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. 48 - November 30, 2017
Inside
This Issue
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.....................14
Classifieds............................4
Community Briefs...............2
Crossword/Sudoku.............4
Entertainment......................6
Legals............................12-13
Pets......................................15
Police Reports.....................3
Real Estate................8-11,16
Sports......................... 5,13,14
Weekend
Forecast
ESHS Students Share Cultural
Exchange with Japanese Visitors
Eighty-two Japanese students from Hanasaki Tokuharu High School, a private school outside of Tokyo, recently visited El Segundo High School for a cultural and educational exchange. Each student was
paired with an ESHS student and attended three classes. Then the Japanese students shared a traditional tea ceremony (shown in the photo above) with their American counterparts. Also inside this week’s
edition, see page 2, for a group picture in front of ESHS. Photo Provided by Charlotte Lassos. •
Treasurer Keeps a Close Eye on
City of El Segundo’s Investments
By Brian Simon
Much recent El Segundo City Council discussion
Friday See City Treasurer, page 4
Sunny
68˚/54˚
Historic Pine to Light Up for
Centennial Tree Lighting Event
By Brian Simon
In one of the final events to wrap up
the yearlong 100th birthday celebration,
the City of El Segundo will showcase
one of its oldest “residents”—a nearly
100-foot-tall Christmas pine tree originally
donated by the El Segundo Woman’s
Club and planted at Library Park back
in 1930. On Saturday, December 2, the
venerable pine will light up at 5:30 p.m.
as the featured “star” of the City’s “Magic
on Main Street” Centennial Holiday Tree
Lighting at Library Park.
The day’s festivities will kick off earlier
at 1 p.m. as Library Park transforms into a
winter wonderland featuring snow sledding
and play areas (with real snow imported into
town), decorated trees, strolling carolers,
craft shopping, Candy Cane Kids Zone
game area, live music, food vendors from
the Farmer’s Market, children’s train rides,
Frosty the Snowman, and a “green screen”
portrait booth, among other offerings. Santa
will of course also make an appearance,
setting up shop under the Library Park
gazebo, while Mattel will be on-hand to
give away toys until 5 p.m. Local residents
with a valid youth recreation ID card can
obtain a “fast pass” for the Santa line by
stopping by the Clubhouse or Checkout
Building at Recreation Park by the end of
the day on December 1 (one pass issued per
ID card and must be in line before 4 p.m.).
has centered around expected growing
budget deficits in the coming years—primarily
due to swelling pension liability—with various
ideas being bandied about on how to mitigate
the damage and reduce the shortfalls. While
potential solutions remain pending, the City of
El Segundo must also in the meantime manage
the monies it already has in the fold. As part
of that, the Council receives quarterly updates
on investments as well as news on the latest
economic indicators courtesy of City Treasurer
Crista Binder.
In her most recent report, with additional
information provided by Deputy Treasurer
II Dino Marsocci, Binder announced that
the City was once again in compliance with
its investment policy that mandates meeting
all legal requirements to safeguard funds. In
a change from past practice, the City now
maintains a lower bank balance than before
in order to invest more short-term funds in
the Local Agency Investment Fund (LAIF)
portfolio pool that is available to California’s
local governments and special districts. In the
past, a higher cash balance helped offset bank
fees since the City’s earning credit rate was
higher than the LAIF rate. Now it’s the other
way around. “We will now pay bank fees, but
earn more interest income, and will continue to
monitor our cash flow needs in order to determine
which investments will maximize return
while providing the proper level of liquidity,”
the Treasury staff report reads.
LAIF comprises just over 40 percent of the
City’s investment types, with the rest including
US agency/corporate bonds (about 26 percent)
and then CDs, medium-term notes and collateralized
bank deposits. A pie chart in the
quarterly report breaks down the investments
by security type with eight different slices
pointing to the diversification the City strives
for as a hallmark of its policy. The most recent
portfolio breakdown shows an effective yield
of 1.1 percent on short-term investments (average
of 34 days to maturity) and 1.7 percent
on long-term investments (2.85 years), for an
overall effective yield of 1.32 percent. Of the
City’s total $74.4 million portfolio market value
See Tree Lighting Event, page 2
Saturday
Partly
Cloudy
71˚/54˚
Sunday
Partly
Cloudy
68˚/52˚