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 - March 30, 2017 Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals.......................2 Calendar...............................3 Classifieds............................3 Community Briefs...............4 Hawthorne Happenings....3 Finance..................................4 Legals................................ 6-7 Pets........................................8 Police Reports.....................2 Seniors..................................6 Sports....................................5 Weekend Forecast Friday Sunny 67˚/53˚ Saturday Sunny 70˚/55˚ Sunday Sunny 67˚/54˚ SB Police and Fire Memorial Foundation Hold Annual Fundraiser The South Bay Police & Fire Memorial Foundation held its 23rd Annual Fundraising Golf Tournament on March. The foundation is an organization dedicated to providing financial support for families of fallen or disabled police and fire personnel from the nine South Bay cities with their own independent fire and police agencies: El Segundo, Gardena, Hawthorne, Hermosa Beach, Inglewood, Manhattan Beach, Palos Verdes Estates, Redondo Beach and Torrance. Pictured above is the Honor Guard detail from several South Bay agencies at the event. (Photo Provided by the El Segundo Police Department) Council Votes Down Support of State Gas Tax, Registration Fee Bills By Derrick Deane Kiernan said. “Measure M was strictly for The Hawthorne City Council engaged in a Los Angeles County. The rest of the state is healthy debate regarding two transportation reeling from a lack of transportation funding.” bills that would help fund repair and Measure M focuses primarily on public maintenance of local roads and bridges. transportation. “You’re not going to get a lot Tuesday’s City Council meeting saw a of dollars, if any, for fixing or maintaining fractured vote on sending a letter of support the current roads,” Kiernan said, adding that to the State Legislature in Sacramento in the gas tax is at its lowest point in history regard to bills SB1 and AB1. and really only brings in about 50 percent SB1 would create the Road Maintenance of the funds that it did back in 1994 when and Rehabilitation Program to address deferred it was last adjusted for inflation. maintenance on the state highway system Hawthorne would see a total a portion of an and local streets. More importantly, the bill annual fund valued at $3 million and an initial would increase the gas tax by 12 cents over lump sum of $400,000. “The formula that is the course of three years as well add $38 written in to these two pieces of legislation to the annual vehicle registration fee. There is the same formula that is currently used to would also be a new $100 annual vehicle give funds from the gas tax to local cities registration fee on zero-emission vehicles. based primarily on population,” Kiernan said. Diesel fuel would see a 20-cent tax increase. Governor Jerry Brown has set a hard While Councilmember Olivia Valentine fully deadline of April 6 for the bills to pass. supported the motion, Mayor Alex Vargas and “What’s he’s trying to do is get this out of Councilman Nilo Michelin voted against it the way before his May revise of the budget,” as they cited concerns about a potential tax. Kiernan continued. “They’ve been working on “I fully support it. I think that we need to this for many years. You may recall the last have money that’s dedicated to fixing the legislative session two or three years ago, he deterioration of our roads and bridges. This called a special session asking them to focus is what this bill is going to do,” Valentine on transportation funding and unfortunately said. “This is deferred maintenance that we there was no substantial legislation that came have deferred over too many years.” out of that.” Councilmember Angie Reyes English This year has been particularly costly for the abstained from the vote and indicated that state with nearly $700 million in emergency she needed to hear more input from local repairs being spent due to the numerous cities in the South Bay--and that the bills storms that have hit California. “When you sounded like they would disburse funding don’t pay for regular maintenance, it ends much like Measure M regardless of whether up costing you more in the long term and the Council expressed its support for it or it becomes a dangerous situation,” Kiernan not. “Cities have to apply for Measure M explained. funding—it’s not a guarantee that they’re Despite the argument set forth by Kiernan going to get them,” League of California and Valentine, Michelin expressed his dissent Cities Regional Public Affairs Manager Jeff in feeling that the bills ultimately amounted to a tax increase on the poor and middle class. “At this point, I cannot support a gas tax and the registration fee tax because it’s a derisive tax,” Michelin said. “The poor pay most of these taxes and it barely makes a dent.” Vargas agreed with Michelin, but stated his opposition was for a different reason. “I will not be supporting this,” Vargas said. “I appreciate all the information, but I just think that our state has done a poor job of basically balancing its books and it’s always the cities that are going to be paying this. It is a regressive tax because it’s the people who have to drive the two hours from the Inland Empire to work every day that are going to be paying this because they’ll have to keep filling up their gas tanks.” Valentine made one last rebuttal to the Mayor’s position. “Not doing anything won’t help our roads and I’m very concerned that if we don’t pass this and there is no money set aside for our roads and bridges that this will just continue to get worse and worse,” Valentine said. “God forbid if an earthquake happened. Some of our roads and bridges wouldn’t be able to take it.” Vargas stood firm in his position that it was up to the state to figure out the issue and not have local cities help bail them out of budgeting issues. “They’ve had bureaucracy before, they’ve had Inspector Generals, they’ve had Oversight Committees, and still they haven’t gotten their act straight in Sacramento,” Vargas said. “I’m not sure this has enough safeguards and information that proves to me and the community to support it. I don’t feel comfortable in coming to the rescue for Sacramento for something they should be resolving themselves.” •
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