EL SEGUNDO HERALD July 15, 2021 Page 11
Tucker Booth from front page
His stay in St. Louis was rewarding, Booth
said. He sharpened his musical chops, attended
school, and developed myriad entertainmentoriented
side-hustles, including polishing his
skills as an accomplished and contest-winning
rapper, but he realized that he needed to move
West to further his chosen career. On the way
to Los Angeles, Booth, who said he arrived
in California with a tad bit more than $20 in
his wallet, stopped off in Boulder, Colorado,
and played some street music for the locals.
Called “busking,” which is defined as the “activity
of playing music on the street or other
public places for voluntary donations.” Music
for money. Or as the band, Dire Straits sang
oh so many years ago, “Money for nothing,
chicks for free.”
His Boulder busking success added some
greenbacks to his wallet and lifted his spirits.
“The universe,” he said, “got me to California
and gave me the confidence to build my career.”
Alas, breaking into the ultra-competitive
music scene in the Los Angeles environs does
not happen overnight, at least not for most
performers. Booth said that he spent nights
couch surfing with acquaintances, sleeping on
a floor in Glendale, and calling it an evening
as he positioned himself in his car to end the
evening. But Booth did score a gig as a personal
assistant to actor Val Kilmer, who had vacated
his Bel Air residence for a month-or-so, and
Booth was asked to house-sit, probably not
having to sleep on the couch floor or in one
of Kilmer’s cars.
Booth had a family friend who lived in
Redondo Beach, so Booth said he moved
there, living down by the Pacific Ocean. He
was plying his musical trade, working local
Farmer’s Markets, including El Segundo’s
Thursday gathering on Main Street. “I was
grinding to make it,” he said, “working six days
a week, five hours a day” in search of tips from
passers-by who enjoyed his musical talents.
But busking can only take one so far in life.
Booth said he came to the sad conclusion that
he might have to get the dreaded “real job”
to pay the bills. As we all know, living in the
South Bay is not cheap. So, Booth found a job
in the hospitality industry, but while he was
still in the training stage with his employer,
he had an epiphany. “I was so miserable,” he
related. He went to his boss and thanked him
for the opportunity but said, “music is what
I need to do as my profession.” Not all that
supportive of Booth’s performing aspirations,
Booth said his dismissive boss said that what
Booth wanted to do was “not a profession, that
is a hobby.” Booth said a quick adios to his
short-term manager and set out to prove that
maybe his narrow-minded boss had misjudged
Booth’s talents.
Booth returned to busking and related activities.
But how could he make his artistic
endeavors pay his bills and more? He said
that he found a website, Thumbtack.com, that
“completely revolutionized my independent
music booking service.” Thumbtack’s website
claims that “When you need to hire someone – a
landscaper, a DJ, anyone – Thumbtack finds
them for free.”
It worked for Booth, and it was a gamechanger.
Soon he was fielding requests to
perform at children’s parties, singing, strumming
the guitar, DJ’ing. In 2017, he started
working with Erin Fagerlind, the founder and
owner of El Segundo business “happy baby.”
What started as a one-day-a-week appearance
blossomed into a four-day-a-week opportunity,
allowing Booth to network with “happy baby”
parents and offer his entertainment talents for
off-site birthday gatherings.
But like most endeavors, the devastating
COVID-19 pandemic put the kibosh on most
of Booth’s bookings starting in March of
2020. Booth said that his business dropped
off dramatically with people masked up and
cloistering at home with their families. His
wife, Charlotte, suggested that Booth take a
car ride to clear his mind. A long ride. Back
to his hometown of Portland. Booth heeded his
wife’s sage advice, and while motoring north
to Portland, began working on the book that
he had always wanted to pursue.
Booth developed a 500-page autobiography,
which is currently in the “edit” stage. And
he is also again utilizing his pen-and-paper
talents, co-authoring another book with former
NBC and Golf Channel anchor and reporter
Lisa Cornwell.
He has also cut 14 albums, including “Tot
Rock,” a compilation of Booth original compositions
and classic children’s favorite tunes
that he perfected while performing at “happy
baby.” He likens his style of working with his
young pupils as a mash-up of “Mr. Rogers
meets Bob Dylan.”
When he is not performing, Booth, who lives
in Redondo Beach with his wife and 11-year-old
son Max, likes to recreate by playing golf and
volunteering his time as a Little League coach.
Megan Close Zavala has seen the magic
that Booth weaves when he is entertaining and
educating local youngsters “Mr. Tucker (as we
know him) is obviously a talented musician,”
she said, “but his energy and sense of humor
always shine through when he is performing
with the kids in his classes. He treats them
more like little people, as opposed to babies,
and always makes sure everybody is having a
fun time. We were lucky enough to have him
play at our daughter’s 2nd birthday party, and
everyone loved it!”
