Page 12 December 28, 2017 EL SEGUNDO HERALD Year in Review from front page then the monies ought to at least stay local. The ballot argument for the measure will be completed next week. Two Council seats will also be up for grabs on April 10. The period for would-be candidates to pull nomination papers began on December 18. The City also moved forward with a goalladen, three-year strategic plan covering five major objectives and began to monitor progress by analyzing key performance indicators (KPIs) to provide benchmarks for improvement. It also conducted surveys of local residents and businesses to gauge customer satisfaction, with recently released results bettering those of typical municipalities. In February and after years of stalled negotiations that created divisiveness in the community, the Council approved a new labor contract with the El Segundo Police Officers Association (POA). Under the agreement, the more than 50 sergeants and officers in the POA now pay the full nine percent of their PERS retirement member (employee) share—applicable to both salaries and special compensation. To offset this concession, base salaries increased 13.5 percent. As in previous years, economic development was a major initiative and El Segundo received additional grants from Chevron to support the campaign. The City brought on Phelps Group as its new marketing agency and hired Vision Technology to create a new hospitality and tourism website. El Segundo well exceeded its goal of bringing 100 new businesses to town by the January Centennial celebration. The City hosted the Bisnow “Future of El Segundo” event in May and Champions of Business Celebration in September. The 15-member Economic Development Advisory Council (EDAC) received direction to focus on four major criteria including strategic and forward planning, hospitality and tourism, business retention and expansion, and new business attraction. Among the many commercial project highlights: Hackman Capital’s acquisition of 30 acres of Northrop Grumman property to transform the site into creative offices; Starwood’s purchase of Pacific Corporate Towers; EVA Airways’ expansion; near completion of the Frank Gehry-designed Ascend creative office complex at Douglas and Utah; other creative office spaces underway at 555 and 777 Aviation; Raytheon’s plan for a retail center at El Segundo Boulevard between Nash and Continental; opening of the new Lakers UCLA Health Training Center at elevon; opening of the Apollo Landing dining complex at Continental Park; and the summer arrival of the cancer treatment and diagnostic center, the Chan Soon-Shiong Institute for Medicine. Then just last week, Cushman & Wakefield announced a joint venture between Rockwood Capital and Lincoln Property Company for a projected 355,000-square foot multi-building office campus called OPEN at 300, 360 and 390 N. Sepulveda. In hopes of bolstering business on Main Street and the downtown area as a whole, the Council this month authorized funds to install landscaping to beautify the area. A Downtown Committee formed to identify that and other improvements for the district. Downtown continued to host popular annual events such as the El Segundo Art Walk, Main Street Car Show, The Fair on Richmond Street, Halloween Frolic, Tree Lighting and Holiday Parade—as well as the weekly Farmer’s Market. In Smoky Hollow, the long-awaited specific plan update began to take shape with proposals to create additional parking and pedestrian- and bike-friendly streets, among other amenities, in hopes of transforming the district into a creative office hub. More discussion will take place in 2018. The City welcomed several newcomers in leadership positions. Bill Whalen assumed the reins of the El Segundo Police Department in July after the departure of Mitch Tavera. Ken Berkman landed a permanent spot as Public Works Director, Lynn Lindberg took over the Human Resources Department, and Randall Collins became the City’s in-house Emergency Services Coordinator after five years of contracting out for a similar position. The City also created a Department of Information Services and will hire a director in the next month. The City itself also expanded its hours to open alternate Fridays, launched a number of technology and serviced enhancements, debuted an e-newsletter, and increased community outreach meetings. Department personnel vacancies decreased from nearly 40 to 25. In the public safety realm, police increased patrolling operations to combat rising property crimes in the wake of state legislation that put more offenders out on the streets. Technology upgrades included purchases of a new vehicle fleet, automated license plate readers and improved body-worn cameras. The department also stepped up its recruiting campaign to build up the number of sworn personnel patrolling the community. In the year’s final Council meeting, Chief Whalen introduced the two