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 - May 24, 2018
HMSA Student is NFTE Winner
Winners from the last week’s Los Angeles NFTE Regional Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge pose with their cash winnings. Rellie Padilla (second from right) of Hawthorne Math and Science Academy placed
third in the competition, winning $500. Padilla pitched his business Current Core -- household electric generators that combine the technology of hydropower and the running water in your pipes to generate
electricity straight from the home. NFTE is an internationally recognized nonprofit organization that activates the entrepreneurial mindset in young people. Photo Credit: Tommy Phan. •
Council Hears Proposed Budget as
Cash Surplus Exceeds $18 Million
By Derrick Deane
The Hawthorne City Council received good
financial news during Tuesday night’s meeting.
While the City of Hawthorne’s proposed
budget sees a slight increase in expenditures
to $72,622,820, it is offset by recently voterapproved
Measure HH income that helps
boost expected revenue to $73,495,917. The
difference creates close to a $1 million surplus.
The news gets even better for the City’s cash
surplus that will now exceed $18 million -- a
total that City Interim Manager Arnie Shadbehr
says he hasn’t seen since he began working
in Hawthorne in 2005. “All these years since
I have been here in 2005, the highest I saw
was $12 million,” he said. “In 2005, we were
at $7.5 million and we faced more than a $6
million deficit.”
Shadbehr cited increased health care, retirement
obligations and election year costs as
major reasons for the increase in expenditures
for the upcoming fiscal year. “There is a slight
increase because of benefit costs because of
health care, insurances and other things that
are included in the payroll system,” he said of
the higher budget expenditures. Councilwoman
Angie Reyes English added that health care
costs and insurance was “something that was
never going to go down – it’s always going
to go up.”
Despite the increase in expenditures, there
is a lot moving in favor for Hawthorne. The
recently passed transit occupancy tax, Measure
HH sales tax funds, and increasing property
values that in turn lead to increased property
taxes all help to offset costs. “We conservatively
estimated about $8 million [in revenue] from
Measure HH,” Shadbehr said of the additional
income to the City. Shadbehr noted that the
first small boost of Measure HH funds should
be seen in July, with the larger portion coming
in October this year.
English asked Shadbehr to look into other
developments, including the hotel buildings
across the street from City Hall and the recent
announcement of Amazon-owned Ring opening
a warehouse on Cerise Avenue later this
year. “There are a lot of new endeavors that
folks are not aware of and those are projected
revenues,” she said.
English added that she will continue to fight
to open up the Hawthorne Memorial Center for
conventional use and create another stream of
income for the City. “I think ultimately what
we need to look at moving forward -- not any
time soon, but to potentially look at improving
the Hawthorne Memorial Center so that we
could be able to make that a more conventional
use instead of having to rely on the hotels and
others for space,” she said.
Shadbehr presented the budget to the
Council after now former Finance Director
Rickey Manbahal was fired from his position
due to an undisclosed $25,000 loan of public
funds. “I think it’s important that employee
morale is considered when filling roles in that
department,” English said of finding someone
to take over as director of finance. She also
commended the Public Works Department for
being proactive in applying for grants from
county, state and federal agencies to improve
infrastructure in the city. “At the end of the
day, folks that see notices that are posted
showing street improvement and projects of
sorts need to know that we’re working hard
for them,” she said. “We need to be able to
keep our infrastructure going long-term and
ensure that every dollar that we are receiving
through grants [is put to work].”
English also questioned why the fire department
has continued to increase the amount
requested for fire services. “I still have a
hard time wrapping myself around why it
continues to increase,” English said before
asking Shadbehr to look into it at some point
and determine the length of the contract and
how much it has increased year over year as
well as an audit.
The 2018-2019 budget sees fire services
receiving just over $11 million in funding -- an
annual increase of nearly $1 million from the
current 2017-2018 budget. “I think ultimately
we’re headed in the right direction and you
had to be commended for that,” English said
to Shadbehr for stepping into the role.
Shadbehr in turn thanked the Council for
establishing the Public Funds Oversight Committee
that oversees and reviews expenses and
revenue sources in the city. “It’s a watchdog
committee that is quietly doing its job without
anybody knowing,” he said. “They don’t make
a lot of noise, but they are looking for what
they are supposed to look for and I commend
them for that. We want to empower them.”
Shadbehr added that the Oversight Committee
went through the entire proposed budget before
it was presented to the Council. “They went
through this whole budget before we brought it
and presented it to the City Council,” he said.
“They are fully aware of the importance when
we share bank statements, when we share cash
reports with the City Council because these are
all very easily looked at, investigated, audited.
Bank statements don’t lie.” •
Inside
This Issue
Calendar of Events.............3
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.......................5
Classifieds............................3
Entertainment......................2
Seniors..................................7
Food.......................................8
Hawthorne Happenings....3
Lawndale..............................4
Legals............................. 4,6,7
Pets........................................5
Weekend
Forecast
Friday
Partly
Cloudy
64˚/56˚
Saturday
Sunny
65˚/57˚
Sunday
Sunny
68˚/58˚
The Weekly Newspaper of Hawthorne