The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo Herald Publications - El Segundo, Torrance, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Lawndale, & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 105, No. 42 - October 6, 2016 Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals.....................18 Classifieds............................4 Community Briefs...............2 Crossword/Sudoku.............4 Film Review..........................7 Legals............................ 16,17 Pets......................................19 Police Reports.....................8 Real Estate..............10-13,20 Sports....................................5 Weekend Forecast Flight Path Museum Unviels New Space Exploration Gallery The Flight Path Museum and Learning Center celebrated the grand opening of its new Space Exploration Gallery that spotlights the history and development of space flight. Dignitaries, elected officials and invited guests were in attendance for the formal ribbon cutting ceremony. Pictured: Omar Pulido, LAX Community Liaison, Office of Los Angeles City Councilmember Mike Bonin, Mary Grady, Managing Director Media and Public Relations, Los Angeles World Airports, Dr. Malina M. Hills, Vice President Space Programs Operations, The Aerospace Corporation Steven Soukup, Flight Path Board of Directors Lynne Adelman, Flight Path President and Christina Davis, Chief Executive Officer, LAX Coastal Area Chamber of Commerce. Photo provided by Terry Gegesi. • City Council Approves Public Works Staffing Requests By Brian Simon On Tuesday night, the El Segundo City Council heard what will be the first of several department head pleas to justify staffing Council Votes 5-0 to Approve Modications for Joint Pool By Liz Spear In a unanimous 5-0 vote Thursday during a special meeting, the El Segundo City Council approved modifications to a joint aquatic center project with the Wiseburn Unified School District, potentially keeping the project on track. The pool, which will be located on the new Da Vinci charter school campus at 201 N. Douglas Street in El Segundo, is part of a joint project between the City of El Segundo and the Wiseburn Unified School District. Thursday’s special City Council meeting was called after Isaac Sports Group consultant Stu Isaac told council at its September 6th meeting that design updates, inflation, and added features could put the aquatics center total closer to $15 million, some $4 million over the 2015 estimate of $10.6 million, which council had approved. At the special meeting, with some 25 community members in the audience who were later joined by about 30 high school students, council appeared game to keep the project on track, in spite of previous members’ comments otherwise at the September 6th meeting. Each of the seven residents who took to the microphone during public comment expressed the desire to keep the aquatics center on track to meet the community’s long-held desire for a complete aquatics program for the city at a facility capable of requests for this year’s budget. In this instance, Public Works Director Stephanie Katsouleas made a case for reclassifying a Principal Civil Engineer to a City Engineer, and adding a new Equipment Mechanic I/II position. “We’ve grown,” Katsouleas said, noting the 83 contracts and 22 capital improvement projects this year in comparison to 26 and seven respectively in 2010. With so many projects on her plate consuming 90% of her time, she explained that she can no longer effectively manage the rest of the engineering division. A City Engineer can assume those responsibilities, she reasoned. On the equipment side, Katsouleas reported that the City fleet is up from 103 to 159 vehicles with only four people to service them. She added that her department also oversees 434 pieces of equipment ranging from mowers to chainsaws—and that even with overtime hours, existing personnel can’t keep up with service schedules. The Council voted 4-1 to officially grant the $114,997 for the above requests. The members previously included the amount in the 2016/17 budget, but put them in a “parking lot” pending further discussion. In line with his previous hesitance to bring on new staff, Councilmember Mike Dugan dissented and asked for a more thorough vetting process to look at the City’s equipment needs now and in the future while also understanding past usage. “This wasn’t the kind of analysis I was looking for,” he said after Katsouleas addressed the Council. Though he supported the moves, Mayor Pro Tem Drew Boyles also called for a “better understanding” of how the City utilizes equipment. Also on Tuesday, Capital Improvement Project Advisory Council (CIPAC) Chair Mike Rotolo reported that his group held several successful meetings this past summer to review 13 projects. General funding requests totaled $1,883,000 with the Council ultimately approving $830,000 of that. Using six criteria (health and safety, system condition, return on investment, joint agreement/ legal requirement, coordination opportunity, and community interest), CIPAC ranked each project with a total score indicating priority of importance. Items allocated for the 2016/17 budget included annual curb and sidewalk Friday See City Council, page 16 Partly Cloudy 83˚/64˚ Saturday Sunny 80˚/65˚ Sunday Mostly Sunny 78˚/64˚ See Joint Pool, page 16
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