Here is what “happy baby” owner Fagerlind
said about Booth’s talents: “Tucker’s passion
for music + love for sharing that with youth
is palpable. My son was just four months old
when he was introduced to Tucker’s music
classes — which we coined “Tot Rock with
Mr. Tucker” for his happy baby classes —
and he was instantly captivated,” she emailed.
“He has been drawn to the guitar + would
mirror Tucker’s performance since before he
could walk. Tucker has a gift for instilling
an early appreciation for music in young
children, while also keeping the attention
of adults, through his playful, interactive
classes that combine classic rock renditions
with popular children’s songs, too.”
El Segundo Child Care owner Stephany
Rassweiler said that Booth has performed
for her charges for 3 ½ years. She said that
Booth’s entertainment allows the children
to “dance and be themselves, and develop
skills like balance and spatial awareness
while socializing with the other kids.” Added
Rassweiler: “He has chemistry (with) the
kids to make them feel comfortable in his
presence. He adjusts to the kids; not the kids
adjusting to him.”
Tucker is grateful for the opportunities afforded
to him in the South Bay and our city
of El Segundo. “I never wanted to ‘work’ to
begin with,” he said. “And that is why it is
great that I am in the profession that I am.
We are always playing, playing music all
the time. The kids should (always) feel like
they are playing when they have a lesson.
The only person who should feel like they
are working is me because I get paid!”
Paid to create lifetime memories for his
young students every day. •
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PUBLIC NOTICES
NOTICE INVITING SEALED BIDS
FOR
Water Main Improvements ON GRAND
AVENUE
IN THE CITY OF EL SEGUNDO
PROJECT NO.: PW 21-05
The City of El Segundo is accepting sealed
bids in the City Clerk’s office, 350 Main
Street, El Segundo, California 90245, until
11:00 a.m. on:
TUESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2021
at which time they will be publicly opened.
Bids will not be accepted after that time.
As described in the Bidding Documents, the
bids are for a public works project (“Project”)
which consists of Water Main Improvements
and related work as shown on the plans on
file with the City’s Public Works Department.
Work on the Project must be performed in
strict conformity with Specifications No. PW
21-05 as adopted by the El Segundo City
Council on June 15, 2021 which is filed with
the Public Works Department. Contractors
bidding the project shall provide a minimum
of five government agency, preferably
municipal, references. The references
shall be for the contractors’ building similar
projects (in terms of scope, size, type,
magnitude and complexity), as the prime
contractor in the past five (5) years. Bidders
shall include references, etc. to demonstrate
qualification.
Copies of the Plans, Specifications, Contract
Documents and Engineer’s estimate are
available from the Engineering Division of
the Public Works Department, City of El
Segundo, 350 Main Street, El Segundo,
California, 90245. Plans and Specifications
are alternately available electronically via
https://www.elsegundo.org/government/
departments/public-works/request-publicworks
bid
A mandatory pre-bid meeting is scheduled
for Monday, August 2, 2021, at 9:30 AM at
the northwest corner of the Grand Avenue/
Pacific Coast Highway intersection in El
Segundo, CA 90245. Failure to attend
the mandatory meeting will disqualify a
company’s bid. All questions regarding the
project are due to https://www.elsegundo.
org/government/departments/public-works/
request-public-works-bid by Wednesday,
August 4, 2021, at 11:00 AM.
The terms and conditions for bidding on the
Project are described in the attached Bidding
Instructions.
This project requires payment of State
prevailing rates of wages for Los Angeles
County. The contractor must post copies
of the prevailing schedule at each job site.
Copies of these rates of wages are available
from the State of California Department of
Industrial Relations Prevailing Wage Unit,
Telephone No. (415) 703-4774. The website
for this agency is currently located at www.
dir.ca.gov.
Note that the Project is subject to compliance
monitoring and enforcement by California
Department of Industrial Relations. Pursuant
to California law, the City must find bids
failing to comply with all applicable Labor
Code requirements including, without
limitation, Labor Code §§ 1725.5 and 1771.4
to be nonresponsive.
The contractor to whom the contract is
awarded must assist in locating, qualifying,
hiring and increasing the skills of minority
group employees and applicants for
employment, as set forth in Executive Order
11246 and 11375.
Any contract entered into pursuant to this
notice will incorporate the provisions of the
State Labor Code. Compliance with the
prevailing rates of wages and apprenticeship
employment standards established by the
State Director of Industrial Relations will be
required.
Affirmative action to ensure against
discrimination in employment practices
on the basis of race, color, national origin,
ancestry, sex, or religion will also be required.
The City of El Segundo hereby affirmatively
ensures that minority business enterprises
will be afforded full opportunity to submit
bids in response to this notice and will not
be discriminated against on the basis of
race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, or
religion in any consideration leading to the
award of contract.
