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. 45 - October 27, 2016 Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals.....................16 Classifieds............................4 Crossword/Sudoku.............4 Entertainment......................6 Homecoming......................18 Legals....................... 13,14,15 Pets......................................17 Police Reports.....................3 Real Estate.....................8-13 Game On for Eagles Homecoming Everyone was a winner at the Homecoming parade! The 2016 Homecoming Float theme was “Board Games”. A great looking pair: Homecoming King Marc Cooper and Queen Alex Nilsson. More photos on page 18. Photos by Dr. Moore. • Sports.................................5,7 Public Works Director Departs Weekend Forecast By Brian Simon In the ever-evolving world of municipal government in this day and age, it’s rare for department heads to stay in their positions for more than a few years before moving on to something else (or retiring). Circumstances change and new opportunities come to the forefront. So it may not be that huge a surprise that City of El Segundo Public Works Director Stephanie Katsouleas recently announced she will take on a leadership position in Manhattan Beach starting Nov. 7. The fact that she spent more than six and a half years in charge of Public Works in El Segundo made her the second longest-standing current department head (next to Library Director Friday See Stephanie Katsouleas, page 4 Partly Debra Brighton and just ahead of Police Cloudy Chief Mitch Tavera, who is retiring at the end 67˚/59˚ of 2016)—an unexpectedly lengthy tenure considering she had initially only planned to stay on for a few months. Originally hired on an interim basis in April 2008, Katsouleas was to be a place-holder to allow the city to conduct its search for a full-time person. “I couldn’t take the job permanently because I was moving to North Carolina,” she explained. But her stint on the East Coast was short-lived, as Katsouleas returned to El Segundo in early 2010 to head Public Works upon the retirement of then-Director Dana Greenwood. “I previously worked for Manhattan Beach and am fortunate to have the opportunity to rejoin Public Works there as the Director to implement a variety of new initiatives and to take on a new set of challenges,” Katsouleas said. The desire to tackle the aforementioned new challenges fueled Katsouleas’ decision to make a change--and while she noted that unfinished business remains, she leaves with the confidence that the city is in much better shape than when she arrived. “Public Works in El Segundo is in a really good place right now,” she said. “We have recovered from the economic downturn and are now nearly fully staffed to carry out the core functions of Public Works. I believe we provide exceptional service to residents, businesses and the community at large, and our employees are dedicated to the work they do for El Segundo.” Looking back at her department’s key accomplishments since 2010, Katsouleas thought it was critical to modernize Public Works in the digital age via tablet applications in field operations using GIS technology. She also pointed to revisions in the bidding code to allow greater flexibility in implementing capital projects. Other stated highlights included eliminating storm water discharges from Pump Station 18 to the Dominguez Channel in order to markedly reduce El Segundo’s liability to ocean water contamination; improving Richmond and Maple streets; resurfacing the entire length of Aviation Boulevard in partnership with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works; completing the El Segundo Beach lifeguard station; securing more than $3 in grant funds for capital projects and designs; averting more than $3.7 million in water loss and potential fines; School Board Does Double- Duty, Holds Two Open Meetings By Duane Plank The Tuesday night meetings of the El Segundo Unified School District School Board featured not only the standard 7 p.m. open to the public meeting, at which High School administrators and leadership team members presented its State of the School address, but also a special Board meeting that commenced an hour earlier, and featured a presentation by Tim Carty, a representative of ESUSD partner investment banking and management firm Piper Jaffray. Carty’s presentation gave an overview of previous District bond measures, including Measure C, which was approved in 1997; Measure E, which was approved in 2001; and Measure M, which was approved by the voters in 2008. The 1997 bond measure, which had a bond measure size of $24,000,000, won voter approval with a passage rate of 77.3%; Measure E, which had a bond program size of $25,000,000, won the approval of 75.2% of the voters; and the 2008 Measure M, with a bond program size of $14,000,000, was passed with a 67.3% of the vote. According to District provided notes, the 1997 measure was placed on the ballot, to help accomplish, among other goals, “ to renovate, construct and improve school facilities to accommodate modern technology , repair leaky roofs, repair and upgrade fire, safety, electrical, plumbing and heating Saturday Partly Cloudy 66˚/59˚ Sunday AM Clouds/ PM Sun 65˚/56˚ See School Board, page 16
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