Hawthorne Press Tribune Herald Publications - Inglewood, Hawthorne, Lawndale, El Segundo, Torrance & Manhattan Beach Community Newspapers Since 1911 - Circulation 30,000 - Readership 60,000 (310) 322-1830 - April 14, 2016 Council Revisits Selling Civic Center Land By Derrick Deane Faced with a continuing issue of increasing revenue for the city, the Hawthorne City Council revisited the idea of selling land including property adjacent to the Civic Center, Tuesday night. While the Council struck down a $10 million offer from Councilman Hadir Awad’s uncle, Ali Awad last week, the motion to resubmit offers for city land, including the building which currently houses the Hawthorne Historical Society was approved by a majority vote. “Speaking on behalf of the Historical Society, we realize the plight of the city as far as the finances are concerned,” City Clerk and Historical Society Vice President Norb Huber said. “We will find another location for the museum. We are not cemented in over there and we put a lot of work and time in making the museum.” Huber continued agreeing that selling off the land that currently houses the Historical Society was in the best interest of the city. “I have said this many times, but it has become a real positive gathering point for visitors and local people. Every time I go in there, there are people telling stories and it’s a community building that’s been very positive,” Huber said. “We thank the city the opportunity to have the museum over there but we’re all in favor of the city moving forward with development over there.” City Manager Arnie Shadbehr echoed Huber’s sentiments saying that, “We will find a new location and if we can’t, we will build one.” Mayor Alex Vargas addressed the matter saying that he understood the community’s concern as the current resubmission for bids didn’t include housing but was rather retailfocused. “The concern right now with the community, and I can see it, is with the housing. This particular agreement is limiting it to hotel and some commercial development,” Vargas said. Residents have spoken out at length about not wanting additional housing in the city given that most residents rent properties. As currently written, the motion only seeks commercial development with hotels, restaurants, and retail. Residents spoke at length during last week’s special meeting about their disapproval of selling a portion of civic center land. That same sentiment came through again this week and was carried further when Councilman Nilo Michelin stated that he believed the city didn’t have a revenue problem but rather a spending issue. “First of all, we have a structural deficit,” Michelin said. “Basically that means we have a spending problem, not a revenue problem. If we go through with selling this property, we’re still going to have the structural deficit. It doesn’t solve the problem at all.” Michelin called for reducing spending on outside legal counsel. He added an emotional plea that, “every city around us has a civic center.” “It is unprecedented to sell off part of the civic center,” Michelin said after pointing out examples in Inglewood, Gardena, Lawndale, and El Segundo. “If we really do need to go through with this plan, why not compromise? Why not have some kind of civic development, maybe a park or a museum to keep that civic center feeling.” It was a stance that his Council colleagues, particularly Councilwoman Olivia Valentine and Mayor Vargas took exception to. “We have cut to the bone,” Valentine said. “I have spoken to city officials who have said we cannot cut anymore. Our city employee’s morale is low, we’re on furloughs. We must find a way to improve our revenue stream.” Shadbehr agreed with Valentine’s comments clarifying that the potential sale would not affect the library. “The library is going to stay there. The only property is the dry cleaning property that is active right now, the vacant lot, and the old police department building which is non-useable. Those are the only ones we are including,” Shadbehr said. “The library, fire station and certainly city hall remain in place.” If successful, the sale would create commercial development that would infuse the city with a one-time cash deposit and be followed with annual taxes collected from establishments that would be built on the property. “If we are successful, it can help us for the next three to four years to stay solvent. We’ve cut back on our operation costs quite a bit and we continue to do that. We are doing what we can to cut our expenses, but it will reach a point where you will have to start talking about cutting services,” Shadbehr said, adding that the city recently laid off 24 employees while those who remained employed continue to work on furlough. Councilman Awad clarified that the request for proposals (RFP) was written and structured in a way that whatever project is created from a potential sale would be a continued revenue stream for the city. If selling off property sounds like a redundant endeavor, Mayor Pro Tem Angie Reyes English couldn’t agree more. “I’ve been here since 2005 and this property across the street has been an ongoing discussion,” English said. “What has happened is nothing. It has been there stagnant, except for movie use and we get a percentage of that, but how long has the Hawthorne Mall been stagnant?” English said that the city cannot continue to do the same thing repeatedly adding that instead, it needs to pursue mixed use properties filled with restaurants and retail establishments. “We want residual income. We want to be able to, after we’re done with our jobs here, that money to continue to grow and grow out our city for even more developments and projects,” English said. “I want to ultimately see the city benefit and the only way we’re going to be able to do that is ensure that we have residual incomes and jobs are being created.” English requested an extension to the time frame for proposals to be submitted. The deadline was extended to May 17. Councilman Michelin abstained from voting while the rest of the council approved the motion. • Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals.......................5 Classifieds............................3 Film Review..........................3 Finances...............................6 Food.......................................5 Hawthorne Happenings....3 Legals............................2, 6-7 Pets........................................8 Police Reports.....................2 Sports....................................4 Weekend Forecast Friday Sunny 73˚/59˚ Saturday Sunny 75˚/57˚ Sunday Sunny 75˚/57˚ Boot Camps on a Local Beach Boot Camps, bicyclist and runners enjoy the sunshine. Exercise doesn’t hurt as much, if you do it at the beach. The Weekly Newspaper of Hawthorne
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