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. 35 - August 27, 2015 Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals.....................14 Classifieds............................4 Crossword/Sudoku.............4 Legals............................ 12,13 Letters...................................3 Pets......................................15 Police Reports.....................3 Real Estate.....................7-10 Sports....................................6 Weekend Forecast Fans Visit 18th Annual Car Show Owner Paul Cormany stands with his original all-steel body 1937 Plymouth with a Chrysler motor at the 18th annual Main Street Car Show. It was the largest car show to date, with 330 cars on display. Approximately 5,000-7,500 people attended the show throughout the day. The 19th Annual Main Street Car Show will be on Saturday, August 20, 2016. For more photos see page 11. Photo by Peter Thornton, jp.thornton58@gmail.com. • City Infrastructure Needs For Fixes Far Exceed Available Budget By Brian Simon First the good news: Compared to a few years ago, the City of El Segundo today is in better financial shape than it was as the economy improves and future estimated dollars from revenue sources such as sales and transient occupancy taxes continue to trend upward. In fact, the City Council was even able to allocate over $3 million towards various capital projects in the current (2014/15) budget to fund much-needed items such as a seismic retrofit at Fire Station 1, Police Department upgrades and the upcoming Richmond Street improvements. Now the not-so-good news: There’s a whole lot more to fix in town and the total price tag to properly complete the “job” could run well over $50 million before all is said and done. Barring an unexpected major windfall, it will take a great deal of planning and financial tinkering to get through the list of items requiring attention either in the short or long term. At a recent strategic planning session, Public Works Director Stephanie Katsouleas outlined about three dozen projects of varying priority levels—with estimated costs for each. The list didn’t include annual and regularly scheduled projects supported by non-general fund sources (e.g. slurry sealing, water and sewer main replacement, and Park Vista apartment repairs). Current and mid-term needs (14 projects totaling nearly $12 million) featured a twophase street replacement for all of El Segundo Boulevard, with the residential portion of that artery not eligible for grant funding to cover any of the $2.5 million cost. Prop C monies may be available to subsidize the $2.8 million needed to cover work east of Sepulveda, however. Similarly, grant monies could help pay for a $1 million street replacement project for Imperial Avenue between Sepulveda and Aviation. Other local roads earmarked for improvements but not grant-eligible include Center Street and Grand Avenue (resurfacing), as well as Mariposa Avenue, Hornet Way and Hughes Way (grind and cap only). The western portion of the city also needs resurfacing in general, but will potentially require $700,000 a year in funding over many decades to complete. Meanwhile, an annual allocation of roughly $500,000 for five years will cover the costs of citywide sidewalk construction/replacement to eliminate tripping hazards and install missing sidewalks. Additional current and midterm projects on the list included long-delayed City Hall, library technology and Teen Center upgrades to the total tune of $875,000. Three projects fell under the category of “eventual” project needs, with a $1 million resurfacing targeted for City and parks facility parking lots, construction of new bathrooms at Hilltop, Acacia and Washington park playgrounds, and Plunge facility upgrades. Combined price tag: $4.1 million. Staff described nine more projects as “capital improvement project opportunities” needing See City Infrastructure, page 13 School Board Meets on Back- To-School-Day in the District By Duane Plank The El Segundo Unified School District School Board held their first open-to-the public meeting in more than a month Tuesday night as the students returned to the classrooms earlier that day. Prior to the meeting, Board President Jeanie Nishime had emailed that “this is an exciting new year for the ESUSD! We have 23 new faculty as well as new assistant principals at the High School and the Middle School, and a new Principal at Richmond Street. We are introducing STEM (Science, Engineering, Technology and Math) down to the kindergarten level, and continuing with our very successful one-to-one iPad initiative at the Middle School and the High School.” Nishime continued: “The sale of the Imperial School site is currently in escrow, and the Board will examine prioritized needs from the school sites to determine the best use of the proceeds from the property. The state places many restrictions on the use of funds from the sale of surplus property (including using the funds only for capital outlay and one-time expenditures) that the Board will carefully consider in the upcoming year.” Logan Fox was introduced to the Board as the new assistant principal at the High School. Fox replaced Ali Rabiei, who took a position over the summer as the assistant principal at the Middle School. Prior to arriving in El Segundo, Fox had worked for the Scottsdale, Arizona school district for 16 years, including nine years See School Board, page 12 Friday Mostly Sunny 85˚/69˚ Saturday Mostly Sunny 82˚/69˚ Sunday Mostly Sunny 78˚/66˚
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