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 - August 16, 2018
Inside
This Issue
Calendar of Events.............3
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.......................7
Classifieds............................3
Community Briefs...............3
Entertainment......................2
Finance..................................3
Lawndale..............................4
Legals............................. 4,6,7
Pets........................................8
Weekend
Forecast
Not Quite Old Faithful, But…
A recent minor injury collision at 130th Street and Prairie Avenue resulted in a sheered-off fire hydrant that sent water shooting up through the air in dramatic fashion. Thankfully, it didn’t take very long
to clear the intersection and turn off the water before the “geyser” got out of hand. Photo: Hawthorne PD.
Council Bans Scooters for Now,
Adopts Cleanliness Ordinance
By Derrick Deane
The Hawthorne City Council on Tuesday
unanimously approved the re-adoption of an
ordinance to deal with cleanliness in local
shopping centers. The Council also discussed
plans to addressing the growing use of dockless
electric scooters in the community and
placed a temporary ban on their use.
In November 2017, Councilwoman Olivia
Valentine initiated an ordinance passed by
her colleagues to help address the “lack of
cleanliness and accumulation of trash in some
of the shopping centers.” That ordinance
expired on June 28, 2018.
While the Council unanimously approved
to continue the cleanliness ordinance, both
Mayor Alex Vargas and Councilwoman Angie
Reyes English called for better documentation
on which specific locations had been cited
since the code first went in to affect.
When pressed, Planning Director Brian
James did not name any specific locations.
However, he stated that “most of the citations
that are given when there is a cleaning
schedule involved have been on the property
maintenance standards.” James added that
based on the input that the City Council had
given, the Planning Department and Code
Enforcement can also begin tracking the
number of cleaning schedule citations that
have been given out as well.
“I think it’s important that we start identifying
because it sounds like as of right now,
there’s a selection of those that are being
enforced more than others,” English said.
“We need to be fair. So when we talk about
enforcement, we have to be able to have a
database that shows how many buildings,
mixed-use or commercial [that] are currently
being notified with request for a cleaning
schedule.”
English added, “I know of the history
we have been having and challenges we’ve
been having in regards to a grocery store in
our community and it seems this is where
it stemmed from initially.” She noted that
as of right now, the Council has no idea
which businesses Code Enforcement has
spoken to and that “we don’t have any factual
information – we don’t have a contact
name at the building. Was it the manager,
the assistant manager, the receptionist, the
property manager, was it the owner? Who
got [the notice]? At the same time, they
can come back and say they never received
any notice.”
The ordinance requires cleaning schedules
for shopping centers and mixed-use developments
every 12 hours and a set schedule for
more in-depth cleaning such as in stairwells
at regular intervals. “It’s been an effective
tool, so I expect it will continue to be exactly
that,” James said, adding that there has not
been any push-back from business owners in
complying with the ordinance. “In the past
year, the community is looking better -- so
if that is evidence of its effectiveness, then
I think it’s good and we should continue
using it.”
Mayor Vargas echoed the callouts from
English saying, “We need to have an inventory
of the properties of both commercial and
mixed-use that this applies to. I refuse to
believe that these people want to do business
with a dirty parking lot or dirty storefront,
but it’s happened and we’ve let them slide
and they get away with stuff. I think this
is important in how this is improving and
how this is helping, but I need to know how
many citations have been given out,” Vargas
added. “This is a helpful tool… but if we’re
not enforcing the requirements, it’s not going
to reach its full effect.”
The topic will be addressed again in the
next Council meeting, as Vargas requested
James present how the latter’s department
goes about collecting data and also create
a list of the properties where the ordinance
is being enforced and where citations have
been given out.
Another topic that is sure to be discussed
for the next few months is the growing use
See City Council, page 8
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