The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 110, No. 30 - July 29, 2021
Inside
This Issue
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.....................15
City News.............................4
Classifieds............................6
Crossword/Sudoku.............6
Entertainment......................5
Legals............................ 12,13
Pets......................................16
Police Reports.....................4
Real Estate.....................7-10
Sports.............................. 5,11
Weekend
Forecast
El Segundo Babe Ruth All-Stars
Teams Have Success on the Road
The three El Segundo Babe Ruth League All-Stars teams posed as one team before leaving for their respective Pacific Southwest Regional tournaments that started Monday. The 13s are seated in front row
with the 14s on one knee and the 15s standing behind them. For story, see Sports on page 5.
Eric Chan Plans a Vibrant
Future for the City of El Segundo
By Kiersten Vannest
“I can see it in a decade, maybe call it
the 2028 Olympics, where people would
actually want to stay here in El Segundo,
and live here in El Segundo, and eat here
in El Segundo. And El Segundo becomes a
brand name when people think about LA
places to visit.”
In local city government, some cities choose
to have an economic committee consisting
of local business people to advise the mayor,
city manager, and city council on economic
policies and decisions. For the past twenty
years or so, El Segundo has had such a
council of sorts operating under the purview
of the local government.
Recently, under the leadership of Clippers
CFO Eric Chan, a new, independent and
unbiased entity has been formed separately
from the local government to help push
forward economic development for the
city. It is called the El Segundo Economic
Development Corporation (ESEDC), and it
is comprised of high-level executives from
some of the biggest companies that call El
Segundo home.
“These economic matters span the gamut,”
says Chan, describing what sort of issues
the corporation may discuss. The topics
range from connecting current businesses
to attracting bigger businesses to base their
headquarters here to working with the city
government to help push city campaigns,
ideas, and improvements.
Chan himself was approached by El Segundo
Mayor Drew Boyles and City Manager Scott
Mitnick about two years ago. They told Chan
that ‘the time is now that this city needs a
true, unbiased, third-party nonprofit institution
focused on getting the largest businesses
involved and their voices heard.’ In order
to have macro conversations about where
the city is going and how it needs to pivot,
the group would have to be separate from
local politics, allowing the conversation to
flow without the stoppages of bureaucracy.
Chan got right to work and began connecting
with other executives from companies like
Beyond Meat, Boeing, Mattel, Chevron, and
the LA Times.
“I felt like this was an opportunity where
if we could get the CEOs of all the largest
corporations here in El Segundo speaking as
one voice… imagine the power that we would
have to really move the needle within the
See Eric Chan, page 4 Eric Chan
Police Chief’s Retirement
Leaves Big Shoes to Fill
By Rob McCarthy
Police Chief Bill Whalen’s announcement
in May he was retiring came
unexpectedly. Yet, the chief who led
El Segundo’s police force since 2017
had an inkling back in October that
his law-enforcement career would soon
be ending.
He was 52 and in his professional
prime, which made the chief’s decision
about his future so hard for his boss, City
Manager Scott Mitnick, to accept. In their
three years working together, the chief and
city manager had clicked. Chief Whalen
changed the culture of the El Segundo
Police Department and gained respect at
City Hall for doing it.
“Bill’s made good changes,” Mitnick
said last month. “He’s built a great culture
here.”
Though he’s leaving too soon, Chief
Whalen will be remembered for his
professionalism and willingness to have
uncomfortable conversations about racism,
social justice, and how their white
neighbors perceive people of color. One
change that Whalen enacted while the
chief was to instruct dispatchers not to
send officers to calls about someone “black
in El Segundo.” He also had pro-police
bumper stickers removed from the patrol
cars because he believed they sent the
wrong message.
See Chief Whalen, page 11
Friday
Partly
Cloudy
73˚/65˚
Saturday
Partly
Cloudy
74˚/64˚
Sunday
Sunny
75˚/63˚