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. 47 - November 10, 2016 Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals.....................16 Classifieds............................4 Community Briefs...............3 Crossword/Sudoku.............4 Entertainment .....................6 Legals............................14-15 People...................................3 Pets......................................17 Real Estate.....................8-13 Sports.............................. 5,16 Weekend Forecast Friday Sunny 77˚/57˚ Saturday Partly Cloudy 77˚/58˚ Sunday Sunny 80˚/60˚ Herald’s Halloween Frolic’s Coloring Contest Winners (From left to right) Zoey Pittman, Ginger Vasquez and Tram Tran. The El Segundo Herald, a sponsor and participant of the Park’s and Recreation Department’s Annual “Halloween Frolic”, hosted a booth that featured a coloring contest. The 1st place winners received a $15 Rock & Brews gift card and $10 Cold Stone Creamery gift card. First place winners were: Zoey Pittman, five-years-old, came dressed as “Queen of Hearts” and won in the five-years-old and under category; Tram Tran, six-years-old, came dressed Princess Ana and won in the 6-8 year-old category; Ginger Vasquez, 10-years-old, came dressed as “Day of the Dead” and won the 9-11-year-old category. For more winners and their submissions, go to page 2. City Officials Go to Next Level in Disaster Preparedness School Board Meets on America’s Election Night By Duane Plank The Tuesday night meeting of the El Segundo School Board was called to order by President Jim Garza at 7 p.m.--one hour before the closing of voting in California. Many local residents took to the polls to cast ballots in one of the most highly anticipated, volatile and contentious elections in American history, with the outcome of Proposition 55 having a major impact on upcoming funding for California school districts. Oh, and there was a presidential contest too. Tuesday night’s agenda included several special presentations. Alex Nilsson, the student representative to the Board, recapped events at El Segundo High School that have taken place over the past few weeks and also looked ahead as the schoolyear races towards the week-long Thanksgiving break. Ed! Foundation CEO Carol Pirsztuk, who typically addresses the Board once a month, then mentioned the upcoming Ladies Night Out soiree, which will take place on Thursday, November 17 and feature appearances by Police Chief Mitch Tavera, Fire Chief Chris Donovan and School Board member Nancy Cobb. The festivities will occur at the Automobile Driving Museum, with local businesses like the Standard Station, Big 5 Sporting Goods, Sausal and Andiamo Pizzeria supporting the event as Ed! endeavors to raise funds toward By Brian Simon Operating under the premise that it’s not a matter of if but when a major disaster such as an earthquake occurs, City of El Segundo officials continue to ramp up their efforts in the area of emergency preparedness. Last month, Mayor Suzanne Fuentes and Mayor Pro Tem Drew Boyles spent four days in Camp San Luis Obispo with the California Specialized Training Institute as part of an intensive educational session they both believe will pay big dividends. “The Mayor and I and other public safety officers are now trained as Public Information Officers [PIOs], whose primary job is to get the public the information they need when they need it,” Boyles said. “This is most particularly important in the time of catastrophic events.” The PIO training covered crisis communication skills and effective methods to disseminate information during both normal and emergency scenarios. As part of the training, the California Office of Emergency Services brought subject matter experts (PIOs, public speaking specialists, newscasters, police department social media administrators) to the camp. “They taught us how to assess a situation, prepare and give statements,” Fuentes explained. “There were several practical drills with multiple simulated disasters. Although they weren’t real events, the pressure was on and we felt like we were making realtime decisions and reporting out. The most important message we learned was, ‘Tell the public what they need to know.’” The aforementioned simulations provided Fuentes and Boyles “practice” opportunities in which they had to organize a team, assign member roles and responsibilities, gather information and conduct a news conference that was also filmed. And they had just 15 minutes to get it all done, as thinking and reacting on the fly will be of the essence when a real incident takes place. The training also encompassed how to immediately deploy and organize Emergency Operations Center (EOCs) and Joint Information Commands (IICs), while at the same time assessing damage quickly and determining which information to divulge at a given moment. “The PIO training was invaluable and we are implementing much of what we learned by working through the City Manager, Chief of Police, Fire Chief and other City department heads,” Boyles said. The Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem are also See Disaster Preparedness, page 14 See School Board, page 4
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