The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo Herald Publications - El Segundo, Torrance, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Lawndale, & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 106, No. 31 - August 3, 2017 Inside This Issue Calendar of Events.............3 Certified & Licensed Professionals.....................14 Classifieds............................4 Community Briefs...............3 Crossword............................4 Entertainment......................6 Legals............................ 12,13 Pets......................................15 Politically Speaking.............7 Real Estate................8-11,16 Sports.............................. 5,14 Weekend Forecast Large Crowds Come Out for Aerospace Summer Games 2017 The Aerospace Summer Games 2017 took place on Saturday, July 29 at Dockweiler Beach’s Lifeguard Tower 58. The day of fun and friendly competition drew a large crowd and featured participants from more than two dozen area aerospace and related companies—including many from El Segundo—competing in events ranging from volleyball to balloon tossing. Group Shot Photo Credit: Vera Mulyani, SpacePortLA.com. City Council Delays TopGolf Project Vote to September By Brian Simon On Tuesday night, the El Segundo City Council (minus Mayor Suzanne Fuentes, who was in China on a diplomatic trip) postponed its final vote on the long-pending TopGolf project from August 15 to September 5 to allow for some additional revisions to the lease agreement with CenterCal Properties. Staff tacked a TopGolf item onto Tuesday’s agenda the day before the meeting, catching Council members by surprise. A lengthy discussion ensued on several of the proposed revisions. In one major change that only just came to light, the Golf Course Subcommittee negotiated to have golf pros work under the City’s auspices instead of under TopGolf’s supervision—since only 20 percent of lessons and programs occur at the driving range, with the remainder taking place at the City-owned golf course. But in relinquishing its control through this provision, Wiseburn School Board Informed Opening Day at New High School Delayed Until Fall By Duane Plank With less than a month remaining before the scheduled opening day at the newly constructed Wiseburn High School located on Douglas Street, the Wiseburn Unified District (WUSD) School Board Trustees met last Tuesday evening to tackle myriad construction issues as the multi-million-dollar project steams ahead. The Board also heard the news that the new tentative opening day of school at the new building, which will play host to three Da Vinci high schools as well as the District offices, has been delayed and is now penciled in, said WUSD Superintendent Tom Johnstone, for October. It was hoped that the new high school would open its doors to Da Vinci charter school students on August 22, but inevitable delays have disrupted the start-up date. Da Vinci students will start their school year at their current locations in late August, and then relocate to the new Douglas Street edifice, if all goes well, in October. Johnstone said that construction delays on the project, which began in August of 2015, are not uncommon on challenges of this magnitude. Johnstone said that the “delivery date” to occupy the building was initially July 23. That date has obviously come and gone. Johnstone said that there were two main issues causing the delay. Gould Electric, the initial electric company bid-winner See School Board, page 7 Friday Sunny 78˚/69˚ Saturday Sunny 79˚/68˚ Sunday Sunny 76˚/67˚ See City Council, page 12 TopGolf no longer feels it should be obligated to pay the pros (specifically two individuals) during the construction period when the golf course is closed. However, City Attorney Mark Hensley explained that “the City can’t legally pay them [the pros] to do nothing.” Councilmember Mike Dugan felt that keeping the pros paid during the forced hiatus is crucial to ensure they don’t choose to go elsewhere. “The programs we want to maintain are run by the pros—when they [pros] disappear, the programs disappear,” he warned. In early June, Councilmember Don Brann voted against extending the due diligence period on the lease agreement in order to “send out a message” for TopGolf to address security concerns at the new venue. The strategy paid dividends, as TopGolf quickly reached out to Brann and agreed in principle to cover the costs of providing two police officers on the premises on Friday and Saturday nights—with flexible options for additional days and/or to increase the number of officers to four (or reduce the total) depending on need. Hensley indicated his office will add this clause to the agreement and hammer out the details. Under the arrangement, Police Chief Bill Whelan would make decisions on staffing. Also still unresolved after four years of
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