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 - July 24, 2014 Inside This Issue Calendar...............................3 Classifieds............................3 Certified & Licensed Professionals.......................6 Hawthorne Happenings....7 Food.......................................5 Legals............................... 2, 6 Sports....................................4 Weekend Forecast MAMBAS Bring State Gold Home On July 11-13, the South Bay MAMBAS Basketball Club's 9u team participated in the California State Games and brought State Championship Gold Medals home to the South Bay. Coached by Brandan Aldridge and Jesse Gutierrez, the MAMBAS are proud representatives of the South Bay: all players reside in Inglewood, Lawndale, Redondo Beach, Gardena, El Segundo and Torrance. The mission of the South Bay MAMBAS Basketball Program is to reach, engage and develop the youth of the South Bay using basketball as a vehicle to reinforce the skill sets necessary for success off the court. On Tuesday, the El Segundo Rotary Club hosted the boys at their District Breakfast at the City Club in downtown LA, where Kareem Abdul Jabaar was the keynote speaker. The MAMBAS escorted Kareem in and were allowed to take a group picture with him in honor of their State Championship. Photo by Brandan Aldridge. Hawthorne City Council Members At Odds with Mayor Brown By Nancy Peters The Hawthorne City Council met at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, July 22 to review the proposed budget for the 2014-2015 fiscal year. This delayed budget presentation and approval for the budget for the fiscal year which began on July 1 was due to the end-of-June hiring of the new Finance Director Ricky Mahjabal. Budget questions asked mostly involved the addition of staff in certain departments, but also dealt with the projected revenues, which are considered to be conservative by the Finance Director, rather than inflated, so that the sixmonth review can be less restrictive when revenues may possibly exceed the projections. The City Council meetings of late have included taking agenda items out of order. Tuesday evening was no exception when Mayor Chris Brown requested that his colleagues allow for item 6, a resolution concerning incentives for new businesses and current businesses which want to expand in the city, be considered prior to other items on the City Clerk’s Consent Calendar. At this time the mayor requested that item 7, the budget resolution be taken out of order at this time as well. He then announced that no vote would be taken this evening on item 7, a request for the budget to be approved and instituted by resolution, but that a special meeting will be held at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 23 to consider only the budget item. Councilmember Alex Vargas objected that this special meeting would be held when most citizens would be at work, when no one would hear or witness what the Council would talk about, and that he would not be available. He interpreted the scheduling of the time of the special meeting to be a way to silence his comments on the topic, asking his colleagues if they were all available or had been consulted on the time for the special meeting. Councilmember Nilo Michelin asked whether the budget couldn’t be voted upon during the current meeting or just delayed to the next regular meeting of the City Council? There was no response from the mayor. The City Manager suggested that the special meeting be cancelled and a meeting be held as a “continuation” of this current meeting, thereby not a violation of the Brown Act. Later in the evening it was announced that the “continued City Council meeting” would be held at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, July 23 to consider the 2014-2015 budget. The new business and expanding businesses incentive program was approved with the removal of any incentive amounts being approved by the City Manager and requiring City Council approval; a cap on the maximum incentives at $400,000 for a business; and an annual review of incentives for an expanding business. The Planning Director and his Department will post the incentive program on the city website. There were two public hearings for the vacation of certain portions of Yukon Avenue and Acacia Avenue at the 105 Freeway. No one commented during the public hearings and the resolutions were approved. Three sealed bids were opened and announced for work to be completed on the Hawthorne Municipal Airport Air Traffic Control Tower. Staff will review the opened bids and the construction companies and present the project and recommended vendor to the City Council for approval at a future meeting. A program with Phantom Galleries, a nonprofit art organization, was approved with a Memorandum of Understanding to be drawn up by the City Attorney to Hold-Harmless the city from any liability for artwork to be displayed in storefront windows on Hawthorne Boulevard. The art will be displayed in vacant stores and will be changed out monthly or until the store has a tenant. The city will be responsible for paying the utilities for the temporary arrangement in each storefront. The trip to Washington, D.C., by Mayor Brown, Councilmember Angie Reyes-English, the City Manager, and the Planning Director and the City Engineer, was reported by Reyes- English. The group met with members of Senator Dianne Feinstein’s office, the office of Congresswoman Maxine Waters, and the US Department of Transportation (DOT), as well as the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The city will benefit from these meetings as HUD and the USDOT advised of grants available for the downtown to be improved, not just from the roadway improvements. The planning for Hawthorne was presented and the vision for the city received high marks from HUD and each office, and a show of support from the elected officials in D.C. will become a benefit to the city. Vargas and Michelin criticized the trip taken and asked for the amount spent and why notifications were not made to other Council members of the trip. The City Attorney will republish the travel policy and no future trips should be planned without City Council approval was a request. The mayor adjourned the meeting while his colleagues were still talking. The next regular meeting of the City Council is scheduled for Tuesday, August 12 at 6 p.m. • Friday AM Clouds/ PM Sun 82˚/67˚ Saturday AM Clouds/ PM Sun 82˚/68˚ Sunday AM Clouds/ PM Sun 83˚/69˚ Hawthorne Boulevard Improvement Project Update At Rosecrans Avenue and Hawthorne Boulevard: the new second left turn lanes will remain closed until further notice. Hawthorne Boulevard: #1 lanes will be closed northbound from Rosecrans Avenue to 132nd St. and southbound from 132nd St. to 141st St. There will also be intermittent two-lane closures from 136th St to 138th St. Hawthorne Boulevard: at 120th St. and at Imperial Highway the number 3 lanes in each direction will be closed •
Hawthorne_072414_r3_FNL_lorez
To see the actual publication please follow the link above