newest El Segundo Police Officers. Other highlights included adoption of a coyote management plan, a strategy through other partnerships to address the growing transient/homeless population in the community, and Main Street pedestrian safety improvements via crosswalk lighting upgrades. El Segundo Fire Department, which officially turned 100 in April, promoted a Fire Captain and Fire Engineer, hired a new Environmental Safety Manager and two new Firefighters. To support a constant state of readiness, the department conducted 14,000 hours of in-service training, placed a new fire engine and two new rescue ambulances into service, and ordered a new command vehicle. The City also invested in a major facility upgrade including a new roof, interior remodel, new apparatus bay doors and new lighted signage identifying El Segundo Fire Station No. 1. Emergency Management unveiled a new strategic plan in November with goals to develop an all-hazards incident management team, develop every City employee as a disaster service worker, increase emergency management training for first responders, increase participation in the Community Emergency Response Team Training (CERT) program, establish a critical infrastructure program, and institute a public preparedness awareness campaign. While involved with the Fire Station I upgrades and Main Street crosswalk projects, Public Works also oversaw Police Station roof, kitchen and restroom work; extensive water and sewer main replacements; sidewalk repairs; and new turf at the Campus El Segundo soccer fields. Other achievements included the Imperial Highway rehabilitation project, pavement rehabilitation on seven east side streets, Recreation Park tennis court lighting, and an electrical vehicle charging station at City Hall. Though not El Segundo streets, Vista del Mar and Pershing lane closures spurred public outcry due to adverse traffic impacts. The Council worked closely with the City of Los Angeles to restore the lanes. Recreation and Parks was instrumental in implementing the Centennial events, turf installation and tennis court lighting. The department also brought on a number of key new employees, established an Arts and Culture Advisory Group, and saw El SegundoTV’s YouTube channel grow to 1,320 subscribers with over 1.25 million views. The Parks Division re-landscaped the Police Station, City-owned parking lot at Franklin and Richmond, and Fire Station 1. And just last week, the department added pickleball stripes to one of the tennis courts at Rec Park to provide another sport opportunity. El Segundo Public Library said goodbye to long-time Director Debra Brighton, who retires this week after 31 years of service. Library highlights during 2017 included several concerts covering diverse musical genres, the popular Author Fair, Summer Reading Program for youths and adults, drop-in lobby events, evening book club, free computer classes, Art Walk in August, and recent Santa’s Mailbox program. Those looking to research El Segundo’s past were able to access digital editions of the Herald on the library website going back to the early days of the community. Brighton’s book Images of America: El Segundo provided a pictorial retrospective. And finally, on a sad note, El Segundo lost two of its former mayors to illness in 2017: Richard Van Vranken and Kelly McDowell. See next week’s Herald for Part 2 of the Year in Review. • Eagles from page 5 El Segundo In-Line Hockey Champions Championship Saturday crowned the El Segundo In-Line Hockey Association champions in the Mite, Squirt and Pee-Wee divisions. In the Mite Division, the Red Rockets and Fantastic Beasts met in one of the day’s most exciting games. The championship game was a contest that would be knotted 3-3 in regulation and went into a sudden-death overtime period. The Fantastic Beasts’ Brayden Vanek’s goal nine minutes into the extra period gave his team the 4-3 championship. In the Squirt Division, the Green Hornets and Blue Lightning faced off in another exciting game. The Green Hornets got five goals from Lincoln Brown and got by the Blue Lightning 5-4 in game that nearly went to overtime. The Silver Team outplayed the Pony Team in an 11-4 win in the Pee Wee Division finale. Trevor Wessel led The Silver Team with four goals, while Larry Klingaman had a three-goal hat trick himself. Cory Yeaton was one of his team’s top defenders and also scored a goal. Kai Paranal found the goal twice and Tillman Cummings had one goal. El Segundo Run For Education With nearly 2,500 runners enjoying a beautiful day on the scenic course, the El Segundo Run for Education 5K and 10K was a huge success. El Segundo residents who were top eight finishers in the 5K included in the male division Austin Van Biezen (2), Arend Verfaille (6) and Calvin Liang (8). On the female side Amy Reaser (4), Jody Kleiger (6), Katy Durand (7) and Sammie Kleiger (8) finished in the top eight. In