements so El Segundo can comply with the latest State of California mandates. The Council adopted a resolution declaring a “Level 2 Drought Response” as part of the City’s target to reduce water consumption by See City Council, page 13 Friday AM Clouds/ PM Sun 69˚/61˚ Saturday AM Clouds/ PM Sun 72˚/62˚ Sunday Partly Cloudy 75˚/64˚
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