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 - September 15, 2016 Hawthorne Late Rally Falls Short in Loss to South Hawthorne High School drops its second game of the season in a 14-6 loss to South Torrance last Friday. South defensive tackle Jake Fejer (No. 82) chases Hawthorne running back Eric Foster (No. 25) during the third quarter. Photo by Dirk Dewachter. Police Chief Fager Gets New Contract, Councilman Michelin Butts Heads with Colleagues By Derrick Deane Hawthorne Police Chief Robert Fager was unanimously approved by the Hawthorne City Council for a new two-year term as police chief for the city in a lively first council meeting for September. “No opposition, no discussion with regards to Chief Fager’s contract,” Mayor Alex Vargas stated after the unanimous vote to renew the contract was approved. Each councilmember later thanked Fager for his service to the city and congratulated him on the contract during their closing remarks. Fager’s new contract runs until the end of August 2018. Not only did the chief get a new contract, but two new utility vehicles will be purchased for the police department at a total price tag of $103,000. The vehicles will be replacing older ones that have run up high mileage and repair costs. “We try to replace them when they go over 100,000 miles, but in addition to that is the repair costs,” City Manager Arnie Shadbehr said. “A lot of them also have idle running that doesn’t register in the mileage so because of that we have a lot of repair costs when that happens.” The city puts up old vehicles to auction and gets back “a few thousand” dollars back in return. The meeting didn’t always take a high note. Throughout the three hour meeting, there were contentious discussions about parking in the city and a revisit on the topic of billboards near the 105 and 405 freeways from last meeting. Councilman Nilo Michelin was at the center of much of the debate, first asking for a concrete number of billboards that would be allowed to go up near the freeways and later clashing with Councilmember Olivia Valentine in regards to decreasing parking in the Holly Park area. “If we’re concerned with the proliferation of signs, I understand what you’re saying, but each sign is going to come before the City Council and we’re going to give permission for every sign,” Vargas said regarding the billboard signs. “Do we trust ourselves or not to be able to take care of the city and to prevent the overpopulation of the signs?” Future council members having input on the number of signs seemed to be at the heart of Michelin’s argument with the councilman saying, “I trust the council but two years ago there was a different council and two years before that there was a different one, so there is no way to predict the future. I would feel more comfortable if there was some kind of numerical limit on this.” Vargas reiterated his point from the previous meeting that the City Council should have enough common sense to know when there are too many signs going up. “I don’t think we should let this detract from a very good thing that is going to clean up Hawthorne Boulevard and clean up Inglewood Avenue from these old rickety signs that a lot of people have a problem with already,” Vargas said. “We have the control, we have the ultimate say, let’s trust in our common sense.” “Historically the council has changed and there’s no way to predict what the council is going to be like and I’d rather have some numerical limit right now,” Michelin said after Vargas told him that whether he decides to be on the Council or a part of the public opposition on the other side of the dias, he’s welcome to voice his opinion on the billboards. Shadbehr took a moment to clarify the matter saying that when his office was initially working on the ordinance, it was intended to not only clean up Inglewood Avenue, but also promote economic development in the city. In terms of number of signs though, Shadbehr said that, “it’s limited. We’re talking about a handful. It’s not like it’s available with no limits. We’re lucky if we get a handful.” There are also physical limitations with regards to the signs in that much of the property fronting the 105 Freeway is either state property controlled by CalTrans or are near a storm drain. “That means you can’t even plant a tree let alone foundation and a sign structure,” Shadbehr said. Shadbehr says that of the city’s 3 mile stretch of the 105 Freeway, 40 percent is not available for sign installation. “All in all, when you put them together, I can’t imagine more than a handful of signs and that’s if each one is approved by the council,” Shadbehr said. “We may come up with a number tonight, but that number might exceed what is available. This is not a blanket permit and after a few approvals there won’t be any more coming in.” With Councilman Haidar Awad excusing himself from the discussion once again due to a conflict on interest, Vargas along with Valentine and Mayor Pro Tem Angie Reyes English voted in favor of the signs with Michelin abstaining. Michelin later clashed with Valentine in regards to parking around the Holly Park area. Valentine called for the city staff to meet with the Holly Park Homeowner’s Association to come up with a long term solution for people parking in the area and then walking to the park. Michelin wanted the discussion opened up to the public. “The home owners association can spearhead it, but we’ve got to know that this is for everybody,” Michelin said. Valentine replied numerous times that, “I am not excluding anyone. I am simply saying that the Holly Park Home Owners Association will lead the discussion and they can include whoever they want in the meeting,” to which Michelin repeatedly answered back that the meeting should be open to the public. Valentine said,” I think it should be up to the Holly Park Home Owners Association to decide who should be in the meeting with them,” while Vargas muttered his frustration to himself as Michelin stubbornly replied back that it should be open to everyone. The motion was approved with Michelin the only councilmember abstaining. • Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals.......................7 Classifieds............................3 Entertainment......................4 Hawthorne Happenings....3 Legals............................2, 6-7 Pets........................................8 Police Reports.....................3 Seniors..................................7 Sports....................................5 Weekend Forecast Friday Partly Cloudy 71˚/62˚ Saturday Partly Cloudy 71˚/63˚ Sunday Sunny 77˚/65˚ The Weekly Newspaper of Hawthorne
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