The Contractor’s duty to pay State
prevailing wages can be found under
Labor Code Section 1770 et. Seq. and
Labor Code Sections 1775 and 1777.7
outline the penalties for failure to pay
prevailing wages and employ apprentices
including forfeitures and debarment.
Five percent (5%) will be deducted from
each progress payment and retained by
the City. The remainder less the amount
of all previous payments will be paid to the
Contractor. Pursuant to Public Contracts
Code (“PCC”) § 22300, the Contractor may
substitute securities for retention monies
held by the City or request that the City
place such monies into an escrow account.
The Contractor is notified, pursuant to PCC
§ 22300, any such election will be at the
Contractor own expense and will include
costs incurred by the City to accommodate
the Contractor’s request.
In entering into a Public Works contract, or
a subcontract, to supply goods, services, or
materials pursuant to a public works contract,
the Contractor, or Sub-Contractor, offers
and agrees to assign to the awarding body all
rights, title and interest in, and to, all causes
of action it may have under Section 4 of the
Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. Section 15) or under
the Cartwright Act (Chapter 2 [commencing
with Section 16700] of Part 2 of Division 7
of the Business and Professions Code),
arising from purchases of goods, services,
or materials pursuant to the public works
contract or the subcontract. This assignment
shall be made and become effective at
the time the awarding body tenders final
payment to the Contractor, without further
acknowledgment by the parties.
Bids must be prepared on the approved
Proposal forms in conformance with the
Instructions to Bidders and submitted to
the City Clerk, 350 Main Street, City of
El Segundo, in a sealed envelope plainly
marked on the outside:
Water Main Improvements
ON GRAND AVENUE
“SEALED BIDS FOR PROJECT NO.: PW
21-05
IN THE CITY OF EL SEGUNDO
DO NOT OPEN WITH REGULAR MAIL”
The bid must be accompanied by a bid bond,
made payable to the City of El Segundo for
an amount no less than ten percent (10%)
of the amount bid for the base contract.
No bid will be accepted from a Contractor
who has not been licensed in accordance
with the provisions of the State Business
and Professions Code. For these projects,
those acceptable classes of license shall
be “A”. The successful Contractor and
his Sub-Contractors will be required to
possess the correct license for their project
classifications, and valid City Business
Licenses from the City of El Segundo.
The City of El Segundo reserves the right to
reject any or all bids, to waive any irregularity,
and to take all bids under advisement for a
period of ninety (90) calendar days.
Any contract entered into pursuant to this
notice shall become effective or enforceable
against the City of El Segundo only when
the formal written contract has been duly
executed by the appropriate officer(s) of the
City of El Segundo.
DATED this d ay of ,
2021 .
CITY OF EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA
Tracy Weaver, City Clerk
El Segundo Herald
Pub. 7/15, 7/22/21
H-27221
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING AND
NOTICE OF INTENT TO
ADOPT THE 2020 URBAN WATER
MANAGEMENT PLAN
DATE: Tuesday, August 17, 2021
TIME: 6:00 p.m.
PLACE: City Council Chambers
350 Main Street
El Segundo, California
TAKE NOTICE that the El Segundo CITY
COUNCIL will hold a public hearing at the
time and place indicated above, to consider
the following:
SUBJECT: 2020 URBAN WATER
MANAGEMENT PLAN ADOPTION
Please note that the Draft 2020 Urban Water
Management Plan Update document was
made available at the City’s public counter
on May 27, 2021 for public review and
comment. The City posted an advertisement
in the El Segundo Herald announcing the
availability of the plan to the public on May
27, 2021 and on June 3, 2021. The Draft
Plan is still available at the City’s public
counter.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PLAN:
California’s Urban Water Management
Planning Act requires the update of Urban
Water Management Plans (UWMP) every
five (5) years. The UWMP outlines how
the City will meet current and projected
water demands within its service area, with
emphasis on water conservation and the
continued use of imported and recycled
water to provide its customers a reliable,
high quality supply of water. The City of El
Segundo has prepared its 2020 Urban Water
Management Plan update and is hosting a
public hearing for its adoption.
All persons interested are invited to be
present at the public hearing and may give
testimony at the time and place indicated
above. Additional information regarding
this plan may be obtained from James Rice,
Associate Engineer with the Public Works
Department, at (310) 524-2316.
Note that if you challenge the above
described plan in court, you may be limited
to raising only those issues you or someone
else raised at the public hearing described
in this notice, or in written correspondence
delivered to the City at, or prior to, the public
hearing.
James Rice, Associate Engineer
Public Works Department
City of El Segundo
El Segundo Herald
7/15 and 7/22/21
H-27222