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 24, 2015 Volunteers Donate to Feed Veterans On September 18, a total of 30 El Segundo volunteers, including members of El Segundo Cares, the El Segundo Rotary Club and Chevron’s Veterans Employee Network, distributed clothing and served lunch to veterans at the VA Hospital in West Los Angeles. Lunch was prepared for all on barbecues purchased by the Rotary Club. Photo provided by Lily Craig of Chevron. Councilman Michelin Goes on the Offensive Amid Tense Council Meeting By Derrick Deane After weeks of mentioning City Council salaries and stipends in his closing remarks, Councilman Nilo Michelin went on the offensive during Tuesday’s bi-weekly City Council Meeting. While drumming a steady message of government transparency with how the council spends money, Michelin called for a reduction in the salary and stipends of city councilmembers, requested public pre-approval for all councilmember expenses at conferences, and asked for staff members to research and prepare a resolution regarding term limits. “Term limits is something a lot of South Bay cities have and it makes a lot of sense,” Michelin said. “A lot of people talk about term limits, yet when it comes time to vote, they shy away from it.” Additionally, Michelin called for an amendment to the City Council’s credit card policy, citing that it should only be used for emergencies and not day-to-day expenses as it has been in recent years. Of course, not all city councilmembers were on board with Michelin’s calls for transparency. Councilwoman Angie Reyes English in particular took exception to Michelin’s proposal for pre-approval for conference expenses. “I’ve been doing this for a while now. I have always reported back what I’ve done and offered suggestions and some of those policies have been implemented into policy,” English replied. Michelin replied back after some discussion, “Let’s not make it any harder than it has to be. Let’s get pre-approval for any conference expense over $100. Keep it simple,” to which English sharply replied, “I’m everywhere. I’m sorry. I don’t have time to come here to tell you A thru Z what I’m doing. It’s too much. You’re not making it easier, you’re making it harder. I don’t need someone to tell me I need approval to go somewhere. I’m going to go anyway. I don’t need your approval,” as Mayor Chris Brown quietly laughed to himself. Mayor Brown and Michelin also disclosed that they had both given up their stipends, while English contended that non-profit groups need that money in order to operate and perform services for the community. Brown was not above the tension either when he closed the meeting with a cheap shot to mayoral candidate and city councilmember Alex Vargas. While his closing remarks began rather harmlessly by mentioning Women’s Appreciation Day and recalling remarks Vargas made about the turmoil the city has been going through. Something clicked inside Brown’s head though when he recalled how Vargas had commented on how the mayors have failed, to which he then stated to Vargas, “You’re going to hear from a lot of women’s groups about your sexual harassment allegations and also your racial allegations here in the city.” The comment ignited an off-mic back and forth between the two men as City Clerk Norb Huber was trying to read out instructions to the audience. Brown backed away from the mic to tell Vargas, “That was the wrong thing to do this weekend,” and “Move out your mom’s house,” to which Vargas replied, “Are you threatening my mother?” Michelin finally interjected saying, “You guys need to stop. We’re having a meeting here. Can you guys cut it out?” Amid all the political tension, there were some actual issues that were addressed. School board unification and transportation were key issues that opened the council meeting. Mayor Pro Tem Olivia Valentine, introduced the issue of school board unification between Hawthorne schools and the Centinela Valley School districts. Valentine said that the issue had been brought to her attention by a number of parents but cautioned in her closing remarks that the process could take a very long time. “I am in favor of unification and I guess people would ask why the city would be interested in this issue and the answer is because good schools with academic achievement create an attraction for people to move in to a city,” Valentine said. “I remain adamant though that it has to be initiated by the parents. The parents have to be in the forefront of taking the lead on this because it takes years and years to achieve.” Meanwhile, Acting Director of the Transportation Division for the Southern California Association of Governments, Naresh Amatya addressed the council the future of the city in terms of residents, employment, and how those changes will impact the city. According to Amatya, the Los Angeles county area expects to have more single/nonchildren homes, an increase of 3.75 million people, and an elderly population of people 60 years and older that will double. Total funding for the next 25 years is estimated to be around $554 billion, with about $350 billion worth of funding currently identified from known sources. “Our shortfall is about $200 billion and we have to identify new strategies to fill that gap,” Amatya said. In terms of transportation, Amatya mentioned that our roads and highways are in immediate need of repairs. Valentine asked Amatya about a proposed “road user fee,” and how that would impact citizens. “The form of funding at the state and federal level right now is the excise tax on gas that everybody pays,” Amtaya said. “It is in a way a user tax because the more you drive, the more gas you buy. But the problem with that is our vehicle fleet is getting cleaner with hybrid cars, electric cars, so the consumption of gas is decreasing.” “At the same time, the excise tax isn’t indexed, it stays stagnant,” Amatya continued adding that the last time the tax was raised was in 1993. “At the same time, the cost of construction and the cost of projects has gone up significantly. So our proposal is to move from the excise tax to a user based fee which would be based on the miles you drive.” The council also approved an upgrade and reconstruction of traffic signals along Inglewood Ave. at the intersections of Imperial Highway, 118th Street, 120th Street, Broadway, and El Segundo Blvd. • Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals.......................6 Classifieds............................2 Community Briefs...............3 Film Review..........................2 Finance..................................5 Food.......................................8 Hawthorne Happenings....3 Legals................................ 6-7 Pets........................................4 Police Reports.....................3 Sports....................................5 Weekend Forecast Friday Sunny 84˚/72˚ Saturday Sunny 84˚/72˚ Sunday Sunny 84˚/70˚ The Weekly Newspaper of Hawthorne
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