the 10K race Jill Folk was the first female across the finish line, while Natalie Welsh came in second and Carrie Fry was third overall. Boys’ Volleyball The Eagles had another successful season. They ended up 19-7 overall and second in the Ocean League. The Eagles faced 16 teams that advanced to the postseason. Their season came to an end in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 quarterfinals against Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks. In the second round, the Eagles had swept Crescenta Valley 25-16, 25-18, 25-21. Joe Kelly was at his best leading the Eagles with 18 kills, while Joe Karrer had 15 kills. Softball Team Megan McCann took over the program when 20-year coach Keith Cameron relocated for work purposes. Coach McCann was following a noteworthy list of former coaches who were successful and advanced to the CIF title games. Over the last 12 seasons, the Lady Eagles had averaged 19 wins each year. Different coaches led the Eagles to the title games, including in 1974 Sandi Berhmann. The 1976 and 1977 teams were led by Barbara Berhlohr. Debi Cocks guided the Eagles in 1978 and Keith Cameron in 2007. The 2017 team was a mostly inexperienced squad after the departure of nine seniors to graduation. Senior utility player Cierra Kessler and junior pitcher Monique Benjamin led the Eagles to a 7-3 Ocean League finish. Benjamin led the team in hitting with a .409 batting average, while Kessler led her team with four home runs. The Lady Eagles fell in the first round of the CIF-SS playoffs to San Luis Obispo on the road. Things look bright for the program’s future. The JV team finished 16-6 overall and with a 9-3 win over Santa Monica finished a perfect 10-0 in the Ocean League. Malia Clagg led the team in hitting with a .540 batting average, while Audrey Butler was the ace of the pitching staff. Baseball Team The Eagles returned seven starters and four pitchers for a team and program poised to win its 35th league championship. For just the fifth time in 57 years, the Eagles had a new head coach. Former Eagle standout and Major League pitcher Billy Traber took the reins of one of the South Bay’s premier programs. Four-year starters Jake Palmer and Spencer Long were the cornerstones of the team. Palmer ended up shattering a few school records and one CIF mark. The talented centerfielder started in each of the last 130 games over a four-year span--believed to be a CIF record. He ended up hitting .548 on the season with 57 hits, which were both single season school records. His 497 plate appearances were easily a school record, while his career .434 batting average places him among the program’s best. Long was the team’s top pitcher with a 10-2 record and a sparkling 1.31 ERA and 80 strikeouts. The Eagles started the season 4-1 in their own tournament. In the Santa Ana Elks Tournament, they dismantled five teams with their bats and outscored their opponents 50- 7. With so much momentum heading into Ocean League play, the team had plenty of confidence. Culver City put a damper on that by shutting out the Eagles’ offense that was batting .362 as a team. El Segundo responded with nine consecutive Ocean League victories and won the program’s first outright league title since 2012. The Eagles, who were one of the top-ranked teams throughout the year, got by West Torrance 6-3 in the first round and hammered Troy 13-6 in the second round only to face Walnut in the CIF-SS quarterfinals. The Eagles had defeated the Mustangs 7-3 in the Santa Ana Elks Tournament earlier in the season. This time it would be different when Walnut silenced El Segundo’s bats and won 3-1. Walnut would go on to win its first baseball CIF championship. The loss closed the books on one of the most successful seasons for the program. The Eagles would end up 27-7 overall, Ocean League champions and ranked fifth. The 27 wins were the most by an Eagle squad in over 25 years. It also marked the most wins by a first-year coach in the history of the school in any sport. Former Eagle standouts Connor Underwood and Hunter Lewis had a big part in El Camino College’s baseball success this past season. In the Super Regional series clincher, Underwood led off the fourth inning with a single and later scored to make it 3-0. Lewis, who was three for five, had an RBI double to make it 4-0. The Warriors went on to win 9-2 and advanced to Southern California Sectionals. El Camino would reach the State Championships, thanks in part to the former Eagles, but fell short in the final. Lars Nootbaar is having a good season for the USC Trojan baseball team. The sophomore played in all of the team’s 45 games, ended up hitting .278, and also led the team in home runs, triples and bases on balls. We’ll look back at the rest of 2017 next week. So from all of us at the El Segundo Herald, have a safe and prosperous New Year! •
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