Hawthorne Press Tribune The Weekly Newspaper of Hawthorne Herald Publications - Inglewood, Hawthorne, Lawndale, El Segundo, Torrance & Manhattan Beach Community Newspapers Since 1911 - Circulation 30,000 - Readership 60,000 (310) 322-1830 - February 27, 2014 Inside This Issue Calendar...............................2 Classifieds............................3 Hawthorne Happenings....3 Food.......................................7 Legals.................................4,6 Pets........................................8 Politically Speaking............2 Sports....................................5 Weekend Forecast Friday Rain/ Thunder 64˚/52˚ Saturday Rain 63˚/52˚ Sunday Partly Cloudy 63˚/53˚ Eagle Scout Honored at Council Meeting Hawthorne Boy Scout Troop 283 recently held a Court of Honor for Boy Scout Kavin Carter, who earned the prestigious rank of Eagle Scout February 1st. Carter, who has been in scouting for more than 12 years, and his fellow scouts were honored at the February 11th Hawthorne City Council meeting. Carter is pictured to the left of Mayor Chris Brown following the presentation along with his parents, City Council members, and other elected officials.Troop 283 has been sponsored by the Hawthorne LAX Lennox Rotary Club for more than 80 years. City Council Approves Two-Year Employment Agreement for City Attorney By Nancy Peters The Hawthorne City Council rehired Russell Miyahira, the City Attorney, last March on a one-year agreement, following a dramatic dismissal the previous August 2012 after a 26- year tenure with the city. Now that agreement has been amended and extended for two years, effective March 31, 2014 through March 31, 2016. The vote caused a bit of controversy as Council member Nilo Michelin requested the item be tabled and then abstained from the vote for the table motion, with two council members voting “Yes” and Mayor Chris Brown and Mayor Pro-Tem Olivia Valentine each casting “No” votes. The split vote and abstention to table defeated the motion. Brown had attempted to make a new motion for two years, rather than the four years originally requested in the amendment, which he brought to the table again after the defeated table vote. The vote for the employment agreement to go forward passed 3-2 with Michelin and Councilmember Angie Reyes-English casting the “No” votes. The City Attorney’s office will advise in a legal confidential how abstentions affect the outcome of votes. A request by the City Manager for amendments to the approved 2013-2014 budget sparked a lengthy discussion as to the feasibility of many line items included, which all involve adding staff to the City employee roles or hiring contractors, particularly a Finance Director, a Human Resources recruiter, and someone to develop economic incentive programs to make Hawthorne an attractive location to choose for their business. Several of the requests also included a Payroll Assistant, a Legal Clerk, a Government Affairs Analyst, a Traffic Clerk in the Hawthorne Police Department, and increases to the travel, conference and meetings budget for the mayor and council, additions to the Cable TV Department and salary adjustments for those in Planning who handle the CDBG/HOME Funds. After discussions the vote was taken to only approve a Finance Director, a recruiter for police, and the salary adjustments in Planning. Michelin cast the dissenting vote for a 4-1 approval, explaining later in the meeting that budget adjustments can be classified as critical or important and none of the items separated out were critical enough to get a “Yes” vote from him. A new ordinance was read into the record for the first time after no one offered comments in the public hearing period. The ordinance is necessary for compliance with the state mandate to have emergency shelters and transitional and supportive housing for the homeless written into the Hawthorne Municipal Code. As explained by Gregg McClain, Planning Director, the ordinance must be written and the code must show inclusion of the number of beds for shelters, etc., but does not confirm that the numbers in the code must be built. The standards are required and as written in the ordinance the shelters are not allowed in single-family residential areas but could be in R2, R3, R4 and M1 and M2 zones. After a long discussion, Mr. Michelin made a unanimously approved motion to table the ordinance for more information to be advised by the Planning Director before introduction of the ordinance. The ordinance to address panhandlers and prohibit them from loitering within 10 feet of any ATM or facility that houses an ATM was approved unanimously. The ordinance assuring compliance with the 2013 California Building Codes for 2013 was adopted. The CDBG and HOME Funds public hearing garnered no comments from the public, but the Council members did comment and pointed out that these funds are essential to be approved and utilized properly for their specific purposes now that the Redevelopment Agency apparently will not be resurrected in the state. Low and moderate income housing and reconstruction and renovations for these owners, as well as historic preservation and nonprofit assistance would be non-existent without these two federal programs. The July 2014 to June 2015 programs must be approved before May 15, 2014. Seven bids were opened and read into the record for the Hawthorne Boulevard Mobility Improvement Project and referred to the Public Works Director for review and recommendation to the City Council at a future meeting of the bidder to whom the project should be awarded. The Open House for the Downtown Specific Plan Workshop will be held on Thursday, March 13 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Polaris Room of the Hawthorne Memorial Center. All citizens are encouraged to attend and offer their input to the consultants and city staff. The State of the City address is scheduled for Friday, March 28 at 12 Noon at the Hawthorne Memorial Center. A request was made by a citizen during Oral Communications that there be a section set aside for citizens who may not be able to afford the luncheon fee of $50 but who want to hear what Mayor Brown will offer in his address. The City Manager will write up a resolution in support of the US Senate bill 1982 for the Comprehensive Veterans Health and Benefits and Military Retirement Pay Restoration Act of 2014 and send to the sponsors of the bill under the name of the Hawthorne Mayor and City Council. In honor of Black History Month, the opening of the meeting was a presentation by Donzaleigh Abernathy, the daughter of Ralph Abernathy the civil rights leader and close associate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who showed a slide show of various civil rights demonstrations and other events which she witnessed first-hand at her father’s side during the height of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s. The new Hawthorne website at cityofhawthorne.org is now up and running. The next meeting of the Hawthorne City Council will be held on Tuesday, March 11 at 6 p.m. •
Hawthorne 02_27_14
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