The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 109, No. 32 - August 6, 2020
Inside
This Issue
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.......................9
Classifieds..........................10
Crossword/Sudoku...........10
Entertainment......................4
Legals.............................. 9,10
Neighborhood Therapist.....2
Obituaries.............................2
Police Reports.....................3
Real Estate.............6-8,11,12
Seniors..................................3
Weekend
Forecast
Local Gundo Girls Head to USA
All American Softball Games
To find a silver lining in youth sports in these current times with which we live is needed - breathe of fresh air. It is with excitement and pride that El Segundo will witness four of it’s own playing in
the upcoming USA All American 12u Games August 14-16th at the Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City (where the NCAA Softball World Series is held). The event will feature many of the top
female softball athletes in the 12u division from across the country. In addition to this 18 Team Tournament (where these four will help represent the two Pacific Coast Region teams), these four will
participate in a Camp, Opening Ceremonies and a Meet & Greet with members of Team USA. Each Gundo Girl is an alumni of El Segundo Girls Softball and have excelled respectively on their travel
teams. Marilynn McCaverty will resume her final season in 12u on a highly regarded Firecracker team. Taryn Walker has played “up” all season on a competitive first year 14u team in the Patriots
organization. Allie Stevenson and Sienna Mayer finished their 12u campaign playing for a highly touted SoCal Athletics team (ranked 15th nationally by Extra Inning Softball). A truly exciting honor for
these girls, who will represent El Segundo proudly wearing the USA uniform. Pictured L-R: Allie Stevenson and Sienna Mayer, Marilynn McCaverty, Taryn Walker. Photos courtesy TD Mayer.
See City Budget, page 9
Tyler Hatzikian Shreds in the Blue
Ocean, Pummels on the Dirt Track
By Duane Plank
El Segundo resident Tyler Hatzikian, the
founder of Tyler Surfboards, has been a
surfer and surfboard crafting entrepreneur for
more than thirty years. But it is another one
of his passions, sprint-car racing, that has
captured his competitive spirit later in life.
Hatzikian is hoping to re-connect with both
of his passions as soon as the COVID-19
lockdown/shutdown hopefully abates.
Hatzikian said that he developed an initial
interest in sprint cars while attending the
races at the long-shuttered (1990) iconic
Ascot Park racetrack near Gardena. “Even
before I had surfing heroes, I had racing
heroes at Ascot,” he said.
He remembers the roar and cacophony
of the sprint car engines, that, depending
on how the wind would be blowing, could
be heard throughout the South Bay each
weekend evening.
But without a local track available,
Hatzikian put his sprint car racing dreams
on hold, until they were rekindled when
his wife Katherine, as a tenth wedding anniversary
present, gave him a slot in Cory
Kruseman’s sprint car racing school at the
Ventura Raceway. Hatzikian said attending
the school and competing in subsequent
sprint car races was “a dream come true,”
re-igniting his competitive instincts.
Still, without a local track, Hatzikian
had to table his sprint car racing aspirations
again. Fast-forward about a decade,
and, as luck would have it, Hatzikian was
Friday
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El Segundo's City Budget
Decisions Tougher with COVID-19
By Rob McCarthy
back quarters. The second-quarter decline
Finance Director Joe Lillio was correct in
reached 32.9 percent. However, business and
May when he suggested a mid-year correction
consumer activity is expected to pick up
to El Segundo’s annual city budget. By
through the rest of 2020. Locally, economic
freezing hiring and slowing spending, officials
recovery started in June in El Segundo and
managed to bank almost $1 million more
continued into July, he said.
than expected even though revenues began
Lillio predicted in May the city’s collection
slipping because of business closures and
of taxes and fees would fall short by $9.6
the COVID-19 situation.
million in this budget cycle. He stood by
Lillio was back Wednesday before the City
that prediction on Wednesday. The city’s
Council with more recommendations for the
next fiscal year. If the finance director is
correct again, El Segundo could pull through
the 2020-21 budget cycle without layoffs or
using reserves to pay for services, salaries
and programs.
The council will be making hard choices in
the next six weeks, not fully knowing when
El Segundo’s economy and employers will
be running again at full strength. Business
closures, travel restrictions, and home-stay
orders for all but non-essential workers
cost the city nearly $10 million in expected
taxes and other revenue sources that dried
up starting in mid-March, Lillio said at the
budget study session.
The council will hold a public hearing in
September when a vote on the next budget
will be taken with spending priorities and
capital-improvements. The next budget cycle
starts on October 1 and ends June 30.
Before revealing his next budget proposal,
Lillio revealed the country sits in a recession
because economic activity dropped in backto
investment income will come in short, too.
Lillio and his boss, City Manager Scott
Mitnick, are hopeful that positive cases
of the novel coronavirus countywide will
decline, then level off through the rest of the
year. Barring another spike in people testing
positive for COVID-19, city officials expect
the economy could reopen by Christmas. El
Segundo had ten active coronavirus cases as of
See Tyler Hatzikian, page 4